Bottles and Extras September October 2017

Vol. 28

September - October 2017

No. 5

Featuring:

Cheers to the Privy!

Included in this issue...

A Dig Story: 25 Holes in 49 Days Northeastern Favorites Remembering Bob Ferraro From Black & White to Color Chlorine for your Teeth Ernest Kellerstrass - The Distiller Who Loved Chickens Lost & Found and so much more...

$7.00

Specializing in Western Bottles

COMING SEPTEMBER 15TH Auction Number 64

We don’t have as many auctions as we used to, that’s because we are sticking to our roots with western bottles. But as we’ve looked for better examples this time around we have managed to put together a terrific grouping of bottles from all over the country. We specialize in western bottles but this time we will have a nice selection for every collector. They will include the John O’Neill collection of eastern sodas as well as a huge collection of umbrella inkwells and some never before offered western sodas from the late, great Ken Salazar collection! We will also have some rare and very desirable bitters, some very beautiful whiskey bottles and flasks and a whole lot more! East or west, our customers are the best and that’s why we will continue to offer them the very best bottles from American Bottle Auctions.

Absentee Auction starts Friday September 15th and ends on September 24th.

No call backs, 10 minute closing clock. See rules for more details.

1-800-806-7722

American Bottle Auctions • 915 28th Street, Sacramento, CA 95816 Visit our website at americanbottle.com or email us at info@americanbottle.com

Over 20 years in business!

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September - October 2017

Bottles and Extras

Don’t miss an issue of BOTTLES and EXTRAS ! Please check your labels for expiration information.

Who do I contact at BOTTLES and EXTRAS, or for my Change of Address, Missing Issues, etc.?

Vol. 28 No. 5

September - October 2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS

No. 233

On the Cover: Cheers to the Privy. Jeff Mihalik holding a freshly dug GIX-41 made by John Robinson and Son circa 1830-1834.

To Advertise, Subscribe or Renew a subscription, see pages 66 and 72 for details.

FOHBC Officers | 2016 - 2018 ................................................................................ 2 FOHBC President’s Message ................................................................................ 3

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

Shards of Wisdom ................................................................................................ 4 History’s Corner ................................................................................................... 5 FOHBC News - From & For Our Members ................................................................ 6

Page 14

Ernest Kellerstrass - The Distiller Who Loved Chickens

by Jack Sullivan ............................................................................................. 14 A Dig Story: 25 Holes in 49 Days

by Jack Klotz ................................................................................................... 20

Remembering Bob Ferraro - From Black & White to Color

by Ferdinand Meyer V ................................................................................... 32 Chlorine For Your Teeth

by Eric McGuire ............................................................................................. 38

Page 24

Cheers to the Privy!

by Jeff Mihalik ............................................................................................... 46 Northeastern Favorites

by Jeff Ullman ................................................................................................ 52

Lost & Found ....................................................................................................... 60

Page 34

FOHBC Member Photo Gallery .............................................................. 64 FOHBC Membership Additions & Changes ................................................ 67 FOHBC Sho-Biz - Calendar of Shows ........................................................ 68 Membership Application & Advertising ..................................................... 72

Page 45

Coming next issue or down the road: Another Look at Sandwich Glass • American Scent Bottles • Ground-Penetrating Radar System • A Long Gap in Time • Rushton’s Cod Liver Oil • Springfield National Report • Old Bourbon Whiskey Put Up By Wilson, Fairbank & Co. for Medicinal Purposes • Jamaica Champagne Beer • Snow Flake Whiskey: What’s in a Name? • Vaseline Glass Goes to War • Those lovely locals” or “regional collectors corner and so much more!

Martin Van Zant BOTTLES and EXTRAS Editor 41 E. Washington Street Mooresville, Indiana 46158 812.841.9495 email: mdvanzant@yahoo.com Fair use notice: Some material in BOTTLES and EXTRAS 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 copyrighted owner(s).

BOTTLES and EXTRAS © (ISSN 1050-5598) is published bi-monthly (6 issues per year) by the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, Inc. (a non-profit IRS C3 educational organization) at 101 Crawford Street, Studio 1A, Houston, TX 77002; phone: 713.222.7979 x103; Website: FOHBC.org, Non-profit periodicals postage paid at Raymore, Missouri 64083 and additional mailing office, Pub. #005062.

Postmaster: Send address changes to Elizabeth Meyer, FOHBC Business Manager, 101 Crawford Street, Studio 1A, Houston, Texas 77002; 713.222.7979 x103, email: emeyer @ FOHBC.org

Classified Ads .................................................................................. 66

Membership Benefits ......................................................................... 71

Elizabeth Meyer FOHBC Business Manger 101 Crawford Street, Studio 1A Houston, Texas 77002 phone: 713.222.7979 x103 email: emeyer@fohbc.org

Page 52

Annual subscription rate is: $40 for standard mail or $55 for First Class, $60 Canada and other foreign, $85, Digital Membership $25 in U.S. funds. Life Membership: Level 1: $1,000, Level 2: $500, The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, Inc. assumes no responsibility for products and services advertised in this publication. See page 72 for more details.

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

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Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors Business & News

The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors is a non-profit organization for collectors of historical bottles 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 2016-2018

President: Ferdinand Meyer V, 101 Crawford, Studio 1A, Houston, TX 77002; phone: 713.222.7979 x115; email: fmeyer@fohbc.org

Conventions Director: Louis Fifer, 604 Topaz, Brunswick, Ohio 44212; phone: 330.635.1964; email: fiferlouis@yahoo.com

First Vice-President: Sheldon Baugh, 252 W Valley Dr, Russellville, KY 42276; phone: 270.726.2712; email: sbi_inc@bellsouth.net

Business Manager: Elizabeth Meyer, 101 Crawford Street, Studio 1A, Houston, TX 77002; phone: 713.222.7979 x103; email: emeyer@fohbc.org

Second Vice-President: Gene Bradberry, 3706 Deerfield Cove, Bartlett, TN 38135; phone: 901.372.8428; email: genebsa@gmail.com Secretary: James Berry, 200 Fort Plain Watershed Rd, St. Johnsville, NY 13452; phone: 518.568.5683; email: jhberry10@yahoo.com Treasurer: Gary Beatty, 3068 Jolivette Rd., North Port, FL 34288; phone: 941.276.1546; email: tropicalbreezes@verizon.net Historian: Jim Bender, PO Box 162, Sprakers, NY 12166; phone: 518.673.8833; email: jim1@frontiernet.net Editor: Martin Van Zant, 41 E. Washington St., Mooresville, IN 46168; phone: 812.841.9495; email: mdvanzant@yahoo.com Merchandising Director: Val Berry, 200 Fort Plain Watershed Rd, St. Johnsville, NY 13452; phone: 518.568.5683; email: vgberry10@yahoo.com Membership Director: Linda Sheppard, P.O. Box 162, Sprakers, NY 12166; phone: 518.673.8833; email: jim1@frontiernet.net

Director-at-Large: Ron Hands, 913 Parkside Drive, Wilson, North Carolina 27896, phone: 330.338.3455; email: rshands225@yahoo.com Director-at-Large: Steve Ketcham, PO Box 24114, Edina, Minnesota 55424, phone: 952.920.4205; email: steve@antiquebottledepot.com Director-at-Large: John Pastor, PO Box 227, New Hudson, MI 48165, phone: 248.486.0530; email: jpastor@americanglassgallery.com Midwest Region Director: Matt Lacy, 3836 State Route 307, Austinburg Ohio 44010, phone: 440.228.1873; email: info@antiquebottlesales.com Northeast Region Director: Bob Strickhart, 3 Harvest Drive, Pennington, New Jersey 08534, phone: 609.818.1981; email: strickhartbob@aol.com Southern Region Director: Brad Seigler, P.O. Box 27 Roanoke, Texas 76262, phone: 940.395.2409; email: drgonzo818@gmail.com Western Region Director: Eric McGuire, 1732 Inverness Drive, Petaluma, California 94954, phone: 707.778.2255; email: etmcguire@comcast.net Public Relations Director: Alicia Booth, 11502 Burgoyne Drive, Houston, Texas 77077, phone: 281.589.1882; email: alicia@cis-houston.org

September - October 2017

Bottles and Extras

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FOHBC FOHBC

President’s Message President’s Message Ferdinand Meyer V Ferdinand Meyer V

E

FMG Design, Inc. FMG Design, Inc. 101 Crawford Street 101 Crawford Street Studio 1A Studio 1ATexas 77002 Houston, Houston, Texasx115 77002 713.222.7979 713.222.7979 x115 fmeyer@fohbc.org fmeyer@fohbc.org

itting down my desk, on this first back-to-work Monday New lizabeth, myatgranddaughter, Isabella, and I just returned fromafter the FOYears, I conjure a vision a stove with lots of pots-a-cooking. itting at myup desk, on thisoffirst back-to-work Monday after New HBCdown 2017 Springfield National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo TheYears, kettle antique bottle events has with us two alllots looking forward Ilabeled conjure up our a vision of a stove of of pots-a-cooking. and are finally catching breaths after almost years planningto the stretch leading up the FOHBC 2016We’ve Sacramento National Antique The kettle labeled antique bottle events has us all looking forward toBotthe by the FOHBC andto Team Springfield. returned to some more bad tle Convention & Expo this August.

We have a coordination conference stretch leading up to the FOHBC 2016 Sacramento National Antique Botweather and a purported tornado touched down on our street with damage callanother later inhouse the&week step up or two.

We are also tle Convention thisplan August.

Weit anotch coordination conference to upExpo theand road.

Sixtoinches ofhave raina yesterday and today.

Fortupleased that we locked our 2017 Nationcall later inflight the week plan to many stepMassachusetts itwere up acanceled notch for orortwo.

We are also nately, our made and itininSpringfield, though diverted.

All-inal Antique byMassachusetts the time youmany read this message, pleased thatBottle we locked Springfield, for our 2017 all, we had such a Convention, greatintime andand from what I hear, of you didNationtoo.the FOHBC National Antiqueand Bottle Convention Expo have been al Antique2018 Bottle Convention, by the time you & read thiswill message, the announced forNational Cleveland, Ohio.Bottle We our teams in have place and FOHBC 2018 Convention & Expo will We will be putting full Antique coverage of thereally 2017have Springfield National in been our November-December wheels for in motion.

I suppose should start thinking about the announced Cleveland, Ohio.ofwe We reallyand have our teams in place and the issue Bottles Extras.

Obviously, it 2019 Convention in the Southern Region.

Planning ahead has many benefits. our wheels in motion.

I suppose we should start thinking about the would have been better in this issue, but the art would have been due2019 to Convention the10th Southern Region.

Planning ahead has many benefits. the printer byinthe of August and that is impossible with our show The FOHBC also sayadvertisements that this Marchand | April 2016 postal issue of concluding onisthe 6th.proud With to dated unreliable BOTTLES and EXTRAS is the first to be printed in full color, which The FOHBC is also proud to say that this March | April 2016 issue of service, we just could not delay the magazine or rush a series of Springonly National costs us additional an issue.

This change prompted a few BOTTLES andan EXTRAS is$184 the2,000 first to so bephotographs printed in full color, which field articles.

We have or to review, too! design revisions, which hope you will notice, such prompted as theCarol Table of only costs us anwere additional an issue.

This change a and few These pictures takenwe by$184 our official show photographers, Contents and a few of the section headers.

We receive quite a few redesign revisions, which we hope you will notice, such as the Table of Bill Petscavage. They did a fantastic job and we thank them so much. ally nice compliments on section howprovided the magazine looks and come Contents and a few of time the headers.

We receive quitehave a coverfew reThey volunteered their and excellent professional so far in start acompliments relative shorton number of years.

Oh, and lookand for have a newcome secally nice how the magazine looks age from to finish. tionfarininthe back of short the magazine called Gallery.” so a relative number of years.“Member Oh, and Photo look for a new This secnew section is dedicated to the fine photography of antique bottles and tion in the back of the magazine called “Member Photo Gallery.”

The numbers are not in yet and that will take a number of weeks or This glass.section Please feel free but totoearly submit your images consideration.

We new dedicated the fine photography of success antique months to putistogether, indications point for to atbottles many and have already started on the your May-June issue and hope that glass.

Please feel freework to Itsubmit images forwere consideration.

We levels and many junctures. seems like dealer sales strong and you will consider authoring an collections article the magazine.

We herethat to help! have already started work on theforMay-June issue andare hope you people purchased for their or resale, the weather cooperated will consider authoring anaarticle for the magazine.

We are here to help! for the most part (we had rainy Saturday), and the MassMutual Center Within this issue of BOTTLES andPlace EXTRAS, please were read the proposed and Sheraton Springfield Monarch Hotel venues superb. bylaw updates andofrevisions thatand have been marked red. the All proposed revisions Within this issue BOTTLES EXTRAS, pleaseinread have been approved by the FOHBC Board of Directors.

These bylaws bylaw updates and revisions that have been marked in red.

All revisions The educational displays this year were excellent. Thanks here to the have been amended and to spearheading be reviewed by the FOHBC membership have approved by need the for FOHBC Board of bylaws displayers and Fran Hughes thisDirectors. task.

TheThese seminars prior been to theamended annual general membership meeting at the FOHBC 2016 Nahave and received need to be reviewed by the FOHBC membership were well-attended and favorable reviews.

Thank you Peter tional Antique Bottle Convention & Expo in Sacramento, California by prior to the annual general membership meeting at the FOHBC 2016 NaBleiberg, Michael George, Wes Seemann, Richard Strunk & Mark Yates, an affirmative vote ofConvention a majority of all you, votes cast by George the eligible tional Antique Bottle & Expo in Michael Sacramento, California by John Spellman and Mark Vuono. Thank again,voters for in affirmative attendance, provided that a copy of the proposed changes arevoters made an of a majority of all votes cast the eligible heading up thevote seminars.

Much more coverage will by come later. available to each memberthat in advance, directly bychanges mail or are by timely in attendance, provided a copy ofeither the proposed made notice in the Federation’s official periodical or on the Federation available to each memberReception in advance, directly by mail or bywebsite. timely The Springfield Armory on either the first day was successful but notice in the Federation’s official on the Federation website. under attended.

I believe this wasperiodical due to theor non-sanctioned Coker In otherthat news, we areat moving with photography for the Virtual auction occurred the sameahead time. It appears that we need to put a Museum and hope to have regional photography labs set up in regions In other news, we are moving ahead with photography for the Virtual non-compete clause in our hotel and convention center contracts. We had to start photographing bottles both in alocal standard format andin 3-dimenMuseum and and hopehad to ithave regional photography labs set up regions leftover food delivered to the homeless shelter by one of sionally.

This effort is being spearheaded

by Museum Director, Alan Deto start bottles both in a standard format and 3-dimenthe Parkphotographing Rangers.

Maison. This You may met Alan at the Virtual Museum table during the sionally. efforthave is being spearheaded

by Museum Director, Alan DeFOHBC 2015 Chattanooga National Antique Bottle Show August.

Maison.

You may have met Alan at the Virtual Museum during the The banquet was the best ever.

Good food, attendance andtable thelast great tribFOHBC 2015 Chattanooga National Show Alast ute to Dick & Elma Watson with their Antique family inBottle attendance. bigAugust. thanks Federation member Alicia is heading up for thethis nomination process to Jim Bender, Phyllis KochBooth and Bob Strickhart heartfelt tribute. for thewas election of Hall all Federation including the President, Vice Federation member Alicia Boothaward isofficers heading up the&nomination There also the of Fame to Charles Mark Vuonoprocess and President(s), Secretary, Treasurer, Business Manager, Difor the election of all for Federation officers including theMembership President, the Honor Roll award Jon Landers.

It was nice to hear from MarkVice and President(s), Secretary, Treasurer, Business Manager, Membership DiJon when they accepted their awards. We even sang Happy Birthday and

had a gigantic presented to Dr. Burton Spiller! rector, Public birthday Relationscake Director, Conventions Director, Historian, Merchandising Director, Directors-at-Large (3), and RegionHistorian, DirectorsMer(4). rector, Public Relations Director, Conventions Director, Many received awards their club Any articles, newsletters, These clubs elections occur everyfor two years. officer mayDirectors runwebsites for succhandising Director, Directors-at-Large (3), and Region (4). and clubterms. flyers. The front operations team (Alicia Booth, Val Berry, for cessive committee hasyears. prepared slate ofmay nominations These electionsThis occur every two Any aofficer run for sucElizabeth Meyer, Linda Sheppard & Bev Siri) received the 2017 each office andThis is listed below. has It isprepared importanta to note any Presimember cessive terms. committee slate of that nominations for dent’s Award for their outstanding work at the FOHBC 2016 Sacramento desiring to and run is forlisted any office Federation nomination each office below. inIt the is important to may note file that aany member National Antique Bottle Show. form with Committee accordance with apdesiring to the run Election for any office in the(inFederation may fileprocedures a nomination proved by the the Election membership and instituted by the Election Committee) form with Committee (in accordance with procedures apJim Hagenbuch and his Glass Works Auctions teamdeadline should be congratuindicating they desire to run for.byThe filing this proved by the the office membership and instituted the Electionfor Committee) lated for 1st the outstanding Watson One Auction.campaigns This was our first membermornis April 2016.

We have seen successful byfor our indicating the office they desire to run for. The deadline filing this ing auction in many, many years.

The lots were called by Jesse Sailor ship before so if you runsuccessful for a position, please by let our Alicia know. is April 1st 2016.

We want have to seen campaigns memberand all seemed pretty exciting.

A great cross-section of iconic bottlesYou Youitbefore and reach this toemail address, alicia@cis-houston.org. ship so ifher youatwant run for a position, please let Alicia know. from probably the largest bottle and jar collection ever. will and be receiving voting so please take the time to vote.

You reach hera atballot this for email address, alicia@cis-houston.org.

You will be receiving a ballot for voting so please take the time to vote.

The Springfield Bottle Battle was well attended. Rick Ciralli did an FOHBCjob Candidates outstanding emceeing the event as excellent bottles were presented FOHBC Candidates for each of the categories (Saratoga Type Spring Water Bottles, SandHere is the slatethree of FOHBC wichHere Glass and Best Massachusetts Bottle). Congratulations to the winrecommended candidates is the slate of FOHBC ners.recommended will be featured in the next issue along with many color images. putThey forth by thecandidates nominating committee

by Alicia put forth byheaded the nominating Booth, Chairperson, forAlicia the all the volunteers that helped at the front FOIt was also nice committee headedtobyhave 2016 -Chairperson, 2018 term.

HBC tables and elsewhere.

Thank you, Isabella Alucema, Val Berry, Booth, for the Elizabeth Meyer 2016 - 2018 term.and Linda Sheppard. Thank you. Louis Fifer and Matt Anyone desiring toup runfor the FOHBC 2018 Cleveland National Antique Lacy, for setting for aConvention position choose Bottle & Expo. Onward to the Rock & Roll Hall and Fame Anyone desiringmay to run to run againstmay one of the you to Jeff Ullman for technical and security asand for Cleveland!

Thank a position choose by one going the Rose for marketing. sistance.

Thanks to Bill tocandidates run against of tothe FOHBC website and toprinting candidates by going the out a nomination website andform. printing TheFOHBC Virtual Museum presence was very successful. We were able to film Then, mail email toand Aliciaeducate our audience. I was able to personally out a nomination form. a number of orbottles Booth,with 11502 Burgoyne Then, mail oraemail to Aliciaof people and recount the museum’s Mission Stateconnect number Drive, Houston, Texas 11502 Burgoyne mentBooth, which is as follows, “The FOHBC Virtual Museum will be estab77077.

Drive, lished to Houston, display,Texas inform, educate, and enhance the enjoyment of historical alicia@cis-houston.org 77077. bottle and glass collecting by providing an online virtual museum experiencealicia@cis-houston.org for significant historical bottles and other items related to early glass. closingMuseum date for nomiThe The Virtual will be a digital expression of what one might find in nations is April 1,for2016 The closing date nomi-at museum. There will be galleries, exhibitions, rea real ‘bricks and mortar’ midnight. nations is April 1, 2016 at search, resources and support functions to enhance the visitor experience.

Themidnight. museum will contain, but not be limited to, images of subject bottles Additionala nominations will and glass, written description of those subjects with dimensions, videos, be available, printednominations alongside will and Additional if thethe history of the bottles along with an estimation of slate proposed by thethe nom- grow and be expandable.” We took in additional be printed alongside rarity.

The museum will inating committee andnomwill slate proposed byand the donation money showed the beta web site with 10 or so pages of bitbe listed in the May-June committee and willWe mapped out the next year a bit more with folks ters inating (our first gallery).

2016 of BOTTLES and be listed in the May-June wanting aissue visit.

A big thanks to Alan DeMaison is in order here.

EXTRASissue along with a short 2016 of BOTTLES and biography of each along with biggest a short and nicest Souvenir Program yet at 152 pages We EXTRAS also have the candidate. biography of each The program is sure to become a collector’s item. I including covers. havecandidate. already received a dozen or so requests for copies from folks that FOHBC will vote could not members attend the show. Thank you to all of the content providers and by a form provided mail.

FOHBC members willbyvote advertisers that made the program a success and to Jim & Val Berry for The new board members by a form provided by mail. heading up the effort. will new be announced after a The board members votebecount atlike the annual will announced after a I would also to thank Jim Bender, Eric McGuire and Jeff Ullman Membership Meeting the annual and vote for count theiratfine northeastern-themed articles in Bottles and Extras this Breakfast at Meeting the FOHBC pastMembership year. These articles certainly set the stage for Springfield and even 2016 Sacramento National Breakfast the FOHBC continue inatthis issue with a reprint of Northeastern Favorites taken from AntiqueSacramento Bottle Convention 2016 National the program. & Expo.Bottle Convention Antique Expo. I forgot to thank some but I need to get this off to our Editor, I am&sure Martin Van Zant, and Bill Baab to proof.

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September - October 2017

Bottles and Extras outhouse or a well, they filled it in with trash,” said Toby Kissam, executive coordinator of the Historical Society, who participated in the dig. “They’re cavities for archaeological finds.”

But no outhouse or well was found at the site of the old arsenal. In 1775, local militia stored gunpowder, kettles, tents and other supplies at the facility.

The 90-minute dig followed a more comprehensive September 2006 study at the arsenal site. At that time there was a detached garage on the property concealing what historians said they hoped was an outhouse pit.

Archaeological dig finds bottles from old tavern A archaeological dig turned up more curiosities than real treasures, but researchers say there’s still a lot to learn.

The garage was removed in 2012 during the town’s restoration of the arsenal. Town officials have appropriated $21,000 to build a pavilion to house the town’s replica Revolutionary War-era whaleboat on the site.

Local historians, with the help of an archaeologist hired by town officials, dug down about a foot at the site of a Revolutionary War-era arsenal on Park Avenue, where the local militia stored supplies.

The arsenal is open for special events and, by appointment, for tours hosted by costumed interpreters.

“Even though the finds may not be earth-shattering, they do remind us of our long history and that traces of that history are literally right beneath our feet,” town historian Robert Hughes said of the May 25 dig.

A fragment of a piece of pottery from the late 18th century was unearthed. Several items dating to the early 19th century were also discovered.

