B&e 1janfeb2010

Vol. 21 No. 1

January - February, 2010

Covered Bottles

You may be surprised what lies beneath these beautiful Native American weavings!

Vol. 21 No. 1

January - February, 2010

No. 187

Table of Contents FOHBC Officer Listing 2008 - 2010 .... 2 President’s Message .............................. 3 Recent Finds .......................................... 4 At Auction ............................................. 5 Shards of Wisdom ................................. 6 A Book in Review ................................. 7 Paper Trail ............................................. 8 Regional Reports ................................. 10

Covered Bottles Richard Siri ................................... 26

U.S.A. Hosp. Dept.

Frank Sternad ................................. 48

Is This Flask Incorrectly Described?

Eric McGuire ................................. 28

The Owens Bottle Co. Bill Lockhart, Pete Schulz, Carol Serr, Bill Lindsey....................50

Happy Birthday Bodie!

Dave Maryo ................................... 29

Classified Ads & Ad Rate Information ... 63

New York Bottle History Howard Dean ................................ 30

Show Biz Show Calendar ............................... 66

Legends of the Jar Bruce Schank ................................ 34

Membership Additions and Changes... 70

Fish’n for Bottles...

Dr. Peter L. Colman ...................... 40

Membership Application ..................... 71 Membership Benefits .......................... 72

Don’t miss an issue - Please check your label for expiration information.

Fair use notice: Some material above 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).

WHO DO I CONTACT ABOUT THE MAGAZINE? CHANGE OF ADDRESS, MISSING ISSUES, etc., contact the Business Manager June Lowry, 401 Johnston Ct., Raymore, MO 64083; Phone: (816) 318-0160 or email: OSUBuckeyes71@aol.com To ADVERTISE, SUBSCRIBE or RENEW a subscription, see pages 62 and 71 for details.

To SUBMIT A STORY, send a LETTER TO THE EDITOR, or have COMMENTS and concerns, Contact: Jesse Sailer, 136 Jefferson Street, East Greenville, PA 18041 Phone: (215) 715-2611 or email: jsailerbotmags@verizon.net 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 401 Johnston Ct., Raymore, MO 64083; Phone: (816) 318-0160; Website: http://www. fohbc.com. Non-profit periodicals postage paid at Raymore, MO 64083 and additional mailing office, Pub. #005062.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Bottles and Extras, FOHBC, 401 Johnston Court, Raymore, MO 64083; ph: (816) 318-0160. Annual subscription rate is $30 or $45 for First Class, $50 Canada and $65 other foreign in U.S. funds. The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, Inc. assumes no responsibility for products and services advertised in this publication.

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, MO 65101

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January - February 2010

Bottles and Extras

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 2008-2010 President: Richard Siri, PO Box 3818,

Santa Rosa, CA 95402; phone: (707) 542-6438;

e-mail: rtsiri@sbcglobal.net First Vice-President: Bob Ferraro, 515 Northridge Dr,

Boulder City, NV 89005; phone: (701) 293-3114;

e-mail: mayorferraro@aol.com Second Vice-President: John Pastor, PO Box 227,

New Hudson, MI 48165; phone: (248) 486-0624;

e-mail: jpastor@americanglassgallery.com Secretary: Ed Herrold, 65 Laurel Loop,

Maggie Valley, NC 28751; phone: (828) 926-2513;

e-mail: drbitters@mindspring.com Treasurer: Alan DeMaison, 1605 Clipper Cove,

Painesville, OH 44077; phone: (440) 358-1223;

e-mail: a.demaison@sbcglobal.net Historian: Richard Watson, 10 S Wendover Rd,

Medford, NJ 08055; phone: (856) 983-1364;

e-mail: crwatsonnj@verizon.net Merchandising Director: Kent Williams, 1835 Oak Ter,

Newcastle, CA 95658; phone: (916) 663-1265;

e-mail: KentW@ppoa.org Membership Director: Gene Bradberry, PO Box 341062,

Memphis, TN 38184; phone: (901) 372-8428;

e-mail: Genebsa@comcast.net Convention Director: R Wayne Lowry, 401 Johnston Ct,

Raymore, MO 64083; phone: (816) 318-0161;

e-mail: JarDoctor@aol.com

Business Manager: June Lowry, 401 Johnston Ct,

Raymore, MO 64083; phone: (816) 318-0160;

e-mail: OSUBuckeyes71@aol.com Director-at-Large: Carl Sturm, 88 Sweetbriar Branch,

Longwood, FL 32750; phone: (407) 332-7689;

e-mail: glassmancarl@sprintmail.com Director-at-Large: Sheldon Baugh, 252 W Valley Dr,

Russellville, KY 42276; phone: (270) 726-2712;

e-mail: shel6943@bellsouth.net Director-at-Large: Cecil Munsey, 13541 Willow Run Rd,

Poway, CA 92064; phone: (858) 487-7036;

e-mail: cecilmunsey@cox.net Midwest Region Director: Jamie Houdeshell, PO Box 57,

Haskins, OH 43525; phone: (419) 722-3184;

e-mail: JHBottle@hotmail.com Northeast Region Director: James Bender, PO Box 162,

Sprakers, NY 12166; phone: (518) 673-8833;

e-mail: Jim1@frontiernet.net Southern Region Director: Jack Hewitt, 1765 Potomac Ct.

Lawrenceville, GA 30043; phone: (770) 856-6062

e-mail: hewittja@bellsouth.net Western Region Director: Bill Ham, 4237 Hendricks Rd,

Lakeport, CA 95433; phone: (707) 263-6563;

e-mail: billham9@gmail.com Public Relations Director: James Berry,

200 Fort Plain Watershed Rd, St. Johnsville, NY 13452;

phone: (518) 568-5683; e-mail: jhberry10@yahoo.com

Bottles and Extras

January - February, 2010

Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors

President’s Message Well, here we are in a new year. I hope everyone had a good holiday season with family and friends.

Did you make a new year’s resolution? I did. One was to stay focused on what I collect, don’t branch out on anymore categories or sub categories. I collect western bitters, but add to that Lash’s Bitters that started in the west and then went national and Hostetter’s Bitters that started in the east, but had a huge presence in the west. Just those two brands can generate hundreds of bottles and go-withs. Then there are western whiskies. I collect the applied top ones, but have a few sub categories -- J.H.Cutter, J.F.Cutter and Roth & Co. J.H. Cutter was nationwide with agents on the west coast as well as the east coast. The Roth brand was the most prolific in its saloon advertising, producing thirty plus advertising signs. Pretty girls were the favorite subject.

Anyone have a 50-state applied top whiskey group? I know several collectors have done a 50-state Hutchinson soda collection. I figured, how about applied top whiskeys?. Well, I’m up to 18 states plus Washington, D.C. now and I doubt that I’ll find many more. I know now some states did not have any applied top whiskeys so I guess that collection will come to an end. Anyway, I promised to stay focused, don’t let myself wander. Heck, with my mentality and Bill Gates’ money, I probably have at least one of every bottle known to man ---and woman.

President: Richard Siri PO Box 3818 Santa Rosa, CA 95402 (707) 542-6438 rtsiri@sbcglobal.net

How did you like the last few issues of the magazine? I think they are top notch. All of you out there who can produce an article either on research or your collection and or a digging story please do and send it to the our editor. We would like to have a backlog of articles on hand. It makes it easier to lay out the magazine and get it to the printer on time.

We are working on the website. I say we, but it’s my granddaughter Stacey with help from Jesse and June who’s doing the work. I just suggest and direct, but isn’t that what the President does? Kind of like the high price CEOs do, take the credit when in reality the executive secretary probably knows more about how the business is run than they do. Can’t wait to see the Virtual Museum take shape. This is going to be a real home run for the FOHBC. Details will be available after the March meeting in Baltimore. Ferdinand Meyer V is already at work building the outline for its debut.

Check out the ad in this issue for the FOHBC shirts. You can’t run around naked, so dress up in one of the club shirts.

When you do a show, people will know you care when you’re wearing your FOHBC shirt.

I’m looking forward to a productive year.

Sincerely, Richard Siri - President FOHBC

Where there’s a will there’s a way to leave collections to FOHBC

ATTENTION NEW FOHBC MAILING ADDRESS All correspondence to be sent to:

FOHBC 8426 Clint Dr. #142 Belton, MO 64012

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Did you know the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors is a 501C(3) charitable organization?

How does that affect you?

It allows tax deductions for any and all donations to the FOHBC. You might also consider a bequest in your will to the FOHBC. This could be a certain amount of money or part or all of your bottle collection. The appraised value of your collection would be able to be deducted from your taxes.

An example of a bequest would be:

(This is not legal advice, please consult an attorney)

I give and bequeath to the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, 401 Johnston Ct, Raymore, MO 64083, the sum of $____________ to be used as its Board of Directors determines.

The same type wording could be used for bequeathing your collection or part of it, however, before donating your collection (or part of it), you would need the collection appraised by a professional appraiser with knowledge of bottles and their market values. This is the amount that would be tax deductible.

Thank you for considering us in your donation plans.

Richard Siri, President Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors

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January - February, 2010

Bottles and Extras

RECENT FINDS Dear June, On the “Recent Finds” page or the January/February, 2009 issue of Bottles and Extras, Randy Driskill wrote about his acquisition of a “Lincoln’s Catarrh Snuff”. He stated that his research on this bottle has been unsuccessful. I thought that he (and your readers) would be interested in seeing the label of this bottle.

Enclosed are several photos I took of mine. I purchased it at the Keene, New Hampshire bottle show on Oct. 11th, 1992. Besides having its original label, it also has full contents and cork with red wax seal over it. I hope the information on the label will be helpful to Randy. Although this bottle is not unique as he thought it might be, I believe it to be very rare.

Sincerely, Gale Belliveau Willington, CT

Recent Find from Ralph Van Brocklin Every once in a while a flask shows up at a show or on EBay that really sparks an interest in me. The pictured straight-sided flask is not a style that I collect, so I don’t usually make more than a note of what the bottle sold for, save a picture of it, and look for it to show up as a pumpkinseed or coffin.

But, this one is a little different…

The Fearless Saloon – what a great name! I cannot tell you what prompted the name, but, I can give you a little history to go with the bottle.

The first listing that I found for a Fearless Saloon in San Francisco was in the 1898 Pacific States Telephone Directory. This saloon was located at 2 California Street and I am unable to trace the proprietor. The proprietor was not the same as those operating the first establishment I could find at 71 3rd Street, as Charles J. Berendes and John D. Feldermann were at 120 East South (selling liquors) and 218 East South (operating a saloon and lodgings), respectively, in that year.

I was unable to find a saloon at 71 3rd in 1899, finding the first one at that location in the 1900 San Francisco Directory. Not specified by name, it was run by Berendes and Feldermann. By 1902, Berendes is no longer in partnership with Feldermann and Feldermann continues as the sole proprietor into 1920. The first listing I have specifying the establishment as the “Fearless Saloon” is found in the 1904 San Francisco Directory.

Interestingly, there is a listing as the “New Fearless Saloon” in the 1907 San Francisco Directory, suggestive of required remodeling/reconstruction following the 1906 earthquake.

Starting in 1910, John D. Feldermann opened a new establishment at 1718 Fillmore. When he opened Feldermann’s German Grill, he apparently sold the Fearless Saloon to Chas. F. W. Webber Jr., as

Webber’s listing is found in the 1910 San Francisco Directory. I have no listings for Webber prior to that point.

In the 1912 Telephone Directory, the listing at 71 3rd Street is for the Fearless Saloon. The 1914 Telephone Directory notes a name change to Webber’s Bar and Grill. I do not own a 1913 Telephone Directory and the 1913 San Francisco Business Directory does not specify the name of the establishment.

From the above, we can date this flask to the period from 1910 through 1912 or 1913, with it likely having been made in the initial year of the business.

Webber’s Bar and Grill continues through at least 1918.

*****HELP NEEDED***** Strike it Rich? Want to Share?

This is your venue!

This is the opportune time to share your recent finds with fellow collectors.

Make this your column.

You’ll see how infectious this can become for others to follow.

We welcome your write-ups and your photos.

Remember: This space belongs to you

Bottles and Extras

January - February, 2010

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At Auction This antique 1800s salt glazed wax sealer decorated stoneware canning jar or crock has the following inscription: EDWARDS & FERRELL (or FARRELL or??? This is very difficult to read), DRY GOODS, GRAIN, LUMBER, MOUNDSVILLE, W. VA. (West Virginia). The fancy blue print is difficult to read so some of the wording may be misspelled. The condition is excellent with no cracks and only a few very small nicks or flakes around the top rim. It measures approx. 7” tall and 4 1/2” in diameter at the bottom. $755.

This is an attractive and uncommon Phoenix Bitters from JN Moffat amber glass bottle. It dates to the 19th century and has an open pontil. In overall excellent condition with no chips or cracks. There is maybe an inch of dried stuff in the bottom that moves slightly when shook. There doesn’t appear to be any associated discoloration of the bottle.

Very rare find in this color. Measures 5 1/4” tall. $2,825 A fantastic super rare 1/2 gallon Montana advertising fruit jar made by Red Wing Stoneware Company. Has an outstanding dark advertising stamp.

The fruit jar can be found in the Red Wing ledger. In 1911 two dozen of these 1/2 gallon fruit jars were ordered.

Only about 4 are currently known to exist. The fruit jar displays beautifully and is in near mint condition except for

a chip in the threads of the jar underneath the lid and two very small pock marks in back (pencil eraser size). No hairlines, cracks or repairs.

Harry Vagg was an enterprising businessman who loved to see his name in print. He had a very successful general store in Saco at the turn of the century. Saco, Montana is a tiny little Eastern Montana town along the railroad.

Fruit jar reads: MANUFACTURED FOR HARRY A. VAGG SACO, MONT. ESTABLISHED 1893. Reserve wasn’t met – last bid was $1,424.

Here is an aqua pristine example, absolutely mint condition of a larger size, 3” tall round, shaped twelve sided ink. It is boldly embossed with raised letters BUTLERS INK - CINCINNATI. It has an early applied rolled inward lip and deep crude, sharp open pontiled bottom.

It dates to the 1840s. $360.59.

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Rebekah Lynn Johnsen was “Carried to Heaven on Angel’s Wings”

Dear Jesse, Due to unforseen circumstances, Washington Bottle & Collectors Association president Carmen Johnsen, recently lost her newborn daughter.

My wife and I would appreciate it, if you could submit our condolences in the next issue of Bottles and Extras.

At a time like this, my wife Betty and I are at a loss for words to express our condolences, to a very dear friend that recently lost a loved one. We offer our heartfelt prayers and sympathy.

Sincerely, Marshall and Betty Brown, Durham, N.C. Dealer pays $10,323 for rare 45 GRANTS PASS, Ore. – Blues Collector and longtime rare records dealer John Tefteller won a recent eBay auction that featured a previously unknown and potentially one-of-a-kind Blues 45 RPM record produced by the Sun label back in 1953. “I think I stole it,” said Tefteller of the record when the auction ended with his winning bid of $10,323.

The Sun label is most famous for

January - February, 2010

being the first to record Elvis Presley and is credited as being the label that started Rock and Roll, but the first couple dozen releases were almost exclusively Blues records.

“This record was not previously known to exist on 45 RPM and even the 78 RPM version is one of the rarest and most expensive on the Sun label with several documented sales in excess of $10,000,” explained Tefteller. “To find a 45 is a discovery of monumental importance to the record collecting world and I just had to have it.”

Of course, the latest addition to Tefteller’s Blues collection means that all the history books, price guides and discographies have to be amended to now state unequivocally, that yes, there is indeed an original 45 RPM pressing of Sun no. 183.

Tefteller goes on to explain that when the British record researchers first came to America in the late 1950’s they went to Sun and, with assistance from Sam Phillips, documented everything.

Only 78 RPM stampers were found for no. 183, but NOT 45 RPM stampers and Phillip’s lips told the researchers that NO 45’s were made.

“This discovery proves otherwise,”

Bottles and Extras

says Tefteller, who speculates that they probably pressed a few hundred and that was it. “Sam must have just forgotten that he made a small amount of 45’s and, significantly, this is not a promotional copy, which means that they made some promos as well as regular copies for the stores.”

The copy of Sun 183 that Tefteller won on eBay from Minnesota seller Tim Schloe is not in the best of condition.

Schloe says he got the record “as part of a large collection of used 45’s that I bought from the estate of a Dallas collector.”

Schloe know the record was rare when he found it in the rubble of thousands of old 45’s but had “no idea” it would bring over $10,000.

Bottles and Extras regrets the following errors: September/October, 2009 issue: Portions of the Western Regional News column were repeated. They were: A portion of the second to last paragraph, on Page 23, under the San Jose Antique Bottle Collectors club article and the entire paragraph under that club is repeated at the top left on Page 24.

The beginning of the Washington Bottle & Collectors Association portion at the bottom of Page 23 does not carry over onto the top left portion on Page 24 instead it appears as a whole article included as a repeat of what was started at the very bottom of Page 23.

Bottles and Extras

Never Mace a Skunk II Contributed by Bill Baab Southern Region Editor This book is not about antique bottles; in fact, one of the few places bottles are mentioned relates to winos, whose glass containers will be antique after the next 100 years have passed, but neither winos nor readers will be around to benefit.

So if the book isn’t about bottles, you can consider it as one of the Extras.

What this book really is, is funny, very funny, rolling in the aisles funny.

Co-written and edited by good friends Butch Holcombe, of Georgia, and Charlie Harris, who lives in Tennessee, the book is a sequel, of sorts, to the first written by Butch and published under that title. The sub-title is “The legends continue,” but that remains to be seen.

Butch is publisher of American Digger magazine, to which this reviewer subscribes, and Charlie is one of the experts on both Yankee and Confederate artifacts he writes about in each issue.

January - February, 2010

Both are metal detectorists, which means they wield high-tech gadgets that sprang from low-tech mine detectors of WW II vintage at Yankee and Confederate camp and battle sites in hopes of locating bullets, swords, buttons, belt buckles and more. As Southerners born and bred, they are not interested in re-fighting the Civil War, but are passionate in their quests to locate and preserve artifacts left from that tragedy.

Such quests often lead to misadventures in fields, woods and creeks and rivers. Hah! Misadventure is too tame a word, as readers will learn for themselves. Both misadventurers have swallowed their pride and Lord knows what else to share some of them with you, the reader. They also have enlisted the help of more than 140 other pride-swallowers and the result is this book.

Some of those sources include names like Big Red and Goldy, Dan the Digger and John and Jane Doe, as well as non-humans like Mutt Mutt and Nipper the Squirrel. There also are assorted skunks, snakes, a groundhog, various insects, poison ivy and other critters starring (if that’s the word) within the book’s 217 pages.

Illustrations are provided by the talented, if somewhat nutty Glenn Watkins, but help complement the stories, all of which, swear the coauthors, are absolutely true. If that’s the case, some could be made into movies of the “Three Stooges” variety.

However, there is a problem that confronts those of us who are more or less proficient in the use of the proper spellings, grammar and punctuation with a capital “P.” Those doing the writing are prone to use it’s when they mean its, and they throw in apostrophes on plural nouns when none is needed. Of course, they

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use “it’s” in the right places, too, but mostly they don’t. Those are personal pet peeves of this reviewer, who admits to becoming distressed by this mess, but I digress, I guess.

A few misspellings, like “loose” when they mean lose, and “lead” when they mean led, also can distract readers.

But you can skip over those parts and still manage to enjoy reading the rest of the book.

A word of caution: I think this book could be infectious; that is, some readers might begin having visions of rare bullets, badges, or buttons and rush right out and buy one of those metal detectors. So be careful!

Never Mace a Skunk II, by Butch Holcombe and Charles S. Harris, 217 pp., well illustrated by Glenn Watkins.

Available from Greybird Relics, P.O. Box 126, Acworth, GA 30101, or Charles S. Harris, 6808 Benwood Drive, Ooltewah, TN 37363, $22.50.

In an attempt to continually improve the publication and educate our readers, we are adding this new column dedicated to books that we or our readers feel would be of interest to our readers.

Please contact: Jesse Sailer 136 Jefferson Street East Greenville, PA 18041 jsailerbotmags@verizon.net (215) 715-2611 with any book that you feel would be of interest and should be included.

Thank You in advance for your contributions. The more participation, the better the magazine can become.

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January - February, 2010

Bottles and Extras

Peruvian Bitters The Peruvian Bitters first appeared in 1871, the product of the Wilmerding-Kellogg Company. In 1877, Kellogg withdrew from the firm and it became Wilmerding and Co. Circa 1890 the Peruvian Bitters Company (a Lash’s Bitters holding) owned the brand, but by 1895 the product was owned by Mack & Co. When the Peruvian Bitters Co. and Mack & Co. owned the brand, each had its own monogram.

Shown here are the labels bearing the different monograms, as well as the embossed monograms found on the reverse of each bottle.

1877

1890

1895

Front and reverse of Peruvian Bitters broadside showing “A Bird’s Eye View of San Francisco.”

Nov 9, 1882 Peruvian Bitters billhead

Bottles and Extras

January - February, 2010

All of the caricatures found on these Peruvian Bitters trade cards depict famous – or infamous – men of the midto-late 19th Century. The expression “Every man Rides His Own Hobby” is an old proverb.

