Owen Casey – An Irish Immigrant Soda Water Manufacturer
Pressed Stoneware Bottles and so much more!
Coming next issue or down the road: The Saltsburg Glass Works•ACL #16 Magnolia State• Privy Digger’s Dream•What Do You Collect?•Another Adventure of the Bottle Thief: Dead Chickens & Barking Dog•A Clinton Physician Dr. Carl Gruber•M. A. Rue of Cranbury, New Jersey•Finding D Dodge Tomlinson•Early Pittsburgh Glasshouses•Keystone Coffee Jar•Soda City’s Only Two Earliest Colored Sodas: H. Deming & Co. and C.C. Habenicht•Probst & Hilbs German Bitters Little Rock, Ark.•Whites Prairie Flower•Caswell Hazard Druggists•Canyontell – An Odd Small Town Medicinal•Peter Bisso Soda Water Manufacturer, Corsicana, Texas•Steamboat Arabia Museum•From Ashes to Ashes, A Tragic Bitters Story•Rick Carney & Maine Antique Glass•Williams & Severance – Gold Rush Bottlers•Marbles•The History of Bottles: Examined through One Retailer over Many Decades in Ten Steps•Chasing Dr. Parker and so much more!
So you don’t miss an issue of Antique Bottle & Glass Collector, please check your labels for expiration information.
To Advertise, Subscribe or Renew a subscription, see pages 66 and 72 for details.
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 77423-1825
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).
Postmaster: Send address changes to Elizabeth Meyer, FOHBC Business Manager, P.O. Box 1825, Brookshire, Texas 77423-1825; 713.504.0628, email: fohbcmembers@gmail.com
Annual subscription rate is: $40 for Standard Mail or $55 for First Class, $85 to Canada, $120 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.
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.
FOHBC Officers 2024–2026
President: Michael Seeliger, N8211 Smith Road, Brooklyn, Wisconsin 53521, phone: 608.575.2922, email: mwseeliger@gmail.com
Vice-President: Position Open
Secretary: Alice Seeliger, N8211 Smith Road, Brooklyn, Wisconsin 53521, phone: 608.575.1128, email: AliceSecretaryFOHBC@gmail.com
Special Projects Director: Ferdinand Meyer V, P.O. Box 1825, Brookshire, Texas 77423, phone: 713.222.7979 x115, email: fmeyer@fmgdesign.com
Director-at-Large: Stephen R. Jackson, P.O. Box 3137, Suffolk, Virginia 23439, phone: 757.675.5642, email: sjackson@srjacksonlaw.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 02675, phone: 781.248.8620, email: cemartinjr@comcast.net
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
President Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors
N8211 Smith Road, Brooklyn, Wisconsin 53521
608.575.2922
mwseeliger@gmail.com
The new year is well under way and bottle shows are filling up the calendar. I’m hoping to see many of you as I travel around the country. Please be sure to stop and say “Hi.” It is always nice to share information and hear suggestions from FOHBC members. Though I’m slowing down a bit, my enthusiasm for the Federation remains strong. My plans include shows in Milwaukee, Tampa, Kalamazoo, Baltimore, Rochester and Mansfield, with maybe even Saratoga, Dalton, and Minneapolis. Whew!
The Federation will have a display table at several shows, especially promoting our upcoming Reno 25 Convention. Look for the Federation logos on our new black table runners, but don’t wait ‘til then to make your room reservations at the Silver Legacy Resort and Casino! Reno 25 will include some interesting, unique activities such as the great shootout bottle competition, educational seminars, and the awards banquet. Check out FOHBC.org for the latest information.
A repeat of a sell out will be a commemorative Drake’s bottle… this time in RUBY RED! Two one-of-a-color Drake’s will be included as a raffle and auction item. We’re limiting production to 150, which is less than what was sold of the cobalt blue ones at Houston 24. See me all decked out in Reno Red FOHBC shirt, cap, and Drake’s in Regional News this issue and at any show you and I attend between now and the end of July. (If we ever decide to do a commemorative Drake’s in white, I may have trouble staying presentable.)
The Federation Board of Directors is reviewing our fees structure. We won’t be raising membership dues, which continues to be a great value, but we are needing to pass along increased mailing costs to our members in Canada and foreign countries. And we have had to increase club dues, adding some of the cost of insurance coverage for club events. Again, still a great bargain for our member clubs. We have found that almost all venues require insurance, so this continues to be a great benefit of club membership.
our hobby. Contest categories are Newsletters, Articles, Posters, Social Media, and Websites, so let us know which ones you think are the best.
Much-anticipated and requested updates to the Auction Price Report have begun. An upgrade in new listings will be PHOTOS! Make sure to take advantage of your access to the Auction Price Report by maintaining your membership.
The Virtual Museum continues to expand. Houston 24 brought in many new subjects and Alan DeMaison has been hard at work getting these ready for the Virtual Museum. New galleries have been added, so check that out! The Virtual Museum operates solely on donations and there’s a fundraising campaign in motion. “25 from 25 in 25” is our slogan for the campaign to receive $25/month from 25 members in 2025. And I’m so pleased to announce that an anonymous donor has pledged $5,000 if we can get a matching donation. That’s double or nothing, with better odds than Reno! Without these donations, our Virtual Museum is at the end of its funding. Alan is also searching and applying for grants for this project which helps us fulfill our educational mission. Any donation amount is appreciated, but I sincerely hope we can reach our 25 from 25 in 25 goal and get that matching donation!
We are starting to get back on track with our magazine publishing schedule. Though this issue is still a couple weeks behind, our May-June issue should reach you on time in mid-April. Thank you for your patience as we have all caught our breaths after Houston 24 – at least I think Ferdinand is starting to breathe more regularly.
You’ll find some very interesting articles in this issue of AB&GC including Alice’s now-favorite “Cowgirl ACLs” which has her on the hunt for one. Mike Dickman has certainly taken us through a whirlwind tour of these collectibles. Ralph Finch again adds his words of wisdom and whimsey and never ceases to amaze us with what he finds to collect. Fortunately, he recognizes that his wife, Janet, is a saint and an excellent photographer. This issue also includes some great color runs in various bottle collections that grace display cases, fireplace mantels, and windowsills. Next issue may include photos of my new bottle cases in which I incorporated some suggestions from our latest Webinar aptly named “Bottle Cases.” Using Mike Craig’s lighting design, I have created a landing strip for nearby airplanes! Enjoy showing off your treasures wherever and whenever you can.
Getting back to Reno 25, our Awards Banquet is the opportunity you all have to recognize yourself for your talents in bottle collecting or offer recognition to another member or club. We have changed the rules, so it is both self-nomination and nomination of others. We had 75 entries to judge last year and would like at least that many this year. See full details of the contests at FOHBC.org. Don’t be shy...it benefits everyone to highlight contributions to
URGENT NEED
We are in desperate need of a Membership Director! Name your own hours, work at home, casual attire, no commute or parking concerns. Also, no pay for this volunteer position. Rewards are immeasurable in the form of eternal gratitude from the Board of Directors, and members, alike. Call me!
Shards of Wisdom
“Heard
it Through the Grapevine”
Highly Important “Hon. Fred Douglass” Face Jug
One of the feature lots in the January 2025 Crocker Farm Carole Wahler Collection auction. Listed as Lot #5 – Highly Important Salt-Glazed Stoneware Face Harvest Jug. Inscribed “The Hon. Fred Douglass” on reverse and “Negro” on underside. Stamped “J.A. ROBERTS / COOKEVILLE / POTTERY / TENN / 25 CTS,” circa 1895. Ovoid form with individually-thrown and applied spouts on the front and reverse shoulder. The handle modeled in the form of a squared tree branch with incised bark, the front featuring a hand-modeled and applied clay face, including orb-shaped eyes within almondine lids, small C-scroll ears, a nose with upturned tip and carved nostrils, and open mouth. Depressions around the eyes and flanking the mouth add structure and realism to the face. Incised on reverse with the inscription, “The Hon. Frederick Douglass,” and on the underside with the word, “Negro.” The exceptionally large impressed maker’s mark of John A. Roberts appears on the reverse of the jug, extending onto the vessel’s proper right side. The base includes the large, impressed price of “25 CTS.,” a rarely-seen treatment suggesting this piece may have been displayed for sale at a local event. The surface features a dipped, brown slip coating with overlying salt glaze, which together create a greenish coloration where the salt vapors adhered in heavier concentrations. Regarded as Roberts’s masterwork, this jug was likely made to commemorate abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, upon his death in 1895. Only a handful of face jugs by this potter are known. An undocumented example, inscribed for a local African-American farmer, corroborates the potter’s stance on civil rights. A third, lacking an inscription, maker’s mark, and handle, resides in the collection of Colonial Williamsburg’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, gifted by Rockefeller in 1935. The sculptural quality, fine condition, and large impressed maker’s mark found on Roberts’s Frederick Douglass
jug place it among the finest face vessels known from the state of Tennessee. However, its extraordinary inscription honoring America’s most prominent abolitionist establish this work as one of the most historically significant pieces of American stoneware known. Exhibited: Tennessee Turned, Earthenware and Stoneware Made in East Tennessee 1800-1900, Museum of East Tennessee History, May 16-October 30, 2011. Provenance: Purchased by Wahler at a James Gill auction in Northern Ohio. Chipping to tip of nose. Other minor chips to applied face. One chip to spout on front. Two chips and edge wear to spout on reverse. Light wear to handle. H 11”. Late note from Editor: Lot 5, Frederick Douglass Face Jug, $75,000. World Auction Record for Tennessee Pottery. Est. $25k–$40k.
Very Important Lidded Stoneware Water Cooler w/ Incised Decoration: “Made by John Floyd / June 30 1857 / Knox County Tenn”
Lot #46–Important and Possibly Unique Five-Gallon Lidded Stoneware Water Cooler with Incised Floral Decoration, Inscribed “Made by Jn Floyd / June 30 1857 / Knox Couty(sic) Tenn,” John Floyd at the Graves Pottery, Knox County, TN, 1857. Ovoid cooler with narrow, semi-squared mouth, two ribbed vertical handles applied at the shoulder, and individually-thrown and applied bunghole in the form of a jug spout; decorated at the shoulder with a delicately-incised and cobalt-highlighted design of a flower with hollow details to the blossom’s petals. Reverse incised with the cobalt-highlighted inscription, “Made by Jn Floyd / June 30 / 1857 / Knox County Tenn,” below an impressed five-gallon capacity mark. Cobalt highlights to handle terminals and bunghole. Includes original domed lid with brushed cobalt swag decoration and a highlight to its pointed finial. One of the finest examples of Tennessee stoneware known, this vessel combines form, decoration, and an exceedingly rare
Carole Wahler at Tennessee Turned (2011) and Made by East Tennessee Hands: Pottery (1996), at the Museum of East Tennessee History.
Shards of Wisdom
“Heard
Let’s be careful with what we call our bottles
Alice Seeliger asks if anybody has “Goose Turd Green” in their bottle or sweater collection? The magazine editor is sure one of his Greeley’s Bourbon Bitters is an exact match but suggests we refrain from “Baby” colors such as referenced on the chart below.
signature to produce a Southern masterwork of great significance to the migration of American ceramic traditions. Sold $70k.
The Lifetime American Ceramics Collection of Carole Carpenter Wahler Collector • Curator • Dealer • Scholar (1937-2023) –January 22 - 31, 2025. Our Winter 2025 auction speaks to the legacy of one woman’s lifelong passion for American ceramics. As an ambitious collector, Dr. Carole Carpenter Wahler (19372023) amassed a vast assemblage of seminal examples of American ceramics spanning the Southern states and beyond. In terms of depth, breadth, and quality, her collection has few rivals past or present. As a guest curator, Wahler established herself as the recognized authority on Tennessee stoneware and redware while drawing deserved national attention to the state’s rich ceramic tradition. As a dealer, she was a pioneer in the field of American primitive antiques, becoming an early specialist in stoneware. And as a scholar, Carole Wahler’s painstaking research has forever shaped our understanding of stoneware and redware, fleshed out in books, articles, and her landmark collection. Born and raised in New Mexico, pottery spoke to Carole Wahler from a young age as she collected sherds of Native American pottery in the desert. This curiosity turned into a passion for collecting, as she and her husband, Robert, purchased finer porcelain and Native American ceramics while still in graduate school in Washington State. After the Wahlers moved to Knoxville, TN in 1965 to begin their respective careers in psychology, Carole Wahler became a collector and part-time dealer. It was there that she quickly encountered American stoneware. Wahler purchased her first stoneware jar for fifty cents in 1964. Without fanfare, this purchase set her on the course to become a legendary figure in the field of American utilitarian ceramics.
Ball Standard jar. Hands collection
Credit: Crocker Farm for all images and descriptions from the Wahler Collection auction.
Greeley’s Bourbon Bitters Meyer collection
GI – 81
“Lafayette” Bust of Lafayette “S & C” “DE WITT” Bust of Clinton “C-T” Portrait Flask. Ciralli collection
Alice’s knitting yarn.
FOHBC News
From & For Our Members
The motherload of trade publications for Bottles, Jars & Insulators
I just came across this: Bottles, Jars, Insulators on the Corning Museum of Glass website. There are 152 items in the Rakow Digital Collections in the Museum library. [Editor: Hyperlinked in digital version or Google]
Brian Bingham
Oceanside, California
More on the H24 Drake’s Plantation Bitters
The answer to Jack Klotz’s question in the previous issue about clear edges on the repro Drake’s Plantation Bitters is that the old bottles were drawn out of furnaces, each with their color glass in them.
The H24 repro bottles are drawn out of a clear glass furnace, then rolled in frit to color the glass, then heated to make a colored glass blob, dipped again in clear glass to gather another batch of glass over the colored glass—and the glass is then blown in the mold. Truly, the color is only on the inside of the glass, and all the bottles are clear outside. The glasshouse where these were made would never have enough furnaces to have individual glass colors in each furnace. If you ever watch the Blown Away program on Netflix, you will see that this is how they color all their glass. Jack does not have a unique bottle; all of them are like that if you look closely at them. Some show it better than others. The lip treatment is a gather of glass that is rolled in frit and melted and applied directly to the neck of the bottle. That is all color.
Michael Seeliger
Brooklyn,
Wisconsin
Dr. Petzold’s German Bitters
Hi there, this may be a strange email, but I recently purchased an antique dosing glass for Dr. Petzold’s Genuine German Bitters. Coincidentally, my last name is Pezoldt, and I happen to collect (primarily Italian) bitters. I have an extensive knowledge of cocktails as well. Naturally, I was curious if this was somehow still an existing brand, so I looked into the history and came across your website with a catalog of labels and displays. It was an interesting read! I’m curious if, anywhere in your research, there was an inkling of a recipe that popped up along the way. It would be very interesting to try to approximate what it may have tasted like. Thanks in advance!
Chad Pezoldt
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Dr. Fenner’s People’s
Remedies
Hi, Mike; here are two photos for your webinar presentation. I have a third photo to send you in another email, probably tomorrow. [Editor: See Member Photos this issue] Some great history here. I collected Dr. Fenner’s People’s Remedies since 1972. In 1978, I built these two wooden ends to look like Fenner medicine boxes and displayed my collection of bottles at the 1978 Detroit Show. I also displayed this collection as it grew at St. Louis (1976), Buffalo, Rochester, Akron, Chicago, Steubenville, and other shows.
Check out the photo on the AB&GC June 2021 cover. I sent John Pastor my 1978 photo of me reaching for a bottle at the show. The photographer wanted to see the back of my Fenner shirt, made by my wife. So I struck the same pose, the shirt being slightly tight 43 years later, and suggested that John use it for the cover. He was absolutely delighted with it. The three paintings at the top of the photo have nothing to do with Fenner.
The 2021 June issue was one-half of my 13-and-a-half-page article with 32 photos. The July issue was the second half of the article, with the rest of the photos.
My Fenner collection of 140 bottles, many with boxes and contents, is now in the Darwin R. Barker Museum in Fredonia, New York, just a couple of blocks from where Fenner made his many medicines. They also received my entire research file in two two-inch albums and five other two-inch albums filled with
Fenner paper items. All seven binders had detailed covers, table of contents, and many notes on many pages. All pages were in archival plastic—over 450 items in all. I also gave them about 20 of the magazine issues (sets of two) to give or sell to people.
Items the museum did not get include the large poster (upper left), the ten very rare large advertising cards depicting Spanish American War vessels (along the floor), and the three green variants of Fenner’s Kidney, Liver, and Bladder Cure/Remedy (in front of the white poster board). Maybe these will go to the Barker Museum down the road. Since then, I have found three very rare Fenner bottles, which I’ll give to the museum soon.
Around seven of his medicines survived the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. In fact, I bought a bottle of Fenner’s Golden Relief in a Fredonia drug store in the 1980s. I assume you have the June and July issues with my Fenner article in them. Please give them a look before you do the program. Regards, Vince Martonis Gerry, New York
MAFJBC - January Show Update - Video & Interviews
Dear club members and select guests, Matt Andrick, our public relations point person, passes along this important note: Exciting Hobby News! Check out this announcement from Ball State University! This is great news for the hobby!
Students and faculty at Ball State University’s Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry are producing a documentary about Ball Jars and collecting, particularly as they relate to Muncie and East-Central Indiana.
Ball State students and their professors will attend the 2025 Midwest Antique Fruit Jar & Bottle Club Convention to record video and conduct preliminary interviews. Don’t be alarmed if you see our crews out and about. If you’d prefer not to be on camera, just let us know! We also welcome attendees to sit for short audio or video interviews during the convention to discuss their interests in collecting. Audio interviews will take place on Thursday and Friday, while video interviews will take place on Saturday. If you are interested in sitting for an interview or contributing to the project, please email Jim Buss, Director of the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry: james.buss@bsu.edu. Regards, Joe Coulson, MAFJBC Secretary/Editor Englewood, Florida
Dale Chihuly – Gilded Yellow Venetian with Lilies
We often muse about the skilled gaffers with lily pads, stringing, etc. What would those 19th century blowers think about Chihuly’s abilities. How he do dat? Estimated 15-25k. Editor: Leland Little Auctions, Lot 2108, Dale Chihuly (American, b. 1941), Gilded Yellow Venetian with Lilies. 1991, blown yellow vase with silver leaf and teal blue wrap lip and foot, (13) applied spiral twist yellow flowers to all sides, signed
and dated to the lower side. 20 x 19 x 19 in. The Contemporary Art Collection of Francine & Benson Pilloff, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Exhibited: GLASS TODAY, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1997, p. 45 and featured on the event poster.
