Vol. 28
No. 2
March - April 2017
Also in this issue...
Featuring: Edward Roome - Tobacconist
The Beginnings of the Antique Bottle Collectors’ Association A Variety of New England Flasks California Favorite: The George Wissemann Company Sanford Petts of Boston and the “Spirits of ’76” and so much more...
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March - April 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. 2
March - April 2017
TABLE OF CONTENTS
No. 230
On the Cover: A man takes snuff from a box in a 19th-century painting (V. Alfeldt - Private Collection) & Three snuff bottles in a window (photo Michael George)
FOHBC Officers | 2016 - 2018 ................................................................................ 2 FOHBC President’s Message ................................................................................ 3 History’s Corner ................................................................................................... 5 FOHBC News - From & For Our Members ................................................................ 6
Page 10
The Beginnings of the Antique Bottle Collectors’ Association (ABCA)
Page 16
by George Wagoner ....................................................................................... 10
Sanford Petts of Boston and the “Spirits of ’76” by Jack Sullivan ............................................................................................. 16 Edward Roome - Tobacconist
Lost & Found (New!) ............................................................................................ 33 California Favorite: The George Wissemann Company by Steve Abbott ............................................................................................... 38 A Variety of New England Flasks by Mark Vuono ............................................................................................... 54 Page 22
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
FOHBC Membership Additions & Changes ................................................ 67 FOHBC Sho-Biz - Calendar of Shows ........................................................ 68 Membership Benefits ......................................................................... 71 Membership Application & Advertising ..................................................... 72 Page 38
Coming next issue or down the road: Jack Ryan, His Flask, and “The Wild Bunch • History of Springfield • American Scent Bottles • The Color Aqua • Rochester, N.Y. Medicine Men • Ground-Penetrating Radar System • The Richard Siri Collection • FOHBC Club Bottles and Bottle Club Anniversary Bottles • Maddox Park: Diggers’ Delight Down in Dixie • My visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to examine their Cross-Swirled Pitkin flask • Medicines from Lynn, Massachusetts 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).
by Eric McGuire ............................................................................................. 22
Classified Ads .................................................................................. 66
To Advertise, Subscribe or Renew a subscription, see pages 66 and 72 for details. To Submit a Story, send a Letter to the Editor or have Comments and Concerns, contact:
Shards of Wisdom ................................................................................................ 4
FOHBC Member Photo Gallery .............................................................. 64
Elizabeth Meyer FOHBC Business Manger 101 Crawford Street, Studio 1A Houston, Texas 77002 phone: 713.222.7979 x103 email: emeyer@fohbc.org
Page 55
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
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FOHBC
President’s Message Ferdinand Meyer V
FMG Design, Inc. 101 Crawford Street Studio 1A Houston, Texas 77002 713.222.7979 x115 fmeyer@fohbc.org itting down atbottle my desk, on thisactivities first back-to-work afterare New ur moods, collecting and generalMonday well-being Years, I conjure up a vision of a stove with lots of pots-a-cooking. affected by weather and influenced by the climate changes, seaThe labeled antique bottle has wind us allblows looking forward to the sonskettle and temperature. Where andevents how the sets our course. stretch leading up to the FOHBC 2016 Sacramento National Antique BotYes, I know, I always seem to weave the weather into my opening tle Convention & Expo this August. We have a coordination conference message. call later in the week and plan to step it up a notch or two. We are also pleased that we locked in Springfield, Massachusetts for our 2017 NationAs some of you know, more serious weather events have affected al Antique Bottle Convention, and by the time you read this message, the Elizabeth and me this past year and at the same time, allowed us to FOHBC 2018 National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo will have been stand back and assess our collection and to re-chart our path forward. announced for Cleveland, Ohio. We really have our teams in place and Another good bottle friend lost their house in Soberanes, Big Sur wild our wheels in motion. I suppose we should start thinking about the 2019 fire. 2016 will certainly be a year to remember. I think back to the felConvention in the Southern Region. Planning ahead has many benefits. low that had to move his bottle collection three times on the west coast of Florida dueistoalso all of the hurricanes that year. The FOHBC proud to say that that this occurred March | April 2016I believe issue of it was 2004. BOTTLES and EXTRAS is the first to be printed in full color, which
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only costs us an additional $184 an issue. This change prompted a few Well, new rains and flooding in Houston past week design revisions, which we hope you willthis notice, such made as thenational Table of news and prompted several calls and emails that we fielded. Contents and a few of the section headers. We receive quiteOtherwise, a few rethis has the mildeston winter can remember, wehave have come had ally nicebeen compliments how that the I magazine looksyet and the two coldest spells in many, many years that wiped out parts of so far in a relative short number of years. Oh, and look for a new our secsucculent chills were in the single digits is cold tion in thegardens. back of Wind the magazine called “Member Photowhich Gallery.” This for south Texas. Always something weather. of This is whybottles The and new section is dedicated to the fine with photography antique Weather Channel is so popular and a fixture on many of our computglass. Please feel free to submit your images for consideration. We ers and smart started devices.work Nowon thethe westMay-June is flooding and and theirhope decade have already issue that you longconsider drought authoring seems quenched. Iceforstorms just plastered thehere Midwest, will an article the magazine. We are to help! causing havoc. Major snowfall is now happening in New England, too. Funny I see this I always think of fellow and Within this when issue of BOTTLES and EXTRAS, pleasecollectors read the Jeff proposed Holly Noordsy whorevisions always seem to bebeen skiing! We just need torevisions watch bylaw updates and that have marked in red. All out for locusts. I jokeby here this mild winter put a gazillion have been approved thebut FOHBC Board of Directors. Theseladybugs bylaws on our house and unfortunately within the house…and bottles! have been amended and need to be reviewed by the FOHBC membership prior to the annual general membership meeting at the FOHBC 2016 NaWe’veAntique considered moving but we & will stayinput as the likelihood of a by tional Bottle Convention Expo Sacramento, California third 500-year vote floodofseems unlikely, though would said improban affirmative a majority of all votesI cast by have the eligible voters able before. A provided thousand that or soabottles have unpacked and are are made now in attendance, copy of the been proposed changes back in their places. It was all over againby unpacking available to each member in Christmas advance, either directly mail or bymy timely bottles.inWhile we packedofficial them fast, I unpacked slow, gavewebsite. them notice the Federation’s periodical or on them the Federation a good cleaning, did an inventory and memory check and arranged In other news,different we are to moving with photography Virtual them slightly reflectahead the collection’s strengthsfor andthe weakMuseum and the hope to sky haveand regional photography labsfriends set up and in regions nesses. Now sun, crisp winter air are my dance to start bottles as both a standard formatbutand 3-dimenwith myphotographing bottles. I am excited everinabout early glass, I keep an sionally. This effort ismy being byworst Museum Director, Deeye on the weather, best spearheaded friend and my enemy. Next Alan we renoMaison. You may have metcamp Alan while at the the Virtual Museum table during the vate upstairs, our overrun downstairs was renovated. FOHBC 2015 Chattanooga National Antique Bottle Show last August. Weeks are moving fast and we are looking forward to the FOHBC Federation member Alicia Booth is Bottle heading up the nomination process 2017 Springfield National Antique Convention & Expo. Our for the election of all Federation officers including the tirelessly President,with Vice co-chairs, Jim Bender and Bob Strickhart, are working President(s), Secretary, Business Manager, Membership Team Springfield on theTreasurer, many events. We had a two-hour conferenceDi-
call thePublic other night and things areConventions progressing smoothly. Lots of tables rector, Relations Director, Director, Historian, Mersold and many hotel rooms have been booked. chandising Director, Directors-at-Large (3), and Region Directors (4). These elections occur every two years. Any officer may run for sucLooking forward to having an update from Louis Fifer Matt Lacyfor cessive terms. This committee has prepared a slate of and nominations on theoffice FOHBC National Bottle Convention Expo in each and 2018 is listed below.Antique It is important to note that&any member Cleveland. our in co-chairs and are so farfile ahead of the desiring to Those run forguys any are office the Federation may a nomination form with thefunny. Election Committee (in all accordance with each procedures apcurve it isn’t Love to work with the co-chairs year. The proved by best the membership best of the in our hobby.and instituted by the Election Committee) indicating the office they desire to run for. The deadline for filing this is April 1st 2016. have seenNational successful campaigns our memberThe FOHBC 2016We Sacramento Antique Bottleby Convention & ship before so if you want run for completed a position,and please letaAlicia Expo financial reports weretorecently show profit know. north You and reach hermega at this email address, of $19,000 for our event. This breaksalicia@cis-houston.org. a modern-day FOHBC You will be With receiving ballot foradvertising, voting so we please take time to vote. record. recorda gate and made outthe well. Again, thanks to Richard & Bev Siri, Warren Friedrich and Eric McGuire, along with our entire cast of characters from out west and around the FOHBC Candidates country who made the western region and our hobby look so good. Here is the slate of FOHBC recommended candidates On a side note, Richard and Bev Siri donated their entire $3,000 Sacraput forth by the nominating mento National co-chair proceedings to the FOHBC Virtual Museum. committee headed by Alicia Wow, isn’t that cool! Richard was the originator of the Virtual Museum Booth, Chairperson, for the concept and now serves on the museum board. We plan to have our 2016 - 2018 term. first gallery unveiled at the Springfield National banquet. Many thanks are due here to Alan DeMaison (also a VM board member) who is Anyone desiring to run spearheading photography, 3D imaging and videotaping. He will be in for a position may choose Houston in a week and a half to photograph my collection and next, we to run against one of the bothcandidates will bebytravelling going to the to Denver to film specimens from the outstanding FOHBC collection websiteof andSandor printing Fuss. out a nomination form. JeffThen, Wichmann with American Bottle Auctions is also in the news mail or email to Alicia recently, settling some business favorably that allowed him to donate Booth, 11502 Burgoyne $5,000 the FOHBC. What a gentleman! Drive,toHouston, Texas 77077. Having this extra cash is important but secondary to providing a great alicia@cis-houston.org experience and product. They actually both go hand-in-hand. With this cashTheinfusion, also have donated money to a number of antique closing datewe for nomibottle causes nations is Aprilrecently 1, 2016 atthat help our hobby. midnight. We are also in the process of scheduling a conference call to review the possible opportunities Additional nominations will as to where we will hold our 2019 FOHBC 50thbeAnniversary Antique Bottle Convention & Expo for the printed alongsideNational the southern region. team here consists of our Conventions Director slate proposed by Our the nomLouis Fifer, Public Director Alicia Booth and Southern Region inating committee andRelations will Director be listedBrad in theSeigler. May-June We are looking at cities in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and and Florida. Once we are all on the same page, we will 2016 issue of BOTTLES present our findings and options to the FOHBC board at our semi-annual EXTRAS along with a short board meeting prior to the Baltimore Antique Bottle Show. biography of each candidate. I am looking forward to going back to my hometown and seeing some members willBaltimore, vote greatFOHBC glass. From I fly out to Morro Bay, California for by a form provided mail. Obispo Bottle Society’s 49th Annual Antique the super-cool Sanby Luis The new boardand members Bottle Show Sale on Friday and Saturday, March 17th. I will conbe announced after a and we will trip up to his house in Big Sur and nectwill with Jerry Forbes at the annual efforts from the Soberanes fire that I mentioned lookvote at count his renovation Membership Meeting previously. Breakfast at the FOHBC 2016 Sacramento Well, I hope you National enjoy this issue of Bottles and Extras. There are some Antique Bottle within Conventionthat are a lead-in to our Springfield event. We also super articles & Expo. added a new section called Lost and Found on page 2. Be safe, find a new bottle, and tell us about it. The FOHBC is open rain or shine.
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Bottles and Extras “I m glad I took on the job. It forced me to write about my digs. Now I can read those stories and remember the thrill of finding a prized bottle and the details I had forgotten. It makes the events clearer through the fog of time. If anyone has been editing a club newsletter for longer than 30 straight years, the FOHBC would like to hear about it. “One of my goals in writing the digging stories is to stimulate others to share their experiences. It’s a special treat for me when someone takes the time to write a story about their dig or other event and send it to me for inclusion in the newsletter. “I still enjoy doing the newsletter and hope that others appreciate my efforts.”
Sherman was Innocent of This Burning By: Bill Baab
The Southern Porcelain Co., was established in the late 1850s in the new town of Kaolin near present day Bath in Aiken County, South Carolina. The site is still being mined for kaolin. The Bennington, Vermont pottery had shut down and many of its management and workers had moved to South Carolina after vast beds of kaolin and feldspar had been discovered in the area about 15 miles from Augusta, Georgia. When the Civil War broke out, most of those from the North returned to Vermont after the property was sold to a number of Southerners including Alexander H. Stephens, later known as the vice president of the Confederate States of America. There was a huge, wood-fired steam engine on the property and close by was a storage shed protecting many cords of pine. The steam engine caught fire, the flames spread rapidly and all of the main buildings on the property burned to the ground. Years later, a rumor was started that Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s “Burners” had torched the property during their march through South Carolina following their March through Georgia. Truth is, the “Burners” never came near the place. That and other tidbits of information were shared by master potter Gary Dexter at the Horse Creek Bottle & Pottery Club meeting Jan. 16. A display of Southern Porcelain artifacts from collector Herbie Ford, of Aiken, South Carolina, was on display at the Aiken County Historical Museum. Included was a rare pitcher, kiln furniture and examples of the three Civil War-era insulators made by the porcelain company: a teapot, block-type and milk bottle, the last so named because of its shape and color. All are rare. Today, the burning part of this story would occupy the “Fake News” so often appearing in the social media.
Has Fletcher Set a Longevity Mark? By: Bill Baab
MUSTANG, Okla. – Johnnie Fletcher has been longtime editor of the Oklahoma Bottle & Relic Club. How longtime? “I’m starting my 30th year this year,” said Fletcher, a member of the FOHBC Hall of Fame. “This month’s (January) newsletter is No. 349,” said the 76-year-old Mustang resident.
