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Letters to the Editor
to the Editor
Mark Vuono — His Spirit Will Continue
Dear Collectors,
It’s Sunday, the 29th of March. I just received a call from my good friend, Jimmy Bender, from upstate New York. His call was not the usual back and forth that we have when we talk. In a quiet and somber voice, Jimmy told me that our mutual friend and bottle family member Mark Vuono was shot and killed yesterday in a robbery gone bad in his Stamford, Connecticut, jewelry store. Andrew, Mark’s son wanted us to hear this terrible news from friends rather than the internet or Facebook.
I feel sick. In the middle of this corona pandemic, when I didn’t think things could get much worse, I have been proven wrong once again. I made a few calls to some people I thought should know, but I really didn’t want to talk to anyone. Those I spoke with echoed that sentiment. The wind has been taken from our sails. We all hurt badly today and my mind goes to Annie, Andrew and David, who are undoubtedly feeling the impact of this unspeakable, tragic and senseless loss.
I can, and will, probably at a later date, tell you many, many funny and happy Mark Vuono stories. Right this moment, there is nothing but grief and an emptiness knowing that our bottle family has suffered this great loss. Perhaps, though, we should all look at each other and remember how much we all mean to one another. This thing I call the bottle family is not just words, it’s real and so is this pain.
Dear Mark, rest in peace good friend.
Bob Strickhart Pennington, New Jersey
Tom’s Advice and his Warning
A letter from Tom Askjems of North Dakota, who is NOT in denial:
“Dear Ralph,
“One thing I forgot to mention. I’m not sure how in-depth you plan to get with the story, though thought this may be of interest.
“I was digging in Blanchard, North Dakota, after a huge rain in fall of 2016. Mosquitos were very thick.
“A few days later I got very sick. I got some bloodwork done and it turned out that I had caught West Nile. I literally thought I was going to die. I was sick for a week and lost about 30 pounds, bringing me down to about 125.
“I was digging shortly after the initial illness, though I would get fatigued a bit easier. It took a couple years until I felt back to normal, although I’m digging as hard or harder than I was before.
“For what it’s worth, they say I’m now immune to West Nile, so that’s a positive.”
Editor’s note: For more information about Tom, the King of Nebraska sodas and a very impressive privy digger, check out his story in this issue, beginning on page 8.
And Ralph adds: “I’ve written or edited maybe a thousand articles over the last fifty-plus years, and interviewing Tom about his book and his impressive privy digging history is among my favorites.
Great Article!
Dear John,
Just a note to express my appreciation of the article, “How Bottles Talk to Us, and the History They Tell Us” in your April issue. Alex Prizgintas teaches a great deal about milk bottles worth knowing, even if one is not a collector. He also does it in a very professional style. Please extend my congratulations to him. Alex appears to be a young person and one would hope has many more such informative articles in his future.
Jack Sullivan Alexandria, Virginia
Publisher’s note: Kudos to Alex for his great article. The note above is high praise, especially coming from fellow AB&GC columnist Jack Sullivan.
Picture this, the April Cover
Hi, John,
Good morning. I just received the April 2020 issue of AB&GC and wanted to offer a few comments:
The cover is absolutely stunning! Just when I began thinking that your covers couldn’t possibly get any better, you produce another masterpiece. How you and your team come up with such amazing artwork (and it is artwork) each and every month leaves me speechless.
Congratulations on snagging Alex Prizgintas as a writer for AB&GC! Alex has to be one of the most amazing, most gifted writers that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. While I don’t have a personal interest in milk bottles, I found the article fascinating from the first word to the last. Please do your best to keep him “on staff” as a contributor to AB&GC. I’d love to read additional “Tales from Orange County.”
Anyway, I very much hope that you, Liz, Libby, Owen and everyone else at AB&GC are doing well and staying healthy. Keep up the great work!
Chris Bubash Dayton, Ohio
to the Editor
Give Dan a Charge Regarding this Battery Jar
Dear Mr. Pastor,
You may recall that I occasionally submit an unusual find that may be of interest to readers of your fine Antique Bottle & Glass Collector magazine.
Pictured is a clear glass cylindrical vessel, 10.75 inches tall by 6.25 inches diameter, made to hold battery acid or copper sulfate for supplying initial low-voltage power to start up various machinery and smaller items requiring electricity to function. The base of this vessel is unmarked and smooth. The top rim has been factory-ground smooth, or rather a sheared look such as on older fruit jar finished rims.
Two vertical equidistant side seams suggest the item was pressed in a two-piece mold. These lines carry on to the top rim. There are tiny bubble inclusions throughout much of the glass. About two inches down from the rim are two convex rings running parallel of the circumference.
The jar shown, highlighted with black magic marker, reads:
EDISON-LALANDE BATTERY TYPE SS PAT. JUNE 17. 1890. OTHER PATENTS PENDING
In doing a bit of Google research, I found the listed patent date for an Edison battery container, but not shown in original patent drawings was this particular jar, which originally would have had a lid made of porcelain or another material. No doubt porcelain was best, as it would resist rust, and is not a conductor of electricity such as various metals. Earlier jars may have had a wooden closure, but over time, and if outdoor exposed, could warp, rot or split, to possibly smolder and burn if something in the jar or connected wiring went awry.
Here’s where my research gets a bit interesting. Although not finding a jar marked TYPE SS, such as the pictured example, I did see a version marked TYPE RR. After reading the minuscule patent printing, it was established that some of the battery jars were made for use by various railroads, whereas many others were designed for early electric cars, and various machines of the time.
Then I found one sentence in my squinted labor that gave hope to what the “TYPE SS” stood for. The patent mentioned battery storage vessels designed for railroad usage, as well as signal and switch applications, though not as precisely as I have worded it.
As stated, I had seen one example similar to mine, only with the letters RR embossed, quite possibly standing for ‘railroad,’ so just maybe my battery jar with the SS embossing stands for ‘switch signals’ or vice versa. Again, this is merely speculation at this point. A search on eBay turned up several battery storage jars, and some were embossed with Thomas Edison’s name. I did locate a porcelain Edison Lalande Battery jar completely made of porcelain, marked TYPE RR.
Despite spending several hours of research, I didn’t locate a picture of a jar embossed TYPE SS. Obviously they were originally produced in numbers, but the 1890s were a long time ago, and fewer still have survived. It is also possible that Edison soon chose to drop the term TYPE SS, as TYPE RR facilitated covering the general descriptions of railroad-required low voltage battery storage containers. If this jar does stand for ‘switch signals,’ it would not only appeal to battery storage jar collectors, but to railroad memorabilia aficionados as well.
If anyone can shed further light upon this historical vessel, please do so to further the knowledge of glass collectors in general.
Dan Desmarais (aka Jersey Dan) Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey
