Antique Bottle & Glass Collector | September–October 2023

Vol. 34 No. 5

No. 268 September–October 2023

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To Submit a Story, send a Letter to the Editor or have Comments and Concerns, contact:

Elizabeth Meyer

FOHBC Business Manager

P.O. Box 1825 Brookshire, Texas 77423

phone: 713.504.0628

email: fohbcmembers@gmail.com

Fair use notice: Some material in Antique Bottle & Glass Collector has been submitted for publication in this magazine and/or was originally published by the authors and is copyrighted. We, as a non-profit organization, offer it here as an educational tool to increase further understanding and discussion of bottle collecting and related history. We believe this constitutes “fair use” of the copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this material for purposes of your own that go beyond “fair use,” you must obtain permission from the copyright owner(s).

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector © (ISSN 10505598) is published bi-monthly (6 issues per year) by the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, Inc. (a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization) at 101 Crawford Street, Studio 1A, Houston, Texas 77002; phone: 713.504.0628; Website: FOHBC.org, Non-profit periodicals postage paid at Raymore, Missouri 64083 and additional mailing office, Pub. #005062.

Postmaster: Send address changes to Elizabeth Meyer, FOHBC Business Manager, P.O. Box 1825, Brookshire, Texas 77423; 713.504.0628, email: fohbcmembers@ gmail.com

Annual subscription rate is: $40 for standard mail or $55 for First Class, $60 to Canada, $80 Other countries, $25 Digital Membership [in U.S. funds.] Life Membership: Level 1: $1,000, Level 2: $500. The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, Inc. (FOHBC) assumes no responsibility for products and services advertised in this publication. See page 72 for details.

Coming next issue or down the road:

Nicholas Longworth and his Catawba Wine Bitters•The Fabulously Odd Mr. Klinkner and his Red Rubber Stamps•Boy, have you got Moxie!•ACL #7 Politically Incorrect•Hutchinson Painted Flag Bottles•What Do You Collect?•Reed & Carnrick New York Pharmacal Association•A Clinton Physician Dr. Carl Gruber•Dr. Guysott’s Extract of Yellow Dock and Sarsaparilla Update•Early Pittsburgh Glasshouses•Soda City’s Only Two Earliest Colored Sodas: H. Deming & Co. and C. C. Habenicht•On the Witness Protection Program•Probst & Hilbs German Bitters Little Rock, Ark.•Pressed Stoneware Bottles•Crawl Space Bottles•Fred Raschen, Sacramento whiskey dealer•Spirits Found Suddenly Last Summer and so much more!

The names Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors Inc. (FOHBC), and Antique Bottle & Glass Collector ©, are registered ® names of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors Inc., and no use of either other than as references, is permitted without expressed written consent from the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors Inc. Certain material contained in this publication is copyrighted by, and remains the sole property of, the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors Inc. while others remain property of the submitting authors. Detailed information concerning a particular article may be obtained from the Editor. Printed by Modern Litho, Jefferson City, Missouri 65101.

FOHBC Board of Directors

Midwest Region Director: Henry Hecker, W298 S10655 Phantom Woods Road, Mukwonago, Wisconsin 53149, phone: 262.844.5751, email: phantomhah@gmail.com

Southern Region Director: Tom Lines, 1647 Olivia Way, Auburn, Alabama 36830, phone: 205.410.2191, email: Bluecrab1949@hotmail.com

Western Region Director: Eric McGuire, 1732 Inverness Drive, Petaluma, California 94954, phone: 707.481.9145, email: etmcguire@comcast.net

Public Relations Director: Position Open

The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors is a non-profit organization for collectors of historical bottles, glass and related collectible items. Our primary goal is educational as it relates to the history and manufacture of historical bottles and related artifacts.

President: Michael Seeliger, N8211 Smith Road, Brooklyn, Wisconsin 53521, phone: 608.575.2922, email: mwseeliger@gmail.com

First Vice-President: Position Open

Second Vice-President: Stephen R. Jackson, P.O. Box 3137, Suffolk, Virginia 23439, phone: 757.675.5642, email: sjackson@srjacksonlaw.com

Secretary: Alice Seeliger, N8211 Smith Road, Brooklyn, Wisconsin 53521, phone: 608.575.1128, email: aliceajscreative@gmail.com

Treasurer: Kathie Craig, 1037 Hazelwood Avenue, Campbell, California 95008, phone: 408.591.6511, email: kathiecraig@sbcglobal.net

Business Manager: Elizabeth Meyer, FOHBC, P.O. Box 1825, Brookshire, Texas 77423, phone: 713.504.0628, email: fohbcmembers@gmail.com

Director-at-Large: Ferdinand Meyer V, FMG Design, Inc., 101 Crawford Street, Studio 1A, Houston, Texas 77002 phone: 713.222.7979 x115, email: fmeyer@fmgdesign.com

Director-at-Large: John O’Neill, 1805 Ralston Avenue, Belmont, California 94002, phone: 650.619.8209, email: Joneill@risk-strategies.com

Director-at-Large: Richard Siri, PO Box 3818, Santa Rosa, California 95402, phone: 707.542.6438, email: rtsiri@sbcglobal.net

Northeast Region Director: Charles Martin Jr., 5 John Hall Cartway, Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts 01985, phone: 781.248.8620, email: cemartinjr@comcast.net

Conventions Director: Craig Cassetta, 12 Marlin Court, Chico, California 95973, phone: 530.680.5226, email: craig.cassetta@gmail.com

Historian: Brian Bingham, 4305 Arbor Cove Circle, Oceanside, California 92058, phone: 442.264.9945, email: brian.bingham@att.net

Membership Director: Elizabeth Meyer, FOHBC, P.O. Box 1825, Brookshire, Texas 77423, phone: 713.504.0628, email: fohbcmembers@gmail.com

Merchandising Director: Position Open

FOHBC Virtual Museum

Alan DeMaison, 1605 Clipper Cove, Painesville, Ohio 44077, phone: 440.358.1223, email: a.demaison@sbcglobal.net

Joe Gourd, 27W058 Fleming Drive, Winfield, Illinois 60190, phone: 630.653.7088, email: joegourd@aol.com

Ferdinand Meyer V, FMG Design, Inc., 101 Crawford Street, Studio 1A, Houston, Texas 77002, phone: 713.222.7979 x115, email: fmeyer@fmgdesign.com

Miguel Ruiz, FMG Design, Inc., 101 Crawford Street, Studio 1A, Houston, Texas 77002, phone: 713.222.7979, email: mruiz@fmgdesign.com

Richard Siri, PO Box 3818, Santa Rosa, California 95402, phone: 707.542.6438, email: rtsiri@sbcglobal.net

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

Magazine Editor: Peachridge Collections, LLC, Ferdinand Meyer V and Elizabeth Meyer, P.O. Box 1825, Brookshire, Texas 77423, phone: 713.222.7979 x115, email: fmeyer@fmgdesign.com

Design and Layout: Ferdinand Meyer V

Proofreaders: Alice Seeliger and Bill Baab

Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors

FOHBC Officers 2022–2024

President’s

During a recent visit with a couple of dear bottle-collecting friends I mentioned an article called “Registering Bottles” I found very interesting in our last issue of Antique Bottle and Glass Collector. I was surprised to learn they had not read it, stating they only read articles about bottles they collected or are interested in. So, with that in mind, I offered my opinion as to why the gorgeous John Ryan cobalt blue bottles, in great shape, were so hard to come by. Back then, if I had enjoyed a soda from one of those bottles, I would have put it in a collection, or my mom would have taken it and used it as a vase or window dressing...it was just too nice to return. Having read the article though, I realize the effort the bottler went through to get those bottles returned for multiple re-use, even threatening to fine those who did not do so, all in an effort to recover the cost of production. (Did they actually have sentinels checking out windows for wayward bottles?) So, if you didn’t return them, into the dump or privy they went.

I also asked them if they read the article on “Jarring Discoveries” by Mike Beardsley. When they said they didn’t collect jars, I pointed out how they missed some great stories of early collecting and fantastic finds...and an interesting tidbit about a rare Saratoga water bottle. So, don’t miss those great articles in each magazine issue! The ACL soda pop series might just get you started collecting those types of fascinating bottles with stories!

I recalled the early days when you paid extra to get your magazine “Airmailed,” so you were first in line for the “For Sale” ads and then having to wait until 7pm when the long-distance rates were lower to call out of state to see if a bottle was still available. Sure added some excitement, and also lots of disappointment. But that’s not what they were experiencing these days. They said they like to thumb through to see the photos and read a few things that interested them. They loved Ralph Finch’s take on things, and the Lost and Found and Member Photos sections.

I hope you’re not missing some great articles! I am so proud to be part of the Federation and all it is contributing to the bottle-collecting hobby. AB&GC plays a really big part in letting readers know what we have to offer. Ferdinand Meyer V does a fantastic job of putting articles, advertisements, and show information together in each issue. The photos are first rate.

An article on Baraboo Pottery in this issue is near and dear to my heart. Authors Henry Hecker and Peter Maas have been my bottle buddies for many years. My aunt and uncle had a house just across the street from the dig they highlight and I may even have played

in that area back in the 1950s. This article also reminds me of Jim Hagenbuch’s story about the intact kiln buried in Pennsylvania that was resurrected and now resides in a museum. I love stories about digging and finding things since I no longer dig myself. If it was easy enough, I would love to be on a dig, dragging out dirt, and uncovering exciting new things even if the best ones were broken.

ACL bottles featuring cowboys is the next installment in the ACL series. I remember traveling in the 50s with my parents in the west and southwest. I probably drank from these bottles if they contained grape soda...it was my favorite flavor.

Be sure to check out Regional News and the Directors’ reports which highlight shows in their regions. They would sure appreciate it if you would provide information and photos about shows you’ve attended. Expanded reports are accessible on our website FOHBC.org. So please take the time to read through every article in this and every issue of AB&GC. I’m sure you will be surprised and pleased...and maybe you’ll start a new collection!

Big news is that the planning for the FOHBC Houston 2024 National Antique Bottle & Glass Exposition (Houston 24), August 1–4, at the Houston Museum of Science and Hotel ZaZa is well underway. Some of the rarest bottles and early American glass from private collections will be together for the first (and probably only) time. There will be so much to see in the spectacular Houston Museum District in addition to our FOHBC activities. Alice and I will be there for almost a week to take in as many of the 19 museums and other attractions as we can. Event Information Packets became available August 1, 2023. If you haven’t received one yet, request one now or download one from our website! Start planning, and make your reservations early.

For the 2025 Federation Event, we’re looking for a host in the Northeast Region. Manchester, Springfield and York were sites of the most recent conventions in that region and all three were fantastic. If no one from that region comes forward soon, we will move on to the Midwest Region. But whichever region you are in, get a group together, make a proposal to host, and let’s make it happen. The FOHBC will be fully supportive.

So many things are happening in the Federation. Online educational seminars by Zoom are recorded and then available on our website. (Check out the schedule online or in each magazine issue.) The FOHBC also has a YouTube site! More past magazines are being scanned and made available on our online archives. The Virtual Museum is constantly growing. The Auction Price Report includes 10 years’ worth of auctions and will be updated with three more years before 2024. As a member, you have access to all this stuff, so start digging! And make those plans for FOHBC Houston 24, a once-in-a-lifetime bottle event.

Smith Road, Brooklyn, Wisconsin 53521 608.575.2922 mwseeliger@gmail.com

Shards of Wisdom

“Heard it Through the Grapevine”

not open the museum right now on the Internet, the ultimate ‘superhighway’?

“Building the online museum was a massive six-month, one-person project. First, I curated roughly 650 of my favorite wrappers into themes such as Celebrities, Classics, Holidays, Big Eats, No Fun and Vices. I scanned everything that was flat, photographed the rest, scanned the prints, cleaned all the now-digital images, then wrote lighthearted commentary to provide each visitor with my personal tour. Then, I bought a book on how to write HTML and built the site myself.”

And Ralph adds (even though we tried to stop him). Darlene’s story has a personal connection to the Finch family.

Candy is Dandy for this Collector

And, by gum, Ralph can’t help but tell you how sweet it is. Ralph Finch found the following article, edited from the Smithsonian Magazine, thought it was...sweet, and added his own two cents of “wisdom” about this once penny product:

Darlene Lacey wrote (edited): “I’m the curator of the Candy Wrapper Museum, my online ‘roadside attraction.’ Here I share my 50-year collection of little slips of paper designed to be torn and thrown away. Why? Because these ephemeral objects serve as time machines, opening an emotional portal to the past.

“I was 15 years old when I started collecting, inspired by friends with cool collections like beer bottles from around the world. I wanted to start one of my own, but of what? I usually spent my few coins on candy at the 7-Eleven. The candy shelves were a wonderland of tasty treats with colorful wrappers and names, all clamoring: Pick me! Big Hunks, Milk Duds, Jujyfruits, Choco’Lite, Lemonhead...how could a girl decide?

“Then inspiration struck. Instead of throwing away those wrappers, I would save them. I would create the Candy Wrapper Museum, where I envisioned that the wrappers would one day be enjoyed as art, nostalgia and humor. It was 1977, and teenage me had a plan: I would collect these wrappers throughout my lifetime, then open up the museum as a roadside attraction in my old age. I chose my first pieces, Nice Mice and Cinnamon Teddy Bears, and so began this journey.

“Friends caught the spirit of fun and donated pieces. Collecting became an affordable, novel way to explore the world around me, one that could turn even a mundane shopping trip into a treasure hunt.

“In 2002, inspiration struck again. Why wait until retirement? Why

A: When my sweet wife was around seven—a mere 69 years ago—and her grandfather owned a neighborhood “family store” called Smitty’s Market that sold milk, bread, the basics, plus penny candy. To help her granddad, Janet (then Janet Smith) would stand up on a wood box and at the candy counter would sell candy to little kids.

To this day, she can list all the penny candies that were popular seven decades ago. Her then favorites were Squirrel, Black Jacks, Mary Janes (originally made in 1914), Snaps and Fan Tan’s.

B: Why don’t I take a leaf from Darlene Lacey’s scrapbook and create my own personal Finch family roadside attraction: Even now, every time we pass (pardon the pun) one of those porta-potties along the highway, why don’t I rent one and build The Finch Museum Dedicated to Toilet Paper and Related Ephemera? Toilet paper is a natural flush with art, nostalgia and humor!

Now, I will need several things: No. 1, Encouragement, and No. 2, (pardon the expression) Lots of money and, appropriately, a national movement. (Have I no shame?)

If you think this is a good idea, or another lame-brain idea down the drain, write rfinch@twmi.rr.com

I Relished this Rare Ketchup Jug! Cheers and Tears

by Ralph Finch

First, the good news and a little serving of background. Those who know me—and Janet—are aware that we collect a LOT of stuff (emphasis on “a lot”). Janet likes snuff bottles, utilities, demijohns, and another item or two, while me?

For me? The list goes on...and on. Strange—and not so strange— things, like spittoons, 100-year-old rolls of toilet paper, pre-1900 chamber pots, salesmen’s trample toilets, and children’s musical toilet paper holders (one, from the 1940s, plays Whistle While You Work).

Shards of Wisdom

“Heard it Through the Grapevine”

And—phew—pre-1900 travel books on Japan, old hair bottles, clothespins, children’s aprons, museum-quality demijohns with historic ship battles painted on them, and other major collections that have come—and gone—like GIX-10 scrolls, Sandwich colognes, and of course my once-great accumulation of 250-different glass target balls and related ephemera.

Another collection that still warms my heart and (hamburger) buns is Ketchup stuff. In fact, my ketchups have been mentioned in books and featured in at least three documentaries—one done by a TV show in Moscow.

While there are common bottles and a few jewels, part of my “ketchup klutter” is the world’s best assortment of ketchup crocks and jugs. Is there a better display? I’ve never heard of one.

One wall holds about 29 crocks and jugs emblazoned with the magic word, the nectar of the gods: KETCHUP or “catsup.” (I would accept or k-e-chap—it’s Chinese—or...whatever. You say tomato, and I say tomahto (part of a 1937 Gershwin song).

And, recently, I came across what would be No. 30, and the big apple of my ketchup collection (Mixing fruit and vegetables here.) It was the auction’s star (in my opinion), Lot 491, described (edited) as:

“… large Bristol-slip-glazed jug with bail handle, featuring “MY MARYLAND / HIGH GRADE / CATSUP / VAN LILL PRESERVING CO / BALTIMORE MD” on the front and reverse… and 18.”

Eighteen inches high? I have two other large ones, but not that large.

Lot 491 was estimated at $100-$200 but sold for $950 plus a reasonable 20 percent buyer’s premium, plus shipping.

I found little on the ketchup; Van Lill was a preserver, but I guess not a really successful one. The Van Lill name was a prominent one in Baltimore, but...

I was so excited when the ketchup from Crocker Farm came to my front door in a really big box, and in it was another box, and in that was my wonderful ketchup jug.

We carefully unpacked it and found my ketchup had...multiplied. It was now in at least eight pieces!

I have no idea what happened (nor does Crocker). The outside box looked well-packed, but the inner box had a four-inch bite out of one corner. Strange, and so, so, so very sad.

And a couple of weeks later, Crocker returned our money. I’d rather have catsup than lettuce...(bad joke).

FYI: Crocker Farm says: “We are a family business owned and operated by Anthony, Barbara, Brandt, Luke, and Mark Zipp. We have been selling stoneware and redware since 1983 and possess an unsurpassed knowledge of the art form. Our company is the industry leader in selling antique American stoneware and redware pottery, and our auctions have transformed the marketplace, realizing numerous major world auction records and achieving over $40 million sold. We are based out of our historic gallery, the 1841 Gorsuch Barn, in Sparks, Maryland.”

The firm once sold a jug for a record-setting $1,560,000!

Looking rather dejected, Ralph inspects his recently delivered large Bristol-slipglazed jug with a bail handle. Marked “Maryland High Grade Catsup Van Lill Preserving Co Baltimore Md.”

Photos from Bottle Shows Long Ago

Hello friends, I went through some old photo albums and came up with a few photographs from antique bottle shows 40+ years ago. I wish two things…that we had taken a lot more pictures and that the quality of the photos we took was much better! Ralph (Finch) may be able to identify more people in the Rochester, New York banquet photo. I identified some of the seated diners. Lots of great memories...as I said, wish I’d taken photos at Laconia; Portland, ME; Sidney, NY; Buffalo; Rochester, NH; etc.

in four colors with some mixed-in-color. She asked if I knew who made the bottles, and I told her I did not. I got an address for the company that owned Lestoil and gave her the address. Lestoil sent her the letter I have included. Finding out was a great bit of history, and she was tickled to get the reply.

I will guess that someday there will be someone who collects these flasks. I am not sure how many designs were on these flasks. I have seen George Washington, cannons, ships and the bald eagle design. I can guess they used other designs in the series. Now we know the rest of the story about these flasks. I am providing two photos of one of the flasks that I have [note that the editor provided higher-resolution images].

Thomas W. Brown Findlay, Ohio

Response from the Noxell Corporation Consumer Services, March 8, 1990.

Sure had a blast cruising to shows in my 1970 Boss 302 Mustang...not super comfortable for long trips and the jar inventory space was limited but it sure was fast. All paid for by canning jars...those were the days. Let me know if you have any questions.

Mike Beardsley, Chittenango, New York

[Note] Make sure you read Jarring Discoveries, The Fruitful Early Days of Collecting by Mike in the previous issue. We have added all of the photographs Mike provided and posted on FOHBC.org. See Editors’ Pick on the home page.

Lestoil Heavy Duty Cleaner

I have been collecting and digging bottles since 1970, and I have seen a lot of bottles including a series of reproduction flasks. They were generally found at flea markets in various colors, including mixed glass colors. In 1984, I bought my current home and saw them again.

After getting to know my next-door neighbor, she noticed I had a lot of bottles. I explained that I was a collector and digger, and then she told me she had flasks! I was very excited, as you could see the flasks in the windows of her house. I asked if I could look at what she had. I went to her front room, and sure enough, she had a series of various colored flasks on all the ledges of her windows. I knew, of course, they were reproductions or newer flasks and told her they were made for Lestoil and could be found

Thank you for inquiring about a promotional bottle of Lestoil Heavy Duty Cleaner with a colonial motif. The colonial bottle was strictly a promotional item for the Lestoil line, offered from approximately mid-1964 to mid-1965 in several short selective runs. The bottle was produced exclusively for us by the Knox Glass Company, Danielson, Connecticut in 1964. Only four colors were offered: green, blue, purple and amber. The reason for the variation in shading was that the same glass tank was used for all the glass bottles made. Consequently, as the desired production quantity of one color was reached, the glass was diluted with the next color. We have no idea as to the value of the bottles, if any. Thanks for contacting us. If we can assist you again, please let us know.

Just Devoured

Hi Ferd, just devoured the latest magazine and again you hit it out of the park with your layout and embellishments of my story! [Pike’s Peak or Bust] I especially enjoyed, as always, the Lost & Found section which is where I always start my reading. The jaw dropper was the article by Rod Vining [Bottle Tumbling with a Twist] with those colored Mobile bottles! I’m still breathless as

I look at them now. As I type, I am awaiting the thumbs up from Lou Lambert to whom I have just shipped my green Ravenna flask for a possible cleaning. He said he would inspect it and render his opinion as to whether or not it is too risky. I leave that decision in his capable hands. I have banged out a couple of stories and am working on a few more. Lemme know if you can still use any. I also started my own YouTube channel of all my dig videos from the past ten years. I feared all my old DVDs would end up in a landfill and nobody outside my close friends and family would ever get a chance to see them. Check it out if you are bored or suffer from insomnia. It might just be the 21st century cure! The Old Dirt Slinger is my channel name. Take care.