W. H. Vanderbilt made a fortune in the transportation business.

His father, Cornelius Vanderbilt, built a transportation empire from scratch, starting with one ferry boat and ending with an empire of ships and trains. W. H. inherited $100 million from his father and increased his worth to $194 million by the time he died just nine years later.

P. T. Barnum became known as the world’s greatest showman. Mr. Barnum has several connections to today’s collectors, not least of which is his arrangement to bring Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale, to America to perform in 1850. She made her American debut at the Castle Garden Theatre on September 11, 1850. In “American Bottles and Flasks and Their Ancestry,” Helen McKearin and Kenneth Wilson list 13 different Jenny Lind bottles and flasks in Group I, the Portrait Flasks. Note also the frowning monkey on Barnum’s show train, sadly waving a banner depicting the deceased Jumbo the Elephant. One of Barnum’s biggest attractions, Jumbo was struck and killed by a train on September 15, 1885.

Bob Ingersoll was at one time known as “America’s Most Noted Agnostic.” The term “infidelity” seen on the “horse” he rides on the trade card did not mean then what it does today. While we tend to use the term when discussing marital transgressions, our forefathers used it to refer to those who were not true to God. Ingersoll was an attorney, politician and an outspoken opponent of slavery.

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Jay Gould is depicted riding a hobby horse titled “Western Union,” but he might also have been shown upon a railroad train or a pile of hoarded gold.

Gould was dubbed as one of the “Robber Barons” and his political and financial influence from his various railroad and financial dealings was huge. During the Great Southwest Railroad Strike of 1886, Gould was said to have hired strikebreakers. He was quoted by unionists as having declared, “I can hire one-half of the working class to kill the other half.”

Benjamin Franklin Butler was an American attorney and politician who served Massachusetts in the U. S. House of Representatives and also served as governor of that state.

During the Civil War he was also a “political general,” a term applied to those who were appointed to a high rank for political reasons but without much military training or experience. His numerous failures in his assignments as a general made him a controversial and unpopular figure.

Harold Bergh was a political reformer and the founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

(AS PCA).

Some of the above information was found on Wikipedia and the web site of the Library of Congress. Images and company information were submitted by Richard Siri. Trade card images researched by Steve Ketcham.

“Paper Trail” is a regular feature which showcases the wide world of bottle-related ephemera, from trade cards and post cards to letterheads and blotters. Readers are encouraged to submit items for publication. Simply scan or photograph your item (JPG please), add a short paragraph or two about the item, and include a photo of the bottle to which it relates.

E-mail your contribution to: Steve Ketcham s.ketcham@unique-software.com or Ph: (952) 920-4205 or mail it to: PO Box 24114, Edina, MN 55424

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January - February, 2010

The September newsletter featured a photo of the now well-known cobalt blue Fish Bitters bottle that was seen by many at the FOHBC National Show in Pomona, Calif., last year. It reportedly sold for $85,000 and was the talk of the show. The club’s “Real or Fake?” show and tell proved to be interesting and enlightening. Some of the reproductions are well made. There were fake historical flasks and even milk bottles brought in.

The club’s 11th annual Lowell Antique Bottle Show was held last Sept.

17, featuring 80 sales tables, free bottle appraisals, free bottles for children and more.

Northeast Regional News Chris Davis 522 Woodhill Newark, NY 14513 (315) 331-4078 cdavis016@rochester.rr.com

EDITOR’S NOTE: Bottles and Extras apologizes that the following clubs’ reports were inadvertently left out of the November/December, 2009 issue.

Whittle Marks East Merrimack Valley Antique Bottle Club North Chelmsford, Mass.

The club’s “Pizza Night” drew 24 members, bringing 100 bottles. Greg Bair accounted for many of them! He brought in his collection of half-pint flasks, which essentially turned into a program for the evening. The variety of lip treatments was covered, from “sheared” to “Inside screw threads”. The convenience of the flask form was pointed out. “Experimentation went on as glasshouses (and distilleries) strived to perfect spill-proof containers that could travel.” Western flasks were different than their eastern counterparts. The editor was curious about the reason for strap-sided flasks. Was this to make a bottle easier to grasp? Or for a stronger bottle?

July’s “non-cow animal on bottles” show and tell theme was successful.

There were bottles with a squirrel from Toronto, milks with a goat and an owl, plus a bull (which was allowed since it wasn’t a cow!) plus a medicine with a horse and more. Sounds like a fun theme.

An article on a 33-foot-high Moxie bottle, constructed in 1910 in Pine Island Amusement Park in Manchester, N.H., has been saved from demolition by many supporters. The club’s annual show is held in Lowell, Mass., the home of Moxie. In 1920, the giant bottle was moved across Pine Island Pond and attached to a cottage. The “Moxie Bottle House” became an even bigger curiosity. By 1999, the “bottle house” had been abandoned. It was purchased by a group of Moxie collectors who thought it should be preserved. It was moved once again to the inside of a structure, and was dedicated last August.

For more information, check out www. moxiecongress.com.

The Digger The Richmond Area Bottle Collectors Association, Richmond, Va. The September newsletter was filled with June summer picnic pictures, including the auction, member Jimmy Wooten providing guitar music, members socializing, scenes of Fishing Creek Park, and more. The weather was very nice which helped bring out many from the club. Good food was plentiful, with President Bruce Wadford as the chef.

Bruce also served as auctioneer. The auction items brought in over $600.

The September program was to be entirely a show and tell, with suggested theme of “summer finds.” There were also a few good items raffled. Wadford put in a call for volunteers and dealers to participate in the club’s 34th Annual Show & Sale, in a new location, Chesterfield County Fairgrounds, Chesterfield, Va. He commented, “I have heard comments that a show goes downhill for a while when the location is changed, but I would certainly like to prove those thoughts wrong.” The show was held Oct. 3rd and was a success.

The cover story was entitled “Gallivanting for Glass”, by editor Rick “Meech” Burchfield. The story begins: “Summer is a time for family, friends, and fun, of course.” Travel would take the author and his family to Europe for 15 days, particularly Germany. Antiquing was a popular activity, with visits to many shops and flea markets in their quest for glass. A good, early flask was discovered in Switzerland, where the antiquing was a bit better. Upon returning to the U.S.,

Bottles and Extras

the family travelled to the Shupp’s Grove bottle show in eastern Pennsylvania. It was a good outdoor show, with many Virginia and RABCA members present.

The editor does a nice job reporting on mostly Virginia bottles sold recently on eBay and online auctions. This month was no exception, with 34 items, many selling for in excess of $100. Three brought over $500 each. Quite a few were pictured in color, making a nice looking mini price guide for members.

Baltimore Bottle Digger Baltimore Antique Bottle Club Baltimore, Md. The program for the September meeting was “Summer Finds.” The front page was filled with summer-themed photos, including the beach, bottles washed up on a sandy beach, a few digging scenes, and bottles, of course.

The new president, John Toft Sr., gave his first president’s message. He’s been a bottle collector since age 13.

The June meeting, with 58 attending, was a busy one. The meeting included election of officers, thanking the outgoing president Eric Ewen (who received a standing ovation and will continue as show chair), thanking outgoing editor Mary Collins for her 19 years of service, plans for the August picnic, several raffles, show and tell, and a program by Liz Hogan, a volunteer at Ford’s Theater. Liz portrays a living history character as Mary Todd Lincoln.

Anew feature article was “Digging the Dirt,” a club member bio/questionnaire.

This month’s subject was Bob Ford. A sampling of questions included, “How did you get started collecting bottles?” and “What is your core area of collecting?”

Bob also provided an “eDigger” report on Baltimore bottles sold on eBay and online auctions. Again, this was a helpful column for club members on current bottle selling prices.

An interesting article from an 1856 “Baltimore Sun” newspaper was entitled, “Murderous Affray at a Lager Beer Brewery.”

The remainder of the newsletter included the monthly showcase schedule. One member a month brings in a collection or grouping of items they collect. A mini-program is then presented. September featured new president John Toft on “Inks.”

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January - February, 2010

October was “Coffee Creamers” by Jim Phillips. Also included in the newsletter were upcoming shows, a September “chronological events” (an event in history for each day of the month), the BABC Bulletin Board (member want ads), roster updates, and many photos of the June meeting and the August “Crab Fest” picnic! A fine newsy newsletter!!

The Bottle Worm Apple Valley Bottle Club, Winchester, Virginia The club’s summer picnic meeting was held Aug. 15th at Jim Barnett Park in Winchester, Va. The 35th Annual Show & Sale was consistent with last year’s, with attendance down by just seven dealers.

Editor’s Note: This begins the January - February Northeast Regional News.

Bits and Pieces Empire State Bottle Collectors, Syracuse, New York President John Golley reminded the club about the Fall Show in Scriba, N.Y. A website is being discussed by the board at their meetings. October’s meeting program sounded terrific -- a powerpoint presentation on the historic Mt. Vernon Glassworks, in Vernon, N.Y.,

by Jon Landers.

New membership chairs were introduced -- Dave and Lorrie LaDuke.

A nominating committee consisting of four club members has been formed.

This is perhaps the most important committee of any club or organization.

The new membership chairs are hitting the ground running. They have pointed out that membership becomes more of a problem every year and the time has come for us to join in and correct it.”

From 2006-2009, membership dropped 29%; from 2008-09, a 24% drop.

The message ended with “S.O.S.” I am sure the club will rise to the occasion.

Howard Dean, FOHBC Hall of Fame member, wrote a great article, The Avery N. Lord Bottling Works, Utica, N.Y. The newsletter also included an article on the FOHBC National Show in LA. An article

by Cecil Munsey, from Jan/Feb. 2008 Bottles & Extras, was titled “$5.8 Million Flask-Shaped Bottle” was featured.

The club’s 11th Annual Fall Show was held in Scriba, near Oswego and Lake Ontario, on Oct. 18th. The show was a sellout with 60 tables, several educational displays, a busy appraisal table and more.

Attendance was good. Barry Haynes was thanked for all the work he puts into the fall shows.

November’s meeting highighted “The Mark Vuono Historical Flask Collection,” conducted by Jim Bender and Jim Berry.

The Privy Hudson Valley Bottle Club, Poughkeepsie, New York Longtime stoneware collector and HVBC life member Royal Sherow died last June. He was doing one of the things he enjoyed the most -- fishing. There were several touching tributes on Royal in the June newsletter.

The club did not meet in August. The “meeting” was to be the 22nd Annual Show & Sale, held Aug. 16th in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Member Jack Fortmeyer of Brooklyn made the pages of the New York Times (7/12) on bottle digging.

An article on a “Witch Bottle” was reprinted from the London Telegraph.

The 17th century stoneware Bellarmine jug contained fingernail clippings, hair and pins, said to “rid the sick of evil spells.”

In the September newsletter, the 22nd Show & Sale was reviewed. Attendance was down just a bit, with 55 tables sold.

A nice selection of bottles, stoneware, and go-withs filled the tables. The late Royal Sherow was memorialized by his family with an exhibit of his stoneware and other items.

The theme for September’s meeting was “The Colors of Fall,” as they relate to the beautiful colors of glass. Member Steve Walsh brought in a very colorful assortment of bottles, among colorful leaves. It drew rave reviews.

The annual Christmas dinner was held in December, with Bottle Bingo as entertainment. Members are encouraged to bring items they want to show off, to share, to sell, or just talk about. An entertaining and informative article on digging was entitled, “Can We Go Now???”, with photos. A highlight of the dig -- an “Olmstead’s Constitutional Bitters” in dark amber!

The Digger Richmond Area Bottle Collectors Association, Richmond, Virginia The November issue had a wonderful

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writeup on the club’s 38th Annual Show & Sale at the new location, the Chesterfield Fairgrounds, held Oct. 3rd. Dealers brought boxes in on Friday evening, followed by pizza and soda. The show was a great success, especially given the change in show sites. There were five displays and a RABCA club display. The show sold out with 75 tables, set up in a new arrangement which club members liked. The crowd was about the same as last year. Early admission increased from six to 31, however. The show will most definitely return to the fairgrounds this year on Oct. 2.

Displays at the show included Lucy Faulkner’s “Inks” (1st place and Peoples’ Choice ribbons), Dave Tyree’s “TakaKola” bottles (Most Educational), Bruce Wadford’s “Buffalo Lithia Waters” (2nd place), Mary Wadford’s “Cathedral Pickles, Peppersauces & Condiments” (3rd place), and Jessie Copal’s “Miniature Bottles” (Youth Award).

There were a large number of volunteers who helped with the show.

Good advertising was credited with drawing many people to their first bottle show. Dealers seemed pleased with both sales and purchases for their collections.

President Bruce Wadford thanked Ed Faulkner and Marvin Croker for their outstanding job on the show.

Bottles Along the Mohawk Mohawk Valley Antique Bottle Club, Utica, New York October’s program has become an annual one, on milk bottles. The talk and display was presented by member Kevin Gallagher. The topic was the different kinds and types of milk bottles. Many collectors tend to specialize in one way or another. It was well-received by the club.

Jon Landers, editor, librarian, and program chair, presented the “Mt. Vernon Glass Co., Vernon, N.Y., 1810 - 1846.”

The history of the company and the remarkable glass items they made were discussed. Jon also presented this program to the Syracuse club.

The 2009 Membership List was included in the Oct. newsletter. Specialties and email addresses were included. It was noted that the list has grown since last year’s.

President Jim Berry expressed his sympathies on the unexpected passing of member Normand Audette. There was

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also a wonderful tribute and his obituary.

He will be remembered for his military stories (he served in three branches of the military for a total of 24 years), avid interest in milk bottles, and a great supporter of the club. He shall be greatly missed.

FOHBC Hall of Famer Howard Dean wrote yet another fine article for the newsletter, “More About the Bethesda Springs and Its Bottles.” Some fine photos accompany this article, including a unique Saratoga-type bottle from Howard’s extensive collection. Jon Landers contributed an article on “Indian Sanative for Salt Rheum and Erysipelas -- This is a Utica, New York Bottle.” The pontilled bottle recently sold for $375 through Glass Works Auctions. Many bottles do not denote their origin. Another mystery solved!

The Baltimore Bottle Digger Baltimore Antique Bottle Club, Baltimore, Maryland October’s program sounded terrific - “18th and 19th Centru Slipware and Redware,” by member Chris Rowell. The cover was illustrated with many fabulous examples.

John Toft Sr. reported in his President’s Message that he and Chris Rowell have been working on an antique bottle program to take out to schoolchildren, libraries and Boy & Girl Scout groups.

What a great idea, and one I hope will come with great success. Almost all libraries have a selection of bottle books, and it’s quite evident that they are used.

John also thanked refreshment chair Marge McGee and her staff. The board of directors was also thanked.

At the September meeting, show chair Eric Ewen announced the 30th Baltimore Show will be held March 7.

Flyers are ready for distribution. Contracts were mailed in October. The committee members were announced. Eric reported he has had calls from all over the country, looking for table and show information, from dealers and collectors alike. As always, the excitement is building!

Summer finds were many with great participation. September’s “Showcase” was an impressive collection of inks

by John Toft, to go along with “back to School” month. Great idea! Wayne Jacoby was this month’s highlighted member, in the recently formed “Digging in the Dirt on...” His interests lie in

January - February, 2010

Baltimore stoneware and pottery bottles.

Greg Franklin, editor, was featured in November. Greg collects mainly Baltimore beers, and Westminister bottles.

A photo accompanies each writeup, which is based on a questionairre. It’s nice to put a face with a name when attending meetings is not possible.

In an effort to attract potential members to the club, “Mega Bottle Raffle” tickets will be given by the president to those members who do good “bottle deeds;” that is, contributing to the club above and beyond the monthly meetings.

Good Baltimore bottles are being sought as donations for the raffles. So far, a “Spring Garden Log Cabin” flask has been donated for this purpose. Sounds like some good incentive!

It was noted that member Jere Hambleton, of Lancaster, Pa., had passed away Aug. 21st. He was a co-founder of the Shuppes Grove, Pa., bottle show, and a great guy. “Jere had a warm, friendly, pleasant disposition that was always reflected by his smile.” This was so very true.

The November program was on “The Hampton National Historic Site.”

Hampton is the story of people -- enslaved African Americans, indentured servants, industrial and agricultural workers and owners. The Hampton was the largest house in the U.S. when it was completed in 1790 and is a showplace today.

Toft lamented that the October proram on redware, given by Chris Rowell, was not videotaped. It was of “museum quality.” Volunteers are sought to take on this potentially important task in the future. This is indeed a great suggestion.

Bob Ford’s eDigger Report included numerous Baltimore bottles and stoneware items, with pictures and selling prices to match. November’s raffle bottle was a Tippecanoe bottle, with Rochester misspelled on the base.

Applied Seals Genesee Valley Bottle Collectors Association, Rochester, New York President Joe DiTucci thanked popular speaker and Rochester historian Donovan Shilling for his program in September entitled, “Nightlife in the Gay ‘90s.” The program brought to light fashion, theater and other types of entertainment (before “talkies”!) in Rochester. There appeared to be no shortage of culture at the time, while there were a few unusual things

Bottles and Extras

mentioned as well. Joe urged the support of the fall bottle shows held across New York State. An added benefit is brilliant fall foliage.

October’s program was on one of New York’s State Parks, Stoney Brook, in Steuben County. It is a true gem of the state park system. Speakers Paul Hoffman and Jane Schryver brought to light the history and beauty of the park, through early photos and post cards, as a powerpoint program. November’s program was a Member’s Show & Tell, which brought out everything from Avon, N.Y. coppersmith products to a memory jug to a “Longley’s Panacea”, a colored pontilled medicine, with labels!

It showed the broad range of collecting interests of the club.

Plans are underway for the 41st Annual Show & Sale, on April 18th.

Contracts were mailed in December.

A new meeting site has been proposed, a short distance away, in a new lodge located in Buckland Park. The club’s 19th Annual Benfit Auction and Pizza Party meeting was there in December. It was only the fourth meeting location in 40 years!

Editor Jim Bartholomew wrote a fine article entitled, “Protect Yourself on the Internet,”, partly in response to difficulties with someone offering bottles from the U.K. Jim is also the membership chair and reminded everyone to pay dues for 2010.

An article by Digger Odell was reprinted from the May 2009 Dirty Bottle, newsletter of the Pennsylvania Bottle Club. It was called “5 Critical Mistakes People Make Selling Bottles and How to Avoid Them.” Digger writes very well and is a great asset to this hobby.

Traveler’s Companion Greater Buffalo Bottle Collectors Association, Buffalo, New York The October issue was the annual “Special Show Issue.” The 11th annual show was a great success. As Peter Jablonski wrote in the “President’s Desk,”, “this newsletter is a special show edition to tell you about the hobby of bottle collecting and a little bit about the GBBCA.” All were invited to the October meeting, where members, through a show and tell format, will point out things about bottles, and their histories. The newsletter was made available to all show patrons and dealers.

Bottles and Extras

The special show newsletter really included some very good articles, including “A Brewery Worker’s Story, Buffalo, N.Y.” (with great photos of some trays and advertising), written by John Eiss in 2006, and “The Dingens Family History,” who produced the very rare drum figural bitters bottles from Buffalo),

January - February, 2010

by Jeff Rosenthal and the late Rodger Sweetland, in 1984.

An array of photos of the monthly members’ show and tell is a prominent fixture in each newsletter. Jablonski gave a talk on “Privy Digging” to the Polish Genealogical Society. His students made all three Buffalo television stations, and

the Buffalo News, on their recent annual Archaelogical Day privy dig. Wish I had had a teacher like Peter!

A program is being considered by the local metal detecting club. The club watched a History Channel video, “History of Brewing in America,” in October..

the century – a Kaopantais & Co., Inc. Chicago – the first time that Jim has seen a Greek product bottle or jar.

Dennis Klinkhammer showed a perfume jar and Bob Sobon a pictorial M. Puchowick Co., Maxwell Street Chicago.

Ron Neumann Sr. gave the program on Chicago Beers. Of course, when you go to his house it is impossible to see all he has to offer so he brought some great beers and soda waters for us to see.

In the November newsletter: Jeff Dahlberg reported that he and Ruth took a tour of The Brew House in Rockford during an art show. The historic Peacock Brew House is a former brewery built between 1857 and 1918 on the Rock River. It is to be renovated, preserving the architectural features and will include restaurants, banquet facilities and commercial and residential spaces. Jeff noted that it was a beautiful space with huge beams. A historian’s dream.

For information on joining the ABCNI, you may contact: Dorothy Furman, 26287 W. Marie Ave., Antioch, IL 60002.

Circle City Bottle Club Martin Van Zant is newsletter editor.

Here is his report in the club’s October newsletter: Hello, everyone, once again I hope this finds you all in good health. The weather is changing, for the good or for the bad. I think it’s great, better digging weather, is what I think. However, I haven’t had the chance to get out. When I get a break it rains, when I work it’s sunshining and 75 degrees out. I can’t seem to catch a break here lately. Oh wel,l enough complaining, I’m just ready to get in a hole. If everything goes well I’ll be three feet in a crapper by this time Saturday.

The meetings are coming along well.

If you are interested in presenting a topic

of special interest or a topic related to what you collect, the club would love to hear about it. At some point, I will give a presentation on lightning rod balls, which is another hobby of mine. I am also doing some stained glass with bottle pieces. I am into several things as a hobbyist. So, if you have an interest in something and would like to share, please do.