FORTY YEARS LATER . . . REMEMBERING MR. GARDNER By: John Cooper
A brief biographical sketch of Mr. Gardner. He was born in 1890 in New London, Conn. In 1975 when his vast bottle collection was offered at auction, one bottle at a time, he had been collecting bottles for 46 years and was considered the top collector in the U. S. A. I have an envelope postmarked 1971. Mr. Gardner was graciously responding to my first letter to him that included several photos of two bottles I had purchased at a local auction. I must have found his mailing address in a national bottle magazine along with a short article about this greatest of American bottle collectors. I was delighted to see my SASE (for you younger collectors, these initials stands for “self-addressed stamped envelope) in my mailbox. His response proved to me what a fine gentleman he was. He identified certain features of my bottle and how they differed from a pontiled example. But he further added that I should be proud of my beautiful bottle. I was so pleased to receive this response, I wrote a second thank you letter, not expecting to hear from him again. But I did…. He mentioned that his heart was weakening to such an extent he had difficultly climbing up and down the stairs to his bottle room. In June 1975 I received a mailing from the Robert Skinner Auction House of Boston that they had taken possession of Mr. Gardner’s 3,000 bottle collection and would be holding auctions later that year. They quoted a price for the hard-bound catalog. If you wished to attend the auctions, you would need to send $100 for your seat and if you made a purchase, that amount could be deducted from the bottle cost. At that time I had three children in school and my wife had recently finished at the University of Washington receiving her degree in Physical Therapy. So my bank account was quite slim. I was digging and selling in order to afford any purchases. When I submitted my meager bids at the first half of the Gardner auction I was hoping for one bottle out of the collection. I got zero…. I wrote another letter to Mr. Gardner telling him of my dismay. He responded again…. He said his house seemed so empty and he was confused because several of his favorite bottles he couldn’t find in the auction catalog. I decided that since there were several more common patent medicines in the second half of the auction to be held in November, 1975, I would completely reorganize the first half sales into some
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logical order, all the flasks by McKearnin reference numbers, bitters by the then used Watson Bitters reference, inks by Covill, etc… Apparently, the people who prepared the auction catalog had given different names to certain freeblown bottles and Mr. Gardner hadn’t picked up on that change. Anyway, by typing out a 5 x 8 index card for the various described bottles, I was able to find several in the second half auction that had twins sold in the first half. I was able to acquire a Mexican Mustang Linament pontiled bottle with the treasured Gardner label attached. After the auction was over, I thought about Mr. Gardner’s frustration with finding certain bottles in the listing so I decided to spend several hundreds of hours at my typewriter and reorganize the entire auction. All for the benefit of Mr. Gardner alone… I called the Skinner Auction Company and spoke to Louise Luther, a glass expert there, and asked permission to print my listing. She gave me the approval. With great anticipation, I copied my index cards and mailed a copy to Mr. Gardner and awaited his response. I was so pleased he was overjoyed at receiving it. He called Mr. Skinner at the auction house to express his joy. My task was a complete success… I was a very happy man. In 1977, I received a large envelope from Mrs. Gardner with the newspaper notice of Mr. Gardner’s death. She stated how much her husband appreciated my listing. And sadly she said that after the bottles left the house, collectors stopped calling on Mr. Gardner. It was a sad last year of his life.
HISTORY’S CORNER In Memory of Dick Watson longtime FOHBC Historian
Pyro milk bottles were first produced in 1933.
Today many of these bottles are found in collections across the country. To learn more about Pyro milk bottles join Peter Bleiberg, editor of The Milk Route, at the 2017 Springfield National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo where he will be holding a seminar on Pyro Milk Bottle Collecting.
So now we are in the summer of 2015, forty years after the sale. About monthly on ebay I will search the bottles category for “Eagle Flask” to see what is offered. Most are reproductions but a few goodies appear. Early this summer I found a listing for such a flask with the name Gardner included. So I had to look.. And sure enough on the dark amber flask was the little white label showing it was sold as part of the Gardner Watch each issue for a new installment of History’s Corner. collection. Well, lust sprang from my body. I had to have a good Gardner bottle, even if I was 40 years too late. Several others bid on it but with 30 seconds to go in the auction I dropped the winning bid. Mine….. I was so material. One name mentioned was William Mitchell Van Winkle. My bottle has a history… lucky because the seller misidentified the flask. If he or she had knowledge of McKearin’s flask listing, they would have described the flask as Now the ebay seller listed several other Gardner Auction bottles and I a Masonic, not an Eagle and I would have probably missed bidding on it. was lucky enough to pick up two more. One of them has a note attached Luck again… So a few weeks later an idea occurred to me. Why not put to the base with a Van Rensselaer reference number. I found that number the name Gardner in the bottles category and see what would come up… in the book and there was my bottle… Another bottle with a history. My, what timing… a dealer in the Far South had recently purchased a small collection of bottles from a 90 year old man who had attended the So, after a wait of 40 years I have a nice Gardner collection. I imagine I Gardner auction 40 years before and was now parting with his collecwill own them for maybe ten years then one or more of you will be the tion. So the ebay seller listed about three of them to see what attention owners. I just wish you will treasure them as much as I do. he would draw. And did he…. A freeblown olive green decanter went for several thousands of dollars. I left that one alone. A whiskey shaped bottle with the Dyottville name embossed on the base was going at a much smaller price so I dropped a bid with that 30 second time left and it was mine. Now the interesting part. The seller apparently had no knowledge of the other labels he left on this bottle. I found a small square label in the neck with a number, I suspect it was from a previous McKearin glass auction, probably in the 1930’s or 40’s. Also a small piece of paper attached to the base had the name “Van Winkle” scratched in pencil. That name rang a bell in my old mind and I pulled out my reprinting of the Stephen Van Rensselaer book and found where the author gave credit to some early bottle collectors for help in preparing the Here are a few of the Gardner bottles
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FOHBC News From & For Our Members In Memory of Lolly Carroll Dear Barbara (Barbara Puckett: Houston Antique Bottle Show Chair): This past year I became president of the board at the National Bottle Museum. Attached is a photo of a case given in the memory of Lolly Carroll by your club. Could you give me a little info as to who Lolly Carroll was? Thank you, Ellie Dillon [FM5] Ellie: Barbara asked me for assistance with your question since I am holding some of the club’s historical documents. I found the following information about Lolly Carroll in Editorial Ramblings & Rumblings, the Federation newsletter in December 1988. Don and Lolly Carroll were the FOHBC editors of the monthly newsletter, the forerunner of our now 72-page, full color bi-monthly Bottles and Extras. Lolly had recently passed away. Lolly was a comparative newcomer to our hobby, but for the nine years that she has been collecting bottles, she put a great part of herself into it. She was an officer of her club (Gulf Coast Bottle & Jar Club) and of the FOHBC, club co-chair chairman, winner of many prizes for her yearly displays, co-editor of the Federation newsletter, and editor for eight years of her club’s award winning newsletter. Through the years of her illness she continued to promote the Federation, National Bottle Museum, her club, and the hobby. She enjoyed sharing her collection and helping others with theirs. Few have loved the hobby more than Lolly did. Those who were able to share that with her are indeed fortunate, and she felt the same knowing all of you. Lolly and I thank you for your cards, flowers, and thoughts. And for your donations to the museum and the cancer society. I miss her, and I know you do too. - Don
bring you up to date on how I came into possession of the amber bottle that I put into the auction in the Glass Works Auction in September 2009. I was in Las Vegas in 2007 browsing through the Charleston Antique Mall when I came across the Brown’s Aromatic Bitters bottle with a price tag of $8 on it. I snatched it up and immediately took it to the checkout stand and got them to come down to $7.50. I didn’t realize what I had until I got home and could only find the aqua version showing in my reference books. I showed it around at a few bottle shows and nobody had seen one in amber. Oh, well, I guess there is more than one way to hit the jackpot in Vegas. Sincerely, Dick Homme, Los Angeles Historical Bottle Club P.S. I didn’t tweak my back carrying the bottle to the checkout stand.
More from the National Bottle Museum Dear Mr. Meyer: First, let me thank you for NBM’s new brochure. It looks great. Very generous of you to do it. Second, some years ago, Dr. Leigh Simpson donated a number of things to the NBM. I was wondering if you are familiar with him, and know if he has passed away? Thanks for any help you can offer. Gary Moeller, NBM Director
Some Good Ideas by Chris Hartz Some good ideas by Chris Hartz in the Jan-Feb 2017 issue (Bottles and Extras - Member News). I agree with many of the ideas. Especially numbers two and three.
Regarding that Brown’s Aromatic Bitters
The last good auction price list will be five years old in 2017. It is sadly outdated in terms of actual prices. John has a very good magazine (Antique Bottle & Glass Collector) and the Federation has a much-improved Bottles and Extras. I now pay for both magazines even though I am a life member of the Federation. I would be willing to pay a little more for one magazine, especially if there was a continuously updated computer price guide service for subscribers.
Ferdinand: In regards to the Brown’s Aromatic Bitters, Hannibal, Mo., article on page 56 of Bottles and Extras, vol. 28, I wanted to
Joe Widman, Portage, Michigan
Please let me know if you need anything else. Ferdinand, FOHBC President
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Oswego Bitters Hi: I noticed you had bottles with words ‘Oswego Bitters’ on them. We live in “The Bitters” called Oswego Bitters, or Swago Bitters, named after Indians who collected their herbs from this area. Our farm is considered in “The Bitters.” Craig’s mother was on the town’s historical society and she always wondered what this bitter herb was. We’re searching! Well, we found watercress…but your bottles say ‘roots and herbs.’ If ever you sell a bottle, we’d be interested in displaying one in our house. Sincerely, Elaine Kennedy (maiden name “Myers”- how cunning is that? from Brodbecks, Pa. (Hanover, Pa. area, York County) married into the Kennedy family and living on this farm with my husband Craig N. Craig Kennedy Twin Brook Camillus Farm
We have found the partial base of an interesting bottle Hi Ferdinand: I am a historical archaeologist and we have found the partial base of an interesting bottle. Bottle expert Olive Jones of Canada has rendered the following identification:
The last shard is really interesting. It’s the large, lighter green base shard. The size, depth of the push-up, and form all point to it being from an “onion” bottle, a form typical of the early 18th century, around 1700-1720. Not only that, but the lighter green colour and thinner glass suggest that it’s Dutch. English onion bottles of the period, like later bottles, are typically much darker green and heavier. Another bottle expert, Walter Bannon, has identified it as a Q4 18th century Demijohn/Carboy. Hence a pretty good discrepancy between the two identifications. Do you have the expertise to de-
cide between the two, or would you know of anyone who would possess this type of expertise? Thank you for your help. Thanks, Frank [Facebook comments] Jeff Noordsy: A Dutch onion C. 1720 is a darn good guess but there’s not enough information to make a precise assessment. Woody Douglas: Base wear “generally” precludes a Demi-John as they were wrapped in wicker. John April: Is the piece in the front of the photo from a flat sided cylindrical bottle, or does it have slope like the shoulder of an onion? Looking at the top piece, on the right hand side it looks like quite a sharp angle from where it rested on the table to the vertical side. I think an onion would have had a more ballooned outwards curve there. Bruce Adwell: Thinking more of the “horsehoof” style Belgian onion like the one pictured here. They do not balloon out.
Bottle wanted to be sold in County Kerry, Ireland Hey, my name is Timothy O’Rourke and I am from County Kerry, Ireland. I am 29 years old now but when I was 9 or 10, I found a bottle, which is about 160 years old. It is very likely that my bottle could be the second only of its type in the world. I know that because a few years ago I saw the very same bottle in a newspaper here. Nobody had ever seen it before. It was donated to the museum in Tralee, so now it’s owned by the people of Ireland and it can never be sold. The museum and a local antique dealer Michael O’Keefe were mentioned in the article and they said they never saw that bottle before which was not true as I left my bottle in the museum for a while to see if they could find out about it, which they did not. They wanted me to donate it but I did not. The antique dealer was stunned by it and offered me 100 pounds for it at the time in which I did not accept. That was just a few weeks after I found it. Anyway this bottle is in perfect condition and it so old and rare.
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There must be some collector out there with a lot of money that would buy it, but I would only sell it for an amount of money that would change my life, minimum 100,000 euro. Maybe I’m being over ambitious, but there are some collectors out there that pay huge money for the strangest things, LOL. I’m sure ye know that, too. Anyway I hope I hear back from ye, I’d love if ye could help me and we can talk further. I’ll send you pictures of it and information. I’m pretty sure it’s very likely it’s the SECOND bottle of this type in the whole world. The factory it came out of was open a very short time as I found out in the library records.
Seeking information about how to get 1,000 or so bottles appraised and auctioned
tle in Manet’s painting “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère” from 1882. I have a question about another bottle in the same painting. Is the green bottle on the right of the oranges an absinthe bottle? Yours, Ruben C. Cordova Independent Curator [FOHBC] Read post at PeachridgeGlass.com http://www. peachridgeglass.com/2014/01/a-bar-at-the-folies-bergere-bottlequestion/
Sarsaparilla Question Hi Ferd: I’m a member of the Delmarva Bottle Club and also show chairman for the Tri State Bottle Club. I collect mainly fruit jars but I have a question about a sarsaparilla bottle I’ve come across. I can’t find it in any reference books, but I don’t have a good library on these bottles.
Hello Mr. Meyer: My father recently passed away leaving us with a large collection of old bottles (at least 1,000 bottles, I think). Though family members may wish to keep a few, we are seeking information about how to get the remainder appraised and auctioned in the best way. These bottles were not purchased but found via digging at old home sites (Maryland, Virginia, New York State) or combing the mangroves in the Florida Keys many years ago (he was 100 years old when he passed). These bottles were important to him and I wish to treat them with as much care as I can. Could you help or direct us to someone who could help us? Regards, Elizabeth Wood [FOHBC] Please contact us if you are interested. We have representative pictures. Gene Bradberry All, Gene had a stroke last week. He has no use of his left arm and very little use of his left leg. He will be in a rehab facility for the next two weeks. This is the second stroke he has had this year. Please remember him in your prayers. - Tom Phillips Bottle in Manet Painting
Bottles and Extras
The bottle is 10 inches tall and clear with recessed panels. The front is embossed KING’S CELERY AND SARSAPARILLA; one side is marked KING’S MEDICINE CO.; the other is marked PITTSBURGH PA.; the front probably had a label. The top has a flat collar with a ring down about an inch and a half. The front and back panels are tombstone shaped. Thanking you in advance for your help. Dave Brown Mt. Vernon Glass Works Project Hey Ferd: Just wanted to drop you a line to let you know that the Mohawk Valley Bottle Club has a donation of $500 for the Mount Vernon dig project. Once again Jon Landers stepped up and donated bottles from his collection to raffle at the monthly club meeting last night. All money will be given to the project. Jon raised $250 and then a motion was made that the club match Jon’s money. All were in favor and Jon will give the cash to Mark and Rich. I have to say that the Mohawk Valley Club gets it and Jon Landers is a great guy and a really blessing to the hobby. Jim (Bender) FOHBC Historian & 2017 Springfield National Co-Chair
Dear Mr. Van Zant: On a January 13, 2014 posting, a question was asked about a bot-
Inherited Bottle Collection My dad worked throughout Nevada as a traveling salesman and collected a number of interesting bottles over the years. He
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has passed away and I was looking for someone who might be interested in buying the bottles. I live in Winters, California, near Sacramento. Thanks for any recommendations. Stephanie Myers [FOHBC] Please contact us if you are interested.
Duffy’s Whiskey I own a liquor store and I had an employee bring me a bottle of Duffy’s. The cork top is present, though the cork is pretty much gone. The label is in great condition. It was wrapped up in a 1917 newspaper that had an ad for Duffy’s in it. If you would like pictures, that won’t be an issue. I’m just trying to find out what I can for my employee, so if you or anyone else wants to make an offer instead of just giving us information about it, that would be up to her. Thank you in advance for anything you can tell me. Richard Justus [FOHBC: While considered fairly common, this sounds like an interesting specimen. We had a magnificent article, “Did a Medicine Bottle Change History? Duffy’s Malt Whiskey” by Jack E. Fincham in the May | June 2013 issue of Bottles and Extras if you have not seen.
