Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

$4.00

October 2020

Early Milk Bottles of Orange County, N.Y. Page 30 IN THIS ISSUE:

New England Review w PAGE 7

George Skinner McKearin w PAGE 10

Medicine Chest: Do You Have a Cough? w PAGE 40

T h e Ma g a z i n e T h at Ke eps Yo u I n fo r m e d!

Don’t miss our Auction #27 – Coming November, 2020

American Glass Gallery

TM

Auction #27 will include a diverse selection of more than 250 lots including Historical Flasks, Midwestern Pattern Molded, Bitters, Pontiled Medicines, Sodas and Mineral Water Bottles, Whiskeys and Spirits, Blown Glass, and much more!

Full-color catalogs for this sale are only $15.00 (post-paid). Call, or visit our website to reserve your copy!

These items and many more, will be included in our upcoming Auction #27.

American Glass Gallery • John R. Pastor • P.O. Box 227, New Hudson, Michigan 48165 phone: 248.486.0530 • www.americanglassgallery.com • email: jpastor@americanglassgallery.com

VOLUME 37, #6 • October 2020 FRONT COVER:

A featured article in this month's issue, "Tin Tops — The Pioneers of Milk Bottles," is by noted researcher and author, Alex Prizgintas. Alex is an avid collector and local authority on Orange County milk bottles, as well as the significant impact that Orange County milk production has had. Read all about it beginning on page 30.

Publisher John R. Pastor

In This Issue:

Editors: Ralph Finch Bill Baab Jodi Hall

Letters to the Editor........................................................................... 2

Managing Editor Libby Smith The Medicine Chest John Panella Joe Widman American Historical Flasks Mark Vuono New England Review Mike George Bitters Columnist Bob Strickhart Spouting off on Mineral Waters Donald Tucker Contributing Writers: Ralph Finch Kevin Sives

Heard it through the Grapevine......................................................... 4 New England Review.......................................................................... 7 George Skinner McKearin................................................................ 10 Willy Van den Bossche..................................................................... 16 Fruit Jar Rambles: Filbert's Flags..................................................... 17 Classified Advertisements................................................................. 22 Show Calendar.................................................................................. 26 Tin-Tops — The Pioneers of Milk Bottles....................................... 30 Medicine Chest: Do You Have a Cough?......................................... 40

Design, Layout & Production Jake Pluta

ANTIQUE BOTTLE & GLASS COLLECTOR (ISSN 8750-1481) is published monthly by Antique Bottle & Glass Collector, P.O. Box 227, New Hudson, MI 48165-0227. Annual Subscription $35.00 at periodical rates, $49.00 at First-class rates and $4.00 per single copy. Canadian (First-class rate available only) $54.00 (in U.S. Funds). Overseas rates please inquire. Published

by Antique Bottle & Glass Collector, PO Box 227, New Hudson, MI 48165-0227. Periodicals Postage is paid at New Hudson MI and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to ANTIQUE BOTTLE & GLASS COLLECTOR, PO Box 227, New Hudson, MI 48165-0227. PH: 248.486.0530; Fax: 248.486.0538, Email: jpastor@americanglassgallery.com, Website: www.americanglassgallery.com. © Copyright 2020 all rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any way without written permission from the publisher.

Coming in November: New Jersey Bitters and Hostetter's, by Bob Strickhart Hop over to Australia, Beer by the Barrel, by Ralph Finch Two Pits Before Lockdown, by Rick Weiner Fruit Jar Rambles: Amber Longlife Jars, by Tom Caniff Medicine Chest: Rheumatism, by John Panella and Joe Widman And other very cool stuff!

October 2020

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LETTERS

to the Editor

From an Old Spring Rises a New ‘Reader’ Dear John, Enclosed find a picture of your youngest reader (my great-great-granddaughter) Willow Joyce Baker, age 18 months.

She picked up your magazine and looked at it for a long time, evidently studying the art as she obviously cannot actually read. We all do though!

I don’t know who your oldest reader is, but thankfully it is not me.

I remain your advocate, Paul (and Darlene) Lang Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania Editor’s note: “Roaring Spring?” Sounds interesting. We noticed, per Wikipedia, that the village was established around the Big Spring in Morrison’s Cove, “a clean and dependable water source” vital to the operation of a paper mill. Prior to 1866, when the first paper mill was built, Roaring Spring had been a grist mill hamlet with a country store that led to the mill near the spring. The grist mill, powered by the spring water, had operated at that location since at least the 1760s.

By 1873, the borough contained 170 lots and 50 buildings, which included the paper and grist mills, three churches, a company store, a schoolhouse and one hotel. It is home to the only remaining original Pennsylvania Railroad station in Blair County.

The village core retains only a few shops and professional offices, but still holds the Roaring Spring Blank Book Co. and the Roaring Spring Water Bottling Co. and all of the historic church buildings.

The Roaring Spring Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

Like many of us, Willow Joyce Baker likes to hunker down with AB&GC every month.

Places in 1995. The most prominent natural feature, Wikipedia adds, is the Big Spring, or Roaring Spring, an eightmillion-gallon-a-day limestone spring that emerges from a hillside in the center of town.

OK, now our No. 1 question: Are there any old bottles from the spring? Please let us know.

A Year of Challenges Hi, John, It has been a difficult year, in so many ways. Right now we are all working through COVID-19. If you live in Northern California like I do, you are working through a huge fire season.

Oh, of course, our major bottle show in Reno, was cancelled. Many local shows have been cancelled.

Through it all, in my book, a major unhappiness for our group was the passing

of Mark Vuono, a really super guy and an asset to our bottle group. I hope that Andrew, his son picks up for his Dad. Best wishes to all the Vuono family.

Jay Jacobs Napa, California

New History on Old Bottles Dear John Panella and Joe Widman, My name is Henry Thies. I just retired as a pharmacist of 39-plus years in June of this year. I have been a bottle collector of almost 50 years. I enjoyed your Peruna article (Medicine Chest, April 2020).

When I started working, I paid attention to products still on the market that I had old bottles for. In June of 1989, I ordered a bottle of Peruna from our wholesaler to go along with the Peruna bottles of the past. As a historian, I know how hard it is to find last dates of operation.

LETTERS

to the Editor

Anyway, I know the product was produced and marketed in 1989. I have the bottle and box as proof. In 1989, the product was being sold as an iron and vitamin tonic in a sherry wine base. It was 18 percent alcohol. The box was labeled in Spanish and English. On the box it says “AS SEEN ON TV.” It was being produced by Consolidated Royal Corp. of Chicago. It has a bar code and had a money back guarantee. The flyer in the box says it was available in tablet form as well.

I can send pictures of the bottle, box, and flyer if you would like.

Sincerely, Henry Thies Cut Bank, Montana Editor’s note: Congratulations on your retirement, Henry, and please send photos. We’d love to hear more about your collecting.

Jas. Van Dyk, Tea Importer Teapot Dear John, It was with great interest that I read the article entitled, “The Stoneware Doctor” (Sept. 2020), by John Savastio. It was particularly interesting to me, as I had written an article entitled “How To Restore Damaged Stoneware” for your magazine back in October 2002.

Little did I realize that I was in possession at the time of one of the featured miniature teapots in this article, advertising James Van Dyk, tea importer. It was my assumption when I purchased this little teapot for $1 at a flea market many years ago, and that it was in such perfect condition, that it was some sort of reproduction or recently fabricated piece of memorabilia.

I have enclosed a photograph of the teapot, although now I am questioning whether it might be authentic or not.

Does the author of this article know of any such reproductions? I might have been fooled by its excellent condition into thinking it was a repro when in fact it may have been truly vintage.

Any thoughts?

Thank you so much for continuing to publish this wonderful magazine. I look forward to my monthly escape from reality when it arrives at my door.

All the best, John Scarpati Howard Beach, New York

A Monumental Dig — How Sweet It Was Hello, John, In 1998 I dug a huge dump in Bartlett, New Hampshire, that took seven days to get through. Near the end of the dig I came upon this beautiful, intact monument cologne bottle. Near it was a pristine Pitkin ink. What a thrill!

The cologne is a vibrant shade of aquamarine and measures 4 3/8 inches tall by 2 3/8 inches wide and has a crude pontil scar. I’m certain your readers will enjoy seeing a photo of this rare colored monument cologne bottle.

Peter B. Samuelson Intervale, New Hampshire

TOP: John Scarpati's Jas. Van Dyk teapot.

Editor’s note: Peter brought this monument cologne bottle to our attention after seeing the cobalt blue example that was featured in American Glass Gallery Auction 26, July, 2020, Lot 104. It is interesting, as the aquamarine examples are, in our opinion, equally as rare as the cobalt blue examples.

Also: Bartlett was settled after 1769, and is named for Dr. Josiah Bartlett, the first chief executive to bear the name “governor,” a representative to the Continental Congress, and one of New Hampshire’s three signers of the Declaration of Independence. What a great city to dig in!

ABOVE: Peter Samuelson's monument cologne.

October 2020

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Heard it through the

Grapevine Club Fulfills its Maine Goal Although this is the inaugural 2020 show, the Mid-Maine Antique Bottle Club (MMABC) was founded back in 2014. We’ve gone from an idea born at a flea market to a super group of seasoned collectors from around the state. We were determined to have a functioning club with a Maine-based bottle show, something we felt the state and its great collectors have been missing for too many years.

We’re excited because we developed our entire club from that one simple idea.

Now, we’re looking forward to seeing and welcoming all our bottle collecting friends to our show on Nov. 1st!

Paul McClure MMABC Show Chairman

Cashing in on Salvador Dalí As everyone knows, Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquis of Dalí de Púbol, (1904-1989), aka Salvador Dalí, was a Spanish surrealist artist. To many, he was a master, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his work.

He was highly imaginative, and indulged in unusual and grandiose behavior.

And, he was and is worth money.

As reported in a recent issue of Kovels Komments, “this is the stuff of dreams: You are browsing through a thrift shop, searching for bargains and you inadvertently hit the mother lode — art by a world-famous artist whose works are bought and sold for thousands, if not millions.”

“That’s what happened recently when a shopper at a thrift store in Kitty Hawk, N.C., found a piece by the internationally famous Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. Shopper Wendy Hawkins saw an otherwise ignored piece of art buried with

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

a bunch of other paintings sitting on the floor. It was a 1950s woodcut print by Dalí (partially shown above) that was part of a series of 100 illustrations depicting Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’ called ‘Purgatory Canto 32.’ It shows a woman in blue standing next to a man in red.”

“Dalí created a series of 100 watercolor paintings — one for each chapter of Dante’s book — that were reproduced as wood engravings. Each of those required about 35 separate blocks to complete the image. Secondhand art was usually priced between $10 and $50 at the thrift store. The authenticated woodcut sold for $1,200.”

I think the Dalai Lama probably is a better painter, but Salvador Dalí makes for better jokes: What does Salvador Dalí eat for breakfast?

Usually just a bowl of surreal.

I met a girl from El Salvador. I told her she was El SalvAdorable … But she said she’s heard that a Brazilian times.

What do you call Salvador Dalí after multiple homicide? A surreal killer.

By Ralph Finch

A Bottle Dryer? Cool (or not?)

As a new collector, are you a little wet behind the ears? Are your bottles wet?

If so, you might consider Lot 1674, a “Bottle Dryer” estimated value at “AUD $400-600 — that’s in Australian money!

(In U.S., that’s … oh, who cares?)

The item below was offered Feb. 28 by Lawsons, located in Sydney, Australia.

Shipping was estimated at … oh, forget it.

You’d be crazy to buy this.

Heard it through the

Grapevine Augusta on Glass Updated 2nd Edition Bottle collecting spans a variety of categories: bitters, whiskeys, beers, sodas, medicines, etc. Most collectors have an affinity for their local bottles. Those attending last year’s National Bottle Show were fortunate to view the Bill and Bea Baab collection of Augusta bottles, now beautifully displayed in the Augusta Museum. Bill and his wife Bea spent decades assembling the collection and researching the history behind the bottles.

Bill put his research into a beautifully illustrated full-color book in 2007 titled Augusta on Glass. Following an entertaining introduction, Bill details the history of Augusta through its bottles. First up is the story of the Augusta Brewing Company, including the social and political factors affecting breweries locally and across the country. Bill interweaves personal stories of the key characters allowing the reader to get to know them.

The biggest character in Augusta bottle history was probably Ed Sheehan, who is covered in detail in the soda section.

Sheehan’s 60-year career began in the 1860s as manager of the Augusta operation of Savannah, Georgia bottler John Ryan. Pictured are interior and exterior views of Sheehan’s bottling plant, his saloon, and the soda and beer bottles used over decades.

Sheehan’s chief rival, Clinton Bottling Works, and others including Coca-Cola and Royal Crown, are well covered and their bottles pictured. Another section details the local mineral water business and their bottles and dispensers.

Augusta’s patent medicine history includes the famous River Swamp Chill and Fever Cure and Frog Pond Chill & Fever Cure along with many others. A fascinating chapter tells the story of Dr. W. H. Tutt

and his medicines, which included his Sarsaparilla & Queens Delight and Tutt’s Golden Eagle Bitters.

Late Delivery of Magazines

Bill’s book closes with a history of the local jug whiskey trade and the potteries that made the jugs. An appendix includes a checklist and rarity scale of Augusta bottles and pottery.

Unfortunately, some readers are experiencing late delivery of their magazines.

Both the August as well as September issues were delivered to the post office on schedule. Both periodical as well as first class mail appear to be impacted.

Augusta on Glass is once again available on Amazon in an updated second edition for $40, with free shipping to Amazon Prime members. Search for Amazon.com/books: “Augusta on Glass.”

We appreciate your patience. We have been in communication with the post office and are working with them to try and mitigate the delivery issues.

—Dennis Smith

— John Pastor October 2020

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Select Antique Bottles & Early Glass at Auction

Bidding Begins: November 9th

Closes: November 18th

Select Auction 195 Including: Early Glass, Bottles, Flasks, Bitters, Inks, Utilities, Soda and Mineral Waters, Freeblown and Pressed Glass, Whiskeys, Medicines & More

Heckler 6

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

www.hecklerauction.com | 860-974-1634 79 Bradford Corner Road, Woodstock Valley, CT 06282

COUNT YOUR RIBS Some of the most abundant patternmolded New England glass objects are “Pitkins,” a term used to describe ribbed vessels, often double-patterned and swirled. The most commonly used count is the 36-rib (or grooves) mold, which was especially prevalent throughout Hartford County, Connecticut glass factories between the years 1780-1830.

Harry Hall White was an early pioneer of glass collecting, and more importantly, a researcher and explorer of glass factories.

He uncovered evidence of 36-rib mold production at Keene, New Hampshire, and Coventry, Connecticut. Through other excavations, we know this was the rib count of choice at Pitkin, the Mather works, and also Glastonbury. There were certainly numerous 36-rib objects produced throughout New England.

Given this information, determining a specific glass factory origin by rib count alone would likely prove inconclusive.

However, other characteristics can help solidify a strong determination. Although more commonly found in flask form, these objects are more scarce in inkwell form. Any vessels beyond that, such as jars, bottles, and tableware, should be considered extremely rare. New England bottles with 28, 32, and 38 ribs have been recorded, but without question, the 36-rib mold is the most popular and the quintessential New England patternmolded bottle.

PHOTOS: TOP: A selection of various 36-rib molded objects in different forms and styles.

BOTTOM: Pattern-molded New England glass can certainly be quite colorful. Here are three bright green colored Pitkin flasks made from the 36-rib mold.

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A large beehive-type 36-rib Pitkin inkwell

JOHN DENISON CROCKER, A RENAISSANCE MAN, FROM BOOT POLISH MAKER TO ARTIST John Denison Crocker was born in Salem, Connecticut, in 1822 and spent most of his life in Norwich, where he died in 1907.

At the age of twelve, Crocker was apprenticed to a silversmith. He left that trade to work at the shop of a furniture maker and restorer. While there, he was captivated by a portrait brought to the shop for varnishing. At seventeen he became determined to become an artist. Although he started as a portrait painter, he soon turned to landscapes, where he documented his native southeastern Connecticut. He spent time in the Catskills and is known to have painted at least one scene titled “View of New Hampshire.”

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

Crocker’s Union Boot Polish bottle

In addition to painting, Crocker produced a cure-all called “Crocker’s Magical Stomach Powders,” which was purported to be “a sure cure for Indigestion and all Bowel Difficulties.” Crocker, perhaps informed by a knowledge of herbs and plant extracts, produced and distributed several well-received varnishes and coatings as well, including a boot polish and water-proofing agent. In addition to his powders and coatings, Crocker was an inventor. In 1865 he was granted a patent for a new “file-cutting” machine. Crocker was certainly a very diverse individual, and the legacy of his interests are still enjoyed by many enthusiasts today.

It is interesting to note that one of his well-known landscapes, titled “View of Norwich, Connecticut with Paddlewheel Steamer and Ship at Anchor” sold in 2015 for $6600. The Union Boot Polish pictured above sold in the Glassworks sale (Mebane Collection) in 2002 for $6600!

THE LOWELL RAILROAD – ANTICIPATION, SUCCESS, AND HARDSHIP Staying in the vein of Connecticut glass, here is a flask portraying a railroad scene: a horse and cart (full of goods) being pulled along a railway. The flask is the only half-pint in the Railroad group, charted as a GV-10, and the ONLY Railroad flask associated with a very specific rail line. It was made at the Coventry, Connecticut, Glassworks, as proven by the many shards which were uncovered by Harry Hall White at that site. The flask is marked “Railroad Lowell,” a clue to the date and purpose or significance of this unique flask.

Some two hundred years ago, there were only a few houses where the city of Lowell now stands. While it was the water of the Merrimack River that powered the

mills of Lowell, it was the railroad that built the city. The concept of railroads came from England. The first railroad in the U.S. was built to move granite in Quincy in 1826, and was powered by horses. The first locomotive on the Boston & Lowell ran on June 24, 1835, making the trip in one hour, 15 minutes. The fare was $1 for the trip.

The locomotive was built in England in 1832 by Robert Stephenson. It was named Stephenson, but was commonly known as “John Bull.”

As I was reading about the accounts of the first few days of the Boston & Lowell launch, I came across an excerpt from the Lowell Courier, June 25th, 1835: “Accident! A young man, by the name of David Danforth, about 22 years of age, was killed on the railroad this afternoon, about four miles from this town. The locomotive, Patrick, manufactured [assembled] in this town and just put on the road, with a train of cars, was returning from Boston, Mr. Danforth standing on one of them, his head struck against a bridge over the road with such force as to kill him almost instantly.”

Crocker’s “View of Norwich, Connecticut with Paddlewheel Steamer and Ship at Anchor” painting, and an image of John Dennison Crocker.

Since Lowell is only an hour away from where I live, I have always been curious about these flasks. We can assume that this mold was made between the late 1820s into the early 1830s as a propaganda or celebration piece. It was also likely made before a viewing of the locomotive, as the flask depicts a horse and cart, so I am guessing it was made well before the 1835 maiden voyage of the train.

Michael George earlyglass@gmail.com

D

GV-10 “Railroad / Lowell” horse and cart flask

October 2020

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George Skinner McKearin

By Kevin A. Sives Photo of George S. McKearin by Christina S. Stevens

G

eorge Skinner McKearin is a name that should be familiar to most bottle and flask collectors, if for no other reason than the historical and pictoral flask charts and numbering system he devised, which we continue to use today.

McKearin, like many of early 20th century collectors, was able to amass an amazing collection of flasks, as well as all types of blown glass as well. But unlike most collectors of the period, McKearin didn’t just collect and display. Instead, he did extensive research into the history of the pieces he acquired. He categorized his collection by type and place of manufacture, and wrote extensively in antique publications of the period, as well as publishing two groundbreaking books (along with his eldest daughter Helen).

EARLY YEARS George was born on October 22, 1874, in Hoosick Falls, New York. Hoosick Falls is a small town located northeast of Albany, nearly touching the Vermont border. As an aside, Hoosick Falls is in

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

Rensselaer County, which is named after Kiliaen van Rensselaer, who settled the area in 1630. Stephen van Rensselaer, a descendant, in 1921 wrote Check List of Early American Bottles and Flasks, in two volumes, where he attempted to categorize bottles and flasks into “Groups” (e. g.

Group II – American Eagle). And under each Group were “Divisions” (e. g. Division I – Corrugated Sides, Division II – Eagle Each Side, etc.). George McKearin would later use van Rensselaer’s grouping as a starting point for his own categorization scheme.

Back to George McKearin. His parents were Patrick McKearin (1853 – 1899) and Ella Lucy McKearin (1854 – 1905).

Patrick was born in Brandon, Vermont, and learned to become a telegraph operator. In 1872 he moved to Hoosick Falls, New York, to manage the Western Union Telegraph office. He married Ella Lucy Smith on February 23, 1874, and George was born soon afterward. Patrick eventually left the field of telegraphy and started an insurance company in Hoosick Falls.

Perhaps he saw the writing on the wall after the telephone was patented in 1876.

Little is known of George’s early years.

He attended the local public schools in Hoosick Falls, and early on, planned to enter the ministry. Perhaps his father didn’t approve of his plans, or, more than likely, real life and the need to make money intervened and George began working at his father’s insurance business.

FAMILY MAN AND INSURANCE AGENT George married a local Hoosick Falls girl, Nellie Richmond Webster (1877 – 1954) on December 2, 1896, soon after his 22nd birthday. Their union would result in five children, four daughters and one son. Their daughters were Helen (September 23, 1898 – October 20, 1988), Katherine Skinner McKearin (born 1902), Ruth Elizabeth “Betty” (born 1910), Mary (born 1912), and George Skinner McKearin, Jr. (born 1913).

Everybody needs a hobby, and George was born to be a collector. Beginning early in his life, it was rocks and minerals, butterflies, bird eggs, stamps, and coins.

He became a serious stamp collector and

PHOTOS (clockwise from upper left): American Glass, by George S. and Helen McKearin.

American Glass, signed First Edition.

Early American Glass Auction - Part 1.

Auction Part 1 - Prices Realized - Page 1.

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dealer, even attending the 13th Annual Convention of the American Philatelic Association, which was held in New York City from August 23 to 26, 1898, about a month before the birth of his first child, Helen.

George’s father died in November of 1899, real life intervened again, and George took over the running of his father’s insurance agency. So, with a growing family and a full-time business to run, he had to put some of his collecting interests on the back burner for a while.

George worked hard in the business, becoming the vice president of the General Insurance Company, and Surety Bonds in 1916, and president in 1919. But even during this period, he found time to collect and to research. According to McKearin himself, he became interested in American glass around 1916.

DEALER AND COLLECTOR In 1923, George, with the help of his daughter Helen (who was 27 at the time), opened a retail antiques shop in New York City, called McKearin’s Antiques, Inc. The shop did well, selling all types of antiques to retail customers in the city.

It might be that they got into the retail business like a lot of collectors do — to sell off things they didn’t want, so that they could raise funds for buying items that they did!

In 1929, McKearin loaned examples of American glass from his personal collection to the Girl Scouts Loan Exhibition at the American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, 30 East 57th Street, New York City. The Exhibition ran from September 25 to October 9, 1929.

Almost immediately after the end of the Exhibition, the stock market crashed, and the Great Depression began. Perhaps because of the financial pressures of the Depression, McKearin did two things — he decided to part with a majority of his glass collection at auction (1931/32), and

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

close his retail store in New York City (1933), and move back to Hoosick Falls.

McKearin’s decision to part with his glass collection resulted in a monumental auction, held in two sessions, by American Art Association Anderson Galleries, Inc., 30 East 57th Street, New York. (American Art would become Parke-Bernet Galleries in 1937 until 1964, when they were purchased by Sotheby’s.)

The sale was billed as Early American Glass / The Private Collection of / George S. McKearin / Hoosick Falls, N.Y. Part one was held on April 22 and 23, 1931 and was comprised of about 350 lots. Part two was held on January 6 and 7, 1932, with a little over 360 lots.

In the Foreword to Part I, McKearin wrote: “But now the time has come when I feel I can no longer continue the responsibility of private ownership of a collection of such magnitude. My hope has been to see at least a representative and comprehensive portion of the collection go to one of our great museums, where it would be available to others interested in the study and collecting of early American glass. I sincerely regret that I am not so situated as to make such a gift from the collection for this purpose.”

If McKearin sounded a bit regretful in Part I, by the time Part II was sold McKearin was ready to engage in a little well-deserved bragging: “I feel warranted in making the statement that not only does this sale, as a whole, represent the finest and most representative selection of Early American Glass ever presented for public sale at any one time but also at no time has there been made available so many unique and superlative pieces representing the best work of our early American glass houses.”

It would take another several dozen pages to discuss all the amazing glass that was sold in these two auctions, and the incredibly low (by today’s standards) prices realized. Modern readers might be

surprised that of the over 700 lots, only a miniscule amount of them were historical or pictoral flasks. Most of the glass sold was free-blown and mold-blown, and categorized as Stiegel, Wistar, New York State, New England, Ohio and Midwestern, and South Jersey. Let’s just all agree, that if they invent a time machine, this would be a good time and place to travel to, with a pocket full of 1930s cash.

AUTHOR (AND STILL INSURANCE AGENT) Despite everything else that he was doing, McKearin continued to successfully operate his insurance business. Illustrated here is a glass paperweight, with a sterling silver band, from my collection. It was presented to McKearin on November 13, 1938 for his 25 years of continuous representation of The Home Insurance Company of New York. McKearin’s son, George S. McKearin Jr., ran the business until 1967, when he retired.

Like many of us collectors, soon after selling off a portion of his collection, McKearin began to accumulate more glass. And in his spare time, while running the family insurance business and continuing to operate an antique shop in Hoosick Falls, McKearin put his, and Helen’s, research and organizational energies toward writing a book. The result, published in 1941, was called simply American Glass.

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of this book to anyone interested in collecting glass. At over 600 pages, and profusely illustrated with over 2,000 photographs and 1,000 drawings by James L. McCreery, this book has undergone over a dozen printings since 1941.

I have three copies; a reference copy at home, a copy I carry in my car, and a signed first edition that is displayed on a bookcase in my living room.

And American Glass was completed when “research” really meant something. In those days, no Google or email could

Early American Glass Auction - Part 2.

help you. If you wanted to find out something, you wrote a letter or telephoned a library or historical society.

Or else you hired a local researcher, or you travelled to the library or historical society yourself. You looked over original source documents, interviewed descendants of glass workers or other collectors and researchers, and in the end, all of this work might result in just one sentence in the book.

It was in American Glass that the McKearins first published what they called “The Charts,” where they divided flasks into “certain groups and have given description of the design and other details, accompanied with line drawings of most of the flasks.” For example, Group I, Portrait Flasks – Washington, where GI-1 through GI-36 are “Early Monongahela

Auction - Part 2 - Prices Realized - Page 1

and Pittsburgh Districts and Early Kensington.” GI-37 – GI-61 are “Dyottville Glass Works, Phila, and Lockport Glass Works, Lockport, N.Y.” and so forth until Group I ends at GI-122. Followed by Group II, “American Eagle Flasks” until we get to GX-31, the 31st flask in the tenth Group, “Miscellaneous Flasks.”

Historical and pictoral flasks comprise just a portion of the book. Other section deal with free-blown glass, mold-blown glass, and early pressed glass including lighting and cup plates. And if blownthree-mold glass is your collecting interest, American Glass has all the known patterns at the time, drawn, documented, and categorized by Helen McKearin.

After the publication of American Glass, the McKearins spent the next ten years or so continuing to collect, research, and

write. The second book they wrote (although this time, Helen gets top billing) is Two Hundred Years of American Blown Glass, which was released on January 1, 1950. At over 350 pages, Two Hundred Years is described thus: “This beautifully designed book traces the development of blown glassmaking from colonial days to the modern industry it is today. Moreover, recent and extensive research by the authors has uncovered new facts and documentary evidence never published anywhere before.”

“The hundreds of illustrations, including 105 full-page plates in black and white and 10 pages in full color, contain many outstanding examples of articles made in each period.”

The first 140 pages of the book contain a history of American glassmaking, from October 2020

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the colonies to art glass of the 20th century. The rest of the book is full-page illustrations of some monumental pieces of glass — with photographs on the right page and a description of the items on the facing left page.

In addition to these two books, the McKearins wrote several articles for many of the popular antique publications of the day.

McKearin commemorative paperweight from The Home Insurance Company, obverse.

McKearin commemorative paperweight from The Home Insurance Company, reverse.

In the Foreword to Part I of the sale of his glass in 1931, McKearin expressed regret that he wasn’t in the position to donate his collection to a major museum. Twenty years later, in 1951, he was able to erase his regret, when he donated his historical and pictorial flask collection to the Corning Museum of Glass. I was a docent at the Corning Museum of Glass for several years, and every day got to look at many examples of glass and flasks that originated with George McKearin.

On July 29, 1954, at the age of 79, George McKearin suffered a heart attack, which debilitated him greatly. For the next four years, his health continued to decline, and he died at his home on December 16, 1958. He was buried in Maple Grove Old Cemetery in Hoosick Falls, New York.

SUMMARY Even though it’s been nearly 150 years since George S. McKearin was born, and over 60 years since he died, his name and legacy continue to live on. In 1989, the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors inducted George S. McKearin into their Hall of Fame.

And any discussion of historical or pictoral flasks that you see or hear at bottle shows, in auction catalogs, or online, usually begins with the phrase, “It’s listed as McKearin number…”

McKearin commemorative paperweight from The Home Insurance Company, close-up.

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

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Two Hundred Years of American Blown Glass

by Helen and George S. McKearin

REFERENCES Anderson, George Baker, 1897: Landmarks of Rensselaer County New York, Syracuse, NY. D. Mason & Company, Publishers.

Early American Glass: Catalogue of Examples Selected from The Private Collection of George S. McKearin.

Shown at the Girl Scouts Loan Exhibition at the American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, 30 East 57th Street, New York City, from September 25 to October 9, 1929.

McKearin, George S. and Helen, 1941: American Glass, New York. Crown Publishers, 1941.

McKearin, Helen and George S., 1950: Two Hundred Years of American Blown Glass, New York. Crown Publishers.

Numismatic Mall, 2011-2018, John N. Lupia III: The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Numismatic Biographies: From the 7th Century BC to Today, http://www. numismaticmall.com/numismaticmallcom/mckearin-george-s Photograph of George S. McKearin taken by Christina S. Stevens.

Midwest Pattern Molded Bottles in Rare Colors and Sizes

American Glass Gallery

TM

Our November, 2020 Auction will feature a premier grouping of Midwest Pattern Molded Bottles from the Mary Ballentine Collection as well as other notable consignors. This small, but select, grouping is one of the finest to be offered at public auction in more than 30 years. Features include several colored ‘Beehive’ type bottles in cobalt, amber and green; pattern molded Globs in rare colors and sizes, as well as a handful of other miscellaneous scarce bottles. Follow our website for additional details regarding this select sale.

These choice Midwestern Pattern Molded bottles will be included in our November, 2020 Auction.

American Glass Gallery • John R. Pastor • P.O. Box 227, New Hudson, Michigan 48165 phone: 248.486.0530 • www.americanglassgallery.com • email: jpastor@americanglassgallery.com October 2020

15

FOHBC’s Latest Inductee into the Hall of Fame

T

he Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors recently inducted internationally renowned collector, author, and scholar, Willy Van den Bossche, into the prestigeous Hall of Fame.

Willy Van den Bossche was born in Belgium in 1943, where he graduated in industrial engineering in 1967 and then specialised in glass technology. For two years he worked as a Chief Plant Engineer in the bottle making industry in Antwerp (Belgium) where he started collecting bottles. From 1971 until his retirement he worked as a Chief Patent Examiner in the field of glass technology at the European Patent Office (EPO) in Holland, where he searched more than 4,000 glass patent applications world-wide.

In 1999, he authored the International Patent Classification in the field of Glass Technology (C03B) for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). For more than fifty years he has been a pioneer and a serious collector of European antique glass bottles (1500-1850) and utility glass. He also collects all literature on glass, the art of glass, and glassmaking from all over the world.

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

In 2001, after capping twelve years of research and development, he authored his first major reference work, Antique Glass Bottles – Their History and Evolution (1500-1850) – A Comprehensive, Illustrated Guide – With a World-wide Bibliography of Glass Bottles (440 p. with 770 European bottles, jars and seals illustrating in full colour his entire private bottle collection).

In 2012, he authored his second major reference work, Bibliography of Glass: From the Earliest Times to the Present (347 p., 3,426 titles) spending ten years for preparing this book in four languages (English, French, German and Dutch).

His most important glass library (4,200 books) contains all the significant literature devoted to antique glass and glass bottles world-wide in all languages.

Willy is a member of several international associations for the history of glass, including the Glass Comity of the International Council of Museums (ICOM/ Glass). He has lectured and written many articles on antique bottles and glass. He retired in 2003 and lives in Belgium.

Willy was also previously inducted to the FOHBC Honor Roll in 2003.

PHOTOS (clockwise, from top left): ANTIQUE GLASS BOTTLES (2001) and BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GLASS (2012, 2019) by Willy Van den Bossche.

Willy Van den Bossche (71) visiting the glass city of Leerdam, Holland, in 2014.

17th and 18th century European bottles and jars.

Willy Van den Bossche (66), author's portrait, 2009.

Fruit Jar Rambles Extra

By Tom Caniff — Photos by Deena Caniff

FILBERT’S FLAGS One of the most appealing product jars made in the last 75 years or so, in my estimation, is shown in Photo 1. Embossed 1776 FIRST STARS AND STRIPES, this round, clear, quart jar was made for the J. H. Filbert Company, of Baltimore, Maryland for our country’s bicentennial, in 1976. The jar bears the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company’s AHK mold identifier embossed on the base, and an embossed M shows that the jar was made at Kerr’s Millville, New Jersey, plant.

This jar has a standard-size Mason screw cap with stars around the skirt and the top is lettered MRS FILBERTS SALAD DRESSING THIS LID NOT REUSABLE FOR HOME CANNING FOR CONTINUED FRESHNESS –– REFRIGERATE AFTER OPENING. (Photo 2) The company was founded by John H. Filbert, who died in 1917. But info on the early J. H. Filbert Co. isn’t easy to find for some reason. Figure A depicts a postcard offering 5¢ off on the purchase of a pint jar of Mrs. Filbert’s Mayonnaise, Salad Dressing, or Sandwich Spread. This is the earliest advertising we’ve found for a Mrs. Filbert’s product; the card is postmarked May 24, 1935. The brand name is said to be in reference to Mrs. Martha V. Filbert, wife of J. H. Filbert, who became company president upon her husband’s death.

On May 19, 1976, the GETTYSBURG (Pennsylvania) TIMES advertised “Mrs. Filbert’s Salad Dressing 32 oz.” that was “Packed in a Commemorative Bicentennial Jar.” And on April 21, 1976, two days later, “Mrs. Filbert’s MAYONNAISE Packed in Reuseable Bicentennial Decorator Jar” was advertised by Kennie’s Market, also in the GETTYSBURG TIMES.

Fruit jar columnist and researcher Dick Roller reported the FIRST STARS AND STRIPES jar in his January 1983 FRUIT JAR NEWSLETTER. Although it was a product jar, Dick featured it in his STANDARD FRUIT JAR REFERENCE, reporting that the jar was “Made in January, February and June 1976 at the Millville, New Jersey plant of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company... The Millville, New Jersey, Kerr plant produced thirteen thousand nine hundred eighty-two (13,982) gross (2,013,408) of these round jars for the J. H. Filbert Company.”

Also, Dick added that “according to Alice Creswick (“Calling All Jar Collectors,” ANTIQUE BOTTLE WORLD, August 1980) the Kerr plant in Huntington, West Virginia also produced eight thousand eight hundred ninety-four (8,894) gross (1,280,736) of these jars.” Quite a number, considering how few of these flag jars we’ve seen over the years.

Both the 70mm Mason standard-thread and the interrupted-thread (lugged) finishes have been reported on these jars, although the standard finish is the only style we’ve seen. And a Heffnner’s ad from the DAVIE COUNTY ENTERPRISE RECORD, of Mocksville, North Carolina, dated March 4, 1976, shows a small cut of a wide-mouth quart jar of Mrs. Filbert’s Mayonnaise, 79¢, which leads one to wonder if there might be a widemouth version of the 1776 FIRST STARS AND STRIPES jar out there somewhere.

There’s no mention of this one being a bicentennial jar, but the date would fit.

We don’t always know as much about these jars that we collect as we might like.

PHOTO 1: 1775 FIRST STARS AND STRIPES jar.

PHOTO 2: Cap for FIRST STARS AND STRIPES jar.

FIGURE A: 1935 postcard featuring Mrs. Filbert's Mayonnaise.

October 2020

17

Fruit Jar Rambles Extra

By Tom Caniff — Photos by Deena Caniff

IMPORTANCE OF A LABEL Photo 3 shows a jar that can be difficult to sell. The clear, smooth-lipped, paneled, tapered jar has a large zinc screw cap and is embossed on the side within a round slug plate, FACTORY NO. 2099 FIRST DISTRICT 50 CIGARS PENNA. The jar’s base is unlettered, bearing only a valve mark.

The jar, which stands 5 1/2” tall, with a 5” diameter screw cap, is attractive enough. The problem lies with the almost total lack of identification of the cigars or their manufacturer. It’s only one step up from being unembossed, for the embossing actually tells us almost nothing. The cigars were apparently made in Pennsylvania, at “Factory No. 2099” wherever that is.

In over forty years of jar collecting, which included a fairly nice tobacco jar collection, I’ve yet to find a source that lists the names of the various numbered factories within the states.

So, while it’s an attractive jar, with good embossing, aside from knowing that it was a cigar container, it has very little personality. However, as they usually do, the label shown in Photo 4 rounds out the identity of the jar.

Somewhat tattered, the label reads “Full Weight (hand holding a set of scales) Good As Gold,” with a GB monogram within shield in the lower corners.

The GB monogram stands for Gumpert Brothers, and while the name certainly isn’t well known today, in 1886, Gumpert Bros. Cigar Manufacturers was described in the PENNSYLVANIA HISTORIPHOTO 3: FACTORY NO. 2099 clear cigar jar.

PHOTO 4: Label on the FACTORY NO. 2099 jar.

FIGURE B: Illustration of the Gumpert Bros. Cigar Manufacturers building from 1886.

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

CAL REVIEW, City of Philadelphia, as a company of “mammoth proportions,” located at 113-121 South Twenty-third Street, with a sales room at 1341 Chestnut Street. (Figure B) Figure C shows the Gumpert’s Full Weight trademark from a cigar box lid or other advertising.

Gumpert’s company history is somewhat uneven, with the company reportedly being established in 1856. There were a couple Gumperts listed in the tobacco and cigar business between 1856 and 1864. Then in 1865 McELROY’S PHILADELPHIA DIRECTORY first listed “G. Gumpert & Brother (Gustavus & R. T. Gumpert) cigars, 1341 Chestnut.”

A November 1865 ad in the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER offered “‘Favorita’ The Best ‘Ten-Cent Segar’ In Town...

Gumpert & Bro., No. 1341 Chestnut Street, One door above the U. S. Mint.”

Our first-found advertising for “Gumpert Bros’ ‘Full Weight’ 5c Cigars” appeared in issues of Philadelphia’s THE TIMES newspaper in October 1885. (Figure D) The Oct. 20, 1898 ad, from the SIOUX CITY (Iowa) JOURNAL, in Figure E, for “‘Full Weight’ Cigars,” depicting a young lady stepping onto a scale, attests to a turn-of-the-century presence of the cigar in the Midwest, “supplied by Warfield, Pratt, Howell Co., Wholesale Distributors, Sioux City, Iowa.”

Gumpert Bros. rode their success with ‘Full Weight’ Cigars into the new century, and on Feb. 15, 1912, THE TOBACCO WORLD reported that “Gumpert Bros, have closed a successful year with ‘Full Weight’ cigars. The brand has been placed with numerous firms at prominent points throughout the country.” Albert Gumpert stated that the distributors of the “Full Weight” cigars were rapidly increas-

Fruit Jar Rambles Extra

By Tom Caniff — Photos by Deena Caniff

ing their business. The last we found of Gumpert Bros. was in a July 1922 ad in the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, seeking to hire cigarmakers for “straight mould work.”

So, although today it remains only as a rectangle of somewhat dirty, tattered paper, this humble label breathes life into an otherwise unidentified jar.

SOMERSET FARMS CREAM JAR John Antonez shared the little 4 1/2” tall, half-pint, clear glass, cream jar shown in Photo 5. It’s embossed SOMERSET FARMS F.H.T. CREAM. The reverse (not shown) is embossed MASS. SEAL L 1/2 PINT L.G.CO. (probably Lockport Glass Company, Lockport, N.Y.).

FIGURE C: FULL WEIGHT trademark.

This isn’t an entirely unlisted jar, as it was included in John Tutton’s 1980 copyrighted, 94-page book UDDER DELIGHT, “A Guide To Collecting Milkbottles (sic) And Related Items.”