Kim Kokles Garland, Texas
Provenance
I’ve been reading some older magazines and one article in particular has sparked a question and an idea. The article was by Jeff Mihalik in the Jan–Feb 2022 issue of Bottles and Extras titled “Provenance Lost.” It didn’t really catch up to me until later when I decided to try to get my Ravenna flask documented for the Virtual Museum at the Houston 24 Expo. I slept on it (the idea, not the flask!) and thought how right Jeff was in his article. I had sold my best bottle ever back in 2018 to one of the biggest cure collectors and other than a verbal request and promise to give me credit for the start of provenance, as being first one to hold the bottle after digging it up in 2012, there is no other “evidence.” If he croaks from a “widow maker” in the middle of the night I have no confidence there will be any record of “chain of custody.” It’s an important enough bottle to deserve that much, though far from a cobalt Fish Bitters.
That said, I am wondering if there isn’t a way to include in the Virtual Museum a short paragraph or two describing known lineage or the discovery of the glass imaged. At first I nixed the idea as I am certain you already have enough on your plate when it comes to adding to the museum, but then after sleeping on it again, (I do a lot of sleeping these days, sometimes nights too!) I figured there aren’t that many well-documented finds of the quality the museum offers.
Jeff Mihalik, Rick Weiner and a handful of serious old-time diggers can relate to and understand this angle and from my perspective the backstory is often more fascinating than the history of the bottle originator or manufacturer. Using the cobalt Fish Bitters as a horse medicine feeder for example. Here and in other historic towns, homes of historic interest have a historic write-up and is embedded in a QR code included on the historic placard on the structure. I would also suggest including any unique features of note that would separate from other examples. My flask of mention has several unique such features that taken singularly would set it off from any other example. Sadly not every bottle has such uniqueness involved in its being, which begs the question how to uniquely identify more permanently than a simple auction-style sticker glued to the base? Would be nice if there was a database that one could take a picture of an item and assign it a corresponding ID and list it for posterity.
Any thoughts on any of this appreciated. Lastly, I must urge every digger, young or old, to read Mihalik’s story “Digging 60 or How Crazy Are We?” from the Nov–Dec 2012 Bottles and Extras issue. That is one of the most serious dig stories I ever heard of never mind actually read with pictures! Pretty crazy!
Jack Klotz
Louisiana, Missouri
FOHBC Regional News
Please visit FOHBC.org for expanded coverage.
Midwest Region [Henry Hecker, Director]
The Milwaukee Antique Bottle and Advertising show was held on February 2nd. There were 140 dealer tables and good, steady attendance. There were sixty-seven early entrants, down from about eighty last year. The final tabulation of attendance was unavailable as of this writing, but the consensus was that overnight snow discouraged some people from attending versus 2024. Alice and Michael Seeliger (pictured above) ran the table promoting the FOHBC and Reno 25. Hopefully, we have landed a few new members and recruits.
Speaking of membership recruitment, I recently contacted a sampling of prior FOHBC members who had not renewed in the latter part of 2024. I received no response to my question regarding why not. I will dig deeper into what seems to be an attrition trend.
The February newsletter notes that Steve Ketcham is promoting the purchase of the American Antique Glass Masterpieces, the Wilber & Gugliotti Barber Bottle Collection books, and FOHBC membership at the North Star Historical Bottle Association club meetings. These books are great additions to your bottle library. Thanks, Steve!
The Metropolitan Detroit Antique Bottle Club’s January newsletter included photos from the Janet and Ralph Finch home featuring their antique toilet paper rolls collection. There are some amazing graphics on this old “go-with” versus the mundane labeling of today. With all the hullabaloo about impending tariffs, seek solace that 90% of this essential is still produced in
the United States. Editor: Read “Unrolling what’s new in toilet paper” by Ralph Finch in the Sept-Oct 2024 issue of AB&GC.
At a recent bottle show in the Midwest, a bottle was broken at a table, which raised questions about what club insurance actually covers. This included the insurance offered to member clubs of FOHBC. If you are a dealer, mainly if you are offering high-value merchandise, you should consider your own policy for such an event. Nary a show goes by where that sickening “crash and tinkle” sound is not heard at least once. As a relative neophyte in insurance, what I can offer is this:
1) Know what your policy covers and what it does not. (Individual and Club.)
2) For your club, consider more than liability insurance but also coverage for misconduct and liability protection for your officers and board members. In our litigious society, the lawyer for someone who slips on the floor of a show is likely to name the venue, the hosting organization, and its representatives as responsible.
3) If you are relying on your personal property rider or your homeowner’s insurance to cover your collection, think again. You will likely need a special “Fine Arts” policy to cover your collection with an appraisal to support your claims. These types of policies are offered by fewer insurers these days than, say, twenty years ago.
Northeast Region [Charlie Martin, Jr., Director]
Winter has been cold, bitter and relentless here in the Northeast. However, our weather issues are trivial compared to the horrific conditions in California due to the wildfires. Please reach out in any way you can to add your support and help to those in greater need than ourselves.
Before I sat down to write this latest version of the Northeast Region Report, I had been re-reading some old issues in the Old Bottle Magazine from the 1980s. I was pleasantly reminded of how our hobby has endured, grown, and evolved over the past fifty years. Remember, back then, there was no Internet, cell phone, or other computer technologies that allowed us to do “global searches” in milli-seconds. Mainly, we received our knowledge through participation in local bottle club meetings, researching old city directories and occasionally viewing microfiche in city libraries. What has not changed, however, is the excitement of the hunt and the joy and sheer pleasure one gets when adding that new bottle to our collection. But I digress!
As I mentioned earlier, I read an article in Old Bottle Magazine
by Steve Raschke titled “The First Find” (December 1982). It was his story about digging and finding bottles. Although I’ve heard variations on the theme over the past decades, none strikes closer to home about our hobby than Steve’s short but on-point article about his first find. We all can identify with his emotional recollection of that find! I can hardly wait until Spring to get out to a bottle show, connect with old friends, and, with luck, make many new friends. Let the hunt begin!
Speaking of hunting. The FOHBC Board of Directors encourages you to nominate your club newsletter and show promotional posters/flyers and articles for our annual awards contest. Please see the Federation magazine or FOHBC.org for information about the nomination process and categories. Let others know how valuable you believe their hard work and effort is appreciated.
By the time you read this article, Winter will be a memory; Spring will be upon us with good weather; here in the Northeast, bottle shows will begin to take form, and all will be right with the world. Until next time, good bottle hunting!
Southern Region [Tom Lines, Director]
I finally had information on a Southern show submitted—a first since assuming the Southern Regional Director role. From Bob Morgan: “Hey Tom, I hope this finds you doing well and adding to your collection. Last weekend, I attended the 3rd Annual Carolina Antique Bottle and Collectible Show in Mooresville, North Carolina. Johnny MaAulay puts on the show, which has grown steadily over the years. The show is held in the Charles Mack Center in historic downtown Mooresville, about 30 miles north of Charlotte. (see picture below) It is spacious, well-lit, and comfortable. Attendance was strong, and sales seemed to be brisk throughout the floor. Like most regional bottle shows, there was a heavy dose of local bottles and historical collectibles available. However, a good variety of “national” bottles were also available, covering most categories and interests. All in all, it was a good day at the bottle show. I hope to see you in Columbia (South Carolina Bottle Club’s 52nd Annual Show & Sale).
This is show season here in the South. The Rome Bottle & Advertising Show in Cedartown, Georgia, occurred recently, and the Suncoast Antique Bottle Collectors Show & Sale in Tampa is only days away. The 4th Annual Chattanooga - North Georgia Antique Bottles & Advertising Show in Dalton, Georgia, and The Mobile Bottle Collectors Club’s 52nd Annual Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show & Sale Daphne, Alabama, are coming within a few weeks. Hopefully, y’all can make a few of these shows!
Western Region [Eric McGuire, Director]
The anticipation is beginning to heat up. Our FOHBC Reno 2025 National Antique Bottle & Glass Convention is already taking center stage even though the West will be hosting several great shows even sooner (stay apprised of all upcoming shows and sale at FOHBC. org Show Listings). Reno 25 will be a “don’t miss” event.
Reno is well known for its hot summer days (and nights), but there is a bit of a respite not far away with a destination of significant historical importance to the West and the entire United States. Virginia City, Nevada, sits about an hour away from Reno at about 6,200 feet in elevation. This translates to a much cooler climate. Settled in 1859, its significance cannot be downplayed in relation to its riches helping to fund our government’s Civil War from 1861 to 1865. It has been documented that at least 400 million dollars in silver was mined from Virginia City, which was used to help finance the federal Civil War.
Perhaps the most significant feature of Virginia City is its remarkable state of preservation. About the same time as the demise of its mining significance in the early 1900s, tourism played an important role in preserving its past. This quick transformation from mining to tourism helped save this incredible city from oblivion. While tourism has a sort of “junkie” way of preserving its past, one needs to put aside all the ice cream, candy, and tee-shirt shops and marvel at what has been preserved. Bottle collectors can especially appreciate its state of preservation since many of the bottles they collect would have been a common sight in this and similar towns throughout the country.
Eric and his mother in Virginia City, Nevada, 1953
Henry Hecker (left) and FOHBC president, Michael Seeliger, at the Houston 2024 Dinosaurs Banquet.
Virtual Museum News
By Richard T. Siri, Santa Rosa, California
Announcing the FOHBC Virtual Museum “25 from 25 in 25” ($25 monthly from 25 members in 2025)
Fundraising Campaign
$25 from 25 in 25
An important notice to FOHBC members.
Please don’t skip this note, as we are starting 2025 and we need your help. Think how often you’ve visited the Virtual Museum and how valuable this Museum is to the future of our hobby. We are asking if you will donate at any level immediately to help us get out of the cash bind we’re presently in. We rely solely on donations and have never taken any FOHBC bank account or membership money. We’re looking for grassroots donations, and we have a special campaign called “25 from 25 in 25” ($25 monthly from 25 members in 2025). We also have a donor who has put up $5,000 if we can find a matching $5,000 donation—so please help us continue moving forward with the greatest project in the hobby world!
FOHBC Virtual Museum .org
For gift information: Alan DeMaison, FOHBC Virtual Museum Treasurer, 1605 Clipper Cove, Painesville, Ohio 44077, a.demaison@sbcglobal.net
The FOHBC Virtual Museum was 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.
Please help us fill our PHASE 4 “Wishart’s Pine Tree Tar Cordial” bottle.
Phase 4
Please help us with 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 $116,873 to date. We have $3,636 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. We are continually traveling to collections, so more costs are 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!
Donations to the Museum are always needed to ensure we continue. We are a 501(c)(3) educational organization, so your donation is tax deductible. Please confirm with your tax attorney.
ACL CORNER #15
[Mike Dickman]
Wikipedia defines “cowgirl” as “the female equivalent of a cowboy” but that seems too narrow. The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas honors hundreds of “cowgirls” who had nothing to do with herding cattle. Instead, they are women from all walks of life who exhibited the courage, resilience, independence and pioneer spirit which shaped the American West. The Western bottlers of applied colored label (ACL) sodas loved cowboys and cowgirls, so let’s look at a few of their fictional cowgirls as well as some real-life ones.
cowgirls
[Figs. 1 & 2, Left & Below] Western Maid from Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1949. The reverse sides of the two varieties of Western Maid, showing the slight differences in design. Both varieties are equally rare. Photo courtesy of Ryan Berlin, from his collection.
[Background] Blonde cowgirl wearing red western shirt with desert mountain range vista vintage Americana painting made with generative Ai.
Western Maid is a ten-ounce, red-white-andblue ACL soda put up in 1949 by the Western Beverage Company of Tulsa, Oklahoma. It depicts a perky-looking cowgirl wearing a bandanna with fleecy clouds and cacti on either side of her framed portrait. The bottle is scarce and desirable, and I’ve been able to document less than a dozen sales during the past twenty-five years with two slightly different ACLs. [Figs. 1 & 2] Tulsa is situated along the Arkansas River in northeast Oklahoma and was a sleepy little town of just 1,390 people in 1900, the year before oil was discovered. The discovery changed everything. Tulsa boomed into “The Oil Capital of the World” and boasted a population of 180,000+ people in the 1950 United States Census, when Western Maid was bottled. With such a large consumer base, it’s strange that so few of the bottles still exist.
No bottler ever featured Mary Fields, but perhaps they should have.
“Stagecoach Mary” was a real cowgirl with a fascinating life. An African-American woman who was born into slavery in Tennessee, Mary went West after the Emancipation and ended up in the tiny town of Cascade, Montana, to help tend a sick friend. She stayed on and became a beloved local legend. Mary was six feet tall, smoked handmade cigars, drank lots of whiskey, packed a revolver under her skirt, and was also handy with a rifle. She started a restaurant that went bust after serving too many free meals and had a contract with the U.S. Post Office. Mary used a stagecoach to deliver mail over a 34-mile loop, and when she ran into snow too deep for her horses, she put on snowshoes and carried the sacks on her shoulders. She was fierce and fearless, fought off bandits and packs of wolves, and never missed a day of mail delivery. Mary also loved children, and they—and their parents—loved Mary back. The Cascade public schools closed every year for her birthday. Stagecoach Mary died in 1914 and is buried in the local cemetery. She’s been inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Portraits of fictional Anglo cowgirls are depicted on Plains-Maid Beverages, a 7-½ ounce bottle put up by the South Plains Bottling Company of Lubbock, Texas, in 1948 [Fig. 3] and Western
Beverages, a 7-ounce bottle from the D. P. Bottling Company of Tucumcari, New Mexico, made in 1953 [Fig. 4]. Both bottles are rare, although the more common Western Beverages from Glendive, Montana, used the identical ACL as the Tucumcari bottle but can be purchased for $50 or less. Both of the cowgirls wear Western hats and bandannas, and the front labels include Western themes such as ropes and, in the case of Plains-Maid, boots, spurs and horse bits.
All of those implements (cowboy hats, bandannas, ropes, boots, spurs and bits) were used by many real-life cowgirls. One was Lulu Bell Parr (18761955), who was orphaned at age three and then learned to shoot and ride horses from an uncle who raised her. Lulu became a world-renowned sharpshooter and trick rider in Pawnee Bill’s Wild West Show and excelled in the dangerous sport of bronc riding and, even more dangerous, buffalo riding. She dressed in beautiful, flamboyant outfits that she sewed herself and performed her skills before King Edward VII of England in 1903. Sadly, however, Lulu died penniless in 1955 in a bleak little house without running water or electricity but stuffed full of prizes, souvenirs, and mementos, including an ivory-handled Colt revolver presented to her by Buffalo Bill Cody. Lulu is also enshrined in the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame.
An early and super rare ACL soda bottle depicting a Lulu-like cowgirl wearing a Western hat, chaps, gun belt, and high heels and doing rope tricks is Sody-Licious, a 7-ounce bottle manufactured by the Sody-Licious Beverage Company of Ellensburg, Washington The bottle is known with an orange ACL (1937) as well as with yellow (1938) and red ones (1939) [Fig. 5]. It is also reported to exist with a blue ACL and a white one, although the author was unable to track down photos of those versions. Ellensburg was founded in 1872 and is east of the Cascade Range, with a population of 4,620 people in 1930. Since the early 1920s, Ellensburg has hosted one of the largest rodeos in the
[Fig. 3] Plains-Maid Beverages from Lubbock, Texas, 1948.
[Fig. 4] Western Beverages from Tucumcari, New Mexico, 1953.
Plains-Maid crown cap, 1948, which is even harder to find than the rare bottle.
“Stagecoach Mary,” a remarkable lady born into slavery who moved to frontier Montana after the Civil War. When Montana barred women from entering saloons, the Mayor of Cascade issued an exemption for the hard-drinking Mary Fields.
Western states; hence, the cowgirl with her lasso. The city’s small size and isolated location may explain the rarity of these charming little bottles, and it is a mystery why the bottler went to the expense of changing the ACL colors every year.
Not all cowgirls were good girls. A very bad one was Belle Starr (1848-1889), known in her time as the “Bandit Queen” and definitely not honored in the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. Belle was born in Carthage, Missouri, where her brother fought for the vicious, pro-Confederacy guerrillas known as “bushwhackers” who ambushed Union soldiers until he was killed by Union troops. Belle was reputed to be a Confederate spy. After the Civil War, her family moved to Texas where they became associated with outlaws such as Jesse and Frank James, and Cole Younger. Belle married an outlaw named James Reed, who was wanted in Arkansas for murder, and the couple lived a life of crime robbing stagecoaches, stealing horses, rustling cattle, and bootlegging whiskey. Reed eventually was murdered, and Belle then married another outlaw named Sam Starr. Belle was a crack shot who carried two pistols and a cartridge belt, and she is said to have planned and organized the crimes carried out by Starr and his gang. In 1882, the couple was captured, tried, and convicted of horse thievery, and Belle served nine months in prison. Sam Starr was later killed in a gunfight, and Belle married another outlaw, continuing her life of crime. On February 3, 1889, however, two days before her 41st birthday, Belle was ambushed and shot in the back while riding home on her horse. Nobody was ever held to account for the cold-blooded murder of the Bandit Queen, and the crime remains unsolved to this day.