Bitters Certificates
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drew the scale drawing for the book. I can’t find any info on the bottle anywhere other than the book. My dad had a fairly large bitters collection, some rare, some common. I am not in the position to keep them all due to lack of storage and secure display space (I have a five year old Autistic son). Enclosed are pictures. Any info you could provide including worth would be so appreciated. I am trying to figure out which bottles to keep and which to sell. Thank you for any info you can provide. Have a wonderful day, DRB [FM5] Yes, this appears to be the example noted in Bitters Bottles as H 63, which notes being dug in Denver. Extremely rare. This is a keeper or one to sell. Please refer to History of Kantorowicz Family and their Factory [search same on PeachridgeGlass.com] The Color Amber Hi, Ferdinand: When your discussion on amber evolved into a description of the ancient tree resins I questioned the statement “amber has often been imitated by other resins like copal and Kauri gum”. Years ago I visited New Zealand and saw the museums housing the Kauri gum and massive slabs from the Kauri trees. In the 19th century the gum deposits were extensively mined for the production of varnish; however, many large pieces were saved and polished for jewelry or art works.
Mr. Ferdinand: These (certificates) have been in the family for many, many years. Any thoughts on value and or who would be interested in purchase? Thank you in advance for your help. Andrew J. Forester P.S. How about old bank notes as well from different counties around the nation? The extremely rare Hartwigs Alpine Stomach Bitters I have a bottle my Dad dug in Denver in the late 70’s. His name was Jim Bryan. The bottle is Hartwig’s Alpine Stomach Bitters. It is the one listed in the Ring and Ham book, and my Mom actually
The Kauri trees were also still being harvested for furniture and ship masts. The massive trees were nearly clearcut before cutting was permanently halted. Today, however, this wood is still available due to the fact that many logs are still being excavated from the north island. Tens of thousands of years ago large stands of trees fell victim to some natural disaster that fell and covered them in soil, preserving them to this day. I had always considered Kauri gum, amber, and therefore wanted to know the difference. The attached link rather debunks the amber vs copal controversy. http://www.fossilmuseum.net/Tree_of_Life/FossilAmber.htm Happy New Year, Ken Morrill Corralitos, California
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Bottles and Extras
The Beginnings of the Antique Bottle Collectors’ Association (ABCA) by George Wagoner
Sailing card for the clipper ship California, depicting scenes from the California gold rush. Circa 1850, G.F. Nesbitt & Co., printer
When the cry went out, “There’s gold in California,” men and
a few women packed onto sailing vessels for the long trip around the horn, then up the coast to San Francisco. Others joined wagon trains, rode mules or horses, all heading for the gold fields of California. In San Francisco, they bought what provisions were available, then boarded steam ships for the trip up the river to Sacramento. In Sacramento the gold miners bought more scarce supplies before disappearing into the Sierra working in ice cold streams and tributaries of the American and Yuba rivers. They left nothing behind but their trash, rock piles, and an occasional bottle while working up and down the streams. In Sacramento, business was booming. All was happiness, then the floods came, three in a row, topping the levees and invading the city. The floods of 1852 and 1862 were called the greatest floods in California’s history. Livestock and billions of dollars in merchandise went floating down the river. Row boats became the mode of transportation. As the water receded, pottery, bottles and artifacts sank into the mud and were covered with sand and silt, not to be seen for another hundred years. In many parts of the city, bottles were only a few feet deep. When construction workers began finding bottles in their back hoe buckets, a new “gold rush” began, a rush for bottles, not for gold. During Sacramento’s redevelopment, old homes were being demolished, lots were being leveled, and bottle diggers were being tolerated.
This new treasure trove of antique bottles led to the formation of the first bottle club, the Antique Bottle Collectors’ Association (ABCA). Those present at the beginning were Jackie and Lee Scroggin, John and Edith Tibbitts, Fred Ball, Fred and Doris Pittsley. They discussed the feasibility of forming an antique bottle club and appointed John Tibbitts president and newsletter editor. It was decided that the club would meet at the Garden and Art Center (which is now the Shepard Garden and Art Center) at McKinley Park in Sacramento. One of the drawbacks of meeting at the Shepard Garden and Art Center was there was no commercialism, which meant no buying or selling in the building or out in the parking lot. “Square Nail” Joe Kelly was sent out to run tailgaters out of the parking lot. It didn’t do much good, they just moved down the block and opened up. “Square Nail” Joe got that name from a skit he put on about cleaning bottles. He showed several cleaning gadgets and ended his talk using a sure fire method that worked every
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Lithograph of K Street in the city of Sacramento, California during the Great Flood of 1862. The flood affected the Western United States, from Oregon through California, and Idaho through New Mexico. Published by A. Rosenfield (San Francisco).
time. Being very serious he filled a bottle with square nails and began shaking the devil out of the bottle until the bottom broke out, scattering the nails. The audience gasped, then roared with laughter when he told them it was just a trick, the bottom was only lightly glued on. The members were encouraged to display their bottle collections. Some of the displays were works of art themselves, showcasing some fine bottles within the display. At subsequent meetings, bylaws were written and the goals of the club were set forth. The goals included the exchange of information into bottle manufacturing methods and procedures, exhib-
iting and displaying bottles, promoting of similar organizations, and creating interest for visiting among members and the trading of duplicate bottles. (Note: there was no mention of buying or selling in the bylaws or the goals of the club). In June 1968, the ABCA held its first convention. The highlights of the two-day convention headed by Elmer Lester was a show to be proud of. The speakers were Charlie Gardner, Grace Kendrick, Charlie Duncan, Paul Evans and Bill Gaylord. Charlie Duncan had his own TV Show. Jack Slattery was the TV announcer for the Art Linkletter show. The highlight of the entire show was the
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honor and pleasure of meeting Charlie and Nina Gardner, then known as “Mr. and Mrs. Bottle Collector.” We had the pleasure of calling Charlie and inviting him to talk at our show. I was greatly surprised when they accepted. While he was here, this writer (George Wagoner), an early club member, had a chance to talk to him. I showed him a handled Chestnut Grove Whiskey that had its handle broken off that I had repaired. He asked if I could repair one that he had, and I agreed to repair it. The bottle came in the mail, I repaired it and returned it. He sent back another chestnut with a broken handle that is now sitting on my shelf. The organizers of the show were chairperson (Elmer Lester), chairpersons (Bill and Shirley Gaylord), Judging Awards (Joe and Jackie Kelly), club affiliations (George Rieber), program chairpersons (John McClurg and John Tibbitts), dinner (Earl and Helen Overstreet), publicity (Bob Humfeld), hospitality (Lois and Gary Prall, George Wagoner and Maridel Kundert), a cast of hundreds. The judges were Tom Neil, Phil Reynders, Gene Whited, and Pat Wilson. An organization with such prestigious leaders was an organization that one could be proud to be a member of. However, the ABCA wasn’t all work and no play. It was fun. We went to members’ homes and partied. We made good friends and went to club dinners and club bottle digs, and our conventions were a blast. Don Smith invited club members to a spaghetti dinner at his home. His living room was lined with tables and the happy hour was underway. After dinner, Don said to look under our plates. There were tickets to a melodrama in Sutter Creek. We got into cars and drove to Sutter Creek, (note, we had designated drivers). At the play, girls were dancing and kicking their legs in the air and more beer was passed around. What a great night! John Fountain, another member of the club, sold his antique shop in Sacramento and moved to Sutter Creek where he bought a large house with an antique shop in front of the house. His street was called Pig Turd Alley, a little local color. As a club, we often ate out and one of our favorite eateries was the Español Italian Restaurant located at the end of I Street in downtown Sacramento. The restaurant had a bar and a piano around which we could sing. It also had a cannon sticking out of a second-story window, pointing down I Street. The building was destroyed during the redevelopment of old Sacramento. The ABCA had projects going to keep us busy. Bill Gaylord chaired the club’s slide show contest. Members were asked to submit their best bottle slides and the winning slides were added to the club’s slide show. They could be mailed to other clubs for their viewing. When the club disbanded, Don Smith handed the slides to me and said take care of them. They are now resting in the back of my closet. Don Wolcott headed another project, a White Elephant Sale, held at the fairgrounds, the proceeds of which went to the Garden and Art Center. As the years passed, the ABCA grew quite large, an estimated 2,000 members with 43 affiliates. The cost of putting out The
Bottles and Extras
Pontil, the newsletter, and the cost of our conventions were going up. So, George Rieber, recognizing the need for a larger organization, pushed for the formation of a national federation of bottle clubs and encouraged new clubs to join. George Rieber’s work was paying off in spades, which led to the formation of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors Association (FOHBC). Credit should go to George Rieber for many hours of work on the FOHBC as well as FOHBC Hall of Famers John Tibbitts, John Fountain, Peck Markota, and major collectors Elmer Lester, Bill Wilson and Betty Zumwalt. Seven years as editor was all that he could take. John Tibbitts resigned as the editor of The Pontil and was having a hard time finding his replacement. The ABCA and The Pontil started 62 years ago with 17 individual local members and rose to a peak of over 2,000 family members throughout the United States. Why? Simply because the time was right. In the beginning, there were practically no books on the kind of bottle collecting that we were doing and no other magazines were featuring articles on the hobby, let alone any that were devoted to the subject. There was no bottle section in the Antique Trader, the Collectors News, or any other paper and there were no clubs in the world for us. We were yearning like you wouldn’t believe to know other collectors, to learn something about the treasures we were finding, and to see other collections and to show off ours. As John Tibbitts said many years ago, “We didn’t even know a pontil from a belly-button.” So we flourished, we prospered, we learned how to put on shows and conventions, how to put on informative meetings, and how to produce The Pontil. During that growing-up period we were continually answering letters asking how to form a bottle club. At first we replied by personal letter and later by sending them a copy of our constitution and bylaws. We always felt that this was where the fun was, in belonging to a local club. Yep, just about full circle and as the old Green River Whiskey ad says, “No Regrets.” ABCA should be proud of all of its past officers, of its shows and its conventions and all of its committees, all of the contributors to The Pontil, and, to the enthusiastic membership which made the whole thing gel. Yes, the ABCA led the way and showed the way and there are many throughout the United States who were in the hobby early in the game who knew this is so. BE PROUD OF IT. The ABCA is no more, but we can still go down to the new Español and lift a toast to the old ABCA. But wait, the ABCA lives on in the spirit of the FOHBC!
Editor note: The FOHBC has scanned all existing issues of The Pontil. Each issue can be read in the Members Portal at FOHBC.org. A special thanks to FOHBC Western Director Eric McGuire for scanning the issues.
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2017 SPRINGFIELD M A S S A C HU S E TTS
FOHBC National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (FOHBC) is proud to announce that the FOHBC National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo for 2017 will take place in Springfield, Massachusetts at the MassMutual Center and Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place.
August 3 -6, 2017 • Thursday-August 3: Springfield Armory Reception, Battle of Springfield bottle competition • Friday-August 4: FOHBC Membership Meeting Breakfast, Educational Seminars, Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Early Admissions, FOHBC Cocktail Hour & Banquet • Saturday-August 5: Watson One Bottle Auction, General Admission, Youth Corner, Hotel Room Hopping • Sunday-August 6: General Admission,Youth Corner & Display Awards
The Old Sandwich Glass Works by John H. Stone
Info: Jim Bender, Show Co-Chair, 518.673.8833, jim1@frontiernet.net or Bob Strickhart, Show Co-Chair & Northeast Region Director, 609.818.1981, strickhartbob@aol.com or Louis Fifer, FOHBC Conventions Director, fiferlouis@yahoo.com General Admission on Saturday and Sunday, August 5th and 6th: $5, Early Admission on August 4th, at 1:00 pm, $60 ($45 for FOHBC members)
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VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF HISTORICAL BOTTLES AND GLASS Phase 1 Goal: $30,000
30k
25k
20k
15k
FOHBC
10k
5k
Please help us fill the bottle! Development Gifts as of 03 January 2017: $21,958.98 for more info please visit:
FOHBC.org
Send gift to: Alan DeMaison, FOHBC Virtual Museum 1605 Clipper Cove, Painesville, OH 44077
2019 FOHBC 50th Anniversary Please join us in planning for and celebrating the FOHBC 50th Anniversary in 2019.
We need your anniversary ideas, magazine articles, web posts and assistance in planning for the 2019 FOHBC 50th Anniversary National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo in our Southern Region. Look for a special commemorative bottle and many other special events to celebrate our past, present and future,
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Bottles and Extras
S an fo r d Pet t s o f B o s t on an d th e “ S pirit s of ’ 76” By using the national symbol to sell whiskey, Petts was invoking his patriotic heritage.
by Jack Sullivan It was not a coincidence that Bald Eagle Whiskey, represented here by a celluloid pocket mirror (Fig. 1), should be the flagship brand of S. F. Petts & Co. As the driving force behind the Boston liquor house, Sanford Ferdinand Petts was himself a certifiable Yankee Doodle Dandy. Many of his ancestors had served General Washington gallantly in the Revolutionary War. By using the national symbol to sell whiskey, Petts was invoking his patriotic heritage. Through his father Petts was related to at least six soldiers who fought in the War of Independence from Britain. His great grandfather, Jonathan Petts, had been at Lexington, Massachusetts, for the opening salvo of the war. Other members of the Petts clan were renowned for their military service, described in detail in regional histories. Afterward those forebears settled down to lives as farmers and merchants in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Sanford’s father, Ferdinand, was a New England hustler. In 1855 at the age of 21, by saving his money from a job in a glass factory, the elder Petts was able to buy and operate the Marlowe House Hotel in Stoddard, New Hampshire, where Sanford was born in 1860. Ever restless, five years later his father sold that hostelry and left New Hampshire to run the Central House Hotel in Ashburnham, Massachusetts. Five years later Ferdinand had become a grocer. In another three years he had exited that business and was selling tobacco. Given his father’s frequent moves, it is questionable how much
formal education Sanford Petts enjoyed. Nevertheless, the young New Englander had inherited an enterprising spirit. Although little appears in the record about his early years, by the age of 34 in 1894 Petts had established his own liquor business at 256 Friend Street in Boston. During ensuing years, amid success of his whiskey stores, he became known as an enterprising Boston businessman. A contemporary account citing Pett’s local prominence asserted: “His success has been entirely the result of his effort.” In addition to a capacity for hard work, Petts showed considerable imagination. Harking back to his Revolutionary War heritage, Petts sold rum in ceramic jugs that invoked the “Spirit of ’76” (Fig. 2).
Fig 1: Celluloid pocket mirror
His ads for mail order liquor asserted he was selling: “The same kind of rum that George Washington drank in Ye Olden Time.” He also marketed his wholesale whiskeys in stoneware. Three jugs shown here have his name and address incised in the neck. One bears only the Friend Street address (Fig. 3). The other two add his second outlet at 143 Canal Street (Figs. 4, 5).
For smaller amounts of alcoholic spirits, Petts employed a variety of glass bottles, in both clear and amber (Figs. 6, 7, 8). His proprietary brands of liquor included whiskeys labeled “Benjamin Franklin,” “Old Reliable,” “Pett’s Malt,” “Suprema,”
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Fig 2: Petts selling “The same kind of rum that George Washington drank in Ye Olden Time.�
Fig 3: S. F. Petts & Co. 237 Friend Street address in Boston.