But Tutton’s book didn’t show the great lettering on the jar’s screw cap, as shown in Photo 6. The cap appears to be goldlacquered and is nicely embossed SOMERSET FARMS - CREAMaround •F•H•T•.

The half-pint Somerset Farms F.H.T. Cream Jars are said, by one source, to have been located in Boston, Massachusetts, although there are milk bottles pyroglazed SOMERSET FARMS DAIRY MIDDLEBUSH, N.J.

BEGINNING TO THE END, JOHN L. MASON “Lists Of Patents –– for the week ending June 2nd 1857 –– each bearing that date: John L. Mason, of New York, N.Y. –– For

FIGURE D: October 13, 1885 ad for "FULL WEIGHT" cigars.

October 2020

19

Fruit Jar Rambles Extra

By Tom Caniff — Photos by Deena Caniff

Improvement in manufacturing screws of thin metal.”

–– From the June 4, 1857 EVENING STAR, of Washington, D.C.

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“Mr. John L. Mason, of North Vineland, was in town on Saturday. He is the inventor of the Mason jar. It was invented and patented by him in 1857.

“The first year he sold 20 gross only, but the jar rapidly grew in popular favor until now 130,000 gross per year are sold.

This is considered one of the best fruit jars in the country. Mr. Mason, while not engaged in the sale of the jar, still has an interest in it.

“We were glad to meet with our old friend.”

–– From the Oct. 30, 1884 BRIDGETON (New Jersey) PIONEER

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“John L. Mason, inventor of the Mason screw top glass fruit jar, who died on Wednesday at the Hudson Street Hospital, will be buried tomorrow. The funeral services will be held at the home of his daughter, Mrs. E. C. Edward, No. 577 Franklin-ave., Brooklyn.

FIGURE E: 1898 ad for "FULL WEIGHT" Cigars.

PHOTO 5: SOMERSET FARMS half-pint CREAM jar.

“Mr. Mason was born seventy-six years ago in Philadelphia. In 1857 he patented the screw top jar. Within the last year he made an improvement on his invention.

He was also treasurer and director of the Colonial Bond and Guarantee Company, Park Row Building. While at his desk a week ago last Wednesday he became dizzy, and was carried in an ambulance to the Hudson Street Hospital. He had been in failing health since the death of his wife, two years ago.”

–– From the Feb. 28, 1902 NEW YORK (New York) TRIBUNE

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

PHOTO 6: Embossed cap for SOMERSET FARMS jar.

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by October 30th will be in the December issue. Copy should be typewritten, printed, or sent via e-mail. A.B.& G.C. will not be responsible for errors in an ad due to poor quality copy. A.B.& G.C. reserves the right to refuse any advertising.

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IT PAYS! A display ad this size costs only $30.00 for one month. What are you waiting for? Call us today!

For Sale d FELLOW COLLECTORS/DEALERS: Please, if at all possible, include a name and phone number with your advertisements.

Not everyone has a computer, and a physical address does help to make sure that all of our readers can reach you. Thanks.

12/21 FOR SALE: Antique glass polishing equipment and supplies. New economy machine now available as well as the platinum series. www.JarDoctor.com R WAYNE LOWRY, JarDoctor@aol.com, 816-318-0160, 401 Johnston Ct. Raymore, MO 64083. 10/20

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

All classified ads must be paid in advance.

DISPLAY ADS One column x 2 inches One column x 3 inches One column x 4 inches One-fourth page One-third page One-half page Two-thirds page Full page

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Maximum copy size (full page) 7.5” X 10”. One column 2.3” wide. Two columns 5” wide.

Camera-ready copy preferred but not a requirement. One time $12.00 additional charge for photos.* *Consecutive issues with NO changes.

FOR SALE: No Shows, No Flea Markets, No Street Fairs, BUT there is JR's free For Sale List published quarterly and delivered to over 200 folks. All major bottle categories covered with 200 plus items listed. A bottle show delivered to your home. JOHN RONALD, jlrantiques@att. net, 707-762-8515. 11/20 FOR SALE: 1) 8" tall Dark Brown Jug - Incised Script Kauffman & Lattimer Co. Druggist Col. O. $75.00. 2) 2 3/4 " tall 1 Qt Brown Jug - Incised Script Old Continental Sour Mash Corn Whiskey $60.00. 3) 3 1/2" tall Dark Brown (top) & White (bottom) Jug - Cobalt Stenciled Ed Hettinger's Liquor Store Lancaster, Ohio $65.00. 4) 3 1/2" tall Cream Cobalt

Stenciled Compliments of Ed Hettinger Lancaster, Ohio $75.00. 5) 3 1/2" tall Dark Brown (top) & White (bottom) Cobalt Stenciled Green Mill Whiskey S.M. Denison Chillicothe, Ohio $65.00. Will sell all in one lot for $300.00 plus postage.

ROBERT BLACK, 740-654-5266, 1741 Glenmar Dr. Lancaster, OH 43130. 10/20

Shows, Shops & Services d 50 WEST ANTIQUES - Old Bottles, Bitters, Sodas, VA Items, 1000's of glass items. Been in Bottles 50 years this year!

540-686-0291, 540-662-7624. 11/20

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Are you a SARATOGA BOTTLE COLLECTOR? Join the Saratoga Bottle Collectors Society and get fabulous quarterly newsletters and meet some wonderful fellow collectors! BOB PUCKHABER, 603-731-8071. rjppersonal@comcast.net 10/20 NORTH JERSEY ANTIQUE BOTTLE COLLECTORS ASSN. is planning on holding its 51st Annual Bottle Show and Sale this November 8th, 2020 in Pompton Lakes, NJ. If you are interested in renting space, please contact me by email for more information. KEN DICKSON, Email: froggy8@optonline.net 10/20 ANTIQUES ON FIRST - 919 FIRST ST. BENICIA, CA. When visiting the S.F. Bay Area or Napa Wine Country, be sure to stop in nearby historic downtown Benicia; a nationally designated small town “Main Street” with shops, restaurants and magnificent Bay views. Also location of the Gold Rush era brick State Capitol museum, Civil War Camel Barns military/ local museum, and legendary former waterfront Bottle Digging bonanza of the West (“Benicia Glass”, Balto torpedoes, cathedrals, sodas, bitters, pontiles).

ANTIQUES ON FIRST has a rotating selection of locally dug Bottles, Clocks, Militaria, Railroadiana, Art, Advertising and more. Open Wed thru Sun 12:00 (often earlier) to 5:30. 9/21 FIRST ANNUAL MID-MAINE ANTIQUE BOTTLE CLUB SHOW & SALE. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020. TOPSHAM FAIRGROUNDS EXHIBITION HALL, TOPSHAM MAINE. FLYER AND DEALER CONTRACT, PLEASE EMAIL DAN AT FOSSIL_GLASS@YAHOO.COM 10/20 PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE AT www.greatantiquebottles.com where you will find dozens of quality bottles and flasks for sale. We are always interested in buying good bottles & flasks. Please let us know if you have any for sale. Our email address is: bottleguy1@gmail.com. ED and KATHY GRAY. 11/20

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MICRO BREWERIES, pubs and distilleries as they are the source of the next generation of bottle collectibles. Drink responsibly!

HENRY THIES, PO Box 1363 Cut Bank MT 59427.

10/20

WANTED: Buffalo, NY & Lockport, NY stoneware and bottles. Also, Buffalo beer trays and advertising signs. PETER JABLONSKI, 12489 Hunts Corners Rd, Akron, NY, 14001. Ph: 716-440-7985.

12/20

WE BUY COLLECTIONS - Baltimore, D.C., V.A. and Stoneware. Leave message if no answer. J & R FINE JUNK & COLLECTABLES. JEFF 443-904-0566 or 410-335-1383, ROB 443-417-0109.

10/20

WANTED: EMBOSSED CURES WANTED: Including these pontils: Avery's, Benson's, Bernard's, Brown's, Bull's, Burt's, Cannon's, Flander's, Frambe's Geoghegan's, Hamilton's, Jacob's, Lay's, McAdoo's, McElroy's, Parham's, Rhodes' Prov. R.I., Rohrer's, Rudolph's, Star-in's, Stone's, Toledo, Woodman's. ALSO BIMALS: Anchor, Bavarian Bitters, Beesting, Bixler's, Bliss, Boot's Indigestion, Bowanee, Bower's, Bradford's, Bromo Mineral, Bronson's, Bull's (Baltimore), Carey's CholiCura, Clement's Certain (green), Collins' Opium (aqua), Cook's Turpentine, Cowan's Certain, Davis Indian, Detchon's Infallible, Edelweiss, Electrofluid, Ewer's Arcanum, Forest Pine (unpontiled), Francisco's, Frog Pond 8", Green's King's Cure, Large Handyside's (chocolate amber), Helmer's, Hilleman's, Hinderman's, Holden's (green), Hungarian, Indian Mixture, JBF, Kauffman Phthisis, Keeley's (opium, neurotine, solution), Large Kellum's, Kid-Nee-Kure, Lenape's, Lindley's, Long's Malaria, Loryea (green), Marsden, McConnon Cough, Amber McLean's (8"), Miniotti's (clear), Morning Glory, Murphy K & L. Pageapfel's, Park's (clear), Peck's, Pennock's, Peterman's (green), Rattail, large River Swamp, Riverview, Scott's (bird), Streetman's, Struble's (aqua), Tremaine's, Universal, Vosburgh, Wadsworth (goat), Warner's K & L Rochester (green, aqua, clear), Wildwest, Wilkinson's, Wilson Footrot, Winan's (no Indian), York Corn Cure. Looking for many others, especially embossed with label, contents, box. Also would like data on unlisted cures for future Cure Book. JOHN WOLF, 937-275-1617. ohcures@yahoo.com 1186 Latchwood Ave., Dayton, OH 45405.

12/20

Wanted d WANTED: Connecticut drug store, pharmacy or apothecary bottles. Embossed or labeled. We collect, research and document Connecticut drug stores. STEVE POULIOT, 860-608-7208, steve@ctbottleman.com 12/20 WANTED: U.S.A. Hospital Dept. and any pre-1866 embossed food bottles, mustards, early Baltimore, Wheeling, D.C., Alexandria sodas, beers (stoneware or glass) damage free.

BRUCE, cwaddic@yahoo.com Phone: 703307-7792.

12/20 WANTED: Hobbleskirt embossed Coca-Cola bottles: 1915's, 1923's, D-Patent's 6oz's and 6 1/2 oz's. Collector will buy or trade. JIM GEORGES, georges77@twcny.rr.com or 315-662-7729.

7/21 WANTED: Harley bottles of West Chester, Pa. and Philadelphia, Pa. The West Chester bottles display either J. Harley or James Harley. The Phila. Bottles display Edwd Harley, Schul (Schuylkill) 4th & Market St., Philada (Philadelphia) or E. Harley, 802 Market St or E. Harley, West Market St. These two bottling businesses operated in the 1840s through the early 1880s. BOB HARLEY, Phone: 215-721-1107. Email: rwh220@yahoo.com 12/20 WANTED: Peoria Blob Sodas, Beers & Patent Medicines, Peoria Bitters. Thanks.

FRANK D., 309-645-6450. 10/20

WANTED: Old Marbles. Please call me! PAT DARNEILLE, 503-888-0665. 10/20 October 2020

23

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WANTED: PHILADELPHIA STRAPSIDED or Seamed Whiskey Flasks.

I collect and catalog these and also have an interest in Thomas H. Dillon (TD) Philadelphia mineral water bottles. Please contact me if you have any in your collection or wish to sell. ART MIRON, 215-248-4612. jestar484@verizon.net 4/21 WANTED: BUYING Pre-Pro etched & amp; embossed beer brewery glasses; whiskey shot glasses; pre-pro brewery mugs, steins including souvenir steins mugs; souvenir china; old advertising material: signs, trays, mirrors, saloon material; back bar whiskey bottles; other early American bottles, flasks, bitters, especially from Kentucky. PAUL VanVACTOR, Phone: 502-533-2693, email: pvanvactor@aol.com P.O. Box 221171, Louisville, KY 40252-1171.

WANTED: Jar Lid for Cohansey 2 1/2 Gallon R.B. #628. EDDIE DeHAVEN, 609-390-1898. 23 W. Golden Oak Lane, Marmora, NJ 08223. 9/20 WANTED: I Love Old Bitters From Ohio.

Thank you for your consideration. GARY BEATTY, bocatropicalbreezes@gmail.com, 941-426-7302. 10/20 WANTED: Cobalt DemiJohn, looking for a darker cobalt demijohn with squared shoulder, non-pontiled, any size. Email me a price and photo. Thanks. MARTY HALL, rosemuley@att.net 10/20 WANTED: George Ohr Pottery Cabins.

Or Cabin Inks. BOB TERRY, 303-5692502, llterryualusa@yahoo.com 9/21 WANTED: KI-4, Carbolic Acid, poison, use with caution, 16 oz, KS-31, W.H. McCarthy LTD, Sydney, Poison. TERRY WARSOP, terrywarsop@yahoo.com, 720-788-9881.

10/20 WANTED: Squat Soda Embossed "S. Wiestling" Mug Base. I.P. BARRY THEURER, bktheurer@aol.com, 717-9030031, 2023 Mkt. St. Ext., Middletown, PA 17057. 11/20

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

WANTED: Old Bottles of all types from Harrisburg, Highspire, Carlisle, Lebanon, Middletown, York and all surrounding PA towns. Thank you. BARRY THEURER, bktheurer@aol.com, 717-903-0031. 11/20 WANTED: It has been a difficult year, in so many ways. Right now we are all working through COVID-19. If you live in Northern California like I do, you are working through a huge fire season. Oh, of course, our major bottle show in Reno was cancelled. Many local shows have been cancelled. Through it all, in my book, a major unhappiness for our group was the passing of Mark Vuono, a really super guy and an asset to our bottle group. I hope that Andrew, his son picks up for his Dad. Best wishes to all the Vuono family. JAY JACOBS. 10/20 WANTED: Ephemera, documents, journals, ledgers, maps, diaries, broadsides, posters, etc.