Jack Klotz

Louisiana, Missouri

Keep Your Powder Dry

Dear Mrs. Meyer, Please, can you tell me where in 2005 the publication Bottles and Extras was based? I must quote Keep Your Powder Dry…In A Glass Powder Horn?, Cecil Munsey, Scott Grandstaff, Kitty Roach, FOHBC, Bottles and Extras (2005), pp. 2-8 and I have to include the place where the magazine was issued at that time. Is it Sacramento, California? Also, which number was the issue...Spring 2005? The 11th? With kind regards,

Alexandru Gh. Sonoc, PhD

Brukenthal Art Museum, Brukenthal National Museum Sibiu, Romania

[Response] Hi Ferdinand & Elizabeth, Hope you are doing well!! I will answer the man’s questions. Bottles and Extras was published in Happy Camp, California at this time. I still have the powder horns (pictured above) on my side table. Cecil and Dolores (Munsey) came for a visit in probably 1994 and I showed them the powder horns. Cecil became interested in doing the article about them. Besides Bottles and Extras, Cecil also sent the article to an early American collectibles magazine and a black powder magazine plus a couple others too. I am sorry I don’t remember the issue number.

Scott Grandstaff, Happy Camp, California

Sloppy Joe’s Bar, Key West, Florida

We recently traveled cross-country and went bar hopping in Key West, Florida. We stopped in to Sloppy Joe’s Bar for some live music—they claim to be Ernest Hemingway’s favorite bar. Debatable. Above is their bottle display and “History Under Foot” information.

Brian Bingham Oceanside, California

FOHBC Regional News

Western Region [Eric McGuire., Director]

It’s a hot time in the Old West, but I especially want to report two interesting recent bottle-related events in this region. The first occurred on June 3, 2023. Fellow FOHBC members John Burton and Jeff Rhoads were on hand at the Marin History Museum (Marin County, California) to head up a bottle evaluation event hosted by the Museum. This collaboration was an amazing success, drawing a larger-than-expected crowd of people who happened to have a variety of bottles in their possession and wanted to learn something about them, along with their values. A steady crowd was present all day with all sorts of items. All types of bottles, jars, and containers were presented by local folks who wanted to learn something about them. It is interesting to note that a good number of individuals stayed longer than expected because they wanted to see what other people had brought as well. I would strongly recommend this type of event for any other location. It builds a liaison with local history groups, bottle collectors, and the general public.

The 49er Historical Bottle Association held its annual “club picnic,” hosted by Rick and his wife, Tammy Correa, at their home in Grass Valley, California, on June 10. It was well-attended with about 70 people. Besides the wonderful company and usual “bottle chatter,” the highlight was three talks about bottles and bottle digging. George McNeely and Herb Yue both discussed recent digs they experienced and the wonderful items recovered. Past FOHBC president, John O’Neill, gave an interesting talk on Napa soda bottles, one of the most prolific producers of spring water bottles in the western U.S. John has spent years researching the company and acquiring many examples of the bottles, which will soon culminate in a book he is to publish. I strongly recommend keeping an eye out for that book.

Northeast Region [Charlie Martin, Jr., Director]

You may remember The Little Rhody Bottle Club Swap Meet write-up in the last issue. Club president Bill Rose wanted to take the opportunity to extend a special welcome to club member Cameron Celrtuda, who is currently attending Gettysburg College and is an avid bottle digger and collector. Glad to see that young collectors are coming into the hobby. We need all age groups participating to keep it vibrant, relevant and growing.

Roy Topka, co-chair of the Saratoga Antique Bottle Show and Sale, sent the following recap of their annual show and sale: “On June 4, the 43rd Annual Saratoga Antique Bottle Show and Sale was held at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds in Ballston Spa. As well as set up, the morning of the show, most dealers choose the night before to prepare for the show and enjoy the camaraderie of old friends. Forty-eight dealers occupied 80 tables in the two buildings, including a few additional dealers that chose an outdoor setup. The show was a good mix of high-end glass and several old collections brought in by individuals who had never done the show

and sold briskly. During the announcement of the 50/50 raffle, local dealer, collector, and long-time National Bottle Museum member Art Dell was honored for his unwavering support of the Museum with a plaque in his name which will be placed on the rotating exhibit case in the Museum, a fitting tribute to someone who has continually shared his collection with others through the Museum. Art had graciously donated this year’s raffle bottle, a gorgeous Tippecanoe. The Bottle Museum was also open and greeted many first-time and return visitors. All in all, a fun weekend.”

I’ve just been informed that the National Association of Milk Bottle Collectors (NAMBC) recently announced that their 2024 NAMBC Convention will occur on May 17-18, 2024, at the Quality Inn and Suites in Bellville, Ohio. Registration opens in February 2024 and registration forms will be available at milkbottlecollectors.com.

As you read this article, approximately a dozen bottle shows have occurred (some were highlighted in my previous article) or will occur before the end of October 2023. Please check the FOHBC Show Listings at FOHBC.org (continuously updated) or in the back of our magazine to see if you can attend one or more of these shows in the Northeast Region. Fall is the busiest time of the year for bottle show activity—please try to take advantage of this opportunity to add that special bottle to your collection. Get out in support of your fellow collectors that host these great shows!

Ergo, I would like to mention a few shows that you might consider attending in the upcoming months. If the New England Fall foliage season is something you’ve wanted to experience, you may want to head out on a mini road trip in mid-September to the Merrimac Valley Antique Bottle Show and Sale on September 17 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. From there, head north to Topsham, Maine, for the Mid-Maine Antique Bottle Show and Sale on September 24. You can conclude your Fall foliage bottle trip with a “TWOFA.” On Saturday, October 7, join Connecticut bottle dealers and collectors at the Coventry Bottle Show, sponsored by the Museum of Connecticut Glass. Then on Sunday, October 8, visit Keene, New Hampshire, for the Yankee Antique Bottle Club Show and Sale during the height of the “Leaf Peeper” season. All of the shows and the scenery are spectacular! I trust you will enjoy it all. Please remember that I am always ready to help any show chair or club officer promote their bottle show, including publishing photos from your show on the FOHBC website and Facebook page. Until next time, happy bottle hunting!

Midwest Region [Henry Hecker, Director]

I start my report by requesting all clubs send me their latest club information, officer roster, newsletter info, etc., to ensure our Federation website information is current. I have been somewhat limited in reaching out as I address several orthopedic issues that, thankfully, should be fading into the past. I will also send out a letter that informs everyone in the Midwest Region of the value

proposition the Federation offers, most notably the magazine, the Auction Price Report and the Virtual Museum.

The Midwest Region lost another icon recently. George Hansen of Wautoma, Wisconsin, passed away in June at 92. While George was not very active in the hobby in the last few years, those who have enjoyed bottle and advertising collection since the 1970s will recall George as an avid collector-dealer who found “good stuff.” He was a fixture at flea markets and shows, selling a range of antiques. He was a longtime collector of beer-related items, art pottery, and die-cut Santa advertising. He was one of the original Milwaukee Antique Bottle and Advertising Club members when he lived in the Milwaukee area. Still, he and his family have lived in Wautoma for the last several decades.

If you are interested in 19th-century earthenware and stoneware, you should take a look at the website madefromclay.org. The product of Peter Maas, Mark Knipping, and yours truly, this site is devoted to the histories of early potters in Wisconsin. This well-researched, free resource tells the stories about these potters, many of them immigrants and trained in the “old country.” The authors augment the articles with many illustrations of Wisconsin pottery with attributions made from provenance and even a number of significant digs of potters’ waste dumps. Wisconsin had a wide variety of earthenware and stoneware wares with a rainbow of glazes and decorations made with local clay and clays from Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa. The large rural farm devoted to the dairy industry created the demand for these jugs, butter and cream pots, milk pans, and churns. However, with the advent of the railroad and the big stoneware manufacturers located in Red Wing, Minnesota and Macomb, Illinois, these small businesses disappeared by 1900. The website is getting attention from various historical societies that have requested links, and a state archaeologist recently consulted on pottery fragments found at the Villa Louis historical site in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

Here are a few ideas to make bottle club meetings more fun and exciting that I see from those of you sending me your newsletters: “Show and Tell” thrives with interesting twists. The Detroit Metropolitan Club likes to have members bring items starting with a letter of the alphabet. This results in an eclectic set of items at every meeting that are described in the club newsletter. The Ohio Bottle Club employs both in-person and Zoom meetings to engage members. I continue to be blown away by the early glass that members can find in a state founded in 1803 (versus Wisconsin in 1848.) Their monthly publication, The Ohio Swirl, takes a ribbon as one of the top club newsletters in the country. The graphics are outstanding. As a follow-up on the importance of newsletters to maintain interest, the Midwest Antique Fruit Jar & Bottle Club also does a good job with their publication, Glass Chatter. The message

here is twofold. If your club is not doing a newsletter regularly, the club is missing out on membership and creating member enthusiasm. And for those that volunteer their time to put these great publications together, a hearty “Shout Out” to you!

Southern Region [Tom Lines, Director]

Having not heard from any southern clubs with activity updates, I contacted long-time friend and digger extraordinaire Steve Hicks in Knoxville, Tennessee. Steve and his long-time digging partners Mike Barbera and Daniel Welch have been tearing up Knoxville. By the way, Steve and Mike have been digging together for over 40 years! I spent an hour and a half on the phone with Steve getting an update on their digging activities…and this repressive summer heat hasn’t deterred them at all.

They have dug eight privies and three cisterns in the past two months! In addition, they have ten more pits and seven more cisterns lined up to dig! Wowzer! How do they do that? Well, Steve is blessed with great communication skills, aka “the gift of gab,” and he’s the chief permission seeker. They have formed a bond with a local real estate investor and have lots of late 19th-century and early 20th-century lots lined up. In addition, they actively reach out to all that are curious about what they are doing—neighbors, passersby and friends. These guys are great emissaries for the hobby!

I asked about their success rate, and Steve said they had dug about 3,000 bottles so far this year! In thinking back over my own digging experiences, I don’t think I’ve even dug 3,000 bottles cumulatively! But he added that only about 20%-25% on average are productive digs. So how do they handle the heat? First off, they erect a canopy to cover the hole…nothing like digging in the shade! They also have portable fans to keep air circulating which is most helpful in a 16-foot-deep cistern. If the site offers access to electricity, they’ve been known to carry along a small refrigerator! All the comforts of home…well, except for a recliner! And, of course, they keep well hydrated. The 1966 tune by the Loving Spoonful “Summer in the City” comes to mind…”Hot town, summer in the city. Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty…”

These guys have an excellent reputation in Knoxville for being neat and meticulous with their digging practices. Upon digging out a hole, they frequently clean up the lot, tossing the trash into the pit before covering it up. If sod must be removed, it’s carefully replaced when done. Straw and grass seed is also carried to digs. These guys are thorough, for sure…which helps them keep that good reputation! At 70 years old, Steve thought he’d be slowing down a bit on the deep cisterns, but with his exuberant personality, I’m not sure about that at all! Thanks, Steve, for taking the time to share! And I wish y’all continued success!

Hey, please let me know what’s going on in your area too! Reach me by email at Bluecrab1949@hotmail.com or on my cell at 205.410.2191.

Virtual Museum News

By Richard T. Siri, Santa Rosa, California

The FOHBC Virtual Museum has been established to display, inform, educate, and enhance the enjoyment of historical bottle and glass collecting by providing an online virtual museum experience for significant historical bottles and other items related to early glass.

Note from Richard:

Since the last issue, many new bottles have been added to the Museum from Eric McGuire, one of our two West Coast photographers, so I’ll dedicate some space in my column on these two pages to his bottles.

Meanwhile, Alan DeMaison, our Virtual Museum treasurer and image specialist, stays busy cropping backgrounds from each new spinning image with special software. Thirty-six individual studio-setting shots make up each 360-degree rotation. From there, the image set goes electronically to team member Miguel Ruiz in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he develops the coding and places each new specimen in an editing area of our Virtual Museum website. Next, our curator, Ferdinand Meyer V, works with a stable of researchers to assemble the specific gallery display and information accompanying each object in the Museum. Once this is complete, we add it to the subject gallery menu bar on the website and release the new piece by marketing it with emails and placing a post on our social media platforms. This process is a lot of work but worthwhile when you visit the Museum and see the end product.

The spaces Eric has been working on of late include the Perfume, Scent & Cologne, Soda Water and Medicines Galleries. My favorites were the “Dr. R. Parker Indian Tla-Quillaugh’s Balsam S.F.” medicine, “Redington & Co. San Francisco” and “Crane & Brigham San Francisco” Bay Rums with the great monogram and embossed leaf, an “X. Bazin Philada,” perfume, a “J. F. Cutter Extra Old Bourbon (Shield & Star)” flask, that will join our Cutter cylinder fifth already in the Spirits Gallery, a “Dr. Henley’s Regulator” and an “Italian Soda Water.” These are all from Eric’s extensive collection of primarily Western bottles. He has imaged at least 60 specimens and counting from his collection. Look for them when you visit the Museum.

Alan is planning an imaging trip to Virginia to image Poison Bottles from the Joan Cabanis collection. Also on the radar are William Eden’s and Vicki Freund’s Fire Grenades, Craig Lane’s ACL Sodas, and Brian Gray’s Barber Bottles and Cures from collections in the South and Midwest.

The Museum needs another imager in the South and one in the Northeast. If anyone is interested, contact me, Alan or Ferdinand.

The FOHBC Virtual Museum will provide training, equipment, and travel expenses if needed. However, you do need a good camera and an artistic eye.

Other collecting groups are experiencing the same issues as the antique bottle and glass hobby and want to improve their membership levels and interest. I belong to the Casino Collectibles Association and they toyed with a “bricks and mortar” physical museum and gave up on that idea. They looked at our Virtual Museum and think it’s the best thing out there. Maybe it will draw some of those collectors to bottle collecting.

Thanks to Tom Haunton

The FOHBC Virtual Museum would like to give a special thanks to Thomas C. Haunton who donated copies of his books Lost Links to the Past 20th Century South Jersey Glass, Volume 1 –Clevenger Brothers and Tippecanoe and E.G. Booz Too! A book about cabin bottles. Tom assisted and provided us access to his vast historical archives when we recently added a GVII-3 “E. G. Booz’s Old Cabin Whiskey - Philadelphia” to our Historical Flask Gallery.

A Major New Virtual Museum Gift

The FOHBC and Virtual Museum Team would like to thank Richard T. Siri, one of the Museum founders who came up with the idea for the Virtual Museum. Richard and his wife Beverly, chairs of the recent Reno 2022 Convention, donated their entire compensation proceeds, representing 20% of the profits from the convention, back to the Virtual Museum. The gift ended up being around $4,400. Richard and Bev did the same thing when they chaired the FOHBC 2016 Sacramento National. Bravo!

Perfume, Scent & Cologne Gallery

Perfume came from the Latin term “per fumum,” which means “through smoke.” The first use of perfumes was used to scent the air and were usually aromatic resins and oils that were burned to release an aroma. Early perfume distillation was developed in the East, while Arabic treatises spread the techniques to Europe, particularly Spain, Italy, and, most significantly, France.

Cologne was invented in Germany in 1709 and gained great popularity as a refreshingly light alternative to the stronger scents produced in France, which remained the center of perfumery for many years. Perfume and cologne were used as a status symbol, and smelling pleasant was once a luxury restricted to royalty and the nobility.

Check out our growing Perfume, Scent & Cologne Gallery centered around outstanding 19th century American and European examples. We have pictured a few on the opposite page.

X. Bazin Philada

Please help us fill our Phase 4 Wishart’s Pine Tree Tar Cordial bottle.

Donations to the Museum are always needed to ensure we continue. We are a 501(c)(3) educational club, so your donation is tax deductible.

Please help us in our Phase 4 fundraising capital campaign to continue development of the FOHBC Virtual Museum. The FOHBC and the Virtual Museum team thank our many donors who have helped us raise over $98,994 to date. We have $28,708 in available funds to continue development to build our galleries, exhibition hall, research library and gift shop. Donations are tax deductible. All donors are listed on our Virtual Museum Recognition Wall. With one salaried website technician averaging $1,200 a month, we need help. Plus, we are now traveling to collections with the Pandemic hopefully behind us, so more costs will be incurred. All other time is donated by the Virtual Museum team out of our love and passion for the hobby and the FOHBC. Thank you!

FOHBCVirtualMuseum.org

For gift information contact: Alan DeMaison, FOHBC Virtual Museum Treasurer, 1605 Clipper Cove, Painesville, Ohio 44077, a.demaison@sbcglobal.net

WHAT ELSE DO I COLLECT?

Ralph Finch recently received an email from someone who foolishly asked “what ELSE do you collect?” He replied:

What do I gather, via around the country and occasionally the world, or by way of the Internet? Wow, this will be a challenge. This isn’t going to be easy. (And some people ask, “why,” and that gets even harder.)

Some collections are expensive, and some are extensive, and some are only an item or two, and sometimes just for the heck of it. It reminds me of bitters trade card king Joe Gourd of Illinois. He once said he was a collector of Bininger bottles. I asked him how many he had, and he said he was waiting for the first one, but he still considered himself a collector. (He finally owned 12.) Joe was one of the first Metro Detroit ABC presidents and now owns thousands of bitters trade cards. (I have seven trade cards, all about ketchup.)

So, here we go, but first, I’ll list the collections that are now long past.

I started out collecting pint fruit jars, but...they’re gone. Then, GIX-10 scrolls (flasks) in a variety of colors; gone. Then, Old Sachem Bitters barrels, and Jim Hagenbuch sold them. Next were 111 Sandwich colognes; Norman Heckler sold them. Through

John Pastor, we sold a small collection of 1880s alcohol lamps (you might say we had seen the light). And shoot, 254 different glass target balls plus a ton of ball ephemera. Pastor sold them through several auctions around 2017-19.

But we still like portrait tiles, advertising items and signs, even late-1800s wooden clothespins (thanks to Dick Watson’s wife, the late Elma Watson.) And *bricks, thanks to FOHBC past president Roy Brown. (*My latest brick—as of April 2023—is an 1893 Columbian Exposition paver brick made by the Robinson Clay company of Malvern, Ohio. It weighs 12 pounds but seems heavier now that I am older...It reminds me of my first mother-inlaw’s dumplings.)

I have a small, *butt-interesting collection of maybe 48 rolls of early 50-to-100-year-old toilet paper (I’ll come clean: I really do). And salesmen’s sample toilets. (I know, people say it’s like flushing money down the drain.) And even glass fly traps, maybe 125, in a variety of colors and shapes from around the world, as well as mechanism-driven fly traps. (*Bad pun intended.)

Oh, and a few spittoons—one today is holding a pot of flowers—and a few commodes. (At the age of 83, having commodes nearby is a smart, um, move to collect. Do I really need one? At 83...it depends. And the spittoons are OK, in case I ever move to Kentucky, as I saw a cowboy movie a hundred years ago, and everyone from Kentucky spat.)

(He’s out of control...and admits it!)

And I forgot bed pans. WAIT: While bed pans can be important if you are 83, I mean bed-warming bottles. They are almost always pottery and—occasionally—interesting...OK, and sometimes boring. My last one was purchased at the 2023 Mansfield, Ohio, show. It was a big one, and on one end was debossed “A Warm Friend,” and on the other end, “Logan Pottery Co. of Logan, Ohio,” a company in business from 1902 to 1964. We will put a bed-warming bottle in each of our guest bedrooms. (And maybe a spittoon, in case anyone from Kentucky stops by.)

And we have hair bottles and related items; there are 100 to 200 hair bottles on the shelves, but nothing major. (I should sell them or maybe pass them on to a...heir.)

We have spent a bit of money on old cash registers (two) kaching, and three slot machines—again, ka-ching. One slot machine is antique, another plastic, made in Japan, and the third is an antique penny machine.

And turtles, but that collection is very slowly growing. (We all know why the chicken crossed the road {don’t we?}, but do you know why the turtle crossed the road? It wanted to get to the Shell station.)

Actually, I collect turtles that sat on old hotel desks. You push the top and the turtle rings a bell. And I do have a large lawn sprinkler in the shape of a frog. (And, warning: There is another turtle

reference below.)

And ketchups? OK, I’m not sure who could muster(d) up more 1800-to-today ketchups than I have. They are all over the house, plus ketchup trade cards, early advertising and more ephemera than Heinz had ‘57 varieties. Some of my hard-to-acquire items are 30 ketchup jugs and crocks, plus wooden shipping boxes.

Twice, my ketchups have been featured in TV documentaries in the U.S. (and another in Russia, where everything is red), and several times my ketchups have been exhibited at bottle shows. (Once I thought I had foresight, but then I accidentally squirted ketchup in my eye...since I’ve had Heinz sight.)

OK, a bit more about target balls. The total had reached about 250, even though a few balls were represented in several colors. Most were American, many were British, plus others from France, Germany, Scotland, Sweden, Australia, and Canada...is a larger collection known? Not that I’m aware of. In fact, I doubt it will ever be matched; I started early when many—OK, some— could be acquired at a reasonable price.

Their value? I’ve paid $30 for one and $30,000 for another (spending my wife’s life savings). There is little in the way of good target ball ephemera, but what exists, I had a good portion of it. My favorite item was a large, circa 1880 poster of famous ball man Ira Paine shooting a walnut off his wife’s head and target balls that she tossed up in the air.