S an for d Pe tts s tone war e wh is k e y j u g s
Fig 4: S F Petts & Co. 237 Friend and 143 Canal Sts addresses in Boston, Mass.
Fig 5: Another Petts stoneware jug with both addresses in Boston.
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Bottles and Extras
“Celebrated Fruit Punch” and “Cedar Slope” (Fig. 10). His flagship brand, “Petts Bald Eagle,” was sold in bottles ranging in size from half-pints (Fig. 12) to full quarts (Fig. 6). Faced with competition from other Boston wholesale houses, Petts provided a series of giveaway items to saloons, restaurants, and other drinking establishment carrying his liquor. He showed a sense of design for those advertising items, exemplified by an elaborately etched shot glass for Petts Bald Eagle brand (Fig. 13). It was evident again in a glass issued for his “Petts Fruit Punch,” a mix of juices well-laced with alcohol (Fig. 9). Another gifted item was a cigar cutter advertising Bald Eagle whiskey (Fig. 14). Petts also offered customers an elegant serving tray featuring a scantily clad woman and a flute-playing cherub (Fig. 11). In the 1880s Petts married. From this union was born in 1889 a son whom he named Sanford Jr. With the success he had enjoyed Petts was able to give the boy the education he himself may have lacked. Harvard University lists Junior as a graduate in 1916. By that year Petts had exited the whiskey business and S. F. Petts and Co. had disappeared from Boston business directories. With all his success, why did he quit? My guess is that it was the result of the passage by Congress of the Webb-Kenyon Act in 1913 that forbid interstate sales of liquor into “dry” localities and states. Previously, those places - in particular Maine - had been fertile territory for the mail order liquor business in which Petts was engaged. The year after he shut down his liquor business Petts was listed as a banking executive with the Old South Trust Company of Boston. Later, he founded and became president of the Sanpeco Chocolate Products Company, with Sanford Jr. listed as the treasurer. They made “Freezo” a chocolate coating used for covering ice cream bars, as well as cocoa butter and cocoa powder. Sanford Petts died in 1927, age 67. His gravestone (Fig. 15) lies in Greenlawn Cemetery, Keene, New Hampshire.
Figs 6, 7: Smaller quart and pint clear bottles to sell Petts whiskeys
Fig 8: Amber S. F. Petts & Co. bottle
In his advertising for Bald Eagle whiskey, Petts emphasized that the big bird signified “The Representative American.” That same accolade might be attributed to this Boston whiskey man himself. During his twenty years owning and managing a liquor house he never forgot the heritage of enterprise, ingenuity and patriotism handed down to him by his Revolutionary War forebears.
Fig 15: Sanford Petts gravestone in Keene, New Hampshire
Fig 9: Petts’ Celebrated Fruit Punch shot glass
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PETTS
Fig 12: Labeled Petts Celebrated Bald Eagle Whiskeys
Fig 10: S F Petts & Co. Cedar Slope Whiskey
Fig 13: Petts Celebrated Bald Eagle Whiskey shot glass
Fig 11: Petts Bald Eagle Whiskey serving tray
Fig 14: Bald Eagle Whiskey cigar snipper
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Bottles and Extras
Bottles and Extras
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NORTHWESTERN BOTTLE COLLECTORS ASSN.
51st. Annual Antique Bottle & Collectible Show Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building 2017 Across from the Sonoma County Fairgrounds
Saturday, May 6th, - 10a.m. to 4p.m. $3 Sunday, May 7th, - 9a.m. to 3p.m. FREE Dealer set-up, early entry $10, Saturday 9-10 a.m.
In conjunction with “Farmers Market” Saturday, & The huge "Veterans 40/8 Flea Market” Sunday! ADVERTISING - ANTIQUES - BOTTLES - COINS EPHEMERA - DOLLS - TOKENS - TINS - POST CARDS SALOON ITEMS - MARBLES - POTTERY - GLASS
LOCAL SONOMA COUNTY ITEMS –– VINTAGE MEMORABILIA ––
FREE APPRAISALS! WE BUY - SELL - TRADE Show or Dealer Info. (707) 823-8845 - nbca@comcast.net www.OLDWESTBOTTLES.com & click on “SHOWS"
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Bottles and Extras
EDWARD ROOME TOBACCONIST by Eric McGuire
Snuff is a tobacco product usually prepared in a form that can be held in the mouth for flavor extraction or inhaled by the nose or mouth. Its first use is lost in time but documented as common by the indigenous residents of the Americas from the beginning of initial contact with Europeans in the late 1400s. For centuries, tobacco was considered to have highly favorable medicinal qualities and even as those claims began to wane in the 18th century the weed was still popular as a recreational item. We often forget that in contrast to our exceptionally clean, “bath-a-day” world our ancestors lived in a much more odoriferous setting. The scent of tobacco derived from smoking, chewing, spitting etc., was often a welcome improvement over the less desirable bodily odors that prevailed in their society. Though not well understood for many years, the insidious addictive qualities of tobacco were likely the force behind its popular use. Even after the isolation of nicotine in 1828 tobacco use remained a popular vice. (1) Fortunately, for the sake of collectors of bottles, in order to keep the product dry, or moist, as the case may be, snuff was regularly packaged in small bottles that are relatively easy to recognize by their shape and form. By the early 19th century some of those bottles were mold blown with the proprietor’s information embossed in the glass. Only a handful, perhaps less than ten different companies, produced these interesting bottles during the first half of the 19th century. Perhaps the commonest of the early pontiled and embossed snuff bottles is that of Edward Roome. Even though his bottles are not
very scarce, they probably comprised a small amount of his actual snuff production and were only used in high-end retail settings. Today, they are in high demand as attractive bottles of another era. This article investigates Edward Roome’s life as it relates to his world as a tobacco merchant. Edward Roome’s business life began in 1830 as a partner with Charles Oakley, a prominent business man of New York City. How this association came about is still a mystery but it was not long until these two business partners were also double connected as family. Roome married Oakley’s daughter, Frances Henrietta Oakley, on May 10, 1832, in New York City. Charles Oakley was an extremely successful New York merchant whose Dutch ancestors were some of the earliest residents of New York City. Oakley was born in Yonkers in 1786, and by some coincidence married Margaret Roome. She was a daughter of John P. Roome and he was the brother of Edward Roome’s father, Nicholas Roome. So, Edward Roome’s mother-in-law was also his first cousin. Oakley became a wealthy merchant in the city, buying and selling goods throughout the country, and the owner of considerable real estate.
Charles Oakley’s introduction into the business world of New York City, at 25 years old, was with the importation and sales of tobacco, as this 1810 advertisement attests. He maintained his tobacco interests until his mercantile business retirement in 1834 (New-York Gazette [New York, New York] May 8, 1810)
Oakley was evidently a risk taker, which resulted in making and losing large sums of money in his lifetime. His name was often mentioned in newspapers chronicling his many activities as well as financial debacles. Along with his financial affairs Oakley also participated in local politics, holding a number of offices, including Alderman of the Ninth Ward of New York, which includes the Greenwich area where he lived. Activities included:
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This label, which is affixed to an embossed E. Roome snuff bottle, could only have been printed in 1845, as this is the first year that Roome established his snuff mill in Troy, and in the following year of 1846 Roome had moved his New York City store from 139 Maiden Lane (the address on the label) to 134 Water Street. Rappee is coarse ground moist snuff made from fermented tobacco leaves and strong in flavor. Maccoboy, another popular variety, is usually scented by the addition of rose oil. Scotch is a finely ground powdered form. (Collection of Charles and Jane Aprill)
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• Trustee of the Greenwich Bank (2) • Alderman of the Ninth Ward of New York City (3) • Member of the American Colonization Society (4) • Director of the Greenwich Fire Insurance Co. (5) • Associate of the Washington Bank (6) As noted above, Oakley was a member of the American Colonization Society which was borne of the idea to repatriate slaves back to Africa where it was felt they would have a better chance of flourishing. With funding from the federal government as well as society members, the Cape Mesurado area, on the coast of West Africa, was purchased for the colony. It was later renamed Liberia. Some slave owners actually gave up their “property” for return to Africa, and a few wealthy Americans purchased slaves solely to give them freedom in Liberia, which was thought to be a great humanitarian gesture at the time. Throughout his life, amidst his financial trials and tribulations, Oakley was an ardent lover of horticulture. He prided himself on growing a large variety of fruits and vegetables in his Greenwich, New York garden. He was an active member of the New York Horticultural Society most of his life.
Charles Oakley’s Eagle Mills snuff was popular and well advertised throughout New England and other east coast states, as this advertisement attests. (Eastern Argus [Portland, Maine] March 9, 1824)
For a few years, from 1817 to 1819, Charles Oakley took in two of his younger brothers as partners in his tobacco business. This advertisement documents the termination of the partnership. Richard and Cornelius Oakley subsequently opened their own tobacco business in New York. (New-York Gazette [New York, New York]
The first and only reference located for Charles Oakley’s use of snuff bottles in his business. (New-York Gazette [New York, New York] December 22, 1820) January 12, 1820)
Oakley was determined to slow down in the mercantile business, which soon left his son-in-law to manage his activities.(7) With greater assurance that Roome could effectively manage his affairs in the Eagle Snuff Mill, Oakley took another step in relinquishing his management role by claiming a legally defined special partnership and contributing $50,000 to the firm of Oakley & Roome. This act, in effect, left Edward Roome as the only operative in the partnership, with Oakley’s presence in name only, and Roome was gifted with considerable operating capital. The partnership of Oakley & Roome lasted until 1838 when it was terminated and Edward Roome moved his operation, as a sole proprietor, to Stockport, Columbia County, New York, in search of more efficient water power to run his mill. The New York City mill, located on Carmine Street, and the retail store, remained opened for the City market.
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Advertisement for MACCOBOY SNUFF. Manufactured by Edward Roome, Troy, New York.
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The financial depression of 1837 forced the closure of Joseph and Benjamin Marshall’s Hudson Print Works in Stockport, makers and printers of fabric. Established in 1828 it was the largest employer in Columbia County at the time. Roome took advantage of the economic downturn and purchased the old print works, located on Claverack Creek, and converted it into a snuff mill. He operated this mill until 1850 when it was re-converted into making fabric looms by the Reynold’s Empire Loom Works.(8) It is likely that Roome and family moved from New York City to Stockport from 1838 until 1842 since his New York City residence is not listed in the city directories. When Roome purchased the Stockport property the former house of Benjamin Marshall was included in the deal. Often described as a mansion, it was conveniently located between Troy, New York, and New York City, both active cities for Roome’s snuff business. Meanwhile, upon his retirement from his mercantile and tobacco businesses, Charles Oakley continued much of his civic duties in the city of New York, and managed his rather large real estate interests. He had acquired a half-dozen or so residential and commercial properties that he leased or rented.
Charles Oakley was a veteran of the war of 1812, and as a member of the New York State Infantry, he must have relished at the chance to see and honor LaFayette upon his visit to New York City. (National Advocate [New York, New York] August 18, 1824)
Charles Oakley in his later years, circa 1880. (Photo courtesy of Christopher Duensing via Ancestry.com)
Charles Oakley remained in New York City until about a year before his death when he moved in with his caregiver son, William H. Oakley, living in Norwood, New Jersey. Oakley died there on October 9, 1884. He was considered the oldest native born resident of the City upon his death, at 98 years of age. (9) In 1845, Edward Roome closed down the old Eagle Snuff Mill begun by his father-in-law on Carmine Street and store at 147 Fulton Street in the Greenwich District of New York and opened a large mill in Troy, up the Hudson River. Again, Roome’s stated motivation for this move was his quest for cheaper water power to run the mill compared with the necessary coal fired steam plant in New York City. Just as Roome took advantage of water power from his Stockport mill on Claverack Creek, he again relied on water power in Troy which offered a more reliable year-around source, . . . “for the purpose of using a water power of greater magnitude and permanent supply” (10) By June 1845, Roome’s Troy factory was fully operational, as the local paper noted, “Mr. Roome’s extensive snuff and tobacco factory, employing nearly 100 hands, has been established.” (11) Most of these employees were likely boys who were used to strip and clean the tobacco leaves prior to cutting and treating.
Prior to its full operation Edward Roome placed ads in the local Troy newspaper for his Troy Snuff Mill. Upon its opening he changed the name of his new mill to Mount Ida Snuff Mill.
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Early in 1849, a number of financial issues began to plague Roome which likely led to his removal from Troy and the close of his factory there. He was sued by his former agents, Watrous, Webb & Co., located in Troy (12), as well as the receiver of the Canal Bank of Albany, New York (13), and the Troy City Bank. (14) By 1849, Edward Roome had moved back to New York City until his death in 1853. The circumstances surrounding his demise are shrouded in mystery for he was only 46 years old at the time of his death. No obituary was located and his death notice was simple and abbreviated. After his death there is no indication of his business being continued by a family member or any other party.