With interesting & unusual content: any era considered - always buying. SUSAN FOX, 570-275-2590, 812 "B" St, Danville, PA 17821. 11/20 WANTED: Looking for Bottles, Stoneware from Avon or Avon by The Sea, New Jersey GLENN VOGEL, olgve@hotmail.com, 732539-8116. 10/20 WANTED: Will pay a fair price for these Hutchinson Bottles - 1. E.B. Co. / Evansville / Ind. 10 sided panels2, P.G. Stephen / Buffalo / NY 8 sided panels3. E.L. Winans / Buffalo / NY 12 sided panels. ZANG WOOD, Zapa33-51@msn.com, 505-3271316, 1612 Camino Rio Farmington, NM 87401. 12/20 WANTED: Madeira Bottles & Ephemera.

Old Wine & Liquors. Early Blown Stiegel, Midwest, Pittsburgh, New York, New Jersey BOB, rjelm5@aol.com, 412-418-9959. 10/20 WANTED: H.H. Warner Advertising, Odd Colored Barrels w/ damage. Rare Warner bottles. Warner Book still available, $15.00 e-book. MICHAEL SEELIGER, mwseeliger@gmail.com, 608-575-2922.

10/20

WANTED: Glass Lid (insert) and Zinc Ring for Quart Ball Fruit Jar (BBGMCo.) RB #195-1. Will buy insert, ring or both. MIKE BEARDSLEY, casketeer@aol.com, 315-3455094.

11/20

Remember: Advertising doesn’t cost,

IT PAYS! A display ad this size costs only $30.00 for one month. What are you waiting for? Call us today!

Notice of Fraud Alert!

Readers: Please be aware of solicitations to “WANTED ads” in the magazine. Specifically, a "bob chris," e-mail bobchris463@gmail. com, or Darlene.makowski123@ gmail.com, or Kelvin Max, gmail account: maxkelvin901@gmail.com Several folks advertising in the magazine have been contacted by these aliases claiming to have items they are looking for in their "Wanted Ads.” It is always prudent to be cautious when sending money to people who you do not know.

Mail fraud and wire fraud are federal crimes. This information is also being passed on to postal and local authorities. Please continue to be cautious and vigilant when transacting business or sending money to someone that you do not know.

The staff at AB&GC

WANTED

Greer #s of the mint state #1265 United States Syrup #1685 United States Syrup #1383 Dr. Perkins’ Syrup #5 Arthurs Renovating Syrup #778 Halls / Palingenesia / Or Regenerator

Also non Greer bottles of the mint state Dr. C.W. Robacks Scandinavien Blood Purifier Cincinnati, O, IP

Write, Call or Email

John Keating P.O. Box 13255 Olympia, WA 98508 360-628-9576 johnkeating473@yahoo.com

Buy Trade Classified Ads

SELL

Subscribers -

Please don't forget to use your 60-Word FREE classified ad credit in the magazine.

Email, or "snail-mail" your ad to us!

Libby@AmericanGlassGallery.com P.O. Box 227 New Hudson, MI 48165

WANTED: Clarke’s Vegetable Sherry Wine Bitters, Sharon, Mass.

All bottle sizes & variants…pontil/smooth base. Also, ANY ephemera..newspaper ads, invoices, letterhead, etc.

THANK YOU. Charlie Martin Jr. 781-248-8620, or cemartinjr@comcast.net

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Show CALENDAR OCTOBER 2 & 3 WILLIAMS, CALIFORNIA 3rd Annual Antique Bottles & Collectibles Show, (Sat. 9 AM to 3 PM; Early Bird Friday, 10:00 AM, $10), in the old gym behind the Sacramento Valley Museum, 1491 E Street, Williams, CA. Free Adm. Saturday.

Info: SLIM or CHRISTY EDWARDS, PH: 530.473.2502, email: closethegatefenceco@ yahoo.com OCTOBER 3

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MANSFIELD, OHIO NEW DATE! (this year only). The Ohio Bottle Club’s 42nd Annual Mansfield Antique Bottle & Advertising Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2 PM, early buyers Friday 3 to 6 PM, $35), at the Richland County Fairgrounds, Mansfield, OH. Adm. $5. Info: MATT LACY, PH: 440.228.1873, Email: info@antiquebottlesales.com; or LOUIS FIFER, 330.635.1964, Email; fiferlouis@yahoo.com Website: www.ohiobottleclub.org

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OCTOBER 4

OCTOBER 18

CHELSEA, MICHIGAN

SCRIBA, NEW YORK The Empire State Bottle Collectors Association’s 22nd Annual Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2:30 PM), at the Scriba Fire Hall, U.S. Route 104 East, Scriba (2 miles East of Oswego). Info: BARRY HAYNES, P.O. Box 900, Mexico, NY 13114. PH: 315.963.0922, or 315.963.3749, or Co-Chair CHRISTINA CHAMPION via Email: 110HarleyHorses@ gmail.com

OCTOBER 10

ALSIP, ILLINOIS

COVENTRY, CONNECTICUT

New Location! 1st Chicago Bottle Club's 51st Annual Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2 PM), at the Doubletree Inn by Hilton, 5000 W 127th St, Alsip, IL 60803. Adm. $3, Children under 16 free (No early adm). Info: RAY KOMOROWSKI, 127 S. Cuyler, Oak Park, IL 60302. PH: 708.848.7947. Email: 1stChicagoBottleClub@gmail.com

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The Southern Connecticut Antique Bottle Collector Association's 49th Annual Show, (8 AM to 1 PM), outdoors on the grounds of the historic Coventry Glass Works, 289 North River Road, Coventry, CT 06238 (corner of Rt. 44 & North River Road). For more information or dealer contracts, please contact: BOB, 203.938.3879, email: rdsrla@ optonline.net

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BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI

OCTOBER 10

4th Annual Mississippi Gulf Coast Bottle & Collectibles Show & Sale presented by The Old Guys Digging Club, (Sat. 9 AM to 4 PM; Dealer Setup, Friday, 12 to 5 PM, and Sat. morning 8 to 9 AM, Early buyers $20), at the Joppa Shrine Temple, 13280 Shriners Blvd, Biloxi, MS 39532 (Exit 41 - I-10). Sat. Free Adm. and Appraisals. Info: NORMAN BLEULER, 6446 Woolmarket Rd, Biloxi, MS 39532, Ph: 228.392.9148, Email: normanbleuler@gmail.com, or: PETER TAGGARD, 645 Village Lane South, Mandeville, LA 70471 Ph. 985.373.6487 Email: petertaggard@yahoo.com

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The Iowa Antique Bottleers 51st Annual Show and Sale, (8 AM to 2 PM), at the Johnston Lions Club, 64th Place and Merle Hay Road, Johnston, IA. Adm. $2, children free. Info: MARK C. WISEMAN, 3505 Sheridan Avenue, Des Moines, IA 503104557, email: markcwiseman@msn.com, PH: 515.344.8333, or: JOYCE JESSEN, 515.979.5216.

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OCTOBER 18 FINDLAY, OHIO

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Findlay Antique Bottle Club's 44th Annual Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2 PM; early bird Sun. 7 AM - $10), at the Old Mill Stream Centre, Hancock Cty. Fairgrounds, 1017 E. Sandusky St., Findlay, OH. Adm. $2, Children under 12 Free! Info: Show Chairman FRED CURTIS, 419.424.0486; email: finbotclub@gmail.com, Website: http://finbotclub.blogspot.com

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The Huron Valley Bottle and Insulator Club 44th Annual Show & Sale, (9AM to 2 PM), at the Comfort Inn Conference Center, 1645 Commerce Park Drive next to the Comfort Inn, Chelsea (Exit 159 off I-94).

Adm $3 for adults, children 16 and under, free. Info: MIKE BRUNER, Email, abbott4girl@sbcglobal.net, or ROD KRUPKA, 248.627.6351; Email: rod.krupka@yahoo. com

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ELKTON, MARYLAND The Tri-State Bottle Collectors and Diggers Club 48th Annual Show & Sale (9 AM to 2 PM), at the Singerly Fire Hall, Routes 279 & 213, Elkton, MD. Info: PH: DAVE BROWN, PH: 302.388.9311, email: dbrown3942@comcast.net

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NOVEMBER 1 TOPSHAM, MAINE New, 1st Annual Mid-Maine Antique Bottle Show, (9 AM to 2 PM; Early buyers 8 AM, $15), at the Topsham, Maine Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall, 54 Elm St. Topsham. Presented by the Mid-Maine Antique Bottle Club.

Adm. $2. Info: PAUL McCLURE, Ph. 207.832.1503; email: oldbottles@outlook. com

Show CALENDAR NOVEMBER 8

JANUARY 10, 2021

MARCH 14

OAKLAND, NEW JERSEY

TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

North Jersey Antique Bottle Collectors Assn.

51st Annual Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2 PM, early buyers 8 AM), at the Pompton Lakes Elks Lodge No.1895, 1 Perrin Ave, Pompton Lakes, NJ. Info: KEN, PH: 973.248.6406, email froggy8@optonline.net

The Little Rhody Bottle Club Annual Show & Sale, (9:00 AM to 3 PM, early buyers 8:00 AM, $15), at the Holiday Inn, 700 Myles Standish Blvd., Taunton, MA (off Exit 9, Rt. 495). Adm. $3. Info: BILL or LINDA ROSE, PH: 508.880.4929; or Email: sierramadre@comcast.net

The Baltimore Antique Bottle Club's 41st Annual Show & Sale, (8 AM to 3 PM), at the Physical Education Center, CCBC-Essex, 7201 Rossville Blvd.

(I-695,Exit 34). Info: Show Chairman RICK LEASE, 410-458-9405 or e-mail: finksburg21@comcast.net For contracts, call: ANDY AGNEW, 410-527-1707 or e-mail: medbotls@comcast.net Website: baltimorebottleclub.org

NOVEMBER 8 PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

JANUARY 23, 2021

New Location! The Pittsburgh Antique Bottle Club’s 51st Annual Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2 PM, early buyers 7 AM, $25), at the Elizabeth VFD Station 139, 107 Market Street, Elizabeth, PA 15037. Adm. $3. Info: BOB DeCROO, 694 Fayette City Rd., Fayette City, PA 15438. PH: 724.326.8741, or JAY HAWKINS, 1280 Mt. Pleasant Rd., West Newton, PA 15089, PH: 724.872.6013; web: www.PittsburghAntiqueBottleClub.org

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

NOVEMBER 14

FEBRUARY 6

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

DeFUNIAK SPRINGS, FLORIDA

Antique Bottle Collectors of North Florida 52nd Annual Show & Sale, (Sat. 8 AM to 2 PM; early buyers Fri. 2 PM to 7 PM, $50, 3 - 7 PM, $40, 5 - 7 PM, $20), at the Fraternal Order of Police Bldg., 5530 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, FL. Free adm. Saturday. Info: MIKE SKIE, 3047 Julington Creek Road, Jacksonville, FL 32223, PH: 904.710.0422, or COREY STOCK, 904.607.3133, or email: jaxbottleshow@yahoo.com

The Emerald Coast Bottle Collector's Inc, 20th Annual Show & Sale, (8:00 AM to 2:00 PM), at the DeFuniak Springs Community Center, 361 N. 10th Street, DeFuniak Springs, FL 32433. Free Adm., Free Appraisals. Info: RICHARD K, P.O. Box 241, Pensacola, FL 32591. Call or Text: 850.435.5425; Email: shards@bellsouth.net

NOVEMBER 29 BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA Forks of the Delaware Bottle Collectors Association 47th Annual Show & Sale (9AM to 2PM, early buyers 7:30 AM), at the Bethlehem Catholic High School, 2133 Madison Ave., (corner of Madison & Dewberry Avenues), Bethlehem, PA. Info: BILL HEGEDUS, 20 Cambridge Place, Catasauqua, PA 18032, PH: 610.264.3130.

Mississippi Antique Bottle Club presents their 35th Annual Show and Sale, (Sat. 9 AM to 4 PM, Free admission; Dealer Set-up and Early Buyers, Friday, 22nd, 12 Noon to 7 PM, $20.00, and Sat. 7 AM - 9 AM), at the Mississippi Fairgrounds, 1207 Mississippi St, Jackson, in the East Bay of the Trade Mart Building. Info: CHERYL COMANS, PH: 601.218.3505.

FEBRUARY 7 MANVILLE, NEW JERSEY New Jersey Antique Bottle Club (NJABC), 25th Annual Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2 PM) at the V.F.W. of Manville, New Jersey, 600 Washington Ave, Manville, NJ 08835.

Admission $3, no early buyers. Info: KEVIN KYLE, 230 Cedarville Rd, East Windsor, NJ 08520. Email: bottlediggerkev@aol.com PH. 609.209.4034 or JOHN LAWREY, 908.813.2334.

APRIL 17 COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA

New, Larger and Better Location!

The South Carolina Antique Bottle Club's 48th Annual Show. ONE DAY SHOW WITH NEW DATE! The show will be held at the Jamil Shrine Temple, 206 Jamil Road, Columbia, SC. Details soon to follow. For more info: MARTY VOLLMER, Ph: 803.629.8553; email: martyvollmer@aol.com, or: ERIC WARREN: 803.960.7814, email: scbottles@ aol.com JUNE 19 JOHNSTON, IOWA

Rescheduled from October 10, 2020.

The Iowa Antique Bottleers 51st Annual Show and Sale, (8 AM to 2 PM), at the Johnston Lions Club, 64th Place and Merle Hay Road, Johnston, IA. Adm. $2, children free. Info: MARK C. WISEMAN, 3505 Sheridan Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50310-4557, Email: markcwiseman@msn.com, PH: 515.344.8333, or JOYCE JESSEN, 515.979.5216.