Town Supervisor Frank Petrone said the discoveries will eventually go on display.

“They didn’t find what they hoped for, but I think it was a worthwhile study to see what was there,” Petrone said. “It’s a historic site so there are things that go back to different historic eras which are of interest.”

The bricks and broken blue and white plates shared the space with a piece of a grindstone. Several bottles, one still containing liquid, were recovered.

Ceramic pieces dating from throughout the 19th century - some made locally - also were excavated.

One of two long-neck bottles pulled out of the dirt can be traced to the Huntington House, a tavern and hotel that stood on the northwest corner of Main and Wall streets, about a mile away from the dig site, until 1920. The tavern was the precursor of what today is Finnegan’s Tap Room.

The second beer bottle is inscribed with the name of Welz and Zerweck - a Ridgewood, Brooklyn, brewery that was in business from 1883 until 1920, when Prohibition put an end to it.

Historians said they were hoping to find an outhouse or old well at the site. Outhouse pits hold the potential for yielding a rich collection of artifacts, Hughes said.

“Historically sometimes when they filled in an

Beer bottles and broken plates are among the 18th and 19th century artifacts found at an archaeological dig outside a Huntington arsenal

Bottles and Extras

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September - October 2017

Liberty Hall Museum finds a wine bottle from 1798

By Rafaela Teixeira Kean University’s Liberty Hall Museum recently took inventory of the wine cellar and discovered a wine bottle dated back to 1798.

HISTORY’S CORNER In Memory of Dick Watson longtime FOHBC Historian

The brand of Robert Lenox Madeira has been around for many years and has been known as a long lasting wine. When shipping wine across oceans from Europe to America hundreds of years ago, Madeira was the brand that lasted long enough to still be consumed after much time on sea.

Bill Schroh, Jr., the Director of Museum Operations at Liberty Hall Museum, said that the rooms at Liberty Hall have not been lived in for 250 years. Every year, the team picks a room to renovate. In 2016, the project was the wine cellar. The staff not only cleaned out the room, but they listed and sorted through every bottle belonging to the Kean family.

“There is a possibility of the wine being great [or] also a possibility of it tasting like vinegar”, said Schroh. The wine cellar had not been properly cleaned in 50 years, said Schroh. It was decided to take inventory as the walls were being painted and floors being redone. Although it was important to keep the house looking relatively similar, it was decided by the University to make it adhere to the museum look.

John Kean, Sr.’s mother was the last person to live in the Liberty Hall house and was a resident of the historical property until 1995 before it being turned into a museum in 2000.

“There were bottles on top of bottles; some were bad, some were good, some were popped and emptied, some were broken; but there were just so many. There were at least 200 years’ worth of bottles in there,” he said Staff members were not sure of what they would find in the mysterious wine cellar. There were six cases down in the basement of the main house. All six were popped open to which the Madeira wine from 1798 was found, sealed and corked.

“Someone lived in this room (Schroh’s office), then that person died.

Another relative comes live in the house and instead of throwing the other person’s stuff out, the person takes it all and puts it in the attic.

The family did this seven times. Every time someone passed away, their belongings would be kept somewhere in the house”, this is how Mr. Kean described his family to Schroh.

Every generation contributed to the contents of the house. The team continues to sort through the objects and historical papers to make important discoveries.

For instance, a meal log was found where members of the Kean family wrote all the names of the people they invited to dinner and luncheons at their house in New York. Big names, like President Teddy Roosevelt, were found written in the document showing the connections the family had.

Members of the family also listed and took their own individual inventory lists of bottles purchased in their time living in the Liberty Hall house. This is helpful to the team because they can see where each bottle of alcohol comes from and more about the different brands.

The next project of the house the team will tackle is the Alexander Hamilton room. Alexander Hamilton was connected to the family as a friend of a friend, as well as a political associate, said Schroh.

He continued, “one of the spaces in the house is legend to him staying in the house when he lived in New Jersey in 1773. This room will be restored and decorated in colonial times to be dedicated to his memory.”

For many years, the Blaske flask collection was thought to be the most complete collection of flasks ever assembled.

The collection was sold in May of 1983 by Skinners Auction Gallery. The sale was conducted by Norman C. Heckler.

Today the Vuono family collection is the most complete collection of flasks. It outnumbers the Blaske collection in both mold numbers and the total number of bottles. It has taken over half a century to assemble.

Watch each issue for a new installment of History’s Corner.

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FOHBC News From & For Our Members Dick Roller: One of the Greats; Why isn’t He in the Hall of Fame?

By Bill Baab - 2011 Inductee FOHBC Hall of Fame The history of fruit jar manufacturing is also the history of America’s industrial revolution, the glass industry and grandma’s preserves.

While our antique bottle collecting hobby has been extant since the early part of the 20th century, background information about the glass factories, their products and individuals involved was sadly lacking when I broke into the hobby (excuse the pun) in 1969.

According to FOHBC Hall of Famer Junne Barnett, Dick’s fascination with fruit jars began in the late 1960s “when he and his wife, Jennie, started to collect them when they were canning pickles and talking about jars their mothers used during the time they were preserving foods.

“The Rollers decided it would be interesting to show their children these jars and off to the antiques store they went. Luckily, they found a Ball Perfect Mason and a Ball Ideal for only $3 each. That was the start of their collection,” Mrs. Barnett (now deceased) said.

By 1971, Dick was advertising fruit jars for sale under the business name “The Old Jar Shop.”

Few were the books documenting such activities until George and Helen McKearin published their seminal American Glass (1941).

Gosh! What a revelation to learn so much about how early glass fitted into the American historical picture.

Another fruit jar enthusiast of the era was the late Vivian “Granny” Kath, who credited Roller with straightening out the misconceptions and inaccurate material on fruit jars that was common in articles of the time.

Nearly three decades before, pioneer collector Stephen Van Rensselaer published “Early American Bottles and Flasks.” His 1929 book became rare and expensive, but J. Edmund Edwards, of Stratford, Conn., published a revised edition 40 years later. My copy is signed

by Charles Gardner, of New London, Conn. Gardner personally knew Van Renssellaer and, as the story goes, swapped some antique firearms for some antique bottles with the author.

“When Dick started collecting and studying fruit jars, he was appalled by the conjecture, hearsay and inaccurate material in the fruit jar books that had been published,” Granny recalled. “He decided to do some serious research into the history of glasshouses and the jars they made.”

But that book did not contain any information about fruit jars, which came much later in the 19th century. As far as I know, even renowned bottle archaeologist Harry Hall White did not write a fruit jar article for The Magazine Antiques, which published White’s findings concerning American historical flasks.

There were eventually a number of collectors whose research led to some fruit jar knowledge gained while perusing early patents and following up with research into individual patenters and glass factories. They did not have Internet resources like Google and Wikipedia; in fact, the Internet was yet to come, so they relied on mostly leg work and eye strain caused by squinting at newspaper and other archives on Microfilms.

One was the late Richard Allen “Dick” Roller, born Dec. 9, 1930 in Baltimore, Maryland, and died June 11, 1998 in Paris, Illinois.

In 1970, Roller began sharing information with Charles “Chuck” Lorenz, author and publisher of the groundbreaking “Fruit Jar Newsletter.” Roller contributed information which appeared in 12 of all 24 issues of the newsletter.

Roller also shared information with Arleta Rodriguez, fruit jar editor for Old Bottle Magazine (Fruit Jar Clearing House) published by Ken and Shirley Asher out of Bend, Oregon. I joined many other collectors who subscribed to it because it offered the best information about our hobby at the time. Kath’s column in The Bottle Trader was called “Granny Kath’s Kitchen” and Roller became a regular contributor. In fact, Granny credited Roller with 160 contributions over the years. He soon took Arleta’s place and began a lifelong friendship and the sharing of fruit jar information with both.

Then Roller read an article penned in the Ball Line, the company house organ, by Edmund F. Ball, then president of Ball Brothers Company. (That was) “the start of my very fortuitous relationship with the Ball Corporation,” Roller said.. “After explaining my interest, Mr. Ball kindly agreed to let me study the family documents. That one action became the major breakthrough in my long quest to understand the story of Mason and the other early fruit jars pioneers.”

In August 1973, Old Bottle Magazine endorsed Dick’s undertaking like this: “NEW FRUIT JAR NEWSLETTER!” The Ashers quickly became the first subscriber to Dick’s “own monthly newsletter” and their magazine continued to publish “Fruit Jar News Clearing House” even after he edited a different article for his Fruit Jars Newsletter. He stayed busy, the understatement in this article.

His fans and friends will quickly agree that the crowning achieve-

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ment of Dick’s association with the fruit jar collecting hobby was his publication in late 1983 of The Standard Fruit Jar Reference. His objectives were spelled out in the book’s preface: “. . .to bring together under one cover all the information presently known of fruit jars and their history, to correct previously published errors on the subject, and to add to the existing record all the data that I’d accumulated over the years. . .”

Dr. Jerry Simmons, Newsletter Editor, Kansas Territory Bottle and Postcard Club

Federation Hall of Famer Tom Caniff called the book “the Holy Grail to information-hungry fruit jar collectors.” In fact, Caniff (and his talented wife, Deena) continue to quote Roller in their Antique Bottle & Glass Collector magazine column, “Fruit Jar Rambles,” including mention in the current (May 2017) issue, Page 19.

Wanted New Orleans Bottles

In 2015, I joined Caniff and many others in nominating Roller for the FOHBC Hall of Fame. The federation board of directors failed to induct him by one vote, I was told. One Vote!

So I sent in a fresh nomination letter during 2016, participated in a conference call with some of the board members and others in 2017 before a secret ballot was conducted. Roller failed to advance again, but I was not privy to the margin this time. There are 19 board members and to be inducted in the Hall of Fame, 12 must vote “Yes,” according to federation President Ferdinand Meyer V. I’ll let this story stand in place of yet another nominating letter because if anyone involved in our hobby past and present deserves such recognition, it’s Dick Roller.

(Thanks goes to Barry Bernas, Wayne and June Lowry, Tom Caniff, the Midwestern Antique Fruit Jar and Bottle club’s president Dick Cole and many others who contributed to the voluminous file supporting Roller’s nomination).

[FM5] Thank you for your letter Bill. It was close again this year and I personally hope the nomination is accepted in the future. The voting is as you state with the nomination requiring 12 of 18 voting board members to vote yes. The votes are secret as to allow an honest assessment without peer pressure as opposed to a live vote during a semi-annual meeting. Each nomination is well-presented and discussion occurs during our meetings whether they are in person or on a conference call. Only two Hall of Fame candidates can be accepted in any one year. This year we had three submissions and one was passed, Charles and Mark Vuono. Like other Hall of Fame venues in sports and music for example, many candidates did not get in with the first submissions. A lot of factors are in play. I can say that the process is taken very seriously and votes are taken in confidence by Elizabeth Meyer (FOHBC Business Manager) who is a non-voting board member. They are then validated by the president and first vice president. Votes are kept in confidence.

[FM5] Thanks Dr. Simmons. I forwarded the requested information to you. Keep in mind, all Federation members have access to the members portal where this and most past issues of Bottles and Extras are indexed and archived for research.

Hi There! I am Jenny an interior designer at New York based design firm Stonehill & Taylor. I wanted to reach out in hopes that you can help lead me in the right direction. We are working on a hotel design in New Orleans off Magazine street. I am hoping to locate vintage NOLA bitters bottles to have displayed throughout the library of the hotel. I wanted to see where I can locate these kinds of bottles and see some options to purchase. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Cheers, Jenny [B&E] Jenny: These bottles could be rather expensive and best put on display as you note. I would visit the regional antique bottle shows or search eBay. Please visit FOHBC.org for information on bottle shows.

More on Paine’s Celery Compound Ferdinand, as a Vermonter and avid collector of Vermont bottles, I really enjoyed your article on the Paine’s Celery Compound bottles.

But, I was wondering why you didn’t include the early semi-cabin style bottles used by M.K. Paine? Have attached some pictures you might find interesting.

Dave Mosher

1920s Bottle Question

Paine’s Celery Compound semi cabin bottles

Need Bottles and Extra issue for Kansas Club 10th Anniversary Good morning. I am Jerry Simmons, the newsletter editor for the Kansas Territory Bottle and Postcard Club. I am currently working on putting an article and a CD together that commemorates the club’s 10th anniversary which was this past April. I came on the club scene in 2009 and was informed of the 2008 issue of Bottles and Extras article involving the 1st KS club bottle show. Computer search resulted in yes, the Bottle and Extras July-August 2008 issue on page 14 indeed has the pictures, etc. Can you advise me as to where I may procure that 2008 issue or at least the article/pictures.

Thanks for all you do for the bottle collecting hobby!

Good morning, My name is Shae Cox and I am a collections assistant at The Mob Museum in Las Vegas. Part of our new exhibit is a Prohibition Era pharmacy and we are attempting to find sources for obtaining those bottles. Can you put me in contact with a collector or other source willing to sell some of their items? Thank you for any assistance you are able to provide. Best wishes, Shae Cox, Collections Assistant The Mob Museum Las Vegas, Nevada

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My Story (25 Holes in 49 Days) Good morning. Hi Ferd, Jack Klotz here. First let me say I thought this latest magazine issue of Bottles and Extras was above and beyond the usual excellence mark. I especially enjoyed the Hidden Church Finds by Jim Berry. Makes me wonder what is still there, and more so what the church would consider compensation to gain access!

I also enjoyed your article on the P J Murray history. I actually went, “Oh, REALLY?!” at the idea of a public urinal at the bar. Imagine if it was all that crowded how soggy ones’ trousers may have gotten from splash-back, (or worse yet if there were a serious argument what a “duel” might involve) but I digress, severely! Ha! I also enjoyed, as always the Lost & Found. The picture of “The Gay Pikey” as he calls himself on ebay first caught my attention with his bovine buddies watching him dig. I thought it hilarious and he graciously sent me more pictures I have archived somewhere. Your addition of him and friends just put a familiar smile on my face again, thank you very much.

My story really looked great with the usual added photographic embellishment at the beginning. Which brings me to the root of my email. I am nearing the end of a dig story (Editor note: this issue, 25 Holes in 49 Days) that began in early 2012 a few short months after my 60th birthday that was epic (at least for me) in nature. So much so, I am afraid I have blablabla’d much too long for a single edition as it is nearly twice as long as my last story. In a nutshell, it involves my digging solo 25 productive “pits” at a demolition site a full city block long in 49 days, or averaging one hole every two days. It also involves some serious criers such as not one but TWO broken yellow green Kelly’s Old Cabin Bitters and a perfect Dr. Wilcox’s Fever & Ague Cure from Albany (with only a small handful known) with accompanying in situ photos.

My question was almost answered with the end of Jim Berry’s story on the church steeple bottles with “Continued.....” In realizing the length of this story, I divided it into two parts, leaving the reader hanging for the better part. I have it formatted into one email so that is how I will have to submit it. The pictures will follow shortly after.

Let me know, if you can, if this is something generally avoided and if so I could make a shortened version to fit into one edition, or if you like leave it in the two part format. You could also simply leave it in its entirety but I fear it will take up about 6 printed pages, not including any photos. I expect to wrap up the story by weeks end and send it your way then. Again, thank you for the opportunity to see my adventures in writing in your fine magazine. Sincerely, Jack Klotz.

PS-- Hope to meet you in Springfield. It will be my first National Convention. Only show I ever really went to was the Morro Bay show you mentioned awhile back. I was the youngest member when they first formed and had been digging for about 5 years then. It was jokingly known as the SLOBS for San Luis Obispo Bottle Society.

Probably where I get at least some of my bent humor!

A Distillery from Italy Dear Mr. Ferdinando, I’m sure this letter will find you well.

We are so happy to found your collection of pictures. You have put together a tremendous work on this collection of old pictures, congratulations!

We are an antique Distillery in Piedmont, Italy, Distilleria Montanaro, since 1885. Unfortunately we don’t have much pictures of our distillery from back in the days.

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For many different reasons, (wars, floated, lost etc) our photo collection is basically zero. What we have are some old books and interesting hand written letters of love that we fond inside some books we saved from our older generations. We will be happy to share it if you are interested. (also we have lots of antique instruments that we could take picture of and send to you).

Nowadays we are working in a vermouth project and have the need of explaining what is vermouth. Since we are making a series of short videos in the stylish of antique looking, we were wondering if we could use just a few of your collections? For this particular video of 15 seconds we will not promote our brand, in order to don’t create confusion if we use some of this pictures of your collection. Would it be possible to use some of the pictures you have posted?

We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Best regards, Fidel Gamboa.

Introduction Yochim Brothers Distillery Hello Ferdinand, A mutual acquaintance, Jay Hendrickson has been alerting me to family relics which come up for auction on eBay. I am the great grandson of Aloysius Richard (AR) Yochim and great grand nephew of Joseph Yochim. My father was AR Yochim Jr., born in New Orleans in 1924 to Wilhelmina and AR Yochim Sr. I have a Yochim Brothers Celebrated Bitters bottle with label still intact. I recently acquired a second bitters bottle and another cordial bottle labeled Yochim Brothers Distillery New Orleans. I would welcome keeping in touch and learning and sharing some of our family heritage. I recently retired from Pharmaceuticals business, and have a large folder of letters, receipts, and large column recipes for many cordials. Some in good condition and very legible, others fading but still readable.

Uncle Joe, as he was known was a character who never met an investment he did not like! Panama Canal bonds, orange crush stock, mortgage instruments, etc. He was the genius mixologist, chemists and distiller. AR was the consummate professional businessman and successful salesman. Naturally they were successful together but clashed often as reflected in some letters. Attached a couple of images. I hope we can begin a dialog?

Chris Yochim, Chester County, PA

Detail of Yochim Brothers Bitters label

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Color run of Hutchinson’s Tonic Bitters - Rod Vining

Hutchinson’s Tonic Bitters

Collecting Club Bottles Article

Ferdinand, here are some new photos (see example above) of the Hutchinson’s Tonic Bitters. The yellow amber is from recent American Glass Gallery auction. The amber and olive amber is from AGG auction #13. The grouping of colored ones is flanked by a smooth base aqua on the left and an iron pontiled aqua one on the right. Note the different tops.

[To Bill Baab] Hi Bill, I wanted to get the club’s reaction to your recent article on the club bottles (Collecting Club Bottles: Glimpses into the Past of Our Great Hobby, May-June 2017) before I sent you a message about it. We had our meeting on Saturday in Morrison and the magazine was passed around to each of the 25 attendees, and of course there were some that took some extra time at other times during the meeting. Maybe a few more will join the Federation as a result. Some of our member are Federation members, Clyde Jones for example. Clyde was very favorably impressed. I was surprised by the large pictures of the Ethanol and Hostetter’s Bitters. I was wondering if Ferdinand had a hand in that. A very well written article, thank you. I think you may remember you said you could send us some extra copies of this issue. I hope that is the case for there is a high demand for them.

Our next meeting is in June o the 17th. Would it be possible to get some by then? I am doing a lot of digging it is spring, found lots of dirt could use some better bottles to go with the dirt. Your Friends,

Here is the story to go along with the yellow amber one. I have a bottle book from 1971 titled “1250 Bitters Bottles” by Ed Bartholomew.

I am 99% certain that the yellow amber Tonic Bitters is the one pictured on page 182 as part of the author’s collection. It was a dug bottle, and in a black and white photo, but the top is unmistakable, since the “colored” ones almost always have a long tapered collar with no ring underneath. The only other colored example with a non-standard top has one of the bottom corners of the bottle missing.

Also, the photo in the book shows a ring of glass under the lip that has a distinct up and down pattern to it visible on the “J.W. Hutchinson” panel. This is how I know this is the same bottle from the 1971 book.

I found and called Ed Bartholomew about 15 years ago. He was an elderly man, and he no longer remembered much or seemed to care what happened to his bottles. He had no idea where or when he sold the Hutchinson Tonic Bitters. That was the end of the search until I saw the auction photo. I immediately dug out the old book to verify my hunch. Just another of one of those that I “had” to have. Thanks, Rod Vining Grand Bay, Alabama

Special Recognition Ferdinand: I want to offer praise and thanks to Elizabeth for her many phone calls and emails needed to resolve some issues with insurance to cover our June show. Without her help the show would not be possible. In fact, without the FOHBC blanket policy, we would not be able to afford a nice facility for our show.

David Tingen Vice President, Raleigh Bottle and Collectibles Club

Mark and Jimmy the Pup

My Visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to examine its cross-swirled Pitkin flask Dear Ferdinand, I extend my thanks to you and the Federation for a beautiful job with my article. I love the photo of the museum!

John Panella posted the magazine cover on the Bottle Collectors Facebook page and it’s getting a lot of attention. He also mentioned several other authors and I’m going to settle down and read it all.

You graciously mentioned on the phone that I could have 10 extra copies...now that I see it, I would love that, and I definitely want to either send or bring 2 copies to my friends at the museum. I think they would appreciate that very much.

Thank you again, for everything. Next up: Indian medicine bottles. All the best, Dana Charlton-Zarro The Bronx, New York

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CLEVELAND,OHIO

Mark your calendar now for the biggest antique bottle and glass event of 2018!

Brought to you by the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors and the Ohio Bottle Club

Bottles and Extras

August 2-5, 2018

Thursday-August 2:

2018 FOHBC - CLEVELAND

National Antique Bottle

Convention & Expo

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Reception, Registration, Bottle Competition Friday-August 3: FOHBC Membership Mtg Breakfast, Educational Seminars, Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Early Admission, FOHBC Cocktail Hour & Banquet Saturday-August 4: Live Bottle Auction, Show General Admission, Youth Corner, Room Hopping Sunday-August 5: General Admission,Youth Corner & Display Awards Show end at 1:00 pm

Info: Louis Fifer, 330.635.1964, fiferlouis@yahoo.com or Matt Lacy, 440.228.1873, info@antiquebottlesales.com (Cleveland Co-Chairs) or FOHBC.org

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2019 FOHBC 50th

Anniversary National Antique Bottle Convention

Augusta Georgia

Greetings from...

2-4August 2019

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49er H.B.A.

BO

Bottles and Extras

“Best of the West” 2017 Antique Bottle, Insulator & Western Collectibles Show

40th Annual

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OLLECTO RS

DER AT IO E FE N

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VI

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U A L MUSE U

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VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF HISTORICAL BOTTLES AND GLASS Phase 1 Goal: $30,000

30k

Dec. 1st: 9 am - 5 pm $10 Dec. 2nd: 9 am - 3 pm Free

Placer County Fairgrounds 800 All America City Blvd.

Roseville, California 95678

Info: Mike 916-367-1829

25k

20k

15k

10k

5k

Please help us fill the bottle!

Development Gifts as of 16 July 2017: $22,258.98 for more info please visit:

FOHBC.org

Send gift to: Alan DeMaison, FOHBC Virtual Museum 1605 Clipper Cove, Painesville, Ohio 44077

SAVING THE FIZZ THE EVOLUTION OF PATENTED BOTTLE CLOSURES SINCE THE HUMBLE CORK The most comprehensive book of patent closures for soda and beer bottles published to date, this newly-released book draws from original sources from around the world and details some 2,500 patents. Many originate from the U.S. It is richly illustrated with over 4,920 bottle and closure photographs, patent drawings and historical images accompanied by descriptive text. Closures range from the cork through all types of internally stoppered bottles, Hutchison and swing-type closures, external and internal screw through to crown cork seals and more. The book is lavishly presented in 624 full-colour pages printed on quality paper bound in a hard cover.