Also in the newsletter was the following information on the Klee & Coleman company: A prominent bottling establishment of Indianapolis is that of Klee & Coleman at 421 – 425 South Delaware Street. The business was established in 1878 by John Klee and Henry Coleman, of Dayton, Ohio, who conduct a bottling establishment there and at Piqua, Ohio, and Louisville, Kentucky. The business in Indianapolis is under active direction of Mr. William H. Miller, manager. The office and works have a complete equipment of bottling machinery and a fifteen-horsepower steam engine, and 20 hands are employed in bottling mineral waters, soda waters, pops and all kinds of “soft drinks.” The trade of the Indianapolis establishment covers a radius of 100 miles. The local trade is especially large and keeps seven teams busy. Mr. William H. Miller is a native of Pennsylvania, but has lived in Indianapolis from childhood, and has been with this firm for more than twenty years and manager over nine years.

Van Zant is drumming up support for this new bottle club in Indianapolis, Indiana. The club meets the last Wednesday of the month at Ben Davis High School, 1200 N. Girl School Rd. (Door 17, Room U102). You may contact Martin by email at mdvanzant@yahoo. com or postal mail at 208 N. Urban St., Danville, IN 46122 or by telephone at 812-841-9495.

Findlay Antique Bottle Club (FABC) Editor Tom Brown of the FABC submitted the newsletter (Whittle

Midwest Regional News Joe Coulson 10515 Collingswood Lane Fishers, IN 46038 (317) 915-0665 jcoulson@leaderjar.com

Hello, bottle collectors! Welcome to another installment of the Midwest Region news report. The weather is changing seasons on us again. We love to hear from the Midwest bottle clubs – keep sending in those news items… please, please, please and thank you!

Antique Bottle Club of Northern Illinois (ABCNI) Dorothy Furman is newsletter editor of the ABCNI’s Pick and Probe. Jeff Dahlberg is club president. The club has been holding its meetings at the Antioch Senior Center, 817 Holbeck, Antioch, Ill. In the October newsletter, we heard the following from Dorothy: There were nine club members present at the September meeting, and one guest, Joe Glunz, of Grayslake, whose family has been in the wine-producing business since the late 1800s. While introducing himself, he noted that his grandfather was the first distributor of Schlitz beer in Chicago after the Chicago Fire. Joe is the fourth generation of his family in the business.

For Show and Tell, Dorothy brought a Tinker Toy string doll manufactured in Evanston – purchased in a bag of stuff at a church sale. Ron Neumann Jr., showed an olive green Electric Bitters, early 1870s amber whiskey, Hamberger Bros. Chicago (only one known). Ron Neumann Sr. showed a quart Premium Ginger Ale Manuf. By Coke-Cola, and a light blue cathedral pickle jar. Jim Koustoures was quite excited to show a Greek olive bottle from the turn of

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Marks). Tom typically reprints several articles for club members in their newsletter.

In the October issue, the following article was reprinted: “Dad’s Root Beer.” Dad’s Root Beer is an American root beer created in Chicago in 1937

by Jules Klapman. It is currently sold and marketed by The Dad’s Root Beer Company LLC, and owned by Hedinger Brands LLC. Also reprinted was “Sweet Summer Treats” (from The Milk Route, September 2009). The article was about the Isaly’s dairy, which marketed the Klondike Bar. Isaly’s was named for the Isaly family, who came to America from Switzerland in 1833 and settled in Ohio.

William Isaly, a grandson of the Isaly immigrants, sold milk from a wagon. In 1902, he and some partners bought a milk plant and several routes in Mansfield, Ohio, to form what would become the first Isaly dairy company. The Klondike bar was first mentioned in a 1922 article that listed six flavors being sold in Youngstown, Ohio, including maple and grape. Other ice cream novelties popular at the time were Eskimo Pie and Good Humor. Tom showed a picture of an Isaly’s milk bottle cap that was found in the building that Isaly’s used in downtown Findlay. They gutted the building to make a real-estate office with apartments on the second floor.

Marianne Dow reported the following on the club blog concerning the club’s recent 33rd Annual Show and Sale: Well -- the show was last weekend -- and it was wonderful! Great energy and enthusiasm -- everyone had so much fun! Happy smiling faces were the order of the day - they were everywhere! The weather was very nice -- lots of eager shoppers lined up early, and we kept a strong steady crowd in the building all day! Most dealers reported strong sales, many said best in recent years. And the shoppers were happy too. There were some really nice items sold. Hope you were there to get your share! If not, better plan for next year’s show. Show Chairman Fred Curtis did another great job of pulling it all together -- with the help of all the other club members -what a team!

Some comments from show attendees: Jerry McCann says, “I love your show in Findlay...I had the best time...the people, the food, the wide

January - February, 2010

Bottles and Extras

following pictures were shown from a dig that Tom Sniezek did recently near Detroit. It was a 4’ X 4’ X 4’ privy and considering the small size gave up some neat items including a nice cobalt blue pontiled marble, four nice Hutches and a nice colored Piso Cure.

Ron Johnson

range of interesting items for sale...damn!

What fun.” Jeff Klingler says, “It’s all about the people -- and, oh yeah, the fruit jars!” Marianne Dow says, “Shows are back! Sales were good, and I added several Lima items to my collection. But more than that, I had a chance to get to know some fellow collectors a lot better, and am really looking forward to some upcoming show’n tell sessions!” A slide show of pictures of this event is available on the club’s blog site.

Thanks to Marianne, the club is breaking new technology ground by participating in the world of internet social networking by maintaining a blog (http://finbotclub.blogspot. com/) and Tweeting (http://twitter. com/FinBotClub). You can follow the happenings of the club on your computer at those places.

The FABC has a good website with pictures from their annual shows. You should check it out: http://fabclub. freeyellow.com/home.html. Richard Elwood is president. Monthly club meetings are held at the University of Findlay. They usually have their annual show and sale in October. To find out more about their monthly newsletter, send a note to: Findlay Antique Bottle Club, P.O. Box 1329, Findlay, OH 45839.

Flint Antique Bottle Club Tim and Angie Buda (newsletter editors) for the Flint, Michigan club submitted their newsletter. They do a nice job of creating their newsletter as a PDF file and emailing it to club members.

In the December newsletter, the

The club’s next show and sale is March 21, 2010 at the Dom Polski Hall, 3415 N. Linden Road, Flint, Michigan.

The club meets on the second Thursday of the month, from 7 p.m. – 9pm, at the Grand Blanc Heritage Museum, 203 Grand Blanc Road, Grand Blanc, MI 48439. Bill Heatley is club President. For information on joining the Flint Antique Bottle Club or about their next show, you may contact Tim Buda (Secretary/ Treasurer), 11353 Cook Rd, Gaines, MI 48436, phone 989-271-9193.

Huron Valley Bottle & Insulator Club (HVBIC) Michele and Shaun Kotlarsky are editors of The Embossing, newsletter of the Huron Valley Bottle & Insulator Club. Bob Powell is club president. A new issue of the newsletter has not been available since December 2008. We would love to hear from someone in this club with recent news!

The club met quarterly in 2009. The HVBIC meetings are held the 2nd Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m. at the First National Bank, 8080 Challis Rd., Brighton, MI. You can find out much more about the HVBIC online at their website: http://hvbic.org. Their old newsletters also can be viewed there.

Bottles and Extras

Iowa Antique Bottleers (IAB) Mark Wiseman (newsletter editor) and Mike Magee (secretary) do a wonderful job each month reporting the IAB happenings. Club president is Clyde Jones. The October newsletter contained a reprint of an article titled “Waterloo Man Hopes to Uncover Buried Treasure”

by Josh Nelson from the July 17, 2009 Waterloo Courier. The article mentions two IAB members – here is an excerpt of the first few paragraphs: Decades of trash may turn out to be one man’s treasure.Amateur archaeologist Russ Holven recently asked the Waterloo City Council for permission to dig on some city property near the Cedar River in hopes of uncovering drugstore bottles from the early days of the city.

“There’s so much history in this area,” he said. “You go to the Grout Museum or the library and they don’t have half of the history in this area.”

Holven’s fascination with history goes back 40 years. In that time, he has amassed a collection of memorabilia buried in farm fields or beneath existing communities. The best sites are always where outhouses once stood.

“That’s where they threw all their garbage,” Holven said. Mike Burggraaf, Holven’s partner in the excavations, said they’ve found a lot more than just bottles in the pits. Often, there is other assorted refuse from the early days of Iowa’s saloons and public houses, like a ball and chain, brass knuckles and even a horse carcass. “There’s always surprises,” Burggraaf said.

Digging the bottles is the easy part, the men said. Identifying the bottles is time-consuming. Burggraaf, who lives in Fairfield, has built a database the pair use to identify who made the bottles, where they were made and what the contents might have been. Information is culled from multiple sources, like old fire insurance maps, city directories and newspaper ads.

In the November newsletter, it was noted that the Oct. 10 meeting was at Jim Menzel’s J&J Auction Crew LLC building in Roland, Iowa. Jim had all the tables and chairs set up. Jim’s building was also full of items for an upcoming auction. A very Big Thank You to Jim Menzel for all his hard work. The theme was to remember pioneer IAB member Don Faas and his collections, which included Iowa soda bottles, toys and

January - February, 2010

“Thing-A-Ma-Jigs.”

Mike Magee has a monthly feature of “Old News Reused” in the club newsletters. He reprints articles and news items from the 1800s and early 1900s Iowa newspapers. Here is an excerpt that appeared in The Davenport Daily Republican, June 1, 1898. “Trade in Old Bottles – A New York Firm that Handles Half a Million a Day, and a Famous New Orleans Dealer”: Almost 500,000 old bottles are handled every day by a single firm in New York city. Most of them are wine and beer bottles, but there are also hundreds of bottles used for catsup and other table sauces. The mineral waters furnish a large proportion of the fall number. None of these bottles is washed or cleaned by the firm that collects them, but they must not be old and “gummy” or they will not be accepted. They are shipped all over this country, and a good many of them are sent back to Europe.

Those reshipped across the water are mostly ginger ale bottles sent to Ireland, some beer bottles or ale bottles sent to England, and wind and liqueur bottles sent to France. Of course, these are reemployed.

The dealers here say that the French bottles are the best made. The English come next, the American next, and then the German. Comparatively few bottles are lost in transit, either on board cars or in the collecting wagons. When a wagon is loaded with cases of “empties,” the driver puts a straw wrapper on each of the corner bottles at the end of the wagon. It doesn’t seem as if this would be a very great protection, but it does serve as a slight buffer in case of passing rubs or knocks.

The bottle shops of New York are not especially picturesque, but in New Orleans there is one which has become noted. It is visited by most tourists, many of whom carry away some squat, queer-shaped liqueur bottle by way of souvenir. “The Bottle Man of Conti Street” owes his fame to Mrs. M.E.M. Davis, one of New Orleans’ literary women. Mrs. Davis lives only a block or two from the haunt of the bottle man, over in the old French part of the city.

When Eugene Field visited there several years ago, Mrs. Davis took him around to Conti street to see the bottle man and his treasures. Field and the bottle man were mutually delighted

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over the meeting. The shop is a great high sort of shed, reaching from the street back 150 feet into the block. It is piled with stack on stack of crates full of empty wine bottles, which from the ceiling hang rows of dusty demi-johns and jugs. There are shelves occupied by a medley of quaint cordial bottles, bright green and blue, pot-bellied, flat-sided, eccentric, freakish things.

Field delighted in these shelves, and used to poke around in the dust and the shadows, hunting up new shapes, which he carried off to add to the miscellaneous lot of stuff he shipped home from there.

But there was one bottle with which he was especially delighted. It was a brilliant blue in color, with a very long, thin neck and a fat body, pressed into a four-sided shape. In the middle of one side was a seal, stamped in the glass.

Every visitor in Conti street nowadays hears about Field’s visits, and is permitted to gaze upon – or purchase – one of the Field bottles. After his return to Chicago, Mrs. Davis wrote the poem: “The Bottle Man of Conti Street,” and sent it to him. Field replied in his usual happy vein, and these autograph verses are among Mrs. Davis’ treasures today.

The November newsletter included an announcement for the new book, “The Antique Bottles of Iowa, Volume III”, by Mike Burggraaf: Well, here it is, fellow collectors and historians! After an eleven-year wait, the much anticipated update to “The Antique Bottles of Iowa” is nearly complete. Thanks to the new discoveries by the many bottle collectors within and outside the state of Iowa, the new update will feature nearly 600 Iowa bottles that were not known when the first book was published in 1998. What will you find in the update? Just over 500 pages of unlisted Iowa bottles including those from over 350 previously unknown Iowa merchants. Included among those completely new merchants are six new Iowa bitters, over 30 new Iowa medicines and cures, several open-pontiled Iowa medicines, an 1850s black glass ale from Dubuque, over 20 new Iowa sodas, including several blob tops, rare Iowa whiskeys and Iowa beers, plus numerous Iowa drug stores and other Iowa bottles.

As with the first book, all bottles listed have been accurately and painstakenly drawn to give the reader a better idea of what the bottle looks

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like. When possible, as much detailed history as could be found pertaining to that merchant has been collected, sorted, confirmed, composed and presented in a readable format for the reader and historian. Also, a number of the more colorful and rare Iowa bottles will be pictured in full color photos. Layout for the Iowa book is already in progress, and pending any new discoveries from this season of digging, the final layout will begin in November with an anticipated printing date in January of 2010.

Pre-publishing price for the spiralbound edition is predicted to be around $55. A limited printing of 250 copies is planned with an additional special printing of only 50 hard bound books. To ensure getting a copy of this great reference book on Iowa bottles, reserve your copy with a $20 deposit along with your contact information.

Thank You! Mike Burggraaf, 305 E. Burlington Ave., Fairfield, Iowa 52556; phone 641-469-6018; email: QRSGLASS@IOWATELECOM.NET. The IAB newsletters always contain wonderful digging stories by Mark Wiseman. He has a regular column, “The Digger’s Scoop,” that tells of his local digging adventures with his dog (Elsie the Pup), the old truck, and various digging friends that join him. You can find out more about IAB membership ($15/yr.) from Mark Wiseman, 3505 Sheridan Ave., Des Moines, IA 50310-4557.

Jelly Jammers Margaret Shaw is newsletter editor of the Jelly Jammers Journal. Pat VanDyke is club president. Here is the President’s message from the Fall 2009 newsletter: I have not been many places where there seem to have been jelly jars this summer. I did find a jelly with a “IIF” marking in the base and cannot find anything about it. Of course, it will come to the January meeting. We were in the upper peninsula of Michigan, and I was amazed at how little there was in the way of towns and shopping. We did manage to find three antiques shops, but they were startled when I asked about jelly jars. The same thing happened with Mackinac city and Mackinac Island when we were there celebrating our 50th anniversary. I live in hope. Later in September, we traveled to see our friend in Ticonderoga, New York. We always

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shop the Vermont shops and somewhere at an antiques mall I saw 16 “glasses.”

I recognized the Greentown; of course, I did not have my reference book, and I have not had a chance to research since we have been home.

The journal also contained several well-researched articles by Tom Caniff: “Cutting’s Jam Jar,” “Sue Ann Jelly Box,” “Chelsea Table Jellies Buckle,” and “Snuff Jellies.” Tom is a long-time significant contributor to the newsletter.

Next meeting of the Jelly Jammers is Saturday, January 9, 2010 at 9 a.m., second floor conference room, The Signature Inn, 3400 N. Chadam Lane, Muncie, Indiana, in conjunction with the Midwest Antique Fruit Jar & Bottle Club Show and Sale. You can find out more about the Jelly Jammers membership ($15/yr.) from Margaret Shaw, 6086 W. Boggstown Rd., Boggstown, Indiana 46110; email: meshaw@franklinisp.net.

Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Club (KABC) Al Holden is newsletter editor. A new edition of the newsletter was not available at this time. The Kalamazoo club has started posting meeting minutes on their website: http://www. kalamazoobottleclub.org/ and we would love to hear from someone in this club with recent news!

Chuck Parker is club president and you can contact him for more information about their club at 607 Crocket Ave., Portage, MI 49024 (ph: 616-329-0853). The club meets regularly at the Kalamazoo Public Library, located at 315 S. Rose Street.

Midwest Antique Fruit Jar & Bottle Club (MAFJBC) The MAFJBC has members nationwide and is heavily fruit jarfocused. Their meetings are generally held the first Sunday of the month at 1:30 p.m. in the Cantina at Minnetrista, which is located in Muncie, Indiana.

Dave Rittenhouse is club president. Joe Coulson (yes, that’s me!) is the newsletter editor.

At the September club meeting, Dave Rittenhouse gave the program on fruit jar closures. A lot of people think that a closure is odd if it is not a Mason, Lightning or wax seal. Some of the early closures were pretty inventive. Dave brought many examples of odd closure

Dave Rittenhouse

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jars for everyone to see. Dave also brought examples of reproduction closures that he passed around for us to look at closeup. Dave makes and sells reproduction closures. There were not many odd closures made after 1900.

In the September newsletter Glass Chatter, Dick Cole informed us that long-time club member Eugene Kozuk has passed away. Here are Dick’s words about Eugene: Anyone who collects the Ball Corporation retirement and “special occasion” jars should know that Gene had a big hand in their development. The Quality Assurance department in Muncie, that Gene ended up heading, would get samples for evaluation of every different jar (well, every official jar) made in any Ball plant, so they worked closely with the plants on these unusual jars, as often problems arose in making them.

Those of you who collect the retirement jars will recognize the names of others who worked in the same department: Russ Simpson, Bill Wade and Dick Wirth.

Gene was born in Schram City, Illinois, where his mother worked in the old Schram plant that Ball operated.

Gene rose to be in charge of the Ball’s Mundelein plant, left Ball to work for Metro Glass out of New Jersey, got back with Ball when they bought out Metro.

He was one of the very few Metro employees to be retained by Ball. Gene and I got to be friends while I worked at Ball, and often I would come back to my desk and find a new retirement jar, a present from Gene, sitting on my desk.

Gene was a loyal member of MAFJ&BC when he was able, as he spent his winters in Florida. He would always come to the summer show, as he would run into lots of his old co-workers there. A super-nice man, with a supernice family. Rest in peace, Gene.

Club member Tammy Johnson reported that her husband Ron recently passed away. Both Tammy and Ron had

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been long-time supporters of the hobby.

Here are Tammy’s words: “Ron passed away in the early morning hours of Sunday, August 16. I just want everyone to know that his favorite social venue was a bottle show.

It didn’t matter to him if we sold or bought anything, he just enjoyed talking jars with whoever would listen & share their own stories.”

Ron Johnson

The September & October newsletters continued with the “Legends of the Jar” series, and the featured collectors were Bo Trimble and Dan Corker, respectively. Bruce Schank has been doing a wonderful job of interviewing long-time fruit jar collectors and showing us pictures of jars from their collections. These articles have also been appearing in Bottles and Extras.

The MAFJBC has a website: http:// www.fruitjar.org. Future meeting details as well as lots and lots of pictures from their semi-annual shows can be found there.

Minnesota’s 1st Antique Bottle Club (MFABC) Barb Robertus is editor of the MFABC newsletter, The Bottle Digger’s Dope. Linda Sandell takes care of the printing and mailing. The October issue had a wonderful Halloween theme and lots of pictures of poison bottles. Here is what Barb had to say on the subject: We as bottle collectors have so many choices of what type of bottles we wish to save. The poison collectors have untold shapes, sizes and colors. In the following small article we have tried to cover just a few of them. I wish to thank Mike Dickman and John Gregory for the great photos of said poisons. The word POISON brings to mind a word leading to death.

Not something we are all anxious for. The ingenious way poisons were marketed (for safety reasons) has really not changed. The irregular shapes with points helped ward off the lethal contents.

In past issues of Bottle Diggers Dope,

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especially the Halloween (October) issue, we have covered a wide variety of poison bottles – from unusual colors, to those embossed with the death’s head or skull and crossbones. We were surprised at how many poisons were in the shape of a coffin. The word coffin is defined as a box or case to hold a dead person in for a burial. Coffin-shaped poisons were originally from England, the first being issued in 1871. The Americans quickly picked up on this idea within two years.

Records show that American glass houses DID manufacture this shape.

Membership in the MFABC is $10/ yr. For more information, please contact Linda Sandell, 7735 Silver Lake Road #208, Moundsview, MN 55112.

North Star Historical Bottle Association (NSHBA) Doug Shilson is editor of the North Star Historical Bottle News. Doug does a great job each month reporting the club’s latest happenings. He puts a lot of effort into recording all the details that take place. Steve Ketcham is club president.

The October issue of the club’s newsletter contained this article, “Celebrating our 40th Anniversary:” Yes, it’s the beginning of our 40th year. It’s hard to imagine that the old bag of bones is still clicking that keeps on ticking! My oh my, a lot of years have gone by. To date 387 collectors have joined our bottle club. From the first editors: (co-editors) Fran Rutherford and Doug Shilson, and several in between, they never missed a deadline. Those were the days, right Fran? We had to type everything using the old Smith/Corona typewriters and pushing down on those buttons to at least make an impression on the paper, hoping the black ink would still look black! Using a piece of white paper to correct mistakes or that special eraser that if you used it too hard, would put a hole in the paper! In order to print copies for our members, we used a monster piece of metal machine called a “Jestetner.”