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WANTED

Greer #s of the mint state #1265 United States Syrup #1685 United States Syrup #1383 Dr. Perkins’ Syrup #5 Arthurs Renovating Syrup #778 Halls / Palingenesia / Or Regenerator

Also non Greer bottles of the mint state Dr. C.W. Robacks Scandinavien Blood Purifier Cincinnati, O, IP

Write, Call or Email

John Keating P.O. Box 13255 Olympia, WA 98508 360-628-9576 johnkeating473@yahoo.com

WANTED: Clarke’s Vegetable Sherry Wine Bitters, Sharon, Mass.

All bottle sizes & variants…pontil/smooth base. Also, ANY ephemera..newspaper ads, invoices, letterhead, etc.

THANK YOU. Charlie Martin Jr. 781-248-8620, or cemartinjr@comcast.net

Presents our Absentee Mail/Phone bid Cataloged Auction #73 of Patent Medicines, Pills, Tins, Apothecary/Drugstore & Advertising, Featuring Items from the Jerry Phelps Collection!!

Closing date: Saturday, October 24th, 2020 at 10:00 pm EST Some of the highlights to include:

Labeled Patent Medicines: Warner’s = Log Cabin Cough & Consumption Remedy, Log Cabin Sarsaparilla, Safe Nervine, Rheumatic Cure, Diabetes Remedy, Safe Kidney & Liver Cure, 12 and 6 oz. Safe Remedies - Compounds, Label, Pontiled Medicines: 2 Diff. - Dr. W.S Lunt’s Family Medicine, 2 Diff. – Dr. J. McClintock’s Family Medicine, Rhode’s Fever & Ague Cure, S.M Kier Petroleum, 2 = Murray & Lanman Florida Waters, Dr. Wistar’s Balsam of Wild Cherry, Smith’s Anodyne Cough Drops – Montpelier, Delight’s Spanish Lustral, Dr. Larbor’s Extract of Lungwort, Whitmore’s Eye Water, Shaker Anodyne and Cherry Pectoral Syrup and more! Dr. Kilmer’s: Female Remedy, Ocean-Weed Heart Remedy, Indian Cough-Cure, Autumn Leaf Ext. Bitters: Holtzermann’s Cabin and Drake’s Plantation Bitters, Dr. Langley’s, Smyrna Stomach, Gordon’s Kidney & Liver, Milkglass Litthaur Stomach Bitters, Hentz’s Curative Bitters. Early, Dr. McLean’s Volcanic Oil Liniment, Dr. Jayne’s Expectorant & Carminative Balsam, Dr. Miles Tonic and New Heart Cure, 2 Diff. - Tilden & Co. New Lebanon, NY, Peckham’s Croup Remedy, Many of the above with Original Boxes!!!

Tins: Dr. Classe’s German Liver Regulator, Kibbe Bros. Cough Drops, 2 Sizes = The Wonder Heart Cure, Nice, early Parke, Davis & Co. 5 lb. Bronchial Lozenges Store Tin. Tooth Powder Tins: Wright’s Antiseptic Myrrh Tooth Soap, Orodentine, Euthymol, Cadette for Children in shape of Soldier, Dr. Lyon’s Sample Size. Tooth Bottles = Smokers’ Tooth Powder, Donald’s Mouth Wash, Pande Tooth Powder. Dr. Hyman Painless Dentist - Tin Arrow Sign, Early - 1876 S.S White Dental Catalog etc… Pills: Complete Box Warner’s Log Cabin Liver Pills, Complete Balm of Tulips Display, Complete Box - Dr. McLane’s Vermifuge and Colorful box for McLane’s Liver Pills, Wood Pill Ovals, Humphrey’s Pill Lots etc…

Apothecary: Important = Samuel Alcock & Co. Handled Leeches Jar! Beautiful, Reverse Glass Specie Jars, Label Under Glass Jars in Clear, Amber, Green and Cobalt Blue!

Show Globes, Porcelain Drug Jars, Early Amethyst Storage Jars, Inverted Merck Jars, Phenix Dispensing Tank, Wooden Pill Silverer, Handled Pill Counter, The National Electric Belt, Ceramic Ointment Pots, Thurlow Homeopathic Cures Box and More!!

Veterinary: Labeled Bottles = Breinig Cattle Liniment, Large size Prof. Dean’s King Cactus Oil, Dr. Schell’s Magic Distemper Remedy, 3 Sizes = Merchant’s Gargling Oils, Turner Bros. Balsam of Eryngo, Dr. Cox’s Painless Blister. Packages: Security Poultry Food, Peoples Poultry Remedy, Bigler’s Lice Killer, Blackman’s Lick-A-Brick, Prof. Gleason’s Horse, Cattle & Poultry Powder. Complete Box of Pratt’s Worm Powders and Dr. Lesure’s W.K Powders, Etc.. Tins: Small size Newton’s Heave, Cough Cure, Cole’s Veterinary Carbolisalve, Pratt’s Scaly-Leg Ointment. Nice, Dr. Daniels’ Advertising Pocket Mirror. Spratt’s Flea Soap, Barker’s Booklets and More!!

Books: 1900 Peter VanSchaack Druggist Catalog, Nice, 1879 Geo. Tiemann & Co. Surgical Instruments Catalog = The American Armamentarium Chirurgicum.

Advertising: Signs: Dr. Jayne’s Expectorant – George Washington - Poster, Tin Litho Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters, Warner’s Safe Cure, Drake’s Plantation Bitters, Brown’s Saponaceous Dentifrice, Boschee’s German Syrup / Green’s August Flower, Dr. Hand’s Remedies for Children, Ayer’s Hair Vigor and Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral, Early, John D. Park’s Genuine Balsam of Wild Cherry & Tar, Hartshorn’s Sarsaparilla and Iron, Reverse Glass = Redding’s Russia Salve, Dr. Jayne’s Sanative Pills and Tonic Vermifuge, DeWitt’s Kidney & Bladder Pills Countertop Showcase, Bucklen’s Arnica Salve Counter Jar, Walla Walla Pepsin Gum Jar, Cabin Shape = Lutted’s S.P Cough Drops Jar, Meseroll Cough Candy Jar, 5 lb. Gypsy Cough Drops Jar, Sines’ Syrup for Coughs & Colds Adv. Clock, 1901 Antikamnia Calendar, Selection of wood shipping crates and more!!!

For a fully illustrated catalog with color pictures send $15.00 to: McMurray Antiques & Auctions, P.O. Box 393, Kirkwood, N.Y. 13795. *ENTIRE CATALOG SHOULD BE VIEWABLE ON MY WEBSITE Oct. 15th.*

Email: mcmurrayauctions@aol.com Website: www.mcmurrayauctions.com

Phone (607) 775-5972. or Phone/Fax (607) 775-2321 Post auction price list included.

NEXT AUCTION SPRING 2021

I am currently accepting quality items for future sales.

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In the first thirty years after Thaddeus Selleck successfully shipped milk by rail from Chester, N.Y. to New York City in 1842, farmers largely controlled the entirety of the dairy farming market — from milking the cows to consigning the milk to the public. The lucrative nature of this market can be seen in this picture of an Erie Railroad milk train alongside the station at Orange Farm located a few miles west of the Orange County village of Florida, N.Y. Note the milk cans in the horse-drawn wagon which served as the primary method of transporting and retailing milk until the first glass milk bottle was patented in 1878. (Steamtown National Historic Site Archives)

Various wooden hogshead milk jugs advertised by Frank L. Jones, a supplier of dairy farming products from Utica, N.Y. Shortly after Thaddeus Selleck began shipping milk in 1842, the Goshen, N.Y., farmer Jacob Vail experimented with cooling milk during transportation by fitting an ice-filled lead pipe within one of these jugs. Vail was successful but, inadvertently, invented the ancestor to the modern-day metal milk can.

(Courtesy of the author)

The Tuthill milk jar is in a class of its own. Featuring a ground lip and a pontiled base, it would have been used years before the first milk bottle was patented in 1878.

(Udderly Delightful, John Tutton)

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Tin-Tops: The Pioneers

of Milk Bottles

On January 29, 1878, George Henry Lester succeeded in inventing the United States’ first patented milk jar. With its glass lid and large metal closure, the Lester Milk Jar hardly resembles contemporary milk bottles. (Courtesy of the author)

By Alex Prizgintas

M

ilk — a household staple found in most every home.

From a baking ingredient to having a cup of it with your cereal, milk and its related dairy products hold a nostalgic place in our hearts. Interestingly, its consumption has been steadily decreasing across the United States, with nearly thirty seven percent less being consumed today compared to fifty years ago. The primary reason for this plummet, among many factors, is the substitution of milk with other popular beverages, such as protein drinks and juices. The decline can also be coupled to the development of products suitable for individuals who are lactose intolerant, like almond and oat milk. Regardless of this decline, it has certainly come into contact with all of us at some point in our lives.

While milk’s legacy is indeed popular, the backstory of how it has been packaged and marketed has evolved throughout time. It is often sold today in cardboard containers, but some of us may remember the glory days when dairy farms operated fleets of trucks through neighborhoods and delivered milk in glass bottles.

The milk bottle has a sentimental value to those who grew up during its use, but its history is far more intriguing. Apart from the select locations across the country

that experimented using amber, green, and cobalt-blue examples, the majority of bottles were clear and came in two varieties: embossed and pyroglazed. This was the case for most of the twentieth century, but in the period between 1880 and 1900, the milk bottle was still a new technological advancement within the dairy farming market. Milk bottle collectors value the bottles made during this time due to their unique shapes, crude embossings, and innovative tin closures that have become known by many in the bottle collecting community as the revered “tintop.” In a world where milk bottles seem ubiquitous, the tin-top presents itself as a distinctive historical detail.

Before discussing tin-tops, it is important to understand the primary purpose of the milk bottle. It needed to be an efficient, sanitary, and appealing way to transport milk over short and, sometimes, long distances.

The history of transporting milk greatly predates the first patented milk bottle. In fact, as is the case with a great deal of the country’s dairy history, one of the first instances of transporting milk occurred in Orange County, New York when Thaddeus Selleck successfully shipped 240 quarts of milk by rail from Chester to New York City in the spring of 1842.

An oddly-shaped bottle with the initials “A. C. M. Co.” embossed in script. This abbreviation has only been attributed to the Alex Campbell Milk Company, which claimed to be the first to sell milk in experimental glass bottles in 1878. Could this be one of those experimental bottles? One may never know, but the information certainly leaves room for this possibility.

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Selleck’s ambitious endeavor, in partnership with the Erie Railroad, would establish a lucrative market with the help of another Orange County resident. In the early months of Selleck’s business, milk was shipped in wooden, pyramid-shaped churns without any refrigeration. This method worked well enough during the moderately cool spring days, but the oppressive summer heat threatened to spoil milk that was awaiting shipment by rail.

In 1880, the Warren Glass Works produced the first standard-shaped milk bottle in the United States. One of the bottle’s earliest customers was likely the New York Dairy Company Ltd., a joint venture operated by the Orange County milk dealers Alex Campbell and Dr. R. R. Stone between 1878 and 1880. Pictured here is one of those bottles but it features A. V. Whiteman’s dome-shaped closure patented in 1884. As a result, this example was likely used after Stone left the business by 1881 and Campbell had complete control over the New York Dairy Company Ltd name. (Courtesy of the author)

ABOVE: By 1881, the jointly led New York Dairy Company Ltd. split into two companies. Dr. R. R. Stone established the New York Milk and Cream Co. which operated independently until 1896 while Alex Campbell retained the New York Dairy Company Ltd. name, which eventually became the Alex Campbell Milk Company, until its demise in 1919. (collection of Chester Faber) RIGHT: Doctor Hervey D. Thatcher’s “milk protector” is considered by many as a revolutionary artifact in the history of milk bottles. (Corning Museum of Glass)

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Jacob Vail, a farmer from Goshen, wanted to take advantage of shipping his milk to New York City. He experimented with cooling the milk before it was shipped, hoping it would solve the problem of spoilage. In the fall of 1842, Vail tested his hypothesis by fitting a wooden hogshead jug with a coil made of one-inch lead pipe. Ice was placed inside the lead coil and, as the fresh milk was poured into the jug, the cooled coils would reduce the temperature to a more stable level for transportation. When the milk was shipped to New York City, even on hot summer days, Vail’s cooling technique kept the milk sweet and refreshing.

Vail was one of the first to discover the significance of refrigerating dairy products. He also invented the ancestor of the modern-day milk can. Soon, milk cans of all sizes replaced wooden churns and became the popular method of transporting milk in a market largely dominated by farmers during the first thirty years after Selleck’s 1842 success.

However, as the materials used to make these cans evolved from wood to tin, the control of this market gradually shifted to the dealers, the middlemen who purchased the milk wholesale from farmers and retailed it to consumers. While the farmers were in control of the production of milk, the lack of economic infrastructure in New York’s rural countryside, coupled with their inability to effectively organize as one milk-producing body, allowed the terms of milk sales to gradually shift in favor of the dealers.

These dealers grew disingenuous and were fixated on making a profit by steadily reducing the price of milk paid to the farmers while simultaneously raising the cost to the public. In the early 1870s, farmers had little to no means of consigning their milk elsewhere, due to the evolving methods of transporting and selling milk independently. The “takeit-or-leave-it” ultimatum left farmers with no alternative but to submit to the stranglehold of the milk dealers.

The decision over who could sell milk to the public instigated a century of prolonged conflict between New York’s rural dairy farmers and metropolitan milk firms, but this uneven playing field would soon be challenged by a fresh marketing innovation. It is hard to determine who and when the first glass jars were used to transport milk in the United States. Even in the early 1870s, farms such as Tuthill’s Dairy in the rural Orange County village of Unionville, N.Y., were recorded to have used glass jars with ground lips and open-pontiled bases. Jars like these were made in limited numbers and are thus rarely seen, but that would soon change in 1878.