Also, I probably had the largest collection of glass ball traps, maybe, 25, and they are much harder to find than a good ball. Also, with eBay and the Internet and traveling frequently to glass shows in Europe, I’ve had advantages that Alex Kerr—the godfather of target ball collecting and a member of the Kerr glass family—did not. And the balls, over a period of several years and about six auctions, were sold at John Pastor’s American Glass Gallery.

Did I mention our 125 glass canes? The latest is nine feet, 10 inches long...and we finally figured out where to put it.

And we have a small-but-growing collection of rare painted and non-painted demijohns. (Did I ever tell you of the time I was in Las Vegas and a good-looking woman walked up to me and said. “I’ll do anything you want for $300,” and I replied: “Paint my demijohns.”)

And almost two years ago, Janet got interested in 1800s snuff bottles and won’t turn up her nose at a rare one. (She had forgotten that since I was about 10, I have been adamantly against anything related to tobacco. Oh, well.) To me, Janet is the Snuff Queen.

And what’s the newest, hot collection? Old toasters! (Honest, they are hot!) We know several glass collectors who have old toasters, including John (and Liz) Pastor and Jim and Jodi Hall.

Now to the present: we are trying to scratch out a nice collection of etched Scottish bottles (Alloa, 1840-1900). They are unusual. In fact, odd.

Oh...I forgot to mention my collection of children’s bibs. (One day I wondered, “Why do I like bibs?” And Janet replied: “Have you seen yourself eat?” I blame it on a stroke-caused vision problem.)

And flutters. (What are they? Do your own research, but it will be a pressing issue.) I got my best flutter—mid-May 2022—as I sat in our kitchen, in my fluffy bathrobe, while bidding at an Internet live auction.

And taxidermy items that turn into...other things. (The English were big on that; we have a nice turtle, and if you lift the hinged shell, there is a small, well, an inkwell.)

And a LARGE steel 1899 child’s tricycle, and a large peddle horse toy for a child, a large wooden stork, and...

We like jardinieres; there are two problems collecting them: Spelling the word and finding room for these bloomin’ large plant holders on pedestals. And do we want more? That’s a silly question; where to put ‘em? Beats me.

Now, I have never owned a new car, but...a lot of old glass. Life is a challenge. Yet of all the fun stuff and great glass, of all the traveling, of all the great people and of all the wonderful rewards the hobby has given me, the best part is re-meeting Janet (then Loik), who in 1977 I interviewed about her collecting (which included target balls).

I knew Janet in the 1970s and ‘80s and thought she was delightful. We then went on to our separate lives. Almost 30 years later, with both of us divorced, I called to say “Hello.” We had several delightful phone conversations and, to make a long story short: Under the Whispering Dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England, I proposed to the most remarkable woman that I have ever known. Six months later, in Las Vegas, as Elvis walked her down the aisle, we were married at the Graceland Chapel. The hobby has been wonderful to me. After re-meeting Janet, I discovered that I was the happiest and luckiest man in the world. I love her, and not only that, everyone who meets her loves her too.

And memories NOT glass or collectible related?

Travel is a big one. It would take me a few minutes if I had to list all the countries I have visited. The big ones, of course, are Canada, France, Italy and Russia. I’ve had the good fortune of having visited England perhaps 20 times, always looking for antiques or attending the West End theaters. And a village in Wales where my grandmother was born.

And we’ve set foot on most all the countries around the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, and many of all of the counties in central America, plus Mexico, and on the other side of the globe, Australia. I found a glass dealer in Melbourne, and in the middle of nowhere, I visited the worm museum. (Honest!)

And I lived for more than two years in Japan, courtesy of my uncle (Sam). I’ve even been to an antique show in Japan, and surprisingly, it looked like a U.S. show. Also, I have a small grouping of old books on Japan.

(Talking about books, I have a small library of books on vampires...I know, that sucks.)

Another big interest is the theater. We have season subscriptions to at least four theaters, and I have enjoyed ‘The Phantom’ at least 60 times in Detroit, London, Toronto and Melbourne, Australia—even Vegas, even at a local high school’s production. I’ve seen Les Misérables more than 40 times, and hope to enjoy it a few more times.

Had I not a weakness for musical theater, my other collections would be at least twice the size they are now.

cowboys

There is probably no more quintessentially American figure than the cowboy. Although the actual work of a cowboy is hard, dirty and sometimes dangerous, he has been romanticized and commercialized since the mid-nineteenth century through the present day. Especially in the West, soda pop bottlers often used dramatic, colorful images of cowboys (and cowgirls) to sell their products throughout the ACL era (1930s to mid1980s). Today, these cowboy and cowgirl bottles are hugely popular with collectors. Let’s look at a few of them.

“Frontier Beverages” is considered one of the masterpieces of ACL artwork. The bottle depicts a cowboy riding a bucking bronco and was put up by the Platte Valley Bottling Company of North Platte, Nebraska, in 1948. In a 2002 article, Rick Sweeney explained why the bottle is so desirable to collectors, apart from its relative rarity. First, the illustration is large, filling much of the front label; it is dramatic and detailed, displaying realistic minutiae such as the horse’s muscular legs, flailing mane and tail, and horse-

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam, Where the deer and the antelope play, Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, And the sky is not cloudy all day.

[Mike Dickman]

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

[Left] Competitive saddle bronc rider at a Colorado rodeo, 2010

[Fig. 1] Frontier Beverages, North Platte, Nebraska, 1948. The Union Pacific Railroad established the town in 1866 and it was home to Buffalo Bill Cody.

Home on the Range by Brewster M. Higley, circa 1870

shoes. Second, the typestyle used for the word “Frontier” is unique, created by an artist specifically for this bottle, and has a decidedly Western feel. The placement of the words, arched above and below the illustration, compliments the action. Also, the unusual colors, brownish burgundy on an ivory background, add to the ACL’s beauty, with the bottle made with a pebbled, rustic-looking texture. All in all, “Frontier Beverages” is a miniature work of commercial art worthy of a museum. But the bottle is substantially more affordable than a Monet or Picasso, typically selling for about $100. (Fig. 1)

[Fig. 4] Roundup Beverages, Roundup, Montana, 1959

[Fig. 2] Flathead Beverages, Kalispell, Montana, 1942

Crown cap, Vegas Vic Beverages, Las Vegas, Nevada, 1953

[Fig. 3] Circle W Beverages, Miles City, Montana, 1942

ACL’s showing a bucking horse and rider were a popular theme on Western soda bottles. Three such bottles were “Flathead Beverages” from Kalispell, Montana, a 12-ounce product put up in 1942 (Fig. 2); “Circle W Beverages” from Miles City, Montana, a little 7-ounce soda bottle that also was bottled in 1942 (Fig. 3); and “Roundup” from Roundup, Montana, which was put up in 1959 and contained 10 ounces of soda pop, and was touted on its back label as “The Drink of the West” with the advice to “Round-Out Your Day with Round-Up”

(Fig. 4). All three bottles are fairly scarce and desirable. “Flathead Beverages” typically sell for about $100, while a clean “Roundup” sold for $250 in 2022. Saddle bronc riding is one of the traditional events at American commercial rodeos, which started as a non-monetary pastime for working cowboys to test their skills against one another.

Several Western ACL soda bottles depict cowgirls, including the rare “PlainsMaid Beverages” from Lubbock, Texas, holding 7-1/2 ounces of soda and bottled in 1948 (Fig. 5), and the fairly common “Western Beverages” from Glendive, Montana, containing 7 ounces and put up in 1957 (Fig. 6). In 2022, a mint example of the “Plains-Maid Beverages” sold for $600 on eBay, while in contrast, nice examples of “Western Beverages” sold for $45, $50 and $60 in early 2023. The “Western Beverages,” with its sweet image, demonstrates that a wonderful collection of colorful, historical ACL sodas doesn’t have to break the bank.

One of the most famous and remarkable cowgirls was Annie Oakley (1860-1926), who taught herself to shoot and hunt at age eight to be able to sell game to local shopkeepers to help support her widowed mom and siblings. She toured for decades with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show under the name “Little Sure Shot” (she was barely five feet tall) and earned more money than any other performer except Buffalo Bill himself. Her marksmanship almost defied belief. At thirty paces, Annie would split in

Annie Oakley, 1899. One of her passions was teaching women how to shoot, and she gave thousands of free lessons over her lifetime.

$20 Banknote, Peoples National Bank, Helena, Montana, 1873, using a vignette entitled “The Horse Fair.” essential “tool” as well as the symbol of the working

[Fig. 5] Plains-Maid Beverages, Lubbock, Texas, 1948

[Fig. 7] Canyon City Beverages, Canyon City, Oregon, 1953

[Fig. 6] Western Beverages, Glendive, Montana, 1957

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West poster, circa 1899

half a playing card held edge-on; shoot a cigar out of her husband’s lips; snuff out the flame from a burning candle with the draft from a passing bullet; and unfailingly hit dime after dime after tiny dime tossed high into the air! She performed for Queen Victoria and other European royalty and shot a cigarette from Kaiser Wilhelm’s mouth at his insistence. Unfortunately, there are no ACL soda bottles that depict the extraordinary Little Sure Shot.

“Canyon City Quality Beverages” is a 7-ounce soda bottle put up by the Canyon City Bottling Co. of Canyon City, Oregon, in 1953. The front ACL depicts the silhouette of a couple of mounted cowboys chatting as they ride beneath a pine tree with snow-capped peaks in the distance. (Fig. 7) The bottle is not expensive when found and is one of my personal favorites. Canyon City is the rugged, mountainous seat of Grant County in central Oregon. Founded in 1862 after large nuggets of placer gold were discovered in nearby Whiskey Gulch, the town’s population swelled to 10,000 in a matter of months and became a wild and woolly place known for its gunfights. By 1870, however, the census showed that just 250 residents remained in the town as more copious amounts of gold were discovered elsewhere. The town never again came close to its Gold Rush population and only 660 people were living there in 2020. But Canyon City sure gave us a great bottle!

Finally, less realistic but more folksy illustrations of cowboys are depicted on “Desert Cooler” and “Rancho,” which were bottled, respectively, in 1962 in Tucson, Arizona and in 1948 in Ontario, California. (Figs. 8 and 9) “Desert Cooler” claimed on the back that it was a “vitalized beverage” (whatever that means), while “Rancho” bragged that it was “Today’s Favorite.” Both ACLs were made using unusual colors: dramatic white on black in the case of “Rancho” and a not-terribly-successful (in my opinion) green on flesh-colored tan in the case of “Desert Cooler.” Both bottles are somewhat hard to find but not too pricey, with clean examples of either one typically selling for less than $100.

Cowboys and cowgirls are a unique part of American history, tradition and culture, as are the colorful ACL soda bottles that depict them. The author welcomes comments, questions and suggestions at mikedickman@yahoo.com

Montana, circa Horses were the working cowboy.

Marlboro Cigarette ad, 1972. Philip Morris initially marketed the brand to women but switched its focus to males in the 1950s, using a highly successful “Marlboro Man” ad campaign.

Soda bottlers were far from the only American businesses to use cowboy images to sell their products. Ad for Winchester Rifles, circa 1917

[Fig. 8] Desert Cooler, Tucson, Arizona, 1962

Canyon City, Oregon, circa 1863, the future headquarters of Canyon City Quality Beverages. Neither the town’s Gold Rush nor its soda brand lasted very long.

[Fig. 9] Rancho, Ontario, California, 1948

National Antique Bottle & Glass Expo

An Event and Experience that will be remembered for generations...

Houston 24 the most exciting antique bottle and glass event in a generation!

The butterfly, early glass and Texas is our theme as you can experience the Cockrell Butterfly Center and see the featured Sandor P. Fuss “American Antique Glass Masterpieces” collection and highlights from the legendary “Wilber and Gugliotti Barber Bottle” collections on display for the first time ever!

The Peachridge Glass “Glass in the Grass” bottle sales event will start things off on 31 July where dealers can sell from their vehicles under the shade of large pecan trees. Other events will be held at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and Hotel ZaZa, our hosts for the Exposition, both located in Hermann Park within the Houston Museum District. Attend the FOHBC Antique Bottle and Glass Show & Sale, see outstanding displays and attend educational seminars, youth events, a live auction, bottle and glass competition, cocktail parties, banquet, membership meeting breakfast, book sales, museum tours, virtual museum imaging and so much more.

Underwritten and supported by the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS), the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (FOHBC) and Hotel ZaZa. Brought to you by Peachridge Collections LLC

Information Packets, Hotel Registration, Schedule of Events and Attendee Contracts now online. Collection catalog books will be on sale at the Expo. Please make your reservations now as space and rooms are limited!

INFORMATION

FOHBC.org or email Houston24Expo@gmail.com

PLUCK {John L. Sullivan}

Throughout the 20th century, those living in Irish-dominated Boston grew up being told all about the popular pugilist who became the world’s most celebrated boxer. Irishman John L. Sullivan (1858-1918), during his heyday, erupted into an iconic celebrity much in the same way Mohammad Ali did in the 1960s. Idolized as The Boston Strong Boy, 1882-1892, his peak years were 140 years before anyone living today was born (see Christopher Klein’s Strong Boy, published, 2013).

Mr. Pluck grew up in Boston’s South End/Roxbury jurisdiction, where so many Irish offspring born after him were nurtured. The author of this sketch recalls a time in 1950 when, as a 14-year-old Boy Scout from Boston’s rough Roxbury/Dorchester neighborhoods, he went one Spring day with several Boy Scout cohorts to clean up a backyard that winter had rumpled. The owner, Mrs. Alice M. Morse, was still enjoying life at 90 years. Politely, she went out of her way during the cleanup process to tell me that John L. Sullivan used to live just down the street from her and that he used to stride regularly past her 8 Folsom Street house, the same property I was cleaning up. She said John L. Sullivan always tipped his stovepipe hat (see cigar box image below) as he

By Charles J. Humber

strode past her veranda, always strutting and promenading with his rattan while puffing cigars. She claimed Mr. Sullivan habitually nodded to her as he passed her by, greeting a young Miss Alice with “Good Day, ma’am.” She stressed that John L. Sullivan brandished the largest handlebar mustache ever worn!

Over the last 70-plus years, this author has never forgotten this genial memory about John L. Sullivan, fittingly nicknamed Pluck by the well-known liquor and cigar merchant John S. Bowman (Bowman & Company) located at Factory No. 178, 1st District, San Francisco, California. [See next article John S. Bowman on page 25] Bowman trademarked a number of different names and brands for his cigars and was responsible for crafting and retailing a rare Pluck wooden cigar box that once held 50 Pluck cigars in the 1890s. (See Fig. 1)

PLUCK {John L. Sullivan}

John L. Sullivan was born to parents whose families had endured the 1850s Irish Potato Famine. In addition to the tens of thousands of Irish folks who had no choice but to flee their beloved

[Fig. 1] John S. Bowman trademarked a number of different names and brands for his cigars and was responsible for crafting and retailing this rare Pluck wooden cigar box that once held 50 Pluck cigars.

January 25, 1883. His approval rating was so high John L. could have run for any political office and easily won! Especially in Irish-dominated Boston!

His initial coast-to-coast tour began in 1883, lasting well into 1884, a timeline in which he traveled with five other boxers aboard cross-country trains transversely touring America. Between them, they had 195 fights in 136 different cities, stopping in places like Madison Square Garden on May 14, 1883; McKeesport, Pennsylvania; St. Paul, Minnesota; Butte, Montana; Astoria, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; both Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia; San Francisco; Galveston, Texas; Hot Springs, Arkansas; and Memphis, Tennessee among many other places. No question: The Boston Strong Boy became a household name! John L. Sullivan is the first champion to hold the heavyweight

A trade card from the 1890s advertising Allen & Ginter’s cigarettes made in Richmond, Virginia that depicts a most muscular John L. Sullivan.

Orange-amber “John S. Bowman Jewel Old Bourbon Sole Agents” cylinder fifth and old amber “Jewel Bitters A. Fortlouis & Co.” bottle. There is also a super-rare version of the bottle that is embossed “Jewel Bitters John S. Bowman & Co.”

Ireland, it is guesstimated some 40 million Americans living today can claim their Irish ancestry to lineages who had suffered from that devastating Irish food crisis. John L. Sullivan’s father came from Kerry County; his mother from Westmeath County. A young John L. grew up in Boston gravitating, first, to baseball, pursuing the Red Stockings. This was after he tentatively had planned to attend Boston College, where he unstably had ideas of entering the priesthood. These details took place before Mr. Pluck turned twenty.

The illegal “underground” boxing world totally climaxed his interest. By 1878 he had earned his nickname, The Boston Strong Boy, a term that became a national moniker, especially after his first bare-knuckle fight at Roxbury’s Dudley Street Opera House, where he knocked out his opponent with the bout’s first punch. Although John L. Sullivan was acclaimed America’s heavyweight champion by 1878, full recognition, de facto, didn’t come his way until 1882 when newspaper headlines declared him the World’s Heavyweight Champion, an accolade turning him into the boxing world’s first idol if not the sporting world’s first superstar!

Headlines were followed by lively stories that aggrandized John L. Sullivan and his colossal Pluck in the ring, whether boxing in Cincinnati, 1880; New York City, 1881; Philadelphia, 1881; Mississippi City, 1882; Buffalo, 1982; Tacoma, Washington, 1882; or in Rochester, New Hampshire, 1882, where John L. fought “Battling Archie” Labbe, the grandfather of Paul Labbe, this author’s boyhood buddy from Dorchester; or in Toronto,

title under the Marquis of Queensbury Rules, recognized today as the start of modern boxing. He was as well the last heavyweight champion holding the prize under the London Prize Rules that governed bare-knuckle fighting. He first won this championship by defeating Paddy Ryan, another Irishman, in Mississippi City on February 17, 1882, a bout that lured such personalities as Oscar Wilde to travel from Ireland for the match. Some claim outlaw Jesse James, three months before his murder, traveled incognito to watch this clash. The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher (see Vol. I, page 141) is alleged to have watched this clash of two titans. Sullivan’s most famous fight over his 10-year career as heavyweight champ occurred when Boston’s Strong Boy fought still another Irishman, Jake Kilrain, a bout giving Pluck the official American Heavyweight Championship. This July 8, 1889 match lasted 75 rounds. Newspaper headlines around the world reported the results. One could claim, with qualified buoyancy, that Sports Journalism originated with John L. Sullivan.

After losing his title to Irishman “Gentleman” Jim Corbett, New Orleans, 1892, John L. ceased drinking and joined the Temperance Movement. In ongoing speeches, John L. even claimed that Jim Corbett never beat him, asserting that it was alcohol that beat him! He and his second wife retired to Abington, Massachusetts, in 1906. After his death in 1918, Mr. Pluck was honorably buried in Roslindale, a Boston suburb. One of his pallbearers was Jake Kilrain, the one who lost the 75-round bout to Mr. Pluck in 1889.

The John L. Sullivan Irish Whiskey brand was introduced in 2017 by M. S. Walker, a New England-based operation making its own brands in Boston while importing still other brand names.

J. L. Sullivan promoted widely. Some, such as songwriter Monroe Rosenfeld, wrote a popular melody about Mr. Pluck, the 1889 jingle, Let Me Shake the Hand that Shook the Hand of Sullivan.

This image clearly verifies that John L. Sullivan didn’t always sport a handlebar mustache as illustrated in the upper left hand corner of the cigar box label. National Police Gazette illustration of the Kilrain-Sullivan prizefight. Note that the location of the fight is only noted as “near New Orleans,” since the location of the quasi-legal fight was not announced in advance. Ticket holders were taken to the fight on special trains leaving New Orleans to a secret destination. July 1889.

John L. Sullivan made several excursions to British Columbia. His first trip was in 1882. He almost bought property at Vancouver’s Point Grey, in 1892, when he performed at the Vancouver Opera House. He regretted for the rest of his life he didn’t buy the property. This photo was taken at the Hollow Tree site, Vancouver’s Stanley Park, 1909, with his second wife, a former teenage sweetheart.

BOWMAN {John S. Bowman}

Born in Schmidmuhlen, Bavaria, Germany about 1830, John Schmerl Bowman arrived in California in the 1850s. He initially established a cigar and tobacco store in Marysville, California, sometime around 1857. He sold out about 1860 and returned to Europe where he married his wife. Bowman then returned to California about 1866 and opened another cigar and tobacco store in San Francisco at 128 Pacific Street.

By 1868, his partnership began with Louis Liebes and dissolved in November 1874. On January 1, 1877, Joseph Coblentz, formerly of the partnership of Levy & Coblentz of Los Angeles, was admitted to John S. Bowman & Co. as a partner. He undoubtedly brought his expertise in the liquor business with him, which added a new layer to Bowman’s activities.

At the beginning of 1890, the partnership admitted Boaz David Pike, which also witnessed John S. Bowman’s transition into a newly chosen profession. He had acquired a substantial estate and chose to become a lender of money, primarily on real estate deals where the properties to be purchased were used as collateral to secure the loans. Coblentz & Pike continued with their liquor and tobacco business until April 1897 when Coblentz died and Pike was left with a business having a $100,000 liability. Bowman’s first advertisement for lending money is noted in the San Francisco Call on March 28, 1892.

Bowman became a prolific brand designator in his cigar business and trademarked a number of different names for his cigars. While in partnership with Louis Liebes he chose to honor the San Francisco philanthropist, James Lick, with a cigar in his name, receiving California Trade-Mark No. 276 on July 30, 1874.