I don’t know if the tens of thousands of pioneer women who came West would technically be considered cowgirls, but they sure embody the spirit of independence, bravery, grit and determination. One of these unnamed heroines, alongside her child, is depicted on Pioneer, a 12-ounce red-and-white ACL soda bottle put up in 1941 by the Dr. Pepper Bottling Company of Salt Lake City, Utah. [Fig. 6] The artwork is crude but heartfelt, and the bottle is scarce but obtainable—one of several ACL sodas from western states that depict covered wagons. This particular Pioneer ACL undoubtedly harkens back to the Mormon migration from the Midwest to the Salt Lake Valley of the Great Basin in what is now Utah but was a remote territory of Mexico then. From the mid-1840s through the late 1860s, more than 70,000 Latter-day Saints made the long, arduous, and dangerous journey in covered wagons pulled by oxen or sometimes by walking the 1,300 miles while pulling wooden carts behind them. Nine babies were born inside the wagons on a frigid night during the harsh winter of 1846. It is hard to imagine the strength, bravery, and fortitude of the moms who crossed the plains in order to give themselves, their families, and their descendants (including future cowgirls) a better life and the freedom to practice their religion.
Whether you enjoy cowgirls or trains, mountains or birds, or almost anything else in the world, there are ACL soda bottles out there to pique your interest!
The author welcomes comments, questions and suggestions at mikedickman@yahoo.com
[Fig. 5] Sody-Licious Bottled Beverages from Ellensburg, Washington, 1937-39. It’s unusual for a bottler to have produced the same ACL in different colors. Photo courtesy of Ryan Berlin
Lemon Lime crown cap depicting a covered wagon. The color of caps often matched the flavor of the soda.
[Background] Hispanic cowgirl wearing a plaid western shirt with desert mountain range vista. Vintage Americana painting made with generative Ai.
[Fig. 6] Pioneer, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1941.
[Above] “Mormon Pioneers Crossing the Mississippi on the Ice” painting by C.C.A. Christensen (1831-1912). Courtesy of Brigham Young University Museum of Art.
[Left] Poster from Pawnee Bill’s Historic Wild West Show, 1880s, which included Lulu Bell Parr as one of the “Beautiful Daring Western Girls.”
[Below] The Golden Driller, a 75-foot-tall statute that stands outside the Tulsa Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, home of Western Maid soda. The Expo hosts an annual bottle show known for ACL soda bottles.
[Left] Lulu Bell Parr, an extraordinary sharpshooter and trick rider who made her own clothing and accessories.
[Below] Belle Starr, the Bandit Queen in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, 1886. Belle was murdered a few years after the photo was taken.
BIBLIOGR APHY: Sweeney, Rick, Collecting Applied Color Label Soda Bottles (3d ed. 2002, PSBCA). VintageSodaCollector.com by FOHBC member Tom Petitt, a great resource containing hundreds of color photographs as well as interesting, useful articles about all things ACL.
Weide’s Soda Page (ca-yd.com), by FOHBC members Chris and Catherine Weide, is another outstanding, useful resource for ACL bottles.
Wikipedia entries for Cowgirl, Belle Starr, Lulu Bell Parr, Mary Fields and the Mormon Migration.
The FOHBC is conducting monthly 1-hour online Zoom webinars with presentations and imagery on a broad range of topics relating to antique bottle and glass collecting. Join us for an exciting series by leading authorities in their fields discussing antique bottle and glass collecting, history, digging and finding, ephemera, photography and displaying, and so much more.
Webinars occur on Tuesday evenings during the first or second week of each month at 7:00 pm Central. Time will be left for questions and answers. FOHBC president Michael Seeliger moderates all webinars, which are recorded and available in the FOHBC Members Portal within a week after the event. Webinars are FREE for FOHBC Members and *$15 for non-members. *For a short time only, all webinars are free to all!
When you RSVP at FOHBCseminars@gmail.com you will receive a Zoom email invitation with a link for each event. Simply join us at the noted time, sit back, relax, and enjoy. Attend via desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone if you prefer. Attend them all or a la carte.
Webinar #7: Classic & Zany Trade Cards
Webinar #17: The Feldmann Collection
Webinar #5: Collecting ACL Sodas
Webinar #2: Foreign Bottles in
Webinar #18: Display Cases
Webinar #4: Show & Tell
Webinar #3: Warner’s Patent Medicine Empire
$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 to FOHBC Members Only!
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 is only be available to FOHBC members. Being a FOHBC member will give you 24/7/365 access. What a great tool this is for the collectors, diggers, pickers, researchers and the generally curious! Phase 2 updater will include images!
Visit the FOHBC.org Members Portal for instructions.
Medical News from Mars!
Sothere I was, in a remote antique shop way out in the countryside, months after the last Brimfield extravaganza had people swarming all over it like fire ants on a feeding frenzy. I figured the last thing I would find was some precious treasure the ravenous swarm had missed...But they did.
It was a magazine from Mars. Yeah, that Mars— the Red Planet. Ephemera doesn’t get cooler than this!
The Mars Gazette
The publication was called The Mars Gazette, or at least that’s what the reader was told on the next page; the cover was written in the alien Martian characters (although separating and rotating certain symbols became remarkably like the English equivalent). Emerging from behind the title page is the Red Planet, covered in its many canals, rising in the night sky like the Empire’s Death Star—very mysterious, very foreboding. Turn the page, earthling, if you dare...
BY ANDY RAPOZA
Everything about this booklet is strange, and unlike any other Victorian ephemera I have seen in forty-plus years of collecting. The illustrations are fabulously imaginative and early examples of science fiction. The pages are rough, uneven, and edged in charred black. We learn inside that it is a translated facsimile of the original Mars Gazette, and it was partially burned as an earthling’s spaceship returned to Earth, passing “through an electric storm of terrific intensity.” What a lucky break for us that it survived as well as it did! Most of the publication tells the
story of a space traveler from Earth who brought an urgently needed cure to the Martians. While the Martians were enjoying their 936th festival in the Big-Dipper Grove, the picnickers saw a “fearful and wonderful” spacecraft overhead. Some of them fled in fear (whirling away, headover-heels, was their method of running), while others watched with fascination as “a singular being, God or devil, the inhabitant of another world” emerged from the “oblong phenomenon.” The Mars Gazette shared with fascination his strange looks, noting that he was significantly taller than them, spoke a different language, and “hair grew under his nose as well as upon the top of his head”; plus, “he held in his cavernous mouth a large brown stick which was actually on fire, emitting at intervals clouds of dense smoke.”
He was brought to the planet’s leader, “His Most Malignant Martian Majesty, King Flammarion, the Supreme and Mighty Ruler of the Red Planet.” The space traveler introduced himself: “I am a physician from a far-away world. C. B. Hustler, M.D., is my name,” and, to ensure the Martians that he was friendly, he told them that after business hours, he would introduce them “to the festive Manhattan cocktail, the jovial gin rickey,” and other mixed drinks. Yup, a real friendly guy.
Front cover of The Mars Gazette (all Mars Gazette images from the author’s collection)
Medical ephemera from outer space? Found by a medical ephemera collector, no less—what are the odds? I felt like I was living a childhood dream: “Andy Rapoza and the Martian Medical Manuscript.” Eat your heart out, Indiana Jones!
Liquid Peptonoids were said to contain “the stimulating and nutritive elements of beef, milk, and wheat, in concentrated, partially digested form.” Bottom line: they gave weak stomachs the nutrition and strength of those ingredients without making the stomach work hard. Good thing he brought a bunch to Mars.
Toad Eyes with Truffles
But his most important beverage recommendation, and the purpose for his mission, was to provide the Martians with “Liquid Peptonoids” made by his employer, The Arlington Medicine Company of Yonkers, New York, U.S.A., Earth.
King Flammarion put a Martian feast before the hungry space traveler: “sea-water soup, toads-eyes with truffles, snails-eggs with bile-water sauce, bee stingers rolled in sawdust and other epicurean delicacies.” The doctor from earth “sighed and sadly shook his head,” then pulled out a bottle of Liquid Peptonoids from his coat pocket. Lucky doctor.
the operations of the Martian digestive system. It revealed that they suffered from malnutrition and pulmonary, gastric, and intestinal disorders (all of which could be cured by Dr. Hustler’s medicine). Looking at how much the Martian’s neck extended, the doctor was surprised that sore throat wasn’t one of their ailments. Then, standing before another X-ray machine revealed the Martian’s pocketbook, jewelry, and spare change—revealing his financial ability to pay for the Liquid Peptonoids cure. Dr. Hustler was reassuring: Many years ago, before Liquid Peptonoids were discovered, my people, too, were dyspeptic and ill-nourished, for they were too busy to masticate their food and lunched on rubber-soled sandwiches and railroad pie. Then, the pains of hell got hold of them. All the prescriptions of the doctors were of no avail, and though eating much, they wasted away from lack of nutrition [then Liquid Peptonoids fixed all of that.]
Earth had been cured— now it was Mars’ turn.
The Martians brought their sickest to the doctor from Earth, “those whom rigor mortis had well nigh laid hold upon,” but even they recovered and were able to whirl back to their homes. King Flammarion celebrated with another feast of Martian delicacies, but this time, Liquid Peptonoids was the dessert and antidote; Dr. Hustler, the new planetary hero, was appointed physician to the king and given carte blanche to draw upon the royal treasury at will. Sweeeeet.
Now, it was time for him to see if he could help these poor, sick Martians.
They placed one of their own on an operating table, and by means of X-rays, they showed him
The back two pages of the curious publication were covered in classified advertisements like those found in Earth’s newspapers, but obviously with a Martian flavor, like the business notice of Doctor Likonsiko, who promised to “administer powdered electricity and the pickled-ozone cure in his glass vaults each day at sunrise during sewer week.” Sorta made Liquid Peptonoids sound better and better.
Interior page of the Mars Gazette. King Flammarion and the ‘Incubus of Disordered Nutrition.’
Typical Martian head illustration.
Typhoidal Microbe from the Grand Canal.
Thank goodness Dr. Hustler made it back to Earth with the charred remains of this incredible, once-in-a-lifetime Mars Gazette
Back on Earth, Peptonoids were manufactured and sold by several companies at the dawn of the 20th century. Pretty much gone were the backwoods medicines with names like Swamp-Root and Indian Panacea. Proprietary medicines like Liquid Peptonoids tried to blend in with scientific advances rather than the old days of folk medicine mysticism. The promises of predigested proteins still grabbed as many curative promises as the patent medicines of the past, though in this case, including diabetes, cholera infantum, vomiting in pregnancy, all types of digestive and intestinal disorders, and tuberculosis. The Arlington Chemical Company also made their product available to suit all tastes: Liquid Peptonoids were available in powder and liquid forms and with creosote for sore throats or with cocaine for that wallop of instant energy.
They also had a penchant for wrapping Peptonoid advertising in the style or actual words of popular authors like Charles Dickens and Miguel de Cervantes, and in this case, they were clearly mimicking the science fiction creativity of Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and without question, the French astronomer and author... wait for it...Camille Flammarion.
Peptonoids in your Potato Chips?
And, boys and girls, lest we feel too modern and superior to be suckered in by late-Victorian concepts of predigested food, we eat them all the time. Today, predigested foods are called “ultra-processed foods” (UPF). Just like predigested food, UPFs are those that have been processed to make them easier to digest; everything from noodles, pizza crust, and breakfast cereals to potato chips, ice cream, and processed meats have had starch, protein and fiber extracted, then replaced with sugar, salt, fat, artificial coloring and flavor to make the final product. They are designed to be convenient and have a long shelf life. However, steady consumption of such foods (and almost everybody’s guilty of this) can cause spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels, causing diabetes, obesity, and other health problems.
If the Martians have figured out that Dr. Hustler left them not a cure but a time bomb, I hope they aren’t going to take it out on Earth.
The Peptonoid dirigible saucer ship at anchor.
X-Ray for the Protection of the Medical Guild.
Later paper-labeled example of “Liquid Peptonoids Manufactured only by The Arlington Chemical Co. Yonkers, N.Y.”
“Liquid Peptonoids Endorsed by the Medical Profession and Medical Press of Earth.”
SMITH&JONES Brazil,Indiana
I’ve always collected local bottles, as it was something that I could relate to. I also found items more regularly than bitters or historical flasks, which I may find once in a blue moon. Who doesn’t enjoy trucking down to the library and finding information about certain local soda pop makers or druggists? This was also a great way to find “possible bottles” from someone who may have been in business only a short while. Sometimes, there are bottles that you dig with just a name and no town. I’ve been able to connect a few names-only bottles with towns just from doing the research.
Fresh out of high school and in my early collecting days, I worked the night shift and would get home on Saturday mornings with my grandpa waiting for me to go to the auction. I didn’t think about it much then, but I cherish those memories now. We went to one particular auction at a golf driving range and noticed one of the lots was a bucket full of bottles—all
By Martin Van Zant
Plan of Brazil, Clay Co. Indiana with inset plans for Bowling Green, Clay Co., Gosport, Owen Co. and Spencer, Owen Co. Indiana. Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 18391900; Baskin, Forster and Company, 1876. Courtesy David Rumsey Map Collection.
Hutchinson-style pops. We were in Brazil, Indiana, near where I lived. I had been picking up local bottles for a couple of years and noticed the ones mainly embossed with the name James Hunter. At this time, I only had a couple of Brazil bottles, mostly crown tops. Here was a chance to add a variant I didn’t have and maybe a couple of traders for future use.
I was excited and nervous when the bidding finally started and got underway. This auction took place in the late 1990s and doesn’t seem all that long ago. The bidding started at two dollars, then ten, then twenty, and eventually, I won for $36. People in the crowd started whispering: “Why did he want those things?” Someone behind us asked why I paid so much. My grandpa turned around and said, “Because he wanted them!” There were eight or nine Hutch bottles in the basket, which included two variants of the James Hunter that I needed. The best part was at the bottom, which somehow I didn’t see the first time. It was an embossed Hutchinson bottle from Brazil, Indiana, and one I had never seen before reading “Smith & Jones, Brazil Indiana.”
From that point on, I collected Brazil, Indiana bottles. My
Early 1960s billboard that was along U.S. Highway 40, welcoming visitors to Brazil, “Indiana That Is.” Brazil Chamber of Commerce.
VARIANTS
grandpa would help me find bottles and let me know when he found one for me. He died a couple of years later, in 2001, but I have some great memories. I have many small collections, but Brazil is one of my favorites. It’s been a long process, but I have tried to assemble a collection of all the bottles from Brazil. I now have close to a hundred little gems, as I call them! I have nine Hutchinson bottles from Brazil and I’m always looking for the one I don’t have. This brings me to the topic of this article, Smith and Jones, who were bakers, grocers, and soda pop manufacturers. Although the grocery business would come to an end, the soda pop didn’t stop there, as this became a multi-town family affair.
Brazil, Indiana, is the controversial county seat, as the title initially belonged to Bowling Green, Indiana. Yes, that is correct. Bowling Green, Indiana, not Kentucky or Ohio but Indiana, was the county seat for 50 years. I moved to Bowling Green when I was ten and consider it my “hometown.” The county seat was stolen from Bowling Green and moved to Brazil in the late 1870s. The story goes that the wagons came in after dark and left before sunrise with all the records and recordings of the time. This, along with a few other things, was the start of the decline
of the once-growing and prosperous town of Bowling Green. In Brazil’s defense, the town was more centrally located to the county and had two things Bowling Green did not. First, a National road called U.S. Highway 40 (Route 40) was built in the 1830s, which brought many settlers through who were traveling west, and then later, a Railroad following a similar path. If you go another 20 miles west, you will run into Terre Haute. Terre Haute is the farthest point west you can go in Indiana on that road.
Thomas Smith and Charles Jones have humble beginnings, and we found their first listing in 1873. (Clip 1) Their concern was called “The National,” where you could get fresh bread, cakes, pies, coffee, teas, and everything found in a first-class establishment—and they even mention pop! I have not found a blob soda yet, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. There is a blob-style Hutchinson with their name on it that looks older than the others. However, there is no mention of them bottling their sodas at this time. So, at this point, I’m not sure if they are producing their sodas or selling to other vendors.
Since I have no other information and these are the first ads I
Blue-green Hutchinson bottle embossed ”Smith & Jones Brazil Ind.” set in circular slug plate.
Pale aqua Hutchinson bottle embossed ”Smith & Jones Brazil. Ind.” set in circular slug plate.
Blue aqua Hutchinson bottle embossed ”Smith & Jones Brazil, Ind.” set in circular slug plate.
[Clip 1] Thomas Smith and Charles Jones have humble beginnings, and we found their first listing in 1873. Brazil Saturday Evening Echo, June 7, 1873.
[Clip 2] In 1874, Smith & Jones expand and move into new space in the Ackelmire block. The Brazil Miner, January 8, 1874.
[Clip 3] Smith & Jones expand again in 1877. The Brazil Miner, June 29, 1877.
[Clip 4] Smith & Jones place a personal ad stating that they have not taken out a license to sell liquor. The Brazil Miner, June 15, 1877.
find for Smith & Jones it would be easy to assume this is the first attempt at a business. I believe it went well as they stayed in business for a long time. This first bottle, which I think is the oldest, is the hardest of the Smith & Jones bottles to find. However, of all the Hutchinsons we found, we only discovered two variants, which makes me think they only bottled a short time and were pretty local.
1873 looks like a positive year for Smith & Jones with lots of growth because, in 1874, they moved to another establishment. They ran an ad in the local paper claiming to add more provisions, groceries, and confectioneries to the business while still conducting the baking portion of the trade. (Clip 2)
Smith & Jones were doing great, so much so that they expanded again in 1877. The 1877 newspaper says “the family Grocery store” of Smith & Jones will be moving across the street. They have also increased their stock and now include the best goods that ever graced their shelves— tubs, buckets, baskets, and other conveniences. (Clip 3) Around the same time, they must’ve been trying to sell liquor, but they did not apply for a license, according to the newspaper. (Clip 4)
Smith & Jones did well enough to entice patrons with a free canister if they bought tea. (Clip 5) It appears that Smith & Jones had gone from bakers to a full-blown grocery store in four years. Around this time, the partners stopped the bakery business and
[Clip 5] Smith & Jones tell patrons who have purchased a pound of tea that they will be presented with a beautiful cannister. The cost of teas is 60 cents, 80 cents and $1.00 per pound. Brazil Western Mirror, August 30, 1877.
[Clip 6] In 1881, Smith & Jones are sole agents for F. W. Felgner & Sons Miner’s Extra Smoking and chewing tobacco and advertise that they have 25 pounds to give away. Brazil Weekly Democrat, May 12, 1881.