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and weeping at no very moderate rate. Mr. R. sends vast quantities of his Segars, Tobacco and Snuff to Virginia and the whole South. He was filling large orders for New Orleans and Mobile. Virginia is represented all over the Union in some one or other of her products. Yet she will not appreciate their value at home and turn them to a proper account. (16)
Nearly a year later Edward Roome’s new snuff mill was fully operational and highly praised as a new introduction into the commerce of Troy, New York, as announced in this advertisement. (Bennington Banner [Bennington, Vermont] June 17, 1845)
A sketch of Edward Roome. He had been described as. . . “a remarkably handsome man, both in face and figure, and in all his movements was prompt, easy and graceful. His address was elegant and courteous; he was gay, genial, and companionable; and in military circles as well as in society he was a universal favorite”. He attained the rank of Major in the Fourth Company of the 27th Regiment of the New York State Militia, prior to his resignation in 1837. (15)
One Richmond, Virginia, newspaper reporter wrote of his experience of visiting Troy, New York and Roome’s snuff factory: The Snuff and Tobacco Factory of Edward Roome, was to me the greatest curiosity here. This is an immense concern. It struck me very singular that a factory like this, away hundreds of miles from whence the raw article grows, should be driving such a business. Why not such a one at Richmond? Why will not such Factories go up South? He manufactures the most beautiful Snuff I ever saw. I know nothing of its quality - but I should deem it first-rate. I know its effects upon my olfactories, for it kept me sneezing, nodding
It is likely that Roome did not have his lettered snuff bottles blown at the time of the establishment of his Troy snuff mill, as a September 1845 advertisement notes, “The jars are well glazed inside and with stone covers for the benefit of the retailer”, indicating glazed stoneware was being used at the time. (17) However, just a month later another advertisement for Roome’s Mount Ida Snuff Mill in Troy notes that snuff could be purchased . . . “by the barrel, or in jars and bottles, as wanted”. (18) It appears that Roome’s activity in Troy came to an end in late 1848 or the early part of 1849. Few newspaper advertisements were posted and in March of 1849 was a notice of sale of Roome’s stock, including, . . . “About 150 doz bottles of ‘Rappee’ and ‘American Gent.” There was no positive documentation that the bottles were those embossed with Roome’s name but it is likely that they were included in the stock, which was being sold by “J.C. Mather, Receiver”. (19) After taking up residence back in New York City in 1849,
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By early 1850 it appears that most or all of Roome’s snuff in jars had been sold, but other tobacco merchandise remained and J.C. Mather was anxious to liquidate the rest. (Daily Whig [Troy, New York] February 19, 1850)
Roome’s advertisements diminished to nearly nothing. The 185051 New York State Mercantile Union Directory lists him and his Ida Tobacco Manufacturing Co. only at 134 Water Street, in the City. Back in Troy, Roome is absent and only P. D. Orvis & Co. is listed as wholesale agents for E. Roome. Edward Roome’s burial crypt is located in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. It is simply marked with his name at the bottom of the door. The crypt also contains a number of his children as well as his wife and his mother - and possibly his father who may have been re-interred here in 1854. (Photo from Bob Collins via Findagrave.com)
This early 1849 advertisement by Edward Roome, pointed toward capitalizing on the California Gold Rush market. It is the last ad to be located for him and references only his New York City address of 134 Water Street. (The New York Tribune (New York, New
To summarize Edward Roome’s tobacco venture as it relates to his embossed snuff bottle, the following is offered. Roome moved his primary tobacco manufacturing operation to a new facility in Troy that was constructed throughout much of 1844. His embossed bottles were probably produced during the latter part of 1845. Whether additional bottles were ordered at a later date is unknown but it is doubtful that more were blown after the middle of 1848 as his business began to decline. By the beginning of 1849 his Troy operations were closed down and he moved back to New York City where Roome operated a much smaller tobacco business until his death on June 18, 1853. Questions remain about Edward Roome’s demise, both in business and in his life. On the surface it appears that his Troy facility was just too large to cover operating expenses relative to market demand. In his personal life it still remains a mystery why he died at such an early age. Was it simply caused by disease, which was much more rampant than in today’s world, or was it from a man with lofty goals who became financially defeated which led to depression and self abuse? Based on the evidence that was uncovered we cannot know the answers. In contrast, Edward’s wife, Frances Henrietta Oakley Roome, lived a long life and died in Kensington, Maryland, on August 21, 1902, at 90 years of age. (20) She had nine children with Edward, but only three were living at the time of her death. Her final years were spent with her son, William Oscar Roome, and his family, in Washington, D.C.
Two E. Roome embossed snuffs. (Charles and Jane Aprill Collection) Notes: 1. Grace G. Stewart, A History of the Medicinal Use of Tobacco, 1492 - 1860 2. New York Evening Post (New York, New York) Feb 3, 1830 3. New York Evening Post (New York, New York) Nov 2, 1829 4. The Evening Post (New York, New York) Oct 14, 1833 5. The Evening Post (New York, New York) Dec 5, 1834 6. The Evening Post (New York, New York) Feb 9, 1839 7. New York Daily Advertiser (New York, New York) July 6, 1830 8. History of Columbia County, New York, by Franklin Ellis. pg. 350 9. New York Times (New York, New York) October 10, 1884 10. Utica Daily Gazette (Utica, New York) November 5, 1845 11. Troy Daily Whig (Troy, New York) June 25, 1845 12. Daily Albany Argus (Albany, New York), March 27, 1849 13. Daily Albany Argus (Albany, New York) July 17, 1850 14. New York Evening Post (New York, New York) January 8, 1853 15. History of the Seventh Regiment of New York, 1806-1889, Volume 1, by Emmons Clark. 1890. pg. 257 16. Richmond Whig (Richmond, Virginia), October 28, 1845 17. New York Daily Whig (New York, New York) September 25, 1845 18. Utica Daily Gazette [Utica, New York] November 5, 1845 19. Troy Daily Whig (Troy, New York) June 2, 1849 20. New York Herald (New York, New York) September 2, 1902
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The Deland M-T Bottle Collectors Club Presents Their 47th Antique Bottle & Insulator Show Location is SR 44 & I-4 at the Volusia County Fairgrounds (Exit 118) Deland, Florida, March 24th & 25th, 2017. Dealer set up 1- 6 PM Friday. Fee for early buyers Friday 3-7 PM and before 8 AM Saturday is $20. Regular show Admission and parking for all buyers on Saturday 8 AM – 3 PM is FREE. (160 Sales Tables will be available for this show) For Information Please Contact our Asst. Bottle Show Chairman: Brian Hoblick, 11721 NW County Rd 236, Alachua, Florida 32615. EMAIL: hoblick@aol.com PHONE# 386-804-9635 Bottle Show Chairman: Dwight A. Pettit Jr. PHONE# 386-956-8033 EMAIL: pettit9119@bellsouth.net Show contract is available at our website: www.m-tbottleclub.com
40th Annual
ANTIQUE ADVERTISING AND BOTTLE SHOW Saturday, June 24, 2017 8 am to 4 pm
at the Tulsa Flea Market, River Spirit Center, Tulsa Fairgrounds (21st & Yale) Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Free admission & parking Show is right behind the Golden Driller at 21st Street and Pittsburgh Avenue. For easiest access, attendees should park on the north side of the building.
200+ tables of advertising, signs, bottles, jars, paper items, relics, country store, drug store, saloon, oil & gas, veterinary, soda fountain, toys, etc. Dealers from 15 states. One of America’s best shows for painted label sodas There will be low cost items as well as high quality for the serious collector. While not as big as Indy, Chicago, or the FOHBC national, we continue to grow! Thanks to you, Tulsa is now one of America's top ten antique advertising shows! Dealers: 8 foot tables are $35 each or 11’ x 13’ booth for $80. Set up from 10 am to 6 pm Friday & 6 am to 8 am Saturday. The 11 acre River Spirit Center is a modern, air conditioned facility. We will be in the upper level, right next to the flea market. Spaces available until June 18th. Dealers drive in and unload right at their booth. Attendance has been excellent, and many have sold well. Great pizza lunch for dealers on Saturday. The flea market will have an additional 800 tables of collectibles, etc., both old and new. The total show will have over 1,000 tables of all kinds of antiques & collectibles for sale! This show is huge!!! Don’t miss it!!!
Advertising & bottle shows are rare in our part of the country. Take advantage of this opportunity, and tell others about us. The Tulsa Antique Advertising and Bottle Show is not a “for profit” enterprise. We simply want to have a good show.
For further info contact Richard Carr (918) 687-4150 or (918)478-6119; Henry Tankersley at (918) 481-3820 or (918) 663-3218 or henry@americanbanktulsa.com; or Jerry Callison at (918) 740-3817
If you like this show, please tell other collectors and dealers about us!
Check out our new website at tulsaantiquesandbottleclub.com for photos and more info!
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47th Annual
AT L A N TA
ANTIQUE BOTTLE SHOW & SALE FORMERLY SOUTHEASTERN ANTIQUE BOTTLE CLUB SHOW
Saturday • June 3rd, 2017 8:00 am to 2:00 pm
Dealer Setup & Early Admission Friday, June 2nd, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm Saturday, June 3rd, 7:00 am - 8:00 am Smyrna Community Center, 200 Village Green Circle, Smyrna, GA.
Southern Pottery, Bottles, Fruit Jars, Advertising, Post Cards, Milk Bottles and Table Top Antiques Admission $3 • Early Admission will be $10
For table reservations and show information contact: Jack Hewitt 12313 Quail Cove, Jasper, GA 30143 770-856-6062
Bill Johnson 770-823-2626 bj3605@comcast.net
FREE bottle and pottery appraisals! FREE BOTTLES for KIDS 12 and Under!
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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2017 Jefferson State Antique Bottle & Insulator Expo Central Point, Oregon Website: www.ecandm.com/expo/
Friday & Saturday May 5 & 6, 2017
$3~ Admission (or 2 for $5~) Friday 10AM - 7PM Saturday 10 AM – 3 PM (Dealer Set-up / $10~ early admission Friday 9-10 AM) Olsrud Pavilion / Jackson County Expo / I5—Exit 33
In conjunction with the regional Rogue Valley Antique Show
Free Walk-in Appraisals! Info
Bruce Silva P. O. Box 1565 Jacksonville, Or. 97530 541-821-8949 jsglass@q.com
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An example of an inverted Jenny, was once sucked up in a vacuum cleaner after it had fallen unnoticed to the floor. That copy was expertly repaired but remains a shadow of its former self.
A new section in Bottles and Extras of interesting finds from losses long ago. Please feel free to submit your images or ideas for consideration. [Above] Atherton’s Dew Drop Bitters dug on 19 December 2004 by Greg Bair and Maureen Crawford. Resting in a Houston bitters collection now.
[Above] A Lancaster Glass Works (New York) Urn - Cornucopia, (GIII-16) medium cobalt blue pint, open pontil, sheared and tooled lip. Found in an old basement crawl space. - Recent Glass Works Auctions lot.
Recently it was announced that the tail of a 99-million-year-old dinosaur had been found entombed in amber, an unprecedented discovery that has blown away scientists.
[Left] The star of the recent Jamboree Auction at the 2016 Sacramento National was purchased for $12 at an Estate Sale in California. The bottle sold for over $35,000. [Above] The Saddle Ridge Hoard is a treasure trove of 1,427 gold coins unearthed in tin cans in the Gold Country of the Sierra Nevada, California in 2013 by a couple walking on their property. The face value of the coins totaled $27,980, but was assessed to be worth $10 million.
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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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Premier Auction 146 March 6th through March 15th
A Premier Absentee Auction Of Early Glass, Bottles, Flasks, Paperweights, Bitters, Freeblown and Pressed Glass, Whiskeys, Soda and Mineral Water Bottles, Medicines, Pattern Molded Glass, Utilities, Scents, Inkwells & 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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CALIFORNIA FAVORITE: THE GEORGE WISSEMANN COMPANY By Steve Abbott Fig 2: George VI on wagon outside business. Note sign and address.
On a hot summer’s day in 1915, George Wissemann VI pulled his two horse team hauling a drayage wagon ladened with hogshead barrels of whiskey. He came to a halt in front of GEORGE WISSEMANN COMPANY, 230 K Street, Sacramento, California, one of the largest liquor distributorships in the Sacramento Valley (Fig: 2). George VI (dubbed affectionately by his wife the “AA Kid” after the company’s best selling brand, California Favorite AA whiskey), wearing a leather apron suitable for wrestling barrels all day, sat on the driver’s seat, sheltered from the merciless sun by a broad-brimmed hat and the wagon’s canopy. The company’s headquarters, catercornered on K Street from the elegant Western Hotel, was sheltered somewhat from the blazing sun under a steel-trussed awning ranging along the front of the building on K Street and then wrapping south around the corner on 3rd Street, all since razed for the building of Interstate 5. After unloading the wagon, the AA Kid and his team made their way back to 817 O Street. George had a fine dinner in his widowed mother’s house and the horses ate theirs in the barn in the rear. The house was a substantial one, a block east of the impressive Heilbron mansion (still standing), home to Adolph Heilbron, the cattle baron and first president of Buffalo Brewery. The whiskey business was more than loading and unloading hogsheads barrels of whiskey. Every barrel had to have been ordered, transported by train from the East, sold, delivered by horse and wagon, either in barrels or decanted into bottles. After her husband’s death in 1909, Mary Wissemann took care of the business end of the booze business, but her son, the AA Kid, took care of the important sales. George VI, as related by his son George VII, relished his role as salesman, exchanging his leather apron, broad brimmed hat, and a team of nags for a suit, a dress hat, a gold watch and fob, and a shiny Buick convertible (Fig: 3).
Fig 3: George VI Wissemann in suit and hat.
The AA Kid’s favorite territory was the Lake Tahoe region where he spent his honeymoon with both his Elk Grove bride Zoe Polhemus and as many saloon owners and barkeeps as he could work into his schedule. Fig 4: Barkeeper Murphy at Colfax, California. Note sign on top shelf in window. Wissemann photograph
The AA kid was carrying his father’s salesman sample case, which contained vials of their most important products: California Favorite A, AA, AAA, C, Kentucky Standard, OK Kentucky No.1, Kentucky Standard Select, and many more. And he brought with him many advertisements for the saloons and their habituates: signs, calendars, bar bottles, shot glasses, corkscrews, and the all-important tokens for free drinks. The AA Kid had his picture taken with the “boys” and the barkeeps (Fig: 4). He was casting his liquid bread upon the waters and hoping the bait would pay dividends. However by mid-decade, WW I was
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Fig 1: George Wissemann, Wine & Liquor Merchant 1906 calendar
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40 engulfing Europe, and the evangelical anti-saloon movement in the United States would soon bring a parching drought to the purveyors of alcoholic beverages. The George Wissemann Company, along with all the legitimate merchants of spirituous drink, would not survive the Eighteenth Amendment and its enabling legislation Volstead Act. George Wissemann V, the founder of the business, was born in southern Germany, September 15, 1857, attended school until he was fourteen, then went to work on the family’s farm. In 1877, he decided to try his luck in America, sailed to New York, stopped temporarily in Cleveland, Ohio, then made his way to Sacramento, California. Not much is known about his early years in Sacramento. His 1909 obituary in the Sacramento Union stated that George was the proprietor of the Fifth Avenue Hotel and possibly worked for George Chesley, a major whiskey distributor in Sacramento (1869-91) and San Francisco (1873-78). He was a bartender for Klebitz and Green, a saloon which he later bought and operated as Wissemann’s Saloon. The uncertainty of some of this experience is a result of the various spellings of Wissemann in city records, newspapers, census, and business records, four of which have been found. The final and “most unkindest cut of all” was the spelling of his name as “Wisseman” on a stained glass window, which the family undoubtedly paid for, in St. John’s Lutheran Church, formerly the Old German Lutheran Church. George officially entered the saloon business in December of 1885 when Sacramento County approved his license for the Wissemann Saloon on Fourth Street, the south facing side of the lot of the current Holiday Inn. By 1890, he had married the widow Mary Harms Bauer with whom he fathered three children: George Heinrich VI (b. 3/23/90), Ruth Pauline (b.7/18/92), and Walter Joyhan (b.5/22/97). Walter became a success in his own right, a saloon owner, an appliance dealer, an automobile dealer, and a grower of hops and grapes. The road from Folsom Boulevard leading to the American River is now named Wissemann Drive after him. Walter’s success finally moved him to Carmel, where he lived out his days on the famous Seventeen Mile Drive. By 1891, George V was prospering in the saloon business and became an agent for William J. Lemp’s St. Louis Lager (later Falstaff). By 1893, he was an agent for Pabst, having the brew transported by train from Milwaukee and probably bottled in pints and quarts by a fellow beer dealer with a bottling plant. The beer bottles are quite rare, perhaps three pints and five quarts known, PROPERTY OF GEO. WISSEMANN/SACRAMENTO, CAL./THIS BOTTLE NOT TO BE SOLD (Fig: 5).
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Fig 5: George Wissemann beer bottles.