Long ago member Carol Sather used this machine at her office. It required a special template made of some kind of light weight metal material that the left the depression of what Fran and I had typed and sent to Carol.

The ink would sometimes leak out and destroy some of our typing, then Carol would have to retype some. Most of the early material that Fran and I used

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was found at the local libraries, and we went through hundreds of old directories, setting on wooden chairs for hours, straining our eyes looking at small print.

We accomplished this feat many, many times over!

But it did take me to New Ulm, Minnesota to do the first article researched and typed, complete with line drawings of the “stoneware” beers from New Ulm. I remember sitting in this dusty one-room museum with “one” small table next to the only glass covered display they had to protect their artifacts, which numbered less than a dozen items. No, they didn’t have any of these stoneware items. Just to find the history was a treat. The stoneware beers were debossed into the clay with names such as Dauffenbach / Stoeckert & Co / New Ulm. Minn.; J. Stoeckert / New Ulm, C. Dauffenbach / Gieskie / New Ulm, Minn.

Did I dig these up? Nope. Found many of these at an old antiques shop in western Minnesota in the late 1950s. The story was told to me by the owner where he won these at an auction in New Ulm. Sometime in the late 1950s, he made a trip to New Ulm for the auction that was going to take place. It was the estate of Stoeckert. The dealer decided to snoop around the home and garage before the auction started. There in the garage was a “pile” of these stoneware beers stacked one on top of the other, many still in the blue-colored wooden boxes. Some boxes held four and others held six and still had the little rope-like tie around the neck to hold the cork or clay stopper in the mouth. The auction was close to ending and the auctioneer went to the garage to auction off the items in the garage. He uncovered the pile of stoneware bottles that still had the old dusty canvas over them.

The auctioneer started the auction at $5 each. No takers. Went down to $2 - $3 each and had one or two that took theirs.

He then asked the buyers that were left what they would give for the stoneware bottles. One buyer offered $1. The auctioneer said “sold” and how many do you want? The dealer said, “I want them ALL.” At one buck each. “SOLD,” said the auctioneer. The new owner told his wife to sit on the tarp that covered them all. The buyers that were still in attendance quickly went to the garage hoping to “take” a bottle or two, but the wife was guarding them. Most of the

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blue boxes that held the bottles totaled several hundred. The auction of the estate of Stoeckert had ended. If it were not for his wife protecting those stoneware beers, they would have been picked apart by many of the buyers that were still standing around in the yard.

The antique dealer announced that “his” stoneware bottles were now being sold for $5 each if anyone wanted one! And the antique dealer sold several at that time. The rest he took back to his antique shop. He told me that he had put an ad in the only publication at that time, “The Antique Trader,” and sold several cases to England and other places. The rest is now history. Just think, there could still be a pile of this type of stoneware bottles somewhere in an old musty garage or warehouse.

For more information on joining the NSHBA, please contact Doug Shilson: 3308 32 Ave. South, Minneapolis, MN 55406-2015.

Ohio Bottle Club (OBC) Phyllis Koch (editor) and Donna Gray (secretary) always do a very nice job with The Ohio Swirl, the OBC’s newsletter. John Fifer is club president.

The September newsletter had an article titled “Patriotism in Glass,”

by Adam Koch. The same issue also had an article on “Shots Around Ohio – Part Two,” by Jack Sullivan.

The October issue had the following article, “A Case For Beer,” by Gary Beatty: A few Swirls ago, I’m not sure which issue, Don Dzuro raised the question about bottling works versus breweries.

Don stated he had always been told that if the bottle said bottling works it was a soda, and if it said brewery it was a beer.

Well, that statement was an old rule of thumb that no longer has credence. I have been collecting beers for some time now and have over 250. I have them in all sizes, shapes and shades. I have not even begun to scratch the surface.

Here are some things I have learned by research and lots of reading. If a bottle included brewery in its name, it was indeed a brewery. If it was a bottling works, it did not brew beer. But wait a minute before you think that statement might settle the issue, for it does not. While bottling works such as the Lancaster (Ohio) Bottling Works of Lancaster, Ohio did not brew beer, it did bottle beer. Many of the

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bottling works were versatile and enjoyed success in soda and beer. Bottling works would sell a variety of sodas and beers.

Some beers were franchised while others were under their own label. The same with sodas. I’ll explain: Lancaster Bottling Works bottled Old Dutch and Robin Hood Ale, both national brands. They bottled Whistle Orange, Vess Cola and Dad’s Root Beer, also national brands.

They would buy their beer from breweries and have it shipped in. I remember when I was 8 or 10 years old, I lived on South Locust Street in Lancaster.

The rear of our house looked out upon the railroad yard and round house. I remember seeing a truck that had the following lettering on it, “Lancaster Bottling Works, 79 W. Union St.” They were unloading wooden kegs of beer from a railroad car. They often did this, making several trips. Across the street from the front of our house was Tommy’s Tavern. I can remember their truck delivering beer by the keg and case. I used to run across the street to watch them unload. The kegs were heavy and rolled down a special plank. It always smelled of beer from the leakage. I remember them carrying in cases of Old Dutch, Iron City, Robin Hood Ale and their own brand, Forrest Rose.

In the 2009 March issue of the Swirl, I wrote an article about Forrest Rose Beer with a picture of a quart cobalt labeled blob. Forrest Rose more commonly came in the typical long neck pint. By the way, I even remember the truck was a husky looking Diamond Reo. I went with Dad on several trips to the Lancaster Bottling Works. We would pull up to the delivery door in his 1936 Studebaker Coupe. Dad would get out and purchase beer by the case --- sometimes Old Dutch, sometimes Robin Hood Ale and sometimes Weidman’s. Oh yes, and sometimes Hudepohl. The man would set it in the truck, shake Dad’s hand, and say, “thanks a lot, Edward.”

Cleveland had several breweries.

Perhaps some of the beer Lancaster used came from there, such as the Iron City Brewery, Cleveland, Ohio. I also wonder did they use the same beer no matter what the label? I bet they did. When I was going to college at Pontiac, Michigan, I had a friend from Milwaukee. Prior to coming to college he worked at the Blatz Brewery. He said that they would bottle Blatz every day until they met the

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quota needed. Then they would move a lever which changed labels to Pabst Blue Ribbon, thus the same brew. I worked on the assembly line at General Motors Truck and Coach. We made trucks. The chrome man would have to look at the work label as the truck moved down the line. If it said Chevrolet he put on Chevy chrome, if it was a GMC he put GMC chrome. Same truck.

You can readily see the bottling works, not matter the name, no doubt followed the same pattern and enjoyed the best of both products at a cheaper cost. I have many bottling works bottles that put up beer, even their own brand using someone else’s brew. I used to work at Velvet Ice Cream. They also made ice cream for Cardinal Super markets. The big difference was Cardinal was about $1 cheaper per half gallon.

In closing, I would like to say that if your perception of beers is simply an amber long neck pint, with a blob or crown top, you couldn’t be more wrong. The bottling works beers often are more colorful and come in more variety of shape and embossing. I also have brewery bottles in a variety of shapes and colors. I even have brewery bottles in the Hutchinson style. Adam Koch sold me one that is from Alpena, Michigan.

I have beers that say bottled beer, ale, lager, Weise, stout, Boch and others.

Boch beers, no matter the brand, usually had a ram’s (or goat’s) head on the label.

I also have beers embossed that they are free from poison of any kind. I hope this article helps in understanding breweries and bottling houses a little better. By the way, I am a teetotaler, but sure love the bottles. Always remember, “Bottles are Glass with Class.”

For more information on joining the OBC, please contact Berny Baldwin (treasurer), 1931 Thorpe Circle, Brunswick, OH 44212. The club also has a new website which can be found at: http://www.ohiobottleclub.com. Details about their milk bottle book can be found there also.

Wabash Valley Antique Bottle & Pottery Club (WVABPC) Martin Van Zant is editor of The Wabash Cannonball, the WVABPC’s monthly newsletter. Peggy Zimmer is club president. The October issue had this report from Martin: Hello once again, everyone. I hope

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this newsletter finds you all in good health. The weather is changing and winter will be here soon. I can’t just imagine all of your thoughts. I am not a big fan of winter myself. I really enjoy fall and spring. It’s in these times that I like to get out and dig. Speaking of which, I haven’t been out to dig lately, and I ‘m starting to get the itch.

The weather is beautiful out and the festivals have started. Covered bridge festival is just right around the corner.

Two weeks of festival mania, and of course all the mania up to this point. I was

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able to make it to the Bowling Green Old Settlers. Other than that I really haven’t been out much at all. There are plenty of sales, auctions and festivals for you all to be hitting up. This is the time to find those lost treasures.

I know that Peggy and Gary Zimmer are setting up this year again at the Covered Bridge festival. This year they will not be at the stand where they have been for the last 20 years. It’s sad to see old antiques shops go out of business. I am talking about the antiques shop in Rockville, the house that sits on top of the

hill, the house with the squeaky floors and outdoor barns. I found lots of keepers in that old place. This festival takes a lot of patience and a lot of work. I hope you all get a chance to find some goodies there.

Let’s bring our most recent treasures to the next meeting, and I hope to see you all there.

The WVABPC holds their monthly meeting at Shadows Auction Barn, 1517 Maple Ave., Terre Haute, Indiana. Club dues are $10/yr. For more information, please contact Gary Zimmer (treasurer), 10655 Atherton Rd., Rosedale, IN 47874.

Enuf memorabilia brought by club members to the October meeting in the November issue.

Among items brought in were Dr. Enuff signs by Sam Crowder, advertisements by Wade Cox, Tri-City Beverage bottles and advertisements by Harold Carlton and Carlton Bailey brought in a Pigeon Forge, Tenn. clear slugplate crown top.

Mrs. Milner also published the “Origin of the Term SODA POP,” from a vast amount of research done by Ron Fowler, of Seattle, Wash. Readers can check it out by checking out the website at www.HutchBook.com.

and found a pit that had been covered by a large shed since demolished. Wiltz brought the backhoe into position to dig through the fill and into the bottle layer.

First one to emerge was a Dr. L.E. Keeley’s / Double / Chloride / of / Goldcure / for / Drunkeness.

Then the diggers took over and Kujawa was given first honor. He dug four A.W. Pretzel / Atchison / Kas., Hutchinsons, two of which were whole. Ricketts then dug a rare Hutchinson embossed Shufelt Bros. / Atchison / Kas., that was on good shape.

Back to the cistern dig where it was discovered the backhoe arm wasn’t long enough so Wiltz left and returned with a track hoe. Several automatic bottle machine-made sodas from Atchison, some green 7-UP bottles and an applied color label bottle from St. Joseph, Mo., were among items that emerged. The third and last cistern turned out to be a water closet.

The November issue featured a “Digging Iowa” story by Mark Wiseman (with Elsie the Pup) that covered 14 of the issue’s 18 pages. One of Fletcher’s regular features is Oklahoma bottles sold on eBay. An applied color label Jay Kola from Oklahoma City sold for $200,while an Oxley’s Big Chief ACL from Poteau, Okla., sold for $399.99.

In the December issue, Ed Stewart penned “The Case of the Masquerading Privy, or And Then There were Two.” The adventure took place in Atchison, Kan., and diggers in addition to the author were Johnnie Fletcher, Richard Carr, Todd Stillings and Francis Wiltz.

A small porcelain lid marked The Alexander S. Mawson & Thompson Feeding Bottle, London was found and a bit later Carr dug a bottle embossed with the same name that the lid fit. Another

Southern Regional News Bill Baab 2352 Devere Street Augusta, GA 30904 (706) 736-8097 riverswamper@comcast.net

It’s always a treat for this editor to open Marshall Clements’ latest Bottle Talk, the official newsletter of the Raleigh (N.C.) Bottle Club.

Marshall has been fighting computer problems lately and the only newsletter I’ve received dates to September. However, it’s a doozy, and it’ll tickle yore innards!

He and his wife like to travel to places they’ve not visited, like Wartrace, Tenn., where they found Hillbilly Willy’s Ice Cream and Antiques inside a downtown store. Ice cream and antiques are two of Marshall’s favorite things, but they were forgotten as soon as he opened the shop’s door.

“All I could see were Mountain Dew bottles, signs and collectibles gathered over the years by Stan Dismukes. His collection is reportedly the largest in the country, with more than 1,100 different bottles and several hundred duplicates, not to mention signs and everything else Mountain Dew.” Readers of this report also can check out the many photos Marshall took by going to the club website (maintained

by Robert Creech) at raleighbottleclub@ gmail.com.

Melissa Milner, editor of The Groundhog Gazette, newsletter of The State of Franklin (Tenn.) Antique Bottle & Collectible Association, featured Dr.

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Ed Stewart, of Paola, Kan., and a member of the Oklahoma Territory Bottle & Relic Club, last summer made his third metal detecting trip to England.

He was lucky enough to detect and unearth a 3,000-year-old Bronze Age axe head. Johnnie Fletcher, editor of Oklahoma Territory News, reported the find in his October issue. Ed and his father have contributed a story on the history of Kansas bottle collecting which will be published in Bottles and Extras later this year.

Fletcher authored “The Big Cistern Dig” featuring himself, Francis Wiltz, Ed Stewart, Jim Ricketts and John Kujawa.

The cistern was located on Atchison, Kan., property owned by Kujawa, who had given permission, but insisted that he be present. He was looking for a hobby to pursue after retirement and felt bottle collecting might be just the ticket.

Fletcher decided to probe for the outhouse that had never been found in previous explorations on the property

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nurser, Hagerty / Bros. & Co. / New York // HB / & / Co. The diggers estimated the nursers dated to the 1870s. Sixty-five embossed bottles, including 29 drug store bottles, came out of the pit.

The Suncoast Antique Bottle Collectors Association’s main topic of discussion, according to Linda Buttstead writing in The Glass Bubble, was its show held Jan. 8-9. Among show features were free bottles for kids 12 and under and a door prize bottle. More than 100 tables had been sold as of Oct. 7 This regional editor was at the show on the second day and will have a full report in the March-April B and E. The club held its annual Christmas party last Dec. 10 with a buffet and gift

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exchange. Elections were held at the January meeting and those results also will be published in the next issue of the magazine.

Members of the Horse Creek Bottle Club, of which this editor is secretary and editor of the Probe & Plunder newsletter, had a great time during the November meeting. Many of them met at the home of Mike and Julie Newman and checked out their wonderful collections.

Julie collects miniature dachshund figurines; in fact, anything dachshunds, while Mike is into historical flasks, colored sodas and Edgefield District, S.C., and Crawford County, Ga., pottery, among other things. Most of his flasks and sodas are in backlit display cases. It is an

Western Regional News Ken Lawler & “Dar” 6677 Oak Forest Drive Oak Park, CA 91377 (818) 889-5451 kenlawler@roadrunner.com

Antique Bottle Collectors of Colorado – Dump Digger’s Gazette Rick Sinner mentioned in one of his President’s Messages that at one of their meetings about 35 members watched a DVD on the unearthing of the steamboat Arabia. He said that two hundred tons of precious supplies sank on the Missouri River near Kansas City in 1856 and that the steamboat was unearthed in 1988.

Actually the DVD came about during a program on the Steamboat Arabia museum that was presented by Jan Racey. Ken and I have visited the museum, as many of you readers probably have. There were cases after cases of bottles brought up from their grave of 142 years and multiple displays of other items. We think Rick felt that the DVD lifted the spirits of those in Colorado who get aced out on dig time during the snowy, winter months.

It has come to the attention of Rick that the FOHBC is looking into creating a website museum. He wrote, “How exciting is that? When they get it up and running, I’m sure we’ll be able to view some of the rarest bottles, jugs and collectibles known. Wouldn’t it be nice if the ABCC had a website?” He went

on to suggest that if anyone from the club has experience in designing websites to contact him. He would like to see a volunteer step up to the plate and help develop one.

Under the Club News column the Baxter/Eatwell Award was mentioned. We remember reporting on this in the past. The club has specific qualifications they base their selection on: “1) Service to the ABCC; 2) Enthusiasm for the Hobby of Bottle Collecting; and 3) Displays honesty, integrity, ethics and moral principles when dealing with ABCC business.” The club was reminded that Jim and Barb Sundquist won the award in 2008.

Pictures of specific finds and identification of same appeared in a Meetings Highlights section of the club newsletter. Bob and Arlene Hansen brought in a Moxie Hutchinson-style bottle. Bob also had acquired a H. Mooney, Liquor Dealer, 1029 Main, Kansas City, Mo. half-pint flask. Ken Watkins showed off his three Hutchinson sodas: H. Vossbeck & Co., Trinidad (ca.

1896); Standard Bottle Works, Torino & Bory, Trinidad, Colo. (ca. 1902); and the Standard Bottling Works, Peter Orella, Proprietor (Silverton – not on bottle).

Bob Berlin showed his three Denver Hutchinson-style soda bottles including a Boulder Springs Bottling Co. and an Empire Bottling Co. Member Ellen Jacobson’s article and pictures of her favorite bottle appeared in the November 2009 issue of

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awesome sight.

The Newmans also served those gathered refreshments and barbecue..

I’m sure you’ll forgive me for tooting my own horn about a non-bottle item of which I am very proud. The Whitefish Press of Cincinnati, Ohio (whitefishpress. com) has published “Remembering George W. Perry,” the book capping my 35 years of research into the life and times of the man who caught the world record largemouth bass in 1932. The 22-pound, 4-ounce record still stands today, but may have been tied by a Japanese angler who caught his fish in Japan’s Lake Biwa last July. At this writing (in late November), the International Game Fish Association had yet to approve Manabu Kurita’s application. the club’s newsletter. Here are some of the highlights: It is about her first bottle purchase made in 1967. The background is that she lived in Vail, Colorado and had all the obligations of a woman with a child, trying to make ends meet.

Her outlet was to take off with a friend twice a week with kids and dogs and do some “mindless digging.” She said they rarely found anything great. One experience led to another and before she could fight off the urge she ordered a sapphire blue, heavily whittled, mint Owen Casey, Eagle Soda Works, Sac City for $22. At that time she explains that it was enough money to feed her and her child for a week. She ends her article with a reminiscing statement. “It was love at first sight and to this day, this bottle remains my favorite.” Below her article she made a simple statement encouraging others to write something for the newsletter about their first find.

Forty-Niner Historical Bottle Association – Bottle Bug Briefs California has an annual fire season; it is now a possibility year round. As the result of a fire in Auburn, California in 2009 this is what was stated in one of the Bottle Bug Briefs newsletters: “In recognition of the historic importance of Gold Rush Auburn and the tragedies faced by many of its current residents as a result of the recent conflagration, the 49er HBA donated $500 to the Salvation Army.”

The Henness house was the focal point of the annual picnic. Thirty folks

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turned out to enjoy great steaks and other delectable foods. Pictures were taken of people eating outside around Mike’s pool, and pictures of Mike’s bottle room filled with shelving on all sides with rare bottles, sodas, bitters, barrels, and perhaps a start of another collecting interest, handled whiskeys. Mike and Janice were thanked for opening their home to accommodate the club’s picnic.

Mike McKillop got credit for organizing this event.

The 2009 National Show, in Pomona, California, was well attended by FortyNiner members, according to Editor George Wagoner. The following folks traveled down to Southern California: Mike and Corey Henness, Ken Edward, Dennis Spence, Warren Friedrichs, Herb Yew, Chuck Erickson and Mike and Janice Lake. Mike and Janice manned the club’s table.

A program was presented by Jerry Ikeda, a major Sacramento fruit jar collector. Here is what was written about that event: “He brought about 30 rare topof- the-line pint jars and closures to the meeting. Jerry said that Napoleon began the search for a safe canning jar. The first successful jars were made around 1850 and continue to be manufactured today.

Jerry’s best jar is The Lady’s Favorite with a lady embossed on the jar. Jerry told us when looking for a jar, color is always king; cobalt, green and black are best. Original closures are also important, often costing more than the jar. Other things to look for are corks, wax sealers, unusual closures and jars with pictures on them. Jerry has been collecting for 30 years and has about 100 food jars.”

Some of the show and tell items brought in were: Kent Williams with his Foote and Skelton collection of Bunker Hill Pickles. Michael Pert dazzled folks with his Benicia colored pickles. Mike Mckillop brought a pick, crystals, and an early pontiled amber umbrella ink.

Max Bell had an amber, square Keyhole pepper sauce bottle.

Significant raffle bottles such as an “early green case gin, with open pontil, a green, iron pontil, Union Glass Works soda, an open pontil, green Cornucopia flask, Doyles Hop Bitters, Warner’s Safe Cure, Reno Brewing Co., amber quart beer, a green Carter’s master ink, and an amber Aromatic Schnapps” were part of the numerous bottles donated to be used for monthly raffles, during 2009.

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Golden Gate Historical Bottle Society – The Corker President Gary Antone’s enthusiasm is always reflected in his newsletter messages. This is how he described what he and his wife Darla did on an adventure: “We had a great time at Lou and Leisa Lambert’s, our GGHBS BBQ at Rick and Jackie Lindgren’s, and then the Downieville show. It was our first time doing the show and we’re so glad we made the trip. Between the beautiful scenery, the hospitality of Rick and Cherry Simi, and the successful bottle show, it made the long trek worthwhile. There was a good turnout, considering it is such a small town, and I think there are some new collectors among the locals there. We even got caught in a cattle drive on the way home, which made the drive home pretty entertaining and a good way to end the trip!” He also mentioned the Santa Rosa show that Beverley Siri chairs. He said that “It’s been fun attending, selling at, and supporting these shows.” His advice to all of us is, “If you haven’t been to a show lately, please try. We can all use the support to keep our hobby (and collections!) going strong.” Good advice, Gary!