[Clip 7] Smith & Jones are now agents for Anton Mayer’s Celebrated Lager Beer. “Try it; always fresh and right off the ice.” Brazil Weekly Democrat, May 12, 1881.
focused on the grocery end of the company.
An advertisement in 1881 speaks of them giving away 25 pounds of tobacco, a trick to get patrons into their store. (Clip 6) Another ad speaks of selling Anton Mayer beer out of Terre Haute, “always fresh and right off the ice,” the ad claims. (Clip 7) Anton Mayer was in business for a long time in Terre Haute and eventually sold his interest, which helped create the conglomerate “The Terre Haute Brewing Company.”
Things are going well for the partners. Then, in 1885, money started missing from the cash drawer and the safe, and the partners blamed each other for the missing cash. This went on for several months and placed a strain on the partnership. As it turned out, a former employee had a key made for the building and knew the safe combination, so he was caught red-handed. Charles told him he could leave town and not be prosecuted or stand trial. He chose to face the charges and went to jail for theft.
Things were back to normal for the next few years, with little news from the partners. However, in March 1889, the bottling house and warehouse for goods burned down. I’m sure this caused problems. However, the partners were rebuilding by April and getting back in business.
In February 1897, tragedy struck, and William T. Smith died of heart complications, leaving one of the oldest establishments to
CHARLES JONES VARIANTS
his friend and partner Charles Jones. In March, Charles sold the grocery business to John Thomas and John Cummings. However, Charles did not sell the bottling and soda business and continued with this component. In fact, he expanded and started bottling in two other towns. Sometime between 1897 and 1904 Charles decided to bottle soda in Clinton, Indiana. Clinton is a larger town that is still going strong. There is not a lot known about why or exactly when Charles started bottling his soda drinks in these other towns.
Charles died in 1904 and left his business to his two daughters. The daughters wasted no time setting up their own bottling companies, bringing us to part two—James Hunter and Oscar Chesterfield.
Obituary of Charles Jones: “Charles died April 29, 1904, at his home on South Franklin Street Friday of liver trouble after being in bad health for almost a year. Mr. Jones was born in Cumbria, near Newport, Monmouthshire (now Gwent), England (now Wales), on August 26, 1850. He came to this country in
1870 and settled in Perry County, Illinois, where he remained for two years, and then came to this city where he has since resided. He formed a partnership in the grocery business with Thomas Smith, deceased, which partnership remained until a few years ago when Mr. Smith died. In 1876 he married Miss Ella Bowers of Terre Haute. To them were born two daughters, Miss Emma, and the other, Mrs. Oscar Chesterfield, of Clinton, both of whom, with their mother, survive him.
“Mr. Jones has always been a progressive citizen, liberal with his money in all movements tending to build up his city, and good in the work of the charity. For several years he was chief of the City Fire Department and was regarded a most capable man.
“He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, the A.O.U.W., the K. & L. of H., and the Eastern Star. All who knew the deceased will recognize in his death a heavy loss to the city and an irreparable one for the family. The funeral occurred at the residence at 1:30 o’clock Sunday afternoon. Interment in Cottage Hill Cemetery.”
Pale aqua Hutchinson bottle embossed ”Charles Jones Brazil, Ind.” set in circular slug plate.
Pale aqua Hutchinson bottle embossed ”Chas. Jones Brazil, Ind.” set in circular slug plate.
Pale blue aqua Hutchinson bottle embossed ”Chas. Jones Bottling Works Clinton, Ind.” set in circular slug plate.
An Unusual Perfumery Bottle
We are often conditioned to expect the identity of certain objects in our world based on shape, color, size, etc. Over time, and by repeated use, certain bottle shapes began to represent their contents. Whether intentional or not, many proprietors of bottled products chose to use those shapes to identify the contents on a “macro” level. A classic example would be the shape of many wine bottles, which have nearly global recognition. It can be a surprise when the content of a bottle is different than what is expected.
Sealed bottles are not my specialty, but I have a slowly increasing collection of early perfumery containers. When I spotted the bottle featured in this article, I was perplexed as well and left with no credible explanation about its origin. It is the applied shoulder seal and its impressed wording that caught my attention. Impressed in French are the unmistakable words “EAU DE COLOGNE.” Even though looking very much like a liquor bottle, it immediately be-
By Eric McGuire
Embossed seal “Eau De Cologne” bottle.
came a candidate for my small collection of perfume bottles.
But what to make of this oddity? I don’t normally peruse the world of sealed bottles, even though I find them quite interesting. It was just luck that I spotted the words defining a product devoted to the application of aroma to the human body. I was then left with the beckoning challenge of trying to determine what this maverick was all about. The seal and its unusually large number of small lettering are not very clear in some places. It must have been quite a challenge for the engraver to have produced it in the first place. Secondly, stamping the molten seal on the shoulder in a manner that produced a readable script was another difficulty. Regardless, it is mostly understandable, with only a slight margin of error. The second line of lettering is unmistakable “DE,” which implies ‘of,’ or ‘from,’ in French. The following line states, “MORIN FILS,” which implies the manufacturer of the contents is the son of Morin.
The next line clearly states “CHEMISTE,” which is an easily translatable word that could be identified with someone creating perfumery. So far, all this makes sense but it is still confounding with regard to the type and shape of the container. For the following line of text, which is slightly blurred, the word “St PIERRE” is the first logical choice. This would designate the geographical place of the proprietor.
The last line on the impressed seal begins with the prominent letter “M,” followed by three very small, indecipherable, underlined letters. This is likely the abbreviation for the word Martinique, a Caribbean island in the Lesser Antilles that is also a territory belonging to France and, interestingly, the westernmost boundary of the European Union (EU). The city of Saint Pierre, located on Martinique, was settled in 1635 and historically was the seat of government for the 436 square mile island. It was a bustling commercial center throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, providing agricultural crops, including coffee, tobacco, cocoa, and sugar, to its mother country. Its wealth and bourgeois citizens became the envy of all of France, and St. Pierre was often considered the Caribbean rival of Paris.
The beautiful face of Saint Pierre came to a sudden and cataclysmic end on May 8, 1902, when Mount Pelée violently
erupted, virtually incinerating the entire city and its residents.
Over 28,000 people were killed. Three were known to survive, and only one was known to survive the central city as he was being held captive within the thick walls of the jail. After three days, he was rescued but badly burned. His survival was considered so miraculous that he was enlisted by Barnum & Bailey’s circus as the “man who survived Judgment Day.” For a more indepth report on this catastrophe, see Wikipedia, “1902 eruption of Mount Pelée.”
Mount Pelée, May 14, 1902 remains of victims. Notice the bottles and pottery.
A portion of a 1764 map of Martinique depicting the port city of St. Pierre at the bottom right, in relation to Mount Pelée, six miles to the north, which was to play an important part in the history of the city in 1902.
Mont Pelée from Vive, May 27, 1902. The great cloud of steam and smoke rose cauliflower shaped from the summit crater to a height of two to three miles. The descending shower of rain and ashes shows on the right. Drawn by George Varian. Republished from McClures Magazine
Further research on the Morin bottle has been hampered since much of the 19th-century archival records were destroyed by Mount Pelée. A search of the Internet revealed two almanacs. These documents surely confirm the proprietor of the bottle. The almanacs for the island of Martinique were published in 1846 and 1849 and contain a list of pharmacies and chemists. Included is “Morin fils,” which is surely the same person who produced this mysterious cologne bottle. The latest reference located for Morin fils is a diploma of merit for Eau de Cologne at the 1873 Universal Exhibition in Vienna, Austria.
What is still not clear is why the bottle is in the non-standard form, similar to liquor bottles of the day. Martinique was a huge exporter of rum, which could have played a role in using this style of container. The bottle is most likely of French manufacture, formed in a dip mold with an applied string lip just below the snapped-off top. It has no pontil on the base, which has an ample “push-up” of about two inches. The overall height is 9.5 inches. This style of bottle manufacture was common to French glassworks from roughly 1840 to 1880 and was commonly seen in wine and rum bottles.
It is entirely possible the bottle was used only for export purposes as a bulk item to be sold to perfumers in concocting various products sold to retail customers in more recognizable bottles typical of perfumery. It is definitely not designed in the configuration normally found in the usual style of the fancy bottle expected by the retail consumer.
Until more research information becomes available, I must be satisfied with the data uncovered so far. More information will undoubtedly come forth in the future.
With Mount Pelée looming in the background, the city of Saint Pierre is shown shortly after its destruction on May 8, 1902. Library of Congress
One of the few records located is the “Morin fils” noted at the bottom entry in the report of the 1873 Vienna Exhibition. It is undoubtedly the same person who used this bottle.
The Japanese exhibition at the Universal Exhibition in Vienna, Austria was the product of years of preparation. This illustration is interesting and was added to this article because of the bottles and glass that was on display. The interior of the pavilion, including the golden shachi, is from the Illustrated Times (Illustrirte Zeitung)
The devastation of St. Pierre was epic by any definition of the word.
Newspapers from around the world reported on the horrific disaster of the loss of an entire city. Above is a typical example from The Appeal, of St. Paul-Minneapolis, May 17, 1902.
An Unusual American Liberian Dual Embossed
By Henry Eichman
Interesting bottles are not always valuable or aesthetically exciting. Sometimes, the most boring-looking bottles can visually mask interesting backstories.
One of the things I love about bottle dealer catch-all bins is that one never knows what can show up. They usually do not contain rare or valuable bottles, but sometimes bottle oddities. I found a small, clear, 2.5-inch tall, late 19th-century jar. The base is embossed “W.T. & Co Phila New York.” The front has a slugplate embossed “E. S. Morris Liberia & Philada.” Although uncommon, dual-location embossing can be found on bottles
from many American or American-European companies during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. What is unusual is that this jar seemed to be from an American-African company, which is something I had not encountered before. Since I am interested in bottles from the Philadelphia area, I bought it for a nominal price.
Initially, I could not find an example of this jar in my research. The best information I got was that similar jars with the “W.T. & Co New York Phila” base embossing were attributed as being from around 1875 to 1901 when Whitall Tatum Co. of Millville, New Jersey became W.T. Co. Therefore, I began to focus my research on the embossing.
There has been a historical connection between the United States and Liberia as the modern origins of the present country of Liberia started as part of the American Colonization Society in the early 19th century. Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, was sonamed as a tribute to then-President James Monroe. It could be that the dual embossing is for Liberia, the country, and for an
Liberia Coffee, Palm Oil display, Edward S. Morris & Co., Agricultural Hall, Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, 1876.
Note: For a sense of scale, note the scale of the man in the center of the primary Centennial display photograph.
American-Liberian Company. Trying to learn more about this jar, I continued with online research for E. S. Morris and had better luck.
Research revealed that Edward S. Morris was a Philadelphia Quaker and the American Consul for Liberia in the late 19th century. Contemporary sources describe him as a Christian philanthropist. In support of this, Morris’s own publications describe his goal as trying to bring evangelical Christianity to Liberia and likewise improve the livelihood of the Liberian people. It should be noted that both Morris and others portray Liberia in the typical 19th-century Western world view of Africa as a dark, uncivilized place, but that is not the point of this article.
Based on contemporary documents, it appears that during the 1870s and 1880s, Morris was an importer and promoter of different Liberian agricultural products, such as cotton and coffee, having leased several agricultural plantations in Liberia. A contemporary advertisement for Morris’ company provides information such as Edward S. Morris, George Stockham, J.O.N. Stockham, No 129 South Front St., Philadelphia. E. S. Morris & Co. displayed Liberian agricultural products at the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition. One of the company’s larger business interests was promoting the Liberian coffee bean, Liberica. Due to Liberica’s larger bean size, the bean processing was more difficult than the more common Arabica coffee bean. As a result, Liberica coffee only found a niche market in the international
Front of cylindrical colorless jar embossed “E. S. Morris Liberia & Philada” set within an oval border slugplate.
Bottom of cylindrical colorless jar embossed “WT & Co Phila New York”
Advertisement for Liberia Coffee, Edward S. Morris & Co., No 129 South Front St., Philadelphia, Pa.
The North’s partnership with Liberian farmers provided coffee to troops. Yorktown, Virginia, vicinity. Group before the photographic tent at Camp Winfield Scott. Summary Photograph from the main eastern theater of war, the Peninsular Campaign, May-August 1862. Names Gibson, James F., 1828, Published 1862 May.
coffee marketplace during the late 19th century. It was another of Morris & Co.’s Liberian imports, though, that would solve the mystery of the use of the jar I purchased. As sometimes happens in historical research, one can get lucky and receive an answer to mysteries. In this case, it is a record of an import tariff dispute Morris had with the United States over his importing of bottling refined Liberian Palm Oil.
It seems that my jar once held Morris & Co.’s imported refined Liberian Palm Oil. Based on the 1882 US congressional tariff document, the jars were manufactured around 1881 and used shortly after. It appears that Morris was charged a higher tariff duty for using American-made jars instead of foreign ones. It is possible that he may have switched to foreign-made jars later, which would explain why his embossed American-made jars are so uncommon today.
Although not valuable monetarily, this offered a window into the past. It remains the only American-African dual embossing I have seen on an antique American-made jar or bottle. Doubtless, other interesting bottles are out there in catch-all and bargain bins waiting to be discovered.
Selected Sources
The Dating Game: Whitall Tatum & Co. by Bill Lockhart, Summer 2006, Bottles and Extras Annual Report of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 1884 pg. 81-82, by Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 1885
Miscellaneous Documents. 30th Congress, 1st Session – 49th Congress, 1st Session · Volume 2, pg 397-398, by United States Congress. House, 1883
The Larder Invaded, Reflections on Three Centuries of Philadelphia Food and Drink, by Mary Anne Hines, Gordon M. Marshall, William Woys Weaver, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1987
The Student: A Monthly Journal devoted to the interests of Education in the Society of Friends, Volume 2, pg 4 third month, 1882
Union Signal, A Journal of Social Welfare, Volume 9, pg 15, December 20th, 1883
“Liberia Ahead! Medals of Award and Diplomas of Merit for Superior Coffee and Palm Oil Soap” advertisement from the publication Liberia Coffee, Author(s): B. Silliman and Wm. H. Allen, source: The American Advocate of Peace and Arbitration, Vol. 49, No. 1 (January and February, 1887), p. 21.
“Established 1855. Edward S. Morris, Original Manufacturer of Pure Liberia Palm Oil Soap” advertisement from the publication Liberia Coffee, Author(s): B. Silliman and Wm. H. Allen, source: The American Advocate of Peace and Arbitration, Vol. 49, No. 1 (January and February, 1887), p. 21.
Owen Casey an Irish Immigrant Soda Water Manufacturer in Sacramento, California – His
By David Kyle Rakes
IBottles and Partnerships
rishman Owen Casey was a prominent liquor merchant and soda water manufacturer in Sacramento, California, in the second half of the 19th century. Casey was in at least six partnerships over thirteen years and had three types of blown-inmold (BIM) soda water bottles embossed “Eagle Soda Works” or “Eagle Works.” After Casey passed away in 1871, Eagle Soda Works was continued by his brother-in-law Hugh Casey. The Owen bottles come in shades of green and blue and delight early soda bottle collectors from all over.
The Casey bottles came after the Gold Rush era (1848-1855) that prompted some 300,000 people to move to California, some by sea but most by wagon trains over land. The goldfields around Sacramento were in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Shasta and Yreka areas of northern California. This influx of newly arrived Americans helped bring California to statehood in 1850 and Sacramento as the state capital in 1854. Owen Casey is a good example of immigrants moving to California for opportunities. Casey’s story is fascinating due to his many interesting partnerships with some unknowns and prominent soda water manufacturers of his time.
Owen C. Casey was born in 1819 in Monaghan County, Ireland, the most northern and western part of Ireland that borders Northern Ireland. In 1837, at age 18, he emigrated to New York, where he lived for 14 years, but nothing is known about his vocation. In 1851, he traveled west to California, no doubt lured by the gold rush. Gold was discovered in January 1848 by James W. Marshall at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, and it didn’t take long for the news to travel across the country. The greatest number of emigrants who ventured to California during the Gold
Rush came overland by foot, wagon, stage, or horseback on the California Trail. This prominent trail to the west expanded across over 1,500 miles, beginning at Independence, Missouri, and continuing to the Columbia River Valley of Oregon or the gold fields of California.
Perhaps Casey panned the rivers for gold when he first arrived in California. He might not have struck it rich, but he may have found enough small gold nuggets or gold dust to invest in a business. Or perhaps he had saved enough money in New York to move west and open a business. We don’t know–all we know is that in 1855, Owen Casey left San Francisco and moved to Sacramento and, the following year, became a liquor merchant and soda water manufacturer with E. L. Billings.
According to the 1851 Canada Census Return, Ephraim L. Billings was a 25-year-old Methodist farmer in Rouville. One year later, Billings moved from eastern Canada to California. Rouville is in Quebec near Montreal and almost 3,000 miles away from Sacramento. This is about the same distance that Casey had to travel from New York. Billings had settled first in Sacramento and became a liquor merchant with a few partners. From 1853 to 1854, it was Billings & Sawyer on Front Street between M and N Streets, and then from 1854 to 1855, at the same location, it was Billings & Thomas.
In the middle of 1856, E. L. Billings and Owen Casey joined as partners in a liquor and soda water manufacturing business at 109 K Street, along with J Street, Sacramento’s first established streets. In 1857, a 60-foot-deep artesian well was dug for Billings & Casey to support their soda and mineral water operations. The water was said to have a copious flow, was clear, cold, and
Most incredible and beautiful run of 72 blue and green shades of “Owen Casey Eagle Soda Works Sac City” bottles. Kyle Edwards collection.
tasted well. The contractor, Hamm & Co., charged $40, which included the ground boring, iron and lead pipe, and pump.
In July of the same year, Billings & Casey became the victims of a stolen horse from their stable. The horse was described as an American Bay, about nine years old, with a star on its forehead, two white hind feet, a black mane, and a switch tail. Horses were an integral part of the soda water manufacturing business because they pulled the wagons that delivered sodas to saloons and grocery stores. Billings & Casey posted at least two notices in The Sacramento Bee claiming they would reward any person who came forward giving details of where the horse could be found. It is unknown if the horse was ever returned.