Size is 12.5” x 9” and weighs 6.8 pounds.

To view sample pages, go to: www.savingthefizz.com US & Canada: AUD$240 (US$182 approx.) including packaging & internationl postage.

Please make payment via PayPal (using Family & Friends option) in Australian dollars to David Jones at: mulloon@bigpond.net.au

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Ernest

Bottles and Extras

Kellerstrass

By Jack Sullivan

The Distiller Who Loved Chickens As hard as it may be to believe, the young man with the cigar (Fig. 1) talking to a rooster and surrounded by newly hatched chicks had an earlier, highly successful career as a distiller and liquor dealer. His name was Ernest Kellerstrass and he made his mark in both whiskey and chickens in Kansas City, Missouri.

fate unknown. He subsequently married Emily Guesewelle, born in 1861 in Atchison, Kansas. They would have three children, Grace, Robert and Karl, all born in Illinois. What brought Ernest to Kansas City and the liquor trade is unclear but his success appears to have been very rapid.

Ernest was born “Ernst” circa 1866 in Peoria, Illinois, the son of Fredrich Robert Kellerstrass, a German immigrant who ran a candy store. His mother was Margaretha Augustine. Their son appears to have been a “go-getter” from an early age. In the 1880 census, when Ernest was but 14 years old, his occupation was given as “baker.” Moreover, he is on record claiming he began his interest in chickens about the age of eight.

Kellerstrass, still in his 30s, showed extraordinary initiative.

About 1899, he established his company as the successor to the Columbia Supply Co. and located his main office in Kansas City, selling stock in the Kellerstrass Distilling Company at $10 a share (Fig. 2). When he listed the officers of the firm, he named himself, his children and other Kellerstrass relatives. He used the proceeds to buy a distillery in Paradise, Clay County, Missouri, that had been founded about a decade earlier (Fig. 3).

Kellerstrass appears to have grown up in Illinois and, according to information in Ancestry.com, was twice married there. His first wife was a woman named “Daisy” -- no last name given and

Through his distillery he was able to gain a secure supply of raw whiskey for his brands. With continued success he created a

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second sales depot across the state in St. Louis (Fig. 4). As shown on his letterhead, Kellerstrass emphasized his access to railway express to send his goods west from Kansas City and east from St. Louis (Fig. 5).

Kellerstrass packaged his whiskey in clear glass embossed bottles, often covered by a colorful label, including, as shown here, bearing pictures of the Clay County distillery and St. Louis depot (Figs. 6-8). His embossing was simple with his company name in a oval (Fig. 9).

Like many liquor dealers of his time, Kellerstrass featured giveaway items to favored customers, among them a range of gold rimmed shot glasses (Fig. 10 & 11). He also issued the “Kellerstrass’ Dream Book”, a 32-page pamphlet that purported to explain the meaning of images seen in dreams (Fig. 12). Despite its intriguing cover, the publication, issued about 1903, was a thinly-veiled advertising vehicle for Kellerstrass liquor. Some of his giveaways, like a “mechanical” trade card, indicated that Ernest had a sense of humor (Fig. 13).

Primarily operating a mail order liquor house, Kellerstrass offered premiums to retail customers. He issued one certificate for each gallon of whiskey ordered.

Nine certificates earned a pen knife, 38 a revolver, 80 a double gauge shotgun and 300 a buggy. Short a certificate or two? Kellerstrass would give you additional chits at a cost of 25 cents each (Fig. 14).

Fig. 1: Ernest Kellerstrass talking to a rooster and surrounded by newly hatched chicks.

By 1903, Ernest had gained notice from the Missouri business community and media for his success. Bearing the headline “The Kellerstrass Christmas,” The Kansas City Journal in its December 25, 1903 edition, ran the following story: Probably the most generous Christmas giver in Kansas City yesterday was Ernest Kellerstrass, the big distiller, whose presents to those who serve him, all given in gold, amounted to just $2,710.

Every man and woman in his employ, or who has been of service to him in the last year, received gifts ranging from $5 to, in one case, $1,000 in gold. The telephone girls at the Central office, the express wagon drivers, the postman and everyone else who came in touch with his enormous business, was remembered.

The princely generosity of Mr. Kellerstrass had been well known in the past, but this year he fairly outdid himself. “But the Kellerstrass Distilling Company never did such a business in its life as in this year,” said he, when speaking modestly of his munificence, “and I wanted all those who had helped its success to share in its good fortune.”

The employees of the company did not forget Mr. Kellerstrass either. The women “chipped in” and bought him two magnificent imported tankards, while the men combined in a smoking set of horn and ivory, mounted in gold, with his monogram on the ivory.

Leavening his local celebrity status, Ernest suffered a personal tragedy. His wife, Emily, age 41, died, leaving him with three

Vintage chicken coop images and painting

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Fig. 2: Stock in the Kellerstrass Distilling Company at $10 a share.

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Fig. 3: Kellerstrass label showing Kansas City Distillery.

Fig. 5: As shown on his letterhead, Kellerstrass emphasized his access to railway express to send his goods west from Kansas City and east from St. Louis.

Fig. 4: Kellerstrass’ St. Louis Depot.

Figs. 6-9: Kellerstrass packaged his whiskey in clear glass embossed bottles, often covered by a colorful label, bearing pictures of the Clay County distillery and St. Louis depot. His embossing was simple with his company name in a oval.

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Figs. 10 & 11: Like many liquor dealers of his time, Kellerstrass featured giveaway items to favored customers, among them a range of gold rimmed shot glasses.

Fig. 13: Some of the Kellerstrass giveaways, like a “mechanical” trade card, indicated that Ernest had a sense of humor.

small children. He married again within a relatively short time.

This time his wife was Clara Krull. She was the daughter of John Henry and Emma Krull and hailed from Steubenville, Ohio. Clara was 12 years younger than Ernest. The couple would have four children of their own, all girls.

Inexplicably, in 1904 and at the height of his success, Kellerstrass, still short of 40 years old, sold out his distillery and mail order liquor empire to a syndicate from St. Louis. The new managers operated the business under the Kellerstrass name until 1916 when they were forced to shut down. The Webb-Kenyon Act of Congress in 1913 had forbidden mail order sales of liquor into “dry” areas of the country, killing off the company’s freight express trade. After that it was only a matter of time.

Meanwhile Kellerstrass, with wife and family, had retired to a chicken ranch. There he tackled farming chores with typical enthusiasm, energy and intelligence. He built new chicken houses according to his own design and began to breed a superior kind of poultry. The eggs from the Kellerstrass Farm became known region-wide for their freshness and quality. Show here is a truckload on their way to consumers (Fig. 15). Note the antique vehicle hauling them to market.

Fig. 12: Kellerstrass also issued the “Kellerstrass’ Dream Book”, a 32-page pamphlet that purported to explain the meaning of images seen in dreams Despite its intriguing cover, the publication, issued about 1903, was a thinly-veiled advertising vehicle for Kellerstrass liquor.

Soon many in America would know about Kellerstrass and his chickens. After only a few years in business, in 1910 he self-published a book called “The Kellerstrass Way of Raising Poultry” and charged $1 for it. The picture on an earlier page of this article, showing the author talking to a rooster, was on the cover. Clearly very proud of the progress he had made with his chickens, the book is full of advice to poultry raisers. Kellerstrass introduced the volume by saying: “It has been my constant aim in writing this book to use common sense, and to give the public as much good practical advice as I possibly could, and remember, that this book was written by a man who is out working with his chickens ever day.”

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Fig. 15: A Kellerstrass truckload of eggs on their way to the market.

Fig. 16:

Fig. 14: Kellerstrass issued one certificate for each gallon of whiskey ordered.

Nine certificates earned a pen knife, 38 a revolver, 80 a double gauge shotgun and 300 a buggy.

In the 1920 census, Kellerstrass gave his occupation as “farmer. He does not show up in the 1930 census but in 1940 he was listed as “retired.”

Shown here are Ernest and Clara in later life.

Both look like vigorous elderly folks (Fig. 16). In 1942, Ernest died, age 80. His wife, Clara, outlived him by 17 years, passing at the age of 85.

A nagging question remains: Why did Ernest Kellerstrass leave his highly successful whiskey business for chicken farming? Did the St. Louis syndicate make an offer too good to turn down?

Or did Kellerstrass foresee that the mail order whiskey business eventually would be doomed by the forces of Prohibition? Or is it possible his third wife did not like the whiskey trade? All are plausible explanations. But I recall Kellerstrass’ declaration that he had been interested in poultry from an early age. Perhaps, just perhaps, he made the change because he was a man who truly and passionately loved chickens.

Ernest and Clara Kellerstrass in later life.

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A Dig Story: 25 Holes in 49 Days

By Jack Klotz

When I moved to Hannibal, Missouri in 2008, I quickly discovered it was a tough town to dig. It seemed everything was built on top of the old privies and the older dumps were staying hidden.

After a few short trips across the Mississippi River to Quincy, Illinois, I was happy to discover it was about the opposite situation there. I found a few older dumps right off the bat and unlike Hannibal, the town was more proactive in demolishing older structures that became public hazards. This led me to get to know the local demo crews, which became an invaluable asset. It was due to this smart move on my part that allowed me to gain sole permission to dig on one demo site that turned out to be epic, at least for me.

It began at the end of the year in 2011 when Quincy had a dangerous situation develop, with some older brick buildings along Broadway beginning to lose some bricks into the heavily traveled boulevard. I took serious interest when the city had the block-long section fenced off to capture falling debris, figuring it wouldn’t be too long before demolition would begin. The property at this time contained a half a block of vacant factories dating from the 1890s, and another half block that in earlier times contained a few homes and a gas station, now long gone.

All that remained on this portion of property was an older garage from around the 1940s near the alley. It had been converted into

Bottles and Extras

a small house that had belonged to an old fellow who was locally famous for chasing away anyone who dared to venture onto the property. It was correctly assumed that nobody had ever dug this area of the property, so now it meant an entire virgin block was about to be opened up, and I was the only one who seemed to care or notice!

By mid-January of 2012, the demolition process was in full swing and piles of debris were obviously visible, leaving little area to hunt. This gave me time to get busy with the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps to figure out the most likely areas to search. A couple of areas looked most promising on the 1886 map, which was the earliest map I could find.

One was a corner lot where there had been an old saloon with a residence attached. A small square on the map looked like the right size for a privy and in a logical position for the saloon. Another spot on the map was very close to the converted garage on the opposite side of the block where the old guy had chased away countless numbers of would-be treasure seekers. There looked to be a large mansion with a cupola that I thought should be very promising.

Another area in the middle of the block had a couple of larger homes with one next to a rather large livery. Sadly, on later maps it showed it was replaced with a huge ice house, taking up most all the area that would be productive for digging in that spot.

By early February, I was cross-eyed from staring at old maps and tired of imagining what might be where and what might be long gone. I was given open access to hunt and dig at will on the site with their only request to keep clear of their heavy equipment, which was a skill I had already honed over the years to a science of the 6th sense.

I managed to scare up a wood lined privy on my first dig with mostly early 1900s stuff. Best find of the first hole was a tiny sample Murine Eye Remedy vial. There was still so much clutter on the property that it took me several days to locate a cistern of similar age with the best bottle being a medium sized amber Kodak bottle. The third dig was also a cistern and took about six days since my last dig to find, and two more days to dig out. Best bottle of this hole was also the only bottle of the hole, a clear local pharmacy bottle from about mid 1880s.

Things were starting off slowly...VERY slowly. They were about to pick up rapidly, to a point where I would have to dig two holes a day merely to keep ahead of the heavy equipment!

After digging that low productive cistern for two days, I needed a day off to rethink things. It didn’t help. I arrived at the site after my day off rather dejected and wondering what I was missing, when suddenly I found it! Sitting on top of a recently excavated dirt pile was a pontiled, unembossed Godfrey’s Cordial type bottle in perfect condition! It turned out that on my day off, the demo guys had trenched out an area along the stone wall that was once part of the old ice house that the maps had shown. They were required by local ordinance to knock down the basement walls, and they decided the best way was to trench out behind them to collapse the walls.

Bottles and Extras

September - October 2017

The Mark Twain Boyhood Home, now known as the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum, is located on 206-208 Hill Street, Hannibal, Missouri, on the west bank of the Mississippi River.

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September - October 2017 City block demolition site.

Bottles and Extras

near the center. By now, I had visions of pontiled EVERYTHING in the hole, when I scraped over a bright emerald green piece of glass - a scroll flask! My heart nearly jumped out of my chest and slapped me in the face, I was that excited! I was quickly dropped on my head as it tumbled out of the loose dirt in one big broken hunk!

“Why me, oh cruel Bottle Goddess? Have you no sensibilities?”

I whined to the still musty air inside the hole. I think I heard her evil snicker, as I noticed another piece of green glass, but lighter in color to the heartbreaking flask. I could already see it was missing the top, so I carelessly yanked it out in utter disgust before I even cleaned off the panel embossed “Tupper.” Obviously a paneled soda, I found it too was pontiled and “New York” embossed on another panel. I was unfamiliar with this one but cursed the goddess anyway.

Privy at the edge of the old icehouse wall.

Green glass heartbreakers.

It was a stroke of extreme luck that they stopped after pulling up about a half of a bucket of the side of an 1850s privy that had stood at the very end edge of the ice-house wall! Wasting no time, I made my way down the nearly 90 degree end of the trench to the bottom at about 12 feet with careful leaps and bounds.

From the top I thought I could see a Bull’s Sarsaparilla, and I had yet to dig a whole pontiled example. Removing it from the dirt, I noticed something was missing - the entire side that had been in the dirt! RATS! Here was broken Bull’s # who knows! AGAIN! And it had a great iron pontiled base! DOUBLE RATS! And the glass looked freshly broken, all clean and shiny, absent of any dirt or iridescents. A quick scraping with the three prong scratcher revealed the missing side. TRIPLE RATS! It had been whole until the excavator hit it!

From my lowest vantage point in the trench I could determine the back hoe had clipped the side of an old wood liner and managed to stop, as it was at the basement wall end. “What luck,” I thought. I could now easily see the grayish privy soil contrast with the tan colored natural clay. The privy appeared to bottom out at about three feet from the bottom of the trench, giving me easy access as well as plenty of room for the dirt to fall, and fall it did. I quickly uncovered three more Bull’s on the bottom, all pontiled and broken! Continuing inward, on the bottom, I uncovered a pontiled umbrella ink, along with a handful of pontiled puffs

A couple of my helpers.

“Yeah, I bet it’s worth a couple grand, you witch! Thanks for the torture!” There were more broken shards from an aqua medicine, “E. W. Williams/Salem, Co/Ohio,” crude and pontiled. And of course a couple more broken pontiled Bull’s, just to rub it in.

Now I turned my attentions to “easy digging” as I began my ascent towards the top when out rolls a nice little pontiled Mexican Mustang Liniment.

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September - October 2017

“Well, at least it’s something,” I grumbled toward the sky. Suddenly out popped two tiny clear bottles embossed “Glenn & Co/ Philada.” They were crude as can be with crooked necks and no pontils! I was stunned. I was unfamiliar with them and later discovered they were a bears oil type of hair product. Stuck in a side wall was a pontiled Jayne’s Expectorant, which I pried out begrudgingly. Next to it was an odd extract-shaped bottle. Wiping off the dirt, I almost missed the side embossing “Bond,” on one side only.

“Now she’s messing with me,” I thought. “Bottle Goddess believes I think I’m James Bond. No, it’s Bond. Jack Bond to you, evil one! About now I realize I need a really good bottle to keep my sense of humor as well as any semblance of sanity! I noticed my digging had created an odd cavern going upwards, so I yanked on a piece of pipe I had been avoiding and half the hole began to avalanche towards me. Since there was plenty of open space for it to go, I sprang into safe mode when I noticed a black glass bitters type bottle rolling towards me with a round cylinder bottle hot on its heels! I intercepted the bitters and scooped it up while simultaneously stiff-arming the tackling cylinder dead in its tracks!

Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters peeking out.

Top and bottom pieces of a Kelly’s Old Cabin Bitters.

Any professional football coach would have taken note of my stealth and signed me up immediately. I sat on the slope of the freshly fallen dirt to examine my prize - a super dark, super crude, olive Hostetter’s! And it looked perfect! Oh, but wait!

There’s a huge crack on the front of it! I glared at the offending cylinder, as if it were a dog that just peed on the expensive antique oriental rug!

“Damn it,” I thought. I was sure I had prevented them from crashing into each other. Checking out the cylinder, it looked perfect. Shoulder was embossed “Patent” with a smooth base and a three piece mold. I returned my attention to the Hoss and happily discovered on closer inspection, it wasn’t a crack after all! It appeared to be an “in the making” crease, or fold in the glass! Later someone suggested it looked like a blown out mold repair at the factory. Regardless, it was and still is one of my favorite finds.

And remember, this is only hole #4 of 25 total. My Hoss was to be surpassed much sooner than I could have ever imagined with a new favorite with hole #6.

Finishing out this hole were a couple of “Barry’s Tricopherous” bottles, both smooth based, along with an “Azzaielene/Huyck & Randall” hair product. I found info on a website that the backward z’s were a mold error and the product was only produced in 1867-68. Along with a couple more pontiled puffs, I went home happy. It wasn’t until later that night I thought about what alerted me to that site and realized I hadn’t dug through the dirt pile above the trench. I returned early the next morning and dug through the small portion that had been scraped up by the backhoe and sure enough, I found a couple more pontiled puffs.

Along with those, I found an early smooth base “X-Bazin” bottle and a super crude smooth base “McLean’s Strengthening Cordial.” “This was easy as easy digging gets,” I thought smugly to myself.

After digging up the “Hoss pit,” I began carrying my camera

Mishler’s Herb Bitters fresh out of the ground.

Base of a Kelly’s Old Cabin Bitters.

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Bottles and Extras

Dr. Wilcox’s Fever & Ague Cure - Albany.

religiously, as I wish I had done from the beginning. I just never expected to find much worth photographing, and up ‘til now, I hadn’t, at least on this block. The dozers were really beginning to tear up some landscape and by the next day I discovered a newly exposed cistern. I wasn’t too keen on digging another cistern, since the last one gave up only one bottle after two days of tough digging. But there were no better options available yet, so dig it I did. I had brought my younger dog Taz, (short for Tasmanian devil dog) along to keep me company and tethered her just outside the cistern area off to one side. She likes to be in close proximity to me and often imitates whatever I am doing, especially if it involves digging. I always think it’s cute, like how a parent must feel when their kid says they want to grow up to be whatever the parents are.

Stuck in the wall an aqua double eagle 1/2 pint flask.

After digging in an unusually hard clay packed top, I finally scraped up a nice emerald green Piso’s Cure For Consumption.

“Well, that’s nice but I already have about a dozen,” I thought to myself. Make that a dozen and five more! They kept poppin’ up like weeds in my yard. Then, up sprouted a couple of amber Wintersmith’s, just to break up the monotony of digging green glass, as if that ever really gets monotonous. Then what looks like a toy gun appears but it has some serious weight! Turns out to be a real gun and likely a 38 caliber pistol! Rusty all to Hell, but it’s all there. I can still count on one hand the number of guns I have dug, so it is always a treat to find one. About this point, the daylight was growing short and I hadn’t seen anything more promising for this cistern after giving it a gentle probing, so I began filling it in.

A couple of bottles before removing them from their seedy repose.

An amber For Pike’s Peak flask with eagle finds it way out.

While tossing back into the hole some unembossed slicks, I stopped near the end of the row of junkers I had lined up along the cistern wall. Everything I had dug was 1890s, but the one I was now holding in my hand caught my attention. It was clearly older and 1860s all day long. I realized this one had been near my dog Taz and right next to where she had been digging. When I stopped to give closer attention to this obviously earlier bottle, Taz began to wag her tail furiously as if to ask, “Did I do good, dad?” I figured out she had actually scratched this one up out of the ground next to the cistern right where she had been tethered!

I had noticed her digging earlier but again just thought she was being cute. Here she had actually found something, and it was older than anything I had dug all day long!

I picked up my probe and poked around where she had been digging, and whattaya know, it was a hole! I felt glass within a few inches so I pulled up on the probe and pondered for a moment.

I figured it would hold until the next day so I looked at Taz and said, “What a good little bottle hound you are,” with an appreciative pat on her head. “You get extra treats when we get home, yes you do.” Little did I realize then just how good of a nose for finding bottles she really had, until the next day!

When I arrived the next morning, I finished filling in hole #5 and began scratching around where Taz had led me to the day before.

In very short order I scratched up a long aqua panel that looked very Gothic. I uncovered a neck and followed the body of this monster cathedral pickle to the bottom of its 13-inch-long body!

The soil was loose privy soil so it came out in one easy wiggle, except for a missing piece about 3” square on the opposite side

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I was digging! Seems it always happens that way! The Bottle Goddess was messing with me early, I thought. It was a smooth base but every bit 1860s.

I immediately scraped over something that was very odd shaped and what quickly took the form of a roof to a cabin, but it was a light yellowish green! Out in a large broken piece came a top and roof to a Kelly’s Old Cabin Bitters,” leaving me absolutely breathless. The neck was so crooked and wonky, and I just I sat and stared at it for I don’t know how long. I was in too much shock to think of cursing the bottle goddess, or even crying over it. Even broken it was gorgeous! Possibly the most beautiful broken piece of glass I may ever dig, prettier even than that emerald green scroll flask. Well, can’t cry over broken glass (though I do often) so it’s back to digging I go, and up came the eventual remaining pieces. Right under this is an olive green Hoss, but much lighter than the one from hole #4, and of course it too is broken!

GRRRR! NOW I’m back to normal, whatever that may be, and I begin to cuss up a storm! Good thing those earth movers make a ton of noise or someone for sure would have heard me! Next to that Hoss is another one, but reddish amber looking. Of course it’s whole, the most common bottle in the pit, I was convinced.

Turned out to be a half decent variant with the backwards apostrophe and “L&W” on the base. Then suddenly MORE yellow green glass greets me, to a SECOND busted Kelly’s! OK, this is just overdoing it and more than I can take! All I can hope and pray for is an unbroken one. Next to that Kelly’s comes a Clasped Hands/ Eagle flask in good shape! “Well, it’s about time and looking better,” I thought. Oh but wait! Bottle Goddess has MORE sad news. Suddenly I hit more greenish glass! Turns out it’s a busted For Pikes Peak flask with Hunter & Deer on reverse!

AAAARG! Let me take the place of the deer and just SHOOT me, NOW! Clearly I am having trouble being grateful for what I have found whole, but I doubt many seasoned diggers would blame me!

Unexpectedly, my shovel makes the second worse sound it can make. Second only to the sound of smashing into glass, is the unmistakable “thud” sound of hitting the bottom of the hole! And I’m not even four feet deep yet! NOOOOOO! Say it ain’t true!

Somebody, PLEASE! But it was true. There was one corner left with any real hope of hiding anything and turns out it did!