Ross Dileo and Kevin Frederick had written an article on their Alameda Dig in June 2004. Ross submitted it for publication and it appeared in the October 2009 issue of this club’s newsletter.

The two men set off with their probes, shovels and buckets. Their destination was a back yard. With permission from the owner they looked forward to checking out the mid 1800s location. Armed with Sanborn insurance maps as their guide they felt pretty confident that they would “unearth” something of interest. Ross, with his 40 years of experience, was still able to get excited as they located a dump site/privy at the very back corner of the lot. Kevin is an amateur photographer and member of the Alameda Museum and Alameda Architectural Preservation Society. He did all the history research on an 1875 saloon that had once been on the site. He looked at maps and checked on newspaper articles. Equipped with all the right tools and information they anxiously “dug in.” At first they had to work their way through beer and soda cans from the 1970s and broken pieces of old glass and pottery. They said that about four feet down they ran into what they considered “pieces of interest.” They ran into numerous broken pieces of embossed

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items from the 1870s. Then they got into some whole items. “There was a light green blob top soda embossed California Soda Works, H Ficken S.F., a milk glass Hagans Magnolia Balm, plus several black glass beers. Kevin came up with a fragile, rusted gun that he researched. Kevin and Ross think that maybe it may have been a weapon that was used during a shooting in the Nobmann Saloon building.

Gary wrote that the 2010 GGHBS show has been confirmed for April 16 and 17, 2010 in Antioch. When the first part of any new year begins, some of us start planning on what shows we want to attend.

I am sure Gary and Darla would not want you to miss this one!

Las Vegas Antique Bottles and Collectibles Club (No Name for Newsletter) A brief news letter was issued by President Mike Presley that incorporated minutes of the Nov. 4, 2009 meeting. He started it by saying, “Please forgive the shortness of this newsletter. As many of you know my time has been taken by the passing of my wife, Barbara. I will take this opportunity to thank everyone for the many cards that have been sent and to those that were able to attend the party on Monday; my heartfelt thanks.” Mike, Ken Lawler and I extend our condolences. I am sure that you will be hearing from many more folks who previously weren’t aware of your loss.

Club members are looking forward to their upcoming show. Show chairman Stan Pullen reported in the club’s November 2009 newsletter that “Seventy-seven have signed up and that 122 tables have been sold. Twelve folks have registered for rooms.”

Los Angeles Historical Bottle Club – The Whittlemark Club member Dave Hall had a display at the 2009 FOHBC National Show in Pomona, California. His display was Glass Factories at Valverde, Colorado 1896 – 1909. His handout covered the history of the Valverde Glass Works, the Western Flint Glass Company and the reincorporation of yet another new name of the Western Glass Manufacturing Company. The first two companies made insulators, but no bottles had been found that were associated with those companies.

Finally the third company made bottles that had a trademark nicknamed “belt buckle.”

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January - February, 2010

Bottles and Extras

showed. Eric McGuire had a cornucopia flask, ½ pint aqua sand dollar man of war.

Probably 1830s, listed as an Eagle flask.

Gary Ingols showed a beer can display.

One of many cans he recently picked up.”

Dave Hall’s display at the Pomona Show.

Dave started collecting belt buckles in the mid 1990s. Dave credits Mike Miller from the Denver area for inspiring him to collect and eventually display his finds. Dave says that, “Bottles have been found with the WGM Co. mark in eight surrounding states -- Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho.”

Secretary Ken Lawler mentioned in his minutes that “Dick Homme announced he was resigning from being show chairman after 13 years of service. Don Wippert suggested that Dick record his part of what his responsibility was for the new person who will step in. Dick was shown appreciation by a round of applause for his years of dedication. You folks in other clubs can appreciate the consistent hard work that goes into keeping your club shows on track. Dick and Don have worked together on their annual show effort for years. They are to be congratulated for their tireless efforts.

New Mexico Historical Bottle Society (No Newsletter at this Time) I run into Greg Hoglin at a bottle show off and on, and when I stop at his table we seem to drift into a conversation about the club. I ask whether they have gotten a newsletter together yet and Greg says that he is working on getting one together.

I then suggest to Greg that when the club has meetings (which I think they have four times a year) that I would appreciate receiving a copy of club secretarial notes so that I can write something about the club in this magazine.

Both Greg and Marcia are great folks and I know that, in time, Greg will get something going and probably Marcia will type it and get it published and out on the street. I look forward to seeing you two at a future show. Remember, if you want to contact me personally, my email

is: dfurda@roadrunner.com.

I want to take this opportunity to communicate with another member of your club, Zane Wood. Zane sent a much appreciated thank you note mentioning that he wanted to thank Tom Tyshko who is the L.A. club member who took the pictures at the 2009 National, and Ken Lawler and I for the story and pictures of the show in Pomona that appeared in the September – October issue of Bottles and Extras. He further went on to tell Ken and I that “I really appreciate the work that you all do, the stories, observations and for being Western Region Reporters. You all do a great job. THANKS SO MUCH.” For those of you who know Zane you know that he is a sincere and fun man. Ken and I also appreciate you and your efforts, too, Zane. You are very active in this hobby and you have great Hutchinson sodas for sale!

Northwestern Bottle Collectors Association – The Glassblower There was a report from Gary and Kathleen Ingols who went on a cruise to Hawaii. Secretary Ron Puccioni wrote that “Gary showed a picture of the ship which was 18 stories high and needed stabilizers.

Gary said he probably would not do it again. Gary said the highlight of the trip was an Old Bottle Store on one of the islands. It had a lot of old soda bottles and many old Hawaiian bottles.

Leisa Lambert gave a short report on the Downieville Bottle Show. Leisa said it was a really nice show. She had a lot of fun.

George Guzman showed a nice light amber Browns Celebrated Indian Bitters and a light aqua pontiled food bottle. He also had a nice Kelloggs Nelson County Extra Whisky bottle and a Rose City Soda Works Santa Rosa bottle. Richard Siri found some old barrel stencils that he

Oregon Bottle Collectors Association – The Stumptown Report Bruce Silva announced the club’s website is up and running. If you want to take a look at it, here it is: http://www. ecandm.com/canyonville/ (Good job webmaster Scott Slowter).

Some changes have taken place for webmaster Scott Slowter. As a result of his work schedule he said that he didn’t mind being the webmaster if someone could take over the librarian responsibility. Julie Dennis volunteered to be the new librarian.

Scott added that his son “is a whiz with web design” so that Scott could depend on him for good help, as needed.

Scott showed the Bottles and Extras issue that included the color picture of Jim and Julie Dennis at the national bottle show (Editor Note: This was one of the nicest pictures we’ve seen of Jim and Julie.

If they would like that picture forwarded to them, contact Ken Lawler. We are glad your club enjoyed the article).

One newsletter read like a “Who’s Who” for attendance. Dave Johnson has joined the ranks of “New Member” while Tom Bostwick of Hood River showed up after not having attended in many years.

Jokester “Bill Bogynska told him that he should work on his attendance.” We may also be seeing more of Marie Sagmiller’s name in future newsletters. Old or new faces are always worth mentioning, anytime, anywhere.

Summer 2009 digs were validated

by Tom Bostwick showing pictures of a number of digs, some with Paul Jefferies.

No wonder Tom showed up. He was proud of what was found and he wanted to share the good finds with the club. He told about digging a Dr. Vanderpool’s in the roots of a stump grown over an outhouse. He also showed two ABM light olive green Dr. Pierce bottles.

We think Scott favored summer 2009, too. He had luck digging in St. Helens. He dug an embossed Clover Hill Dairy / Phone 17F14 / Deer Island quart milk bottle, an amber flask embossed Pat. April 3, 1900 and a neat Kellogg’s whiskey fifth.

Some club members also took advantage of the good weather to check out yard sales and antique shops. You

Bottles and Extras

never know where your next great find is going to be. It could be waiting for you on a table at a yard sale!

Jim and Julie did a favorable accounting of the Canyonville 2009 Show.

They wrote, “What a great show, the largest show (insulators and bottles) in the Northwest. According to show chairman Bruce Silva, it was a 70-table show.”

They talked about displays such as Garth Ziegenhagen’s flasks, some nice bitters, and an informative insulator display. Dave Medina’s display of patent medicines, with outstanding paper labels and boxed patent medicines and advertising, won the People’s Choice and the Dealers’ Choice awards. Congratulations on a double win, Dave!

Phoenix Antique Bottles & Collectibles Club – The A-Z Collector Three new folks have joined this club.

One new member is Candace Hammond from Montezuma, Arizona. Two others are Herb and Lila Cook from Prescott, Arizona. You have made a good choice.

We know some of these club members and they are fun as well as knowledgeable.

Welcome to the club!

Show chairman Betty Harnett gave a report on their 2009 show/sale held in October. She said that the show “featured a full room of dealers, and we ended up with approximately the same number of attendees/buyers as last year. This year we held a 50/50 raffle for dealers, rather than raffling off items. Thanks to our grunt, Ron, for selling a record number of tickets … the lucky winner received $100!” (“grunt” Ron, by the way, is her husband!). She mentioned special thanks to many of the PABCC members, and AACC members.

A long list of names accompanied her thanks.

President Brent VanDeman also said that the show was another outstanding success and also thanked every member of the club for their participation.

Betty is this club’s newsletter editor and is encouraging member assistance in coming up with any new ideas for content or layout. She will readily accept any stories folks might write up and submit to her for incorporation into the newsletter.

What have you got to lose? Try your hand at putting a few paragraphs together about something you have done be it a garage sale find or your adventure in an antique store (maybe include a picture or two). Let your imagination be your guide.

January - February, 2010

A combination theme of program and show and tell worked out well for the club. Lisa Helm had introduced the idea of having club members bring in items from 1909 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of that year. Lisa started her program by describing such historical events from 1909 as mass-production of the black Model T Ford and the fact that numerous mining towns in Arizona were prospering, but many quickly became ghost towns.

She had researched other historical facts and listed about 10 of them.

Club members kept on track with Lisa’s suggestion. Dave Carr brought in a kerosene Dietz “Octo” driving lamp.

Brent VanDeman brought in several Arizona bottles, including various sodas and a Hutchinson. Earl Colton brought a “preacher’s flask,” while John Knirsch said his father was born in 1909. He brought a Borden’s evaporated milk can and said that 1909 was the 52nd anniversary of Borden’s milk. Steve Mares didn’t find anything among his collections regarding 1909, but he brought in early items such as jars, a jug, insulators and a 1910 license plate from New Jersey that was “probably made in 1909.” Another member, Robert Richshafer brought in several Bisbee newspapers from 1909. Bryan Grapentine showed two calendar plates from 1909.

Cole Lewellyn showed a previously unknown Laird (Tempe) Arizona drug store bottle from 1909. Lisa Helm had a door knob and a matching escutcheon plate from 1909. Ron Hartnett became the caretaker of some Warren paper items relating to family history documents which are early 1900. Betty Harnett also brought in a handmade wooden sewing basket and a handmade quilt from her great-grandmother.

Bryan and Pearl Grapentine put together an article entitled, “Prescott’s Sharlot Hall Museum Brings History Alive.” Here is an appropriate portion that ties into the 1909 theme: “Sharlot Hall Museum is named after its founder, Sharlot Mabridth Hall (1870 – 1943), who became well known as a poet, activist, politician, and territorial historian. Sharlot Hall was one of the West’s most remarkable women.

In 1909, she was appointed Territorial Historian and became the first woman to hold territorial office – 11 years before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in the United States.”

Reno Antique Bottle Club – digger’s dirt

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This club’s show is scheduled to be back on track in 2010. Mark your calendars for July 24, 2010 and plan to attend and support these brave folks. They have weathered the storm of location and the hardest part of dealing with the regulations governing such a show. Even though this club will be exempt as antique dealers from having to be fingerprinted and having a background check, there is another issue to be dealt with. All towns in Nevada will have to comply with the rules and regulations determined by the “Reno Revenue Business Licensing Division” that any item for sale must be over sixty years old to be classified as an antique.

Any item under that will be considered “second hand merchandise” and will fall under a new law. Dealers will need to obtain an authorization card that will allow them to sell second hand items. The Reno show will be “scrutinized for any violations.” Dealers will be informed of this new rule and of how to acquire a card that will give the dealer show coverage.

Actually, the required card will cover the dealer for five years anywhere in Nevada.

The members of this club did not become discouraged; instead they have forged ahead with making plans for the kind of show the public is used to attending. It was stated in the newsletter that several locations were looked into, but the cost was too prohibitive elsewhere. This means that the show will once again be held at the Reno Convention Center.

One added note pertaining to the above information: “The good news is that there is a task force that is working on the situation. Perhaps clearer heads will prevail and the ordinance will be redefined or curtailed.”

Here’s an unusual find. Bill Metscher found an old rusted iron, kid’s ride-on train engine in the Tonopah dump. When he gets through “slowly” restoring it, I think he should put a picture of it in the club’s newsletter. A picture of it might bring back memories for an oldtimer or two.

Here’s a bit of interesting information from article contributor Dottie Daugherty that I bet that most folks don’t know about: “James Earle Fraser, a designer of American Art, was the artist who designed the Indian Buffalo nickel. The engraving, minted in 1913, was a composite of three different Indians from three different tribes.

There was much speculation at the time about who was the Indian who

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posed for Fraser. In fact, Fraser used three different Indians as models. Each Indian’s particular facial feature was used and combined to represent the final stoic face that was engraved on the coin.

John Big Tree, an Iroquois, was the model for the nose. He used the mouth of Iron Tail, a Sioux for that portion, and Two Moons, a Cheyenne, was the model of the hair and braids. These three authentic Indian models became the one face of the five-cent piece.”

In ending this month’s write-up on the Reno club we want to close with this thought: Whichever way the details concerning your show work out, congratulations on getting your show back up on the calendar!

San Diego Antique Bottle and Collectibles Club – The Bottleneck Matt Lawson will soon begin writing a monthly column for this club’s newsletter.

This voluntary effort was reported in meeting minutes published in this club’s newsletter the latter part of 2009. This kind of volunteering means a lot to a club. We look forward to reading your efforts.

This club is right on the ball in planning ahead. Programs Co-Chair John Lawson announced that next year’s programs are largely in place, and are primarily focused on bottles. Hopefully, Carl Serr will be able to stay on schedule and present a program on archaeology.

I think many of us bottle enthusiasts are always interested in hearing about the archaeologist experience.

Looks like some members have been having some serious discussions concerning their 2010 bottle show. A program is in the works for next year’s club bottle show. There was also some discussion of lowering the cost of table sales in an effort to attract more sellers.

For those of you in the milk bottle collecting hobby (this would be you, Frank Pekarek, for one example), must have really enjoyed Ken Gallo’s PowerPoint presentation on the history of the Edgemore Farm in Santee. Ken is president of the Santee Historical Society. He traced the history of the area from a state-of-the-art dairy operation to the development of the property into the County Poor Farm. He also detailed present efforts to save as many of the historical buildings as possible. That hope resounds across our country. Those of us who originate from out of state realize that

January - February, 2010

particular effort is on-going in most of our home states. While we are preserving the bottles, we would hope the historical societies of the various areas will have success in preserving the buildings.

In a 2009 issue of The Bottleneck, there are some historical facts included in a reprint from the “Save Our Heritage Magazine 9/09.” The article in the newsletter is entitled “Black Gold in San Diego?” by Mike Bryant. It is explained that San Diego around the turn of the 20th century was determined not to be left out of the search for oil and gas. The automobile was gaining popularity and it made sense to join in on the idea of perhaps making some money by searching for oil in San Diego. Hundreds of oil wells were dug in San Diego County from Oceanside in the north to San Ysidro in the south, and from Ocean Beach to East County, and all points in between. The first San Diego drilling took place in National City in the 1880s. Water was discovered and that was a good thing because of San Diego’s arid climate; however, that wasn’t the objective. At one point without sufficient funds, companies with the original intent of drilling, ran out of money and couldn’t continue. City officials entered the arena.

Some murky news surfaced about that attempt. The search for oil and gas in San Diego County would continue until the late 1930s. The elusive petroleum remained elusive.

We have come to learn of some of Mike Bryant’s adventures as a lad and as a grownup. He seems to wind down some of his articles with an interesting personal note. Here is another example: “As a lad growing up in the Linda Vista section of San Diego in the 1950s and 60s, I spent a lot of my free time exploring Tecolote Canyon. Little did I know that the old pile of lumber, near where the golf course club house now stands, was one of “His Honor’s” last attempts at becoming San Diego’s first oil baron. It wasn’t until the mid 1960s when I read a column by Herbert Lockwood titled “The Skeleton’s Closet,” in the weekly newspaper, the Independent, that I would learn the significance of that pile of old wood.

According to Mr. Lockwood, the well in Tecolote Canyon was called Community Well Number 5 after the first four turned out to be dusters. At 1,274 feet, Number 5 faired no better than the previous four, so it was abandoned, as was the hopes and dreams of the good citizens of San Diego.

Bottles and Extras

The wooden derrick stood for many years, but it too eventually ended up as nothing more than a pile of memories, as was San Diego’s search for ‘Black Gold.”

Washington Bottle & Collectors Association – Ghost Town Echo Ken and I were contacted by President Carmen Johnson via email on November 13, 2009. Here is what she sadly related: “Hi, Dar and Ken, I would appreciate it if you could include this in the next issue of Bottles and Extras Western Regional News. In Loving Memory of Rebekah Lynn Johnsen. Becky was born asleep, 28 days premature, on July 23rd, 2009.

She never got to open her eyes or breathe her first breath. Still she was our beautiful baby girl, whom always will be with me inside my heart. Becky died of placental abruption before she was born. Even though her time on earth was short, she had a substantial impact on everyone around, both near and far. Since Becky’s birth, the last few weeks have been extremely difficult for me to deal with. Losing her has been the hardest thing in my life to deal with. I would like to thank everybody for their support, understanding, help, and condolences; especially Quenton Borreson.

Without Quenton’s help, there would have been several days that I wouldn’t have gotten through, due to all the grief and pain. Becky is survived by her parents, Carmen Johnsen and David Bork, siblings, Anita, Kimberly and Austin, and many loving friends. Thanks Everyone! WBCA President, Carmen Johnsen – Thanks, WBCA President, Carmen Johnsen – 206501-7638.”

This club was contacted through the club’s website by a dive group called the NW Adventure Divers. It ended up that Niel Smith did a presentation for the group this past summer. Secretary Keith Ferguson reported that the group finds bottles, but they aren’t a collectors group.

They wanted a program so they could learn more about bottles, so we guess that must be why Niel got involved. A guy named Kirby brought some really early bottles to show. It sounds like he found them from a dive off Tacoma. Kirby mentioned Chutney bottles from Paraguay. He’s a rescue diver from FD. It seems he grossed Niel out with a story of finding a skeletal body. It was also reported that this group finds places with whiskey bottles stacked like cordwood. (Editor’s Note: I think some diving lessons are in order here!)

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January - February, 2010

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January - February, 2010

Covered Bottles

Bottles and Extras

By Richard T. Siri

My interest in Native Americans goes back to when I was six years old and would find arrowheads in the apple, prune and walnut orchards around where I live in Santa Rosa.

The first rain after they disc the orchards was the best time to look for them. I have always maintained an interest in Native American crafts as well as other North American cultures. I had for a few years operated a retail store, selling antiques, old bottles and Native American crafts such as baskets, rugs, pottery, jewelry and beadwork.

It was during that time period that I was in Gallup, New Mexico on a buying trip when I traded for my first covered bottle. I was collecting antique bottles by then and always carried a box of trading stock with me and whenever I was on a trip I’d search out bottle collectors to trade with. While in Gallup I found a person that dealt in Indian crafts as well as old bottles.

When I first walked into his place of business I spotted the bottle and knew I had to have it. As I handled the bottle I could feel ridges under the weaving. Well, for the next few years I would hold the bottle and run my hands over the ridges wondering what it said. It was an applied top whiskey and the ridges formed a square. It had to be embossed inside the square. But what was it?

At a Santa Rosa bottle show I decided to take the weaving off the bottle to expose the embossing. A group of whiskey collectors put a buck each into a pot and whoever made the right guess got the money. Bob Shaw, a collector from Santa Rosa club, made almost the right guess. He said “Our Choice Old Bourbon” (Fig. 1), but he didn’t say what agent. It had two and turned out to be the rarer of the two -- H.Brickwedel & Co. Bob got the pot, but I kept the bottle.

When I took the weaving off of the bottle, I did it very carefully so I could put it back on.

Today, I don’t remove the weaving, but sit and fondle the bottles, trying to figure out what’s underneath the weaving. I had a appointment with Frank Ritz, who is a dentist and also a longtime bottle collector. I took a bottle that I believed had embossing on it and while at Frank’s, he took an X-ray of it to see if it was embossed. The X-ray turned out black; oh well, back to the drawing board.