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Two known porcelain beer stoppers exist: GEV.(sic)WISSEMANN/BottlingWorks/SACRAMENTO and W/CALIFORNIA BOTTLING WORKS/SACRAMENTO,CAL. suggesting that Wissemann may not have bottled the Pabst, but having received it by train in barrels from Milwaukee, had it bottled by Theobald Blauth of the Sacramento Bottling Works, whose own beer bottles are fairly common (Figs: 6a & 6b).
Fig 7b: George Wissemann label sticker detail Figs 6a & 6b: George Wissemann porcelain beer stopper, type 1 (left), George Wissemann beer stopper, type 2 (right)
In 1893, George also opened the Restaurant de France at 422 J Street from which is known one wheel etched shot glass, Cafe Royal. Two different label-under-glass flasks are known: O.K CUTTER WHISKEY / Compliments of / GEO.WISSEMANN / 700 J Street. Sacramento, one known of one variety and two known of the other (Figs: 7a, 7b, 7c).
Fig 7c: George Wissemann label-under-glass flask, type 2
By 1897, George V had entered the wholesale whiskey business with the already established dealer Michael Cronan (see “Lad from the Old Sod” [Antique Glass & Bottle Collector, October, 1996]). This relationship lasted until 1901, resulting in one clear embossed whiskey bottle CRONAN / WISSEMANN / SACRAMENTO, CAL. their main labeled whiskey brand CALIFORNIA FAVORITE (Fig: 8).
Fig 7a: George Wissemann label-under-glass flask, type 1
This writer has never seen a Wissemann advertisement with just CALIFORNIA FAVORITE. All Wissemann advertising this writer has ever seen is for CALIFORNIA FAVORITE A, AA, AAA, or C. So my assumption is that the Cronan/Wissemann partnership label was CALIFORNIA FAVORITE, but after the split,
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Cronan kept the CALIFORNIA FAVORITE, as substantiated by Cronan’s billhead as late as 1909 (Fig: 9). Wissemann added the grades A, AA, AAA and C to his brands (Fig 10).
Fig 9: Cronan billhead. Note formerly Cronan-Wissemann.
Fig 10: Wissemann billhead. Note the different brands on the barrels.
In 1901, George Wissemann is listed for the first time as a whiskey distributor in his own right at 230 K Street. From that location clear and amber fifths (Figs: 11 & 12), amber quarts (Fig: 13), amber embossed Wissemann and Wissemann Co. pints and half pints (Fig: 14) [There are six variants in both sizes]), bar bottles (Fig: 15 amber bar bottles and Fig:16 clear bar bottles), shot glasses (Figs: 17a, b), signs (Fig: 18), trays (Fig: 19), shipping crate (Fig: 27) and even a cash register plate (Fig: 20) are known. But the money George V was making from his liquor business was parlayed into many other lucrative ventures. He acquired sixty acres at Perkins (a farm community east of Sacramento on U.S. 50), 43 acres at Union House, two lots in Arbuckle (Yolo County). He loaned money to saloon owners in Davisville (Davis, today), Williams, Sacramento, and El Dorado. He owned fifty shares in the Sacramento Hotel and one share in the Elks Hall Association. At the time of his death in 1909, he had a wholesale liquor business worth $15,000, accounts receivable of $40,000, 535 barrels of whiskey worth about $56,000, and many other assets, the total estate valued at $180,000. George’s accidental death in 1909 is clouded by what is probably a press favorable to an influential businessman. The Sacramento Bee and the Sacramento Union newspapers reported similar stories that George V and VI had gone duck hunting at the Canvasback Duck Club north of Sacramento. The evening before the hunt, the papers reported that they were being driven by a Colonel McKee in an open touring car from the club house to the
Fig 8: Cronan-Wissemann whiskey fifth
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Fig 11: Wissemann and Wisseman Company amber fifths.
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Fig 12: Wissemann and Wissemann Company clear fifths.
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Fig 13: Wissemann amber quart (paper label Tyrrell Rye) as on photo 3.
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Fig 14a: Wissemann pint with original label.
Fig 14: Wissemann and Wisseman Company 1/2 and pint amber flasks.
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duck blinds to deposit their shotguns for the next morning’s shoot, a suspicious aspect of the story. (Why would one take expensive guns to a damp duck blind for overnight storage?) Having left the guns at the duck blind and driving back to the clubhouse, Colonel McKee said that the wind blew off his hat. According to Colonial McKee, as he was attempting to grab his hat, he lost control of the car, sending it into a skid, hitting a bump, becoming airborne, losing all three of the car’s passengers, and coming down right side up with enough force to break most of the spokes on the car’s wheels, but without damaging the top of the car, which suggests either a barrel roll or a loop-deloop. An open touring car would not have had to be going very fast for a driver to lose his hat, but how fast would a 1909 car have had to be going to do airborne acrobatics? Was the car fueled by gasoline or by California Favorite AA? Apparently the investigating reporters and the county coroner either did not have the investigating acumen to ask this question or the desire to know the answer. George’s neck was broken and he died instantly. His son George VI was knocked unconscious for three days. Whether Colonial McKee retrieved his hat or not is lost to history.
Fig 21: Wissemann ledger day of death.
But business must go on. Business was conducted the day of his death, (Fig: 21) and Mary, now widowed for the second time, filed with the court to conduct her husband’s operations and became president of the business. The AA Kid became vice president and salesman, and John Miller stayed in his position as bookkeeper, and “uncle” to George VII. In 1911, the company incorporated with Mary as president until the company’s demise in 1919 at Prohibition. At its close the company had far ranging customer base from Sacramento, through the Sacramento River Delta, to San Francisco, to the Oregon border, throughout northern Nevada, to the Utah border. It should come as no surprise to bottle diggers and collectors that liquor sales were made in the following locations.
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Fig 15: Calfornia Favorite amber bar bottles.
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California: Amador City, Arbuckle, Auburn, Baker Ranch, Banta, Bella Vista, Bethany, Brentwood, Bridgehouse, Butte City, Byron, Callahan, Carbondale, Chico, Coffee City, Colfax, Colusa, Comptonville, Deadwood, Delamar, Durham, Dutch Flat, Etna, Folsom, Fonts Springs, Forest Hill, Forest Home, Fort Jones, Franklin, French Gulf, Georgetown, Grass Valley, Greenville, Hayfork, Hornbook, Ione, Iowa Hill, Junction City, Kelsey, Kennet, Knob, Lake Tahoe, Lewiston, Livermore, Lodi, Lotus, Marysville, Mendota, Napa, Nevada City, Oroville, Placerville, Plymouth, Princeton, Red Bluff, Redding, Rocklin, Roseville, Ryde, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Sisson, Sloughouse, Sterling City, Stockton, Summit, Thorne,Tracy, Truckee, Turlock, Union House, Vina, Weaverville, Weed, Williams, Willows, Woodbridge, Woodland Yolo, Yreka. Nevada: Blaire, Carson City, Chafy, Dayton, Fallon, Elko, Goldfield, Hawthrone, Lucky Boy, Manhattan, Midas, Mill City, Minden, Reno, Tonapah, Wadsworth, Winnemucca.
Fig 17a: California Favorite shot glasses.
Fig 22: George Wissemann photo of “boys” in dry land canoe at saloon at Bijou, Lake Tahoe.
The business continued to prosper until Prohibition, and George Wissemann VI was its far traveling salesman. Family photographs show the AA Kid in a variety of locations, particularly the Lake Tahoe area, his favorite area, according to his son George VII. The AA Kid is shown outside of taverns sitting with its patrons, posing with bartenders. One photograph even shows him clowning with the boys in a canoe on dry ground, some rowing, some bailing, some smoking, some drinking, and all enjoying the lark (Fig: 22). But there is only one known photo of California Favorite being guzzled, somewhere out in the woods, (Fig 23).
Fig 17b: Other Wissemann shot glasses.
Fig 23: Photo of “boys” drinking California Favorite out of the bottle.
The good times came to an end with Prohibition. The saloons were closed, the stock was destroyed or hidden, and the artifacts scattered hither and yon. An interesting story was told by George VII in his eighties to this writer, a story told to him by his grandmother Mary Wissemann, who had no reason to lie to her only grandchild. The AA Kid and his wife were best friends with An-
Fig 27: Wissemann California Favorite shipping crate.
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Fig 16: California Favorite clear bar bottles.
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Fig 20: George Wissemann cash register plate.
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Fig 19: California Favorite A A Old Bourbon tray.
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cil Hoffman, a Sacramento saloon owner and the area’s biggest dealer in Schlitz beer. The AA Kid, his wife and the Hoffmanns even vacationed together owning two popular watering holes, The Cabin and the Twin Schlitz. Ancil was a friend of politicians, and when Prohibition cast its dark shadow on the liquor business, he must have turned to them for advice. According to Mary, the president of George Wissemann Company, the advice was to store the stock where it would be safe from law enforcement, in the basement of the state capitol. Aside from this story, there is no other evidence to substantiate this claim. Other liquor and wine were buried at the Polhemus ranch near Elk Grove, where they could be dug up as needed.
6. Sacramento County Business Licenses.
While Prohibition did not turn out well for the AA Kid, it did for Ancil Hoffman who survived financially, made many investments, ended up on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors for many years, and has a golf course named after him... but the AA Kid?
Steve Abbott is a collector of Sacramento whiskey memorabilia and still looking for a few good pieces.
Apparently, California Favorite AA got the best of him. He apparently had a nervous breakdown accompanied with alcoholism. He was sent to a sanatorium in Livermore, California, but the cure did not have long lasting effects. He was eventually committed to the California State Mental Hospital in Napa, where, aside from a few furloughs, he spent the rest of his life. According to George VII, he and George VI’s wife Zoe would occasionally visit the AA Kid. While in their care on short visits, he would appear to be normal, but when they brought him back to Sacramento, he would return to his demented state. He died January 31, 1961 and is buried along with his father and mother in Sacramento’s East Lawn Cemetery. The buildings are gone. The horse and buggy are gone. The 1915 Buick is gone. But many artifacts of the collection remain in the hands of some collectors. Perhaps most interesting was a simple Mason jar full of California AA whiskey and a peach from an orchard jointly owned by Wissemann and Hoffmann on Greenback Lane in Fair Oaks. At least it existed when an earlier version of this article appeared in Bottles and Extras in 1992. As George Wissemann VII neared the end of his life, a housekeeper was brought in. Under the kitchen sink, she found the jar, which preserved not only a nasty looking seventy-five year old peach, but the last remaining drop of California AA whiskey, both of which went down the drain, an inglorious end to one of Sacramento’s liquor empires. This article is a reprise of an earlier December 1992 Bottles and Extras article. Many changes have been included, some inaccuracies corrected, and color photographs included. List of References: 1. History of New California, ed. Leigh H. Irvine. New York and Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1905. 2. Memorabilia from private collections. 3. The Sacramento Bee. 4. Sacramento City Clerk and Council Minutes. 5. Sacramento City Directories.
7. Sacramento County Coroner Records. 8. Sacramento County Partnership and Fictitious Records. 9. Sacramento County Tax Records. 10. The Sacramento Union. 11. St, John’s Lutheran Church Records. 12. George Wissemann VII personal recollections. 13. George Wissemann VI photograph collection. 14. U.S. Census, 1900.
Fig 25: California Favorite bottle lifted from Kauffmann and Strauss sign. Only known image of this bottle with labels.
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A Variety of New England Flasks by Mark Vuono I
am excited. With the FOHBC 2017 Springfield National convention just months away, the anticipation and excitement is building daily. Jim Bender and Bob Strickhart, the show’s co-chairs, have already contributed countless hours towards its success. I really can’t think of two better people to have as co-chairs for this mega event. Both exude the enthusiasm and passion to make it a great event. Several months ago, Jim Bender asked me to write an article for Bottles and Extras on New England flasks. Since the show is being held in the heart of New England, the topic was appropriate for the venue. Because there were so many flasks blown in New England, I thought I would choose just a few to write about. As one can imagine, there are some flasks that are great rarities, some considered rare, and others noted as common. I will do my best in this article and try covering all three categories, choosing two flasks from each category that I feel appropriately fit their grade. Picking the six flasks for this article was not as easy a task as one might think. The two so-called “common” flasks required some consideration because I wanted to choose two that have eye appeal, historical significance, and that are earlier examples with sheared lips and open pontils. As far as the so-called “rare” examples were concerned, they also had to be chosen rather carefully. These two flasks had to meet the same criteria as the common flasks and also had to merit being rated as “rare.” I tried to choose two examples of which a dozen or so examples are known. Examples that, with some patience, could eventually be available to the more advanced collector. The “great rarities” category was probably the hardest of all. I tried to choose the two flasks that, to the best of my knowledge, had less than five examples known. Historical significance and earlier manufacture played a role in this selection, but their “population” census was the key factor in determining these choices. Let’s begin with the two “common” flasks I have chosen. The first one picked is the common GII-73 American eagle / Cornucopia urn. These are available at almost all the decent bottle shows. All of them have an open pontil with sheared lips and are a nice early New England product. Having the American eagle on one side and a cornucopia urn filled with fruit makes them both historical and pictorial at the same time. They are mostly found in the
The common GII-73 American Eagle / Cornucopia Urn (obverse).
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One can really classify them as “nice� early American glass being blown at the Keene Marlboro Street Glassworks.
The common GII-73 American Eagle / Cornucopia Urn (reverse).
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earth tone colors of olive green and olive ambers and are certainly affordable to the beginning collector. With time, a collector will be able to obtain a nice color run of these in lighter earth tone colors. These flasks were blown at the Keene/ Marlboro Street Glassworks, and one can really classify them as “nice” early American glass. The second so called “common” flask to note is also from Keene, that being the GIV-17 American eagle / Masonic flask. These flasks depict the ever-popular Masonic arch on one side with all the Masonic decorations embossed on the shoulders and sides of the flask and a beehive embossed below the arch. The reverse depicts an American eagle with oval below containing the word “Keene.” There is no doubt as to where it was made! These flasks can once again be found at shows and with quality dealers. They all have sheared lips and open pontils, another nice New England product for the beginning or astute collector. It should be noted that these flasks are common in the earth tone colors of olive greens and ambers, but if one should encounter one in aquamarine, it should be considered an extremely rare flask. The two “rare” flasks I have chosen were well thought out and I hope most collectors will agree with my decision. So far, I have represented flasks from the Keene, N.H., area but one of my “rare” picks is a Connecticut product that stays with the New England theme of this article. The first pick in the “rare” category is the GI- 84 Lafayette / Masonic flask. This flask was blown at the Coventry, Conn., Glass Works circa 1825. It depicts Lafayette on the obverse with the initials TS below standing for Thomas Stebbins, one of the owners of the glassworks. The Masonic arch and symbols are embossed on the reverse. All known flasks have sheared lips and open pontil marks and come in olive amber, earth tone colors. It is interesting to note that this flask is charted as extremely rare by McKearin / Wilson. Their criteria for extremely rare is 1-10 known examples. Since the publication of the book in 1978, more examples have surfaced with approximately 20 or so examples known. This “rare “ flask should be considered most desirable and a prized possession in any collection. My second pick in the “rare” group is really an all-time classic. It is the Stoddard, N.H. American flag flask. It is charted as GX-27 and depicts the American flag on the obverse and the words New Granite Glass Works, Stoddard, N.H., on the reverse. For eye appeal and historical significance, it doesn’t get much better. All known pint-sized examples have sheared lips and open pontil marks and come in various shades of amber. An interesting anomaly of this flask is that of the 20 or so known, few are perfect. Many have chips, cracks, or some other type of imperfection. To find a truly perfect example is a challenge. On a side note, there is a similar half-pint example that is far rarer than the pint. Finally we come to the two “great rarities” that I have
The GIV-17 American Eagle / Masonic flask (obverse).