Bowman filed another California trademark (No. 808) on February 14, 1882, for his cigar trade. With this trademark, he chose to honor Lieutenant George W. DeLong. The ship Jeannette left San Francisco on July 8, 1879, on its quest to find a passage to the North Pole. The ship was captained by George W. DeLong, a seasoned Naval Academy graduate. Many of the expedition’s thirty-three members were lost, as the Jeannette became icebound and sank on June 13, 1880. The men moved to three smaller on-board boats, and the boat containing Capt. DeLong landed at the northern mouth of the Lena River in Siberia, with most of them suffering from severe frostbite. They were not heard from again. A relief party located the graves of DeLong and shipmates

By Eric McGuire

which were excavated in March 1883 and returned to New York on February 13, 1884.

Bowman’s cigar label depicting the ship Jeannette and the bust of her commander, George W. DeLong, who headed the ill-fated voyage to find a passage to the North Pole. It is puzzling that even though Bowman took great care to protect the trade names of his tobacco products, no record has been found that would treat Jewel Old Bourbon in the same fashion. While the embossed fifth proclaims that Bowman was the sole agent, it is not known if he owned the brand.

John S. Bowman illustration from his obituary. The San Francisco Call (San Francisco) February 24, 1899

The cigar label for Bowman’s James Lick cigars. James Lick (August 25, 1796–October 1, 1876) was an American real estate investor, carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences. The wealthiest man in California at the time of his death, Lick left the majority of his estate to social and scientific causes.

Bowman’s cigar label depicting the ship Jeannette and the bust of her commander, George W. DeLong, who headed the ill-fated voyage to find a passage to the North Pole.

See page 23 this issue for two examples of Bowman-related bottles. Both are represented in the FOHBC Virtual Museum.

By Brian Bingham

[Fig. 1] F. E. Suire & Co. located on the corner of Fourth and Vine Streets. 1860 Mitchell map of Cincinnati, Ohio.

[Fig. 2] Suire, Eckstein & Co. Wholesale and Retail Druggists corner of Fourth and Vine Streets.

Francis Edward Suire’s birthplace is a bit of a mystery. First, we have an entry in Baltimore, Maryland seagoing passenger lists that suggests he was, at age four, a member of the Suire family that claimed U.S. citizenship and arrived in Baltimore on July 1, 1821, aboard the Baltimore schooner Dandy from Aux Cayes on the island of Haiti. Suire being a French name and Haiti being a French colony, it makes perfect sense that they may have been fleeing the anti-colonial violence in Haiti at the time. Secondly, we have his son Frank Overton Suire’s death certificate that says his father was born in Puerto Rico, which was colonial Spanish at the time. And finally, we have the 1850 United States Federal Census Report noting that he was born in Maryland. We do know that he was born on August 17, 1819.

Like many families arriving in the New World, the Suire family was enticed to head west to what was then the frontier of Indiana with the promise of free land and opportunity. From Baltimore, they most certainly traveled by horse and wagon along the newly constructed National Road, (Fig. 3) passing through the Appalachian Mountains in Cumberland, Maryland, and arriving at Wheeling, West Virginia. Here they would have had to buy a boat, build a boat or join another family with a boat for the treacherous journey down the Ohio River.

[Fig. 4] Embossed on shoulder ‘F. E. SUIRE & Co. CINCINNATI,’ Round, 8 inches tall, 16 oz, BIM, tooled lip, smooth base, light blue.

For whatever reason, they chose Madison, Indiana as their destination and on April 17, 1844, at age 25, Francis E. Suire married Hannah Ann Fitch, age 19, in Madison Township, Jefferson County, Indiana. Hannah Ann Fitch was born on September 30, 1825 in Baltimore, Maryland. The following year, on June 10, 1845, they had their first of two sons, Hammond Suire. In the 1850 U.S. Census for Madison, Indiana, Francis E. Suire is listed with his wife Hannah and son Hammond with an occupation of “Druggist.”

During the early 1850s, it was clear that Cincinnati, Ohio, was going to grow much larger than Madison, so by 1857, Francis E. Suire left Madison for Cincinnati and was listed in business as Suire, Eckstein & Co., druggists, northwest corner Fourth and Vine Streets. (Figs. 1 & 2) His partner Frederick F. Eckstein was born in Virginia on September 10, 1821. Before going into business with Suire, Eckstein had already been operating as a druggist in Cincinnati for ten years, from 1846 to 1856.

[Fig. 3] The National Road by Robert Bruce, National Highways Association, 1916, Britannica

[Fig. 5] 1867 Williams Cincinnati Directory advertisement for F. E. Suire & Co.

For the next eight years, from 1857 until 1864, Suire, Eckstein & Co. had at least two junior partners. They were Andrew B. Merriam, who was born on May 23, 1826, in Salem, New York. He had been working in Cincinnati as a clerk since 1849 before joining Suire, Eckstein & Co. in 1857. His name was dropped from the list of partners in 1865, and he went into business in 1865 as Merriam A. B. & Co., wholesale and retail druggists at 4th and Main. He remained in business until at least 1880 and died on March 26, 1902, in Charles City, Iowa. A second partner was Isaac H. Taylor, who was born in 1815 in Maryland. He was in Madison, Indiana, at the same time as Suire working as a clerk in 1850. After having several children in Madison, Taylor joined Suire, Eckstein & Co. in 1859. His name was dropped from the list of partners in 1866, and he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana.

In 1865 Frederick F. Eckstein was dropped from the Suire, Eckstein & Co. business name, and he went into business with Townsend Hills as Eckstein, Hills & Co., manufacturers of white lead (base for paint) until at least 1880. He died on April 8, 1893, in Cincinnati, Ohio. With Eckstein’s departure, the company name became F. E. Suire & Co. with existing partner Isaac H. Taylor and new partner James Prince. The following year, 1866, James Prince was dropped, and his most important partner Edward S. Wayne was added. The following year, Isaac H. Taylor, was dropped from the list of partners. For the next eight years, 1867 through 1874, F. E. Suire & Co. operated as a partnership between Francis E. Suire and Edward S. Wayne.

Edward S. Wayne was born on April 4, 1820, in Pennsylvania. He had been a druggist and chemist in Cincinnati since at least 1846. During the 1850s, he was associated with the Cincinnati College of Pharmacy as a corresponding secretary and the Medical College of Ohio as a lecturer in practical pharmacy. Prior to joining

Suire, Eckstein & Co. in 1864, he had worked for W. C. Henderson & Co. at the Phoenix Oil Works. In 1866, as a partner in F. E. Suire & Co., he was undoubtedly the individual behind the embossed blue and amber “Wayne’s Diuretic Elixir, F. E. Suire & Co. Cincinnati” bottles.

On April 13, 1874, Francis E. Suire died in Cincinnati, and with that, the company ceased operation. Edward S. Wayne joined the wholesale druggist firm of James S. Burdsal & Co. for a few years and died on December 11, 1885, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In summary, bottles embossed ‘F. E. SUIRE & Co. CINCINNATI’ on the shoulder (Fig. 4) would have been made between 1865 and 1874, and bottles embossed on panels with ‘WAYNE’S DIURETIC ELIXIR F. E. SUIRE & Co. CINCINNATI’ (Fig. 6) would have been made between 1866 and 1874.

Regarding amber bottles embossed ‘WAYNE’S DIURETIC ELIXIR’ on one side and ‘WAYNE ELIXIR Co. CINCINNATI, OHIO’ on the other, this company was owned by William Gilmore, and existed for just three years between 1896 and 1898. This was 20 years after Francis E. Suire died and ten years after Edward S. Wayne died. I can find no connection between the two companies. By 1900 William Gilmore listed his occupation as “capsule manufacturer.”

[Fig. 6] Embossed with indented area on two opposite sides ‘WAYNE’S DIURETIC ELIXIR’ and ‘F. E. SUIRE & Co. CINCINNATI.’ Square, beveled corners, 7 3/8 inches tall, 12 oz, BIM, tooled lip, smooth base, blue and amber. The amber example is ½ inch taller and base embossed ‘A & D HC’ for the glasshouse of Alexander & David H. Chambers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Rare Engraved Glass Presentation Tumbler, Attributed to Amelung

By Dwight P. Lanmon

Director,

The following is taken and amended slightly from Brunk Auctions and their Live Premier Auction on May 19, 2023. Article inspired by FOHBC member Chris Hartz.

Rare Engraved Glass Presentation Tumbler, Attributed to Amelung

Estimate: $30,000 - $50,000 Lot 702: Frederick County, Maryland, New Bremen Glassmanufactory of John Frederick Amelung, circa 1788-1792, blown colorless non-lead glass, tapered cylindrical form, thick base with pontil mark, wheel engraved to one side “Washington” within laurel leaves and floral spray at base and top, 5 x 4 inches, Condition: anomalies (as made), scratching, air bubbles, wear to base, inclusions.

An Important Amelung Discovery

It is a rare event when an unrecorded glass made at the New Bremen Glassmanufactory of John Frederick Amelung is discovered. Not only that, but it is a glass bearing the most famous American name of the 18th century: “Washington.” [Please note: my remarks following are based entirely on studying photographs of the tumbler. I have not seen it in person. However, there are no details that I can see that would suggest that it is not authentically of Amelung manufacture.]

John Frederick Amelung

John Frederick Amelung (1741-1798), the second son of farming parents, managed a farm near Bremen in Germany, but when his brother, Anton, leased the Duke of Brunswick’s mirror manufac-

tory in Grünenplan near Hannover in Germany in 1773, he joined him as technical director. (When, where, and how he received that training is unknown.) He remained there until 1784 when undoubtedly responding to the call for new domestic manufacturing in America following the end of the Revolutionary War, he emigrated to Baltimore, Maryland, with a large crew of workmen, including glassblowers from Bohemia, Thuringia, and other parts of Germany, along with equipment for “three different Glass Ovens.”

In all, 69 people made the voyage to Baltimore. He arrived with several letters of introduction from notable Americans, including Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. He quickly acquired an existing glass factory and land near Frederick, Maryland, and by 1785 had agents selling his glass in New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. By 1795, he had operated four glasshouses and was supporting a community of between 400 and 500 people living in the manufacturing and residential complex he named “New Bremen” (after the German city of the backers who had helped finance the operation).

Amelung advertised in 1789 that he made “all Kinds of FlintGlass, such as Decanters, and Wine Glasses, and Tumblers of all Sizes and any other Sort of Table Glass. — He also cuts Devices, Cyphers, Coats of Arms, or any other Fancy Figures on Glass...” He demonstrated his accomplishment at least a year earlier when he sent an engraved covered goblet to his backers in Bremen, presumably to prove his claims. It bore the coat of arms of Bremen and was inscribed “Old Bremen Success and the New Progress” and “New Bremen Glassmanufactory. 1788 / North America State of Maryland.” [Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 28.52 A, B)] This was followed by many more engraved goblets and tumblers made for influential politicians, merchants, a glass manufacturer, and family members. Undoubtedly the most prominent of these presentations was a pair of goblets “exhibiting the General’s coat of arms, &c.” which he presented to George Washington at Mount Vernon in 1789. (Unfortunately, these goblets apparently have not survived.)

Facing severe financial pressures, he sought governmental assistance as early as 1787. One of the glasshouses burned in 1790, and he sought further aid from the Federal government. By then, he is said to have invested some £20,000. His plea for funding was denied, but he continued to make presentation goblets, including one for Pennsylvania Governor General Thomas Mifflin in 1791 and a tumbler bearing the coat of arms of the United States in 1792. His debts increased, and he mortgaged his property in 1794 when he suffered a stroke. His son and a partner tried to maintain the operation, but in March 1795, the factory was advertised for sale, and in 1796 the managing partners were insolvent. Amelung died on November 21, 1798.

Former

The Corning Museum of Glass, Director Emeritus, Winterthur Museum

Co-author (with Arlene Palmer) John Frederick Amelung and the New Bremen Glassmanufactory

The Washington Tumbler

To date, there are six known engraved tumblers and goblets bearing the name of the New Bremen Glassmanufactory and dated between 1788 and 1792 — the most elaborate and the only known signed examples of American glass dating from the 18th century. In addition, there are three known pieces engraved for Amelung family members and some 40 or 50 engraved pieces that are firmly attributed to the factory. These examples definately establish the vessel forms and styles of engraving that are Amelung hallmarks.

The “Washington” tumbler is consistent within the parameters established by this corpus of documented and attributed Amelung glass. Its style of lettering, called “Round Hand,” in the 18th century, is consistent with other examples. The form of the “g” is essentially identical to that on the “C. Amelung / Metha Repold” goblet, which is dated 1792. The style of the other letters is also consistent with other pieces.

The “wreath” surrounding the name is also a decorative device found frequently on Amelung glass. It is essentially identical to that on twelve other pieces. Especially closely related are two tumblers, one inscribed “Liberty” (Corning Museum of Glass, 79.4.333, gift of Jerome Strauss); the other inscribed “Federal” (Bayou Bend, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, B.99.2020). The wreaths on those tumblers are interrupted by stylized four-petal flowers. Those tumblers have four flowers each on the wreath, whereas the “Washington” tumbler has two. The “antenna-like” curls above the flowers on the “Washington tumbler” are also different (and are apparently unique on this tumbler).

him, it would be unique among all the known surviving Amelung glasses bearing personal names, ALL of which have either first names or initials. There are none that simply have a surname. This casts serious doubt on associating it directly with ownership by the former President. So, what other possibility might there be?

When the “Liberty” and “Federal” tumblers were discussed in the 1990 book by Lanmon and Palmer (pages 94-97 / see References), the inscriptions were interpreted as celebratory of the ratification of the Constitution in 1788, but there is another possible interpretation of the three glasses. They may have been made as gifts to Masonic lodges bearing those names. Larry Jessen, an Amelung glass scholar, has been researching that possibility. He has found that a Federal Lodge was chartered in 1793 in the District of Columbia, and a Washington Lodge was in Baltimore at least by 1794. This, to me, is a more likely association. Like the signed presentation goblets and tumblers, these three tumblers would likely have been meant as potent advertising to influential Masonic members.

Finally, the form of the “Washington” tumbler — very thick base with rough pontil mark, straight sides, and slightly grayish tint to the glass – is consistent with all the other known Amelung pieces. In size, it is slightly smaller than the “Liberty” and “Federal” tumblers (5 inches vs. approximately 6 inches in height), but it is the same size as the smaller “WAG” tumbler (The National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, CE.76.108). Furthermore, the wear found on the bottom and on the upper rim is consistent with what is expected and does not appear to have been “induced.”

Conclusion

I have no qualm attributing the “Washington” tumbler to the New Bremen Glassmanufactory of John Frederick Amelung. I hope it finds a good home where it will be appreciated — and, hopefully, publicly exhibited!

Despite a lack of documentation to president George Washington, the piece, which had previously been unknown among rare Amelung survivors, was purchased by George Washington’s Mount Vernon for $135,500.

References:

Lanmon, Dwight P., and Arlene Palmer, John Frederick Amelung and the New Bremen Glassmanufactory,” in John Frederick Amelung, Early American Glassmaker. Corning: The Corning Museum of Glass Press, and London and Toronto: Associated University Presses, 1990, pp. 11-144.

Lanmon, Dwight P., and Arlene Palmer, John Frederick Amelung and the New Bremen Glassmanufactory,” Journal of Glass Studies (XVIII, 1976), pp. 14-136.

Palmer, Arlene, Glass in Early America. Winterthur, Delaware: Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1993, pp. 10, 70-71, 94-98, 198-199, 261, 365.

For two closely related examples, see: Lanmon and Palmer, John Frederick Amelung and the New Bremen Glassmanufactory, in John Frederick Amelung, Early American Glassmaker Corning: The Corning Museum of Glass Press, and London and Toronto: Associated University Presses, 1990, pp. 94-97.

The immediate inclination, upon seeing the name “Washington” on the tumbler, is to associate it with the pair of goblets known to have been presented to him in 1789. But if it was inscribed for

The “Liberty” tumbler (Corning Museum of Glass, 79.4.333) and the “Federal” tumbler (Bayou Bend, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, B.99.2020).

Tumbler. The inscription "Liberty" may indicate that the glass was made in 1788, after the ratification of the Constitution. Amelung, John Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, H: 16.2 cm; D (rim): 11.7 cm, (base): 9.7 cm, On Display, 1788, Bequest of Jerome Strauss.

ARCTIC OIL WORKS

By Eric McGuire

If you are thinking of the male contribution to the preservation of the species, then it has no place in the subject related to sperm oil. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the oil derived from the rendering of fat from the body of the Sperm whale was the gold standard for a variety of uses, primarily for lighting and lubrication.

In this case, the word “sperm” is derived from “spermaceti,” an organ found primarily within the head of toothed whales. Yes, the waxy substance in this organ was once thought to be whale sperm, and the name has stuck throughout the centuries. As much as 500 gallons of this liquid may be found in the head of a mature sperm whale—including both sexes. The refined spermaceti was used for a variety of needs in the 18th and 19th centuries, including providing a superior non-freezing lubricant often used with delicate mechanical parts. It was also used as a primary source of lighting along with the rendered fat of the whales. The precise function of the spermaceti gland and its waxy contents has not been determined, but it appears to be related to the whale’s communication system by providing exceptionally good sound reception.

Glass Collector

[Above] Illustration from advertisement for “Mitchell & Croasdale, Successors to G. W. Ridgway & Co., Dealers In Sperm, Whale, Lard & Tanners Oil, Candles, Rice &c. No. 30 Nth Wharves, Above Arch St. Philadelphia.” Lithograph By W. H. Rease, N.E. Cor. 4th & Chestnut St., Printed by Wagner & McGuigan, New York, J.H. Colton & Co., 1856

[Below] Sperm whale illustration from the book History of Animals by Shubert/Korn, 1880, St. Petersburg.

What’s Sperm got to do with it?

The Sperm Whale is the largest of all toothed mammals, which was specially made famous in Herman Melville’s 1851 book Moby Dick, the fictional tale of Ahab, the driven whaling captain who sought revenge against a Sperm Whale who bit off Ahab’s leg on a previous whaling expedition.

During most of the period when there was a dominant reliance on whale bi-products for the inhabitants of the United States, the city of New Bedford, Connecticut, was the primary center of this activity. The demanding and dangerous job of whaling was often noted in verse and prose in light of its difficulties. The profession of whaling was a classic “widow maker” with the additional issue of not knowing if a husband would return home even after several years of his absence had passed since some whaling excursions could take that long.

By the mid-nineteenth century, many whaling expeditions required hunting in the Arctic region of the Pacific Ocean, which was a long trip from the eastern seaboard. It wasn’t until the 1880s that some enterprising people saw the need for a whaling port on the Pacific side of the United States.

[Left] The date of manufacture for the Pure Sperm Gun Oil Arctic Oil Works bottle is difficult to determine. It could have been blown nearly anywhere in the eastern states but it may have also been produced at the San Francisco and Pacific Glass Works as early as 1884 when that factory began the production of clear glass.

[Left] Herman Melville’s 1851 book Moby Dick was likely the inspiration behind this scene on a 4-gallon F. T. Wright & Son crock from Taunton, Massachusetts.

The first few years of the decade of 1880 saw a noticeable decline in the success of the eastern whalers and a sharp increase in profits for the western-based whalers. This success prompted a number of wealthy San Francisco investors to create a new whaling hub for the United States. The capital costs were significant, but the modernization of the whaling fleet with steamships was worth the investment.

Articles of incorporation for the Arctic Oil Works were filed with the California Secretary of State in October 1883. The directors were William C. Griffith, Charles Goodall, E. L. Griffith, J. N. Knowles, George C. Perkins, A. K. P. Harmon and Edwin Goodall. The capital was $1,000,000 divided into 10,000 shares. (Sacramento Daily Union, October 27, 1883) Director Josiah Nickerson Knowles was the manager of the Arctic Oil Works until his death in 1896. No better individual could have been in charge since he was once a whaling sea captain. On one of his excursions, his ship became wrecked in the southern Pacific Ocean. Leaving most of his crew behind, Knowles took a longboat and eventually made his way to Pitcairn Island. While there, he buried $7,000 in treasure. He then set sail for Samoa in his little boat and, from there, was able to find passage to San Francisco. After his arrival, he found that he was presumed dead, and a partial disbursement of his estate had ensued. (The San Francisco Call, June 11, 1896)

As an adjunct to an even larger business, the same group of investors incorporated the Pacific Steam Whaling Company at the same time. This company held ownership of a large fleet of whaling vessels which was more operational in nature. In contrast, the Arctic Oil Works focused more on the refining end of the whaling business. In actuality, the two companies acted as one.

(The Sacramento Bee, November 1, 1883)

One contemporary news article summarized this issue of a modernized fleet of steam whaling ships. “This fleet is valued at fully $1,500,000, the steamers alone costing upwards of $900,000. All the steamers of the fleet are provided with iron tanks, which are fitted inside to the shape of the vessel.

By this means much time is saved as the hot oil, on being tried out, is immediately let run into them and no time is lost as in the sailing craft, waiting for it to cool before it is placed in barrels. The greatest object is to secure the bone, all of which comes from the head of the animal, and which, at the present time, is held very high. Of this article the company has now on storage the entire quantity caught during the season, while all the oil has been pumped into the two large tanks at the refinery at the Potrero. The latter structure is the result of the Arctic Oil Company, incorporated as an adjunct to the whaling company, with a capital of $1,000,000, half of which has been paid up, the same persons controlling both enterprises.” (San Francisco Chronicle, December 26, 1883)

(

While it is unquestionable that the steam vessels were more efficient in processing whales, they came with one drawback. The earlier sail-driven ships were far quieter than the steam-driven ships. The extreme sound sensitivity engendered in whale anatomy tended to spook the whales, which made them more difficult to catch, but still considered more efficient. (The San Francisco Chronicle, May 24, 1891) This allowed the older whaling ships

[Left] The earliest newspaper display advertisements for the Arctic Oil Works began in September of 1884. The ads specifically addressed the origin of their oils. The word “elephant” is in reference to Elephant Seals, the largest species of the seal family, with males weighing as much as 11,000 pounds. Huge herds were hunted to near extinction.