Another picture of the half pint double eagle flask embossed C & I.

Amber For Pike’s Peak flask.

Clasped Hands Eagle flask.

What the small undug corner concealed was.....another Kelly’s!

But this time it was the usual amber color, and alas, it too was in pieces. Dejectedly, I carefully finished out the last side when I see an eagle appear tucked near the wall! It looked like an amber Eagle flask, and not knowing if it was all there or not, I snapped some pictures of it and sure as Hell, it WAS all there! Turning it over in my shaking hands, I cleaned the dirt away to reveal the words........For Pikes Peak! OMG! I finally dug an undamaged FPP flask! And it’s not aqua! Yeee Haw! Last bottle out of the hole. I hooted so loudly I think they could hear me all the way to Pikes Peak!

After filling in the shallow small hole I speculated this was likely a larger pit that had been scraped down over the years, as I had heard this area was a small hill at one earlier time, and was still a bit of a knoll. That could explain the extreme shallowness and

For Pike’s Peak Eagle flask.

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September - October 2017 The glass fold in the super dark, super crude, olive Hostetter’s.

Bottles and Extras

I could only wonder what another 4-5 feet of digging could have produced. Oh well, such are what dreams are made of. Unlike the nightmares I had for weeks after digging this unbelievable pit, of smashing into Kelly’s and green Pike’s Peak flasks with my shovel in search of something better, whatever that could possibly be.

I allowed myself a couple days off to enjoy gazing at my FPP flask and pat my black glass Hoss on occasion, not to mention some extra attention to that bottle hound Taz! She got her “extra” treats as promised, and then some! I spoiled her rotten after that, not like she wasn’t spoiled already!

Back to the digging, I was ready for whatever hole #7 had to offer. By now the news was out about the busted yellow green Kelly’s I had dug and a fellow digger from Kansas City made arrangements to join me for a couple of days of digging. I had dug a couple times before with this guy and always found it stressful.

He would basically arrive and expect me to drive us up to a pile of bottles to scour through. Having been a solo digger for so many years, I re-discovered I tend not to play nice with others.

So it came as no big surprise to me when we had a major blowout on this, his final visit. We dug out a wood liner in quick order and opened up another barrel privy with plenty of 1890s stuff. He had given up on the hole to search for easier diggings and had even cajoled me for staying with a “finished hole.”

The cleaned-up Dr. Wilcox’s Fever & Ague Cure - Albany.

I insisted on digging out the sides when I hit a soft spot just outside the obvious area where the barrel had been. My only reason I continued digging was the softness of the soil coupled with some really old looking shards. Suddenly a very ancient piece of glass shows up just as the other digger wanders back to see what I was into when I pulled out an intact “Dr Jaynes Liniment/Counter-Irritant” with an open pontil! Now I’m excited and begin moving some dirt when, “Smack!” I hit a PVC pipe! And some plastic bags from a quick mart!

Well, the other digger tried to lay claim immediately to the pontiled liniment bottle because after all, it was he who probed out the hole! I held my ground with the claim that not only had he given up on the hole, but it was found three feet outside the barrel privy in a trench about a foot deep for a water line! Also, it was clearly not 1890s, to which he tried to claim it was a late throw!

The cleaned-up For Pike’s Peak flask.

The cleaned-up half pint double eagle embossed C&I.

Well, there was a certain chill in the air from then on, and not because of the February weather! We tried to determine which direction that liniment bottle came from in the hopes of tracking down the pit it must have come from but were unsuccessful.

Earlier, we both had noticed and avoided a cistern, up until now.

I decided to open it up more since one of the earth movers had exposed an edge. As I get into it, the other guy keeps needling me about how he needs to convince me how worthless digging cisterns are and how “They only have 1890s crap in them,” when I turn around with a beautiful Louisville double eagle flask, minus a sizable piece out of the lip! That quieted down the peanut gallery, until I pulled out shards of pontiled food bottles and a busted Pine Tree Cordial! Now he began to beg for a chance in the hole, which I graciously allowed. He was whining about wanting to dig something, anything pontiled, when out pops a pontiled puff. He quickly gave up and shortly after I get back into it I discovered one bottle laying on the dirt pile he missed. It was a smooth base

Bottles and Extras

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September - October 2017

but very early H. Planten & Son New York with a rolled lip. Then I pulled out a large sized onionskin marble in great condition.

Lastly came an early and crude Howe/&/ Stevens//Family/Dye Colors that missed being pontiled by about a day and a half. By now, KC digger was ready to head home, and none too soon in my book. We still haggled over that pontiled liniment bottle until I made the offer to pay half of what he thought it was worth, since he was more about the money than adding a good bottle to the shelf. He countered my price with one I thought was twice what it was worth but it was worth it just to shut him up.

What annoyed me the most was the fact I had done 80% of the digging and yet he still expected 50% of the finds, which he got.

So, not only was he annoying, but he was wrong on virtually every issue and was lazy to boot. He even managed to annoy my demo friends to the point where they almost kicked us off the site! I had to do some fast talking to be allowed to continue, sans Kansas City! All this just reinforced why I prefer to dig solo.

By the time he left, I was looking for hole #10 which was another cistern. As most often, it was full of mostly turn of century stuff.

One late toss was a local soda I didn’t have so it was all good.

Next day I discovered another wood liner resembling a barrel privy except it seemed too deep, bottoming out about the ten-foot level. Only two decent bottles, a nice teal JSP malt and another local soda I didn’t have either. The following day I discovered a well, so down and down I went to the 22-foot level. There weren’t a lot of bottles, but the age was to the mid 1860s but sadly 80% were all unembossed slicks. Best bottle was a “Thomas’/Eclectric Oil,” a combination of eclectic and electric? Even though the well was relatively small as holes go, it was extremely cramped and by the time I straightened out, two days had passed.

I returned for, what else? Hole #13, and a strange one it was.

It looked like a clay sewer pipe had been laid and they filled in the void with trash! Mostly turn of century stuff but there was a nice amber teardrop flask in the mix. It was a fun, easy dig, just what the back doctor ordered! Next hole, #14 was another lovely cistern that gave up an interesting beer bottle with a hand holding a beer glass, and a local mini jug missing the handle. Best bottle would have been a tooled screw top clear flask embossed “Sinclair’s Gold Dust” in an arch, with “Opp./ Union Depot” underneath and “St. Joseph, Mo.” underneath in an inverted arch.

Sadly, it is cracked so badly it barely holds together.

After taking a needed day off, the last thing I was looking forward to was digging another cistern, when I walk up to a freshly scraped cistern! I was lucky, as the side was slightly exposed and the digging was easy, which was a good thing as I had arrived late in the afternoon. “Late in the afternoon” in early March translates to “near to dark.” I began poking around and first out of the hole is an 1860s looking slick, so I now give it my full attention. In short order I pulled out a dozen or so bottles with the best being an “Arnica Liniment,” followed with a nice wax sealer fruit jar embossed “L&W.” Everything was looking 1860s with an occasional iron pontiled slick. Finally a nice old yellowish amber colored bitters popped its head up, so I took an in situ picture and turned out to be a nice crude Mishler’s Herb Bitters with a funky mold issue in the embossing. All in all there were about 30 bottles, making for a nice haul for a two hour dig, just as

Cleaned-up W.W. Clark Druggist Hot Springs, Ark.

Cleaned-up Arnica Liniment.

Iron pontil on the Dr. Wilcox’s Fever & Ague Cure.

Embossed in one panel on the half pint double eagle flask was “C&I”. I knew this was an older mark for Cunningham and Ihmsen.

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Bottles and Extras

it was getting dark.

Two re-assembled Kelly’s Old Cabin Bitters.

Mishler’s Herb Bitters.

Group shot of the olive green Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters, For Pike’s Peak Eagle flask and Dr. Wilcox’s Fever & Ague Cure.

The next four holes were all turn of century and fairly skimpy of any decent finds. By the time hole #20 rolled around, the machines had not only torn down the old man’s converted garage home, but had also pulled up the offensive cement slab foundation that I was convinced was hiding something good. This was mainly due to the fact that the map showed the fancy mansion near this spot. I was pretty well convinced the Kelly pit was THE pit to the mansion as it was in the old guy’s garden area but was guessing there might be a newer privy under the cement. I began probing before they hauled the chunks of cement away in the few exposed areas available, and right off I hit a soft area. It didn’t feel like a pit but more like a trench. Hmmmm. Maybe another sewer pipeline? Only way to tell is to sling some dirt so I get to slinging. Pretty soon I get it opened up and I am definitely into some night soil, nice and seedy and soft. Just the way bottles like it! All of a sudden I hit a black glass panel and as I expose more, it becomes obvious it is a bitters. I even motioned to my demo friend who was taking a break to come over and check it out. As he looked clueless into the hole I pointed it out and explained, “This is what I live for, right there.”

He shook his head in total non-understanding and with that “You are bat guano crazy out-of-your-mind” look, headed back to his work. I got back to my work, which is hard work unless adrenaline is coursing through you most of the time, and then you only realize the next day what you have done to yourself!

I got the black glass bitters into the sunlight and no embossing!

Really?! Clearly 1860s and nothing! I’ve dug a number of amber unembossed bitters in this town from the 1870s, but this one bummed me out. I kept digging in a rather shallow trench line about 3-4 foot deep as that was as deep as it went. With no sign of any clay pipe or liner of any kind, it went in a straight line for about ten feet. Nearing the other end, I see stuck in the wall an aqua eagle 1/2 pint flask, so I took a few pics before removing it from its seedy repose. It was in perfect condition and a double eagle with an unusual lip finish. Embossed in one panel is “C&I”.

I knew this was an older mark for Cunningham and Ihmsen.

Reaching the end I discovered an aqua unembossed citrate of magnesia that had crashed through the neck of a pontiled black glass ale bottle with an embossed crown on the shoulder. Last bottle from the hole was a Tarrant Druggist bottle. A bitters, a Tarrant and a citrate and a whiskey flask and a broken ale bottle, and that was it! Period! No marbles, buttons, dish pieces, metal, nothing! No evidence of any conveniences of life. Two bottles containing alcohol and two for stomach issues and one of both!

I later learned the Union Army had camped out in the area during the Civil War so I labeled the “hole” as a latrine. It makes sense, except for that C&I mark on the flask. Earliest reference for the company was early 1865, which puts it right up against the end of the war, so I don’t know. Perhaps the soldiers stuck around for a while after the war’s end. That’s my best guess, and I’m sticking to it.

Another group shot of some of the bottles in this article.

Hole #21 is really what this story is all about. Not the broken Kelly’s, not my aching back, nor my clashing with other digging styles. It’s about the thrill of the hunt. It’s not so much about the value of the finds, (though I believe it foolish to intentionally re-

Bottles and Extras

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September - October 2017

main ignorant of the general values of what one finds). It’s about persistence and perseverance through the backaches, the lessthan-perfect weather, showing the thrill to those who don’t get it, and to those who might, someday. It’s about keeping a positive attitude in the face of mounting odds. It’s keeping wonder alive, wondering what might come from the Bottle Goddess next.

By now the demolition work was beginning to wind down. All the buildings were now gone as well as most of the rubble. They were now grading and leveling out the areas where the buildings had stood, signaling to me the end was nearing. In the back of my mind I was still obsessed with finding where that pontiled Jayne’s liniment bottle came from. I had tracked in both directions following along the PVC pipe with no success, until now. At the very end of the pipe nearly thirty feet from where the bottle was found, I probed a wood liner. With crossed fingers, I began opening up hole #21. At around the three foot depth, I pulled out a pepper sauce from about the 1870s. I generally have not dug a lot of pepper sauce bottles, so I was happy. Not quite the age I was hoping for, but I dared not complain, lest the Bottle Goddess heard me. Another half a foot more and I see what looks like an amber bitters panel, but it’s too narrow. “Dang it, looks like another Paine’s Celery Compound,” I assumed to myself. I got out my camera anyway for a photo op, thinking I needed some practice taking pictures. I snapped off a couple shots and as I cleaned away more dirt, I could tell there was embossing on the adjacent panel. “Well, it can’t be a Paine’s, so what the heck can it be?” I got a closer look and with my 60 year old eyes without my glasses, it was hard to make out much more than the letters “EVE.” Now I get all archaeologist on it and began digging it out meticulously and slowly. Once out of the hole in my most careful grip, I can feel the yuck water that has filled it over the years from being buried standing straight up. I wiped away the dirt to reveal “Fever and Ague/Cure” embossed on the front panel. On the side panel I originally thought was Paine’s was embossed “Dr. Wilcox’s” and “Albany” on the opposite side. “WOW! A great looking cure I never heard of! Too cool,” I thought, while my mind raced. Now to check the condition. The lip looked super crude and applied top, so I thought maybe it’s pontiled.

I turned it over to look and sure enough it had a nice iron pontil with plenty of residual evidence. But what color is it? I gave it a little shake upside down to loosen the dirt-cork and out splashed the dark colored rain water revealing a deep teal green color!

The good news is it appears damage free. So now I did a mental inventory: It’s pontiled, it’s colored, it has “cure” embossed in the name and it is in perfect condition. Well, whatever it’s worth, you couldn’t pry it from my dead boney fingers for any amount! I thought, “This is going right under the seat of my truck, NOW!” After wrapping my prize in a thick towel and secured safely away, I returned to #21 with high hopes and expectations.

Before I climbed down in, I took a moment to pause and pay homage to the bottle goddess in the form of a “We’re not worthy” kneel and wave. I am sure she found me amusing, if not any unseen witnesses. The next two bottles that had been within inches of the Wilcox were super crude, Doct. Marshall’s Snuff with rolled lips and smooth bases. They saw daylight while digging around the Wilcox. Another foot deeper was an aqua Dr. Townsends Sarsaparilla in several large pieces, with the crudest

iron pontil I have ever seen. It would have been a real knock-out.

Digging deeper I hit even MORE teal green glass. Another cure?

No it was a gargling oil but lighter in color. As the hole deepened, I recovered a few medicines and inks, as well as an early rolled lip snuff jar, but no more pontiled glass.

I figured the Wilcox, Townsend’s and the Doc’t Marshall’s were all late throws into what was apparently an 1870s-80s pit. I found another pepper sauce that had found its way through the roof of a Doyle’s Hop Bitters. The pepper sauce survived, the Doyle’s, not so much. All in all I found about a dozen decent keepers.

Once I got back home and my new “friends” cleaned up, I began my info search for the mysterious cure bottle with no luck. I finally reached out to Matt Knapp who also never heard of the Wilcox Cure! I figured if HE hadn’t heard of it, then it had to be pretty rare. As for value, he suggested to start at 5K and go from there.

He gave me contact info for a collector of one of the largest cure collections around and when I made a connection I was in for a surprise. Seems he knew of only three others in existence!

I also heard from other collectors value ranges from Matt’s starting price to as much as 20K. Thinking that was too much of a variance, I decided to reach out to Jeff Wichmann at American Bottle Auctions for an appraisal. He put it right in the middle at $10-12k for insurance purposes. That was in 2012 and the market can be fickle, but I have yet to find a good enough reason to sell her. After 50-plus years of digging and scraping the dirt for good bottles, I finally found something worth celebrating (bragging) about. After all, it’s really the only bottle I have that sets my collection apart from any other amateur hobby digger’s collection, so it sits nicely on a shelf next to my equally rare “Brown’s Bitters” from “Hannibal, Mo.” I always find reason to smile when walking past them.

The last four holes were fairly skimpy as far as keepers go. Hole #24 was the best of the last, giving up a nice round, grass green “J.R. Nichols & Co.” medicine, a honey amber Quincy pharmacy, a “Yarnall Bros.” pickle from St. Louis, and a sample “Dr. Gunn’s Onion Syrup.” The last hole was a bit weird as it was all small inks for school desks. Nothing else at all.

So today, five years later when I think of that eventual day when I can no longer “run with the big dogs” and dig like I have, I can sit on the porch in my rocking chair and say.......

“ I remember

when I dug 25 productive holes in 49 days and I was 60 years old”

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Remembering Bob Ferraro

Bottles and Extras

Ferdinand Meyer V

From Black & White to Color When my course was set back in 2002 with collecting bitters bottles, I was determined to get as much information as possible, as fast as I could, to fill an out-of-control desire. This was before I knew anyone or belonged to the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors.

One path, using old magazines and books led me to right to a fellow named Mayor Bob Ferraro. I kept hearing his name and heard stories about his collection. At first I found his black & white portrait picture and a similar old picture of his collection.

Both are pictured above. When I saw all those bottles, even without color, I knew that Bob was a man I wanted to meet. It turned out that he was probably the most colorful man in our bottle world, at least in my book.

Fast forward a few years and I was on the board of the Federation and started to get to know Bob. We went for dinner at national shows, talked at regional shows and eventually arranged visits where Bob came to our house in Houston and Elizabeth and I went to Bob’s to see his collection. This is where I met Connie, his beautiful artist wife who was painting colorful murals on walls in downtown Boulder City, Nevada.

I’ll never forget that trip. I had to take my boots off because Connie did not like guests wearing shoes on their soft off-white carpet. That task made our visit even more special and almost spiritual as I floated on cloud nine around his bottle room and got immersed in figural bottles, Nevada collectibles and his Bininger bottles. The opposite might have been when I wore my

boots in Norm Hecklers old wood framed house in Connecticut.

Every step on his wood planked floors seemed to rattle bottles on shelves. I think I was as frightened as I was amazed with that visit. These connections we make are priceless.

It is with great sadness that we heard of the passing of Bob this past April. Bob was many things including a great bottle collector, politician, business man, human being and most important, a friend to many and an inspiration. He is someplace better, maybe more peaceful. He can rest eternally knowing that he influenced greatly many bottle collectors in his life. This collector for sure.

As a tribute to Bob, I am reprinting an article called Nevada: History of Bottle Collecting that Bill Baab authored back in the July-August 2009 issue of Bottles and Extras. It pretty much says it all. I have added a few pictures to add some color.

Nevada: History of Bottle Collecting My interest in old bottles occurred in 1950 while I was in high school in northern Nevada. My folks were ranchers in Paradise Valley, a rural area about 40 miles east of Winnemucca. My mother had developed a strong interest in sun-colored, or more commonly called “purple” bottles that were quite prevalent in and around the mining camps. At this time in my life, I really had no interest in old bottles, but I would go out of my way to search the mining camps and ghost towns to find purple bottles for her. Over several years, my mother’s collection grew from just a few on the shelf to several shelves filled with purple glass.

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I believe it would be worth mentioning that my early school years were quite different from those of many students. While going to a three-room school house, there were six students in the first grade and I was the only student in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh grades. I was joined by four other students in the eighth grade.

During my sophomore year of high school (all high school classes, as well as the seventh and eighth grades, were taught by a male teacher in one room), it became obvious that the high school would have to close the next year since state law required a minimum of five students to keep a high school functioning, For those of us who wanted to complete our high school education, we would have to go to the nearest school, which was 40 miles away in Winnemucca. I drove back and forth each day except during the treacherous winter months when I would stay with an aunt in Winnemucca.

When I graduated from high school in 1953, my mother wanted me to take the purple bottle collection, but I still didn’t have any interest in bottles. Since I didn’t want to disappoint her, I simply asked if I could wait until I finished college. She agreed that this was an acceptable arrangement.

As an undergraduate at the University of Nevada-Reno, I majored in general agriculture and for graduate school, I majored in range management. I earned both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees and remained at UNR for 10 years, conducting research and carrying out considerable agricultural work.

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Bitters, more than 1,000 pottery ale bottles, and well over 70 pottery seltzer bottles were unearthed.

I also dug what I considered to be several quality bottles such as a green IXL Bitters, several Stephens and Jose sodas from Virginia City, a choice Old Cabinet Bourbon Whiskey, a Jockey Club Whiskey, a W.A. Gaines Whiskey, a Gold Dust Kentucky Bourbon, six Bitter Witches, many Nevada medicines including an aqua A.M. Cole, an aqua J.B.B. Lefevre, many colored pepper sauces, several cathedral pickles and more than 100 Congress Waters.

Every day we dug in Virginia City turned into an exceptionally good digging day. With all that digging there, we would anxiously await Friday afternoons so we could attempt to find other sites to search for old bottles.

And, yes, I did acquire my mother’s purple bottle collection. In fact, I still have a few of the deeper-colored ones such as catsup and spice bottles in my general collection.

In 1959, I had come to know Edith and John Tibbitts and Elmer and Ruth Lester, members of the Sacramento Bottle Club.

They enjoyed having visitors to discuss bottles and view their collections. Some may recall that John was newsletter editor for the Sacramento club and referred to his monthly publication as The Pontil. (He later published a book called “Chips from The Pontil.”)

Upon graduating from college in 1959, an unusual event occurred: I met two families from Fallon, Nevada, who had started collecting bottles. One Sunday afternoon while visiting with them, they asked if I knew where we could all go look for old bottles.

As I was thinking of places to go, I remembered an area in Virginia City, about a half-hour’s drive from the university, where I used to walk over and look for old coins and other relics.

As I was telling Ray and Doris Alcorn and Ned and Grace Kendrick about the area in Virginia City that appeared to be a refuse or trash dump, they immediately wanted to go and determine if there might be any old bottles there. That was all it took before we were on our way with our shovels in the trunk of Ned’s car. We parked near the area and in a few moments bottles of all descriptions were being unearthed.

My serious bottle collecting started in 1959. This was the beginning of the excavation which many referred to as the Church Lot since it was adjacent to the Catholic and Episcopal churches.

For almost a year, we had this digging site to ourselves. Little by little, word got out, and I remember the times when I went there, I would find as many as 20 or 30 cars parked around the Church Lot. There were cars from California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and, of course, Nevada.

I have estimated that within the next three years, more than 20,000 bottles were dug there. So from 1959 until 1963, I personally dug nearly 100 J.H. Hostetter’s Bitters, about 50 Lash’s

Left to Right: Bob & Pat Ferraro, Grace Kendrick, May Jones, Adele Reed and John C. Tibbitts - The Pontil, June 1965

One weekend, the Tibbitses and the Lesters invited me to come explore the redevelopment area in old Sacramento. While walking around the area, we came upon a number of derelict diggers who were sharing a wine bottle while digging near a crumbling brick wall. I was amazed that these on-site squatters had found several good sodas, including several green ones bearing iron pontils. For the most part, their bottles were for sale; however, they were acutely aware of the values of their treasures.

I also remember in 1960 visiting John and Florence Fountain in Amador City, Calif., and being totally in awe of some of the bottles they had in their shop. The shop was located on a street with a very colorful name – Pig Turd Alley!

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Bottles and Extras filled with primarily whiskeys, various food bottles including cathedral pepper sauce and pickles, bitters, black glass, and household bottles such as inks, glues and blackings. She told me the bottles “had been purchased in 1952 for $500 from a man in Sonoma, California, and they have never been out of those boxes. I want to sell them for exactly what they cost us in 1952.”

I told her I would like to purchase the collection, but I would have to ask my wife. She said, “That’s fine, just let me know your decision in the next week or so.” It was obvious the collection was worth more than $500. Since Pat and I had just had our first child, money was almost nonexistent, which meant I would have to get a loan from our bank.