The Casey & Billings partnership ran from 1856 to 1858 but unfortunately, no Billings & Casey bottles have ever been discovered even though they had such a big operation. Soon after, Casey entered another soda water manufacturing partnership with John Clark, but this partnership after three months was dissolved by mutual consent. No information could be found on Clark or any bottles that could be attributed to this very short partnership.
In 1858, Owen Casey partnered with James Kelly in a soda water manufacturing business at 109 K Street. Kelly was also from Monaghan County, Ireland, and had come to America as a small boy and started a business in Benicia near San Francisco before moving to Sacramento.
Notice that this soda water factory address is the same as the previous one when Billings & Casey were in business. Casey appears to have purchased Billings’ company shares when they separated. An early newspaper advertisement for Casey & Kelly informed the public that they were open for business. “Casey & Kelly, Importers and Dealers in all kinds of Liquors, Wines, etc., Soda and Bottling Establishment, 109 K Street, between Fourth and Fifth. Constantly on hand and for sale, French and Domestic Brandies, Wines, etc.”
By 1859, Casey & Kelly prospered in the soda water manufacturing business. Some of this prosperity was due to the invention of tin ties that held corks tightly in while allowing the tie to be easily removed. The customer no longer needed to cut the strings that held the corks. This neat invention by Haritz & Johnson on Front Street eliminated much expense and time in packaging sodas. Casey & Kelly became the sole agents for selling this tin stopper and used them on all their soda bottles.
Kelly was a bit of a rebel and often confrontational with others. Once, he was arrested for disturbing the peace by interfering with colored man Moses Ward’s boot black business, also known as shoe shining, near the corner of K and Third Streets. Another time, he and Jo Harris, owner of another liquor firm on K Street, had a misunderstanding that turned into fisticuffs on the sidewalk. The fight was said to be going along pleasantly until Harris pulled a pocket knife and slightly cut Kelly a little below the ribs.
According to the 1860 United States Federal Census Return for Sacramento, James Kelley (sic) lived with Owen Casey at the business or residence. Casey was the owner and listed as age 35, a liquor and soda water manufacturer from Ireland with $2,000 worth of personal estate. Three others listed at Casey’s place with the same occupation were J. Kelley (sic), 30, from Ireland, with $2,000 worth of personal estate; Hugh Kelley (sic), 35, from Ireland, with $500 worth of personal estate and C. H. Converse, 28, from New York. Additionally, T. Geehan, 33, from Ireland, was listed as a ship carpenter. Hugh Kelly was James Kelly’s older brother.
In 1860, for unknown reasons, James Kelly left the partnership. While he was away, Casey partnered with Martin Rancich, an Austrian who had already made a name for himself in Sacramento running a soda water business. Rancich was first a grocer in 1851 at 135 J Street. He then became a liquor merchant for a couple
With plenty of character‚ “Owen Casey Eagle Soda Works Sac City” bottle. James Campiglia collection.
of years before starting a soda water manufacturer business in 1854 on 5th Street near J Street. Gaetano Deluchi of Italy helped Rancich run the soda water factory. Blue blown-in-the-mold bottles made for Rancich are embossed “M.R., Sacramento” on one side and “Union Glass Works, Phila” on the other. Another type of bottle for Rancich has the same embossing but in a slug plate; the bottles come in green, teal-green, and blue colors.
Bottles were made in 1860 for Casey and Rancich at 109 K Street. The bottles are cobalt with a smooth base and blob top and embossed, “C & R, Eagle Works, Sac City.” These bottles likely had the tin tie closures.
After six months, James Kelly returned and resumed his partnership with Casey at 107 K Street (opposed to No. 109 K Street) between 4th and 5th Streets. One can’t help but think that maybe Kelly was away in jail or something else due to his irascible nature. Rancich went back to his soda water manufacturing business at number 19 5th Street.
In May 1861, Casey & Kelly applied for a trademark to identify
Casey & Kelly advertisement, Wholesale Dealers in Wines, Liquors, etc. 1861 Sacramento City Directory.
Cobalt blue Casey and Rancich bottle with a smooth base and blob top embossed, “C & R, Eagle Works, Sac City.” James Campiglia collection.
Slug plate detail teal green “M.R., Sacramento Union Glass Works, Philada” Bottle. James Campiglia collection.
Reverse copy detail “M.R., Sacramento Union Glass Works, Phila” bottle. James Campiglia collection.
Bottles made for Martin Rancich are embossed “M.R., Sacramento” on one side and “Union Glass Works, Philada” on the other. Another type of bottle for Rancich has the same embossing but in a slug plate; the bottles can be found in green, teal-green and blue colors. Kyle Edwards collection.
their bottles from others in the city. Before 1863, the state trademark law allowed for paint as a trademark method for soda bottlers. Casey’s bottles were to be identified by blue painted marks on the side and bottom. Additionally, Casey and other bottlers were using bottles embossed with the names of soda water bottlers who were no longer in business, as this was common practice in California before the establishment of Pacific Glass Works in 1863. Marked-by-paint bottles might have been cheaper but could be easily changed to look like another bottle if someone wanted to steal them. This is undoubtedly why many bottlers preferred blownin-the-mold bottles.
Casey was losing and replacing bottles often because many were not embossed with his name. His bottles were turning up in the strangest places. In 1862, Casey & Kelly took James Harley, a curiosity shop owner on K Street, to court for having their bottles found at his business. Casey testified in court that his firm had lost a thousand soda bottles in one year. Casey described his bottles to the police, and when they went to Harley’s place, they found 29 dozen bottles and 14 dozen bore the trademark of Casey & Kelly. The defendant tried
to make the case that the law requires the trademark to be blown in the mold or stamped on the bottles, whereas evidence showed Casey was simply marking his bottles with paint. The defendant brought witnesses showing Harley had turned down buying four Casey bottles from some Chinese people and had often turned away people trying to sell Casey & Kelly marked bottles. It even came up, but I don’t know how relevant it was to the defense, that witnesses had seen soda bottles floating about that part of the city during a flood. When all the evidence was given to the jury, they found the defendant guilty. It is not known what happened to Harley in this misdemeanor case. At the least, Casey & Kelly should have had their 14 dozen bottles returned, and maybe they got all 29 dozen or 348 bottles that were found in Harley’s store.
Owen Casey married Ann Casey in 1862 in Sacramento. Ann was the daughter of John Casey and a brother to Hugh Casey. How closely Casey was related to his wife, Ann Casey, and brother-in-law, Hugh Casey, is unknown. Estate records reveal that Owen had a brother named James Casey, who lived in San Francisco, and another brother, Patrick Casey, who was in Monaghan, Ireland. Still, no further information is known about them.
Cobalt blue Casey and Kelly bottle with a smooth base and blob top embossed, “C. & R. Eagle Works Sac City.” James Campiglia collection.
Casey & Kelly bottles can be found in various shades of blue and cobalt with a blob top and smooth base. They are embossed “C & K” in oneinch-tall block letters, “Eagle Works Sac City.” Kyle Edwards collection.
In 1862, Casey & Kelly branched out with a soda water business in Virginia City, Nevada. The city was settled in 1859, named after the prospector “Old Virginia” Fennimore, in a booming mining camp. Henry Comstock is given credit for the discovery of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City. Men and women traveled worldwide to work the silver and some gold in Virginia City. Casey & Kelly likely did well, supplying soda water to the mining folks.
In September 1863, Casey & Kelly applied for another trademark and described their bottles as blown-in-the-mold. The bottles come in various shades of blue and cobalt with a blob top and smooth base, and they are embossed with “C & K” in oneinch-tall block letters, “Eagle Works Sac City.” Casey & Kelly were partners until 1866. Many of these bottles have been dug in the Sacramento area and Virginia City.
In 1866, James Kelly left the firm for good and appeared to have settled in Virginia City. Casey continued on his own and even began selling half and half from his supplier, J. Sajons, in San Francisco. Half and half is two parts beer, half pale ale, and the other half stout. This blending of beers did not originate in Ireland but in England in the seventeenth century.
Sometime in 1866, Casey formed a new partnership in liquor retail and soda water manufacturing at 50 K Street with J. W. Schoonmaker who appears to have been a hotel proprietor in the early 1860s. Schoonmaker & Senatz ran the well-known City Hotel on K Street from July 1862 through March 1863. The partnership between Casey & Schoonmaker ended in 1868 and no bottles for Casey & Schoonmaker have ever been found.
In 1868, Casey partnered with Arthur Crozier at the same liquor retail store and soda water manufacturing factory at 50 K Street. This partnership was also brief and ended in January of 1869. As expected, no bottles for Casey & Crozier have ever been found. In September, Crozier took over the Academy of Music Saloon and stocked it with “pure guilt in the shape of wines, liquors and cigars.” Once again, Casey was on his own.
Bottles embossed for Casey were made sometime between 1867 and 1870, and the bottles were likely made earlier when he was partnered with Schoonmaker and then Crozier. Many of the bottles were later found in just about all towns with water access. The bottles have blob tops and smooth bases and come in various shades of cobalt, green, lime green, and aqua and are embossed, “Owen Casey, Eagle Soda, Works,” and on the back, “Sac City.”
Interestingly, there are two embossed lines under just two or three letters in Owen Casey’s name. I wonder if these underlines were sending another message to anyone with a Casey bottle. In my overactive imagination, I came up with “wee,” an often used Irish word meaning “small” and “ace,” with the most common
Trio of shades of green “Owen Casey Eagle Soda Works Sac City” bottles. James Campiglia collection.
Hammered with whittle, “Owen Casey Eagle Soda Works Sac City.” Kyle Edwards collection
Owen C. Casey advertisement, Importer and Dealer in Wines & Liquors. 1869 Sacramento City Directory.
meaning “unit.” Was Casey marking his bottles with underlined letters to reiterate that he had “small units” of a wonderful refreshing beverage for sale? It’s not certain what the underlines mean, but they look decorative and make his name stand out. Perhaps his only intention with the underlines was to draw attention to his name.
The 1870 Agriculture Census Return for Sacramento listed Casey with two horses valued at $250. As mentioned earlier, horses were likely used to deliver sodas and liquor to boats, saloons, and grocery stores. The 1870 United States Federal Census Return for Sacramento details Casey’s growing business and family. On this return, Casey was listed as a 44-year-old liquor merchant from Ireland with $600 worth of real estate and $18,000 worth of personal estate. The return also showed his wife, Anna Casey, 32, a homemaker from Ireland, and five children, all born in California: Catherine Casey, 11; James Casey, 8; Anna Casey, 7; Margaret Casey, 3; Owen Casey, less than a year old. Additionally, Hugh Duffy, 23, born in Ireland, was living in the home and was a clerk in the store. It seems likely Duffy was working in Casey’s merchant store.
In December 1870, Owen Casey was 51 years old and made his last will in Sacramento. In his will, he gave his wife full rights to be an administrator. He left her an entire block of property between M & N streets and three horses. He gave $500 to his brother, James Casey, and $1,000 to his brother, Patrick Casey, in Ireland. To his wife’s father, John Casey, he gave $100 to be divided equally among his children and $250 to St. Joseph’s Orphanage, with the remainder to his wife. Casey’s will shows that he was a man of generosity and kindness.
On December 15, 1871, at the age of 51 or 52, Owen C. Casey died of congestion of the lungs in Sacramento and was buried in St. Joseph Cemetery. Casey had been a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish Catholic fraternal organization and the Number 5 Fire Engine Company, so his funeral procession turned out to be very large. The procession consisted of six
pallbearers from the Hibernians on foot accompanied by 175 members in full uniform with brass band music. The fire department men were there, as well as various carriages and buggies, all traveling from Casey’s residence at Third and M streets to the Catholic Church and then to St. Joseph’s Cemetery.
A large packet of documents from Casey’s probated estate in January 1872 revealed some details of his bottles, equipment, and wealth. He had left this world with 640 acres of swamp and overflow lands in a nearby township worth $6,400 and had $2,600 cash on hand. He left stock in one soda machine worth $550, other machinery worth $400, and pumps and measures worth $20. Also, 400 boxes of two dozen bottles came to 9,600 bottles worth $150! Listed separately were an additional 249 boxes of two dozen bottles, which totaled 5,976 bottles worth $200. The total number of bottles was 15,576, an incredible number of bottles that were in the factory, and surely there were
Wonderful colors of yellow-green, lime green, aqua and blue soda bottles embossed “E. L. Billings Sac City Geyser Soda.” James Campiglia collection.
Four shades of green of what are affectionately called “Sacramento Eagle” bottles. James Campiglia collection.
more that had not been returned, or were stolen, or discarded in rivers and canyons.
Some additional inventory shows how large Casey’s liquor and soda water manufacturing business must have been. The inventory listed: “7 carbonic acids (used in soda water manufacturing), pipes and barrels in the cellar, hose, and faucets, 2 horses, 1 harness, 2 wagons, 1 buggy and horses, Ale in barrels, 30 gallons of sherry wine, kettle in the yard, hammers and tools, a gallon of whiskey worth $600, Brandy $150, Rum $100, Gin $120, Irish whiskey $200, Scotch $100, Cider $40, Old Tom $45, Port Wines $90, Vinegar $20, 40 empty ½ barrels $60, 19 whiskey barrels at 40 gallons $60, 7 empty wine barrels $14, 5 cases stomach bitters $30, 6 cases port wine $30, 5 cases vermouth, 6 cases Bakers Bitters, 2 Angelica wine and 3 wine bitters.”
I have given it some thought as to why Casey might have named his soda bottle factory Eagle Soda Works. He may have been philosophical because the bird aptly symbolizes the strength and freedom of America. Or, perhaps a more practical reason is Casey’s first bottles might have been the well-known “Sacramento Eagle.” Casey could have even used them before he went into a partnership with Billings. The connection was even mentioned in the original Western Blob Top Sodas and Mineral Water Bottles, Peck and Audie Markota book which said the “Sacramento Eagle” is believed to be a predecessor to the C & K soda.
The Eagle soda bottles have been cherished by collectors for years while also leaving them with complete uncertainty who they originally belonged to. These western eagles have no em-
Another incredible run of embossed “E. L. Billings Sac City Geyser Soda” bottles. This image depicts two rows of the reverse side reading “Geyser Soda.” Kyle Edwards collection.
Detail of blue green slug plate example of what is affectionately called a “Sacramento Eagle” bottle. James Campiglia collection.
bossing of the proprietor’s name or city—only a single embossed pictorial eagle in a slug plate or without a slug plate perched clutching arrows in the left talon. The bottles are iron pontil and come in beautiful shades of blue-green-aquamarine and green, and likely generic or stock, made back east in a glass factory around 1853.
Diggers in the east have found them in small numbers from pre1860 privies in New York and New Jersey. The bottles found in the west have been dug mostly in Sacramento with some dug in San Francisco. A Eureka discovery of this bottle came from an 1853 advertisement in the Daily Alto California which said J. R. Rollins & Co. in San Francisco was selling the bottles. Rollins’s ad informed soda water manufacturers that he had “34 cases of Eagle mineral water bottles” for sale. The 34 cases equal 612 dozen making it 7,344 bottles or a total of 51 gross billed out by the glass factory. It seems possible that since no other bottle has been attributed to Casey when he first began soda water manufacturing, and that his later establishment had bottles embossed “Eagle Soda Works” or “Eagle Soda,” Casey probably was the one who purchased the bottles that started his career in Sacramento as a soda water manufacturer with the Eagle name.
In 1873, widow Ann Casey married Hugh Duffy. This was the same Hugh Duffy from Ireland who lived in the Casey home and worked as a clerk. Hugh and Ann Duffy were the parents of two daughters, Mary and Belle. Tragically, in 1902, Duffy was shot and killed by a burglar in the home. Ann Casey Duffy died in 1910 from a stroke. Both are buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery.
Sometime after Casey’s death, the brother-in-law Hugh Casey took ownership of Eagle Soda Works at 50 K Street in Sacramento. Hugh Casey partnered with Hugh Kelly, the brother of
Casey’s old partner James Kelly. In 1875, Hugh Kelly died and Hugh Casey formed another partnership with Michael Cronan. This partnership produced an early gravitating stopper bottle in blue aqua and light green with the embossing, “Casey & Cronan (arched), Eagle Soda Works.”
An 1876 advertisement for their business showed they continued to be in liquor sales.“Casey & Cronan, Importers and Dealers in Foreign and Domestic Wines and Liquors, Sole Agents for Pride of Kentucky Whiskey, and Proprietors Eagle Soda Works, No 50 K Street, Between Second and Third, Sacramento.” In 1886, Cronan left the firm to form his own business. Hugh Casey continued as the proprietor of Eagle Soda Works until 1905. Some endnotes about a few of Owen Casey’s former partners Billings, Rancich, and Kelly. It should be noted that all of Casey’s partners were immigrants like himself.
After the Billings & Casey partnership dissolved, Ephraim Billings continued as a liquor merchant and soda water manufacturer at 111 K Street in Sacramento from 1859 to 1883, when he died. He left collectors with soda bottles embossed “E. L. Billings, Sac City, Geyser Soda” in wonderful colors of yellow-green, lime green, aqua, blue, deep lime green, light green, and blue aqua. Billings had made such a fortune from liquor and soda water sales that when he later died in Sacramento, his estate was worth $150,000. That is the equivalent of 4.6 million in today’s dollars!
Martin Rancich and Gaetano Deluchi represented on this cobalt blue soda water bottle embossed “M. R. & D” in a slug plate. Kyle Edwards collection.
In 1863, Martin Rancich took Gaetano Deluchi on as a partner in his soda factory, and they relocated the business to 19 5th Street. A blue blown-in-the-mold bottle was made for the partnership embossed “M. R. & D” in a slug plate. However, the partnership may have ended the following year as neither Rancich nor Deluchi was listed in the soda or mineral water business again. Rancich later showed up in 1871, operating a restaurant
Early gravitating stopper bottles in blue aqua and light green embossed “Casey & Cronan (arched), Eagle Soda Works.” Kyle Edwards collection.
business. He ran the Central Restaurant on the San Francisco plan at the Hamilton Hall Building on K Street. This restaurant was open day and night, serving meals at all times and serving oysters of every style for 25 cents. In 1875, Rancich left Sacramento to visit his aged father in his home place in Lussingrande, Austria. His father died while he was there, and after finishing up his father’s estate, Rancich, too, died at the age of 63, never making it back to Sacramento.