Daily Alta California, September 6, 1884)

and their well-seasoned crews to continue their occupations with varying success, but by the end of the century, they were virtually gone. These older whalers were also serviced by the Arctic Oil Works as well, which became the dominant west coast center for selling and rectifying their catch.

The changing landscape of fuel resources began with the rise of the petroleum industry. Petroleum slowly became the leading commodity for lighting and lubricants.

The real change in fuel resources was felt with the opening of the Southern California oil fields in the mid-1890s. The Arctic Oil Works management quickly realized the change and took advantage of the ex-

[Left] A detailed drawing of the Arctic Oil Works dating to about 1890. Noted on the far left is the popular T-shaped pier which allowed ships to moor in the same direction as the tidal current. The large tanks were used to hold the refined whale oil which was initially created by rendering the whale fat in large try pots aboard the ships and held in barrels. The barrels were then transferred to the holding tanks at the Works after the ships docked. (Image courtesy of the University of California, Bancroft Library)

cess supply being pumped from the ground and secured by contract the amount not required in the southland. “A deal in oil was concluded today, which will be of much interest, the Arctic Oil Works having purchased the local plant of the Los Angeles Oil Exchange. This means that in (the) future all the crude oil coming to this city (San Francisco) from Los Angeles will be handled by the Arctic Oil Works.” (The Los Angeles Times, February 6, 1896) Barrels of crude oil were soon loaded onto their ships and sent to the Arctic Oil Works for refining. This caused the Works to redesign and retool its infrastructure which occurred as time and money allowed.

The date of manufacture for the pictured Pure Sperm Gun Oil bottle is difficult to determine. It could have been blown nearly anywhere in the eastern states, but it may have also been produced at the San Francisco and Pacific Glass Works as early as 1884 when that factory began the production of clear glass. “President Newman of the San Francisco and Pacific Glass Works has been experimenting and investigating among the Eastern glass-blowing establishments for some time past, and has decided to attempt the manufacture of flint glass at the works of the company, at the corner of Fourth and King streets.

The furnaces will be ready this month, and blowing will commence in January. The factory will turn out everything in the shape of flint or white glass, such as tumblers, chimneys, lamp shades and globes, jelly glasses and druggists’ ware. An expert

A deal in oil was concluded today, which will be of much interest, the Arctic Oil Works having purchased the local plant of the Los Angeles Oil Exchange. This means that in (the) future all the crude oil coming to this city from Los Angeles will be handled by the Arctic Oil Works.

[Above] This Arctic Oil Works advertisement reflected the diminishment of reliance on animal oils and the newer source of “rock oil”, or petroleum. Olena Oil was a clean oil product refined from Pennsylvania crude oil. (The San Francisco Examiner, February 18, 1896)

[Above] Toward the end of the whaling saga, oil was not nearly as profitable as the head bones of the baleen whales. These bones were used primarily in the fashion world as busks. Even by the late 1890s the yard of the Arctic Oil Works was filled with the drying bones which could still fetch as much as $3.50 per pound.

[Below] The newspaper caption accompanying this drawing is, “OFF FOR THE FROZEN NORTH – The steam whaling fleet is now almost ready for another season in the Arctic. Some of the wind-jammers sailed a month ago. Three of the steamers are now on the way and the others will make a start before the week is out. The Belvedere went into the stream yesterday and will take the remainder of her crew on board to-day, while the Pacific Steam Whaling Company’s vessels, lying at the Arctic Oil Works, are ready for a start. Last year the whalers brought home nearly a million dollars’ worth of bone, and this year the men say they will do equally as well.”

(The San Francisco Call, March 1, 1899)

from the East will superintend the works and employment will be given to about sixty men.” (The San Francisco Examiner, January 1, 1884) The S.F. & P.G.W. was located literally just blocks away from the Arctic Oil Works, which would have been an additional incentive for using their bottles. With the phasing out of whaling in the mid1890s, it is unlikely the Pure Sperm Gun Oil bottles were produced any later. Regardless of the factory origin, their gun oil bottles must have had a short run as they are quite rare.

By 1900 the Arctic Oil Works had essentially become a subsidiary of the Standard Oil Company. The latter was methodically buying up most of the independent oil companies across the nation with only one independent oil company left in California—the Keystone Company. (San Francisco Examiner, February 23, 1900)

The last whaler reported lost was in 1898 with a crew of 25 men. The Rosario was owned by the J.D. Spreckels & Bros. company and controlled by the Arctic Oil Works. It was commanded by Capt. E. Coffin. (Los Angeles Herald, August 31, 1898) The ship had been crushed in the ice east of Pt. Barrow.

The San Francisco whaling fleet continued its annual ‘harvest’ even up to the end of the 19th century, even though the primary goal was different than in earlier years. The remaining product, which was highly sought, was whale bone taken from baleen whales. This item was used in parasol ribs, baskets, buggy whips, and women’s fashion as stays, especially busks. Not until plastic was a cheap commodity did the bone market fall. Baleen whale bone was consistently about $3.50 per pound on the street.

The end of the Arctic Oil Works came in May 1902 when the rapidly expanding Standard Oil Company purchased Arctic. Considerable consternation was heard when this happened, painting a gloomy picture of the looming monopoly pushing out its competition. Arctic Oil responded by saying that the move was completely amicable and the directors of Arctic decided to retire from the business anyway.

(Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, May 20, 1902)

[Above] The “junk” has been left aside (left in the foreground) while the men draw the spermaceti from the fatty tissue of the upper part of the head, brought to the ground by the cranes whose foot can be seen., Pouchet, G. (Georges), 1889

[Above] The top portion of a letterhead for the Arctic Oil Works dated Oct. 26, 1896.

The Paul Wheeler Dairy

By Brandon DeWolfe

In 2018, I dug a small trash pit in Galveston, Texas. It was only a few feet deep and perhaps 18 inches in diameter but was so packed with bottles that there was very little dirt between them.

I pulled out all the classic spoils of a late 1890s trash pit; a few W.O.G. Hutch sodas (Walter Otto Grempczysnki), a Wells “Cave Man” Hutch soda from Galveston, a Bitterquelle, and a few slicks.

Laying against the “Cave Man” Hutch soda was a hand-blown pint milk bottle embossed in a slug plate on the front “Paul Wheeler Dairy Absolute Purity Guaranteed 113-20th St.,” on the base “Creamery Package Mfg. Co. #2Ideal Chicago” and on the rear “This Bottle To Be Washed And Returned Not To Be Bought Or Sold.”

I had never seen such a milk bottle, but a quick search of the Galveston business directories showed that it was indeed a Galveston bottle from a dairy that existed for just a handful of years in the late 1890s and early 1900s. I did not research any further, and the bottle has languished on my shelf since.

Pint size Paul Wheeler Dairy bottle. An article from 1899 indicates that quarts were also sold, and I confirmed that via shards dug recently, though I know of no intact examples.

The 1900 Galveston Hurricane, known regionally as the Great Storm of 1900, was the deadliest natural disaster in United States history. The strongest storm of the 1900 Atlantic hurricane season left between 6,000 and 12,000 fatalities in the United States; the number most cited in official reports is 8,000. Most of these deaths occurred in and near Galveston, Texas, after the storm surge inundated the coastline and the island city with 8 to 12 feet of water. It remains among the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes on record. In addition to the number killed, the storm destroyed about 7,000 buildings of all uses in Galveston, including 3,636 demolished homes; every dwelling in the city suffered some damage. The hurricane left approximately 10,000 people in the city homeless out of a total population of fewer than 38,000. The disaster ended the Golden Era of Galveston, as the hurricane alarmed potential investors, who turned to Houston instead. In response to the storm, three engineers designed and oversaw plans to raise the Gulf of Mexico shoreline of Galveston Island by 17 feet and erect a 10 mile seawall.

Recently, after many years of assuming the bottles were only sold in pints, I dug a sadly broken quart example of the Paul Wheeler Dairy bottle embossed identically to the pint. I decided to do some more research and discovered that there was a fascinating yet tragic story that lay behind this bottle and the dairy it came from.

Hiram Cyrus Wheeler (illustrated) was born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, on May 10, 1835, and passed away destitute at his daughter’s home in Chicago on September 25, 1909. His family moved to Chicago when he was around one year old, then moved to California in 1854, where he dealt in real estate.

Wheeler moved between Chicago and San Francisco for several years, but his history during this period is a bit hazy. One early article indicates he was an “early member” of the San Francisco Stock Exchange, which wasn’t founded until much later. Another newspaper article suggests that he came by a substantial amount of insurance money due to his grain elevators being destroyed during the Great Chicago Fire (the Hiram Wheeler who owned some of Chicago’s grain elevators was not the same Hiram Wheeler that is the subject of this article). Basically, it appears that Hiram Cyrus Wheeler may have been a bit of a “self-promoter,” which was easier in the days before the Internet.

In late 1871 or 1872, Wheeler purchased roughly 10,000 acres of land near the present town of Odebolt, Iowa and started a massive farm there known as one of only two “Bonanza Farms” in Iowa. In 1877, he donated land to start the town of Odebolt and, in 1882, was noted to have 60 head of cattle, 40 Clydesdales (raising draft horses was one of his specialties), and a steam plow for his farm that plowed ten furrows at one time. He had an early telephone system set up at his farm in the early 1890s that was satirized in a cartoon in Puck magazine, and focused on dairying after the workhorse market declined.

Hiram Cyrus Wheeler ran for political office several times, including a failed run as the Republican nominee for Governor of Iowa in 1891. In the early 1890s, he also stepped back from his farm operation and spent much of his time in Chicago while his son, Hiram Paul Wheeler, ran the operations at the farm. In 1896, Hiram sold the farm to William Phipps Adams and the farm became known as the Fairview Farm. It remained largely intact until 1978 when it was sold in several parts to other local farms.

On September 20, 1896, Hiram ran an advertisement in the Galveston Daily News looking for 5,000 to 10,000 acres of land within 50 miles of Galveston or Houston. That advertisement must have been successful, for in late 1896, with the money he made selling the Wheeler Ranch to Adams, roughly $50,000 or $200,000, depending on which news article you believe, he bought some 5,000-6,000 acres of land in Hamshire (Jefferson County), Texas. Reports at the time indicated

Pure Milk and Cream. We will be ready to resume business about November 20. Paul Wheeler Dairy Co., Galveston Tribune (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 304 (November 12, 1900)

“Wheeler Luck.” Big Ex-Govenor Hiram C. Wheeler Has a Splendid Crop of Rice., Galveston Tribune. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 166 (June 4, 1901)

the land was 30 miles northeast of Galveston, but it is closer to 50 miles in a straight line and 60+ miles by train. The land was along the proposed Beaumont to Galveston (Gulf & Interstate) Railroad corridor and Wheeler planned to provide the city of Galveston milk and butter via the railroad and ferry. Various newspapers in Texas speak of his past political endeavors, refer to him as “Governor” or “Colonel” though there are no indications he served in the military and was never a governor, and speak of his plans to build the largest dairy farm in the world. In 1897, the Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette even called him a “missionary” for milk in Galveston.

On September 13, 1897, as Wheeler was building the dairy, a storm struck the area. The 1897 hurricane caused damage to Port Arthur, Winnie, and everywhere in between despite being a small Category 1 hurricane. It destroyed his three newly built 60’ x 160’ barns and badly damaged the creamery such that it had to be rebuilt.

In 1898 Hiram was listed in the Galveston directory as a dairyman living at 1620 Tremont. He started extensive advertising of the Paul Wheeler Dairy in the October 31, 1898, Galveston Tribune, and this advertising continued with some lulls, mostly in the summer months, through late 1900, with a brief break after the devastating 1900 hurricane.

In 1899, he was listed as the proprietor of the Paul Wheeler Dairy with an in-city address of 109 20th Street. This may be an error, as newspaper advertisements from 1899 indicate his address as 113 20th St. In 1901, Hiram is listed as living in the Tremont Hotel while the Paul Wheeler Dairy is managed by Daniel J. Moore, still at 113 20th Street. Hiram C. Wheeler disappears from Galveston from that point forward and moved back to Chicago sometime before 1903. He does show up in various north and west Texas newspapers from time to time (especially in 1903) promoting the sale of land in Louisiana and Texas for rice farming.

Hiram C. Wheeler lived in Chicago with his daughter and her husband until he died in 1909. The last listing in the Galveston directories for the Paul Wheeler Dairy is in 1903, where it is listed once again at 113 20th Street.

Some questions remained…who and where was Paul Wheeler?— and why was the dairy named after him even though it does not appear that he ever managed the dairy? Why did Hiram, with his supposed wealth, die destitute in Chicago?

Hiram Paul Wheeler (who went by Paul), namesake of the dairy and son of Hiram Cyrus Wheeler, was born in 1871 and died on May 7, 1897, in Beaumont, Texas. In the Lime Springs Sun newspaper of Lime Springs, Iowa, on Friday, May 21, 1897, there is a brief note that his mother was notified of his death of Malarial Fever. It is apparent that he and his family were working towards getting the Texas dairy up and running when he passed away. I can only imagine his father’s heartbreak. I suppose the dairy was named the “Paul Wheeler Dairy” in memory of his only son, who died carrying out Hiram Sr.’s vision of a massive dairy in Texas. It is interesting to note that Paul’s son, also named Hiram Paul Wheeler, born April 28, 1896, in Iowa, and Paul’s wife, Sarah

Waggoner, both remained at the dairy in Hamshire, Texas, for at least a few years after Paul’s death and both remained in Texas through their lifetimes.

The answer to my second question can be found in the Houston Daily Post on September 26, 1900, in an advertisement for the sale of the Paul Wheeler Dairy, complete with 300 selected high grade cows, cold storage, horses, wagons and bottles. The advertisement notes that the reason for the sale was the wreck and destruction of the Gulf & Interstate Railway on the Bolivar Peninsula due to the great hurricane, which prevented transport from Hamshire to Galveston of the dairy’s products. The advertisement notes that the storm destroyed nearly all other dairies serving Galveston. A second identical advertisement was run on September 30, 1900. After the storm, advertisements in the Galveston Tribune indicate that the dairy was preparing to restart delivery in Galveston on November 20, 1900.

Interestingly, advertisements starting in 1901 indicate that the dairy was in Alvin, Texas, rather than the original location in Hamshire. In April 1901, the dairy was incorporated by Hiram Cyrus Wheeler, Daniel J. Moore, James E. Moore, and Forster Rose, with a capital stock of $20,000. It appears that investment was needed to keep the business afloat. In March 1904, a dairy named “Winston Brothers” was listed as the successor to Paul Wheeler Dairy Co. and was listed at the 113 20th St. address. This is where the saga ends. Today we are left with a handful of bottles as a physical indicator of Hiram Cyrus Wheeler’s dream to have the largest dairy in the world.

At the time of his death in 1909, it is noted that Hiram’s wife was running a boarding house in Seattle; it appears that he died so broke that he was asking the townspeople of Odebolt for money to cover his doctor’s bills.

I have not seen Wheeler bottles intact in any size except a pint. An article from 1899 indicates that quarts were also sold, and I confirmed that via shards dug recently, though I know of no intact examples. Although there may be some debate regarding this assertion based on the base embossing on the bottles, I believe the bottles pre-date the 1900 hurricane.

Sources:

Galveston, Texas City Directory, 1898, 1899, 1901, 1903

The Houston Post (Houston, Texas), Vol. 16, No. 175, Ed. 1, Wednesday, September 26, 1900

Wills Point Chronicle, (Wills Point, Texas), Vol. 20, No. 37, September 16, 1897

Perry, Bruce, Sac County. Mt. Pleasant, S.C., Arcadia Publishing, 2020

Hiram C. Wheeler The Annals of Iowa, Vol. 9 No. 4 (1910), p318-318

The New York Times (New York, N.Y.), Sunday, July 19, 1891 Galveston Tribune (Galveston, Texas), Vol. 19, No. 265, Ed. 1, Tuesday, September 26, 1899

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/38175042/hiram-paul-wheeler

The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Vol. 15, No. 21, Wednesday, February 3, 1897

The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Vol. 27, No. 223, Wednesday, September 27, 1909

The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Vol. 27, No. 98, Tuesday, May 4, 1909

The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Vol. 14, No. 268, Monday, November 23, 1896

The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Vol. 21, No. 107, Thursday, May 14, 1903

The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Vol. 21, No. 177, Tuesday, August 4, 1903

The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Vol. 15, No. 18, Saturday, January 30, 1897

The Lime Springs Sun (Lime Springs, Iowa), Vol. 11, No. 40, Friday, May 21, 1897

Galveston Tribune (Galveston, Texas), Vol. 20, No. 304, Ed. 1 Monday, November 12, 1900

Galveston Tribune (Galveston, Texas), Vol. 21, No. 78, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 21, 1901

History of

Baraboo, Wisconsin

Figure 1 & 1a: [Left and Opposite Page] Molded earthenware Tobacco Jar with original cover, with a manganese Rockingham-style glaze over a tan lead glaze. This piece was fired twice in a saggar—first bisque-fired with no glaze, then glazed and fired again. Bisque-fired fragments from an identical jar were found in the waster dump along with broken saggars.13 The Baraboo Pottery and the Langenberg Pottery in Franklin are the only two Wisconsin potteries we know of that double-fired pottery and used saggars. The process was expensive, so it was used rarely and only for smaller, special pieces like this jar. A paper note written in pencil is affixed to the bottom of the jar that reads:

“This jar was made by Philip Pointon in Spring 1853 in Baraboo Wis in a Pottery that Was on the corner Second ave and West St. It was given by Mr. And Mrs. G. B. Gibbons who has lived in Baraboo 56 years. (illegible) 1896.“ Donated to the Sauk County Historical Society in 1906 by Mrs. Gibbons, a Pointon daughter.

Philip Pointon operated a pottery in Baraboo from 1851 to 1857. Two earthenware pieces that initiated our research, a molded tobacco jar and a wheelturned cream pot with strong attributions in the Sauk County Historical Society collection, were the catalysts for investigating the story of an English family coming to America in search of a better way of life. [See Figs 1 & 2] They wanted to escape the dismal working conditions in the pottery factories of Staffordshire. [See Figs 3 & 4]

Philip Pointon was born on October 1, 1808, in Shelton, Staffordshire, to Philip and Sarah (Challoner) Pointon. In later life, the elder Philip was an “earthenware merchant” in Smithfield, Belfast, Ireland.1 The younger Philip is recorded in a family Bible of Maud Moore Pointon, a granddaughter, as gaining his pottery-making skills in the Staffordshire area. Before he immigrated to the United States, he held the position of “Supt. of the Meakin Potteries in Hanley.”2 In 1828, he married Ann Joynson and they were to have seven surviving children, Philip (1831), Julia Ann (1832), Mary Ann (1836), Frances (1839), Mair (1843), Emily (1846), and Samuel (1849).

similar in glaze

the collection

to Whitewater, Wisconsin pottery

is identical to pieces attributed to Whitewater. However, the pot exhibits pronounced turning marks and a less bold decoration and it is likely that the decorator worked at both potteries. Pottery workers commonly moved from firm to firm to improve their pay and working conditions. Many similar pots of this form and decoration were found in the Pointon waster dump dig in 2020-21.13 Courtesy of the Sauk County Historical Society.

Figure 2: [Left] Wheel-thrown cream pot in

of the Baraboo Historical Society. This pot is

and decoration

by George Williams. The scroll-flower motif

of Baraboo Pottery

By Henry Hecker & Peter Maas

Figure 3: [Below] 2000 of these towering and complex buildings–the tools of the trade–once dominated the skyline of Stoke-on-Trent, a city in central England known for its pottery industry. Today 50 remain.

Figure 4: [Right] From A Representation of the Manufacture of Earthenware, London, 1827; Cuddon, Ambrose, Spode Exhibition Online

The working conditions at the potteries were horrendous at this time in England. A number of potteries had closed, contributing to excess labor. Employers took liberties with workers by docking pay unfairly and, in many cases, making them use their earnings for company housing and to buy supplies at company stores. There is an excellent British television series dealing with this topic called Surviving a Victorian Factory

In response, a group of English potters formed the Potters Joint-Stock Emigration Society and hundreds of the members came to Wisconsin to farm in the 1845 to 1850 time period. The motivation to form this organization was well-intentioned and involved pottery workers contributing a small part of their pay on a regular basis to a common fund used to purchase 50,000 acres on the Fox River west of Portage, Wisconsin. Workers and their families were then entered into a lottery for the chance to move to Wisconsin and provided a tract of land of 20 acres or more. The reader is directed to two articles in The Wisconsin Magazine of History3 and Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives 4

The Pointon family was part of this movement. Philip had paid into the fund for several years and elected to bring his family to Wisconsin. And so, in 1850, Philip, Ann, and their seven children boarded the Guy Mannering, a sailing ship, and made the trip from Liverpool to New York City, arriving on April 8, 1850.