I had become so fascinated with the variety of bottles I was finding or seeing in various collections, so I started to assemble an extensive collection of notes. My quest for information was insatiable. I would contact firms, both foreign and domestic, for information on the identifiable bottles in my collection or other people’s collections. Within a year, I had collected a considerable amount of information.

In fact, in late 1969, I decided the information I had collected on the old glass containers should be made available to other enthusiasts. My first wife (Pat) and I published “The Past in Glass” in 1970 and within a year or so published our second book, “A Bottle Collector’s Book.” Both were well-received over the next 15 years, with about 70,000 copies sold in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

One evening after I had given a talk on old bottles to a group of collectors in Fallon, a nicely dressed man came up and asked if I could possibly stop and see him in his office at Harold’s Club in Reno where he was serving as curator for the museum and relic collections.

A week later, I was in Reno so I went to see Ben Hathaway at Harold’s Club. While we were in his office visiting, he asked if I would like to accompany him to see Mrs. Dorothy Smith, the exwife of Harold Smith, owner of Harold’s Club. I told him I could take the time so we drove to her house in Reno.

At her home, we were invited in, and Dorothy said: “I understand you collect old bottles.” I admitted that I did, and that’s when she said, “let me show you something in the basement.”

As soon as we got down there, I counted about 50 partitioned cardboard boxes sitting on shelves. “Look and see what’s in those boxes,” she said. It was unbelievable. Those boxes were

I was back in Reno within two days with five $100 bills to acquire the amazing collection. Upon returning home, I began calling other collectors who I knew would have an interest in the items I didn’t want. Within less than a day’s time, I had found others willing to spend far in excess of $500 for the pieces I didn’t want. To this day, I still have number of the Harold’s Club bottles in my personal collection.

Another interesting acquisition that occurred involved Ray Alcorn. In the spring of 1960, we drove to the remote mining camp of Victor in Churchill County and within a couple of hours had filled several burlap bags with embossed whiskeys and bitters.

It was just another example of what was available for little or no effort in those early days of collecting bottles.

After about six months of earnest collecting, I realized that the sheer number of bottles in my collection had become staggering and unmanageable. There was absolutely no way of exhibiting that vast number so I made the decision to begin specializing.

I couldn’t make up my mind at first, but after attending the Charles B. Gardner auction in 1975, I quickly realized I should specialize in figural bitters and whiskeys. So from 1976, I concentrated on these two categories of bottles. It became evident that there were quite a number of collectors who also liked these two categories. Figural bitters and whiskies are still the primary focal point of my collection.

In addition, my Nevada bottle collection has expanded to where it has become the most complete collection that has ever been assembled from my home state.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Bob Ferraro was elected president of the Southern Nevada Bottle Collectors Club in 1971 and 1972. The club was formed in 1965 and later became the Las Vegas Bottle Collector’s Club in 1973. In that year, he was elected chairman of the Western Region of the Federation of Historical Bottle Clubs (as it was then called), serving in that capacity in 1974. In 1976,

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he was elected federation president and served through 1977. In 2007, he was asked to serve as second vice president of the federation and in 2008 was named first vice president. He continued to serve as first vice president from 2008-14 and director-at-large in 2015. Bob also found time for politics. He was appointed to city

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council of Boulder City, Nev., in July of 1976 and won reelection to that post in 1977. He also was mayor of Boulder City for six terms (24 years), becoming, he said, the longest serving mayor in the country. In 2002, he was inducted into the FOHBC Hall of Fame.

Left page: Posing in front of Bob and his collection with his lovely wife Connie. This page: Figural bottles, Nevada bottles and Bininger bottles. - July 2009

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Premier Auction 154 September 4th through September 13th

A Premier Absentee Auction Of Early Glass, Bottles, Flasks, Bitters, Freeblown and Pressed Glass, Black Glass, Lamps, Whiskeys, Medicines, Pattern Molded Glass, Utilities & More For more photos and information about this auction please visit www.hecklerauction.com

Heckler

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

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Indianapolis Circle City Antique Bottle, Advertising and Antiques Show Saturday, September 16, 2017 Bottles of all types

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Ephemera or Go-withs

Table Top Antiques

Set Up: 7:30am - 9am Show Hours: 9am - 2pm Admission - $2.00 (Early Admission - $20.00)

Free Appraisals on Antique Bottles and Glass

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For Show Information Contact Martin Van Zant (812) 841 - 9495 41 East Washington St. Mooresville, IN 46158 mdvanzant@yahoo.com

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Bottles and Extras

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Copeland Neese Rd

Exit Ramp

Exit 138

Show Address: Boone County Fairgrounds 1300 E 100 S Lebanon, IN 46052

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Chlorine for your Teeth

By Eric McGuire

This brief article looks at a medicinal product labeled COMPOUND CHLORINE TOOTH WASH. It was first marketed by the drug company of Lowe & Reed in Boston, Massachusetts, with an exclusive territorial agency given to Rushton & Aspinwall of New York City shortly after it was introduced.

Chlorine was first confirmed as an element and named in 1810 by Sir Humphry Davy in England. As a pharmaceutical agent, it was recognized as a disinfectant in the 1820s which was pioneered by Antoine-Germain Labarraque in France. The effects of chloride of lime were considered nothing short of a miracle in combating infection.

It should be clarified that methods of creating chlorine were in their infancy at this time, and only weak solutions were prevalent, but still strong enough to have antiseptic effects. Stronger, more powerful solutions were not available until later in the nineteenth century. But, I doubt that federal authorities of today would take too kindly to a chlorine infused tooth wash if it were currently for sale. It is not known how much chlorine was actually contained in the tooth wash, but it is well established that this element can wreak havoc on teeth, as well as soft tissue. Even swimming pool water, if not properly monitored, can severely impact tooth enamel over time. One can only speculate what effects chlorine had on individuals who used the chlorine tooth wash over an extended period of time, and the damage may have been so insidious that no one ever made the connection with a product that was supposed to be a health preserver.

It was probably Sampson Reed who was behind the idea of preparing a chlorine compound as a cleansing agent for the teeth and mouth. Prior to his partnership with Abraham Lowe, Sampson Reed is noted as selling a product called WALTHAM BLEACHING SALTS, which likely led to further experimentation with chlorine as a tooth wash. (1) The concept of using chlorine as a tooth and mouth wash was not a completely new idea but one that Sampson Reed experimented

This 1824 advertisement is the oldest located that demonstrates Sampson Reed’s interest in the potential of chlorine and possibly sparked his interest in a path that led him to develop the chlorine tooth wash. with as it was a time of great discovery and experimentation with the antiseptic effects of chlorine. Abraham Lowe and Sampson Reed partnered by January 1828, as documented by an ad for Elixir Pectorale, a cough and cold remedy. (2) It is not clear why the two partners initially teamed up, however; they were both ardent followers of the Christian teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, which developed into the New Jerusalem Church, possibly a common thread that precipitated their partnership. In fact, Reed had initially partnered in the drug trade with Adonis Howard in 1824, a fellow Swedenborgian, but that partnership was dissolved in December 1827. (3) Initially, the product that Lowe & Reed most heavily advertised was the VEGETABLE PULMONARY BALSAM. (4) Their advertising focus switched by 1831 when the COMPOUND CHLORINE TOOTH WASH apparently became a hot commodity on the market. A virtual advertising blitz was begun by Lowe & Reed beginning in March of 1832. (5) It must have shown such potential that Lowe & Reed invested considerable money into marketing their product, including the creation of an embossed bottle, and it appears to have paid off. Advertisements were placed throughout the Northeast, Midwest and South, and they invariably included the name and location of a local druggist that sold the tooth wash, who may very likely have paid for a portion of the ad, which would be beneficial to both parties. The Tooth Wash outlasted the partnership between Lowe & Reed when it dissolved on January 1, 1839.

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Lowe & Reed’s Compound Chlorine Tooth Wash

Abraham Lowe’s interests eventually moved in different directions and he chose to leave the drug trade for what may be perceived as higher pursuits. Local and state politics were his aspirations and he also invested in railroads, banking and insurance companies.

The only embossed bottle produced by Lowe & Reed, at least to this writer’s knowledge, is for their tooth wash. Examples noted are all shades of aqua, with a round body and outwardly folded lip. At about 4 3/4 inches in height, it is vertically lettered in four lines; LOWE & REED’S / COMPOUND / CHLORINE / TOOTH WASH. Throughout his succeeding partnerships, Reed appears to have maintained either full or partial ownership of the COMPOUND CHLORINE TOOTH WASH. Sampson Reed retired from the drug business in 1869, (7) when the partnership was renamed Cutler Bros. & Co., which was comprised of William J. Cutler, George Cutler, E. Waldo Cutler and Charles E. Baker. The tooth

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Vegetable Materia Medica. In 1877, he published a little volume entitled Fragments of Physiology, which received very favorable notice from the press. For some years he has written and printed, on the anniversary of his birthday, a poem remarkably happy in style of versification, abounding with good taste and good sense.

For many years Dr. Lowe has been the President of Cushing Academy of Ashburnham, being one of the original Trustees of that well known flourishing institution.

In 1839, Abraham Lowe chose to leave the drug business and terminated his ties with Sampson Reed, who then formed a new partnership with Benjamin Wing and William Cutler. (6)

wash continued to be advertised by Cutler Bros. and Co. until 1870. (8) Upon the attainment of the anniversary of his 90th year, the Boston Journal of August 16, 1886, devoted a large article to the occasion, highlighting Abraham Lowe’s many accomplishments: Dr. Abraham T. Lowe, who for nearly a quarter of a century has been connected with the First National Bank of Boston, and for more than twenty years its President, attained his 90th birthday on Sunday, the 13th inst. His long life has been one of great activity and in many respects remarkable. He was born in Ashburnham Aug. 13, 1795. In 1816, he received the degree of M.D. from Dartmouth College, and for a time practiced medicine in Chelsea, Vt., and subsequently was in practice for seven years at his native town of Ashburnham. In 1825, he opened an apothecary shop in Boston, and a few years later associated himself with the late Sampson Reed, under the firm of Lowe & Reed, whose reputation as wholesale druggists was very wide for twenty years. Although engrossed with active business, Dr. Lowe ever has manifested a lively interest in public affairs. For four terms he was a Representative of the Massachusetts Legislature, his first election being in 1824. He also did good service upon the School Committee, and for five years was an efficient member of the Board of Alderman of Boston, serving under Mayors Chapman and Martin Brimmer.

Mr. Charles Amory and Mr. Henry B. Rogers are the only survivors with Mr. Lowe of the boards which held office from 1840 to 1844 inclusive. In public life he disclosed the rare traits that distinguished his career as a man of business, and a broad intelligence that was most thoroughly appreciated by his constituents and associates. For ten years or more he was a citizen of Bridgewater prior to 1853 and was most highly esteemed for his social and manly qualities. About 1860 he was active in the organization of the Safety Fund Bank and was elected as its first President, and subsequently during the war continued under a new charter as the President of the First National Bank of Boston, an institution which has been among the most successful in the country. During the long period from 1854 to 1881, while President of this bank, he manifested an almost unerring judgment in its management.

Dr. Lowe in early life manifested his love of learning by the preparation of several school books, among which were the “Columbian Class Book” and the Second Class Book”. Later he wrote a volume entitled Observations on Medicinal Agencies of the

Dr. Lowe was an early zealous advocate of internal improvements and was prominently identified with the construction of the Boston and Lowell Railroad, heading the list of subscribers in Boston for that pioneer enterprise. He was also one of the subscribers to the stock of the Western Railroad from Worcester to Albany, and was one of the Directors during its construction and subsequently a Director in the Boston and Worcester Railroad, and also in the Fall River Railroad. His business capacity really grasped these great enterprises, and with energy and courage he became a most efficient promoter of these great interests, so vital to the prosperity of Massachusetts, and particularly to its leading city. The marvelous changes wrought by this one great improvement in transportation since Dr. Lowe became connected with it could never have been dreamed of by the most zealous advocate.

Dr. Lowe’s love of learning has been constant through a long life, and his library is a large and rare collection. His scholarly acquirements have not been confined to his native tongue, but have embraced a knowledge of several ancient and modern languages.

For more than half a century he has been a firm believer in the doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church, and for all that time has been a member of the society on Bowdoin street, Boston. He is believed to be the oldest living representative of the Legislature of Massachusetts, and of the graduates of any department of Dartmouth College. His connection with the Masonic fraternity dates back to 1817, having taken nearly all the high degrees in that order. He has lived under the Administration of all the Presidents of the United States. His long life and vigorous physique is an inheritance from both father and mother, the latter being a connection of the Hale family, and both marked for their mental vigor and longevity.

Dr. Lowe still enjoys comfortable health being able to visit the scenes of his early home and participate in social and family reunions with a zest of one in the prime of life. His benignant face is seen upon the street and few men have more largely shared the esteem of social and business circles. He is the last survivor of his generation in his immediate family, and of his children, only one, Dr. Lewis G. Lowe of Bridgewater, is living.

After his death, on July 4, 1888, the Boston Journal found it an easy task to memorialize Lowe’s life by tweaking his 90th birthday memorial, using the quote noted above to create most of his obituary. (9) As with his partner, Sampson Reed also received a substantial obituary in the Boston Journal upon his death on July 8, 1880; Mr. Sampson Reed, an old and highly respected resident of this city, died on Thursday in the 81st year of his age. Mr. Reed was formerly an active and prominent business man, being at one time

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recognized the efficacy of chlorine and began advertising the sale of Labarraque’s CHLORURE OF OXYD OF SODIUM, reinforcing his interest in the virtues of chlorine as a new pharmaceutical compound. (11) Rushton partnered with James S. Aspinwall on January 1, 1831. (12)

Co-partnership notice documenting the beginnings of the drug business of Rushton & Aspinwall. (Evening Post [New York, New York] January 27, 1831, pg. 2)

In August of the same year they were given sole agency of the Compound Chlorine Tooth Wash for the City of New York by Lowe & Reed. (13) Within a year, their sole agency was expanded to the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. (14) They enjoyed at least several years of this sole sales territory but after mid-August 1834, a once vigorous newspaper advertising campaign Rushton & Aspinwall abruptly came to end, suggesting they no longer enjoyed the special rights to sell the tooth wash.

This lithograph of Abraham T. Lowe may be found in, History of Ashburnham, Massachusetts From The Grant of Dorchester Canada to The Present Time 1734-1886,

By Ezra S. Stearns. 1887. After pg. 466

head of the firm of Reed & Cutler, wholesale druggists. He was born at North Bridgewater, Mass., June 10, 1800. His residence in Boston, which has covered the greater portion of his life, has been marked by industry and integrity in business, an active interest in the public affairs of the city, and earnest endeavors to help forward such philanthropic and religious movements as commended themselves to his attention.

In 1852 and 1853, he was a member of the Board of Aldermen.

Hon. Benjamin Seaver being Mayor, and it is a singular fact that of all the gentlemen who composed the Board during that year there are only two survivors, namely, Messrs. Benjamin James and Jacob Sleeper. Mr. Reed was also a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1853, and served in the lower branch of the Legislature in 1854. Retiring from active business a number of years ago he has been some time out of public life also, but up to within a short time has been very active in religious circles, being a devoted member of the New Church, with which he connected himself when it was first organized in this city. He was an intimate friend of Rev. Thomas Worcester, former pastor of the church who died at Waltham in October, 1878, and of whom he wrote a biographical sketch, in which is given an interesting history of the Boston Society of the New Jerusalem. Mr. Reed’s son, Rev. James Reed is at present the pastor of the society. Funeral services in memory of the deceased will be held in the church on Bowdoin street at 3 o’clock Sunday afternoon. (10) Further south, New York druggist, William L. Rushton, also

This advertisement by Rushton & Aspinwall confirms the relationship between them and Lowe & Reed as early as 1831. (15)

The bottle used by Rushton & Aspinwall was undoubtedly that pictured on the following page which is lettered with their name and COMPOUND / CHLORINE / TOOTH WASH. It was not unusual for sole agents of a popular product to have their own bottles blown and this appears to be one of those cases, and blown somewhere between the latter part of 1831 to the middle of 1834.

Notes: 1. Boston Commercial Gazette (Boston, Massachusetts) May 27, 1824 2. Boston Traveler (Boston, Massachusetts) January 4, 1828 3. Boston Daily Advertiser (Boston, Massachusetts) July 10, 1824 4. This patent medicine continued to be sold by Lowe & Reed but with far less advertising. In fact it continued to be advertised by their predecessors until the end of the 19th Century.

5. Boston Morning Post, March 10, 1832

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Rushton & Aspinwall Compound Chlorine Tooth Wash bottles. Images courtesy Norman C. Heckler auctions.

6. Columbian Centinel (Boston, Massachusetts) January 5, 1839, Page: 3 7. Commercial Bulletin (Boston, Massachusetts) October 16, 1869, pg. 2 8. Boston Traveler (Boston, Massachusetts) September 3, 1870, pg. 1 9. Boston Journal (Boston, Massachusetts) July 5, 1888 Page: 1 10. Boston Journal (Boston, Massachusetts) July 9, 1880, pg. 2 11. Evening Post (New York, New York) July 27, 1829 12. Evening Post (New York, New York) January 28, 1831 pg. 3 13. Evening Post (New York, New York) August 9, 1831, pg. 1 14. Evening Post (New York, New York) June 6, 1832, pg. 4 15. Evening Post (New York, New York) November 1, 1831

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07 JANUARY 2018

(Sunday) TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS

THE LITTLE RHODY BOTTLE CLUB SHOW

Holiday Inn, Taunton, Massachusetts Early Admission, $15, 8:30 am, General Admission $3, 9:30 am

Contact Bill or Linda Rose sierramadre@comcast.net, 508.880.4929,

Directions: Take Exit #9, off Route #495 for 700, Myles Standish Blvd.

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BOTTLE, ANTIQUE & COLLECTIBLES SHOW & SALE

Bottles, Fruit Jars, Insulators, Crockery, Pottery, Glassware, Antiques, Advertising, Coins, Tokens, Jewelry, Pre-Pro Liquor & Brewery Items, Marbles, Paper, Souvenirs, Collectibles, Memorabilia and more!

FREE APPRAISALS

Friday, September 15, 2017, 12-5 PM Set-up $5.00 Early Bird Admission Dealer drop-off at 11 AM Saturday, September 16, 2017, 9 AM - 3 PM Admission by donation American Legion Hall 207 Main St. N.E., Aurora, Oregon For more information &/or table reservations contact: Wayne Herring (503) 864-2009 or Mark Junker (503) 231-1235 or Bill Bogynska (503) 657-1726 or email billbogy7@gmail.com

OREGON BOTTLE COLLECTORS ASSOCIATION Meetings 2nd Friday of the month, Sept. - June, in Portland www.obcaorg.org

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photo 1

Cheers to the Privy

By Jeff Mihalik

Yes, I have to give thanks and praise to the outhouse privy. The last two years have been some of the best digging and finding of my outhouse excavation career. Although I do have a “real� full time job, we dig every weekend barring some major diversion and often sneak in a week day dig too. I can safely say that we average at least 10 -15 privies dug a month.

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Looking at my digging journal, we only had one weekend this past winter that we deemed it to cold to dig, and that was a day that the high was in the low teens. Yes, we (myself, Mike Yancosky, and Donnie Jones) are obsessed. We dig, then dig some more, and more often than not, we do not find anything of importance, but we never slow down. Lately, when we do find a great bottle or object, for some reason we only find one item in the pit.

That can also be frustrating but you have to take what you get.

Recently, we had a span of 31 days where our digs produced several really outstanding flasks. Each of these bottles were found at the very bottom of the pit. In addition, all three flasks very generally produced around the same period (sometime between the late 1830s to early 1850s).

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Being a privy digger you have to be a dreamer (always believing that this dig will be one of the best, always hoping for that pit loaded with glass, always dreaming of that top shelf find!). So after finding these three flasks my imagination took over and I started to day dream. I felt like all three flasks were being used and discarded at the same time. I started to wonder what event could have occurred to cause someone to use a whiskey flask, then toss it down to the bottom of an outhouse. Ok, I will omit that it may not take much of an imagination to come up for a reason for someone to take a nip and then discard the container, but I ask that you suspend your logic of disbelief and entertain my day dream.

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A few months prior, we dug a privy in a courtyard and found a really cool glass object, what I believe to be a campaign glass (photo 1). It was almost complete except that the foot was missing a section. The next week we dug another privy in the adjacent yard and unbelievably (I’m not dreaming yet), found another glass object, again most likely a campaign glass. Although made from a totally different batch of glass and of a different style (photo 2), it also was missing the same section of the foot (photo 3). Ok, now I am starting to dream…….

When we dug the second campaign glass, and saw how it was damaged in the same spot, I could easily imagine that two neighbors were out celebrating some event, toasting together they say cheers! As they hit their glasses together they both break at the point of contact. Laughing and covered in the spirits, they both toss the glasses down their privy hole.

That brings me around to the three flasks and back to reality. The first flask found, was a Zachary Taylor / Eagle Rough and Ready Masterson with corrugated sides. We just had completed digging a pit and Mike probed into the side wall and found another pit.

I jumped in and dug down through the clay wall to expose as much as I could of this adjacent pit. Mike then jumped in and dug down. We weren’t finding much and what we did find was old but broken. Since we were already down eight feet in the previous pit, we didn’t have far to go to get to the bottom of this one. Mike sees some glass and yells out that it’s a flask, maybe a double eagle, but that it’s a quart and moving to the touch (which usually means that its just a broken piece). However, once he uncovers it, and then carefully extracts it, we are blown away! A complete and undamaged rare quart historical flask (photos 4 & 5). We really dig intensely at this location, having found about 13 privies, most under concrete and all packed together. Here is a picture of the aftermath of digging at this spot (photo 6).

A week later Donnie was not available so another digging buddy Chris, filled in for this weeks’ dig on Saturday. Actually, Mike and Chris dug a pit on Friday and did pretty well. When we got together we quickly found and dug a privy, but it turned out to be too new. We decided to go back to where Mike and Chris had dug the previous day.

This building on this lot was supposed to be one of the oldest still standing in town (photo 7). Of course, we heard that at least two digging crews had dug here. Given what was found the day before, we were not discouraged. Since the entire building and lot was being raised, we had carte blanch to do whatever. That said,

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photo 6

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the parking areas along the alley were now open game. We found a likely spot after removing some concrete and brinks and started to dig. Unfortunately, this pit also turned out to be newer, having found several tin top milk bottles. Having dug the right and now the middle of the back lot, we moved over to the left side.

We found another spot of interest and started to dig. Something was going on as we did find a local druggist bottle complete but lots of other much older pieces of glass mixed in (which usually indicates someone else dug before us). We found another complete embossed bottle so we kept digging. We were half way under a cement parking pad, so we were keeping a close eye on the walls. About seven to eight feet down, Mike hits a terracotta drain running through the pit. We actually find about three old drains running through the privy, but there seems to be at least another two feet or so of privy below the drains. The drains start to explain some of the mixing of the glass, so we continue down even though we really haven’t found much at this point.

After taking out the drains, Mike gets down near the bottom of the privy. He yells up that he sees a flask and its in color! Well at this point I’m not to excited yet. Many a time Mike will call out some bottle only to find out that its not what it first looked like or just a broken piece, so I’m staying cool. Then he starts to really yell and gets crazy excited, then holds up a colored double eagle!