In 1866, James Kelly moved to Virginia City, Nevada, during the Comstock boom. He became a prominent member of the Virginia City Vigilante Committee. This organization started in 1871 and consisted of “honest, determined citizens, including bankers, storekeepers, miners, stock brokers, and all citizens of all backgrounds who decided to take the law into their own hands and combat lawlessness in Virginia City.”
According to a Virginia City historical marker, the Vigilante Committee was also known as the “601s” and served undesirable notices to leave town. They would have been severely dealt with if they had not left town by 24 hours. This was a secret organization, and the meaning of the number 601 was said to be six feet under, zero trial, and one rope. One of the most sensational executions by the 601s was that of Arthur Perkins, who was hanged from the rafters at Piper’s Opera House. The 601s captured Perkins for shooting down a man in cold blood at the bar of the International Hotel. Word got around about this safe community that handled things their way, and Virginia City became somewhat of a tourist attraction with guests coming from around the world, including Thomas Edison, Samuel Clemens, and Ulysses S. Grant when he was President of the United States.
Kelly had amassed a small fortune in Virginia City, but after his wife died there in 1878, he moved his family to Napa. Napa was located between San Francisco and Sacramento and had become a thriving tourist destination with numerous hotels, inns, and resorts that sprung up around the city’s hot and mineral springs. Kelly purchased the Tormey & Fagan Ranch near Napa Junction and White Sulfur Springs near Vallejo and took up farming. In 1900, James Kelly was listed as a patient at the hospital for the insane. In 1902, he died in Napa, and his body was taken to Sacramento, where he was buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. The newspapers reported in his obituary that while a member of the Vigilante Committee, he was wounded, which indirectly caused his death many years later.
The 1849 Gold Rush had no doubt prompted many settlers to move to California. By 1880, California had a population of over half a million people, and many were immigrants like Owen Casey. Most of these immigrants came from western and northern nations like Britain, Ireland, and Germany. So it should not be a surprise that Casey had partners from places such as Austria, Canada, and Ireland.
The western sodas Casey & Kelly, Owen Casey, E. L. Billings, M. R., and M.R. & D. are great examples of what a few immigrants had accomplished. One has only to look at where Owen Casey first arrived in America to see what immigrants meant to this country. Here is where the Statue of Liberty stands as a symbol of America’s heritage. This lady statue is holding a tablet that
is inscribed with the profound words: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shores, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
These words rang true for Owen Casey, his memorable partners and other immigrant California bottlers—and hopefully will continue to be heard by future immigrants. They not only came through the golden door, they moved to California, where gold was found. To this day, California has the largest population of immigrants in the country.
I hope that these before-mentioned bottles including Western Eagle Sodas will always be uplifting to collectors and remind us all to “Let freedom ring!”
SOURCES:
Western Blob Top Sodas and Mineral Water Bottles, Peck and Audie Markota, 1971.
Early Soda and Mineral Water Bottles of the Old West, John C. Burton, September 2022.
FOHBC Virtual Museum.
FOHBC Bottles and Extras and Antique Bottle & Glass Collector magazines.
Bottle images from the James Campiglia and Kyle Edwards collections.
Owen Casey documents, advertisements and notes from Eric McGuire, April 2024.
Eagle Sodas, Blog: Western Bottle News, by Rick Simi with updates from Eric McGuire, October 10, 2018.
Western Blob Top Soda and Mineral Water Bottles, Revised Edition, Peck & Audie Markota Page 24, 1972.
Comstock Lode, Wikipedia
James Kelly and the Virginia City Vigilante Committee, Legend of 601 Vigilance, 601vc.org.
Billings & Casey horse stealing, The Sacramento Bee, July 29, 1857. Billings & Casey artesian well, The Sacramento Bee, October 2, 1857.
E.L. Billings’s last will case, The Sacramento Union, July 6, 1883. E. L. Billings birth and death, Canada and United States Mortuary and Cemetery Records
Ephraim Billings, 1851 Canada Census Return. E. L. Billings, 1870, 1880 Industry Census Returns for Sacramento, CA.
J. W. Schoonmaker hotel owner, The Sacramento Bee, July 10, 1862 and March 20, 1863. J. W. Schoonmaker and Casey, 1868 Sacramento City Directory
Arthur Crozier Academy of Music Saloon, The Sacramento Bee, September 8, 1869.
Dissolution of partnership between Owen Casey and John Clark, The Sacramento Bee, July 8, 1858.
Haritz & Johnson tin tie closure, The Sacramento Bee, February 7, 1859.
Harris and Kelly fisticuffs, The Sacramento Bee, February 6, 1860.
Casey & Kelly trial against James Harley for stolen bottles, The Sacramento Bee, July 12, 1862.
Half and half beer, The Sacramento Bee, September 15, 1866.
Casey & Kelly liquor merchants, 1861 Sacramento City Directory. Casey & Crozier liquor merchants, 1869 Sacramento City Directory. Casey & Kelly dissolved the partnership, The Sacramento Bee, March 30, 1866. Casey & Schoonmaker dissolved the partnership, The Sacramento Bee, January 2, 1868. Casey & Crozier dissolved the partnership, The Sacramento Bee, on January 20, 1869.
Owen Casey, 1860, 1870 United States Federal Census Returns for Sacramento, CA. Owen Casey, 1870 United States Agriculture Census Return for Sacramento, CA.
Owen Casey and Ann Casey’s marriage in 1862, California Marriage Records, 1862, Book 224. Owen Casey probated will, December 10, 1871, California Wills and Probate 1850-1953
Mar tin Rancich immigrated in 1867, The United States and Canada Passenger Immigration List. Martin Rancich and Gaetano Deluchi, 1860 United States Federal Census Return for Sacramento, CA. Martin Rancich Soda Water Manufacturer, 1861, 1863, Sacramento City Directories. Martin Rancich Central Restaurant, 1870, 1872, 1873, 1874, Sacramento City Directories. Martin Rancich proprietor of Central Restaurant, The Sacramento Bee, August 1, 1870, and February 4, 1873, Martin Rancich obituary, The Sacramento Bee, May 25, 1880.
Owen Casey obituary, The Sacramento Bee, December 15, 1871. Owen Casey’s death and burial, Find A Grave
Mrs. James Kelly obituary, The Pacific Bee, November 9, 1878. James Kelly obituaries, The Sacramento Bee, October 9, 1902, and Napa Journal, October 8, 1902.
Hugh Duffy’s birth and death, Find A Grave. Mrs. Ann Duffy obituary, Sacramento City Bee, August 29, 1910. Legend of 601 Vigilance, 601vc.org.
Is
it the
Cat’s
?Ralph Finch tries to find a purrfect story (and misses by a mile, some critics reply).
And in this article, Ralph suggests that you aren’t the only strange collector out there.
When one has been collecting for 55+ years and has had the privilege of meeting hundreds of collectors from several countries, one discovers that some collectors are downright strange.
We seek matters from A (art) to Z (zoological ephemera...really?) and often go out of our way to find a name for our eccentricities, trying to make our passions sound less—peculiar. Like the other day, when an auction house emailed me with its upcoming “Automobilia–Garagenalia” sale...Garagenalia?
Hmmmm. The next time I look at my desk, I will explain to critics—especially my wife—that I am into “clutterenalia” and point to the sign on my desk that proudly claims, “A cluttered desk is a sign of Genius.” A coincidence? When I went to find the sign to check the wording, I couldn’t locate it. There was too much stuff on my desk. (Janet commented that it was a message from God.)
But let’s get back to the topic at paw—I mean hand—Cat-related stuff, a topic I’ve not even begun to scratch. It all goes back some 44 years when a friend, Jerry McCann of Chicago, talked about his recent visit with a friend who was...OK, a pack rat.
Jerry said that anything that entered this person’s home was des-
[Left] Cats is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is based on the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. The musical tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make the “Jellicle choice” by deciding which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. As of 2024, Cats remains the fifth-longest-running Broadway show and the eighth-longest-running West End show.
tined not to leave. There were large stacks of old newspapers that half-filled one room—in fact; the guy had a cot behind the piles where he slept. (I later attested to Jerry’s stories of this odd person when I also visited him and noticed old gold coins in a ratty desk drawer.)
Also odd—and we are getting closer to the subject of this story— were large boxes filled with used—but washed—old mayonnaise jars.
Then, in the man’s cluttered kitchen, Jerry found something odd: Taped to the refrigerator door was...(a drum roll, please) a whisker! Jerry stared at it, tried to make sense of it, and finally, his curiosity drove him to ask, “What is this?”
“A cat whisker,” the guy replied, and that logically demanded another question, like “Why?” The man had a somewhat sensible answer, explaining that this cat would occasionally lose a whisker, and he picked them up and kept them. And here is the kicker, adding that he didn’t really have use for a cat whisker at that time, but if he ever did, he knew right where one was.
(I think that various variations of the “sense” are used by many of us “collectors,” and—I’d bet—with little acceptance by our spouses.)
The cat whisker taped to a refrigerator story I’ve been telling for decades. In fact, decades ago, when my own cat lost a whisker, I picked it up and put it in an envelope!
The cat whisker man died 30 years ago, but I always wonder: What happened to his whisker collection?
And just recently, I was chatting with a collector friend in New York State, and the cat whisker story came up. Again.
I was so delighted to be reminded that the world is filled with... um, a variety of interests, and while this New York guy had a serious glass interest, he also had a modest interest in cat whiskers!!!
[Left] A trick photo of our cat and its whiskers. Trick? Because the cat looks nice. Usually, it doesn’t even let me touch it! Photo by Janet Finch.
[Right] Cat whisker container.
And this guy—his name is Chester Grosofsky of Buffalo, New York—had an explanation for having whiskers in a jar, and he even topped my story.
See, his family has a cat, and the kids occasionally found their cat’s whiskers and, with childlike curiosity, kept them in a jar. One day, Chester was at a circus in New York State and met a lion trainer. He told the guy, “This may sound odd, but...do you have any lion whiskers”? “Sure,” the guy replied, explaining that the big cats often lose whiskers, and in a few minutes, he came up with several genuine lion whiskers.
Chester’s kids were thrilled but added: “They are like broom whiskers.”
So, this cat incident reinforced my answer to the many times my wife would ask: “What is this, and what are you planning to do with it?” “I don’t know,” I always say, but then add: “If I need one, I know where one is.”
I’m almost 84, and what are the chances of meeting a third collector of cat whiskers? I thought that this, indeed, was the cat’s meow!
I can also imagine that one day at an AA meeting—even though I don’t drink—I can stand up and admit: “My name is Ralph Finch, and I’m a collector of cat whiskers.”
FYI #1: The phrase “the cat’s meow” originated in the 1920s to mean something excellent or outstanding. Variation of that is “the bee’s knees” or “the cat’s pajamas.”
FYI #2: Oddly enough, several restaurants in various states have named themselves with this cute pet name: “The Cat’s Meow.” Clearly, eating there, you should be prepared to say, “Waiter, there is a hair in my soup.”
FYI #3: OK, you just got a few facts, a touch of humor(?), a restaurant “review,” and a bad joke. What do you want for nothing?
FYI #4: On the Internet: “10 Facts You Didn’t Know About Cat Whiskers,” while another pleads: “I’m not the only one out here collecting my cats’ whiskers, right?”
Another weirdo admits he has “15 years worth of whiskers my cat has shed.” (I wonder if he lived in Chicago?)
I even found two websites featuring cat whisker puns, and one included advice on “Using Cat Whisker Puns in Everyday Conversation.”
And you can buy one of several different ceramic devices on which to save your cat whiskers ($10 to $37); one item will print on it your short cat’s name unless, perhaps, your cat’s name is “Mr. Mistoffelees,” the cat with so-called magical powers from the musical Cats.
But enough is enough, and I’m tired of the topic. I think I’ll take a cat nap.
[From the Editor] We had some extra magazine space here so I thought I would place some “cat” bottles for fun. Believe me, there are not many. Pictured is a B 165 “Botanic (motif sphinx) Bitters Herzberg Bros. New York” from the Meyer collection and an “Ornate Liquor Bottle” embossed (Mortar and Pestle) “L S & CO” (monogram) “CHICAGO, ILL” - (Griffin) (Front view of the Sphinx) (Human-Headed Lion). The neck is in the form of an Egyptian Obelisk and is covered with hieroglyphics as are the other areas of the bottle. From the American Antique Glass Masterpieces Houston 2024 exhibition and book (plate 141). The blue cat decanter is from the Internet. There are many bitters with “Cat” in the name such as “Catawba Wine Bitters,” Brown’s Catalina Bitters” and the super rare “Drs. Horning and McKee’s Dog and Cat Hospital” bottle. I am also feeling a little “anxious” working on this article. Is it just me or is there some subliminal tension because we are dealing with cats and the author is named Finch?
PRESSED STONEWARE BOTTLES
By Peter Maas
Many bottle collectors are aware of Edwin H. and C. J. Merrill and their 1847 U.S. Patent number 5,206 for a process for making pressed, molded stoneware bottles by machine. Less well-known is the 1868 Merrill patent for improvements to the
machine (Figs. 1 & 2). The redesigned equipment improved quality and efficiency. It also enables today’s collectors to determine if a molded bottle was made before or after 1868 from markings on the bottoms, much like glass bottles can be dated based on the presence of a pontil mark. In the case of pressed clay bottles, however, the older ones have smooth bases while those with rough bottoms date from after 1868.
Before the 1847 patent, few stoneware bottles were molded; those that were molded were made using plaster molds and liquefied clay. The liquefied clay was poured into a plaster mold. The clay was left in the mold for a predetermined amount of time, and then the liquid was poured out. The plaster mold absorbed water from the clay, so when the mold was opened, the walls were a uniform thickness. It was then
[Figs. 1 & 2] At far left is the 1847 Merrill Patent No. 5,206. It shows the design including the spindle and mold. Note the core mold with the slits used to inject the clay into the mold. The 1868 Merrill Patent No. 78,676 drawing shows the improved outer case and new mechanism for operating the mold along with the new bottom plate design.
[Fig. 3] This bottle was made before 1868. The Taylor Brothers bottled small beer in Milwaukee around 1850. Their bottles were probably made at the Milwaukee Stoneware Company using Merrill equipment. Note that the bottom is smooth which is typical of bottles made using the earlier Merrill equipment.
Fig. 4] The bottom of the Taylor Brothers bottle is smooth which is typical of bottles made using the earlier Merrill equipment.
stamped, dried, and fired. The process was slow and inefficient, so most potters chose to hand-turn bottles on a wheel instead.
The 1847 Merrill patent significantly improved the efficiency of automated clay bottle production. Their equipment used a two, three or four-part cast iron mold to form a bottomless bottle. A piston injected clay through a rotating core with spiraled slots that was positioned inside the mold. After the body of the bottle was formed, a disk of clay was pressed onto the bottom with a rotating circular plate with slots designed to trim away excess clay. At the same time, a rotating spindle was inserted into the neck. The spindle had a toggle at the end that opened 90 degrees after entering the bottle. The rotating toggle puts pressure from the inside to oppose the pressure from the spinning disk on the outside to firmly attach the disk of clay to the bottom. The toggle left distinctive marks on the inside of the bottle.
In 1868, Edwin and H. E. Merrill were issued patent 78,676 for improvements to the 1847 patent (Fig. 2). Besides making improvements to the mold and various other parts of the machine they changed the circular plate used to attach the clay disk to the bottom of the bottle. A significant difference is that the new disk had curved slots that extended close to the outer edge. The previous disk was made with straight slots. The purpose of curved slots was to put more pressure on the bottom to create a tighter joint and to minimize the removal of excess clay (Fig. 5)
Fig. 5] Inside view of a pressed bottle. The inside of bottles made with Merrill equipment have marks left by the rotating spindle and toggle that was used to help attach the bottoms of bottles. Notice the joint between the sidewall and base, the circular depression left by the end of the spindle, and the line around the sidewall left by the toggle.
The Merrills usually made their molds with 6, 7, 8, 10, or 12 panels, which gave them a distinctive look that could not be duplicated on a wheel, although the Merrills sometimes made molded bottles in cylindrical form. The Merrills’ pottery specialized in manufacturing pressed bottles and other types of stoneware, but they also sold their equipment to other potters outside of the Akron, Ohio area. One example is the Milwaukee Stoneware Company. In 1849, they advertised pressed stoneware bottles that were probably made using Merrill equipment. A bottle attributed to them is shown in Figures 3 & 4. The Washington Smith Pottery of New York City also made pressed bottles by 1849. Bottles made on Merrill equipment are easy to identify. They
[
[
[Fig. 6] This pressed “A.J.H.” bottle was made after 1868. John Hanson bottled root beer in Marinette, Wisconsin. The distinctive rough markings on the bottom help date the bottle to after 1868, which is validated by the 1874 date stamped on the bottle. Note the mold seam that is visible on the lip.
[Fig. 7] The distinctive rough markings on the John Hanson bottle bottom help date the bottle to after 1868, which is validated by the 1874 date stamped on the bottle.
[Fig. 8] Note the mold seam that is visible on the lip.
have distinctive markings on the bottoms and side seams and are usually sided. Wheel-turned bottles don’t have seams or bottom markings and are cylindrical.
A telltale sign of bottles made on the new equipment is the pattern on the bottom. While both versions of the Merrill machines left a windmill pattern and a small circular mark in the center, the new design left a rougher, more jagged appearance. Bottles made with the old equipment tend to have smooth bottoms. Just remember this rule of thumb: the older ones have a smooth base.
Keep in mind that some potters probably continued using old equipment after 1868, but if the bottle has the telltale jagged windmill pattern on the bottom, it was probably made after 1868.