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These flasks can once again be found at shows and with quality dealers and all have sheared lips and open pontils...
The GIV-17 American Eagle / Masonic flask (reverse).
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chosen. My picks might surprise many collectors as none of the Jared Spencer grouping of flasks or the “JPF” Connecticut eagle were included. Once again, my choices were based solely on the “population census” of the flask and the knowledge that less than five are known. The first New England “great rarity” I have chosen is the GIII-3 Cornucopia / Cornucopia flask. Its form alone is unique, having a drawn-out base and being much taller than all other cornucopia flasks. To date, to the best of my knowledge, only four examples are known: an olive green example located at The Corning Museum of Glass, an olive amber example, and two aquamarine examples. The latter three are in private collections. All four examples are rather crudely made with sheared or rolled lips and open pontils. To the beginning or intermediate collector they might appear rather drab or not interesting looking, but to the advanced collector they stand out as being great pieces of early American glass blown at Keene. The second New England “great rarity” that I have chosen is, believe it or not, a sunburst flask. It is charted as a GVIII-6 and is a Coventry product. Five raised pearlshaped beads located on each side of the flask make this piece unique. There are three beads spaced evenly above the sunburst in a semicircle and one placed on either side at the bottom of the sunburst. It is blown in an olive amber color with sheared lip and open pontil. It is interesting to note that the McKearin charts identify it as possibly being a Keene product, but excavations at the Coventry site turned up several shards of the flask. Whether it is from Keene or Coventry, one thing for sure is that to date only one intact, perfect example is known. We can only hope another example will surface and can be enjoyed by collectors. There you have it: six flasks from the New England area ranging from common to being great rarities. I hope readers enjoyed my six picks and their descriptions and that all are planning to attend the 2017 Springfield National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo. I have been asked by Jim Bender and Bob Strickhart to give one of the seminars at Springfield. My topic will be “Historical Flasks 101.” There are so many new collectors just starting, I thought I would review the fifteen different charted groups with examples and descriptions of each grouping. I will be concentrating on the more common, affordable flasks in hopes of helping out all the new collectors. I hope to see you at the expo and seminar. As stated before… I am excited.
The GI-84 Lafayette/ Masonic flask (obverse).
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This flask was blown at the Coventry, Conn., Glass Works circa 1825.
The GI-84 Lafayette/ Masonic flask (reverse).
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For eye appeal and historical significance it doesn’t get much better.
Stoddard, N.H. American flag flask. It is charted as GX-27 and depicts the American flag on the obverse and New Granite Glass Works, Stoddard, N.H., on the reverse. (obverse).
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Its form alone is rather unique, having a drawn out base and being much taller than all other cornucopia flasks.
GIII-3 Cornucopia / Cornucopia flask.
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What makes this flask unique are the five raised pearl-shaped beads located on each side of the flask.
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Sunburst flask. It is charted as a GVIII-6.
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FOHBC 2017 CLUB CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT
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Announced at the FOHBC 2017 Springfield National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo!
A W A R D S
CATEGORIES
- Newsletter Contest - Show Poster / Flyer Contest - Writer’s Contest - Club Website Contest
Please don’t delay, as our deadline is June 1, 2017 Get more information by contacting Val Berry 518.568.5683 or vgberry10@yahoo.com Download the applications by visiting FOHBC.org, scroll across the top to “Members”, scroll down to “FOHBC Club Contests” and left click. All winners and awards will be announced during the banquet at the FOHBC National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo in Springfield, Massachusetts this coming August 4th, 2017. Thanks and Good Luck!
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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.
A spectacular photograph of snuff bottles catching sun and casting shadow. - Michael George
Another 2016 acquisition was this extremely rare demijohn with a glass seal on the body. It was sold in a past Norm Heckler Auction and is attributed to the Lyndeboro (Lyndeborough) NH Glass Works. Very happy to add this to our collection. Dale & Barbara Santos
For the 2018 Cleveland National, I would like to suggest a display of only Ohio made or Ohio embossed fruit jars. - Ron Hands
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Happy New Year Bottle Collectors Rick Ciralli
Snuff Jars Tom Marshall
Globe Tobacco Jars - Ebay
Some people were posting a “top 10” favorites acquired in 2016... I can’t narrow it down to 10, which makes what a bumper year it was for my blossoming pattern mold flask collection. Blessed and grateful. Thank you to all who helped, most of whom are on this page. - Mark T S Hoeltzel
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WANTED: CHICAGO ADVERTISING STONEWARE. Contact Carl Malik, P.O. Box 367, Monee, Illinois 60449. (708) 534-5161
President’s WANTED: RARE FRUIT JARS with closures, FOHBCMessage
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.
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WANTED: E.P. ANTHONY, INC. / PHARMACISTS / PROVIDENCE, R.I. Any size drug store Calendar ofbottle. Shows Also, Base Embossed in circle: CLOUGH & SHACKLEY / BOSTON, MASS. Contract: Gregg & Related Events Wilson @ Email: cemihunter@yahoo.com
SHO-BIZ Membership News For Sale
FOR SALE: Owl Drug Collection For Sale. 25 Year Collection 692 items. $25,000. Write or Call: Jim Bilyeu, PO Box 388, Independence, CA 93526, Phone: (760) 878-2216.
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WANTED: Clear pumpkin seed flask, embossed: THE NEW LOUVRE, 58 N. FIRST ST., SAN JOSE, Bottles and extras WJ FERGUSON. Also interested in other San Jose bottles. Contact Tobin Gilman, 408-839-6979, tobingilman@hotmail.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. Join the ANTIQUE POISON BOTTLE COLLECSept - Oct 2015 TORS ASSOCIATION today! For details see our 65 website at poisonbottleclub.org or contact Joan Cabaniss at (540) 297-4498 or email: jjcab@b2xonline.com
Calendar of Shows Classified Ads WANTED: Bottles, Stoneware and Ephemera from SHO-BIZ & Related Oak Park and River Forest Illinois. Thank you, Ray Events The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors Individual & AffiliatedKomorowski. Email: komo8@att.netFOR SALE
FOR SALE: Rare 1940’s “MINT” Noel Cola Painted Label bottle 7 fluid oz. Girl yellow & red Noel Bottling Works, Corinth, Miss. Call for pictures: Larry McDaniel 1-662-415-5676
Membership Benefits WANTED: Antique Chinese Porcelin cermanics, Club Information
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. price; $100.00 + shipping, call Doug (775) 882-8956 PST
rice bowls, vases, tea cups and saucers etc. Contact Ron at: (530) 798-6525 or email: bledsoeacres@aol.com.
Individual & Affiliated Shards of Wisdom More show-biz Club Information
FOR SALE: SC and NC dispensary bottles, painted label sodas, local milk bottles, etc. For more information contact: Bottletree Antiques, Donalds, South Carolina at www.bottletreeantiques.com
Shards of Wisdom
FOR SALE: Glass house sample bottle with 24 different texture squares. (B.M.) “Overmyer” Co., 12” tall, clear glass. J. Paxton (541) 318-0748. (Issue 225)
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
Individual & Affiliated Membership Benefits For Sale ClubWanted Information
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
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: zapa33051@msn.com WANTED: Early western iron pontilled soda bottles, such as Chase & Co, Taylor & Co, Lynde & Putnam, Boley & Co, Babb & Co, W.H.Burt, Williams & Severance. Contact Warren Friedrich (530) 265-5204 or email warrenls6@sbcglobal.net
Individual & Affiliated Shards of Wisdom Club Information
WANTED: ONKAMA MICHIGAN Bottles, Stoneware and related Go-withs. Call Ryker Johnson (231) 889-5532 WANTED: Lancaster Ohio Beers, especially E. Becker Brewing. Also, any Washington Brewery, Washington D. C. I don’t have. Also does anyone have a “B E MANN’S ORIENTAL STOMACH BITTERS” for sale? Contact Gary Beatty (941) 276-1546 or “tropicalbreezes@verizon.net”
WANTED: Sacramento shot glasses: C&K/WHISKEY, Casey & Kavanaugh; CaliforniaWANTED 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: 916-631-8019 or foabbott@comcast.net 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
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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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Individual & Affiliated Shards of Wisdom Club Information 9 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.
Tom Felt 8134 N Byers Lane Stonewood, West Virginia 26301 tflet@ma.rr.com
Jack Klotz 302 S Fifth Street Louisiana, MO 63353 (573) 719-9275 cannibalfromhannibal@gmail.com Whatever I am digging in the moment
Shards of Wisdom
George F. Giumarra, Jr. 6609 Stockdale Hwy Bakersfield, California 93309 661-834-4603 gg@bak.rr.com
Wanted
Steven Hickman 940 S Las Lomas Circle Green Valley, Arizona 85614 (520) 625-9316 starthunder44@hotmail.com New Orleans and Algiers, LA
David Avellar Neblett 2550 South Bayshore Dr, Suite 11” Miami, Florida 33133 DavidNeblett@Gmail.com Randy Pate 511 West Lanark Street FM96 Queen City, Texas 75572 (903) 796-6402 randynpate@gmail.com Fruit jars and old bottles
Jeffrey Springer 4284 Boulder Ridge Pt Eagan, Minnesota 55122 (651) 500-0949 springer_associates@yahoo.com Digging, bitters, flasks or any other item I might be able to create a story with while digging.
For Sale
Stephen Youker 82 Feeder Dam Road South Glens Falls, New York 12803-5419 sgyouk@hotmail.com Wayne Wright 27 Sammie Lane Beaufort, South Carolina 29906 Sodas
Need Your Help Do you have any interesting collectible pieces from the AM Bininger Company in your collection? I am gathering any information I can find on the company AM Bininger & Co. for a new book I am working on. Anything is welcomed. A rare bottle, shipping crate, cardboard box, sign, advertisement, letterhead, cup or anything else you may want to share. 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!
Does anyone know what the "M" in his name stands for? It surely is his middle name but I just can't find out what it was. My plan is to have this book ready by the FOHBC 2017 Springfield National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo in Springfield, Massachusetts Please contact Jim Bender, 518.673.8833 or jim1@frontiernet.net or by mail, PO Box 162, Sprakers, New York 12166
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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
March 10 & 11 Chico, California 51st Annual Antique Bottle, Jar, Insulator & Collectable Show & Sale, Silver Dollar Fairgrounds, Chico, California, Friday, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, $5 Admission, Saturday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Free Admission, Contact Randy Taylor, P.O. Box 1065, Chico, California 95927, 530.518.7369, rtjarguy@aol.com
March19 Flint, Michigan 48th Annual Flint Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show at the Dom Polski Hall, 3415 N. Linden Road, Flint, Michigan 48504, Sunday, 9:00 am – 2:30 pm. No Early admission. Set up: Sunday, 7:00 am to 9:00 am, Cost of admission: $3, Flint Antique Bottle Club, Contact: Tim Buda, Show Chairman, 11353 Cook Road, Gaines, Michigan 48436, 989.271.9193, Email: tbuda@shianet.org
free. Please bring insulators, electrical artifacts, signs, bottles, and anything else you want to trade, sell, give away, and or have appraised. Limited tables available, so please bring tables.
Annual Deland Florida Collectors 47th Antique Bottle, Insulator & Table Top Collectable Show and Sale at the Bill Hestoir Building, Volusia County Fairgrounds, 3150 East New York Avenue, Deland, Florida 32724, Friday 3:00 – 7:00 pm, Saturday, 8:00 am – 3:00 pm, Early admission: Friday 3:00 – 7:00 pm, $20, Set up day(s) and time: Friday 12:00 noon till 6:00 pm, Cost of admission: Saturday Free, Deland Florida M-T Bottle Collectors Club, Inc., www.mtbottleclub.com, Contact: Brian Hoblick, Asst. Bottle Show Chairman, 11721 NW County Road 236, Alachua, Florida 32615, 386.804.9635, hoblick@aol.com
April 2 Hutchinson, Kansas 10th Annual Kansas Antique Bottle & Postcard Show, State Fairgrounds, Sunflower South Building, Hutchinson, Kansas, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, Free Admission, Set-up Saturday at Noon to 9:00 pm. Info: Call or text Nicolee Ebmeier, 620.931.0843
More show-biz
Individual & Affiliated Membership Benefits March 24 & 25 Club Information Deland, Florida
March 10 & 11 Des Moines, Iowa Second Annual Mega Mudder Stoneware & Bottle Show & Sales Event at the Holiday Inn Merle Hay, Join March Mega Mudder Event on Facebook March 11 Allentown, Pennsylvania Lehigh Valley Antique Bottle and Breweriana Expo, Merchants Square Mall Event Center, 1901 S 12th Street, Allentown Pennsylvania 18103, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, early buyers at 9:00 am, $5 for adults, under 16 years old free, More information contact Chris Altieri, zaire1995@enter.net or 484.426.7262.