At the same time when New York City’s milk dealers advanced their devious tactics on rural farmers, George Lester of Brooklyn submitted a design for the country’s first patented milk jar. In his application, filed a year earlier in 1877, Lester claimed that his jar would alleviate the job of cleaning the tin can that was “corroded” by the milk.

Lester’s jar hardly resembles a characteristic milk bottle. Some of its distinguishing features include a wide “fruit jar” appearance and a metal clamp used to secure the loose glass lid that was separated from the jar by an “elastic” gasket. Few Lester milk jars survive today and, while it is hard to determine why they did not succeed, a possible answer is the jar’s clamp which, if overtightened, would crack the lid and render it useless.

It is seemingly possible that Lester’s milk jar would have enjoyed some success had its closure been more carefully designed.

However, the seeds of another more innovative closure were planted just weeks before Lester’s patent was accepted.

On January 11, 1878, the prominent Brooklyn milk dealer Alex Campbell is said to have been the first dealer to sell milk in experimental glass bottles. A verified example of this bottle has yet to surface among milk bottle collectors, but the greater significance of this event is Campbell’s keen interest in glass bottles, an interest that few other milk dealers of the time seemed to share. According to the records of Orange County bottle historians Toni Knipp and Chester Faber, which have been supplemented by period newspaper articles, Campbell engaged in a partnership with fellow New York City milk dealer and doctor R. R. Stone in the period between 1878 and 1880. Stone, an advocate for marketing healthy, pure milk in a period when adulteration was all too common, was likely intrigued by Campbell’s experimental milk bottle and foresaw a future of consigning untampered milk in clean, clear glass bottles.

Records indicate that the company formed between the two businessmen was known as the New York Dairy Company Limited and their main creamery was located in the Orange County town of Monroe, N.Y. In 1880, the New York Dairy Company Limited was one of the first to receive the groundbreaking Warren milk jar. Easily recognized today as the ubiquitous standard-shaped milk bottle, the Warren milk jar featured many improvements in comparison to the Lester jar. The most important of these was a lid, made of either glass or tin, that would be secured by a wire clamp. No longer did consumers have to worry about over-tightening the closure on their bottles.

The New York Dairy Company Limited partnership appears to have been shortlived. By 1881, R. R. Stone was operating

TOP: Due to the high costs of maintaining milk bottles, New York’s milk dealers were among the first to use them in their businesses. Both Borden’s and Sheffield Farms had controlling interests in the New York milk trade until the October 1916 milk strike, when thousands of regional farmers halted shipments of milk to New York City due to the unfair practices of these dealers. (Courtesy of the author) MIDDLE: L. L. Campbell was one of many milk dealers who owned a creamery in Orange County yet sold his milk in New York City. His connection to the local region can be corroborated through newspaper articles such as this advertisement from a 1913 edition of the New York Tribune. (Courtesy of the author) BOTTOM: Charles Beakes’ milk firm was not as powerful as a company like Borden’s, but it grew to be a dominating business by the 1920s and operated numerous creameries throughout Orange County. (Courtesy of the author)

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his own business, the New York Milk and Cream Company, which continued to use tin-top milk bottles at its Orange County creameries until its closure in 1894. Alex Campbell, on the other hand, continued to use the New York Dairy Company Limited name through the 1880s and, later, the formidable Alex Campbell Milk Company name until his business was acquired by Borden’s in 1919.

With bottles like the Warren milk jar now in full production, struggling dairy farmers were presented with an appealing alternative. Instead of wholesaling their milk to dealers who often failed to pay fair prices, the farmers could retail the milk themselves in these glass bottles.

However, when this innovation was still new in the 1880s, many farmers chose to stick with the milk dealers instead. As a result, in the period after the Warren milk jar was patented, most of the milk bottles were sold to the dealers themselves.

TOP: Outside research was needed to verify this Jas C. Rider tin-top as an Orange County milk bottle.

The bottle was indeed used by James Rider, who operated a creamery in Central Valley, N.Y. Pictured is his ice-house, which was used to harvest ice in order to cool his dairy products. (Woodbury Historical Society, courtesy of the author) MIDDLE: Only through acquiring the Corn & Clover Farm Dairy bottle, a known example from Florida, N.Y., was I able to link this Thos. J. Taylor bottle to Orange County. The story was enhanced through the discovery of a newspaper interview where Taylor discussed Orange County’s dairy history and his life as a farmer there. (Courtesy of the author) BOTTOM: Bottles like this example from W. H. Kelley are desired by collectors for their promotional slogans that read “Pure Orange Co. Milk.” (Courtesy of the author)

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

The bottle’s first customers often justified its use through the antithesis of George Lester’s logic: not that the milk would damage its environment but that the vile environment would “contaminate the milk with an assortment of debris,” an observation made by Dr. Hervey D. Thatcher who, in 1885, invented his revolutionary bottle known affectionately as the “milk protector.” Thatcher’s milk bottle may have been popular but, apart from its elaborate cow embossing and glass lid, it differed little from the Warren milk jar.

In fact, throughout the 1880s and 1890s, numerous manufactures such as T. B. Howe and F. K. Ward continued to invent new milk jars, but what they all shared in common were their characteristic tin-tops. In the days before the more convenient cardboard cap, tin-tops were a common sight on milk bottles, especially those that traveled long distances by train. Even after the cardboard cap seat for the milk bottle was patented in 1889, tin-tops continued to be popular until the turn of the twentieth century.

As mentioned before, the earliest tin-top milk bottles were used by the dealers themselves and studying these bottles provides great insight into the complex society of metropolitan milk firms that once populated New York and New Jersey. When Borden’s entered the fluid milk business in 1885, they became an aggressive customer of the new tin-top bottles, followed by their close competitor Sheffield Farms. Below these larger dealers, an array of less-powerful businessmen flooded the New York dairy market with tin-top bottles. The majority of these early bottles were made by the Thatcher Manufacturing Company, the brainchild of Dr. Thatcher, that would soon dominate the production of milk bottles.

Other popular names found on the bottoms of these early tin-tops include J. B. Brooke, Climax, and Empire, all companies that were either involved in the manufacturing or distribution of these wonderful antique gems. Regarding the names of the dealers embossed onto the bottles, unearthing their roots is a facet of what makes collecting them so fascinating. Some businesses, such as the Beakes Dairy Company or L. L. Campbell’s Clover Farm Dairy can be accurately attributed to Orange County through the aid of period newspaper articles and invoices. Other bottles, however, require additional research and even some luck to complete the story.

Around three years ago, I was surprised to see an early tin-top milk bottle embossed with the name “Jas. C. Rider” in the windowsill of a home in Passaic, New Jersey. I had traveled to this home because a Craigslist advertisement had been posted a few days earlier describing a large collection of New Jersey milk bottles for sale. While I was hoping to find some more contemporary New York City milk bottles with possible connections to Orange County, I was excited to see this rare example.

J. C. Rider was a familiar name to me.

In fact, his creamery and ice pond were

located in my hometown of Central Valley, N.Y. Previously, all records indicated that Rider used milk cans. For a fair price, I acquired the milk bottle and intended to search its Brooklyn address over various digital newspaper archives. These archives are a bottle collector’s best friend; from advertisements to the personal information of a company, period newspapers can help to substantiate the history of a bottle and, in addition to strengthening its value, allows the researcher to connect with a bottle on a deeper level.

It only took me five minutes to find an article from a Brooklyn newspaper corroborating the address on the bottle with Rider’s business in Central Valley. To date, I know of only one other Jas. C. Rider bottle that sold on eBay a few years ago, but its connection to the region, a connection made through research, is far more valuable and meaningful to me.

One of my favorite tin-top stories involved both research and assistance from another milk bottle. I was very excited when a package arrived at my door for the early Corn & Clover Farm Dairy milk bottle from Florida, N.Y. Upon receiving the bottle, I noticed something odd.

Instead of the embossing “Florida, NY,” the name “Thos. J. Taylor” was present instead.

I was disappointed that the bottle lacked a town name, but its name still matched the name of the farm and thus earned a spot among my prized milk bottles from southern Orange County. Two years passed, during which I was searching for milk bottles from New York City on eBay and came across a tin-top that captured my attention since it shared the name “Thos. J. Taylor.”

At the time, I could find no connection to Orange County from this bottle, which had a Staten Island address.

I did not think that the matching names were a coincidence and, for a reasonable price, I acquired the bottle. The story came full-circle one year later when, while researching some details for an article that I was writing in Marist College’s Hudson

River Valley Review, I came across an 1883 interview between a reporter and Staten Island milk producer Thomas J. Taylor. Taylor was an “old milk producer from Florida, N.Y.” Taylor’s interview described the history of the Orange County milk trade from his perspective which, while not offering any groundbreaking facts, was both fascinating to read and heartening to confirm.

It’s amazing to think how, through one bottle purchased years ago, a wealth of information unraveled to further complete the complicated puzzle of Orange County’s interesting dairy farming history.

Only a decade after the Warren milk jar was invented in 1880, the tin-top milk bottle had become a symbol of cleanliness in a world dominated by filth and adulteration. Its image was used on envelopes, letterheads, and newspaper advertisements by companies who sought to take advantage of the industry’s latest innovation and the market’s desire for purity and freshness.

The tin-top bottles that have been discussed all feature the names of milk dealers who owned creameries and, sometimes, farmland in Orange County, N.Y. However, a more desirable tier of bottles above this first grouping are the “advertisement” tin-tops or those that promote their product through association to Orange County.

These examples often feature embossed slogans such as “Pure Orange County Milk” and are highly prized by collectors.

But these phrases were not the only ways in which these bottles displayed the cherished Orange County name. The Orange County Milk Association traces its origins to the acquisition of Thaddeus Selleck’s pioneering milk shipping business in 1844. The new company built a dominant reputation among New York City’s clientele and, with a quality product that benefitted from efficient shipment by rail, the association steadily grew.

By 1861, the business established itself as a corporation with offices in New York

TOP: The Orange County Milk Association was one of the county’s most revered milk shipping businesses and their tin-top bottles are among the region’s most recognizable. (Courtesy of the author) MIDDLE: Legitimate bottles from the Orange County Milk Co. are highly valued by collectors, despite their plain appearance. This example would have once featured a tin closure but, likely due to a century of deterioration, has lost it to time. (Courtesy of the author) BOTTOM: Often confused for the Goshen variety, Henry Chardavoyne’s Orange County Milk Company was located south of Goshen in the village of Unionville, N.Y. Chardavoyne used many bottle variants and among his most desirable is this example with a Howe closure that opens to the side. (Courtesy of the author)

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City, followed in 1870 by the construction of a large brick building in Orange County’s city of Middletown used for manufacturing condensed milk. The period after the Middletown plant’s opening coincides with the association’s earliest tin-top milk bottles, which clearly advertise condensed milk.

While these bottles are sought after by collectors, the association’s arguably most popular examples are embossed Orange County Milk Association around the image of a keystone. Used on bottles manufactured by J. B. Brooke, Thatcher, and the Atlantic Bottle Company, the slug plate embossing remained in use until the association’s sale to the Beakes Dairy Company in 1899. This has made their bottles among the most recognizable in Orange County.

A similar company that incorporated Orange County into its name was the Orange County Milk Company. The story behind its name is far more intriguing and, like many of these tin-tops, required diving deeper into more research. The Orange County Milk Company, much like the Orange County Milk Association, had its main plant in Goshen and, although little is known of its operation, the business did use tin-top milk bottles.

TOP: Bottles from Deer Park Farms are the only examples known from Orange County to feature a New York City address and their local village name of Port Orange, N.Y. (Courtesy of the author) MIDDLE: Tin-top milk bottles from local farms such as John Pierce Hull’s Maple Hill Farm are an anomaly in the world of early milk bottles. While most tin-tops traveled by train between Orange County and New York City, Hull only delivered milk near his dairy, located in Middletown, N.Y. (Courtesy of the author) BOTTOM: As glass milk bottles became a preferred method of transporting milk, the tin-top was a popular sight at creameries scattered across Orange County, such as this one. The tin-top would pave the way for a century of milk bottle use that, although greatly limited, continues to this day. (Ontario and Western Railroad Historical Society)

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

This Orange County Milk Company should not be confused with the business of the same name operated by Henry S. Chardavoyne; his business was located seventeen miles south of Goshen in Unionville, N.Y., but is often mistaken for the Goshen creamery since Chardavoyne bottled soda there.

He may well have been a cunning entrepreneur, but Chardavoyne’s heart was in dairy farming, something that began when he was born in 1865 on his family’s farm in Sussex County, New Jersey. He became fascinated by the rapidly expanding milk industry and, by 1895, his Orange County Milk Company became a member of the Brooklyn Milk Bottlers’ Protective Union.

The Chardavoyne name became prominent within southern Orange County.

The Chardavoyne barn still stands today off Chardavoyne Road in Warwick and a large creamery was erected in Unionville around the 1920s for his company. Not surprisingly, Chardavoyne took advantage of the tin-top innovation but, unlike the Goshen Orange County Milk Company which featured plainly embossed bottles, Chardavoyne’s are among the county’s most artistically designed. Its images of rolling hills, and even an Ayrshire cow, make it one of the few milk bottles from Orange County to prominently feature embossed images.

Chardavoyne was also the only dairyman from Orange County known to have used the unusual Howe tin-top closure.

Unlike normal tin-top closures that open upwards and then to the side, the Howe closure, patented in 1888, opens directly to the side and is held in place with bailing wire that grips the lip of the bottle.

This style of closure is arguably easier to use than the conventional tin-top but, regardless of this fact, new ideas and concepts were increasingly being patented each year in relation to the milk bottle.

The tin-top bottles that have been featured thus far have almost all shared one crucial detail: their connection to New York City through an embossed address.

That, however, is about to change as we look at the most unusual group of tintops, those that feature regional town names.