[Fig. 10] A key difference between the 1847 Merrill equipment and 1868 improved design is the disk used to attach the bottom of the bottle. On the left is the disk illustration from the 1847 patent drawing. On the right is the disk illustration from the 1868 patent.
[Fig. 9] H.E. Merrill advertisement. The 1868 Akron City Directory includes this ad promoting pressed stoneware bottles. The company produced them for many different bottlers, many of them 12-sided quarts.
The Finches floated a loan, purchased another great bottle painted with a ship, a captain—and a story about my mother being shipwrecked (well, sort of).
Selling January 18 by Meander Auctions in Whipple, Ohio, was Lot 285, described (edited) as a “European, 19th century, one-gallon demijohn with early paint decoration including a portrait of a naval officer in front of a naval battle, with heraldry decoration on the back. 14 inches high.”
I missed the auction catalog at first, but thanks to Kim Kokles of Texas, I got on the ship’s wake—and won Lot 285. But who is the captain, and what country claimed the ship? Being very smart (lol), I had already ruled out the *Bob-Lo boat and... **Captain Kangaroo.
I next sailed across the ocean and asked for comments on our bottle and the Meander auction house. German friend Horst Klusmeier replied: “I don’t know who the guy is, but the flag looks like the British Red Ensign. Red cloth and in the top left corner the Union Jack.”
Kim Kokles commented on the bottle and the auction house: “Not the best looking or earliest, but cheap opening bid. Meander Auctions is Andy and Hollie Richmond—good friends of ours.”
And I add: “Kim, I think everyone is a friend of yours. And they are lucky to have you as a friend, as we are.”
Indeed, Andy Richmond later told me: “Ralph, We are, indeed, fortunate to count Kim and Mary among our good friends! They are two of our favorite people in the antiques world!”
Kim also later added: “I enjoy spending other people’s money.”
Right now, I’m trying to get information from Willy Van den Bossche of Antwerp, Belgium, the author of several serious books on serious glass. If you don’t have one (or several) of Willy’s bottle books, you aren’t really a serious collector/historian.
And, the Wonderful Willy replied: “Hi, dear friend Ralph. I am glad that you are enjoying life the same way I am by studying bottles and glass.
“My entire bottle collection will be bought after my death by the Flemish Government and will be exposed in a new bottle museum here in the city of Hasselt.
“I am very sorry, but the best address for your question is the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam. I am sure they can help you.
“Stay well and continue breathing, Willy.”
And Robert Strickhart of New Jersey commented: “Congrats on this fine addition to your collection; it is really fun to see!”
I contacted the Meander people, hoping that information may have surfaced after the auction listing.
Andrew Richmond, half of the Meander auction team, replied: “Unfortunately, we have no more info on the bottle. I had mentioned to your wife that it was one of my favorite lots in that auction. My wife and I are advanced researchers, but neither of us could determine the battle or person depicted. During the course of the pre-auction weeks, no one reached out with additional information or asked questions that suggested that they might know more. Sorry, we can’t be of more help! Cheers, Andrew.”
Later, Andrew added:
“Your kind words about doing business with us are much appreciated! It’s a fun business, made all the more fun by meeting new folks who are as passionate about old ‘stuff’ as we are!”
(FYI: Sometimes, researching—and emailing—is easy, and sometimes it would turn my hair white—if it wasn’t already doing that. Repeated emails to Amsterdam, etc., have turned up so far...zilch.)
And for more history...
Visit the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam via the Internet and enjoy its incredible leaden glass, Adm. Nelson’s Trafalgar uniform, and gold watch recovered from the floating body of a passenger who went down with the Titanic. “The rusted hands are frozen at 3.07 a.m., the time the watch was showing when Norman entered the freezing water.” And a new exhibit on pirates.
And for even more history...
*The Detroit, Belle Isle & Windsor Ferry Co., incorporated in 1881 to connect Detroit, Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit’s Belle Isle Park. In 1898, the company leased Bois Blanc Island (later known as “Bob-Lo”), offering ferry service to the island. Bois Blanc became a popular day trip destination, with picnic grounds, a small amusement area, dancing, and other services.
A similar “party boat” was the Tashmoo. My mother remembered often taking the boat, especially for dancing. She was on it when, on June 18, 1936, the Tashmoo, carrying 1,400 passengers back to Detroit after an evening of dancing at Sugar Island, struck a rock and took on water. It navigated to a dock in Amherstburg, Ontario, where everyone made it off. But...
I remember my mother telling me that everyone was bussed back to Detroit, and she arrived home about 10 a.m.—before cell phones, remember?—after leaving the evening before on a date! My grandmother didn’t believe my mom’s story about a boat sinking until mom came up with the next day’s newspaper report on the sinking. (Despite that, my mother didn’t believe me when
I said the dog ate my homework...probably because we didn’t have a dog.)
And, a coincidence? Four years later, Mom marries a (U.S.) sailor (no captain); a year later, a little bundle of joy (me) is launched, and a year later, the marriage hit a rock, floundered, and sank. So much is life.
** Captain Kangaroo is an American children’s CBS TV series from 1955 to 1984.
FYI: This story was 95 percent done when an old friend, David—and at 85, most all my friends are old—gave me some advice. And, since David is a life-long successful editor, researcher, and published book writer, he suggested that my efforts would be more interesting if...
“The next time you tell the story, you start out with: ‘I was tending bar in medicine hat.’ It never fails!”
I will have to see if he is correct. *But, FYI: My Janet has, on occasion, said to me: “You are the strongest person I know. Wait...I know David, too.”
Comments and water balloons can be aimed at rfinch@twmi. rr.com
[Full bottle front] A naval officer in front of a ship battle painted on an olive-green demijohn. Yes, but just who is it?
[Full bottle reverse] Heraldry decoration on the back of this unpontiled bottle. German friend Horst Klusmeier said “the flag looks like the British Red Ensign. Red cloth and in the top left corner the Union Jack.”
[Reverse signature] Like a puzzle with a missing piece. Will the painter ever be known?
Tennessee Bottle Collectors Sixth Annual
Reno 25 Drake’s
The FOHBC has commissioned a limited edition (150++) commemorative Drake’s Plantation Bitters bottle in “Reno Red” (center above). The Drake’s is from the same mold as the cobalt blue Drake’s produced for Houston 24. Two one-of-a-kind bottles will be entered into a Raffle during the Convention (reddish puce) and Auction (light purple grape) to be held during the Awards Banquet on Friday evening. Raffle tickets are available in advance at shows or by mail from Michael Seeliger for $5 each or 6 for $20. (Make check out to FOHBC-Raffle and send to N8211 Smith Rd, Brooklyn, WI 53521, or catch him at an upcoming show.) Auction bids may be submitted in advance by calling Michael at 608.575.2922. You will need to guarantee your bid with a credit card. You do not need to be present to win the raffle or auction bottle. Contact Michael Seeliger, mwseeliger@gmail.com, with any questions. More info at FOHBC.org
Reno 25 Seminar #1
19th Century Ammonia Bottles from the San Francisco Bay Area
This presentation by Stephen Hubbell will review the historical roots of ammonia production in the San Francisco Bay area and the bottles used to sell this product. Special emphasis will be given to the San Francisco Gaslight Company bottles. Bottle mold types, sizes and the colors for the San Francisco Gaslight bottles will be discussed as well as their rarity.
Reno 25 Seminar #2
Western W hiskey & Bourbon Bottles Applied Top Fifths & Flasks from San Francisco
This presentation by Lance Westfall will review the historical roots of the early west coast liquor merchants and their embossed whiskey and bourbon bottles manufactured in the San Francisco Bay Area. Special emphasis will be given to the early applied top cylinders and flasks. Bottle mold types, rarity, sizes, characteristics, colors and pairings (fifths/flasks) will be highlighted as well as noteworthy trivia and myths. There will be a featured “Show & Tell” with a bottle display!
FOHBC RENO 2025
NATIONAL ANTIQUE BOTTLE & GLASS CONVENTION WESTERN REGION
31 July – 03 August 2025
Reno, Nevada
[Left] Judge Ends One Man’s 11-Year Quest to Recover $765 Million in Bitcoin by Digging Up a Landfill. Since 2013, James Howells has been hoping to recover his laptop hard drive that he says contains the private key for cryptocurrency which he says he mined in 2009. The value of a bitcoin has just passed $1,000, making 7,500 bitcoins worth $7.5 million. – Wired
[Left] Rare and Superb Junyao Purple-Splashed ‘Bubble’ Bowl Jin Dynasty. The Craftsmanship of Kintsugi: The Golden Veins Running Through Japanese Objets d’Art. Translated as ‘golden seams’, the centuries-old Japanese art of Kintsugi breathes new life into broken ceramic objects by piecing them back together with gold. Originating in the 15th century, this mending technique is not just a craft but a philosophy and metaphor for life itself. Kintsugi makes the broken beautiful and encourages us to contemplate the value in imperfection as well as seeing flaws as something to celebrate. The bowl sold for $750,000 in Hong Kong.
[Above] A 4,500-Piece Hot Wheels Scale-Model Car Collection sold this past January for $19,911. The collection of scale-model vehicles was assembled by the seller over the course of 30 years and featured approximately 4,500 Hot Wheels models. The diecast vehicles are primarily rendered in 1:64 scale and depict hot rods and customs as well as vehicles from BMW, Bugatti, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Lamborghini, Nissan, Porsche, Toyota, and Volkswagen. A selection of slot cars was also included, and the majority of the models remain in manufacturer’s packaging. – Bring A Trailer
[Below Left] NEW FIND S 30.5 BBs3 update: In from Brian Shultis: A labeled Sanford, Chamberlain, and Albers Stomach Bitters from Knoxville Tennessee. Recently purchased by my Brother (Brad Shultis) on Facebook. Extremely rare, and only labeled example I have seen.
[Below Left] A woman who purchased a candle holder for just $4 was delighted with her purchase, but she was left completely stunned when she discovered its real value. The white porcelain candle holder that she bought at a Salvation Army store on December 26 is a simple design featuring a pebbled texture with small circular vents to create a warm glow when a candle is lit inside. The 43-year-old from western Massachusetts, said she bought it because she “thought it was a cool looking candle holder.” It offers an elegant design. Not to mention, it was only $4 so she couldn’t go wrong with that. However, when she got home, she looked up the name of the brand that was printed on the underside of the candle holder. She had no recollection of it, Korallen-Windlicht, a German company selling porcelain goods. But she was stunned to see the same item listed for $1,903 on a resale site. – Newsweek
Lost & Found
Read and see more in the FOHBC Virtual Museum.
[Below Right] One of the most desirable of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s creations, a rare and extraordinarily beautiful Venetian table lamp, claimed top-lot honors at the upscale gallery event. Although diminutive by comparison to other Tiffany lighting, the 19-inch-tall lamp was one of the New York firm’s most expensive productions in the early Twentieth Century. This was due to the time and painstaking effort it took to create the Venetian pattern from a profusion of small, delicate pieces of glass. Both the shade, which retained its attractive original “gold” heat cap, and its correct filigreed and jeweled “gold” base were signed. In excellent condition and with provenance that included a 2003 purchase from the Macklowe Gallery, it sold for $114,000 against an estimate of $60/80,000. – Morphy’s December 17-19 Fine & Decorative Arts Auction
[Left] Hummel, Signs of Spring. This piece is extremely rare as it has four posts in the fence, which the girl is leaning on. The normal piece has three posts. The Hum No. 203 is inscribed by hand. Backstamp “(c) W Goebel, RIM (painter) and full bee.” Hummel measures approx. 5 1/4” tall, TMK-2, Hum 203. From the estate collection of Donald Deeks (1931-2020) of Venice, Florida, who assembled what is purported to be one of the most important collections of rare Hummel figurines in existence. Blackwell Auctions was commissioned by his family to sell the entire collection of about 2,000 pieces, many of them either unique or nearly so. The piece sold for $5,500 in January 2021. – Invaluable
[Left] Milestone’s Jan. 4 auction of Dr. Jim Reynolds Buddy ‘L’ toy collection featured rare factory samples and prototypes. The 450-lot auction lineup represented one of the most complete assemblages of early Buddy ‘L’ trucks ever to come to market. One of the standout pieces was this Buddy “L” Insurance Patrol truck sample with headlights and bumper. The example retains the factory prototype tag reading ‘205C 1928 9LBS.’ All original, 27in, with NM paint and decals, and pullcord. Estimate: $10,000-$20,000 –Antiques and the Arts Weekly
[Left] Hello, you posted a blog on Peachridge Glass on the 12th of June 2012 titled “From Texas – Wm. Radam’s Microbe Killer.” You were very informative with some pictures I had never seen. My reason for this inquiry is about the shaving mug at the end of the blog, which you said was from a collector friend of yours. Well I now own the mug and have been trying to find a bit of history on the person named on the mug, “Ben J. Kister.” Was the collector friend then owner a Keith Estep? That is who I purchased the mug from several years ago and he thought the mug owner was a drug salesman? If someone other than Keith was your friend and owner could you inquire to him if he knew the history. We believe that this is a one of a kind shaving mug and no other had William Radam’s logo on it. I would be very appreciative of any information you could give me or point me to your collector friend. Thanking you in advance for your time, Eric Loori.
[Below] This wonderful striated purple-amethyst Pattern Molded Creamer has 16 vertical ribs and is 4 1/8” tall. It is Midwestern and probably blown at a Pittsburgh District Glass House, Ca. 1790-1820. Ex. George McKearin, Mrs. Frederick Fish and Anthony Picadio. This same object is pictured as #3 on plate 23 of the McKearins’ “American Glass.” Plate 11 in American Antique Glass Masterpieces
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.
Gaslight Ammonia Co. bottles – Stephen Hubbell
Sandwich Window Display
Cures – Bruce Shephard Snow walking in rare Texas snow –Ferdinand Meyer V
Nailsea Bottles – Eric McGuire
Ken Morrill display case
Rick Carney
Dr. Fenner’s collection – Vince Martonis
R25 Drake’s –Michael Craig Palm Beach Beverages –Larry Smith
Bottle Window in Snow – Jeff Eastland
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: 1) 14-inch-tall Cathedral pickle, medium forest green, six sided. Cathedral window design with four petals above. Rare color for this mold. $575. 2) Drake’s Plantation Bitters. Very light topaz ginger ale. $725. 3) U.S. Mail embossed eagle mail-box-shaped whiskey. Fluted neck whiskey. Large size. $85. 4) “Leon’s Sarsaparilla Belfast Me.” Unusual neck and lip. You’ll see 100 Dana Sarsaparilla’s before you see a Leon’s. $75. 5) Amber straight-sided coke. Giering Bottling Co. in slug plate. Youngstown, Ohio. Two lip chips. $200. 6) “J. Gahm” mug-base beer. Honey amber. $85. No buyers premium or taxes. Postage $15. Don, 978.994.2629 (01/02/25)
FOR SALE: Quality bottles largely from the US, meticulously described and well-priced. Listings with images available on my High Desert Historic Bottle website at historicbottles.com. My email for contact noted on the website. Bill Lindsey, Chiloquin, Oregon. 11/26
WANTED
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. 11/27
WANTED: Amber, aqua or clear bottles or jars with the logo “N” inside a Keystone symbol on the base. Contact Barry Bernas at phone 717.338.9539 or email barryb6110@aol.com (05/06_24 to 07/08_25)
WANTED: OWL DRUG bottles, tins, boxes, paper, anything from The Owl Drug Company. Marc Lutsko, Unit 6922, 2300 N. Harris Street, Helena, Montana 59604-7347, letsgo@ montanasky.net, 406.291.0861, Box 97, Libby, Montana 59923 TOP DOLLAR paid (01-1-26)
WANTED: FOHBC Membership Director!
FOR SALE: FOHBC shirts for sale! Contact Bella at bella.fohbc@gmail.com or Addy at addy@brammers.net who produces the shirts. Custom modifications allowed such as long sleeve vs. short sleeve or front or back design position. See Below
VOLUNTEERS
The FOHBC is always looking for help and volunteer work for the many projects and initiatives of the organization.
FOHBC Crew Neck Shirts for Sale!
New Jersey Antique Bottle Club is hosting their 5th Annual Outdoor Antique Bottle Show & Sale
Saturday, June 7, 2025
Rain date Sunday, June 8, 2025
9:00 am to 2:00 pm
Dealer set-up 7:00 to 9:00 am Kyle Family Farm 831 Windsor Perrineville Rd. East Windsor, New Jersey 08520
Food and refreshments available. No early buyers – Admission $5 at the entrance
For additional information or to request a contract call Kevin Kyle at (609) 209-4034 or email: bottlediggerkev@aol.com
Spots
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.
FOHBC Member Clubs: Please request event insurance coverage at least two months before your event. Email fohbcmembers@gmail.com. Put “Show Insurance” in subject line.