Once again an undamaged flask. This one is a pint and in color (photos 8 & 9).

Another couple weeks go by with not much luck digging and with several pits that were already dug. On this Saturday, we started out digging what we knew was going to be a deep hole.

We were down five or six feet and found a wall of bricks that was supporting a drain. We didn’t want to mess with the drain so we kept digging trying to keep it safe. When at about 15 feet and in water, it just got way too unsafe and we had to bail out on this privy after spending most of the day busting our behinds. We still had some daylight so we went to another spot. I started digging down into this spot and noticed that the walls appeared round.

As I got deeper, it became evident that we were in a barrel privy.

Mike got into the hole at about the five foot level and got at it.

The glass was sparse, having only found a couple bottles along the walls (which typically tells us that the privy was dipped) but they are either pontil or smooth base so the age is good.

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Long story short, at about ten feet deep, Mike is at bottom. He still hasn’t found anything good, but keeps cleaning the bottom out. He once again yells up about a flask and in color. Again, I’m skeptical but lets see what he has. I can’t believe it when he yells up that it’s a scroll flask in color (green), but there it is! He sends it up, and it appears to be black glass. But when it gets cleaned up, its turns out to be a beautiful green more on the emerald side (photos 10 & 11).

Pitch me, am I dreaming? No, we just got really lucky but also rewarded for our extremely hard work. There were many other really good finds along the way during this 31 days. Colored embossed pontil ink, rare iron pontil soda, cobalt buffums tenpin to name a few.

I started to think about how each of the flasks were found at the

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very bottom of each pit. My day dreaming took over again.

I thought about the two campaign glasses and the toasting that may have caused the identical damage. Then I envisioned each of these flasks (well the contents of) being used to celebrate some event. Ah, I have it. Cheers to the Privy!

In each of these three privies, I could see the privy diggers celebrating with the owners the completion of their efforts. Then as a token of the event they drink up a good bottle of whiskey, then everyone takes a dump, then they toss the empty bottle into the hole. Come to think of it, the Campaign glasses were also found at the bottom of those privies. Maybe they had just completed digging those two privies and brought out their best glasses for a toast to commemorate the completion of their construction. Guess the scientist in me likes to explain everything and when you mix in the dreamer, this is what you get!

A good digging story and possible source for our finds….. dig and dream on my friends.

Addendum

Well, pinch me, cause I must be dreaming... again! We just dug another great flask! A GIX-41 made by John Robinson and Son circa 1830-1834 in GREEN (photo 12)! photo 11

We just had dug two privies without hardly a bottle, and it was 90 degrees that day, but decided to go look at another spot we had been before and probe to confirm the next week’s dig spot.

The privy here seemed to be really big and deeper on one end and I was calling it quits for the day.. already having changed by clothes and cleaned up a bit… but Mike wanted to dig or at least test pit this spot. Donnie was tired too, but started digging with Mike anyways. I walked over and watched them digging and in about one minute I was changing back into my dirty digging clothes and jumped into the pit to dig (yeah, I am an addict and can’t say no, especially when you put a privy in my face, lol).

Well, as I was widening the hole I spotted the top of a piece of glass only about 3 feet down. I previously hit some bones but being so far up in the hole, I really didn’t pay much attention, but when I looked closer you could see that the top of the bottle looked old.

I had to go head first into the hole, while Mike and Donnie held my legs. I started to wipe the dirt away and could see it was a scroll flask (we found several aqua examples in a hole next to this one a couple months ago). I started pulling the bottle from the dirt (by hand) and lifted it out of the hole and handed it to Mike. I started to hear him yell that the flask had an anchor on it.

I immediately knew then what it was, but then looking at it in the sun, we all saw it was Green! Totally unbelievable! That was the only bottle in the hole except two slicks.

CHEERS to whomever threw that one away!

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Jeff Mihalik’s college education includes a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and Master degrees in both Biology and GIS (Geographic Information Systems). He originally planned on studying archaeology in college, but after getting some formal training, decided to go into the environmental science field, then biology, and adds “as they say, I didn’t want to make my hobby, my career.”. Jeff is originally from Beaver County, Pennsylvania (born in Sewickley, Pa.), but lived in Texas for about 15 years, then returned to Pennsylvania in 1999 to be closer to family. He is currently working as a consultant with Moody and Associates, Inc. in Houston, Pennsylvania, mainly providing ecological and technical services to his clients in the energy sector.

Jeff started bottle digging in dumps in Texas while in college (Stephen F. Austin, Nacogdoches, Texas). When he returned to Pennsylvania, he met up with Rich Ronczka who showed him how to locate privies and they became digging buddies and continue to dig for the last 15 years. Jeff also does extensive digging with the extreme Pittsburgh digging crew (as seen in many of his more recent digging articles). He has written many digging stories and other articles for both Bottles and Extras, as well as Antique Bottle & Glass Collector. Jeff has given numerous talks to local historical societies and school history clubs in Pennsylvania and Ohio and even gave a talk at an AARP meeting and one family reunion, both of which had over 100 people attending! Jeff shared stories, experiences and information on his Ohio River Valley privy digging and said that he really enjoys researching history and finding artifacts that he can relate to the individuals who used the outhouses he digs. History is the key to our future!

photo 12 (the author : Jeff Mihalik

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Bottles and Extras

NORTHEASTERN FAVORITES

By Jeff Ullman

Reprinted from the FOHBC 2017 Springfield National 2002 souvenir program from the FOHBC national show when it Antique Bottle Convention & Expo Souvenir Program. was held in Syracuse, New York. They had a piece where they As somewhat of a tradition around the time of the FOHBC national shows, there always seems to be an article written on the “best” bottles from the area or region where the show is being held. This year we are going to be in Springfield, Massachusetts, the northeast region so it would stand to reason that there would be some sort of piece on this area. Jim Bender, co-chairman of the Springfield National, emailed me back in March and asked me if I was up for a “task”. He needed an article for the souvenir program talking about some of the best bottles from the northeast.

Maybe a top 10 or 20? Hmmmmm….. OK, I’ll give it a shot but we need to talk about this first.

It would be an exercise in futility if I tried to rate bottles in any kind of order. I have collected bottles for about 40 years and I still do not feel qualified to make a “best of” list for the northeast.

We saw last year how the collectors out west at the 2016 Sacramento National, did a similar article that started out as a Top 25 list that turned quickly into a Top 70 list. I’m no west coast bottle expert but I would be willing to bet that they left quite a few really good bottles off that list too! Now let’s try this on the east coast where there were many times more glasshouses and just a lot more bottles produced than on the west coast. That’s a can of worms I do not want to open.

Alright then, doing a “Best of the East” is out of the question if I’m going to be writing this piece so now I notice that I have a

asked several local collectors to give them a short list of some of their “favorite” bottles from the northeast. Genius! I’m going to do the same thing. I know a few people around here. I will ask some of them to give me a list of five of their personal favorites.

Common or rare, it doesn’t matter. Obviously, some people might be biased toward a category they collect but that’s Ok too. I collect Saratogas, so I might lean heavily toward mineral waters.

This is just a fun list and I let the responses come back as they may. Here’s what people had to say.

I’ll start with Jim Bender of Sprakers, New York. He always has a lot to say, only kidding Jim! Jim has one of the best bottle memories of anyone I know. He can remember minute details about certain bottles, who owned them, what color it was and where he saw it even from years and years ago. It’s uncanny sometimes.

The few times I have doubted him, I am usually proven wrong!

Jim is writing a book on A.M. Bininger & Co. bottles, so when I received his reply, one of the bottles on the list was no surprise to me.

1. North Bend Tippecanoe figural cabin. These great historical bottles are extreme rarities and definitely what bottle dreams are made of. I can remember when I first started collecting, I saw an article in one of the issues of Old Bottle Magazine about an example being sold for a record price at the time. I think it was around $10,000 in the 1970s. I can’t imagine what one would bring now. A great Mount Vernon piece. [1]

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2. Dr Kilmer’s with the lungs. This is not really super rare but just cool. I agree Jim. Kilmer bottles have always been a local bottle for us. They produced some great bottles and advertising pieces. When you see a mint “lungs”, you must keep it! [2] 3. A.M. Bininger & Co / No 19 Broad St New York figural handled whiskey urn. Fantastic piece of glass. [3] 4. Warner’s “Tippecanoe” figural log. What skill it took just to make this mold. [4] 5. Floral Temple flask with embossed horse in aqua. Classic flask with great history. [5] I can’t disagree with any of Jim’s choices. In fact, he stole one of my candidates. The Flora Temple is one of the first bottles I remember seeing with an applied handle. I always admired the craftsmanship it took to make those handled pieces.

Bob Strickhart, the other co-chairman of the Springfield National, was the next person to get back to me. I haven’t known Bob for too long but I have read articles he has written and I know he is another very knowledgeable guy, especially when it comes to New Jersey bottles and more specifically, bitters bottles. Here’s what he wrote back.

“Jeff, Here’s my top five. Keep in mind that I’m a bitters guy!

These are not in any order. To put them in order would be a torture and, I might add, picking just five is not easy!”

1. From Philadelphia, you should include the Brown’s Celebrated Indian Herb Bitters. What bottle collection would be complete without at least one figural Indian Queen? [6] 2. Drakes Plantation Bitters (New York). Sure, it’s common and plentiful, but look at the figural log cabin bottle; it’s iconic and just imagine if there were only ten examples known. What would the value of one of these beauties be then? [7] I agree with Bob, these bottles are classic across the board and if you start with the basic ambers, they are still affordable. I can remember when I was 12 or 13 years old looking at my Kovels Price Guide and seeing pictures of the figural bitters, I could not imagine nicer bottles. At that time, it was like looking at a museum piece. I might see one, but I could never imagine owning one.

I guess it’s the way all collectors should start out. It’s not always the rarity of a piece. It could be where or who you got it from. It could be a family connection to the name or maker of the bottle, or it could be that you just like it. You will see some of this with my list later on in the article.

3. For color, we must include the Washington-Taylor historical flasks. Usually attributed to the Philadelphia area (Dyottville, possibly Crowleytown, New Jersey, etc) and Lockport, New York. They’ve got to be a fan favorite. [8] 4. From the great state of New Jersey, my home state, Seaworth Bitters, in the form of the Cape May lighthouse. It’s got to be one of the top figural bitters known. [9] 5. Now we can’t overlook the fruit jar world, can we? Once again, from the great state of New Jersey, even though it’s thought of as a Philadelphia jar, Potter & Bodine Air Tight Fruit Jar Philad. The Bridgeton Glass Works in South Jersey should get a lot of credit for this mold. It’s a lot of jar for the buck. [10]

Washington Taylor historical flasks come in a breathtaking array of colors

More good choices. Thanks Bob, This really is interesting to see what other people like. Some of us say we are “general” collectors and that may be true, but take a look at your collection and you will see that you may have your own favorite areas. Even so, we all appreciate good glass. In this northeast region of the country we are so fortunate to have a lot of good glass to pick from.

The next email I opened was from George Waddy. George has been a long-time dealer and collector from New York and Florida. He also has written many bottle articles over the years. He gave me the following list for his favorites. “Hi Jeff - here goes” 1. Perhaps my favorite bottle is a bright yellow Jacob Pinkerton Wahoo & Calisaya Bitters. It is loaded with bubbles and is the nicest Pinkerton imaginable. It’s also the first “good” bottle I ever bought. Cost me $115 in back in 1970!

2. My favorite mineral water is a strawberry/amethyst pint Excelsior Rock Spring Saratoga NY. It’s fairly scarce in any color, but the one mentioned is exceptional in every way. I got it from Rick Weaver when he sold his mineral water collection.

3. H. Lake’s Indian Specific is not rare, but it’s early and crude, with a huge pontil and it’s from Syracuse and is sort of local.

Definitely northeast. [11] 4. Some years ago, I was visited by Herman Moll from Colorado.

He brought a cobalt, quart size Harrison’s Columbian Ink to trade. I stole his car keys until he let me buy it! [12] 5. Maybe the most striking bottle I own is the emerald green quart, Susquehanna Mineral Springs Pennsylvania. It’s a typical mineral water color, which is just fine and is loaded with whittle, and has an extraordinary, bold embossing. [13] Yes George, I dearly remember that Excelsior Rock Spring in Rick’s collection! I wish I had a good picture! It could easily

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make my list as well! George also has been a mineral water guy for quite some time. To see a couple Saratoga types on his list doesn’t surprise me at all.

Next up, Ferdinand Meyer V, FOHBC President, weighed in.

“Jeff, here are my selections for some of the best northeastern bottles with a bit of support information. This is no easy task and includes bottles that seemed to pop into my head first. I posted on peachridgeglass.com about each so just do a search to find the bottle and more information.”

1. Constitution Bitters put up by B.M. & E.A.W. & Co. - New York. This extremely rare round, aqua figural gazebo form bottle is from one of the oldest merchants of New York City, Edward A. Whitlock, of the house of B.M. & E.A Whitlock. This could possibly be the oldest figural bitters. [14] 2. Cooley’s Anti Dispeptic Bitters - Connecticut. This could possibly be the oldest embossed bitters bottle. I have an 1857 advertisement that states that Cooley’s Bitters was invented in 1767 by Dr. Samuel Cooley, of Bolton, and has been in use since that time until the present. Not conclusive at all but interesting that this product was most likely put in another bottle prior to the Cooley’s concoction that we suspect was made and bottled around 1840. Or maybe it was some sort of powder at first? [15] 3. Dr. Wynkoop’s Katharismic Honduras Sarsaparilla. These are monster medicine bottles in great shades of blue. The Wynkoop of sarsaparilla fame was Robert Dunbar Wyncoop who was born on August 1, 1811 in Albany, New York. Robert D. Wynkoop received his training as a physician with his father in Albany, New York. He then established a medicinal laboratory and sales outlet in New York City in the 1840s. Wynkoop copyrighted the words “Dr. Wynkoop’s Katharismic Honduras Sarsaparilla” on November 16, 1847. Sometime in the late 1850s, the firm was billed as Health, Wynkoop & Co. located at 63 Liberty Street, New York.

4. Bryant’s Stomach Bitters (figural cone and lady’s leg) – New York. Dr. George N. W. Bryant had an apothecary in New York City in the late 1840s and early 1850s and created one of the most sought after bitters containers in the bottle collecting community.

This bottle was manufactured in the east from about 1857 to 1865 and was distributed out west during the years 1857-1859. The firm of William Newell & Co, an early San Francisco wholesale liquor house, were the agents for Bryant’s Stomach Bitters on the Pacific Coast. [16] 5. Masury’s Compound Extract of Sarsaparilla and Wau-AHoo, Rochester, New York. Marketed as “The Largest Bottle in the World.”Around 1850, there was a lot of competition between sarsaparilla compound medicine makers. Two of the biggest selling products were A B & D Sand’s Sarsaparilla and Masury’s Sarsaparilla. These companies were always looking for gimmicks to help peddle their nostrums. One successful approach was to offer a larger bottle for the same money. The customer would feel like they were getting a real deal while there would be little increased cost in manufacturing. Another monster medicine. [17] Next I talked to Fran Hughes of Scotia, New York at one of our Capital Region Antique Bottle & Insulator Club meetings in Albany. He agreed to give me a list of some of his northeast favorites.

1. J Lake Schenectady NY is an aqua ten pin style bottle with

Bottles and Extras

an iron pontil about 7.25 inches tall. These are nice sodas even in the more common blue. The one I have pictured is not the aqua example but they are nice sodas even in the more common blue.

[18] 2. Geo. Weller Schenectady NY gravitating stopper, yellow orange, 7.5 inches tall.

3. Kill A Korn - Albany NY, green, 2.5 inches tall. [19] 4. E Water’s Troy NY in yellow. The one I have personally seen, was 3.5 inches tall and had a crack and partial lip. The example I have pictured is not the yellow one but is pretty nice too! [20] 5. ADR Albany is an igloo style, open pontil, aqua bottle.

Fran’s list had a couple more commonly found bottles for our area but in killer colors. Sometimes it’s hard to find pictures of these pieces. Today there are pretty good cameras out there for bottle photography and you can even take decent pictures on your smart phones. If you see one of these examples mentioned above at a show or in a friend’s collection or even on your own shelf, take a good picture. It’s amazing but sometimes we sell pieces we wish we hadn’t and years later realize that we can’t even find a picture of it to remember and enjoy. I’ve done this too many times unfortunately.

Jim Berry, FOHBC Secretary from St. Johnsville, New York was my next victim. Jim and I are good friends and longtime fishing buddies. In addition to his other great bottles, Jim has a pretty good ink collection. So, I knew an ink or two would make his list.

1. JIEM figural ink turtles - They come in a number of colors.

[21] 2. Lithia Mineral Spring Co., Gloversville, pint, SB, aqua. [22] 3. C. Berry / Boston, / 1002 Washington St. teal, SB, squat, blob-top. [23] 4. Maple Sap and Boiled Cider / Vinegar / the C. I. Co. / East Rindge, NH, quart. SB in cobalt blue. [24] 5. J. Mason & Co. / Utica / Mineral Water / J. M. Co., iron pontil, teal, squat soda. [25] Jim’s list includes local bottles from Utica, New York and Gloversville, New York, a bottle with his last name on it and yet another with a theme from another pastime for him, Maple Sap (syrup). Jim has a nice sugar bush near his house and makes several gallons of syrup each spring. He may be retired now but these things keep him busy.

I had asked several other people as well and many responded but just didn’t want me to use their names. Some of the favorites from these people were: Any of the Coventry geometric inks - On January 14th, 1813, seven men signed an agreement to erect a glass factory at Coventry, Connecticut along the Boston Post Road. [26] Bininger’s Cannon - Figural cannon, A.M. Bininger & Co. / 19 Broad St. / N.Y. [27] Syracuse Spring Saratoga type bottles - The main spas in the United States were Saratoga Springs and Balston Spa. Popular mineral water came from these springs.

S.S. Knicker Bocker sodas from New York City - Cobalt blue

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glass, BIM with blob top, upward indented base with graphite pontil that still has the iron intact, 10-sided, height 7 3/4”.

Suffolk Bitters figural pig - Philbrook & Tucker, Boston - Extremely popular figural pig. [28]

Summer Tree - Winter Tree historical flask in yellow-olive

Udolpho Wolfe’s Schnapps bottles - Udolpho Wolfe was one of the most prominent and highly esteemed merchants of New York.

The bottles come in a wide array of colors. [29] Race & Sheldon Magic Boot Polish - The gorgeous green bottle with the killer lip. [30] G. W. Stone’s Liquid Cathartic & Family Physic - Lowell Mass. - A Stoddard glasshouse medicine from Stoddard, New Hampshire, 1846-1860. [31]

Dr. Townsend’s Sarsaparilla, Albany NY - Townsends were known to be made at Mount Vernon, Mt. Pleasant, Stoddard, Coventry and Willington. They were likely made at Albany Glassworks and Lockport/Lancaster too. Literally millions of bottles were needed, so therefore multiple glasshouses and molds.

[32] Albany Glassworks flasks - The Albany Glassworks site is an archaeological site in Guilderland, Albany County, New York.

Approximately 2 acres in size, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. [33]

Any of the Keene, New Hampshire Glassworks bottles - The Keene-Marlboro-Street Glassworks opened under the direction of Henry Schoolcraft and his two partners in 1815 and continued in operation under a bewildering variety of operating firms for the next 35 years.

The list could literally go on and on. You can see how rating bottles is nearly impossible!

So now, the only one left to make a list is myself. As I said before, I am a mineral water guy but also like a lot of other bottles as well. There are always a few that stand out in my mind. In no particular order, these are the bottles that jump out at me.

1. First off, here is one of those bottles I wish I had taken a picture of. Back in the early nineties, Jim Bender and I went to one of Norm Heckler’s live auctions which was pre-internet days. In that auction was the most beautiful pure yellow Summer Tree - Winter Tree pint flask. It had it all, crudity, color and just sparkled. When I went to these auctions, I was able to talk to many of the big-time collectors of that time. This auction I remember sitting in the gallery prior to the auction starting and talking to Elma Watson while Dick, her husband continued looking around.

I told her that I really liked it and she smiled and said Dick liked it too. Oh well, I was going to be out of luck. It ended up going home with the Watsons and I’m sure it is still sitting on the shelf in New Jersey. Maybe I’ll get another shot at it some day.

2. Another huge favorite of mine (pun intended) is the large size Clarke’s Vegetable Sherry Wine Bitters - Sharon / Mass. It’s over 11 inches tall, pontiled and usually these bottles are just hammered with whittle. Next to mineral waters, big pontiled medicines get my attention fast. [34] 3. I told you that I am a mineral water guy, so obviously, there will be a couple on this list. When I was in high school at Sharon Springs Central School, my father plowed snow in the winter for certain people. I would ride with him and shovel the sidewalk while he did the driveway. One day I was shoveling for our neighbor when she yelled out to me to come inside after I was

finished. I went inside and she told me that she had heard from my father that I collected antique bottles. I told her yes and then she handed me a gorgeous emerald green John H. Gardner & Son / Sharon Springs N.Y.” (rev.) Sharon Sulphur Water pint.

Even at 15 years old I knew that this was a great bottle but it wasn’t until I had some more experience that I realized just how rare a color this is for this particular bottle. Most examples are teal blue or light green. 37 years later, it’s still on my shelf and always will be. [35] 4. Another mineral water bottle that I hope to own someday is the J. Whitney - Richfield Springs Sulphur Water. It’s another bottle that I remember from Rick Weaver’s collection. It’s a blob top mineral water, but it’s fairly scarce and local for me.

5. The last bottle on my list of favorite northeast bottles is another specific bottle in my collection. In fact, it was the very first bottle in my collection. Along with other interests, my parents had a small addiction with antiques in general. My father had his own heavy equipment construction business. In the early 1970s he was hired to knock down a house near Cobleskill, New York. Before knocking it down, he and the owner went through it and my father found a few things of value to buy. He knew nothing about bottles but saw this odd, crude bottle in a kitchen cabinet and brought it home. It was always on top of his roll-top desk at our house. I always loved it and tried to find out more about it. I finally found some info and a picture of one just like it. Remember, no “Google” back then. That’s when the bottle bug hit me. He told me it was my bottle now but it had to stay on his desk because he liked to look at it too. That bottle is a gorgeous sparkling mint, light olive green chestnut flask. I can’t believe it survived in that dilapidated old house where he found it. It’s another bottle that will go to the nursing home with me. [36] So, there are a few favorites from the northeast to ponder over. I apologize if I missed a category or two. This is just a fun look at what bottles a few select people like from our region.

Think about what your favorite bottles are. If you come to the Springfield National in August, you will be treated to many more outstanding bottles, and who knows, maybe you will go home with a new “favorite” of your own. See you at the show! [#] Images on following pages.

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Bottles and Extras [1] North Bend Tippecanoe figural cabin [2] Dr. Kilmer’s with the lungs [3] A.M. Bininger & Co. No 19 Broad St New York figural handled whiskey urn

[1]

[2]

[3] [4] Warner’s Tippecanoe figural log [5] Flora Temple flask with embossed horse [6] Brown’s Celebrated Indian Herb Bitters figural Indian queen in yellow amber and citron green. From Philadelphia.