I have also investigated rifle bore mirrors and checked out various medical cameras. I couldn’t get my cardiologist to check out one of my bottles while he was putting a stent in me and his camera was small enough to fit inside a bottle mouth.

Then at the Canyonville, Oregon show last October, a collector approached me with a covered bottle he wanted to sell, complete with X-rays. Wow! The X-rays were done at a chiropractor’s office and showed enough of the embossing to determine that it was a J.H.Cutter whiskey. It was the one whiskey collectors call a “Bird Cutter.” It fit right into my

Figure 1

collections a Cutter whiskey and A Native American covered bottle to boot.

Now I had the answer and it turns out that a company that rents from me services X-ray machines. Empire Imaging Inc., is.owned by Steven Seefeldt. He set me up with Dr. Wayne Carr, a chiropractor in Healdsburg, Calif. I took several bottles that I suspected had embossing. As it turned out, three out of 11 did. Some I would have bet money that they were embossed weren’t. Good thing I didn’t take the weaving off of those. One of the bottles was a Dr. Henley’s IXL bitters (Fig. 2), another was a Warner’s Safe Kidney & Liver Cure (Fig. 3) and the third was a Louis Hunter Pure Rye from Seattle, Washington (Fig. 4).

Having collected antique bottles for many years gave me an insight into how the bottle weaving craft had developed among the various tribal groups. The earliest covered bottles are from the Tlingit and Aleut people from the Aleutian Islands and the Alaskan coastal area. The next group was south of them and includes the Tsihshian and Nuchalnuth from Alaska and British Columbia on the west coast of Canada.

Going still farther south, one finds the Nooka and Makah

Bottles and Extras

January - February, 2010

Figure 3

from the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State. Next would be the Chehalis tribe from Figure 2 Washington State and then the Tillamook from Tillamook Bay, Oregon. The Hupa, Karok and Yurok tribes from northwestern California area started covering bottles around the early 1900s. The craft then spread across the top of northern California to the Klamath and the Pit River tribal groups to northeastern California and the Modocs.

Finally, the craft was picked up by the Paiutes from south central Oregon, northeast California and northwest Nevada down to the Washoe on the eastern side of the Sierras to about Gardnerville, Nevada.

This progression is based on my knowledge of bottles, but not my knowledge of tribal groups. I think that the weavers just grabbed what was readily available at the time. For instance, applied Figure 4 top bottles weren’t covered by Washoe, Paiute or Pit River tribes and they’re not found any in the Hupa, Karok or Yurok weavings. But as you go farther north toward Alaska, applied top bottle start showing up.

In conclusion, it can be assumed that the craft started in Alaska, moved down the west coast across northern California

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to the eastern slopes of the Sierras down to about Gardnerville.

I have not found any covered bottles from other California tribes from the Pomos down to the Mission Tribe.

The weavings are made from natural dyed grass to Red Bud and Black Root strips as well as willow. I don’t want to get into what tribes used what materials to do their weavings since that’s another story.

A few years ago at the San Rafael, Calif., Indian show --- the biggest in the nation --- a person knowledgeable in Indian crafts was showing me a covered bottle. In her words, she stated how magical the weavings of the weaver were. And she said the bottle dated to 1890s. I retorted that the weaver was even better than Merlin the magician because she got a 1920s bottle into an 1890 weaving.

People have asked why the various tribes covered bottles.

Most were done to sell to settlers and tourists. Native Americans were making tourist items as far back as the mid 1800s that I know of, maybe even longer on the east coast.

On a second trip to the chiropractor, X-rays showed up a Warner’s Safe Rheumatic Cure (Fig 5), a Spruance & Stanley pumpkinseed flask (Fig. 6) and a drug store bottle from Tacoma, Wash. (Fig. 7) Figure 5 The search goes on.

Figure 6

Figure 7

Front cover revealed: (from l to r) Dr. Siegret’s … Pit River Tribe; Crown Distilleries … Pit River tribe; Yerba Buena Bitters…Piaute Tribe; Whiskey …. Tillamook Tribe; Beer ....

Klamath Tribe; (bottom) Chinese Rice Wine …Tsihshian Tribe; Chinese Rice Wine … Tlingit Tribe.

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January - February, 2010

Is This Flask Incorrectly Described?

Bottles and Extras

By Eric McGuire

Historical flasks are, as a subject of collection, perhaps the most studied group of American bottles known.

Aesthetically pleasing and often with motifs that are as patriotically American as one can get, it is hard for any collector who appreciates glass to not hold a special reverence for them, even if one’s collecting specialty is nursing bottles.

One sub-category is the fairly large group of cornucopia flasks. The cornucopia has come to symbolize bountiful goodness, and when embossed on a flask, may not be directly historical but could represent the bounty of our great country.

The father-daughter team of pioneer bottles collectors, George and Helen McKearin created an enduring system of categorization of all known historical/ pictorial flasks of their time when they published the classic book American Glass in 1941. The Latin group number and Arabic sub-number extension has been entirely memorized by a large number of collectors who can talk to each other in a language that sounds like some sort of subversive code.

One such group is “GIII,” with a total of 18 bottles represented, having a central motif identified as a cornucopia “filled with produce.” The opposite side is described as a large beaded circular medallion with six ribbed points.

With all due respect to the McKearins, I think they may have “got it wrong.” Take a good look at the “fruit” that fills this cornucopia. It is unlike any of the fruit that is depicted in all of the other cornucopia flasks that are not inverted. This flask has what looks like a bunch of stringy stuff hanging down from the “horn.” It hasn’t gone unnoticed that there are several other flasks with descriptions of inverted cornucopias that have the same sort of stringy embossing extruding from the horn and I believe those are also improperly described, but for now I am just focusing on the GIII-1 flask.

Now let’s look at another similarly

shaped object that has the same orientation to the so-called inverted cornucopia. The man-o-war jellyfish fits this description exactly. The stringy fruit looks much more like the tentacles of said man-o-war. Then let’s take a good look at that medallion embossed on the other side of the flask. Compare it with that close relative of the sea urchin known as the sand dollar. Again, there is an amazing resemblance.

Medalion side

Inverted Cornucopia side

Man-owar

Sand Dollar

While the example shown above isn’t exactly dollar-shaped, I can’t help but be persuaded by this visual coincidence of two marine creatures on this flask.

Perhaps this flask should be better described as sporting a man-o-war, just as the flasks known by the McKearins as GII-11, GII-12, GII-13, GII-14 and GII-69. All of these latter flasks have an eagle embossed on the opposite side but the inverted cornucopia still looks more like a man-o-war to me than a cornucopia – especially with all that “stringy stuff.”

What do you think? Does this idea have merit? I am certainly not proposing the change of McKearin’s numbering system, but perhaps we should recognize what these flasks really depict. Of course, a big question looms over this idea. Why would these historical flasks show marine organisms, and how does this fit in with the whole genre of the other historical flasks?

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Happy Birthday Bodie!

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By Dave Maryo

Bodie California celebrated its 150th birthday August 8th, 2009. The Friends of Bodie hosted the celebration with many special events and made it quite an interesting day. The streets were filled with people in period costumes representing different times in the town’s history. A band played in the main street as people gathered to listen. A medicine show was held in a field across from the general store. Early cars were parked at the Bodie Mercantile and later at the church.

Thousands of visitors wandered around the town peeking into the dusty windows to see the items that have been in the same place for a hundred years. The ghost town was alive again, even if it was just for one day.

The birth of Bodie was in 1859 when William Bodey discovered gold near Bodie’s Bluff. The area started an immediate boom in population. Homes and businesses sprang up and by 1880 the town was believed to be home to more than 10,000 individuals. At the high point of the population, Bodie was the third largest town in California. Bodie’s large population in the 1860s to the 1880s made it a great source of early Western bottles. The town was reported to have had 65 saloons operating at one time. Just imagine the miner’s gold being spent on the best beverages that money could buy. And of course some of these expensive beverages were bottled in very fancy bottles. Today, bottles marked with the Bodie name can bring thousands of dollars.

Just recently, American Bottle Auctions sold a greenish aqua Pearson Bros. gravitating stopper soda for $3,600. Bodie will always have a place in the

bottle collecting hobby, but it has much more to offer than old bottles.

When the gold in the mines at Bodie dwindled, the mining companies could no longer continue to be profitable and started closing their businesses. The town of Bodie started in a downward decline and never recovered. Due to the remote location of the town, when people moved away many of their belongings were not worth the cost of transportation and were left behind. This left the buildings standing with many of the items from the past to collect dust.

The Bodie ghost town era began in the 1930s after most of the town’s residents left in search of a new life and source of income. In 1962, Bodie became a California state park in an effort to preserve the ghost town and made removing artifacts illegal. California’s state park system is now preserving Bodie in what they call an “arrested state of decay” leaving visitors to see the abandoned town in the same way it looked nearly a hundred years ago. Bodie is a time capsule back to the day when gold was mined, gamblers frequented saloons and gunfighters roamed the streets. In the heyday of Bodie there were nearly two thousand buildings stretching over a mile in length. A number of fires in the late 1800s and early 1900s left less than 200 buildings standing. They now appear very much like they were when the town was abandoned. Today, its empty buildings are the only reminder of the glory days of this unique town. I would encourage anyone that has not visited Bodie to take a look at this place that stands still in time. You could also join the friends of Bodie and help preserve the town. Maybe someday with your help the park system will retrieve more artifacts for a museum.

Contact Friends of Bodie P.O. Box 515, Bridgeport, CA 93517 Phone: (760) 647-6564 Friends of Bodie or (760) 647-6445 Bodie State Historic Park Fax: (760) 647-6486 Email: FriendsOfBodie@SierraStateParks.org Website: http://www.sierrastateparks.org/bodie/contact.htm

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New York Bottle History

Bottles and Extras

By Howard Dean

(EDITOR’S NOTE: In 1999, Howard Dean was inducted into the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors’ Hall of Fame. He has published a number of books and stories on bottle collecting and, 91 at the time, still goes digging.

Here are his recollections of how the hobby got started in his neck of the New York woods).

My first experience with the hobby of bottle collecting began on April 29, 1968, in Syracuse, N.Y. One of my friends, who used to fish with me, was Dr. Martin Hilfinger. I was an aquatic biologist and Marty and I got along well. On that date, I was in his office in Syracuse and asked him how the fishing was going. That started the following conversation: “Now, Howard, I don’t want you to laugh when I tell you this, but I have a new hobby. I now collect glass insulators and antique bottles.”

When I asked how he found them, he said, “We dig in old dumps.” My diary indicated that I said, “I must try this myself. It sounds interesting.” I immediately purchased A Bottle Collector’s Handbook as a start. The very next day at work along East Stony Creek in the town of Hope in New York State, I found my first old bottles.

That was my start.

The closest bottle club to my home in Westernville was in Syracuse 50 miles away. That was the Empire State Bottle Collectors Association founded in 1965. It was started by Paul and Betty Chapman and is the oldest club in continual operation in the U.S.A. The Antique Bottle Collectors Association of California, founded in 1959 by John Tibbitts of Sacramento, broke up for a year or so, making our New York club the oldest.

The ESBCA newsletter was called Bits & Pieces and Betty Chapman was its first editor. “The club for many years exhibited at the New York State Fair in Syracuse, promoting bottle collecting,” recalled longtime member Tom Dudarchik Jr. “In 1975, the ESBCA produced a 10th anniversary bottle made from the original Poor Man’s Bitters bottle mold in the collection of Dr. Leigh Simpson,” Dudarchik said. “It was made in blue glass with a slug plate placed on the bottom depicting it as ESBCA’s 10th anniversary bottle. Dr. Simpson later donated the mold to the Oswego County Historical Association. The county is where the bitters had originated.”

A cup plate was designed and issued to mark the club’s 25th anniversary in 1990. Millville (N.J.) Glass Works fabricated the plate and 250 were issued.

Charles Gardner, Helen McKearin and Don and Jean Garrison were among some of the “famous” bottle collectors who were association members.

Dean continues: At first, I was mostly interested in glass insulators and found a great many of them along railroad tracks and on old telephone lines. I swapped many of them with collectors across the country.

Here is a list of New York State clubs existing in 1985: Berkshire Antique Bottle Association in Stephentown.

Black River Valley Bottle Club in Carthage. Genessee Valley Bottle Collectors Association in Rochester. Hudson Valley Bottle Club in Highland Falls. North Country Bottle Collectors Association in Carthage. Western New York Bottle Collectors Association in Jamestown.

Empire State Bottle Collectors Association in Syracuse.

Finger Lake Bottle Collectors Association in Ithaca.

Long Island Antique Bottle Association in Long Island.

Musrott Bottle & Insulator Club in Katonah. Capital District Antique Bottle Club in Albany. Western New York Bottle Collectors Association in Lockport. Suffolk County Antique Bottle Association on Long Island.

Even before this, there were unofficial bulletins.

John Martinelli of Rush, N.Y., had the first Federation Letter and later became Federation chairman (now called president). He was the owner of Stonewall Antiques Shop.

On Saturday, Nov. 16, 1968, the Federation of Historic Bottle Clubs was formed. In 1974, the name was changed to the Federation of Historic Bottle Collectors, allowing individual membership.

Pioneer collectors Bernie and Jean Puckhaber, Ballston Spa, N.Y., at FOHBC National Show banquet in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1988. (Courtesy of Howard Dean)

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Topka, Schenectady, N.Y.; Kel Kelsey (Saratogas), Rochester, N.Y.; Roy See (mineral waters and others), Constantable, N.Y.; Mike Anderson (figurals), Stillwater, N.Y.; Betty Risley, Ballston Spa, N.Y.; Martin and Robert Hilfinger (general), Syracuse, N.Y. Other people very active in our hobby included Robert Pattredge, Al Spear, Roger Sweatland, John DeVolder and Don Keating, all of Rochester; John Spencer of Syracuse, Tony Knipp (N.Y. milks), Bob Prinnchab and Jeff Rosenthal of Buffalo, William Hawkins (jars) of Gansvoort, N.Y.; Chuck From left, Jon Landers, Tom Kanally, John Golly and Darl Jones, all Empire State club memMoore of New York, Kevin bers, while visiting Dick and Elma Watson in New Jersey in 2005. (Courtesy of Howard Dean) Sives (Northeast director There were a great many people who made up and author); Chris Davis, Rochester; Rose and Stan our clubs’ membership who helped the hobby. These Brewster (milk bottles), Syracuse; Peter Bliberg (milk include Burt Spiller, of Rochester, N.Y.; Jacob and bottles), and Bob White (Saratogas), Canton, N.Y. Mary Ellen Whistance (collectors of historical flasks Some of the prized bottles found during collecting’s since 1941), Kingston, N.Y.; Richard Vanderloon (fruit early days all seemed to be great, especially the pontiled jars) of Brockport, N.Y.; Joyce and Len Blake (glass variety). I dug a few pretty good pontiled flasks that I canes and whimsies) of Elma, N.Y.; Jim Whetzel (since sold or swapped for Saratogas. I also dug an original 1966, operated Jim’s Bottle Shop), Ardsley, N.Y.; Vince Booz bottle, but threw it away because of a crack!

Martonis (Fenner medicines), Blasdell, N.Y.; John I found a quart fruit jar containing human fetuses Morgan (stoneware), Pike, N.Y.; Tom Nolan (mineral which I gave to Dr. Hilfinger. The Utica, N.Y. dump waters), Ballston Spa, N.Y.; Gerry Strubel (mineral contained a lot of stoneware soda bottles and a lot of waters), Mechanicville, N.Y.; Leigt and Mary Beardsley, White’s stoneware pieces. Some of us started to collect Auburn, N.Y.; The Bedfords (Ox Yoke Antiques & Bottle the local bottles, too.

Shop), Lockport, N.Y.; Arthur Beealham, Brockport, N.Y.; I had many opportunities to look for and dig in many Tom and Alice Mounton, Ballston Spa, N.Y., (jars); Tom different old dumps. My outdoor work as an aquatic Dudarchik Jr., (flasks), North Syracuse, N.Y.; David Byrd biologist took me to nearly every place in New York (jars), Windsor, N.Y.; Mark Yates (Saratogas), Cazenovia, state. Previous to that, I had been a U.S. Forest Service N.Y.; Jack Stecher (Warner’s and Saratogas), Rochester, forester up in New England. That was long before I got N.Y.; Ralph and Eleanor Work (Saratogas), West Sand into bottle collecting and all I did was to be careful not Lake, N.Y.; Phil Bennard (Saratogas), Saratoga Springs, to cut my boots or shoes on all the glass I saw. That was N.Y.; Hank Gesell (Saratogas), Rochester, N.Y.; George during the 1940s and I really missed out by not being Waddy (Saratogas and others), Vermontville, N.Y.; Tom aware of the bottle hobby. All I collected back then were Kanally (general), Courtland, N.Y.; Jon and Sue Landers stamps and guns. (inks, Saratogas and “local”), Whitesboro, N.Y.; Howard I will try to give you an account of my best digs: and Lillian Dean (Saratogas, inks, “local” bottles), There was an old dump right in Westernville that Westernville, N.Y.; Ken Cornell (Saratogas), LeRoy, some of the local kids had found. They would bring me N.Y.; Robert and Bernie Puckhaber (Saratogas), Ballston the bottles they had found for my comment and they did Spa, N.Y.; Evelyn Masters (Saratogas), Courtland, N.Y.; find some nice ones. For awhile, I did not dig there so Gary Stephenson (Saratogas), Ballston Spa, N.Y.; Roy as to not spoil their fun, but that soon failed and I took

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January - February, 2010

over. One of my best finds was an iron-pontiled Dr. S.A. Weaver’s Canker & Salt Rheum Syrup, a beautiful large bottle. One day, I thought I was standing on a rock as I dug into the bank, but the “rock” turned out to be a yellow-green quart U.S.A. Hospital Department bottle.

I must admit this dump was right along and under a road and right in the middle was an electric pole. I nearly toppled that pole by digging too close. When it started to lean, I stopped right then and there. A neighbor had dug up his septic tank and found a pint GIII-4 green pontiled flask (cornucopia filled with produce) that I bought for $10.

One of the best dumps was in Boonville that a friend and I dug for a couple of years. It belonged to his mother and was full of goodies. Every time we went there, we stopped at his mom’s house to tell her we would be down there. She would usually say, “Well, you won’t find anything as I haven’t been down there recently!” On our way out, we’d stop and show her what we had found and offer her something. Her reply was: “If I’d wanted it, I wouldn’t have chucked it away!” We found a good many local bottles in what we called “Ma Cape’s Dump.”

I kept only blown bottles and left lots of fruit jars that my friend took and sold to Jim Chamberlain in Binghamton. I found some nice pint pontiled flasks that I later traded for Saratogas, but the local medicines and sodas I still have. Our activities would draw some folks and my friend would say, “Septic tank problems!” and they would laugh and leave. For awhile, we would dig day and night since I could drive my truck into the dump and shine its headlights on the area. We even dug during snow storms. The Saratogas found there were all common ones.

About this time, my nephew in Pennsylvania got into bottle collecting. He had found an old hotel long closed in Greeley that he would go into at night. He’d climb into the attic where he found many medicine bottles in perfect shape. One evening, he invited me to go with him, but when we got there, the building was gone. It had fallen and was just a pile of junk. I guess that was a close call.

My daughter and a friend found an old empty house up in Boonville that they had entered and brought out a pail full of bottles for me. They were good ones, mostly from the area, and from the Snow-Top Spring Water Co. I later went back to it and found many old bottles in the attic and cellar. I think the rarest was a pontiled Taylor’s Indian Ointment. I was offered a lot for it, but it is still in my collection. The house didn’t last long and soon burned.

There was a village dump in Pulaski that some of our club members dug, so one day there was a Syracuse club dig. Best things we found that time were a few of the red glass (Schlitz) beer bottles. I never dug another in any other place.

Bottles and Extras

Clint Capron in “Grandma Capes’ Dump,” Boonville, N.Y. in July 1978. Note bases of bottles jutting from the bank.

(Courtesy of Howard Dean)

Early in my bottle collecting years, I found a small dump along East Stony Creek in the town of Hope. I found two nice jugs in it. One was an A. Hodgson / Galway that measured 1 foot high by 1-1/2 feet and was in perfect condition. I knew there had been a pottery in Galway so I took my jug to the National Bottle Museum to find out something about it. I loaned it to be photographed and measured and it caused quite a stir, but there was nothing known. I still own it. I also dug a very crude stoneware quart whiskey debossed J.C. Schnell / Sour Mash / Kiln Dried Grain / Whiskey.

One of the larger dumps uncovered during the early 1960s was in Utica and for some reason I avoided it until late in my life. It is a huge area with holes 10 to 20 feet deep left by diggers. Hundreds of old bottles were found and are still being found there, including many rare local bottles and some Saratogas, but I haven’t found any to brag about yet although I’m still trying!

The Poland Spring dump was one that my friend, Bill Zimmerman, and I dug for three years. We filled our car trunk with hundreds of bottles, but again, nothing to brag about. We never found a Poland Spring bottle.

The Horseshoe Lake dump and underwater work brought many of the very rare bottles from that shortlived business of the early 1900s. I dug around up there and found some good jars and old bottles, but the divers I took up found dozens and dozens of the sunken loot.

There also is a big city dump in Rome, N.Y., that has given up many good bottles, but so far I haven’t dug any real good ones. I’m still at it and hope to find a beauty this coming season.