An account of their travels was recorded in the same family Bible in an undated newspaper article. The article was written to herald the sixtieth wedding anniversary of Mary Ann Pointon’s marriage to George Gibbons on March 29, 1852, so the article is presumably from 1912:

“The parents of Mrs. Gibbons (Mary Ann Pointon) came to Baraboo with their family in 1850. Sometime previous, Major Twiggs of Fort Winnebago had visited England and had succeeded in interesting them in America, offering as a special inducement the chance of securing a tract of government land in the vicinity of the fort. After a wearisome voyage in a sailing vessel and a long trip across the country, Mr. and Mrs. Pointon and their children reached Fort Winnebago [See Fig 5] (author’s note: present-day Portage.) They came from Milwaukee by team arriving at nightfall and Mrs. Gibbons recalls that the first thing that attracted her childish attention at the place was a board nailed upon one of the buildings at the fort bearing the words: Beware of Indians.

They spent the night at the fort and in the morning, finding that the land they had expected to enter could not be secured at once, Mr. Pointon decided to investigate the advantages of a settlement to the west called Baraboo of which he had heard en route.

As the father and one of the sons were making ready for the sixteen mile walk to Baraboo the next morning, Mary the twelve year old daughter who afterwards became Mrs. Gibbons, begged to be allowed to accompany them. They told her that it would be impossible for her to cross the great swamp lying between but she insisted and finally the father said, ‘Well, you may come.’ The three set out and encountered rough roads and many places where no trail was visible but at last arrived at the

home of the Jastrows, early pioneers of the valley. The visitors were made welcome and, after spending several days looking about had decided to return for the remainder of the family when they were surprised one evening to see the mother driving in with the children and the belongings they had brought from England.”5

This same article sheds some light on the early days of the Pointons in Baraboo as it continues:

“The home of the Pointon’s had been at the Staffordshire Potteries near Liverpool. Here they had owned a home and other property and had engaged in making pottery. With the expectation of following the same occupation in Wisconsin they investigated and found clay suitable for their purpose for a period of two years they worked in a brick-yard on the Cochran farm. At the end of that time a building was erected by Mr. Pointon on the spot where the J. Luder home now stands and with clay brought from the Secker yard the making of jugs and jars was begun. The pottery prospered. At one time it required two teams to deliver the output and jugs and jars were sent all about the surrounding country. An endeavor was made to manufacture white ware, the clay having been found on the Griswold farm two miles west of Baraboo. The owner and the would-be purchaser failing to come to terms his project failed though the making of brown ware continued until the death of Mr. Pointon. Mrs. Gibbons recalls an Indian who hung about the pottery was once presented with a jug. Mr. Pointon, being familiar with the failing of the red men, gave it to him with the remark, ‘This is not for rum, not for whiskey, but for molasses.’”7

However, this account belies the difficult decision the Pointons had to make regarding the Emigration Society tract of land they visited before ultimately settling in Baraboo. By the time they arrived in 1850, the best land along the Fox River and closest to the Society stores had been taken. In their journey west through Wisconsin, the family encountered discontented Society members returning to England. The Major Twiggs cited above was Thomas Twigg, a Society manager sent to Wisconsin to administer the colony there. He was under tremendous ridicule by then by disgruntled settlers who were failing farmers. Blame was on both sides. Potters were not necessarily good farmers. Some chose to hunt and fish and not attend to their land. Some of the tracts of

Figure 5: An engraving showing Fort Winnebago in the 1830s. The U.S. Army abandoned the fort in 1845 and the Potters Emigration Society subsequently occupied the area as their site to manage the land for occupation by the potter immigrants.6

land were rocky, less fertile, and generally unfit for agriculture. The Society embellished claims of success in its promotional material. For the Pointons, the lands available to them were simply too far from the river and the Society supply stores.

In a letter the Pointons sent to the Staffordshire Advertiser, Stokeon-Trent, published on June 29, 1850, they made a blistering critique of the Emigration Society, calling it a complete “take in” (fraud).8 While their letter evoked a stern rebuttal from William Evans, an agent for the Emigration Society,9 It was typical of the immigrants’ reactions that spelled the end of the Potters Emigration Society shortly thereafter.

So in a twist of fate, the Pointon family ended up pursuing the potting trade they knew best, with a ready market in Baraboo. This portion of a letter below from Philip and Anne to relatives back in England appeared in the Staffordshire Advertiser on June 29, 1850, and shows some of the motivation for the Pointon family coming to Baraboo and the reception they received. The Baraboo people were friendly and helpful and the Pointons acquired a lot near the river and built a 24’ x 16’ home. Register of Deeds records show that Pointon did not waste any time after his arrival, purchasing lots 7 & 8, Block 32 in Baraboo on May 22, 1850, from R. H. Davis for $50. [See Fig 10]

Pointon bricks were actually used in the courthouse as it was started in 1855 and not from advertisements in the Sauk City Standard in 1851. It appears that Pointon had partnered with a man named Buckley in a brick-making business. [See Figs 7 & 8] It is unclear whether this brick was made on the “Cochran” farm as described in the family account or on the land parcel on Second Avenue and West Street in Baraboo. However, it is reasonable to assume that it would have taken the better part of a year to build a kiln, and forming and drying structures on this new site.

This early brick-making venture, whether on the pottery site or the Cochran farm, produced bricks used “in many notable buildings, including the 1855 county courthouse, the D. K. Noyes home [See Fig 12], and the old Congressional Church. Pointon used local clay obtained at ‘Gilson’s Slough’ [See Fig 9] located three miles west of the city near the intersection of Highway 136 and Cornfield Road.”11 In researching this history, we must question whether bricks were furnished until 1857, a period of time when the Pointons were focused on their pottery making. Perhaps their original brickyard with new ownership supplied the material. By late 1851, Pointon was running advertisements in the Sauk County Standard for jugs and jars without Buckley mentioned.

Figure 6: Baraboo residents encouraged the Pointons to start a pottery, bringing clay samples and offering to invest in the venture.10

Figure 7: Wanted Brick-Moulder Pointon & Buckley notice, Sauk County Standard, May 5, 1851.

Figure 8: 600,000 Superior made Bricks for sale ad. Pointon & Buckley. Sauk County Standard, June 26, 1851.

Figure 9: Location of Gilson’s Slough, the Baraboo Pottery source of clay.

Figure 10: Location of the pottery Lots 7 and 8, Block 32, Corner of Second Avenue and West Street.

Figure 11: Advertisement for Baraboo Pottery. Adams, West of the Public Square. Philip Pointon. Baraboo was called “Adams” up until early 1852. Sauk County Standard, December 3, 1851.

Baraboo Pottery advertisements ran many times well into 1855, later with “Baraboo” shown rather than “Adams,” which changed in 1852. [See Fig 11 & 13] The Pointon family’s anecdotal history mentions that “the Pointons built three factories in Baraboo, but undoubtedly this refers to upgrades and expansions on the one site.” [See Fig 14]

At some point, probably at the outset, Philip Jr., the oldest son, was also engaged in these businesses. His initial training likely started in the Staffordshire area, but his real experience was gained in a primary role in Baraboo.

It is possible that other members of the family worked at the pottery as several of the children were old enough to work based upon the practices of the time. A brief mention is also made in the History of Sauk County of James Turner, an English immigrant, who “became identified with the firm of Pointon & Brown in the pottery business. By trade, he was a mason.”12 It is possible he was just an investor, or he might have been employed in building and expanding the kiln at the pottery.

It is interesting to note that even at the outset, the Pointons were marketing their ware at a significant 75% discount. [See Fig 13] By nature, pottery making was typically a slim profit venture, and efficiencies and productivity were paramount. They may have achieved cost efficiencies via improvements they made from the processes gleaned from their Staffordshire experience or, in fact, they made some significant innovations. The reference to the 75% discount must be a comparison to the higher-cost imported English ware of similar quality and perhaps ware produced in the eastern United States that would also carry the high cost of transportation.

Pointon was making jugs, dishes, stove coolers, garden pots, etc., most of which were turned on a wheel, but it also became clear in later newspaper ads and news accounts that the business was proficient in molding ware. The efficiencies they achieved were likely in several areas—local procurement of clay, clay that required less preparation, grinding of the clay, and molding. Sherds recovered from the Baraboo Pottery waster dump13 showed that all straight-sided crocks up to five-gallon capacity were made in molds, a practice unheard of in American pottery production in the 1850s.

While their travel to America was paid for from funds of the Potter’s Emigration Society, The Pointons were a family of some means as they were able to establish themselves rapidly upon their arrival in Baraboo. But there are early signs that the investment was straining resources as a parade of partners in the pottery occurred as the business expanded. This advertisement announcing the “New Arrangement” also indicates the addition of Thomas Brown, a son-in-law who married Julia Ann Pointon, as a partner, and R. H. Davis, the land’s prior owner. The addition of Davis, in particular, may indicate that the continued business scaling required a cash infusion from investors. Even more confirmation of this cash need was revealed in the land records again. Only a few days before this announcement, Philip Jr. sold lots 7 and 8 to Ezra T. Card for $1000 and presumably leased back the land.

Figure 12: Noyes Mansion may have been constructed using Pointon bricks.

Figure 14: Baraboo Pottery. Mr. Pointon has had long experience in the business. Sauk County Standard, December 4, 1851.

Figure 13: Advertisement for Baraboo Pottery now Philip Pointon & Co. Adams was renamed Baraboo in early 1852. Sauk County Standard, August 3, 1852.

Figure 15: Messrs. Poyntons (sic) of Baraboo have recently erected a building 125 feet long for the moulding, drying, and glazing rooms. This was likely an expansion. Wisconsin State Journal, June 12, 1854.

By May of 1856, Ezra T. Card was listed as a proprietor along with the Pointon’s and Thomas Brown had taken a lesser role or had left the business. [See Figs 16 & 17] The 1850 census lists Thomas Brown’s occupation as “carpenter,” so his services might very well have served the business in the construction and expansion.

The most complete description of the Baraboo Pottery at this time is this rare account from the Sauk County Democrat on May 15, 1856:

The Baraboo Potery (sic)

We have been to see the Baraboo Potery (sic) and really must confess to a very great impropriety, for neglecting so long to speak of this meritorious and substantial aid to the interests of the Baraboo. Well, we saw, not a “one horse concern” nor men engaged there, who were novices in the profession; but every thing connected with it had been resolved into the most perfect system; and the greatest order and perfection had been studied by the enterprising proprietors—

The latest improvements, in the art, have been introduced. The Kiln, a large and spacious one; and depositories in the basement for the prepared clay, and an adjoining room which contains a clay crusher, propelled by horse-power, introduced at an expense of some $500. With the exception of one in Milwaukee, this is the only cast iron crusher in the State. Also the manufacturing and furnishing rooms were well furnished and were large and capacious—the dimensions we are unable to

Figure 16: Notice stating New Arrangement at the Baraboo Pottery. Business now carried on by P. Pointen Sr. (sic), P. Pointen, Jr. (sic), Ezra T. Card and R. H. Davis. We are preparing new and more extensive Machinery. Baraboo Republic, September 22, 1855.

Figure 17: Baraboo Pottery advertisement in the Sauk County Democrat, July 24, 1856.

Figure 18: Comparison of the Pointon Tobacco Jar (at left) with ware with a similar jar made by a different, unknown maker (at right). The Baraboo Pottery made bowls and tobacco jars.

Figure 19: Similar Tobacco Jar.

state—other than they are large and expansive. The works occupy near a half a block of ground. The capital, all in all—invested in the business is some $8000, according to the estimate of the proprietors, and on examination most any one would be prepared to pronounce it a somewhat modest estimate.

—Messrs POINTON & Brothers, the proprietors of this establishment, are gentlemen of experience and have followed that business for almost a life time. They inform us the material, of the very best quality, and any quantities abounds in this vicinity, and that the ware from it can be made equal to any of the Rockingham manufacture’ which supplies the Liverpool wares, and in which establishment these gentlemen have had much to do. We think it no exaggeration to say that this is by far the most complete potery in the State. If there is a better, it is an honor to the locality which may be blest with it, and we shall be ready to record a better, when chronicled.

Sauk County

Several comments on this revealing report:

–The multi-story stages of production typical of post-industrial revolution English factories.

–The cast iron clay grinder said to be only the second one in Wisconsin, the other in Milwaukee (probably the Charles Hermann factory).

–The sizable investment, which the reporter estimated to be $8,000 but perhaps more.

–And finally, the mention of “Rockingham wares,” which the Pointons would have had much experience producing in England and also being produced in the United States, primarily by two Bennington, Vermont firms, Norton & Company, and Lyman Fenton & Company.

The Pointon factory produced a limited amount of “Rockingham” ware. We confirmed this ware was sponge, applied brown over yellow.13 To our knowledge, other than some turned examples from Whitewater, no other Wisconsin potter was producing Rockingham-style ware, and the Pointons were molding it! The Pointons were competing with imported and American-made Rockingham-style ware. Rockingham pottery was already popular by 1851.

Rockingham glazed vessels were produced by many North American manufacturers, including firms in Canada, East Liverpool, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, and in Trenton and Jersey City starting in the 1840s. The Staffordshire potteries exported large quantities of Rockingham to the United States. Pointon and most other makers of earthenware Rockingham ware did not mark their products. This could explain the dearth of extant Pointon ware today. Some may be hiding under our noses, mistakenly identified as another maker’s “Rockingham-style” pottery over the years. One can only wonder how much Pointon-produced pottery in Baraboo and the surrounding area may have been discarded or passed down and dispersed and now is believed to be of Bennington or English origin. Potters often bought molds from other manufacturers, and it is possible the Pointons purchased molds from these other manufacturers making accurate identification even more difficult.

[See Figs 18 - 20]

Figure 20: [Above] This partially reconstructed Rockingham-style bowl was found in the Pointon waster dump.13

Figure 21: Philip Pointon, of Baraboo, Wisconsin. Machine for Manufacturing Pottery-Ware.

P. Pointon Making Pottery No. 18,298 Patented Sept 29, 1857. For a press for making molded pottery.

While previously, the cited newspaper account does not mention specifically a piece of equipment that facilitated economies of scale in molding his pottery, Philip Pointon was issued a patent for such a device, Patent No. 18,298, on September 29, 1857.

[See Fig 21]

Sadly, Philip Pointon, the father, did not live to see the patent issued as he died of unknown causes on March 20, 1857. It cannot be derived from the patent whether the father or son was granted the patent, but suffice it to say that both men probably possessed the know-how. In any event, our dig of the site in 2020 and 2021 (more in a future article) found plenty of evidence of mass production molding of straight-sided crocks owing to their cylindrical shape. With an “assembly line” approach, they added pre-made ear handles, applied rims and bases.

It must also be noted that the Pointon’s attempted to minimize the thickness of the side walls of the crocks, much thinner than their wheel-turned ovoid cream pots, churns, and jugs, clearly compromising strength and durability. This may explain why so little Pointon ware has survived.

We have the benefit of knowing Pointons Baraboo recipes for the clay mixtures used in both the vessel bodies as well as the glazes. This is owed to a fortuitous discovery by Jacqueline Beaudry and Jeanne-Pierre Dion of Canada, who are credited later in this article for writing a book on the Philip (Jr.) Pointon. In researching his later career, they discovered a recipe book written by Philip Pointon in a cache of records from the Bennet Pottery in Baltimore, Maryland.

Below is a transcription of his Baraboo glaze recipes with the author’s comments in brackets where the original is unclear or where definitions help clarify the recipes.14

Baraboo

Glazes and Bodies used in Wisconsin

Ware made from Gilson Slough clay. The best clay is on Windy Bailey’s farm. The last clay we used from the Gilson slough was out of a piece of land we bought near the bridge.

The clay was up into jars, jugs, large pots, milk pans, pitchers, spittoons (sic)... [et al?] glazed on the clay and finished on one burning. The pots and jugs were marked with a figure to designate gallons each article contained and a flower or scroll of various devices underneath the figure. The above mentioned marks were painted on with a brush or piece of sponge cut in a pointed and proper form. The ware was then dipped care being taken the ware was not perfectly dry as when dry it cracked. The ware must be dipped hard green then allowed to dry and afterwards burnt.

Marking color

2 manganese

1 Gilsons Slough Clay

Yellow Glaze for dipping on clay ware

16 ½ lbs pure dry white lead

4” sandstone from Maxwell Bluff (near the Manchester Mile)

12” Pottery yard clay or loam [40% sand, 40% silt, 20% clay]

2 ½” sal soda [sodium carbonate]

Rockingham Glaze

18 lbs white lead

4” sandstone from Maxwell Bluff

12” Pottery yard clay

3” manganese

3” sal soda [sodium carbonate]

A copy of the original recipe is shown in Figure 22

Copy documents of pages from the recipe book are in the Research Library of the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore and the original book is stored at the Archive Center of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Pointon’s recipe book also contains his recipes from his time in other potteries, East Trenton Pottery, Dominion Factory of Quebec, St. John’s China-ware Factory, and Edwin Bennet’s Pottery in Baltimore. All of these stints were subsequent to his initial efforts with his father in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

Sometime after the May 27, 1856 advertisement showing “Philip Pointon Sen., Philip, jr., and E. T. Card, Proprietors” and before May, 1857 the tenure of the Pointons as Baraboo

[

Fig 22]

Figure 22: Actual Baraboo recipe notes from Philip Pointon that are archived at the Smithsonian Institution.

potters came to an end. Either illness or the death of Philip, Sr. in March of 1857 seems to have precipitated the sale of the pottery to Ezra T. Card and another gentleman by the name of Martin. Disaster struck again very soon after. On Sunday, November 8, 1857, the pottery was destroyed by fire, a very common risk to potteries of the time. Two short accounts of this cataclysm have been found. [See Figs 23 & 24]

There is no evidence that the pottery was rebuilt and it appears that Martin and Card took the insurance settlement. No other records have been found to date that explain Philip senior’s cause of death, the cause of the fire, or any evidence that the pottery was restored to a going concern.

Baraboo was just the first stop in North America for Philip’s (Jr.) career journey. According to research done by a Pointon descendant, Philip junior left Baraboo in May, 1857.15 This suggests that the pottery was sold by the Pointons prior to May as the son certainly would have been involved in the sale. Philip moved to New Brunswick to work at the potteries there. He was involved in making fine statuary and china. Later he moved back to the United States and worked on the east coast for a time. However, in 1879, he was made manager of the St. Johns Stone Chinaware Company in New Brunswick. In fact, Philip gained renown in the pottery industry in Canada, but like many artists, not until well after his death in 1881 of bilious fever.” A remarkable book (in French) chronicles his post-Baraboo career which illustrates many of his later wares is Philip Pointon (1831-1881), Master Potier in Baraboo, Cape Rouge, Trenton, Baltimore, Saint-Jean16

Today two pieces of well-attributed Baraboo Pointon Rockingham ware reside in the Baraboo Historical Society collection. Based upon the short but productive period of operation in Baraboo, there are probably more surviving examples of Pointon ware in other collections and personal possessions waiting to be discovered.

The site of the pottery today on the corner of Second Avenue and West Street is occupied by two early 20th century homes. In the fall of 2020, the authors received permission to probe the private yards that were part of the former pottery site. In short order, scattered pottery sherds were located within one foot of the surface in one of the residential yards. Probing identified one possible area with a concentration of sherds. Over the course of several digs that concluded in October of 2021, this one discard pit, approximately 4 by 6 by 8 feet deep, was completely excavated. It revealed a breadth of Pointon ware forms—jugs, crocks, jars, churns, bowls, pitchers, bottles, chimney pipes as well as fire bricks and kiln furniture, spacers, saggers, and stands. [See Figs 26 & 27] Over 70 five-gallon buckets and bags of sherds were removed and await further evaluation and possible reconstruction. While no marked pieces were found, numerous vividly decorated examples of wares came to light displaying the significant skill of the potters. Production-molded crocks with applied rims and handles were found exhibiting mixed-glaze colors on some of the same pieces. This discovery showed that the Pointon molding apparatus, later patented, was indeed operational. A large number of broken Rockingham glazed porridge bowls of various stackable sizes were also found. A detailed description of the findings is described in the Pointon Waster Dig article on this website.13

Figure 23: Destroyed by Fire. Madison State Daily Journal, November 14, 1857.

Figure 24: Fire in Baraboo–Pottery Destroyed

The Baraboo Republic, November 12, 1857.

Figure 25: This intact jug resides in a private collection and was previously attributed to Whitewater. However, numerous sherds found at the Pointon site exhibit the exact same spout-handle form and high-gloss yellow glaze. Conclusion... Pointon!

Figure 26: A variety of forms and glazes were unearthed perfectly matching the ware forms, yellow glazes, Rockingham glazes, and decorations described by the younger Pointon in his recipe notes. Simply remarkable!

Figure 27: Molded Crocks, the walls are more uniform when compared to turned pieces. Rims and ear handles were applied after the molding of the crock cylinders. Some handles had a red or yellow glaze that was a different color than the cylinder bodies creating a color contrast not seen on other American ware that we have seen!

Anyone reading this history who believes they have Pointon pieces or Rockingham-type pottery found in the Baraboo region is encouraged to contact this website for discussion. We hope that this article will increase awareness of this very short-lived, but progressive pottery factory in 1850s Wisconsin.

Special Thanks to:

Paul Wolter, Sauk County Historical Society

Maryland Historical Society

Barbara Mihalcik

Jacqueline Beaudry and Jean-Pierre Dion David and Wendy Grant

Archive Center at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institute

1 Mihalcik, Barbara. Email correspondence dated April 7, 2018. Pointon descendant citing the Belfast Newsletter, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Obituary for Philip Pointon. December 13, 1833.

2 Mihalcik, Barbara. Email of April 7, 2018 quoting notes in a family Bible from Maud Moore Pointon.

3 Foreman, Grant, Settlement of English Potters in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Magazine of History June, 1938: p375-396.