[4]

[5]

[6] [7] Drake’s Plantation Bitters figural log cabin (New York) [8] Washington-Taylor historical flasks [9] Seaworth Bitters in the form of the Cape May lighthouse. Two sizes.

[7]

[8]

[9]

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Bottles and Extras

[10] Potter & Bodine Air Tight Fruit Jar Philad.

[11] H. Lake’s Indian Specific [12] Harrison’s Columbian Ink quart

[10]

[11]

[12] [13] Susquehanna Mineral Springs Pennsylvania mineral water [14] Constitution Bitters put up by B.M. & E.A.W. & Co. - New York figural gazebo [15] Cooley’s Anti Dispeptic Bitters Connecticut

[13]

[14]

[15] [16] Bryant’s Stomach Bitters (figural cone and lady’s leg) – New York.

[17] Masury’s Compound Extract of Sarsaparilla and Wau-A-Hoo, Rochester, New York.

[18] J Lake Schenectady NY soda

[16]

[17]

[18]

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September - October 2017

Bottles and Extras [19] Kill A Korn - Albany NY [20] E. Waters Troy, N Y [21] JIEM figural ink turtles

[19]

[20]

[21] [22] Lithia Mineral Spring Co., Gloversville [23] C. Berry / Boston, 1002 Washington St. teal blob top [24] Maple Sap and Boiled Cider / Vinegar / the C. I. Co./ East Rindge, NH

[22]

[23]

[24] [25] J. Mason & Co. / Utica / Mineral Water / J. M. Co. soda.

[26] Any of the Coventry, Connecticut geometric inks [27] Figural cannon, A.M. Bininger & Co. / 19 Broad St. / N.Y.

[25]

[26]

[27]

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Bottles and Extras

[28] Suffolk Bitters figural pig - Philbrook & Tucker, Boston [29] Udolpho Wolfe’s Schnapps bottles [30] Race & Sheldon Magic Boot Polish

[28]

[29]

[30] [31] G. W. Stone’s Liquid Cathartic & Family Physic - Lowell Mass.

[32] Dr. Townsend’s Sarsaparilla, Albany NY [33] Albany Glass Works flasks N.Y.

[31]

[32]

[33] [34] Large size Clarke’s Vegetable Sherry Wine Bitters - Sharon / Mass.

[35] John H. Gardner & Son / Sharon Springs N.Y.” (rev.) Sharon Sulphur Water pint [36] Chestnut flask in olive green

[34]

[35]

[36]

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SSeptember ctober eptember- -OO ctober2017 2017

BBottles xtras ottlesand andEE xtras

Our fourth appearance in Bottles and Extras of interesting finds from losses long ago. Please feel free to submit your images or ideas for consideration.

In September of 2015, an unknown painting, found in a New Jersey basement, went up for auction; the owner expected it to sell for $800, but it ultimately fetched $870,000 after three aficionados recognized it as an early work by Rembrandt, one of a series of small allegorical paintings he had executed as a very young man. (The fifth painting in the series, which illustrates the five senses, is still missing.)

Putting the Another Look at Sandwich article together reminded me of a very nice blue lamp that I dug many years ago and kept in a box somewhere in my garage. I even found a picture of me just after I dug the item, although I don’t think the photo is good enough to add to the article. See the attached pic with the lamp just to the left of my head. - Eric McGuire

A diamond ring purchased in London for $13 has sold for $847,667 roughly double its initial estimated value of £250,000 to ($456,000) - at the Sotheby’s Fine Jewels auction. The 26-carat ring was first purchased in the 1980s by an anonymous seller, who bought the jewel at a car boot sale, under the assumption that it was a piece of costume jewelry. The startling realization of the ring’s true value came decades later, when the wearer chose to have the ring appraised by a local jeweler.

The ring was later identified as a cushion-shaped diamond set in a 19th century mount.

Bottle diggers will tell you that they sometimes find doll heads in their privies.

Looking a bit spooky without their torso and limbs, the eyes seem full of memory.

BBottles xtras ottlesand andEE xtras

SSeptember ctober eptember- -OO ctober2017 2017

The famous blue figural barrel embossed W. Wolf Pittsburgh. Found in a thrift shop in 2012 and purchased for $1 dollar. The second known example. The first example pictured in the Bob Ferraro article this issue.

Hello Ferdinand, I was looking up info on old bottles that I had found over the years metal detecting for gold and found your site (awesome site, I love it with all the pictures). Who would I take them too to find out their worth as I’m not really a collector but love finding them. One of the St Drakes bottles still has the cork in it and some of whatever they had in it, also the C. LEDIARD cabin bottle. I cant really find much for pictures on that one nor of the really dark bottle. Thought I would trouble you as you know more about these things then any other site that I found and from your web page I can see you really love the research involved in the old bottles and the bottles themselves. Sorry for the pictures as I’m no good at the camera.

The picture with the rocks on it are actually the rarest form of gold there is, they are crystalline gold that I still need to work on before they can be rightfully displayed as they are still covered in way too much quartz.

The gold was found in the same area as the bottles and go hand in hand I think. One of the gold nuggets is pictured to the right. - Brenden

Dug this on Sunday…a stunning find for me for sure. Big bottle...thought it was a Hostetter’s when I saw the base.

Nonetheless, I thought I would share. Over the moon on this find. - Brandon DeWolfe

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Bottles and Extras

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September - October 2017

WANTED

Articles for BOTTLES and EXTRAS Our editor, staff and designers eagerly await to help you in any possible way.

Tell us about your collection or someone else’s. Tell us your digging and picking story. Write a fictional bottle story. Tell us about an area of antique bottle and glass collecting. Every bottle has a story. Tell us about the medicine men, merchants, or proprietors who are related to our bottles or about a glass house. Write an auction or show report. Tell us about a club outing. Really, the sky is the limit. Don’t be shy. Young or old, new to the hobby or a veteran, please step forward.

Thank You! To submit a Story, Send a Letter to the Editor, or have Comments and Concerns about BOTTLES and EXTRAS, please contact the Editor, Martin Van Zant. mdvanzant@yahoo.com

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September - October 2017

Member Photo Gallery

Bottles and Extras

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

Early New England glass images from Kevin C. Cady.

A pressed waisted loop font whale oil lamp - Michael Mackintosh

Trio of the first variant Lacour’s Sarsapariphere Bitters - Warren Friedrich

Bottles and Extras

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September - October 2017

A variety of labeled inks Jeff Wichmann

Important 1886 Anna Pottery stoneware presentation vase Jeffrey S. Evans

Back bar bottles and western ephemera - Bradley Nevill

Western found glass Dale Mlasko

iated66

enefits Classified Ads

iated

dom

September - October 2017

Bottles and Extras

Classified Ads FOHBC

Advertise for free: Free “FOR SALE” advertising in each Bottles and Extras. One free “WANTED” ad in Bottles and Extras per year. Send your advertisement to FOHBC Business Manager, 101 Crawford, Studio 1A, Houston, TX 77002 or better yet, email “emeyer@fohbc.com”

WANTED: Paducah, Kentucky paper label whiskey beer, RX, President’s Message etc., bottles & assorted advertising items. Also Hemingray

FOHBC

DEALERS: Sell your bottles in the Bottles and Extras classified for free. Change the bottles and your ad is free month after month. Include your website in your ad to increase traffic to your site. Send your advertisement to FOHBC Business Manager, 101 Crawford, Studio 1A, Houston, TX 77002 or better yet, email “emeyer@fohbc.com”

insulators or unusual color or size. Call (270) 994-7762 or Email: bjsummers65@gmail.com WANTED: THEO. BLAUTH/WHOLESALE WINE AND LIQUOR DEALER whiskey fifth (Barnett 55). Shot glasses: C&K WHISKEY (not bourbon); SILVER SHEAF/BOURBON:H. WEINREICH CO.; GOLDEN GRAIN BOURBON/M.CRONAN (in black); CALIFORNIA WINERY (LUG); CALIFORNIA A FAVORITE (not FAVORITE A). Contact Steve Abbott at (916) 631-8019 or email to foabbott@comcast.net

News dom Membership President’s

Message

Original or facsimile of Edwin Lefevre story, “Why Calendar ofWANTED: Shows For Sale I Collect Empty Bottles,” in Oct. 19, 1929 Saturday Evening

SHO-BIZ

Post. Contact Bill Baab, 2352 Devere St., Augusta, GA 30904 (or & Related Events riverswamper@comcast.net) with price.

FOR SALE: Numbers from “Western Whiskey Bottles #4, R.E. Barnett, Glop tops – 588 Nabob $195; 569-Jesse Moore $145; 750-Spruance Stanley, kip flash, offer; 497-Lilienthal, base chip, offer; Tool tops – 57-Lovejoy T. H., $250; 400-Hoffschlaeger, Honolulu $295; 570-Jesse Moore, $45; 10-Americus Club $55; 634-Peacock, Honolulu, $135; 406-Homer’s California Ginger Brandy $35; 227-J.F. cutter, $25; 202-Crown Distillers $2.

Phone: Rick Littell (928)649-9010 or jazimodo@yahoo.com

Membership News More show-biz

FOR SALE: “Boyle & McGlinn” “Philada” Qt. Squirt Whiskey (old) no damage but has inside stain. $100 or will trade for one of the following Fla. Hutch sodas: Cottondale, Ft. Myers or Tallahassee. Contact: Gene Judd, Phone: (352) 288-9450.

WANTED: **COCA WINE & SECONAL BOTTLES* Any Seconal & Coca wine & *COCA TONIC bottles* with label intact. Preferably N-Mint to Mint Condition. Also TUINAL & PENTOBARBITAL bottles, vintage compounding bottles of *SECOBARBITAL & PENTOBARBITAL* ANY OLD PHARMACY FINDS, Medical artifacts & related advertising.

Please save this add & contact me with any of the above. TOP $$$ PAID! Contact: pharmatiques@gmail.com Bottles and extras

WANTED: Koca Nola soda bottles and go-withs from the U.S., Cuba and Mexico. Plus J Esposito soda and beer bottles from Philadelphia, PA. Contact Charles David Head, 106 6th Street, Bridgeport, AL 35740, Phone: (256)548-2771, Email: kocanolabook@yahoo.com WANTED: Odd/scarce/rare: COD LIVER OIL bottles. I’ve 115 different examples...many more exist. BYRON DILLE’ 60325 Acme Rd, Coos Bay, OR 97420 or (541) 260-0499 or Email: Byronincoosbay@msn.com WANTED: Lung Bottle, Dr. Kilmers Binghamton, NY; Clyde Flasks; Criton, Yellow Wheat, Black or heavily whittled. Colored Clyde bottles and paper advertising from the Clyde Glassworks, Clyde, New York. Contact John Spellman, P.O. Box 61, Savannah, New York 13146. Phone: (315) 398-8240 or Email: spellmanjc3156@gmail.com WANTED: Amber quart cylinder whiskey shoulder embossed Garrick & Cather Chicago, IL plus embossed image of a palm tree. Contact Carl Malik, PO Box 367, Monee, IL 60449 (708) 534-5161.

WANTED: Belle of Florida beer bottles or paper labels. Advertising posters. Product of the Augusta (Ga.) Brewing Company. Circa early 1900s.Sept Send - Octprice 2015wanted with replies to Bill Baab, 2352 65 Devere St., Augusta, GA 30904, or riverswamper@comcast.net

Calendar of Shows Classified Ads Individual & Affiliated Membership Benefits SHO-BIZ Club Information & Related Events The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors FOR SALE

FOR SALE: Rare cobalt “Morton’s Citrate of Magnesia Milwakee” (Wis) $500. Excellent condition 7-1/2” x 2-3/4” rare. Phone: (715) 340-8939. Bill Mitchell, 703 Linwood Avenue, Stevens Point, WI 54481.

FOR SALE: Rare H.H.S. & Co. Imperial Gin Bottle. L&W on Base. Orange-Amber, American. Some inside stain, outside shinny and clean with a few light scratches. $225 Free shipping.

Call (616) 527-4313, ask for Scott.

WANTED: Milk, dairy creamers and beers. Contact Audrey Belter at (520) 868-5704.

WANTED: ONKAMA MICHIGAN Bottles, Stoneware and related Go-withs. Call Ryker Johnson (231) 889-5532.

WANTED: CHICAGO ADVERTISING STONEWARE. Contact Carl Malik, P.O. Box 367, Monee, Illinois 60449.

(708) 534-5161

Just love Bitters! Especially Ohio Bitters. Here are a Individual & AffiliatedWANTED: few I am looking for. Star Anchor Bitters, Portsmouth, Ohio. Henry Shards of Wisdom C. Weaver Mexican Bitters, Lancaster, Ohio. H.I. Weis Dayton, Club Information FOR SALE: Rare 1940’s “MINT” Noel Cola Painted Label Ohio. Stewart Bros. Swamp Root Bitters, Columbus, Ohio. Green-

More show-biz

bottle 7 fluid oz. Girl yellow & red Noel Bottling Works, Corinth, Miss. Call for pictures. Phone: Larry McDaniel (662) 415-5676.

FOR SALE: Very early and rare book; “Collector’s Guide of Flasks and Bottles” by: Charles McMurray; Dayton, Ohio. copyrighted 1927. This book is in good to very good condition and contains photos and descriptions of historical flasks and other early bottles. Priced at $100.00 + shipping, call Doug (775) 882-8956 PST

Shards of Wisdom

hut’s Bitters, Cleve. Ohio, Cliff’s Aromatic Bitters, Clev. Ohio. Catawba Wine Bitters, Cleve. Ohio. American Plant Bitters, Wooster, Ohio. Hofstettler Bitters, Galion, Ohio. B&L Invigorator Bitters, Cincinnati, OH. Dear Wahre Jacob Bitters Toledo, OH. Frazier’s Root Bitters. For The Blood, Clev. Ohio. Hartley’s Peruvian Bark Bitters, Cincinnati, Ohio. Night Cap Bitters Cincinnati, Ohio. Pale Orange Bitters, Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. M. Pinton’s Pure Stomach Bitters, Cincinnati, Ohio. Holtzernann’s Patent Stomach Bitters Piqua, O. this is an amber square. Any other Ohio Bitters you might have; also Blue Jacket Bitters. Thank you for your consideration and Best Regards, Contact: Gary Beatty (941) 276-1546 or Email: tropicalbreezes@verizon.net

Wanted For Sale Individual & Affiliated Membership Benefits Club Information

WANTED: DR KILMER’s U & O Ointment; Prompt Parilla Pills; Swamp Root Kidney Liver & Bladder; Cough Cure Consumption Oil (embossed Lungs) 8’-5/8”. Contact: John Whitney, Phone: (918) 835-8823.

WANTED: Findlay and McComb, OH bottles, jars and advertising – anything. Dandy jars in odd colors. FB Co Wax Sealer in Amber ½ gal. Blob beers with FB Co on base from anywhere.

Contact: Joe Frey, 1144 Twp. Road 136, McComb, OH 45858.

Email: odants@bright.net

WANTED: RARE FRUIT JARS with closures, colored 1858’s / pints, especially JJ Squire, Crowleytown ½ gal, Buckeye closure (top and clamp) Faulkner Werr Co. RB 983 Amber Midgel, NCL Co. Echo Farms ½ pt. jar only, Western Pride Pt. RB 2945.

Contact Phil Smith (859) 912-2450 or email to phil.smith@ zoomtown.com WANTED: Antique Chinese Porcelin cermanics, rice bowls, vases, tea cups and saucers etc. Contact Ron at: (530) 798-6525 or Email: bledsoeacres@aol.com

Individual & Affiliated Shards of Wisdom Club Information

WANTED: ELK BAR REDONDO, ELK BAR REDONDO, ELK BAR REDONDO FLASK. Also all other Redondo Beach California bottles – A lot of Redondo bottles dug during the redevelopment of the 1960’s and 1970’s. I know there are alot out there. How about helping me put them in my collection of Redondo Bottles. Contact: Dave Deto, PO Box 118, Yosemite, CA 95389. Phone: (209) 626-9846.

WANTED: St. Helena Wine Depot or A. Zwick Co. Items S.F. Cal. (mission district) circa. 1890-1917 such as,, shot glasses, bottles, any photos, ad items, anything! Phone: Robert Zwick (916) 331-1563.

WANTED: Marietta, Georgia Items! • Pre WWII embossed bottles: ‘15 and ‘23 Cokes, SS Cokes, Crown Top Bottling Works, Hutchinsons, Drug Store, Pharmacy, Medicines, etc. • J.W. Franklin pottery • Advertising: Signs, Promos, etc. • Postcards: The older, the better! • Also, looking for vintage Atlanta and North Georgia bottles and related items. So, Whadayahave?!? Email: steve@ southernlawn30066.com or Voicemail/Text: (770) 578-4829 WANTED: Sacramento shot glasses: C&K/WHISKEY, Casey & Kavanaugh; California A Favorite; SILVER SHEAF/Bourbon/H. WEINREICH & CO. (double shot); GOLDEN GRAIN/ BOURBON/M. CRONAN & CO. (in black); bar bottle, JAMES WOODBURN (white enamel). Contact Steve Abbott: 916-6318019 or foabbott@comcast.net

Shards of Wisdom

WANTED: Always buying good Wisconsin bottles, bitters, beers, sodas, early medicines & advertising go-withs. Also collect figural bitters & whiskeys. Large collection of Wisconsin bottles for sale, one or all. Phone: (715) 340-8939 Bill Mitchell, 703 Linwood Avenue, Stevens Point, WI 54481.

WANTED

WANTED: Hutchinson’s: Electric City Wine Co. Buffalo, N.Y. El Dorado Bottling Co. Dawson, Y.T. – Dieter & Sauer Ciudad Juarez, Mexico – H.A. Ralu Colon, R.P. – Any New Mexico – Zang Wood, 1612 Camino Rio, Farmington, NM 87401, (505) 327-1316 Email: zapa33-51@msn.com

Join the ANTIQUE POISON BOTTLE COLLECTORS ASSOCIATION today! For details find us on Facebook or contact Joan Cabaniss at (540) 297-4498 or by Email: jjcab@b2xonline.com

Bottles and Extras Advertising Rates DISPLAY ADVERTISING RATES

B&W 1 Issue 2 Issues* 3 Issues* 4 Issues* 5 Issues* 6 Issues*

Page 1/2 Page $175 $90 $300 $175 $450 $235 $600 $315 $725 $390 $850 $475

Color 1 Issue 2 Issues* 3 Issues* 4 Issues* 5 Issues* 6 Issues*

Page $200 $350 $525 $700 $825 $1,050

1/4 Page 1/8 Page 4” Col. 3” Col. 2” Col. $50 $20 $30 $25 $20 $90 $35 $55 $45 $38 $130 $50 $80 $65 $57 $170 $65 $105 $85 $75 $210 $80 $130 $105 $85 $250 $95 $150 $125 $90

Cover 1/2 Page 1/4 Page $225 $125 $80 $400 $200 $130 $600 $300 $200 $800 $400 $280 $1,000 $500 $375 $1,200 $600 $425

1/8 Page $45 $75 $110 $150 $190 $230

Classifieds: 10 cents per word 15 cents per bold word $2 minimum monthly charge ad should be typed or printed

*Consecutive issues with no changes Digital Copy and or camera ready copy preferred but not required for display ads

***** 50% Discount ***** For FOHBC member clubs All ads must be paid for in advance

Make checks payable to FOHBC (Federation of historical Bottle Collectors) Send Payment to: Elizabeth Meyer, 101 Crawford, Studio 1A, Houston, TX 77002; Send AD copy and/or questions to: Business Manager: Elizabeth Meyer, 101 Crawford, Studio 1A, Houston, TX 77002; phone: (713) 222-7979; e-mail: emeyer@fohbc.org

Issue Date January/February March/April May/June July/August September/October November/December

AD Deadlines

Deadline November 20 January 20 March 20 May 20 July 20 September 20

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September - October 2017

Bottles and Extras

Individual & Affiliated Shards of Wisdom Club Information Members gained this period. The names below represent persons agreeing to be listed in the printed membership directory. Some of those listed agreed to be listed in the membership directory but not the online directory.

David Brevik P.O. Box 854 Calistoga, CA 94515 (707) 341-3252 file86@gmail.com

Gwen Levy 9136 Lemon Avenue LaMesa, CA 91941 (818) 425-9358

(508) 436-0009 Pontield medicines, bitters, glass works emboss Bottles and Go-Withs

Shards of Wisdom

Victoria Freund 170 Dawn Lane Rogersville, TN 37857 (301) 717-9431 laverevicki@gmail.com

Wanted

Clint Harris 2208 West Gary Street Broken Arrow, OK 74012 (918) 724-7548 charris01@valornet.com Soda, Fruit, Flask, Medicine William E. Judd 10340 SE 158th Place Summerfield, FL 34491 (352) 288-9450 Florida bottles, cures, bitters, hutch sodas, bottles with great color

Peter Manguso 16 Myrna Road Framingham, MA 01701 (508) 877-6870 Medicines/Bitters/Flasks/Jars/Early Glass

Valerie Mikalonis 110 Barkhamsted Road West Granby,CT 06090 (860) 597-2480 valeriemikalonis@att.net Rebecca Ramsey 16 Basin Rd. Windham, ME 04062 rebecca.ramsey@maine.edu Robert Cohen P.O. Box 2474 Hyannis, Massachusetts 02601

Darryl Klutts 14 Light Road Harpursville, New York 13787 (607) 693-2818 Lockport NY, Sandwich Glass, Hayuer Whiskey AngelinaSale Pellegrini For 6563 Kaneko Drive

San Jose, California 95119 (650) 814-6940 angelina.pellegrini@gmail.com Pickles, advertising, local California (Bay Area) Robert D. Terry P.O. Box 396 822 2nd Street Georgetown, Colorado 80444 (303) 569-2502 Bottles

The National

Bottle Museum Where history is the bottle!

SEND IN YOUR SHOW INFORMATION AND/OR SHOW FLYER TO: fohbc.org/submit-your-show/ Members Don’t forget to check out “Member’s Portal” for Special Access to past issues of BOTTLES and EXTRAS And to check out Featured Stories and keep current with all the bottle news!

Situated in the heart of Ballston Spa, New York is a museum whose mission is to preserve the history of our nation’s first major industry: Bottle making.

Exhibits inside of the National Bottle Museum allow visitors to view thousands of glass bottles.

National Bottle Museum 76 Milton Avenue Ballston Spa, NY 12020

NationalBottleMuseum.org

518.885.7589

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September - October 2017

SHO-BIZ

Bottles and Extras

Calendar of Shows & Related Events

FOHBC Sho - Biz is published in the interest of the hobby. Federation affiliated clubs are connotated with FOHBC logo.