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January - February, 2010

The Saratoga-Type Bottle Collectors Society was founded Nov. 7-8, 1981 when Bernie Puckhaber called 25 collectors together at the National Bottle Museum in Ballston Spa, N.Y. The National Bottle Museum, formerly owned by the Federation of Historical Bottle Clubs, held its grand opening on June 2, 1979 and sponsored the new organization, although it no longer does.

The society’s quarterly newsletter, The Spouter, was first published in January 1982 and continues to this day. Sharon Strach conjured up the name. Present-day plans call for updating information about mineral water bottles and reporting all the news that’s fit to print about collectors of Saratogas.

Eleanor and Ralph Work of West Sand Lake, N.Y., were elected the society’s first co-chairmen in 1982.

William Zimmerman of Lock Sheldrake, N.Y., was vice president, Sue Heller of Granby, Conn., was secretary and Don Garrison of Sparrow Bush, N.Y., was treasurer.

Puckhaber was newsletter editor.

The first membership list named 53 families, 27 from New York State and the rest from 19 other states.

Puckhaber, author of the Saratogas book in 1976, died Sept. 25, 1990. In 1993, his wife, Jean, revised and updated that book and in 1986, one of the society’s members, Donald Tucker, published a Collector’s Guide to the Saratoga-Type Mineral Water Bottles, with a

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revised edition coming out in 2005.

I was elected president of the Mohawk Valley Antique Bottle Club in Whitesboro that was started in 1994 and served for two years. I also served as vice director of the Northeast Region of FOHBC from 1992 for a few years, as well as the club poster chair for the FOHBC in the 1990s. The local club is still active with more than 100 members meeting every month of the year. Some are active in the Federation. I served as second vice president when Sheldon Baugh was Federation chairman.

As far as having wild adventures while collecting, I can say that, yes, we /all have been embarrassed. I can recall a few times when some of us were caught behind a chainlink fence scratching around in a construction area in Saratoga, N.Y., during the mid-1980s. It was on a Sunday and we climbed over the fence and had actually found a few old bottles, but I had to give them up when the police arrived. There were no arrests, but we got a good talking to!

Another time, my friend, Jon Landers, and I were digging deep into my hometown dump when a large rock slid down and pinned him so that he couldn’t move. The dirt covered him to the point where he could hardly breathe.

It wasn’t a fun time. His wife and I finally got him clear.

It didn’t take me long to realize that it was nice to get permission from owners before trespassing on land.

Most said OK.

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January - February, 2010

Bottles and Extras

By Bruce Schank [Editor’s Note: This article is a result of long time collector and author Bruce W. Schank reaching out to long time collector Dan Corker.]

I’m not sure how it came about that I was given the incredible opportunity to go over to Dan & Judy Corker’s home to view their collection but I am thanking my lucky fruit star jar that I did.

I’ve heard stories about Dan’s collection and I saw some of his fantastic jars on display at the August 2008 York National Expo but I was in no way prepared for what was awaiting me when I finally entered the beautiful, modern and elegantly laid out Corker home.

Their home is arrayed with the most fantastic collection of advertising tins and many with the original frames.

In every nook and cranny in the house there is something historical to look at and behold including the bathrooms but there is nothing pell-mell about this home whatsoever because everything, yes everything is just so neat, tidy and perfectly in its place. Yep, just a treasure trove of one wonderful historical piece

after another and another and that doesn’t even include the fruit jars.

I was like a giddy little kid having just traveled in a time machine to some fantastic destination. Dan has what I would call a fruit jar hall of fame in which two sides of a large room has custom backlit shelves full of incredible

arrays of historical fruit jars on one side and on the other side the most spectacular colored midget collection I have ever seen in my life. And then to top it off, there’s another shelf caddy cornered to the other two with yet more spectacular stuff. All of the historic jars are in alpha numeric order and the vast majority of them have rare original closures.

Dan was born in Richmond, VA in 1945 and was raised in the Richmond area. All Dan can tell me was that he is a survivor of the “School of Hard Knocks.”

Dan and Judy moved to their current location in Mechanicsville around 1985 and have remained there since. Dan designed the home they currently live in and he did a fabulous job. Dan became interested in fruit jars a little over thirty years ago. His uncle died and he went to an auction at the home. They bought a bunch of jars there because Judy wanted them for canisters. When they brought them home and set them up on the counter Dan told Judy, “We can’t use these jars for canisters because they’re all embossed differently.” That was the initial trigger of what is now a never ending journey for Dan.

Bottles and Extras

Dan also had some friends who bought a house that was built in 1720.

They had a root cellar that was full of jars and Dan and Judy went there to help them clean out the house and the root cellar. They had a book on fruit jars which just happened to be “Fruit Jars: A Collectors Manual by Julian Harrison Toulouse.” So he borrowed that book and read it. He ended up keeping some of the jars from the root cellar and the fascination for collecting fruit jars became even more intense.

Dan remembered doing a Syracuse N.Y. Show around the year 2000 when it snowed in April. When he went for setup on Sunday morning, a nice little wooden horse caught his eye. Judy just happens to collect children’s toys so Dan went

January - February, 2010

over to look at it but there was no price on the item yet. So he made his rounds around the hall looking for other stuff and he probably went back to that table five or six times. The last time he went back the dealer finally had a price of $60.00 on it. The dealer was still setting up his table and as Dan looked back and

around to one side of the table he saw this little Hero jar. Well, he couldn’t believe what he saw and did a double take on it.

So he went and looked at it and thought the price said $800.00 but when looking closer, $80.00 was actually on the sticker. At that price he figured it must be damaged or something so he took the lid off and looked it over very carefully

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but the jar was perfect. “Hmmm, he thought for a minute; what should I do, I’m a dealer doing setup so do I ask the other dealer if he can do better?” Yep, he did just that; he asked the dealer if he could do better on the jar and the dealer said, “That’s a nice little jar, I’d have to get $70.00 for it.” Naturally Dan bought it and went over to his table and started looking through the Red Book to see if the jar was listed. It wasn’t listed so at that point he knew he had a pretty good buy. As he was talking to someone at his table he realized he forgot all about the wooden horse that started this whole incident in the first place and had to go back to get it. He asked the dealer what was the best he’d do and the dealer said $35.00 so he was able to get that too for a good price as well.

In another story Dan remembers getting his ¼ pint THE GEM at the York Show some 18 or 20 years ago. On the way up to York it was raining around

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D.C. and some lady flew by them and spun out causing a five car pileup. He happened to be the last car involved in the accident and asked the officer if he could leave because he only had a split in his bumper insert and didn’t want any money for it. The officer told him he had to stay until the report was done. That took approx., 1 hour before they were on their way again to York. Upon arriving at York, Jim Mitchell grabbed Dan and told him he better get over there because someone was selling a bunch of fruit jars. As Dan looked, it was four deep at the table and when he got into position to see he realized just about everything was gone. He thought to himself, “dang that accident cost me a lot.”

It was just about that time that the lady dealer at the table showed Bob Rhineberger a ½ pint Woodbury Improved. Bob was looking at it and Dan saw him take the lid off of the jar and how it had a “mule bite” out of the lip. Bob put the lid back on and Dan asked if he could look at the jar. Well after looking at it he told Bob he’d be interested in the jar if he wasn’t going to buy it. Bob looked the jar over again and said he was going to take it. Bill Grove’s wife was the lady showing the jar and Dan for some reason had the foresight to ask her if she had any more little jars like that one? And she replied, “Yes I have another one and it’s better than this one.” So he said “I’ll take that one.” So she reached into her purse and pulled

January - February, 2010

Bottles and Extras

out a ¼ pint THE GEM. Dan held it in the air and looked at it and the crowd came back. He asked the price and she wanted $450 for the jar. He held it up a little longer so everyone could marvel at it and then put it down and said I’ll take it.

Norm Barnett had a few jars over the years that Dan happened to fall in love with the first time he saw them. Dan told me he admired Norm’s jars for many years whenever he visited with him. He asked Norm once that if he ever decided to sell them to please give him a shot at them. Talking to Norm at one of the Shows in 2000/2001 Norm told Dan he thought he was finally going to sell some

Bottles and Extras

of his jars and to make a list of what jars he wanted. So while at the Muncie Show one day he went up to the display and made his list. It wasn’t until two years later that Norm finally got back to him because it took Norm that long to come up with a price for the jars.

Dan told me quite a long story about probably his favorite jar in the collection.

It’s a spectacular original milk glass 1858 midget and the only known example.

A little over 25 years ago Dan was reading an article

by Alice Creswick in one of the bottle magazines about a lady from Harrisonburg, Va. that showed up at that show with a milk glass midget.

So he called Alice and told her he was interested in the jar and whether she had the lady’s phone number which she did. He called the lady but she seemed upset that he was calling her. Dan told her that we’re all friends in the hobby and that he was interested in the jar but he would like to see the jar even if she wasn’t willing to sell it. So she said OK, you can come up and see it. Dan took

January - February, 2010

Judy and his two kids and went there one afternoon and while he was in the living room talking to her, the lady’s husband was in the kitchen with Judy and the two kids feeding them milk and cookies. In talking with Mrs. Hicks, Dan found out she had a son who lived in Richmond.

After looking at the jar he told her he was going home to think about it and that he was going to make her an offer. Dan said, “If you want to sell it for that offer you can if not then that’s fine too.”

So he discussed it with Judy and they decided to offer her $2,500 for the jar. He called her and made the offer and the lady said she’d think about it. Dan called her back sometime after that and the lady didn’t think she could sell it for that. At that point he made her another offer and said he’d go as high as $3,000 for the jar. So the lady told Dan to send her a letter or note and she’d put it with the jar and if she decided anything she’d let him know. So Dan sent her a note and didn’t call her again for two years. He happened to be going to Muncie one year

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and he called her back and told her “I’d certainly like to have that jar if you’d sell it to me. I’ll give you $4,000 now for the jar” but she told Dan she wasn’t interested in selling it anymore.

Dan didn’t contact her again for approximately 20 some years. Dan went to a show in Nashville, Tenn. one year to buy one of his CFJ midgets in green.

He bought the midget but only after Jon Vanderschouw from Florida ran him up on it. Jon went over and congratulated Dan who said he appreciated it and that he also appreciated him running him up on it too. They both laughed and Jon asked Dan if he ever managed to get the milk glass midget? “No, he didn’t get the jar and he hadn’t talked to her in 20 some years he imagined. “

On the way home from Tennessee Judy and Dan talked about it and Dan decided to call the lady when they got home. About a month went by before he found the lady’s name and number in his filing system. He called and a different lady answered the phone. He asked if Ms. Hicks was there and that lady said yes but she wouldn’t be talking to anyone because she had Alzheimer’s.

Dan of course expressed how sorry he was about that but also asked if her son still lived in Richmond and if she had his

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number. The lady had the number and gave it to him. Dan called the son and told him he was interested in the jar. The son said the next time he was up there he’d see if he could find it and he’d let Dan know one way or another.

About a month went by and the son finally called and said he couldn’t find it but believed his daughter had the jar.

His daughter lived in Lexington, Va. and he’d go see her and ask about the jar. The son called Dan back and said his daughter did have the jar and he had gotten it and that his daughter had been using it to store coffee beans in it. Dan told him when he got back to Richmond he’d like to see the jar again and that he and his wife could come over to see his collection. In the meantime the son had called a “glass lady” in Richmond about the jar. She couldn’t tell the son anything about the jar but she called Tom Cox who told her he didn’t know anything about it but to call Dan because he probably would know. So the “glass lady” calls Dan and asks him if he knows anything about a fruit jar that was milk glass and in which she believed was called a midget. Dan told her they made the jar in reproduction and it isn’t worth

January - February, 2010

much but if it was original it was worth a lot. Dan told her he didn’t know of but one original and that it was found in Harrisonburg, Va. The “glass lady” told Dan she was sure it was an original and Dan told her then it would be worth $3,000 if original.

The “glass lady” then carried that info back to Mr. Hicks who had the jar.

He called Dan and they set a time to come over and he brought the jar. Dan showed him his collection and Mr. Hicks just left. He didn’t even mention whether he would sell it and neither did Dan. So Dan told Judy after Mr. Hicks left that “the son was going to be as difficult as his dang mother to deal with. I don’t believe I’ll ever get that jar.”

About a year went by and Mr. Hicks called Dan to tell him that his mother had passed away and Dan of course told him how sorry he was to hear that. Mr. Hicks mentioned he was settling her estate and needed to sell the jar. Dan was at work and the son asked him if he would still be willing to give the $3,000 he had originally offered.

Dan being his usual self told him he’d think about it and call him back.

He looked at the clock and said “I’ll give it 45 minutes” but after 30 minutes Dan just couldn’t take it anymore. So he called Mr. Hicks and said, yes he’d take the jar for the $3,000 offer. Mr. Hicks told him to come over that evening to pick it up.

Dan came home and told Judy let’s eat supper quickly because we’re going over to get the milk glass midget. Judy of course was very happy that he was finally going to get it. Just as they sat

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down at the table to eat supper the phone rang. It was Mr. Hicks and he told Dan there wouldn’t be a need for him to come over tonight because they couldn’t find the jar now. He told him, “It was sitting up on the mantel and I don’t know what happened to it but when I find it I will call back.” Dan’s heart dropped to his knees as he explained to Judy what had happened. Then to Dan’s delight ten minutes later Mr. Hicks calls back yet again to tell him they found it. His daughter had put it behind a picture when decorating for Christmas and his wife remembered where it was and if it wasn’t too late to come over and get it.

The rest is history…

Now, let’s hope Dan never manages to misplace this jar ever either.

Dan has some advice for beginning collectors: if you don’t have a lot of money he still believes there are a lot of nice jars you can afford to buy. “Don’t try to collect sets of HG, quart and pint unless you have unlimited space.

Decide what you want to collect and then collect those. When you go to a show don’t buy five and six jars.

Everyone wants to buy more than one because it’s fun collecting but just buy one good jar. Put all of the money you have at the show together and buy the best jar you can for that amount of money. As time goes on you’ll have a nice collection and

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as time goes on you’ll also have more money to spend. Just remember to only buy one good jar and don’t go crazy at auctions either.” Dan also told me the person that helped him the most in the

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fruit jar hobby was Norm Barnett.

Dan and Judy Corker are wonderful people and fantastic hosts. I had such a good time while I was at their home and I don’t know if I can ever repay them for their kindness and generosity. Staying at their home was more like being at a “fruit jar Bed & Breakfast” and just my style of living too!

In ending I’d like to say that in just a relatively short time frame I have already had the unbelievable honor and pleasure of seeing some of the Best of the Best fruit jar collections in the country. And being only human of course I tend to get a tad skeptical in a strange sense just thinking to myself that it can’t possibly get any better than what I’ve already

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experienced but believe me when I tell you it can. I mean come on now, haven’t I already gone to “Jar 7th heaven” and back? Well I’m here to tell you folks that the yellow brick road just keeps on taking me to more and more fantastic destinations.

What superlative adjective can I pull out of my hat on this visit; hmmm, all I can think of is superkala fragalistic expe alidocious! ;o) Looking for jar collections or jars to report on Please contact: Bruce Schank (973) 214-5082 fruitjars@optonline.net

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Fish’n for Bottles …

Bottles and Extras

An Ongoing Narrative and Living Tribute to Yankee Native, Nature Lover and Grassroots Bottle Enthusiast, James A. (Jim) Rogers

By Dr. Peter L. Colman Had you been cruising one of the old boundary roads of the Connecticut River dividing New Hampshire and Vermont, let’s say, sixty years ago, you just might have caught a glimpse of a short, sturdy young fly-fisherman, chest- high in the cold current, his fly-rod rising and bending like a birch sapling in a gale storm … And as you watched in wide-eyed amazement, as I did so many times as a young boy, you might see the same silent figure orchestrating a flawless forty-foot cast …

The glistening green line would seem to catch fire in the morning sun, rolling and gliding with wild precision, charging and retreating against the breeze until, in one final, friendly assault, fisherman, fly-rod and line become one. The translucent leader was all but invisible, gently delivering the small white deer-hair fly on to the glassy surface of the of a dark pool just inches from the opposite shore.

Fast-forward to an identical day twenty years later. The same fisherman, known affectionately to his best friends as ‘Jim,’ was working the same river, accompanied by his young son, Jay. They had often seen an old abandoned house near the river where they fished. They saw it again that morning. Jim parked the sleek white ‘59 Ford a few hundred yards away and inched silently toward the waking waters. Once there, father and son worked the early morning current until they had their limit of full-colored native ‘brookies’ and rainbow trout. It was a good day.

New England natives who know my uncle refer to him simply as ‘Jim.’ He’s more comfortable with that.

Jim has been an avid sportsman and outdoorsman for most of his nearly 89 years – from New Hampshire’s vast mosaic of mountains, fresh-water lakes, streams and rivers, to its breathless saltwater inlets and shoals … Countless friends and neighbors (and even total strangers), fellow fishermen, and a nameless throng of his native Manchester’s grass-roots citizenry can remember Jim’s uncommon friendliness and infectious passion for every simply pleasure and adventure that his native New England has to offer.

Many of his dearest friends have moved on now … Today, those who know Jim best have little or no recollection of his unpretentious, adventurous past. They know him now as he is - that rugged, tenacious, unselfish and incurably amiable little white-haired gentleman who travels Jim and his father

the country-side in an over-sized van, pulling a small trailer packed with cardboard cases of beautifully labeled bottles and jars, all meticulously, modestly under-priced and lovingly wrapped and coddled like bright new-borns in a miniature nursery.

But Jim is never alone in his impassioned quest for the next discovery or the newest addition to his repertoire of quality antique bottles and related memorabilia. Sitting right next to him is his beloved wife, Joyce, Jim’s sweet, petite, bright-eyed companion whom he pursued and wooed while serving with the U.S. Army in England, and later in France. Joyce, who, during Jim’s initial romantic blitzkrieg, did all she could to defend against his harmless, strategic advances, until the tenacious young recruit finally managed to counter her every evasive maneuver, capture her heart, and, ever so gingerly, coax his stunning brunette bride to a humble church altar. By Joyce’s own confession, and with a playful twinkle in her dark eyes, she still maintains to this day that she ‘went kicking ...’ Maybe.

After the war, Jim returned home on the Queen Elizabeth.

Some months later, his new bride hitched a ride on a German freighter and happily joined her proud young hero on America’s shores. After a few, shall we say, ‘memorable’ forays together in the New England wild (one of which found them spending a wet, stormy night sleeping under a tree, only to awake half frozen the next morning a few yards from their cabin …). The newly-weds spent a short period of unforgettable ‘bliss’ with Jim’s family in their small Manchester home, the new couple finally settled into a small cottage, nestled in the small pines, overlooking old Grenier Field (now the Manchester/Boston Regional Airport).

They’re still there. And so are the pines. And the red and white beacon on the hill. And they’re still venturing hand-in-hand into the wild in search of new adventure, and old friends, and old bottles! And an occasional trout stream or well-stocked lake or pond …

“Uncle Jim,” I asked recently, “You’ve been an ardent fisherman most of your life. When did your passion for fishing for old bottles actually begin?”

“Well,” he replied, “My interest in old bottles actually started on a fishing trip. I was with some good friends, Roland and Bea Dion. We were trolling one day for lake trout on Winnipesaukee.

My friends are the ones who introduced me to old bottles. They said that some old bottles could be worth quite a bit

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Joyce Rogers

of money. I had never thought much about it before that time.

What really caught my interest was just the idea of finding something old. The older I get, the more I enjoy just finding a real old, unusual bottle. But the fact that old bottles could be worth something caught my interest too.”

“Do you recall the very first time that you actually went digging?” I inquired.

“The very first time?” His response was immediate. “It was during another fishing trip. That was the same day I found my very first bottle. I found it while digging with my son, Jay, up behind an old house up on the Connecticut River … That’s when it all started.”

“So what happened?” I continued to do a little digging of my own, as my curiosity began to rise.

“Well, it was a pretty good day for fishing,” Jim remembers, “So we came back to the car early. We followed the tracks toward where the car was parked. But then I saw the old house through the trees. I left the tracks and wandered toward the old house we had seen from the river … I knew there had to be a dump nearby, and sure enough, I stumbled upon it in the brush between the house and the river.”

“That’s when I found it.”

“Found what?” I could stand the suspense no longer.

“A historical flask … My first bottle was a historical flask.

That was the first bottle I ever dug. It was amber. Boy, I wish I still had that flask. I think I sold it back then for about $200. It’s probably worth a bit more now.”

My Uncle Jim is a native of Manchester, New Hampshire.

He is my mother’s brother. But since my biological father (now deceased) left home 55 years ago, Jim has been more of a father to me than an only son could ever dream.

Jim’s natural impulse is to avoid the smallest semblance of praise, exaggeration or notoriety. He cautioned me to refrain from drawing excessive attention to his name … I promised him that I would be discrete.

So while I will make every effort not to ‘make his head swell,’ as he is fond of saying, I cannot resist simply mentioning a couple incredibly inconspicuous, but colorful details in the home-spun tapestry of Jim’s life …

Though ‘Uncle Jim’ continues to humbly shrug off the connection, I suspect that the family name derives from an illustrious namesake of Scotch-Irish extraction … none other than James Rogers himself, the iconoclastic New Hampshire

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woodsman, self-made soldier and legendary leader of the heroic, rag-tag militia known in New England lore as ‘Rogers’ s Rangers.’