Individual & Affiliated Shards of Wisdom Club Information
March 12 Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Antique Bottle Club’s 37th Annual Show & Sale, 8:00 am to 3:00 pm, Website: baltimorebottleclub.org at the Physical Education Center, CCBC-Essex, 7201 Rossville Blvd. (I-695, Exit 34), Contact: Rick Lease, 410.458.9405, finksburg21@comcast.net or Andy Agnew, 410.527.1707, medbotls@ comcast.net
March 25 Daphne, Alabama The Mobile Bottle Collectors Club’s 44th Annual Show & Sale, will be held on Saturday, March 25, 2017 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Daphne Civic Center, 2603 US Hwy 98, Daphne, Alabama 36525. Free Admission and Bottle Appraisals. Dealer Setup is Friday, March 24, 2017 from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm and Saturday 7:00 am to 9:00 am. For more information contact: Rod Vining, 251.957.6725, Email: vinewood@mchsi.com, or Richard Kramerich, PO Box 241, Pensacola, Florida 32591, 850.435.-5425, Email: shards@bellsouth.net
Shards of Wisdom Wanted
March 17 & 18 Morro Bay, California The San Luis Obispo Bottle Society’s 49th Annual Antique Bottle Show and Sale, Friday, March 17th, 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm, Saturday, March 18th, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm at the Morro Bay Veterans Hall, 209 Surf Street, Morro Bay, California, Info: 805.543.7484 March 19 St. Louis, Missouri 47th Antique Bottle & Jar Show by the St. Louis Antique Bottle Collectors Association, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, at Orlando Gardens, 4300 Hoffmeister Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, Admission: $3, Kids Free, No early admission, Showchair: Pat Jett, 71 Outlook Drive, Hillsboro, Missouri, 314.570.6917, patsy_jett@ yahoo.com
April 1 St. Clairsville, Ohio The Ohio Valley Bottle Club’s Annual Bottle & Table Top Antiques Show, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, early buyers 7:30 am, $10 at the J.B. Martin Recreation Center, 102 Fair Avenue St. Clairsville, Ohio, Exit 216 off I-70. Contact Tom Chickery, 740.296.9430, tchick65@gmail.com
April 2 Bloomington, Minnesota 46th Annual Minnesota Antique Bottle, Advertising, and Stoneware Show & Sale sponsored by North Star Historical Bottle Association. Located at the Knights of Columbus Building, 1114 American Blvd. West, Bloomington, Minnesota 55420. Sunday, April 2, 2017, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm. No early admission. Set-up Sunday 6:30 am – 9:30 am., Admission: $2.00., Info: Jeff Springer: 651.500.0949 or springer_associates@yahoo.com April 2 Wilmington, Ohio The 3rd Annual Wilmington, Ohio Antique Bottle Show & Sale, Formerly at the Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus. 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Show Address: Roberts Centre, 123 Gano Road, Wilmington, Ohio (I-71 & US Rt. 68), Contact: Joe Hardin, 594 Laymon Road, New Vienna, Ohio 937.728.9930, jkcollectables@gmail.com or Jamie Houdeshell, 419.722.3184, jhbottle@hotmail.com
For Sale
March 25 Seattle, Washington 28th Emerald City Insulator & Bottle Collectors Get Together and Potluck Show sponsored by the Jefferson Insulator Club, New venue with much more space! Lots of parking and easy unloading, Northwest African American Museum, 2300 S. Massachusetts, Seattle, Washington 98144, Saturday, 8:30 am – ?, Set up: Saturday 7:00 am – 8:30 am, Emerald City Insulator Club, Contact Name: Gil HedgesBlanquez, 206.218.7936, bluemex@comcast. net or Robin Harrison, 206.522.2135 or Bonnie & Win Trueblood, 360.491.1285. There will be a $35 donation for a space. Admission is
April 2 Tylersport, Pennsylvania The 23rd Annual Bucks-Mont Bottle Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, early buyers 8:00 am, Tylersport Fire Compay, 125 Ridge Road, Tylersport, Pennsylvania, Contact: David Buck, 215.206.5878 or Greg Gifford, 215.699.5216
Bottles and Extras
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(More) Sho-Biz More show-biz April 2 Enfield, Connecticut Yankee Polecat Insulator Club, Antique Insulator, Bottle & Collectibles Show, 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. Insulators, Bottles, Railroadiana, Telephone & Telegraph Collectibles, Lightning Rod Equipment. Free admission. at the American Legion Hall, 566 Enfield Street (US Route 5), Enfield, CT (Exit 49 off I-91), Contact: John Rajpolt, rajpolt@earthlink.net
am to 3:00 pm, Admission $5.00, at Roberts Wesleyan College, Voller Athletic Center, 2301 Westside Drive, Rochester, New York 14624. Show & Dealer Information: Aaron and Pamela Weber, 585.226.6345, gvbca@frontiernet.net, or visit www.gvbca.org
Individual & Affiliated Membership Benefits May 5&6 Club Information Central Point, Oregon
April 7 & 8 Antioch, California Golden Gate Historical Bottle Society’s 51st Annual Show at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds, 1201 West 10th Street, Antioch California 94509. Friday: April 7th, 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm) and Saturday: April 8th, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. Early Buyers, Friday: April 7th, 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm. $10 Admission Fee on April 7th (Friday). Dealer Setup (12:00 pm – 5:00 pm) Friday $10 / Saturday: Free Admission, Contact: Gary & Darla Antone Co-chairs, 752 Murdell Lane, Livermore, California 94550, 925.373.6758, packrat49er@netscape.net
2017 Jefferson State Antique Bottle & Insulator Expo, $3 Admission (or 2 for $5), Friday 10:00 am – 7:00 pm, Saturday 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM, Dealer Set-up & $10 early admission on Friday 9-10 am at the Olsrud Pavilion, Jackson County Expo, I5 – Exit 33 In conjunction with the regional Rogue Valley Antique Show, Free Walk-in Appraisals!, Info: Bruce Silva, P. O. Box 1565 Jacksonville, Oregon 97530, 541.821.8949 jsglass@q.com, Website: www.ecandm.com/expo
Individual & Affiliated Shards of Wisdom Club Information
May 6 Gray, Tennessee The State of Franklin Antique Bottles & Collectible Assoc. 19th Annual Show & Sale, Saturday, May 6th (9:00 am – 3:00 pm), Free Admission and Door Prizes. Appalachian Fairgrounds. Info: sfabca.com or 423.928.2789
Shards of Wisdom
April 8 Kalamazoo, Michigan The Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Club’s 38th Annual Show & Sale, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm; early buyers 8:00 am, Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds, 2900 Lake Street, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Contact: John Pastor, PO Box 227, New Hudson, Michigan 48165, 248.486.0530, jpastor@americanglassgallery.com or Mark McNee, 269.343.8393
Wanted
April 9 Dover, New Hampshire 51st New England Bottle Club’s Annual Show & Sale at the Elks Club, 282 Durham Road, (Rt. 108, Exit 7 off Spaulding Turnpike), Dover, New Hampshire 03820, 9:00 am to 3:00 , Admission $2, Early Admission (8:00 am – 9:00 am): $15, Contact Rick Carney, 207.729.3140 April 22 Salisbury, North Carolina Piedmont Bottle & Pottery Club proudly presents their 11th Annual Show and Sale at the Salisbury Civic Center, 315 S. Martin Luther King Avenue, Salisbury, North Carolina 28144, Free Admission, Free Parking, Free Appraisals, For club information call Jimmie Wood at 704.692.7888 or Chuck Rash at 704.732.7888, For dealer contract call show chairman John Patterson at 704.636.9510 or email ncmilks@ carolina.rr.com April 30 Rochester, New York The Genesee Valley Bottle Collectors Association’s 48th Annual Show & Sale, 9:00
May 6 Antioch, Illinois Antique Bottle Club of Northern Illinois 42nd Antiques, Bottles and Collectiable Show and Sale, Saturday, May 6, 2017, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Antioch Senior Center, 817 Holbeck, Antioch, Illinois 60002, Free admission, No early admission, Free appraisals, Food available, Info: John Puzzo, 815.338.7582, johnpuzzo@ sbcglobal.net or Greg Schueneman, anteak_ gramps@yahoo.com
May 13 Mansfield, Ohio The Ohio Bottle Club Presents the 39th Mansfield Antique Bottle Show at the Richland County Fairgrounds on Saturday, 13 May from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, General Admission is $5. Info Matt Lacy, 440.228.1873, info@antiquebottlesales.com or Louis Fifer, 330.635.1964, fiferlouis@yahoo.com, ohiobottleclub.org May 19 & 20 Lake City, Florida The Florida Antique Bottle Collector 4th Annual Antique Bottle & Collectable Show and Sale, Saturday, May 20th (8:00 am – 3:00 pm), Dealer set-up Friday, May 19 at Noon, Early Buyers Friday, May 19th (3:00 pm – 7:00 pm), Columbia County Fairgrounds, Exit 427 off I-75 South, Hwy 90 East, Lake City, Florida, Admission $3, Information: Brian Hoblick, 386.804.9635, Email: hoblick@aol.com or Ed LeTard 985 .788.6163, Email: eandeletard@aol.com May 20 Coventry, Connecticut The Museum of Connecticut Glass 12th Annual Outdoor Bottle and Glass Show, Rain or shine, on the historic early 19th century glass factory grounds, including Exhibits/Tours (9:00 am to 1:00 pm, early buyers 8:00 am), website: www.glassmuseum.org, Museum of Connecticut Glass, Rt. 44 & North River Road, Coventry, Connecticut, Contact: Noel Tomas, 860.633.2944, Noel.Tomas@glassmuseum.org
For Sale
May 6 & 7 Santa Rosa, California 51st Annual Northwestern Bottle Collectors Antique Bottle Show at the Veterans Memorial Building, 1351 Maple Avenue, Santa Rosa, California 95404, Saturday: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, Sunday: 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, Early admission: Saturday 9:00 am – 10:00 am for $10. Set up: Saturday 8:00 am – 10:00 am, Cost of admission: Saturday, General admission $3, Sunday: Free, www.oldwestbottles.com, Contact: Lou Lambert, Show Chairman, PO Box 322, Graton, California 95444, 707.823.8845, nbca@comcast.net May 7 Harrisonburg, Virginia Historical Bottle-Diggers of Virginia 46th Annual Antique Bottle and Collectible Show & Sale, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Rockingham County Fairgrounds, U.S. Rt 11 South (Exit 243 off I-81), Harrisonburg, Virginia, Contact: Sonny Smiley, 540.434.1129, lithiaman1@yahoo.com
May 21 Washington, Pennsylvania Washington PA Washington County Antique Bottle Club presents their 43rd Annual Show & Sale at the Alpine Star Lodge, 735 Jefferson Avenue, Washington, Pennsylvania 15301, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, Admission $3, Info Ed Kuskie, 412.405.9061, 352 Pineview Drive, Elizabeth, Pennsylvania 15037, bottlewizzard@comcast. net May 27 Aiken, South Carolina The Horse Creek Antique Bottle and Pottery Club will hold its 9th annual show and sale on Saturday, May 27, at the H. Odell Weeks Activities Center, 1700 Whiskey Road. The show will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and admission is free to the public. Anyone wanting to know the value of antique bottles and pottery can have their items checked for free by experts who will be on hand. Info: Geneva Greene, 803.593.2271 June 3 Smyrna, Georgia 47th Atlanta Antique Bottle Show & Sale at the Smyrna Community Center, 200 Village Green Circle, Smyrna, Georgia 30080, Saturday,
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8:00 am to 2:00 pm, Early Admission: Friday, June 2nd, 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm and June 3rd, 7:00 – 8:00 am, Set Up: Friday: 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm and on Saturday 7:00 – 8:00 am, Cost of Admission for Show & Early Admission for the Public is Free. Atlanta Antique Bottle Club, Contact: Jack Hewitt, Co-Chairman, 1213 Quail Cove, Jasper, Georgia 30143, 770.856.6062, Hewittjs@Bellsouth.net June 4 Ballston Spa, New York Annual Saratoga Bottle Show at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds, 162 Prospect Street, Ballston Spa, New York 12020, Sunday 9:00 am to 2:30 pm, No early admission, Set up: Saturday, June 03, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Sunday, June 04, 7:00 am to 8:30 am, Cost of admission for show: $4 adult, $1 Children under 12, National Bottle Museum, nationalbottlemuseum.org, Contact: Phil Bernnard, Roy Topka, Title: Co-Chairman, National Bottle Museum, 76 Milton Avenue, Ballston Spa, New York 12020, Museum: 518.885.7589, Roy Topka: 518.779.1243, Phil Bernnard: 518.429.7641, E-mail: nbm@nycap.rr.com June 10 San Diego, California San Diego 2017 Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show & Sale at the Al Bahr Shrine Temple, 5440 Kearny Mesa Road, San Diego, California 92111, Dealer Set-up 7:00 am, Early Bird, 7:00 – 8:00 am, $10, Free Admission, 8:00 am – 3 pm, Kids under 12 free with adult,
Bottles and Extras 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, 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
Mike Bryant Chairman, Info: Jim Walker, 858.490.9019, jfw@internetter.com, www. sdbottleclub.org June 16 & 17 Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee Antique & Bottle Show at the North Florida Fairgrounds, 441 Paul Russell Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32301, Friday is dealer set-up and early bird buyer from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Show starts Saturday from 8:00 am – 3:00 pm, Early bird buyer is from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Friday. Cost is $10 per person for early bird. Dealer set up is on Friday from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Admission on Saturday is $3 per person. Kids under 18 are free. Early Bird fee is $10 per person and gets you in for free on Saturday. Organizer: Talquin Trading Company, www.talquintradingco. com, Contact: Gregg Pla, Show Chairman, 160 Salem Road, Havana, Florida 32333, 850.591.7736, Gregg@talquintradingco.com
2018
August 3 – 6 Springfield, Massachusetts FOHBC 2017 National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo – Northeast Region at the MassMutual Center, Host Hotel: Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place hotel. Show Information: Jim Bender, Show Co-Chair, 518.673.8833, jim1@ frontiernet.net or Bob Strickhart, Show CoChair, strickhartbob@aol.comVisit Web Page, FOHBC National Convention – Northeast Region
The National
Bottle Museum Where history is the bottle!
A4 April ad.qxp_9pt master 24/01/2017 09:04 Page 1
BBR’s
Spring Extravaganza
Elsecar Heritage Centre 5 mins jct 36 M1 follow brown ‘Elsecar Heritage’ signs - 5 mins.
August 02 – 05 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 – Midwest Region
Sat 29 & Sun 30 April
Sat 29 April 11am Unres’d 500 lot Auction FREE pdf - BBR website: www.onlinebbr.com
Sun 30 April Auc. 11am plus
BIG Show
120-150+ stalls EE 8.30am £5 Ord Adm’n 10am £2 Auc 11am
FULL cat., plus extra images, on the-
saleroom.com 2 weeks prior. Transmitted live on thesaleroom (3% additional charge) easier/ cheaper to book live tel. email: alan@onlinebbr.com
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.
NationalBottleMuseum.org
Elsecar presents by far the BIGGEST & busiest quarterly specialist Shows Worth travelling from anywhere worldwide S74 8HJ BBR, Elsecar Heritage Centre, Nr Barnsley, S. Yorks., om www.onlinebbr.com t: 01226 745156 e: sales@onlinebbr.c
National Bottle Museum 76 Milton Avenue Ballston Spa, NY 12020 518.885.7589
BBR more sales AUCTIONS
more often
here’s just a few upcoming auction lots, just unpacking, anyting suitable just call/ email Alan Blakeman
Next 4 full colour cats £20 UK, overseas £35pdf
cat. £3 Paypal:
sales@onlinebbr.com or view 2 weeks prior: the-saleroom.com
Tried • Tested • Trusted
Most sales transmitted worldwide, live internet bidding via:
absentee & tel. bids
April 29/ 30 BBR’s 2017 Events: BBR’s WinterNational Jan 28/ 29 • Spring Extravaganza out for MORE! 27th UK SummerNational July 1/ 2 • Autumn Extravaganza Oct 7/ 8 Look
Bottles and Extras
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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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Bottles and Extras
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.
Seeking quality consignments for our 2017 auction schedule!
American Glass Gallery
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As a consignor, consider these benefits to help ensure your valued items reach their highest potential: w
Competitive consignor rates and low buyer premiums
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Broad-based and extensive advertising
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Experience, knowledge, honesty and integrity
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Attention to detail and customer service
These fine bottles will be included in our Spring, 2017 Auction.
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
FOHBC C/O Elizabeth Meyer, 101 Crawford, Studio 1A, Houston, TX 77002
Please Check your information and notify us of errors.
FOHBC.org
We’re holding on to these just for you...
Heckler
www.hecklerauction.com | 860-974-1634 79 Bradford Corner Road, Woodstock Valley, CT 06282