Since most tin-tops would have traveled between fifty to sixty miles between Orange County and the city via train, it is hard to assign any one reason as to why these local bottles featured tin-tops, but I have a few plausible theories. In rare cases, tin-top bottles from Orange County with New York City addresses feature the town name of the company’s creamery. This is the case with tin-top bottles from Deer Park Farms; although displaying a New York City address of 782 Amsterdam Avenue, the bottle also tells us that the

company’s milk “depot” was located in Port Orange, N.Y. Situated just north of the confluence between the Basher Kill and the Neversink River in Orange County’s western region, Port Orange was once a bustling village served by the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad’s Port Jervis and Monticello Branch. Milk from this creamery would have likely been loaded onto awaiting NYO&W milk cars at Port Orange, where it would first travel to the branch’s connection with the railroad’s main tracks in Summitville, and then would head south towards eager customers in New York City.

Apart from the town name, the Deer Park Farms bottle still conforms to the tin-top “stereotype” of possessing a New York City connection, but the same cannot be said about a bottle in my collection from J. P. Hull’s Maple Hill Farm. John Pierce Hull had no connection to New York City and, despite using tin-top bottles, he only delivered milk locally in the vicinity of Middletown, N.Y. Hull was born in Shohola Falls, Pennsylvania on November 27, 1830, and operated a successful logging operation at Lebanon Lake in Sullivan County until 1899, when he purchased farmland just north of Middletown. Hull passed away in 1904 and his son, Brunson, took over the prosperous new business. In 1906, Brunson purchased a new automated milk bottle “filler” that could simultaneously fill sixteen bottles with milk, making his creamery one of the most sanitary and modern in Middletown.

Brunson’s (or Bronson, depending on the bottle’s variation or misspelling) tenpin-shaped milk bottles with large embossing are one of Orange County’s most iconic and, although not featuring tin-tops, were in heavy use until Hull sold his milk route to Middletown dairyman Charles Brunkhurst in the early 1920s.

The pressing question remains: why did John Pierce Hull, an independent dairy

farmer from Middletown with no business in New York City, use a tin-top milk bottle. The same question can be applied to the relatively small but notable group of dairies including Cornwall’s Kenridge Farm, Walden’s Colonial Dairy, and the Port Jervis Dairy Company that, despite only consigning milk to their regions, used tin-top bottles.

Without proper documentation, no definitive answer will likely arise for this question, but my theory stems back to the days when the Warren milk jar was still fresh on the market. As stated earlier, the milk bottle offered a promising alternative to farmers who were at the mercy of milk dealers. But when it was invented, the cost of establishing bottling facilities and the means to transport these bottles caused farmers to unwillingly retain their relationships with milk dealers.

The milk bottle was an important advancement that allowed dairy farmers to become independent, and the tin-top was a necessary prelude to a more complete history of the bottle’s intriguing introduction into the dairy farming industry.

D

However, when dairymen like J. P. Hull entered the business around 1900, the tin-top had been in use for two decades and some farmers were likely more tempted to make the switch from wholesaling their milk to the dealer to bottling and selling their milk directly to their community. Ultimately, these farmers were the pioneers of local milk bottle usage and led a swift expansion of regional milk routes that sprouted across Orange County.

The tin-top would not survive to see this growth since, after 1900, the cardboard milk cap eliminated the cumbersome nature of the metal closure. The turn of the twentieth century is considered to be the apex of Orange County’s dairy production, a time when around 2,900 farms delivered milk, butter, and other products to their communities. A growing number of these farms, seeing the ability to capitalize on the local marketplace, used milk bottles and, by 1930, cities such as Middletown and Newburgh featured more than seventy dairies that used milk bottles, not counting the variations that existed among each dairy.

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

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By John Panella and Joe Widman

DO YOU HAVE A COUGH? We have the cure and then some!

We actually have so many cures for so many illnesses you’ll be just fine, trust us.

In the 1870s most of America knew the medical use of perhaps a dozen psychoactive drugs that were readily available and stocked in volume across the country, especially regional urban hubs.

Physicians, lacking effective medications and knowing very little about the physiological bases of disease, could at best only relieve symptoms. Opiates, as they had from ancient times, stood head and shoulders above other medicinal agents of relief. Opium relieved pain, induced sleep, reduced all muscle spasms, checked diarrhea, relieved headache and quieted the patient, always in an effective and pleasant, relaxing manner. Opiates were always a panacea.

Laudanum, the traditional name of an alcoholic tincture of opium, reflected its stature among the medical community, meaning “to be praised.” The public, looking for relief, knew a panacea is what was needed. Opiates covered all the bases when it came to relief. The side effects of addiction were underemphasized because they were very anti-marketing and sales. The pharmaceutical industry of the era thrived. Addiction was an unfortunate but secondary consideration. Laissez-faire governmental attitudes allowed for the free sale and marketing of narcotics as part of a growing and prospering nation.

In 1807, chemists isolated morphine, the active principle of opium, which initiated a remarkable series of discoveries that expanded the traditional store of plantderived drugs. By the 1850s ether, chloroform and chloral hydrate had armed the surgeon with effective anesthetics. By

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

the 1880s bromides had begun to replace traditional sedatives. Bayer patented both aspirin and heroin in the United States, back-to-back right around the turn of the century. Aspirin was a mild fever reducer and pain killer that had the headache market conquered. Heroin, also a major pain and cough reliever, was sold in tandem with Bayer’s new product line.

As a fan of product labels on bottles, and the original containers they were sold in, and their advertising and testimonials, I feel there isn’t much more to discuss here. We are presenting a Medicine Chest column where truly, “The label tells the story,” while advertising, trade cards and testimonials say the rest.

We present some eye candy here for the historian and patent medicine collector.

Cures, their labels, their claims, and their contents are shown, with no extensive product histories, so that the reader can easily get the picture, the best of the best.

Enjoy the view.

A CLOSER LOOK AT PATENT MEDICINES In this segment we are looking at effective over-the-counter cough medicines. We intend to delve into other patent medicines for different ailments in the next Medicine Chest column.

Different ailments dictate different medical formulas, or do they? By investigating the labels and cartons, and the advertising and marketing of different medicinal compounds, we continue to see the use of the same substances over and over again.

All were claiming to cure or remedy a variety of the ills of mankind. Are we simply creating medicines to distract the patient or to remedy the complaint?

The use of stimulants, alcohol being the primary one, along with compounds and

TOP: A beautiful, labeled, Acker's English Remedy bottle. Warranted to cure all throat & lung diseases.

Gordon Hugi collection BOTTOM: Labeled bottle and box for Linden Cough Balsam. Ingredients included alcohol, cannabis, chloroform, antimony. Gordon Hugi collection

TOP LEFT: Piso's Cure for Consumption label and color variants.

TOP RIGHT: Glyco Heroin - surely the most effective cough remedy ever made. Pint and rare sample size.

LEFT: Colorful box for Hayes' Healing Compound.

MIDDLE: Hayes' Healing Compound bottle with wonderful, colorful, graphics. From the Lax-Fos Company Inc., Paducah, KY. RIGHT: Interesting tradecard for Brown's Household Panacea.

Gordon Hugi collection

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By John Panella and Joe Widman

narcotics, were specifically meant to act as panaceas or cure-alls. When we look at different ailments and compare their resolution with the over-the-counter nostrums we discuss, it’s quite interesting.

We see the same substances popping up time and time again.

Are we simply masking the symptoms?

Look at each nostrum and figure out their similarities and differences, and their claims. Testimonials, packaging and labels on bottles attest to the commonality of their formulas.

The Golden Age Of Patent Medicines lasted from the mid-19th century into the first quarter of the 20th century. By today’s standards, Americans knew very little about human physiology, biochemistry and endocrinology. They looked for quick solutions for misunderstood medical problems. Doctors, when available, were not always to be trusted. Hospitals, where available, were considered as places where people went to die. Patent medicines, as you’ll learn in our investigations and comparisons, offered quick, convenient and inexpensive relief from arthritis, depression and medical illness, as well as women’s problems, indigestion, liver and kidney problems, heart issues and even lack of hair growth.

A preliminary conclusion is that alcohol was an essential ingredient in assisting and relieving these and many other health complaints. Alcohol was present in almost every nostrum.

Many concoctions were fortified with alcohol, chloroform, cannabis indica extract, chloral, opiates like morphine and heroin, and, of course, cocaine. Sadly, many of these remedies were advertised for infants and children. Parents, often seeking safe remedies for their babies from wind colic or fussiness, often administered these remedies with tragic results.

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

Remedies available for every ailment were sold to the public and claimed to prevent or cure every disease known to man.

ADVERTISING The Proprietary Association, a trade group of medicine producers, was founded in 1881. The association was greatly aided by the press, which had grown dependent on the revenue received from cure advertising. A pivotal event occurred when North Dakota passed a limited disclosure law, which included patent medicines. Proprietary Association members voted to remove their advertising from all state newspapers.

With strong support from President Theodore Roosevelt, a Pure Food & Drug Act was passed by congress in 1906. It paved the way for public health action against unlabeled or unsafe ingredients, misleading advertising and the practice of quackery and similar rackets. From the beginning, some physicians and medical societies were critical of patent medicines.

They argued against their “secret formulas,” the fact that they did not cure illness, that they discouraged the sick from seeking legitimate treatments, and caused alcohol and drug dependency.

Increased governmental regulations brought about the end of the patent medicine era. Although patent medicines continued to be produced after that date, new and stricter regulations demanded that ingredients be printed on labels, false claims be abandoned, and advertising become more truthful.

In next month’s Medicine Chest we will review other “eye candy” patent medicine survivors that speak for themselves with one look at the label, advertising and packaging. We have tried to procure the best specimens to serve this purpose.

Clearly outrageous graphics in advertis-

TOP: Labeled bottle and box for Doctor Macalister's Cough Mixture. Bottle contained cannabis, chloroform, and alcohol. Collection of Gordon Hugi BOTTOM: A rare labeled Heroin bottle by Bayer, circa 1900.

TOP LEFT: A later automatic bottle machine variant of Piso's. This is the only known example having both front and back labels. Gordon Hugi collection TOP MIDDLE: The rear label of the same Piso's bottle. Gordon Hugi collection TOP RIGHT: Reverse side of a Dr. Call's tradecard.

FAR LEFT: Glyco-Heroin (Smith), mint with fairly readable label.

NEAR LEFT: Open pontiled, labeled, Hurd's Cough Balsam bottle.

ABOVE: Piso's color run with label variations.

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By John Panella and Joe Widman

ing, ingredients and marketing style will reveal some more interesting quack remedies which we love to collect and analyze.

It’s all about the evolution of medicine and history. Remember, without history we continue to repeat the sometimes fatal mistakes of the past over and over.

Won’t you join us for another display of great bottles, readable labels, quack claims and educational experiences which make this study so absorbing and interesting.

Get ready for some of the best.

Looking forward to our next installment, rheumatism and pain remedies should do the trick next month. Open your eyes and see the light of day, we know you’ll enjoy this next walk through our history of medicines.

r Credits: This would not have been possible without the help of fellow patent medicine collectors too numerous to mention. Their inspiring communications and contributions to blogs has inspired the research and photographs used in this column.

r Special thanks goes to Gordon Hugi of Rough and Ready, California, and his magnificent collection of labeled quack remedies and cures. From the beginning this has been a joint venture.

r Photo credits: Unless otherwise noted, images from the collection of the author, John Panella.

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

TOP LEFT: Piso's Remedy - a rare carton adopted in 1910.

TOP RIGHT: An interesting grouping of labeled morphine sulphate bottles.

BOTTOM: One Night Cough Cure! word puzzle.

TOP LEFT: Highly graphical tradecard for Mrs. Dinsmore's Cough Balsam. A one-day, one-minute cure! Gordon Hugi collection TOP MIDDLE: Mrs. Dinsmore's Balsam bottle, Lynn, Mass. Gordon Hugi collection TOP RIGHT: Father Di Ielsi's Cough Medicine bottle from Camden, N.J., showing a priest on the label. Ingredients contained morphine sulphate, alcohol, chloroform, and ether.

FAR LEFT: Labeled Brown's Household Panacea bottle. Gordon Hugi collection NEAR LEFT: Rare large-size Piso's Cure.

ABOVE: 1904 Piso's Cure jigsaw-puzzle.

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WANTED!

Irresponsible collector willing to pay reasonable prices for: Attractive, bubble-filled snu f jars, pretty snuff jars, or unusual snuff jars Ralph & Janet Finch, 34007 Hillside Ct., Farmington Hills, Mich. 48335 or e-mail rfinch@twmi.rr.com, or janloik@yahoo.com.

Over 125 examples of cures and bitters from common to rare will be auctioned. The collection includes many examples of other bottles and related gathered over a 40 year period.

Approximately 300 + lots will be sold absolute at no minimum and no buyers premium.

Hospitality Buffet provided.

Pictures and information posted at www.PlossAuction.com Auction Preview Nov. 7, 8am, or by appointment

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

CA

NC

EL

LE

D

WANTED

(amber) ANDREWS & ST. ANDREWS embossed SARSAPARILLA - WINE OF LIFE ROOT - WINOLRO ALSO Sanitary type toothpick holders

Ownership. Pride.

Seamless, secure project facilitation.

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John DeGrafft 508.643.1111 (call or text) Email: tonto521@gmail.com

tel 517.372.0268

| fax 517.372.4922

912 W. Saint Joseph, Lansing, MI 48915

BRDPrinting.com

October 2020

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WANTED!

PAINTED-LABEL (ACL) BOTTLES from Thatcher Glass in Elmira, NY. Looking for company sample bottles that had square painted label of one color on the front.

Says Thatcher Glass, Elmira, N.Y. on the back.

I have several different ones, looking for more!

Also looking for pictured Lion's Club bottle from Pennsylvania, and Brockway bottle from Oklahoma, as well.

If you have or know someone who has some, I would appreciate contacting me.

Thank you.

David Meinz 407-854-8108 David@DavidMeinz.com

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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

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