4 Bentley, Roger, The Road to Desolation Ferry The Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives Autumn 2010: p3-13

5 Mihalcik, Barbara. Email correspondence September 14, 2009 transcribing an undated news paper article (circa 1912) found in family Bible. Sent to the Sauk County Historical Society.

6 Kinzie, Mrs. John H., Early Day in the Northwest, Derby and Jackson, Cincinnati, 1856.

7 Mihalcik, Barbara. Email correspondence September 14, 2009 transcribing an undated newspaper article (circa 1912) found in family Bible. Sent to the Sauk County Historical Society.

8 Staffordshire Advertiser, Stoke-on-Trent, Letter from the Pointon’s, June 29,1850.

9 Ibid., Letter from W illiam Evans, July 6, 1850.

10 Ibid., Letter from the Pointons, June 29, 1850.

11 Schuete, Bill, Pointon Pottery Works Baraboo, Sauk County Historical Society publication.

12 Cole, Harry Ellsworth, A Standard History of Sauk County, 1918, p866.

13 Baraboo Waster Dump Excavation. www.madefromclay.org

14 Bennet t Pottery File (Pointon Recipe Book,) Archive Center of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. Series 7, Box 7 Folder 3.

15 Dion, Jacqueline Beaudry and Jean. Philip Pointon (1831-1881) Maitre Potier Baraboo, Cap-Rouge, Trenton, Baltimore, Saint Jean,” Saint Lambert 2013, p8-13.

Figure 27: George Williams brought the fern decoration from Mount Morris to Whitewater when he bought into the Fremont Street, Whitewater pottery in 1845.

Figure 28: The authors believe that a potter from the Fremont Street Pottery who painted the decoration on the Whitewater jar (below) moved to Baraboo in 1851 and also decorated the cream pot (bottom).

Figure 29: This decoration became the standard decoration used on most Pointon Pottery, based on the many similarly decorated pieces found in the waster dump.

See Allen in “TheHolyGrailof Chero-Colas” in the Sept–Oct 2022 issue of AB&GC.

[Below] May 17, 2023. Researchers have created a “digital twin” of the Titanic. The 3D rendering is the result of combining over 700,000 images taken over more than 200 hours by two remote-controlled robots. The scan provides a clear window into the wreck as if there were no water present, and presents the site in unprecedented detail.

[Left] The original picture came from Steven Hubbell. He told me the bottle was found in the wall of a house. He was not successful in getting the bottle and I believe he said it ended up being even more broken.

– Eric

McGuire

[Below] Ontario family finds 1 million copper pennies in the basement crawl space of 1900s-era home. John Reyes was helping his wife clean out her father’s 1900s-era home about nine months ago when they stumbled upon something truly unexpected. Reyes was rummaging through the crawl space when he found some loose pennies held together by disintegrating paper rolls. He kept looking and eventually found dozens of bank bags containing copper pennies. Reyes, 41, a real estate agent in the Inland Empire, estimated the bags contained about 1 million pennies—with a face value of $10,000. – Los Angeles Times, June 2023

[Above] May 2023. Archaeologists found 300,000-year-old human footprints that explain life back then. They’re an incredible snapshot of the ancient past. Fossilized footprints of Homo heidelbergensis located in Lower Saxony represent the oldest known footprints in Germany. The footprints are surrounded by animal tracks, including now-extinct elephants and rhinoceroses.

– Popular Mechanics

[Left & Above] Figural barrel beer embossed “T. Heberer & Bros Belleville Ills,” probably 1859 to 1860. An exceedingly rare, pontiled, figural barrel, believed to be one of only three, or possibly four examples extant. This example is “fresh-to-the market,” a recent discovery from a small Montana estate auction. – John Pastor, American Glass Gallery Auction 35, Lot 250

[Above] Extremely rare four inch tall “The Martin Poison Bottle” was recently dug by a woman in her back yard. The only previous green example (albeit a different size) was found in the same part of the world, the Newcastle/Hunter Valley region of Australia. It needed a gentle washing with soap and water. Estimate $8,000 to $15,000 – ABCR Auctions

[Left] My partner and I have a vintage–antiques shop here in New York City. We recently came across a bottle produced by F. Newbery & Sons of London. From what I’ve been able to find, this contained a “medication” called Brain Salt. What’s strange on my end, is that I’ve only come across illustrations of this bottle, no images of actual ones out there, until now. – Zachary

Bottle & Glass Collector

– Magellan Ltd. and Atlantic Productions

Lost & Found September – October 2023

[Left] Bought for $6,000, grime-covered windows are actually Tiffany— and worth up to $250,000 each. Last fall, antiques collector Paul Brown heard about two large stained glass windows covered in grime inside a west Philadelphia church. Built in 1901, the church had been purchased by the Emmanuel Christian Center, which was converting the old building into a worship space and youth center. According to the New York Times’ Michael Levenson, Brown learned about the windows on Facebook Marketplace. A salvager at the church asked if he wanted the windows before workers “sledgehammer them out.”

– Smithsonian Magazine

[Above] Horse Collar Pad: One of the more unusual privy diggings finds recently was this teal blue pressed glass object. It is embossed ‘COLLAR PAD NO. 3 PATD JAN. 31, 1888.’ It is broken into two pieces and is missing a corner but is still an interesting and attractive piece of old glass. We assumed it was part of a neck brace for a human, but a review of the patent proved otherwise. See story in next issue of AB&GC.

[Above] This is the age of glass. Glass-covered tables are all the vogue, and glass houses are being built with glass bricks, but the very latest is the glass umbrella, which is covered with “silk” spun from glass, says “T.A.T.” These umbrellas, of course, will afford no protection from the rays of the sun, but they possess one obvious advantage, namely, that they can be held in front of the face when meeting the wind and rain, and at the same time the user will be able to see that he does not run into unoffending individuals or lamp posts. – Corning Museum of Glass, “Glass Umbrellas,” November 18, 1905.

[Right] Man or Woman? 19th-century descriptions of the figure on this gold-glass portrait identify it as the image of a man, but subsequent study of the hairstyle and clothing suggested it might be a woman. The inscription around the head wishes joy to Anatolius, a male name. The grammar indicates the name doesn’t refer to the figure in the image, but rather the person viewing it. Under a microscope in the Conservation lab, it was discovered that this figure has a short beard. So perhaps this individual is intentionally androgynous, subverting our expectations of gender identity and expression. Turns out, this is actually a pretty common subject in Roman art, but we don’t see it as often in glass.

– Corning Museum of Glass, Medallion with Portrait, Roman Empire, 200-299. Purchased in part with donated funds from the Clara S. Peck Endowment.

– Peter Maas

[Right] My Dad did the unthinkable today and dug the infamous amber Houston Coke!

– Casey Roby

Houston 24 Expo

Member Photos

A collection of spectacular and inspiring photographs from around the world and around the web. Please feel free to submit your images for consideration.

Read and see more in the FOHBC Virtual Museum.

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

Citron Drakes – Glass Works Auctions

My Display – Chris Rowell

Window Bottles – Christian Raezer

My newest additions. “Carter’s Pat’d Applied For,” “Carter’s Indelible Ink” and “UK Burst top Circus tent with pen rest K&T-M” – Tony Moller

Not your normal living room – John DeGrafft

A photo from the South Carolina Bottle Club – Dan LakatosL

Houston 24 Expo

Nice barber bottles – Timothy Ross

Member Photos

Texas bottles – Brad Seigler

My Friday Demijohn – Eric Correia

H. E. Swan Fall River (Mass.) perfume bottle – Eric McGuire

Two photos from our ice room. – Elizabeth Meyer

I purchased a Union Clasped Hands flask from David Lackey Antiques during my Houston 24 trip. – Craig Cassetta

Wells Steam Bottling Works, Galveston, Texas – Brandon DeWolfe

Some of my Texas bottles –Brad Dalton

Rare, refined and decorative New York State pitchers – Barry Hogan

Classified Ads

ADVERTISE FOR FREE:

Free advertising in each issue of Antique Bottle & Glass Collector (AB&GC). One free “WANTED” or “FOR SALE” ad in AB&GC per year each renewal. See page 72 for more info. DEALERS: Sell your bottles in the Antique Bottle & Glass Collector. Change the bottles each issue. Include your website in your ad to increase traffic to your site. Send all advertisement info to FOHBC Business Manager, Elizabeth Meyer, P.O. Box 1825, Brookshire, Texas 77423 or best, email to: fohbcmembers@gmail.com

FOR SALE

FOR SALE: Mint: 1) Warner’s Safe Nervine half pt. slugplate. Light amber, $300

2) Warners’s Safe Cure London, half pint, green, $300 3) Warner’s Safe Kidney & Liver Cure. Pint, slugplate, A & D.H.C. on bottom, $250 4) Warner’s Diabetes Cure, pint. Melbourne, $150 5) Dr. Von Hopfs Curacoa Bitters, Chamberlain & Co., Des Moines, Iowa, yellow, $175. I have a lot more Warner’s for sale. Will trade for mini whiskey jugs. Stencil or scratch with maker and town and city on them. Jack Brower, 319.330.1237, DadJLBrow@gmail.com 01/24

FOR SALE: Book: A History of the Des Moines Potteries, with additional information on Boonesboro, Carlisle, Hartford, and Palmyra. 214 pages, 65 color. Cost $23 plus shipping, media mail add $4.50, priority add $6. Mail to Mark C. Wiseman, 3505 Sheridan Ave., Des Moines, Iowa 50310, 515.344.8333 01/24

WANTED

WANTED: BLACK HAWK, COLORADO

Th. Crook Sky Light whiskey flask. I will pay $10,000 for a half-pint coffin or a pint coffin or a pint shoofly. Flask must be in mint condition and delivered to Colorado. Other Black Hawk bottles might be of interest if not already owned. Contact: David D. Spellman at spellmand@centurylink.net 01/2

WANTED: Harley bottles of West Chester, Pa. and Philadelphia, Pa. The West Chester bottles (3) display either J. Harley, James Harley or E.M. Harley. The Phila. Bottles (4) display Edwd. Harley, Schul (Schuylkill) 4th & Market St., Philada or E. Harley, 802 Market St. or E. Harley, West Market St. or Edw. Harley, 1838 Market St., Phila. Bob Harley, email: rwh220@yahoo.com, Phone: 215.721.1107 12/23

WANTED: Colored Figural Bitters. Also

other bitters that are unusually shaped or unusually colored, for their grouping! Mint specimens only please! Randolph Haumann, 10410 Gold Arrow Drive, Reno, Nevada 89521-5190 or cell 415.518.4124 (leave message) or email: hawkeye751@ outlook.com, Call Now! So you are not sorry...Later! 11/24

WANTED: Hobble skirt embossed Coca-Cola bottles: 1915s, 1923s, D-Patent’s 6 oz and 6 1/2 oz. Collector will buy or trade. Jim Georges, georges77@twcny.rr.com or 315.662.7729. 07/24

WANTED: OWL DRUG bottles, tins, boxes, paper, anything from the Owl Drug Company. Marc Lutsko, letsgo@montanasky.net, 406.291.0861, Box 97, Libby, Montana 59923 TOP DOLLAR paid. 01/24

WANTED: Houston, Galveston, Richmond and Rosenberg, Texas bottles. Triple XXX Root Beer items. Mo-Pep, Javo, Dr. Nut and Deacon Brown. Delaware Punch and Green’s Muscadine Punch, Juni Phosphate and High Island, Texas items. Earl McIntyre, 14214 Jaubert Ct., Sugar Land, Texas 77948, 832.914.2477, emcintyr@comcast. net 7/23

WANTED: Most Pre-1960 Kent and Queen Annes Counties, Maryland postcards, ephemera, bottles, advertising, souvenirs, crocks, banknotes, railroadiana, maps, militaria, steamboatiana, cannery items, photos, match covers, signs. Primary towns: Dolchester (Beach), Betterton (Beach), Chestertown, Centreville, Love Point. Mark Newsome, 9265 American Legion Rd, Chestertown, Maryland 21620, 410.699.0893. 7/23

WANTING OLD PICTURES

Historical pictures of past collectors and bottle shows for the online FOHBC Research Library. The pictures must be of reasonably good quality and captioned. Digital or hard copies accepted.

WELCOME TO THE FOHBC

We welcome the following clubs, organizations and members to the FOHBC. The Painted Soda Bottle Collectors Association, Antique-Bottles.net, National Association of Breweriana Advertising, Trevor Reed, Susan Fotopoulos, Colin Murphy, David Neblett, Don Senges, Christina Lacey, Steve Smith, Karen Albretsen, Tyler Howson, Bonnie D. Thorpe, Alexander H. Ryley, Phil Smith, Thomas Fornino, Joseph Rios, Nathan Brace, John Moultrie, Don Fritschel, Richard Coulter, Beth Grayson, Michael Zottoli, Scott Muse, William Brad Dalton, Linda Sandell, Ronald L. Burnett, James Ayers (Mr. Pepsi) and Colton Beck. Next issue will announce the new members added from the most recent Jeff Wichmann American Bottle Auctions sale.

VOLUNTEERS

The FOHBC is looking for help and volunteer work for the many projects and initiatives of the organization. This includes a mid-atlantic imager for the Virtual Museum, a Merchandise Director, researchers for the Virtual Museum, Houston 24 volunteers, local and regional show reporters, help with advertising and sales, online Zoom Seminar presenters and AB&GC writers. Please contact Elizabeth Meyer for more information and to make plans to give something back to our great hobby!

WANTED: Anything to do with Dr. E. R. Clarke from Sharon, Mass.

All bottle sizes and variants, labeled or unlabeled, pontiled or unpontiled plus any related ephemera such as advertising, billheads and historical information.

Charlie

Martin Jr. 781.248.8620

cemartinjr@comcast.net

Sho-Biz Calendar of Shows

FOHBC Sho - Biz is published in the interest of the hobby. Federation-affiliated clubs are indicated in red. Information on upcoming collecting events is welcome, but space is limited. Please send at least three months in advance, including telephone number to: FOHBC Sho-Biz, c/o Business Manager: Elizabeth Meyer, P.O. Box 1825, Brookshire, Texas 77423; phone: 713.504.0628; email: fohbcmembers@gmail.com Show schedules are subject to change. Please call before traveling long distances. All listings published here will also be published on the FOHBC.org website.

20 August 2023 – Poughkeepsie, New York

Hudson Valley Bottle Club 36th Annual Mid Hudson Bottle Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 2:30 pm, early buyers 8:30 am, Poughkeepsie Elks Lodge 275, 29 Overocker Road, Poughkeepsie, New York, Contact Info: Mike Stephano, 27 Rogers Road, Hyde Park, New York 12538, 845.233.4340, mjsantique@aol.com, FOHBC Member Club

26 August 2023 – Clarksburg, West Virginia North Central West Virginia Antiques & Collectibles Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm; General Admission $3, 16 and under Free Admission, Free Parking, Early buyers 7:30 am, $20. Village Square Event Center, 1489 Milford Street, Route 19 S. Clarksburg, West Virginia 26301, Contact: Don Kelley, 724.998.2734, bonzeyekelley@gmail.com

27 August 2023 – Davenport, Iowa Quad Cities–Mississippi Valley Antique Bottle & Advertising Show, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 1111 West 35th St., Davenport, Iowa 52806. Cost of admission: $2, Early admission at 7:00 am – $10. Iowa Antique Bottlers, Info: Ashton Schultz, 230 11th Circle, Dewitt, Iowa 52742, 563.503.9084, schulzantiques@gmail.com, FOHBC Member Club

02 September 2023 – Seekonk, Massachusetts

The Little Rhody Bottle Club Tailgate Swap Meet, starts at 8:00 am and ends at 2:00 pm. Free set-up for all who wish to attend. Bring your own tables! Show Address: Leonard’s Antiques, 600 Taunton Ave. (Rte #44) Seekonk, Mass., Contact Info: William Rose 508.880.4929, sierramadre@comcast.net, FOHBC Member Club

02 September 2023 – Strongsville, Ohio

50th Ohio Bottle Club’s Fall Antique Bottle Show and Sale in Strongsville, Ohio, Saturday, September 2nd, 2023, Best Western Plus Strongsville, 15471 Royalton Road, Strongsville, Ohio 44136, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, Admission $5, Early Admission $25 from 7:30 am to 9:00 am. For more information contact Louis Fifer, 330.635.1964 or fiferlouis@yahoo.com, Show put on by the Ohio Bottle Club FOHBC Member Club

09 September 2023 – Castle Rock, Colorado

The 57th Annual Antique Bottle Collectors of Colorado Show. Douglas County Fairgrounds at Kirk Hall, 500 Fairgrounds Dr., Castle Rock, Colorado 80104. Early admission Sept. 9th at 8:00 am $10. General Admission: Saturday, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Free. More information: Fred Bjork, 719.310.8388, manfredbjork@yahoo.com, antiquebottlecollectorsofcolorado.com, FOHBC Member Club

10 September 2023 – Pekin, Illinois Pekin Bottle Collectors Assoc. 53rd Antique Bottle Collectors Annual Show & Sale, 8:30 am to 3:00 pm, Admission $2, Free Appraisals, Moose Lodge, 2605 Broadway Street, Pekin, Illinois, Contact Info: Daryl Weseloh, 309.264.9268, darylweseloh@gmail.com

15 & 16 September 2023 – Aurora, Oregon Oregon Bottle Collectors Association Bottle, Antique & Collectibles Show & Sale, Friday 12 to 5:00 pm dealer set-up and early bird admission $5, Saturday 9:00 am to 3:00 pm regular

public admission by donation, Show Address, American Legion Hall, 21510 Main St. N.E., Aurora, Oregon, Contact Info: Wayne Herring, Show Chairman, 503.864.2009, Bill Bogynska, 503.657.1726, billbogy7@gmail.com, FOHBC Member Club

16 September 2023 – Santa Rosa, California

The Northwestern Bottle Collectors’ Association’s 56th Annual Antique Bottle Collectors Show at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building, 1351 Maple Avenue, Santa Rosa, California 95404. General Admission: Saturday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, $3, Saturday early admission 8:30 to 10:00 am, $10. For dealer and show information contact John Burton johncburton@msn.com, 707.523.1611, FOHBC Member Club

16 September 2023 – Lebanon, Indiana

Indianapolis Circle City Antique Bottle, Advertising and Antiques Show, Boone County Fairgrounds, 1300 E. 100 S, Lebanon, Indiana 46052, Set-up: 7:30 to 9:00 am, Show hours: 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, Admission–Free, (Early Admission–$20), Free appraisals on antique bottles and glass. For show Information contact: Martin Van Zant, 812.841.9495, 41 East Washington Street, Mooresville, Indiana 46158, mdvanzant@yahoo.com or “Balsam” Bill Granger 317.517.5895, 6915 S. 280 E., Lebanon, Indiana 46052, bgranger@iquest.net FOHBC Member Club

17 September 2023 – Depew, New York

The Greater Buffalo Bottle Collectors Association’s 24th Annual Show & Sale, Polish Falcons Hall, 445 Columbia Avenue, Depew, New York 14043, General Admission $4: Sunday 9 am to 2 pm. Contact chairman Tom Karapantso, 716.4879645 or tomar@stny.rr.com or gbbca.org, FOHBC Member Club

17 September 2023 – Chelmsford, Massachusetts

Merrimack Valley Antique Bottle Club’s 48th Annual Bottle Show & Sale, New location: Chelmsford Elks Lodge, 300 Littleton Road, Chelmsford, Massachusetts 01824, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, $4 admission, $20 early admission (8:00 am), Visit mvabc.org or contact: Kevin Cantrell, 978.551.6397, kmcantrell86@gmail.com, FOHBC Member Club

23 September 2023 – Cleveland, Mississippi

2nd Annual Mississippi Delta Antique Bottle, Advertising and Collectable Show & Sale, Bolivar County Expo Building, 601 1st Street, Cleveland, Mississippi 38732, Saturday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Free Admission. Early admission, Saturday, 7:00 am to 9:00 am, $20, Mississippi Antique Bottle, Advertising and Collectable Club, For details contact, Cheryl Comans, 1211 S. 5th Ave., Cleveland, Mississippi 38732, 601.218.3505, cherylcomans@gmail.com, John Yarbrough, 4139 Hwy 8, Cleveland, Mississippi, 662.721.7446, john@johnsigns.com, FOHBC Member Club

23 September 2023 – Santa Ana, California

The Los Angeles Historical Bottle Club’s Annual Antique Bottles, Fruit Jars, Insulators, Antiques & Collectibles Show & Sale, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm Free, Early Bird $15 at 8:00 am, Club Members All Day Entry, at the Santa Ana California Elks Lodge, 1751 South Lyon St., Santa Ana, California 92705. Free Admission, Info: Don Wippert, Tele: 818.610.9332; Email: donwippert1@

gmail.com or Chuck Gildea, tele: 949.351.7620. FOHBC Member Club

24 September 2023 – Topsham, Maine

The Mid-Maine Antique Bottle Club 3rd Annual Show and Sale, Topsham Fairgrounds Exhibition Hall, Topsham, Maine, $2 General Admission, 9:00 am, $15 Early Buyers 8:00 am to 9:00 am. Contact Paul McClure, 207.832.1503, oldbottles@outlook.com, midmaineantiquebottleclub.com, FOHBC Member Club

24 September 2023 – Hammonton, New Jersey

2023 Fall Bottle Show at Batsto Village by Batsto Citizens Committee, Inc., 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, rain or shine! Free admission! Historic Batsto Village, Wharton State Forest, Rt. 542 Pleasant Mills Road, Hammonton, New Jersey. Contact Info: Jim Hammell, 856.217.4945, hammelljm@gmail.com

30 September 2023 – Chesterfield, Virginia

The Richmond Area Bottle Collectors Assoc. presents the 51st Richmond Antique Bottle and Collectibles Show and Sale; General Admission is $3, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm; Early Admission is $10 from 7:30 am, at the Chesterfield County Fairgrounds, 10300 Courthouse Road, Chesterfield, Virginia 23832. Info: Tony Townsend, 804.379-0902; RichBottleClub@comcast.net, FOHBC Member Club

30 September 2023 – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Enchantment Insulator Club/New Mexico Historical Bottle Society 2023 Tailgater North Domingo Baca Park, (Northeast corner of park) 7521 Carmel NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87120, Saturday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, No Early admission. Set-up 7:00 to 8:00 am. Contact: Michael Gay, EIC President & Show Chair, 5516 Kachina St NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87120, 505.480.0085, cdn102@swcp.com

06 Oct. & 07 October 2023 – Williams, California

Sacramento Valley Museum Antique Bottle Show, Bottles, Collectables, Antiques, 1492 E St., Williams California, Friday, Oct 6th, Early admission $20, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Saturday Admission Free 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, Show chairs Cristy and Slim Edwards, closethegatefenceco@yahoo.com, 530.586.0717

07 October 2023 – Coventry, Connecticut

Coventry Bottle Show, Jointly sponsored by the Museum of Connecticut Glass and the Southern Connecticut Antique Bottle & Glass Collectors Association, 289 North River Road, Coventry, Connecticut 06238. General Admission 9:00 am – 1:00 pm, $4; Early Admission 8:00 am, $15. Info: Bruce Mitchell, Show Chairman, LFranz465@hotmail.com, 860.508.6269.