Information on up-coming 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, 101 Crawford, Studio 1A, Houston, TX 77002; phone: (713) 222-7979; e-mail: emeyer@fohbc.org, Show schedules are subject to change. Please call before traveling long distances. All listings published here will also be published on the website: FOHBC.org

September 9 Downieville, California Downieville Antique Bottles & Collectibles Show and Sale, Downieville School Gym, 120 School Street, Downieville, California 95936, Saturday 8:00 am – 3:00 pm, $10 Early Lookers, 8:00 am – 10:00 am, FREE Show Admission, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm, Saturday, at 7:00 am – $10 Early Lookers, Downieville Antique Bottle Group, www.westernbitters.com, Contact: Rick Simi, P.O. Box 115, Downieville, California 95936, 530.289.3659, ricksimi@att.net

American Legion Hall, 207 Main St. N.E., Aurora, Oregon, For more information and/ or table reservations contact: Wayne Herring 503.864.2009 or Mark Junker 503.231.1235 or Bill Bogynska 503.657.1726 or email: billbogy7@gmail.com, Oregon Bottle Collectors Association, Visit Web Site

More show-biz

September 16 Richmond, Rhode Island The Little Rhody Bottle Club Tailgate Swap Meet, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Free set-up for members and aspiring members. Free coffee, donuts, and pizza for participants. Bring your own tables! Show Address: Jules Antique Center, 320 Kingstown Road, Richmond, Rhode Island (3 miles East of Route #95 on Route #138), Contact Info: William Rose 508.880.4929

Individual & Affiliated Membership Benefits Club Information

September 9 & 10 Port Townsend, Washington 4th Annual Antique Bottles and Collectibles Show, American Legion Hall, Marvin G Shields Memorial Post #26, 209 Monroe Street, Port Townsend, Washington 98368, September 9th at 9:00 am to September 10th at 5:00 pm.

Hosted by Russ West. Free admission, live music, during Port Townsend’s Wooden Boat Festival. Vendors welcome: Contact Russ West 360.984.7070. $35 dollars per table. Set up Friday September 8th.

Individual & Affiliated September 16 Shards of Wisdom Club Information Indianapolis, Indiana

September 10 Richfield, Ohio Ohio Bottle Club 47th Antique Bottle Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, ohiobottleclub.org, Show Address: Days Inn and Suites (formerly Holiday Inn), 4742 Brecksville Road, Richfield, Ohio (Ohio Turnpike Exit 173), Contact Info: Louis Fifer, 330.635.1964, fiferlouis@ yahoo.com or Matt Lacy, 440.228.1873. info@antiquebottlesales.com

Indianapolis Circle City Antique Bottle Club is hosting their 5th Annual Antique Bottle Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, Show Address: Boone County Fairgrounds, 1300 E. 100 S. Lebanon, Indiana 46052, Contact Info: Martin Van Zant, 208 Urban Street, Danville, Indiana 46122, 812.841.9495, mdvanzant@yahoo.com

Shards of Wisdom Wanted

September 10 Pekin, Illinois Pekin Bottle Collectors Association 48th Annual Show & Sale, New Location! Moose Lodge, 2605 Broadway Street, Pekin, Illinois, 8:00 am to 3:00 pm; Admission $2. Free Appraisals. Contact: Jim Searle, 1003 Illinois Street, Pekin, Illinois 61554, 309.346.7804 September 15 & 16 Aurora, Oregon Bottle, Antique & Collectibles Show & Sale, Bottles, Fruit Jars, Insulators, Crockery, Pottery, Glassware, Antiques, Advertising, Coins, Tokens, Jewelry, Pre-Pro Liquor & Brewery Items, Marbles, Paper, Souvenirs, Collectibles, Memorabilia and more! Free Appraisals!

Friday, September 15, 2017, 12 noon – 5:00 pm Set-up, $5 Early Bird Admission, Dealer drop-off at 11:00 am, Saturday, September 16, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, Admission by donation,

September 17 Depew, New York 19th Greater Buffalo Bottle Collectors Association Annual Show and Sale at the Polish Falcons Hall, 445 Columbia Avenue, Depew, New York 14043, Sunday, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, Set up 7:00 am to 9:00 am, Cost of admission: $3, children under 12 free, Greater Buffalo Bottle Collectors Association, gbbca.org, Contact: Joe Guerra, Secretary, 29 Nina Terrace, West Seneca, New York 14224, 716.674.5750, jguerra3@roadrunner.com, Greater Buffalo Bottle Collectors Association September 17 Westford, Massachusetts Merrimack Valley Antique Bottle Club’s 43rd annual bottle show, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, early buyers at 8:00 am, www.mvabc.org, Show Address: Westford Regency Inn, 219 Littleton Road, Westford, MA. The show is just five minutes off Exit 32 of I-495 with plenty of signs to follow. Special Note: There will be a $20 door prize drawing just for early buyers at 8:45. Contact Info: Cliff Hoyt, 978.458.6575, choyt48@comcast.net

September 23 Santa Ana, California Los Angeles Historical Bottle Club’s 51st Annual Antique Bottle, Fruit Jar, Antiques & Collectibles Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm; Early Bird $10 at 8:00 am. Free admission. At the Santa Ana Elks Lodge, 212 Elk Lane, Santa Ana, California 92701, Contact: Don Wippert, 818.346.9833, donwippert@yahoo.com or Dick Home, 818.362.3368 September 24 Hammonton, New Jersey 35th Annual Batsto Bottle Glass & Antique Show at Historic Batsto Village, 31 Batsto Road, Hammonton, New Jersey 08037, Sunday from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, Free Admission, Set Up: Sunday 7:00 – 9:00 am, Batsto Citizens Committee, Contact: Paul Delguercio, Show Chairman, 856.252.7730, paulhavoc@comcast.net September 30 Albuquerque, New Mexico 30th EIC/NMHBS Annual Insulator, Bottle & Collectibles Show at the Elite Sports Academy, 501 Main Street, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104, Friday, Dealer setup & trading, 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Saturday, Show hours 8:30 am – 4:00 pm. $10 for non-dealers, displayers and helpers. Set up day(s) and time: Friday, 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Saturday, 7:30 am -8:30 am.

Cost of admission: Free on show day, Enchantment Insulator Club & New Mexico Historical Bottle Society, Contact: Mike Gay, EIC President & Show Chairman, 5516 Kachina NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87120, 505.480.0085, cdn102@centurylink.net or Tom Katonak, 505.933.0297, tkatonak@swcp.com

For Sale

October 1 Chelsea, Michigan Huron Valley Bottle and Insulator Club 41st Annual Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 2:00pm.

Admission $3 for adults, children 16 and under, free. Show Address: Comfort Inn Conference Center, 1645 Commerce Park Drive next to the Comfort Inn, Chelsea, Michigan (Exit 159 off I-94), Contact Info: Mike Bruner, abbott4girl@sbcglobal.net or Rod Krupka, 248.627.6351, rod.krupka@yahoo.com October 1 Dryden, New York Finger Lakes Bottle Collectors 48th Antique Bottle and Collectibles Show and Sale at the Dryden Fire Hall, 26 North Street, Dryden, New York 13053, Sunday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, No early admission, Cost of admission: $2,

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(More) Sho-Biz More show-biz Finger Lakes Bottle Collectors Association, Contact: Jay Travis, Show Chair, 280 -B Luce Road, Groton, New York 13073, 607.533.4389, jaywtravis@netzero.net

November 5 Elkton, Maryland The Tri-State Bottle Club’s 45th Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show (Tabletop Antiques) at the Singerly Fire Hall, Route 279 & 213 (I-95, Exit 109 A), Elkton, Maryland 21922, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, General Admission: $3, Children Under 12 Free, Contact: Dave Brown, 302.3889311, email: dbrown3942@comcast.net

From 9:00 am – 2:00 pm. Admission is $2.

Kids under 12 are free (w/adults)​. Free appraisals with paid admission. Free parking.

Heated building with food concession. Early Bird hours: 7:00 – 9:00 am. Tickets are only $10 and include complimentary coffee and donuts. Dealer tables are $35 each. Contact: finbotclub@gmail.com. Show Chairman: Fred Curtis, 419.424.0486, Website:​finbotclub. blogspot.com

Individual & Affiliated Membership Benefits Club Information

October 7 Richmond, Virginia Richmond Antique Bottle and Collectibles 46th Antique Bottle Show and Sale, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, $3, Early Admission. 7:30 am, $10, Chesterfield County Fairgrounds, 10300 Courthouse Road, Chesterfield, Virginia 23832, Info: bottlegeezer.com/RABCA or Marvin Croker, 804.275.1101 or Ed Faulkner 804.739.2951

October 15 Scriba, New York The Empire State Bottle Collectors Association Presents The 19th Annual Fall Antiques, Bottles & More Show & Sale at the Scriba Fire Hall, U.S. Route 104, East Scriba, N.Y. Show hours: 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. Admission is $3 donation. Kids under 16 are free​. Contact: Barry L. Haynes, P.O. Box 900, Mexico, New York 13114, 315.963.0922 or 315.963.3749

Individual & Affiliated Shards of Wisdom Club Information

October 7 Coventry, Connecticut The Southern Connecticut Antique Bottle Collector Association’s 46th Annual Show 8:00 am to 1:00 pm, Outdoors on the grounds of the historic Coventry Glass Works, 289 North River Road, Coventry, Connecticut 06238 (corner of Rt. 44 & North River Rd) Contact: Bob 203.938.3879, rdsrla@optonline.net

November 11 Belleville, Illinois Eastside Spectacular #11 Combined Brewery Collectibles Show & Antique Bottle and Jar Show, Saturday 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

October21 Savannah, Georgia Tommy Mitchner Antique Bottle Show, 8:00 am to 3:00 pm, Indoors at Keller’s Flea Market, 5901 Ogeechee Road (Hwy 204, one mile from I-95), Savannah, Georgia, Contact: Gene Auterey, 912.663.5585 or Ken Nease, 912.739.7355

Shards of Wisdom

October 8 Keene, New Hampshire 50th Annual Keene Bottle Show & Sale sponsored by the Yankee Bottle Club, 9:00 am to 2:30 pm, Early admission at 8:00 am at the Keene High School, Arch Street, Keene, New Hampshire, Yankeebottleclub.org, Info: John Bemis, 603.352.5246 or Alan Rumrill, 603.352.1895, director@hsccnh.org

Wanted

October 13 & 14 Waco, Texas Central Texas Antique Bottle Show at the Red Men Hall, 4521 Speight Avenue, Waco, Texas 76711, Fee admission: Saturday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, Early admission: Friday 1:00 pm – 6 pm, $10, Free appraisals. Info: Jay’s Emporium, 361.649.8221, jamast@att.net, Central Texas Bottle Collectors October 14 Fayette, Alabama 4th Fayette, Alabama Antique and Bottle Show, Boy Scout of America Building, 100 3rd Avenue NE, Fayette, Alabama 35555, Saturday 8:00 am until 3:00 pm, Set up: Friday from 3:00 pm until 6:00 pm and Saturday, from 6:00 am until 7:30 am, Cost of admission: Contact Name: Jeff Pendley, 1000 Ballinger Road, Fayette, Alabama 35555, 205.275.2650, jfpendley@aol.com October 15 Findlay, Ohio Findlay Bottle Show at the Sterling Center Reception Hall, 4570 Fostoria Avenue, Findlay, Ohio 45840 Google Maps link. Show hours:

November 11 Jacksonville, Florida Antique Bottle Collectors of North Florida 50th Annual Show & Sale, Saturday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm; early buyers, Friday 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm, $25, Free admission Saturday. Fraternal Order of Police Bldg, 5530 Beach Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida, Contact: Mike Skie, 3047 Julington Creek Road, Jacksonville, Florida 32223, 904.710.0422 or Corey Stock, 904.268.9316, jaxbottleshow@yahoo.com

November 12 Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Antique Bottle Club’s 48th Annual Show and Sale at the Ice Garden Rostraver, Twp., 101 Gallitin Road, Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania 15012, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, General Admission: $3, Early admission 7:00 am to 9:00 am $25, Contact: Bob DeCroo, 724.326.8741 or Jay Hawkins 724.872.6013, PittsburghAntiqueBottleClub.org

For Sale

October 29 Matteson, Illinois 48th Annual 1st Chicago Bottle Clubs Show & Sale at the Holiday Inn Conference Center, 500 Holiday Inn Plaza Drive, Matteson, Illinois 60443, Sunday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm, No Early Admission, Set up: 7:15 am – 9:00 am, Cost of admission is $3, childern under 16 free, 1st Chicago Bottle Club, www.1stchicagobottleclub.com, Contact: John Vlahovich, show chairman, 139 Concord Court, Dyer, Indiana 46311, 630.390.9679, jvlahovich@att.net

November 4 Royal Oak, Michigan The 35th Metropolitan Detroit Antique Bottle Club’s 35th Annual Antique Bottle Show & Sale at the Royal Oak Elks Lodge #1523, 2401 E. Fourth Street, Royal Oak, Michigan 48067, Saturday 9:30 am to 3:00 pm, No Early admission, Set up: Saturday 8:00 am – 9:30 am, Cost of admission for Show $2. Metropolitan Detroit Antique Bottle Club, Facebook page, Contact: Michael Brodzik, President and Newsletter Editor, 47668 Sonnett, Macomb, Michigan 48042, 586.219.9980, bottlemike@ outlook.com

November 12 Oakland, New Jersey North Jersey Antique Bottle Collectors Assn.

48th Annual Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, Early Buyers 8:00 am at the Pompton Lakes Elks Lodge No. 1895, 1 Perrin Ave, Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, Contact: Ken, 973.907.7351, froggy8@optonline.net November 19 Albany, New York Capital Region Antique Bottle & Insulator Club 21st Annual Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Address: Polish Community Center, 225 Washington Ave, Albany, New York, Contact: Jason Privler, 518.506.2197, nyscapitol@yahoo.com November 26 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Forks of The Delaware Bottle Collectors Association44th Annual Bottle and Antique Show & Sale, Sunday November 26, 2017, 9:00 am to

70 2:00 pm, $2.00 Admission, Bethlehem Catholic High School, 2133 Madison Ave., Bethlehem, Pa. 18017, Located 2 Miles South of Rt. 22, Exit Center Street-Rt. 512, Dealer & Display set-up 6:00 am to 9:00 am, Early Shoppers 7:30 am (Additional Fee), Plenty of Parking Food Concession, For More Information Contact: Bill Hegedus, 20 Cambridge Place, Catasauqua, Pa. 18032, 610.264.3130 December 1 & 2 Roseville, California 49er H.B.A.40th Annual “Best of the West” 2017 Antique Bottle, Insulator & Western CollectiblesShow, Placer County Fairgrounds, 800 All America City Blvd., Roseville, California 95678, December 1st: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm $10, Dec. 2nd: 9:00 am – 3:00 pm Free, Info: Mike at 916.367.1829, January 7 Taunton, Massachusetts The Little Rhody Bottle Club Show, Holiday Inn, Taunton, Massachusetts, Early Admission, $15, 8:30 am, General Admission $3, 9:30am, Contact Bill or Linda Rose, sierramadre@ comcast.net, 508.880.4929, Directions: Take Exit #9, Off Route #495 For 700, Myles Standish Blvd

September - October 2017 2018 April 18 Hutchinson, Kansas 11th Annual Kansas Antique Bottle & Postcard Show, State Fairgrounds, Hutchinson, Kansas, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Free Admission, Presented by the Kansas Territory Bottle & Postcard Club, Set-up Saturday at Noon to 9:00 pm, Sunday set-up 7:00 am. Doors open 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Call or text Nicolee Ebmeier at 620.931.0843 May 5 Gray, Tennessee State of Franklin Antique Bottles & Collectibles Association 20th Annual Show – Sale, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, Free admission & door prizes, Gray, Tennesseee, Exit 13 on I-216, Appalachian Fairground, sfabca.com May 18 & 19 Lake City, Florida Florida Antique Bottle Collectors 5th Annual Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show & Sale, Columbia County Fairgrounds, 438 SR 247, Lake City, Florida 32055, Saturday regular admission $3, 8:00 am – 3:00 pm, Early buyer fee on Friday of $20 from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm, Info: Contact Brian Hoblick, hoblick@aol. com, 386.804.9635 or Ed LeTard, eandeletard@aol.com, 985.788.6163

Bottles and Extras August 2 – 5 Cleveland, Ohio FOHBC 2018 National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo – Midwest Region at the Cleveland Convention Center, Host Hotel: Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center, Show Information: Louis Fifer, Show Co-Chair and FOHBC Conventions Director, 330.635.1964, fiferlouis@yahoo.com or Matt Lacy, Show Co-Chair, FOHBC Midwest Region Director, 440.228.1873, info@antiquebottlesales.com, Visit Web Page, FOHBC National Convention

2019 August 2 – 4 Augusta, Georgia 2019 FOHBC 50th Anniversary National Antique Bottle Convention, FOHBC National Convention – Southern Region

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Individual & Affiliated Membership Benefits Club Information

The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors cordially invites you to join a dedicated group of individuals and clubs who collect, study and display the treasured glass and ceramic gems of yesteryear.

The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (FOHBC) is a non-profit organization supporting collectors of historical bottles, flasks, jars, and related items. 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.

Federation membership is open to any individual or club interested in the enjoyment and study of antique bottles. The Federation publication, BOTTLES and EXTRAS, is well known throughout the hobby world as the leading publication for those interested in bottles and “go-withs”. The magazine includes articles of historical interest, stories chronicling the hobby and the history of bottle collecting, digging stories, regional news, show reports, advertisements, show listings, and an auction directory. BOTTLES and EXTRAS is truly the place to go when information is needed about this popular and growing hobby.

In addition to providing strength to a national/international organization devoted to the welfare of the hobby, your FOHBC membership benefits include:

Individual & Affiliated Shards of Wisdom Club Information

Shards of Wisdom

• A full year subscription the Federation’s official bi-monthly publication, BOTTLES and EXTRAS • One free ad per yearly membership of 100 words for use for “wanted” items, trade offers, etc.

• Eligibility for a discount at FOHBC sponsored shows (National or EXPOs) towards “early admission” or dealer table rent • Access to a knowledge of the world of antique bottle collecting unavailable elsewhere • Contact information for clubs devoted to the study of historical bottles • A forum for your writings, articles, and editorials regarding the hobby • Participation in the nomination and selection of Federation members for the Honor Roll and Hall of Fame • Federation-sponsored writing, show poster, and newsletter-design contests • Free publication assistance for your book or manuscript • And more...

Wanted

For Sale

We encourage Affiliated Bottle Club memberships by offering these additional benefits to your group: • Display advertising in BOTTLES and EXTRAS at an increased discount of 50% • Insertion of your bottle club show ad on the Federation website to increase your show’s exposure • Links to your club website free of charge, as well as assistance with the creation of your website • Free Federation ribbon for Most Educational Display at your show • Slide programs for use at your club meetings • Participation in Federation sponsored insurance program for your club show and any other club sponsored activities Finally…

We need your support! Our continued existence is dependent upon your participation as well as expanding our membership. The Federation is the only national organization devoted to the enjoyment, study, preservation, collection, and display of historical bottles.

The FOHBC welcomes individuals who would like to contribute by running for Board positions or by sharing their expertise and volunteering their talents in other areas of interest such as contributions to our publications, assistance with the Federations’ National Antique Bottle Conventions, or through membership promotion.

If you haven’t yet joined our organization, please do so and begin reaping the benefits. If you are already a member, please encourage your friends and fellow collectors to JOIN US!!

For more information, questions, or to join the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, please contact:

Linda Sheppard, PO Box 162, Sprakers, NY 12166; phone: (518) 673-8833; email: jim1@frontiernet.net or visit our home page on the web at FOHBC.org

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Individual & Affiliated Shards of Wisdom Club Information FOHBC Individual Membership Application For Membership, complete the following application or sign up at www.fohbc.org (Please Print) Do you wish to be listed in the printed membership directory? (name, address, phone number, email address and what you collect) { } Yes { } No

Shards of Wisdom

Name_______________________________ Address_____________________________ City________________________State____ Zip _ ____________Country____________ Telephone___________________________ E-mail Address_______________________

Wanted

Collecting Interests_ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

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

BOTTLES and EXTRAS FREE ADS

Category: “WANTED” Maximum - 60 words Limit - One free ad per current membership year.

Category: “FOR SALE” Maximum - 100 words Limit - 1 ad per issue.

(Use extra paper if necessary.)

For Sale

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

Addtional Comments___________________ Would you be interested ___________________________________ in contributing your bottle ___________________________________ knowledge by writing articles

for the BOTTLES and EXTRAS? { } Yes { } No

Membership/Subscription rates for one year (6 issues) (Circle One) United States - Standard Mail $40.00 - Standard Mail for three years $110.00 - First Class $55.00 - Digital Membership (electronic files only) $25.00

Canada - First Class $60.00 Other countries - First Class $80.00

- Life Membership: Level 1: $1,000, Includes all benefits of a regular First

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 $5.00 for each associate for each year

Name(s) of Associate(s)______________________________________ *Associate Membership is available to members of the immediate family of any adult holding an Individual Membership. Children of ages 21 or older must have their own individual membership. Associate(s) Members enjoy all of the right and privledges of an Individual Membership

Signature ______ Date___

Please make checks or money orders payable to FOHBC and mail to: FOHBC Membership, Elizabeth Meyer, 101 Crawford, Studio 1A, Houston, TX 77002 Effective 8/2015

Affiliated Club Membership for only $75.00 with liability insurance for all club sponsored events, 50% discount on advertising in the BOTTLES and EXTRAS, plus much more, Contact: Business Manager: Elizabeth Meyer, 101 Crawford, Studio 1A, Houston, TX 77002; phone: (713) 222-7979; email: emeyer@fohbc.org

Clearly Print or Type Your Ad Send to: Business Manager: Elizabeth Meyer, 101 Crawford, Studio 1A, Houston, TX 77002; ph: (713) 222-7979; or better yet, email Elizabeth at: emeyer@fohbc.org

Article Submission Requirements: All BOTTLES and EXTRAS articles or material need to be submitted on CD (preferable) or an email using a compressed (zipped) file. The file must be created by Microsoft Word, Publisher or Adobe N-Design so the editor does not have to retype the work.

High-resolution digital images are our preferred format. Please submit digital images on a CD according to the instructions below. We will accept e-mail submissions only if the image resolution is acceptable. The e-mail or CDs must have only ONE subject per transmission to minimize confusion. Each image must be accompanied by a caption list or other identifying information. Professional-grade equipment is a must to achieve the size and quality image we require. The highest setting on the camera should be used for maximum resolution and file size. Only high quality images will be considered. Please do not send photographic prints or scans of images—the color and quality are generally not up to par compared with digital images or slides scanned by our imaging department. We will consider exceptions for photos that can’t be easily found, such as older historical images. We rarely use slides anymore and prefer not to receive submissions of slides due to the time and liability involved in handling them.

Announcing the Joe Kray collection of rare and fine bitters bottles

American Glass Gallery Please consider the following benefits to help ensure your consignments reach their highest potential: w Competitive consignor rates and low buyer premiums w Broad-based and extensive advertising w Experience, knowledge, honesty and integrity w Attention to detail and customer service

These fine items will be included in our upcoming auctions.

For more information, please give us a call or visit our website.

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

TM

FOHBC C/O Elizabeth Meyer, 101 Crawford, Studio 1A, Houston, TX 77002

Please Check your information and notify us of errors.

FOHBC.org

Heckler We’re holding on to Items Pictured From Our Premier Auction 154, September 4-13, 2017

these just for you

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