Letters to the Editor

to the Editor

Keelhauling Finch?

Trouble maker Ralph Finch again has caused ripples in the bottle world. And in the January issue he made waves making fun of sharp people who sell junk once dumped into the ocean.

He writes (but not from Davy Jones’s locker as some critics hoped):

Over the years I have riled a reader or two — OK, if truth be known, I’ve lost count of the rather large number. A few even promised to sue me if I didn’t change my ways (I didn’t, and they didn’t). Some were from serious sellers, a few auction houses, and one was unsigned, but I think I recognized the handwriting (it wasn’t the first time I’d upset my mother).

One collector, who I won’t name, since he passed away before he wanted me to pass away, threatened me with physical harm.

I don’t know what pushes me to the literary edge, but years ago, in the army, I wrote a satirical letter to the Inspector General complaining that on our base we were short of chocolate milk, and … the army did not think it was funny. (And I didn’t know that any letter sent to the I.G. became part of one’s official record.)

So, I shouldn’t complain about someone who makes money selling trash. I should remember American author and social critic H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) who is said to have written: “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” Perhaps I shouldn’t have suggested that only a sucker would buy a barnacle-covered bottle.

Here are two readers who share the Army’s view:

Barnacle Bottle Fans

(a reply to Ralph)

My name is Larry, the one that you wrote about regarding selling barnacle bottles on eBay. Ralph I am sorry that you are annoyed at what I am doing. While I do enjoy reading your articles, I am annoyed that you did not bother to even consult or contact me before submitting what you wrote to AB&GC. As a twenty-five year subscriber to this magazine I certainly did not expect to see my stuff presented in a matter that degrades me and the hobby of antique bottle collecting.

I started doing this because I felt that other people were taking advantage of what I was doing. Fifteen years ago I started looking for bottles in the water and every once in a while I would find something interesting with marine growth on it. I took all of these to bottle shows that I set up at and found that I could pay for the table cost of every show I attended or set up at. As time went on, I found that much of what I had sold was turning up on eBay. What I had sold for $4 or $6 was being resold for $50 to $60!

I asked myself, why can’t I do this? Well I did, and fast track to now I have something that I have found that no one else has. I do think it is very wrong to call the people that I sell to as having no standards and my stuff junk. It may be junk to you, but to the interior decorators and people who enjoy the ocean, love this kind of decor. I don’t consider myself as a total unknowing collector or a bottle dealer, or to be totally unknown in the world of antique bottle collecting. For example last August I set up and attended the FOHBC show in Augusta, Georgia.

I am a quiet guy who enjoys the hobby and making the world a better place to live. For example, when I dive for bottles, I remove toxic plastic that kills marine life: fishing line, cast nets, water bottles, bags and other hazardous stuff from the water. The reward for my work comes from when I find an old bottle.

Ralph, I know that I have taken the ketchup bottle collecting to a whole new level. I wish that I could mail you the one that you copied the photo from. But I have bad news for you. It was sold in December 2019 along with 31 other auctions on that same day to someone that according to you has no standards.

As a writer myself (I have authored two Florida bottle books), I would ask that you please request permission prior to using or publishing my *photos. I would be happy to provide the background on why these barnacle encrusted pieces are so much more than a simple ketchup, or other type of bottle, and appreciated throughout the Gulf Coast and ocean areas by both homeowners and interior decorators alike.

Larry Smith Jupiter, Florida

*Editor’s note: The photo shown in the magazine was courtesy of eBay.

Finch Fizzled?

I was wondering if you contacted the person that was selling the barnicle (sic) bottles? He makes a lot of money selling them. Don’t be so one-sided.

Larry Marshall St. Augustine, Florida

to the Editor

These fine trade cards were thoughtfully sent in by reader Jay Hawkins.

Interesting Trade Cards

Hi, John,

I have attached several trade cards (above) that I thought you might want to share with the readers. The Morrison & Bros. dates prior to 1907, based on the style of “Postal Card.” The other I think was made in the 1890s.

Jay Hawkins West Newton, Pennsylvania

Business Names on Bottles

Hi, John,

Your January magazine was exceptionally good. I particularly was taken with Joe Widman’s article about “business name” bottles and was stimulated to write a letter on two points.

Joe seems to be denigrating the interesting group of cure/remedy bottles he owns and shows in his article, wondering if anyone really collects “embossed businesses.” Like Ferd Meyer, I believe there is a story behind every (or almost every) bottle. Both of us — Ferd on bitters; for me, whiskeys — have found lots of good stories lurking behind a single bottle. The bottles Joe displays in his article are a treasure trove. They cry out for someone to research their origins. Did those nostrums come from pure frauds or from individuals who, rightly or wrongly, thought they could cure disease?

What were their lives like? Their families? Their resting places? Many questions to answer that would help bring the bottles “to life.”

My second point relates to Joe’s final comment that all the bottles he featured are “rare to ‘one of a kind.’” Rare certainly, but no businessman ever had an embossed bottle made but ordered only a few. Plain bottles and paper labels sufficed for small lots. The originator of an embossed bottle must have had some certainty that he could sell sufficient product to warrant the additional expense of having his local glasshouse make a personalized mold. Orders likely were in the magnitude of at least 100 or more. Because of attrition down through the years, an embossed bottle might be rare but my experience tells me “one of a kind” is unlikely. Somewhere in a privy as yet unearthed or a cellar long abandoned may reside an unbroken half-dozen or more of the presumed singularity.

Sincerely,

Jack Sullivan Alexandria, Virginia