FOHBC Member Club

08 October 2023 – Keene, New Hampshire

The Yankee Bottle Club’s 54th Annual Keene Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, early buyers 8 am, at Keene High School, 43 Arch Street, Keene, New Hampshire. Contact: Alan Rumrill, PO Box 803, Keene, NH 03431, 603.352.1895, Email: arumrill@hsccnh.org

Website: yankeebottleclub.org. FOHBC Member Club

Sho-Biz Calendar of Shows

14 October 2023 – Fayette, Alabama

10th Annual Fayette, Alabama Bottle Collectible Bottles & Antiques Show & Sell, Free admission to the public, Boy Scouts of America Scout Building, 100 3rd Avenue, Fayette Alabama 35555, Saturday 8:00 am till 3:00 pm, Set-up: Friday, October 13th from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm and Saturday, October 14th from 6:00 am till 7:30 am, $15 per table. All table rental goes to local Boy Scouts. Limit 50 tables. Contact: Jeff Pendley, Chairman, 205.275.2650, JfPendley@aol.com

15 October 2023 – Findlay, Ohio

Findlay Antique Bottle Club Antique Bottle & Collectibles

Show & Sale, Hancock County Fairgrounds, 1017 E. Sandusky St., Findlay, Ohio, 9 am to 2 pm $5, Early Bird Sunday 7 am to 9 am $20 (Dealer-only set up Saturday) Contact: Fred Curtis 419.424.0486, finbotclub@gmail.com Details and Contract Online, FOHBC Member Club

20 & 21 October 2023 – Biloxi, Mississippi

Presented by the Olde Guys Digging Club of Biloxi, MS., the 6th Annual Mississippi Gulf Coast Antique Bottle Show will be held from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Saturday, October 21, 2023 at the Joppa Shrine Temple, 13280 Shriners Blvd., Biloxi, MS. 39532 (Exit 41- I-10). Dealer set-up on Friday, October 20, from noon to 5:00 pm and Saturday, October 21 from 8:00 to 9:00 am. Free Admission on Saturday. Early Buyers $20 per person during dealer set up on Friday. For more information or table contracts contact: Peter Taggard, 645 Village Lane South, Mandeville, Louisiana 70471. Phone: 985.373.6487 Email: petertaggard@yahoo.com

FOHBC Member Club

20 & 21 October 2023 – Jacksonville, Florida

53rd Annual Antique Bottle Collectors of North Florida Show & Sale, Saturday 8:00 am to 2:00 pm, Fraternal Order of Police Building, 5530 Beach Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida 32207. Free Admission. For more information, contact Mike Skie, Show Chair, 3047 Julington Creek Road, Jacksonville, Florida 32223 at 904.710.0422. Early Admission Friday, 2:00 to 5:00 pm $30, 5:00 to 7:00 pm $20, jaxbottleshow@yahoo.com

21 October 2023 – Macungie, Pennsylvania

Forks of the Delaware Bottle Collectors Association 49th Annual Bottle and Antique Show & Sale, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, $3 Admission, Macungie Memorial Park Hall, 50 Poplar St., Macungie, PA 18062. Early Shopper Admission at 7:30 am ($20 admission fee for early shoppers) For info: Bill Hegedus 610.264.3130, forksofthedelawarebottles@hotmail.com

For updates see our Facebook Page–Forks of the Delaware Bottle Collectors, FOHBC Member Club

27 & 28 October 2023 – Nashville, Tennessee Area

Tennessee Bottle Collectors Presents their Nashville Area Antique Bottle & Advertising Show, Wilson County Fairgrounds, 945 E. Baddour Pkwy, Lebanon, Tennessee 37087, Behind Expo Center, I-40 Exit 239B, Friday 2:00 to 7:00 pm Early Buyer $15

Admission, Saturday 8:00 am to 2:00 pm Free Admission. Dealer

Set-up: Friday: 1:00 pm, Saturday: 7:00 am. For Show Info or Vendor

Contract, Contact Show Chairmen Greg Eaton: at 865.548.3176 or Stanley Word at 615.708.6634, FOHBC Member Club

04 November 2023 – Royal Oak, Michigan

The Metropolitan Detroit Antique Bottle Club’s 40th Annual Antique Bottle Show & Sale, 9:30 am to 2:30 pm, Admission

$3, Early Admission 8:00 to 9:30 am $25. Free Appraisals! Royal Oak Elks Lodge #1523, 2401 E. Fourth Street, Royal Oak, Michigan 48067, Contact: Mike Brodzik, Club President and Show Chairman, 586.219.9980, bottlemike@outlook.com, FOHBC Member Club

05 November 2023 – Elton, Maryland

The Tri-State Bottle Collectors and Diggers Club 50th Annual Show & Sale, Singerly Fire Hall, Routes 279 & 213 (I-95 exit 109A), 300 Newark Avenue, Elkton, Maryland 21922, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, No Early Admission, Dealers only entry at 7:30 am for Set-up, Admission: $3 per person, Children under age 12 free, Contact: Dave Porter, President, 100 Jarmon Road, Elton, Maryland, 21921, 717.779-8324, daveelle@msn.com, FOHBC Member Club

05 November 2023 – Orland Park, Illinois 54th Annual 1st Chicago Bottle Club Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, $5 admission at the ‘NEW LOCATION’ Orland Park Civic Center, 14750 S. Ravinia Avenue, Orland Park, Illinois 60462, Show Chairpersons are Jen and Mario Pisterzi, 219.306-5702, mariopisterzi@yahoo.com, FOHBC Member Club

10 & 11 November 2023 – Auburn, California ’49er Historical Bottle Association Best in the West 45th Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show, Gold Country Fairgrounds & Event Center, 1273 High Street, Auburn, California 95603, Friday Early Admission Noon to 5:00 pm – $15, Public Saturday 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Set-up Friday Noon to 5:00 pm. For show info contact: Mike Lake, PO Box 799, Foresthill, California 95631, 530.333.5696, m.lake.foresthill@gmail.com, FOHBC Member Club

19 November 2023 – Greensboro, North Carolina

Greensboro Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show at the Farmer’s Curb Market, 501 Yanceyville Street, Greensboro, North Carolina 27405, Sunday 8:00 am to 2:00 pm, No Early admission, Set up: Sunday 6:00 am to 9:00 am. Cost of admission $1, Contact: David Erickson, 257 Palomino Trail, Lexington, North Carolina 27295, 336.247.1928, dave.erickson111@gmail.com

18–20 January 2024 – Muncie, Indiana

Midwest Antique Fruit Jar & Bottle Club presents the 2024 Convention! Located at Courtyard by Marriott & Horizons Convention Center (401 S. High St., Muncie, Indiana) 52nd Annual Rendezvous Non-Stop 3-Day Event, Dealers & Collectors Get Together at Hotel. Swapping Jars. Swapping Stories. Culminating at the Show With Over 80 Tables, Thursday, Jan 18. Room-to-Room Sales, Hospitality Suite, Seminars/Tours, Friday, Jan 19, Club Meetings, Show & Tell, Auction, Saturday, Jan 20, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, Free Appraisals, $2 Admission, Details at fruitjar.org. Special Hotel Rate is $119 per night. 765.287.8550, $40/First Table & $35 for Additional Table montyfoust@comcast.net 765.635.4626

20 April 2024 – Columbia, South Carolina

The South Carolina Bottle Club’s 51st Annual Show & Sale, 206 Jamil Road, Columbia, South Carolina 29210, 172 tables last year with room to grow! Saturday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Donation at the door suggested, Dealer Only Set-Up 7:00 am to 9:00

am, Jamil Shrine Temple, Contact: Marty Vollmer 803.629.8553, martyvollmer@aol.com or Art Gose 803.840.1539, scbottlehunters@ gmail.com, FOHBC Member Club

04 May 2024 – Gray, Tennessee State of Franklin Antique Bottles & Collectible Assoc. 26th Annual Show & Sale, Saturday, May 4th, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Appalachian Fairground, 100 Lakeview Street, Gray, Tennessee 37615, Exit 13 on I-216, No Early Admission. Contact Kenneth Depew, President, 4017 Rick Slaughter Ct., Kingsport, Tennessee 37660, 423.817.3298, kenshell@chartertn.net, sfabca.com, FOHBC Member Club

11 May 2024 – Gardendale, Alabama

4th Annual Alabama Bottle & Antique Show, Saturday, May 11, 9:00 am to 3:30 pm; Free Admission and Appraisals. Gardendale Civic Center, 857 Main Street, Gardendale, Alabama 35071 (10 minutes north of Birmingham). Info: Keith Quinn: 205.365.1983, klq1812@gmail.com or Steve Holland, 205.492.6864. Visit our Facebook page Alabama Bottle Collectors’ Society.

FOHBC Member Club

17 & 18 May 2024 – Bellville, Ohio

The National Association of Milk Bottle Collectors (NAMBC) will hold its annual convention for milk bottle enthusiasts from throughout the United States who will gather to buy, sell, and trade bottles and other dairy memorabilia while socializing with fellow collectors. The 2-day event includes exhibits, an auction, an awards banquet, an ice cream social, and several educational seminars. The event has a 40-year history which is testimony to its continuing popularity. This year’s convention will take place on May 17 & 18, 2024 at the Quality Inn & Suites in Bellville, Ohio.

31 July 2024 – Brookshire, Texas

Houston 24 Peachridge Glass “Glass in the Grass” Sell antique bottles and glass and related antiques from the back of your vehicle or from under a self-provided tent at “Glass in the Grass.” Open to all antique bottle and glass dealers even if you are not setting up at the Museum (see below). $25 gate fee. Relax, mingle and wander under the many large pecan trees surrounding the hay field. First come-first choice in dealer location. The temperature on the lower Brazos River plains is typically pleasant during summer hours of the event. Please contact Ferdinand Meyer V, fmeyer@fmgdesign.com for information. FOHBC National Event

01 August to 04 August 2024 – Houston, Texas

FOHBC 2024 Houston National Antique Bottle & Glass

Exposition hosted by the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors

Brought to you by Peachridge Collections LLC. Host Hotel: Hotel Zaza Museum District. Featuring American Antique Glass Masterpieces – A major, museum exhibition showcasing the Sandor P. Fuss Collection and selected highlights from the David P. Wilber and Anthony Gugliotti Collections. Please contact Ferdinand Meyer V, fmeyer@ fmgdesign.com for information. FOHBC National Event

THE AUSTRALIAN BOTTLE & COLLECTABLES REVIEW

For all the latest Australian news!

Quarterly publication of 36 pages. Many of the consumable goods in 19th century Australia were supplied by both England and the United States, resulting in some nice bottles of U. S. origin having been found in Australia. $65 per year.

PayPal: abcr@bigpond.com Email: travisdunn@bigpond.com

THE AUSTRALIAN BOTTLE & COLLECTABLES REVIEW

January-March, 2023

ABCR Auctions often offers items of U. S. interest, such as these upcoming items to the left. Also operated by Travis Dunn, this auction can be found at: www.abcrauctions.com

Auctions run every three months. Email: info@abcrauctions.com Free to register. Low commissions. Reliable condition assessments.

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

Membership Benefits & Display Advertising Rates

The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (FOHBC) is a non-profit organization supporting antique bottle and glass collecting. The goal of the FOHBC is to promote the collection, study, preservation and display of historical bottles and related artifacts and to share this information with other collectors and individuals. Membership is open to any individual, club or institution interested in the enjoyment and study of antique bottles and glass. Membership benefits include:

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector (AB&GC), the official publication of FOHBC and the leading publication for those interested in antique bottle and glass collecting and all associated ephemera. Annual subscription includes 6 issues (bi-monthly) of this all-color, 72-page plus covers publication. (Digital memberships also available.)

–Free classified advertising in AB&GC. Ads may be up to 100 words for items of $25 or greater value; and one free ad of 60 words each year For Sale, Wanted, or For Trade. (Restrictions apply and free ads are limited to the first received for available space.) Ads appear on the FOHBC website also. See page 72.

–FOHBC.org, a comprehensive website dedicated to the organization and hobby, providing access through the Members Portal to the latest news in the collecting world, Membership Directory, archived magazine issues, indexed articles, Federation meeting minutes and announcements, and a vast assortment of research material.

–Virtual Museum of Historical Bottles and Glass, the most comprehensive antique bottle and glass experience on the Internet. Spinning images of museum-quality examples of antique bottles and glass, including well-researched history of the manufacture, distribution, and use of each item.

Auction Price Report, an online resource which includes the sale price and description of anything auctioned by the top antique bottle and glass auction houses in the past decade. Easy to use. Updated annually. (Password protected.)

National Shows and Conventions, featuring displays, educational seminars, membership meetings, social events, and banquet with interesting speakers, all centered around a first-class sale event. Members are eligible for discounts on “Early Admission” or table rental.

Newsletter, digital presentation of periodic postings to keep FOHBC members up to date on current issues affecting the hobby.

Affiliated Bottle Club Membership brings these additional benefits to your group:

–Federation-sponsored Insurance Program for your show and any other club-sponsored activities. (Application required for each event.) Value of this is many times more than the cost of club membership.

–Club Display Ad in AB&GC at discount of 50%.

–Free Club Show Ad on the Federation website to increase your show’s exposure.

Free Links to Club Website; Social Media (Facebook) exposure.

–Free Federation Ribbons for Best in Show and Most Educational display at your show.

For more information, questions, or to join the FOHBC, please contact: Elizabeth Meyer, FOHBC Business Manager, P.O. Box 1825, Brookshire, Texas 77423; phone: 713.504.0628 or email: fohbcmembers@gmail.com.

Visit us at FOHBC.org

Where there’s a will there’s a way to leave Donations to the FOHBC Did you know the FOHBC is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization?

How does that affect you? It allows tax deductions for any and all donations to the FOHBC. You might also consider a bequest in your will to the FOHBC. This could be a certain amount of money or part or all of your bottle collection. The appraised value of your collection would be able to be deducted from your taxes. (This is not legal advice, please consult an attorney.) The same-type wording could be used for bequeathing your collection or part of it; however, before donating your collection (or part of it), you would need the collection appraised by a professional appraiser with knowledge of bottles and their market values. This is the amount that would be tax deductible. Thank you for considering the FOHBC in your donation plans.

Membership Application, Classified Advertising & Article Submission

FOHBC Individual Membership Application

For Membership, complete the following application or sign up at FOHBC.org

(Please Print)

Name

Address City __________ State___________________

Zip ___________ Country _________________

Telephone

Email Address

Collecting Interests ________________________

Additional Comments _______________________

Do you wish to be listed in the online membership directory?(name, address, phone number, email address and what you collect) { } Yes { } No

Would you be interested in serving as an officer? { } Yes { } No

Would you be interested in contributing your bottle knowledge by writing articles for our magazine? { } Yes { } No

Would you be interested in volunteering to help on any FOHBC projects? { } Yes { } No

Membership/Subscription rates for one year (6 issues) (Circle One) (All First Class sent in a protected mailer) United

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector Free Ads

Category: “WANTED”

Maximum - 60 words

Limit - One free ad per current membership year. OR

Category: “FOR SALE”

Maximum - 100 words

Limit - 1 ad per issue. (Use extra paper if necessary.)

Digital Membership (electronic files only) $25

Canada – First Class $60 Other countries – First Class $80

- Life Membership: Level 1: $1,000, includes all benefits of a Standard 1st Class membership. No promise of a printed magazine for life.

- Level 2: $500, includes all benefits of a regular membership but you will not receive a printed magazine, but rather a digital subscription.

Add an Associate Membership* to any of the above at $5 for each Associate for each year.

Associate Member Name(s)

*Associate Membership is available to members of the immediate family of any adult holding an Individual Membership. Children age 21 or older must have their own individual membership. Associate Members enjoy all of the rights and privileges of an Individual Membership.

Signature Date

Please make checks or money orders payable to FOHBC and mail to:

FOHBC Membership, Elizabeth Meyer, P.O. Box 1825, Brookshire, Texas 77423, Phone: 713.504.0628 Email: fohbcmembers@gmail.com

Affiliated Club Membership for only $75 with liability insurance for all club-sponsored events, 50% discount on advertising in Antique Bottle & Glass Collector, plus so much more, Contact: FOHBC Business Manager: Elizabeth Meyer, PO Box 1825, Brookshire, Texas 77423, 713.504.0628, fohbcmembers@ gmail.com

Clearly Print or Type Your Ad

Send to: FOHBC Business Manager: Elizabeth Meyer, P.O. Box 1825, Brookshire, Texas 77423; phone: 713.504.0628; or better yet, email Elizabeth at: fohbcmembers@gmail.com

Magazine Submission Requirements:

We welcome the submission of articles and related pictures pertaining to antique bottle and early glass collecting, our hobby, digging, diving, and finding, as well as other interesting stories.

SUBMISSION POLICY—Articles:

All Antique Bottle & Glass Collector articles or material needs to be submitted via an FTP site, email or hard copy. Electronic text files should be in Microsoft Word.

Electronic photo files should be in JPEG, TIFF or EPS format. Resolution of 300 dpi at actual publication size is preferred but as low as 150 dpi (at double publication size) is acceptable.

SUBMISSION POLICY—Classified ads:

All ad copy should be typewritten, clearly & legibly printed, or sent via e-mail.

The FOHBC will not be responsible for errors in an ad due to poor quality, illegible copy.

The FOHBC reserves the right to refuse any advertising.

Please send articles/images to fmeyer@fmgdesign.com or mail to business manager noted on bottom of previous column.

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

$575 August 2017 Heckler Auction #154

84: “General Washington” And Bust – “E Pluribus Unum / T.W.D.” And Eagle Portrait Flask, Kensington Glass Works, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, 1820-1830. “Firecracker” Blue aquamarine with a strong olive tone, sheared mouth – pontil scar, pint; GI-14 (light exterior high point wear). Bill and Betty Wilson collection.

$15,690 September 2020 Glass Works Auctions #121

251: “General Washington” And Bust – “E Pluribus Unum / T.W.D.” And Eagle Portrait Flask, Kensington Glass Works, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, 1820-1830. “Firecracker” Medium amber with a strong olive tone, sheared mouth – pontil scar, pint; (light exterior high point wear). GI-14. Dr. Gary and Arlette Johnson collection.

$8,960 May 2012 American Glass Gallery #8

26: “General Washington” And Bust – “E Pluribus Unum T.W.D.” And Eagle Portrait Flask, Kensington Glass Works, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, 1820-1830. “Firecracker” Medium red amber with a strong olive tone, sheared mouth – pontil scar, pint; (light exterior high point wear). GI-14. Dr. Timoth Shuttle collection.

$15,690 September 2020 Glass Works Auctions #121

251: “General Washington” And Bust – “E Pluribus Unum / T.W.D.” And Eagle Portrait Flask, Kensington Glass Works, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, 1820-1830. “Firecracker” Medium amber with a strong olive tone, sheared mouth – pontil scar, pint; (light exterior high point wear). GI-14. Tremont Labeth collection.

$65,520 February 2019 Heckler #180

215: “General Washington” And Bust - “E. Pluribus Unum / T.W.D” And Eagle Portrait Flask, Kensington Glass Works, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1826-1840. Medium cobalt blue, sheared mouth - pontil scar, pint; (light exterior high point wear). GI-14 Known as the “Firecracker Flask”, this iconic piece is both beautiful and historically important. Fine condition with bold embossing. Ex Edmund and Jayne Blaske collection, Dr. Charles and Jane Aprill collection.

Firecracker GI-14

Available only to FOHBC Members!

Online Auction Price Report. Search on your smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. Includes 10 years of results from American Bottle Auctions, American Glass Gallery, Glass Works Auctions and Heckler in Phase 1. The Auction Price Report will only be available to FOHBC members. Joining the FOHBC will give the new member 24/7/365 access. What a great tool this will be for the collectors, diggers, pickers, researchers and the generally curious!

FOHBC Member. Please check your mailing address and subscription status above and notify us of any corrections.

Don’t miss one issue of AB&GC. Keep your FOHBC membership up to date!