7 & 8 March 2025 – Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas Collectibles Show, Friday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and Saturday 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Free Admission. Presented by the Southern Nevada Casino Collectibles Club (SNCCC) and the Las Vegas Antique Bottles & Collectibles Club (LVABCC) at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino, 4000 W. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, Nevada 89103, For more information and table fees contact Jerry Vergatos, vergatos@msn.com, FOHBC Member Club
07 & 08 March 2025 – Chico, California Bidwell Bottle Club 57th Annual Antique Bottle, Jar and Insulator Show & Sale, Silver Dollar Fairgrounds, 2357 Fair Street, Chico, California 95928, Friday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, $10 Early Admission Fee 10:00 am Friday, Saturday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Free Admission, Contact Randy Taylor, 530.518.7369, rtjarguy@aol.com
08 March 2025 – Richfield, North Carolina Uwharrie Bottle Club Presents the 17th Annual Bottle, Advertising & Collectibles Show and Sale at the Baptist Fellowship Hall, 24639 NC Highway 49, Richfield, North Carolina 28137. Free Admission. Open to the public 8:00 am to 1:00 pm. For info contact Todd McSwain, 704.438.0305 or email mcswain8649@ windstream.net, FOHBC Member Club
14 & 15 March 2025 – Dalton, Georgia 4th Annual Chattanooga | North Georgia Antique Bottles & Advertising Show, Dalton Convention Center, 2211 Tony Ingle Pkwy, Dalton, Georgia 30720 (Exit 333 off I-75). Concessions available. Early Buyers Saturday: 8:00 to 9:00 am ($20). Admission Free Saturday: 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Show Chairmen: Jason Herron 205.913.9748 and Buddy Lasater 423.718.3521, FOHBC Member Club
16 March 2025 – St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis 55th Annual Antique Bottle & Jar Show; Orlando Gardens, 4300 Hoffmeister Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63125. General Admission is $3 from 9 am to 2 pm; Set-up 7 am to 9 am. Children free. Contact: St. Louis Antique Bottle Collectors Assn., Pat Jett (show chair), 71 Outlook Drive, Hillsboro, Missouri 63050, 314.570.6917, patsy_jett@yahoo.com, FOHBC Member Club
22 March 2025 – Daphne, Alabama
The Mobile Bottle Collectors Club’s 52nd Annual Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show & Sale will be held on Saturday, March 22, 2025, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Daphne Civic Center, 2603 US Hwy 98, Daphne, Alabama 36526. Free Admission and Bottle Appraisals. Dealer Setup is Friday, March 21, 2025, from 2:00 to 6:00 pm and Saturday from 7:00 to 9:00 am. For more information, contact Rod Vining at 251.957.6725, Email: vinewood@ mchsi.com or Facebook: Mobile Bottle Collector’s Club Show & Sale See Sales Table Application and Contract on website. FOHBC Member Club
23 March 2025 – Somers, Connecticut
54th Annual Somers Antique Bottle Club’s Antique Bottle Show and Sale, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm., Admission $5, Early buyers: 8:00 am $15. Joanna’s Restaurant, 145 Main Street, Route 190, Somers, Connecticut 06071. Contact: Don Desjardins, 22 Anderson Road, Ware, Massachusetts 01082, 413.967.4431 or 413.687,4808, dondes@comcast.net, FOHBC Member Club
30 March 2025 – West Friendship, Maryland
The Baltimore Antique Bottle Club Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, baltimorebottleclub.org, Howard County Fairgrounds, Main Exhibition Hall, 2210 Fairgrounds Road, West Friendship, Maryland 21794, Contact Info: Shawn Peters, Show Director, 240.508.1032, BaltoMd_stoneware@outlook.com. For Contracts: Micah Dolina, mdolina@hotmail.com, FOHBC Member Club
30 March 2025 – Cicero, New York
The Empire State Bottle Collectors Association is having their 53rd Antiques & Bottle Show. This is the oldest continuously active club in the United States. 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, Cicero American Legion, 5575 Legionnaire Drive, Cicero, New York 13039, Set-up: 7:30 to 9:00am, All Dealers Contact: Dave Tuxill, dtuxill1@ twcny.rr.com, 315.469.0629. Cost of admission: $5. esbca.weebly. com, FOHBC Member Club
03, 04 & 05 April 2025 – Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
The National Association of Milk Bottle Collectors (NAMBC) will hold its Annual Convention on April 3-5, 2025 at the Comfort Suites at 945 Baltimore Pike in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The event will include seminars, bottle selling and swapping, a Civil War lecture, a banquet, and an auction. Registration fee is $5. Registration form is available at the NAMBC web site (milkbottlecollectors.com). To reserve a hotel room, call the Comfort Suites at 717.334.6715. Contact Steve Bergquist at 401-935-9177 or beerri@cox.net
04 & 05 April 2025 – Reddick, Florida
The Deland Antique Bottle Show at Turkey Creek, Saturday, 05 April, 8:00 am to 3:00 pm, Friday, 04 April, Early Buyers $20 and Dealer Set-up 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm. FREE admission Saturday, Turkey Creek Auctions Building, 15323 NW Gainesville Road, Reddick, Florida 32686; Contact Ronnie McCormick, 352.262.8672, oldflabottles@ gmail.com or Louise O’Quinn, 386.943.2766, edlouise210@gmail. com, FOHBC Member Club
05 April 2025 – Dover, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Bottle Collectors Association Annual Show & Sale at the Dover Township Community Center, 3700 Davidsburg Road, Dover, Pennsylvania 17315, Saturday 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. Set up: Friday 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm, Saturday 6:00 to 8:00 am. $2 admission. Pennsylvania Bottle Collectors Association, Contact Gregory Druck, chairman, 2266 Maple Road, Dover, Pennsylvania, 17408, 717.792.9050, gdruck3141@comcast.net
05 April 2025 – Kalamazoo, Michigan
The Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Club’s 44th Annual Antique Bottle & Glass Show & Sale, 10:00 am to 2:30 pm, Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds, 2900 Lake Street, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49048. Questions email kzooantiquebottleclub@gmail.com. Hosted by the Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Club, Visit Facebook Page, FOHBC Member Club
06 April 2025 – Tylersport, Pennsylvania
The 28th Annual Bucks-Mont Bottle Show, Admission: 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, $3, early buyers 8:00 am, $10, Show Address: Tylersport Fire Company, 125 Ridge Road, Tylersport, Pennsylvania 18971, Information: David Long 215.892.2813, cadklong@verizon.net or Greg Gifford, 215.699.5216
06 April 2025 – Bloomington, Minnesota
North Star Historical Bottle Association Presents its 53rd Annual Antique Bottle, Advertising, and Stoneware Show and Sale, 9:30 am to 2:30 pm at the Knights of Columbus Event Center, 1114 American Blvd. West, Bloomington, Minnesota 55420. Admission $5. Info: 651.271-3423, AKonitzer1@gmail.com or 952.221.0915, steve@antiquebottledepot.com, FOHBC Member Club
06 April 2025 – Taunton, Massachusetts
Little Rhody Bottle Club Show, Taunton Hotel & Conference Center, Exit#25 off Route #495, 700 Myles Standish Blvd., Taunton, Massachusetts 02780. 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, Early Admission $15 at 8:00 am. General Admission $4 at 9:00 am. Contact Bill or Linda Rose, sierramadre@comcast.net or 508.880.4929, FOHBC Member Club
06 April 2025 – Hutchinson, Kansas
The 18th Annual Kansas Territory Bottle & Post Card Show & Sale, General Admission: 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Kansas State Fairgrounds, Pride of Kansas Building, 2000 N. Poplar Street, Hutchinson, Kansas 67502, The Hutchinson Kansas flea market is scheduled for April 6th in the neighboring building. This has been a good source of bottles, jars, insulators and other antiques in the past. Info: Stan Hendershot, Stanh1907@outlook.com, 6209.388.0501, Mike McJunkin, scarleits@cox.net, 620.728.8304 or Mark Law, kansasbottles@gmail.com, 785.224.4836, FOHBC Member Club
11 & 12 April 2025 – Antioch, California
The Golden Gate Historical Bottle Society’s 57th Annual Bottles, Antiques & Collectibles Show & Sale, Early Buyers: Friday 12 pm to 5 pm, $10 Admission; General Admission: Saturday 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Free. Contra Costa Event Park (Fairgrounds), Sunset Hall, 1201 West 10th Street, Antioch, California 94509. Info: Gary and Darla Antone, 925.373.6758, packrat49er@netscape.net, FOHBC Member Club
13 April 2025 – Pickering, Ontario
29th Annual Toronto Bottle and Antique Show and Sale, Chestnut Hill Recreational Complex, 1867 Valley Farm Road, Pickering, Ontario L1V 6K7 (just east of Toronto), Sunday 10:00 am to 2:30 pm, Early admission not available. Set up: 8:00 am to 10 am same day. Cost of admission: $5, Four Seasons Bottle Club on Facebook, Contact: Jon Matheson, Vice President, 251 Rambler Court, Oakville, Ontario L6H 3A6, Tele: 905.875.7778, E-mail: jwmatheson1@gmail.com, Four Seasons Bottle Collectors Club
26 April 2025 – Columbia, South Carolina
The South Carolina Bottle Club’s 52nd Annual Show & Sale, 206 Jamil Road, Columbia, South Carolina 29210, 2024 sellout at 190 tables! A new record! Saturday 9:00 am to 3:00 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
27 April 2025 – Rochester, New York
54th Annual Genesee Valley Bottle Collectors Association’s (GVBCA) Rochester Bottle & Antique Show, Roberts Wesleyan University, Voller Athletic Center, 2301 Westside Drive, Rochester, New York 14624, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Admission $5. 17 and Under FREE, Show and Dealer Inquires: Aaron and Pamela Weber, gvbca@frontiernet.net, 585.749.8874. FOHBC Member Club
03 May 2025 – New Hartford, New York
The Mohawk Valley Antique Bottle Club will host its 29th Annual Utica Bottle Show & Sale at the Hope Alliance Church, 4291 Middle Settlement Road, New Hartford, New York, 13413, 9 am to 2:30 pm. Admission $5. Info: Peter Bleiberg at 315.735.5430 or email pmbleiberg@aol.com, Mohawk Valley ABC on Facebook, FOHBC Member Club
03 May 2025 – Gray, Tennessee State of Franklin Antique Bottles & Collectible Assoc. 27th Annual Show, Saturday, May 3rd, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, Appalachian Fairground, 100 Lakeview Street, Gray, Tennessee 37615, Exit 13 on I-216, No Early Admission, sfabca.com, FOHBC Member Club
04 May 2025 – Morgantown, West Virginia 8th Annual Dunkard Valley Antiques and Collectibles Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm; Early buyers 7:30 am, $20. Both inside and outside vendor spaces are available! At Milan Park. Monongalia Center, 270 Mylan Park Lane, Morgantown, WV 26501, Contact: Don Kelley, 724.998.2734, bonzeyekelley@gmail.com
09 & 10 May 2025 – Mansfield, Ohio
46th Mansfield Antique Bottle Show, Hosted by the Ohio Bottle Club, at the Richland County Fairgrounds, 750 N. Home Road, Mansfield, Ohio 44906; Admission $5 Saturday, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Early admission is $40, Friday, May 9, from 2:00 to 6:00 pm. Show Chairs: Matt & Elizabeth Lacy, 440.228.1873 or 440.994.9028 or email info@antiquebottlesales.com, FOHBC Member Club
10 May 2025 – Gardendale, Alabama
5th Annual Alabama Bottle & Advertising Show, Saturday, May 10, 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
10 May 2025 – Seekonk, Massachusetts
The Little Rhody Bottle Club Tailgate Swap Meet starts at 8:00 am and ends at 2:00 pm. There is no set up fee and no admission fee. Bring as many tables as you want. Buy, sell, trade and keep what you make. Show Address: Leonard’s Antiques, 600 Taunton Avenue, (Rte #44) Seekonk, Massachusetts 02771, Contact Info: William Rose, 508.880.4929, sierramadre@comcast.net, FOHBC Member Club
16-18 May 2025 – Adamstown, Pennsylvania
Shupp’s Grove 25th Annual Bottle Festival, 607 Willow Street, Reinholds, Pennsylvania 17569. Friday, early buyers only from 11 am to 5 pm at a ticket price of $20 per person and running through Sunday, 18 May. Saturday and Sunday hours are from 6 am to dusk; admission is free to all on these two days. Contact Steve
Guion, Show Chairman, 1032 English Drive, Lebanon, Pennsylvania 17042, william03301956@gmail.com or call him at 717.371.1259. He has information and dealer contracts for those wishing to set up at the festival.
17 May 2025 – Mandeville, Louisiana
Nouvelle Orleans Third Annual Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show & Sale at the Mandeville Lions Club, 720 Lafitte Street, Mandeville, Louisiana 70448, Dealer set up, Friday, 16 May, 12 noon to 5:00 pm and on Saturday, 17 May, 8:00 to 10:00 am. Early Bird $20 during dealer setup. Free admission is Saturday, from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm; contact Peter Taggard, 645 Village Lane South, Mandeville, Louisiana 70471. Call or text: 985.373.6487. Email: petertaggard@yahoo.com
18 May 2025 – Washington, Pennsylvania
Washington County Antique Bottle Club 51st Annual Show and Sale, Alpine Star Lodge, 735 Jefferson Avenue, Washington, Pennsylvania 15301, Admission $3, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, Early admission $25 at 7:30 am. Info: Ed Kuskie, 412.405.9061, 352 Pineview Drive, Elizabeth, Pennsylvania 15037, bottlewizard@ comcasat.net, FOHBC Member Club
18 May 2025 – Hammonton, New Jersey
2025 Spring Bottle Show at Batsto Village by the 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
01 June 2025 – Ballston Spa, New York
The 45th Annual Saratoga Antique Bottle Show And Sale at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds, 162 Prospect Street, Ballston Spa, New York 12020. General Admission Sunday, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, $5; Early Admission Sunday, 8:00 to 9:00 am, $2. Show set up Saturday, 31 May from 7:00 to 9:00 pm and Sunday, 6:30 to 8:00 am. Host Club: National Bottle Museum, nationalbottlemuseum. org, 518.885.7589, info@nationalbottlemuseum.org, Show chair: Roy Topka, 518.779.1243, rmt556@yahoo.com; FOHBC Member Club
07 June 2025 – Seekonk, Massachusetts
The Little Rhody Bottle Club Tailgate Swap Meet starts at 8:00 am and ends at 2:00 pm. There is no set up fee and no admission fee. Bring as many tables as you want. Buy, sell, trade and keep what you make. Show Address: Leonard’s Antiques, 600 Taunton Avenue, (Rte #44) Seekonk, Massachusetts 02771, Contact Info: William Rose, 508.880.4929, sierramadre@comcast.net, FOHBC Member Club
07 June 2025 – East Windsor, New Jersey
New Jersey Antique Bottle Club (NJABC) is hosting their 5th Annual Outdoor Antique Bottle Show & Sale, (Rain date Sunday, 08 June 2025) 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Admission is $5; no early buyers. Kyle Family Farms. 831 Windsor Perrineville Road, East Windsor, New Jersey 08520, Contact Kevin Kyle, 230 Cedarville Road, East Windsor, New Jersey 08520, 609.209.4034, bottlediggerkev@ aol.com, FOHBC Member Club
14 June 2025 – Weyers Cave, Virginia
The Historical Bottle Diggers of Virginia 53rd Antique Bottle and Collectibles Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Weyers Cave Community Center, 682 Weyers Cave Road, (Rt. 256), Weyers Cave, Virginia 24486, Info: Sonny Smiley, Show Chairman, 540.434.1129, lithiaman1@yahoo.com, FOHBC Member Club
14 June 2025 – Cambridge City, Indiana
10th Annual Cambridge City Jar & Antique Show, Creitz Park, 150 North Foote Street, Cambridge City, Indiana, Saturday, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Set up at 7:00 am. Contact Marty Troxell, 765.478.3800, doublehead@myfrontiermail.com. Also, contact Marty on Facebook Ball Jar Collectors if you prefer. FOHBC Member Club
21 June 2025 – Johnston, Iowa
The Iowa Antique Bottleers 55th Annual Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show and Sale at the Johnston Lions Club, 64th Place and Merle Hay Road, Johnston, Iowa; Admission $1, Children Free, For info contact Mark Wiseman, 3505 Sheridan Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50301, 515.344.8333 or Joyce Jessen, 515.979.5216, See Contract, FOHBC Member Club
31 July–03 August 2025 – Reno, Nevada
FOHBC Reno 2025 National Antique Bottle and Glass Convention at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino. For information contact Craig Cassetta, ccassettafohbc@gmail.com or Richard Siri, rtsiri@sbcglobal.net, Direct Link to Hotel Reservations at FOHBC.org, FOHBC National Event
06 September 2025 – Seekonk, Massachusetts
The Little Rhody Bottle Club Tailgate Swap Meet starts at 8:00 am and ends at 2:00 pm. There is no set up fee and no admission fee. Bring as many tables as you want. Buy, sell, trade and keep what you make. Show Address: Leonard’s Antiques, 600 Taunton Avenue, (Rte #44) Seekonk, Massachusetts 02771, Contact Info: William Rose, 508.880.4929, sierramadre@comcast. net, FOHBC Member Club
04 October 2025 –Pickens, South Carolina
3rd Annual Pickens South Carolina Bottle Show & Sale at The Market at the Mill, 225 Pumpkintown Hwy, Pickens, South Carolina 29671, 8:00 am to 2:00 pm, Set-up 7:00 to 9:00 am. Show and dealer information Samuel Rhodes, 864.508.6518, samuelrhodes99@gmail.com, FOHBC Member Club
24 & 25 October 2025 – 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 1:30 to 6:00 pm Early Buyer $20 Admission, Saturday 8:00 am to 2:30 pm Free Admission. Dealer Set-up: Friday: 11:00 am to 6:00 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
09 November 2025 – Pompton Lakes, New Jersey North Jersey 55th Annual Antique Bottle Show and Sale, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, Pompton Lakes Elks Lodge #1895, 1 Perrin Ave., Pompton Lakes, New Jersey 07442, just off I-287 Exit 57 or Rt. 202., Free Admission, $15 early admission (8:00 am), Featuring all types of antique bottles, glassware, stoneware, advertising, postcards, small antiques, etc., Sponsored by North Jersey Antique Bottle Collectors Ass’n, Vendor info: Call Ed, 201.493.7172 or email metropetro222@gmail.com, All welcome! FOHBC Member Club
31 July–03 August 2025 – Reno, Nevada
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 antique bottle and glass collecting 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.
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 States
- Standard Mail $40 1st Class
- Standard Mail w/Associate*
-
Digital Membership (electronic files only) $25
Canada – First Class $85 Other countries – First Class $120
- 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
Please make checks or money orders payable to FOHBC and mail to:
Affiliated Club Membership is $80 without insurance. $130 includes liability insurance coverage for all club-sponsored events. There is a 50% discount on advertising in Antique Bottle & Glass Collector, plus more, Contact: FOHBC Business Manager: Elizabeth Meyer, PO Box 1825, Brookshire, Texas 77423, 713.504.0628, fohbcmembers@gmail.com
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.)
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
Thursday, July 31 - Sunday, August 3, 2025
Antique Bottle Show & Sales, Bottle Competition, Early Admission, Seminars, Displays, Awards Banquet, Membership Breakfast, Raffle, Children’s Events and more…