The fact that James Rogers and his Scotch-Irish peers settled in the early 18th-century (1719) in what was then Londonderry (Nutfield) , on the western banks of the Merrimack River, and there established the primitive colony of farmers and tradesmen, is anything but coincidental.

Local historians record that (Lieutenant-Colonel) James Rogers, the ancestor of the Rogers clan in New England, migrated with his six sons from Methuen, Massachusetts in 1742, ‘up Black Brook to the ‘Great Meadows,’ naming the first settlement Montalona, after their old homestead in Ireland.

The earliest settlement, known as ‘Starktown,’ would later be renamed Gorhamtown, and then Dunbarton, not far from the old Montalona Road, where I was raised as a child, in the old Morse/Elliot home, built by David Elliot in 1822. How coincidental.

What is not coincidental is the fact that a certain unnamed descendant of the infamous Rogers clan spent most of his adult life putting down irrepressible roots in his native soil, happily resigned to enjoy the forests, seacoast, lakes, rivers and ravines surrounding his native Manchester?

There is no question that Uncle Jim is a descendant of the same hearty Scotch-Irish clan that populated the Merrimack Valley as early as 1719.

Nor is it surprising that a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee son should spend his entire life indulging in the beauty of the New England landscape while, at the same time, expending unimaginable energy, well, shall we say, ‘exploring’(‘excavating’ would be more accurate) its unpretentious, but celebrated past in an impassioned quest for hidden home-spun treasure in the unlikely form of antique bottles … Or old friends. Both are becoming scarce these days.

But just because the same river or stream has been fished many times in the past doesn’t mean that there aren’t still good fish to be caught, or good buried bottles to be unearthed …

And that is precisely what Uncle Jim has been doing since his retirement from civil service over 35 years ago … Spending a good deal of his ‘free’ time, digging and scouring the New England country-side in search of old bottles and related

Jim digging for old bottles

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memorabilia … including everything from tin advertising signs and rusty pistols, to pottery shards, perfume bottles, poisons, painted applied color labels pop-bottles, inks, milks, and a ubiquitous assortment of ales and strap-flasks, pharmaceuticals and cures … and a thousand other unidentifiable rogues.

And, yes, there’s an occasional ‘prize catch,’ such as the rare amber New Hampshire Stoddard flask with the embossed American eagle on one side, and Old Glory on the other! Back in the day, that bottle, alone, would fetch $700. In a New York minute. Or before. Unless I’m mistaken (I am certainly not a connoisseur of flasks), bottle enthusiasts and collectors today would be crawling over one another in a raucous feedingfrenzy, begging to lay down a mere $700. just to possess (or be possessed by) the same flask.

Did I mention the ‘sleeper,’ the ‘SURE’ fruit-jar that Jim happened upon some years ago buried in an old non-descript basket of throw-away clear jars he bought at a local farmers’ auction for five dollars?

But any fisherman (or woman) knows that regardless of one’s expertise or depth and breadth of experience, there’s always that rare catch that somehow got away. Though Jim is not one to hold on too tightly or selfishly to anything he catches, there were, as I recall, at least two such incidents in the nearly four decades since Jim started collecting bottles seriously.

On a routine ‘fishing’ excursion some years ago, as Jim tells it, he stumbled upon a round display table with miscellaneous offerings, all of which were fixed at a relatively low price … and were available for the buyer on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

There were many fellow-fishermen in the glass-strewn river that day, and a desperate flurry of activity, each collector bent on finding that elusive prize …

As Jim waded cautiously, inconspicuously, toward the table and its curious assortment of orphan specimens, his eye caught a suspicious hue … a small rose-colored flask. He hesitated.

Was it genuine, or was it some kind of bizarre, generic factsimile of something else?

Something unusual, no doubt.

He stood there for a brief moment in curious reflection, poised to pluck the small flask from its place just a few feet away, and lay down the $4. But at the same instant, in a flash, an arm reached over his shoulder and snatched the little beauty from his reach! All is fair in love and bottle-collecting. ‘Finders keepers …’

Uncle Jim recalls his feeling at the time.

“That could have been something good, I thought, something valuable …

I wasn’t certain. But I had a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach that I had let a good one go. He was right. He later found out that the individual who had netted that bottle later sold it for more than $4,000.

The day that Jim told me that story was the same day we had shared a booth at the old York, Pennsylvania fairgrounds.

If you’ve been there, you’ll remember the same wooden stalls and the uneven dirt and sawdust surface cattle were generally

Bottles and Extras

kept and sold. Well, the cattle and other livestock had long since moved on, but the enormous flesh-eating green flies had remained to haunt the premises.

In the weeks prior to the show, I had obtained two beautiful specimens from a Chicago collector. I had never seen or owned any real good examples of Mid-western Ohio glass. These two were both beautiful 16-swirl, dip-mold ‘club’ whiskeys from Mantua (Barberton County, near Akron). The Mantua Glassworks, I understand, was only in operation for two short years back in the early 1830s. One of the bottles, both with deep pontil scars, was aqua; the second was clear, and, as I would soon discover, more desirable.

I was a novice at the time, and depended pretty much upon Uncle Jim’s expert advice and good instincts. But it was a very busy show, with a good flow of gawkers and cautious buyers. I recall that Jim was in conversation most of the day (his signature trait), and occupied with several customers. I was in the booth next to his, and on my own this time.

Mistakenly, I had determined, because of its soft blue hues, that the aqua club was the more valuable of the two. So when someone asked me what I wanted for the clear specimen, believing that it was the lesser valuable of the two, I was excited and reluctant, all at once. The day had been slow. I was eager to make a sale … the sure sign of a novice.

“Well, it’s probably worth a bit more, but I’ll take $100.”

Peter Colman and Jim at the York show

“How about $50 Cash?” came the response.

I folded. “OK, I said (‘Something is better than nothing,’ I thought), $50 is fine.”

After the transaction, I remember thanking the buyer.

I don’t remember him saying much at all. He seemed to just disappear. Later that day, during a short down-time, Uncle Jim came over to my booth.

“Hey, Pete. Didn’t you sell a clear club Ohio whiskey a while back?”

“Yes, I did, Uncle Jim. The fellow was pretty pleased.”

Jim then took me quietly aside and told me the story of the rose-colored flask … the one that got away.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” continued Jim. “I should have looked at that bottle a little closer. I’m not always sure about those mid-western clubs … There are so many varieties. A few minutes ago, the same fellow stopped by my booth.”

“He did?” I responded with a creeping twinge or regret,

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something akin to locking the only pair of keys in a borrowed car …

“Yes. He told me that he had purchased a pretty rare clear club whiskey from my nephew. He seemed pretty pleased with the purchase. What did he pay you for it?” “$50 Did you say?”

“Yep. I was asking $100, but he seemed to really like it.”

“Well, he did. He just turned around and sold it to someone on the other side for $800.”

I was speechless.

It wouldn’t be the only time, in spite of Uncle Jim’s good influence, that I would let a big one get away.

Some years ago, I had set up at a large two-day show.

During a short reprieve, I meandered to an adjoining building and spied a large clear 1-gallon milk jug from a Chicago dairy.

I was familiar with the brand. It was dated as late as 1952. But it had a large black rubber nipple … I would later discover that it was a rather rare calving bottle.

I negotiated with the seller, and settled for $12. Returning to my ‘stall’ with my mystery bottle, I searched in vain through my library to identify and price the jug, but to no avail. I cleaned it carefully, put $20 on it and tucked it in the corner. Two women spied the bottle.

“Wow, I like that bottle,” one of the ladies remarked.

“Are you a collector?” I inquired.

“Oh, no, not really, but I think that it would look great in my kitchen.” Her companion quietly agreed. She quickly handed me the money and hugged her new find like a new-born.

There had been a gentleman milling around behind me, looking at my eclectic display. He had been listening, but had said nothing. As I stood there with my new customer, however, she with her new milk jug in one hand, and me with the money in mine, the silent observer leaned in gingerly and whispered, “Do you know what that bottle is? Do you know what it’s worth?”

“No, not really,” I responded, “I’m not really a milk-bottle expert. I couldn’t find the bottle in any of my books … Are you a collector?”

“Yes, he responded,” in a matter-of-fact manner, “I’m a member of one of the Illinois bottle clubs (‘Great,’ I mused.).

That’s a rare bottle.”

“Really?” I responded, in a mild state of shock.

“Yeah,” he continued, “Everybody and his mother is looking for that bottle. It’s worth at least $900.”

“Pete, don’t let it get you down. It happens to everyone. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been collecting. There’s always something to learn. It’s only a bottle. There will be better bottles and better days.”

I have not lived in my native New England since I left home for college in 1967, but with the exception of 15 years in Africa, I have joined Uncle Jim on numerous digs. We have also done dozens of shows together, from mid-western greats such as Chicago, Minneapolis, Mansfield, Nashville and St. Louis, to Saratoga Springs, New York and Keene, New Hampshire. Jim has traveled more, of course, while I was bust criss-crossing

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the rest of the inhabited world getting ‘educated.’ But our first serious ‘fishing’ experience dates to a remote location near a former Jesuit seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts …

In 1970 I was in my first year of seminary, north of Boston, near one of the oldest historic locations on the east coast. I spent my free time from a grueling schedule exploring the neighboring woods. To remain less conspicuous, I wore light work-boots, an old camouflage work-shirt, and carried a small army-green backpack, complete with a well-concealed short-handle potatofork (which doubles as a clamming-fork in New England)), a pair of work-gloves, an old kitchen knife (for probing), and a container of water.

In no time, I found myself in a deeply-wooded ravine behind an old home. I was standing at the foot of a shallow dump filled with ash. The house on the 200-year-old property had routinely emptied its fire-place on the spot. No sooner had I started to dig, ever so quietly on hands and knees, when a chorus of barking

Jim at the Keene show

dogs erupted a short distance away. Fortunately for me, the dogs were loud, but harmless. But cover had been broken. I left my hardware where it was and walked up to a small building adjacent to the old house and knocked. The caretaker answered.

I explained who I was and what I was doing.

“No problem,” he said. “Explore all you want, whenever you want. Just be sure that you don’t leave a mess …” (“How does one ‘leave a mess’ in a dumping area? Someone might ask … For those who dig in search of bottles, the answer is simple.

Irresponsible ‘treasure-hunters’ are prone to abuse the privilege, leaving scattered debris and ugly craters in their greedy wake, effectively spoiling what is a legitimate exercise for others.)

That first day, I unearthed a simple assortment of oliveoil and other early 20th-century food bottles … Noting real old or valuable. When I returned to the dorm, I called Jim. That very next weekend, and for the next several weeks, Jim and I (and even my Mom) made several trips to the spot and dug like moles.

As a young man, I was accustomed to hard manual labor.

I had been working seven summers for a local fence company to pay for my education. Digging for bottles wasn’t too bad compared to working 12-hour days in the sun with a post-hole digger and steel bar. But I had never seen anyone dig with such

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patience, passion and persistence as Uncle Jim. And he was in his early 50s at the time. “PPO,” he would say – Persistence Pays Off …

Together, during those weeks, we exposed the lower edge of the entire dump; digging a four-to-six-foot trench from surface to top-soil, to a length of nearly 100 yards … The area looked like a war-zone, complete with a network of trenches. But after all that work, we still found nothing exceptional. What we did find were hundreds of small thick dark green wine-bottles (complete with heavy deep ‘kick-ups’) of 1920-1930s vintage (no pun intended).

We have kept and stored hundreds of those same bottles, should any of our readers be entrepreneurial enough to make their own wine, and be looking to stock their wine-cellar with authentically old bottles … Just think of the trouble we will have saved anyone having to do all of that searching and excavating … Think of the savings!

After weeks of digging, we thanked our host, cleaned up the area, filled in the serpentine trench, collected our modest spoils of war, and turned to leave.

“Wish we had been able to uncover the original dump.” Jim said nonchalantly to the curious caretaker.

“The original dump?” he responded.

“Yep,” continued Jim, while his apprentice nephew listened intently.

“Oh, that dump,” he offered. “That dump is somewhere over there, just beyond where you fellows have been working … They bulldozed that area some years ago … That old dump is probably under 15 feet of dirt ... Too deep to get to now. But it’s there somewhere. Don’t remember exactly where now. You two have sure worked hard though. Never seen anyone work so hard.”

Uncle Jim is a great fisherman. He loves the sport. He used to keep most of the catch. But some specimens he just loves to hold and admire. What keeps him in the sport is the thrill of the catch …, and meeting other collectors …, and comparing fish stories. But he does have a few ‘keepers,’ a few choice trophies on the wall. Sooner or later, he’ll just give them to someone for the pure joy of it.

Any of Jim friends, particularly those who have known him, or have met him at any one of the nearly 425 (last count) antique bottle shows, know that he and ‘Auntie’ Joyce, his beloved English bride of a mere 65 years … are a prize couple themselves. They both love collecting bottles. But they value their friends much more. They always have. They always will.

Any one of those friends (and even a few strangers) could happily recount any number of warm memories or anecdotes from their incidental encounter with the infectiously amiable and incurably generous little gentleman with bright white hair, and his first-love and life-long companion, Joyce.

But what is most memorable is Uncle Jim’s natural tendency to share any and every knowledgeable detail about virtually every bottle in his eclectic display, past and present …

His is not a treasure-hunter’s trove of one-of-a-kind specimens, but a modest, grass-roots display that was constantly

Bottles and Extras

growing and changing in color, depth and variety, much like the color and flow of a remote river glistening in the morning sun on an autumn day … A soft, inviting display of simple rugged beauty from which the common bottle fisherman could pluck a freshly-stocked native species, and bring it home to handle and to admire.

In truth, by his own admission, Jim has never purchased an expensive or extensive collection of antique bottles in nearly 35 years of collecting. He has only ever purchased one small collection in all that time.

Now, at the risk of coming dangerously close to violating my verbal vow to avoid embellishing Uncle Jim’s flawless reputation for honesty, integrity and generosity …

I will ignore the temptation to leave unmentioned, but rather reveal (ever so discretely), a very delicate, but delightfully visible trait in the character of James A. Rogers. (And here I run the risk of putting Uncle Jim in the possible, but highly unlikely position of losing his heavenly reward …)

I am praying that he will be as forgiving as he is generous. I also pray that he will indulge my sincere intentions in the name of love and gratitude. Or just overlook my indiscretion and move on, as he has so many times before.

The trait to which I refer is generosity.

What is it that just compels an individual to give of himself, or herself, for the good and pure joy of pleasing others?

Whatever it is, or wherever it comes from (and I believe that I am in a good position to know), Uncle Jim has it. He always has. He always will.

When my wife, Judy, first contacted June Lowry about writing this article, she was just short of ecstatic to learn that we knew Jim and Joyce Rogers. When we told her that I was Jim’s nephew, and that I wanted to write an article for Bottles and Extras, she gave her enthusiastic approval.

One of the first comments June made to me in our first telephone conversation about Uncle Jim went something like this: “Years ago, at the York, Pennsylvania show, I introduced your Uncle Jim to my daughter. The first thing he did was to give her a few bottles. She still has those bottles today, twentyeight years later!”

As mentioned earlier, Uncle Jim and Auntie Joyce are not strangers to the antique bottle circuit. One of the real benefits of collecting, sorting, trading and selling, is that there is always something to discover; and there is always something new to learn. But more importantly to Jim and Joyce, it has been a life-time of opportunity to make and meet new friends, and to renew old acquaintances.

But there is something more. Something more personal.

Something that is not as evident for those who find themselves incapable of resisting what can easily become a lifeless, joyless business … a desperate cycle of simply buying and selling, trading, bargaining and finagling, all in the name of replenishing and refreshing a depleted inventory, just to resume the irresistible, but endless routine again and again.

What will always distinguish Uncle Jim from the average

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bottle collector, aside from his genuine love and appreciation for the bottles themselves, is the sheer joy and satisfaction he derives from sharing his knowledge with others, particularly those who are young.

There are many stories I could share here to illustrate this infectious, endearing tendency. But I will restrain myself, and share just one.

Recently, Uncle Jim received a call from a local gentleman who had been digging in his back yard, and had unearthed a small variety of inks. He had made a few inquiries, and had been told that Jim would be the man to consult about their age, importance and value.

Jim agreed to travel to the man’s home. When he arrived, he was presented with a rather gruesome pile of stained, discolored inks, covered with chemical residue and filth from a well-buried dump. Jim easily identified the glass as inks, but was unsure of their precise condition, color or values. What he did know is that they were a mixture of cones and umbrellas.

One of them was pontilled …

“Well, “the man began, “I don’t know much about these things, but I’m sure they’re worth something to someone who knows. What I would really like is to get about $400 for them to buy my daughter a go-kart.”

Jim suspected they might be worth that much, so he paid the man the asking price. He was more than pleased. When Jim returned home and superficially cleaned the inks, he discovered that one of them, the one with the pontil scar, was of a breathless sapphire-blue color …

Jim called a friend who specialized in inks. Jim’s friend offered him considerably more (‘sight unseen’) for the one umbrella ink than Jim had paid for the entire lot. But then he did something quite extraordinary. And here is where I am going to be guilty of telling stories out of school … He actually returned to the gentleman’s home, explained what he had found, and promptly added a significant sum to what he had paid previously.

There’s a simple reason why Jim would do such a thing.

That’s just the kind of man he is. So at the risk of causing him unbearable shame and embarrassment, I am simply going to repeat what he told me himself: “The only thing to do in life is to do the right thing.”

In recent years, Uncle Jim and I have had less time to do any real fishing … fishing for bottles, that is. But there is just one final extraordinary dig that I must mention.

We were back home in Manchester for a short time after our return from Africa when Jim called.

“Hey Pete, I was thinking of digging a spot an hour or so south of home … I’ve been there just once before. It’s in a wooded area behind some homes, under some pines. If we’re real careful and quiet, we might have some luck. The old dump is shallow and filled with glass … If I recall from the first exploratory probe, many of the bottles still have their original labels! What do you say, do you want to give it a go tomorrow morning real early?”

It sounded a lot like one of those early fishing trips to me,

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only we weren’t packing rods and flies this time.

“You’re on, Jim.” We packed our gear, left before dawn the next morning, parked in an open lot and scurried with our forks and shovels through the low brush and tall trees, looking like squirrels in search of acorns, until we found the spot beneath a fresh swath of grass. We slowly and methodically removed the turf, exposing a virtual storehouse of glass.

We worked quickly through several feet of old, but common food bottles, many of which still bore clean paper labels … I began to dig with a bit more enthusiasm when the tip of the shovel I was using gently brushed a bright aqua shape …

“Stop!” Jim forced a loud, but restrained whisper … “Look down at your feet. Look at the tip of your shovel. Laying there under the blade near the end of my rubber boot was a semiexposed form. I gently plucked it from the clinging gray ash and wiped its clear surface.

I turned the bottle slowly in my trembling hands. It had the natural feel of a native brookie fresh from the river … The broad base rose up internally, revealing an unusually pronounced pontil scar the size of a Liberty quarter: S. O. RICHARDSON BITTERS SOUTH READING MASS. The bottle, I would later discover, is not unknown to collectors. The color is bright aqua, like pure water under a blue sky … Three inches wide and two inches thick, standing 6.5 inches tall with a one-inch neck and a perfect ringed lip. The surface is filled with natural striations and rough markings, and an occasional air-bubble … A beautiful specimen.

But what makes this bottle so very special is not the glass … It’s the fact that I found it while ‘fishing’ with my favorite Uncle and dearest friend.

How those tiny, faint scratch marks got on the shoulder of this prize ever got there, Heaven only knows (and Jim’s not telling) …

I have strayed slightly from my promise not to mention anyone by name, but the beautiful, priceless bottle I’m holding right now is the perfect replica of the man who’s been looking over my shoulder for nearly 60 years … The same one who taught a young boy to fish … The one who just ‘caught’ his first historical flask behind the old house on the Colebrook River.

“Hey, will you look at this!” He gasped, as he lobbed the tiny amber flask to his son nearby …

Just like that first fish, that first flask, this fisherman is unforgettable. Irreplaceable. A once-in-a-lifetime find. A real keeper.

But these are secrets and memories that are just too personal to share with total strangers …

At least Uncle Jim feels comfortable keeping it that way.

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Bottles and Extras

Bottles and Extras

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U.S.A. Hosp. Dept.

Bottles and Extras

By Frank Sternad

(Editor’s note – this article was published in the May/June, 2009 issue of Bottles and Extras and is being reprinted in this issue in its corrected, readable format. Our sincere apologies for the error.)

When the Union Army’s Standard Supply Table was revised in 1862 to meet the increased needs of the sick and wounded, it provided for more drugs than was furnished to any other army in the world. Supplying the great variety and enormous volume of medical supplies required significant changes in the Medical Department, which from almost every standpoint was inadequate to meet the unprecedented situation create by the outbreak of hostilities at Fort Sumter.

The stockpile of medical supplies at the main supply depot in New York was small, the War Department lacked adequate funds to buy more supplies at current market prices, and most of the manufacturers of pharmaceutical preparations were unprepared to meet the government’s requisitions without delays. To compensate for these deficiencies, Surgeon General William A. Hammond directed in early 1863 that chemical laboratories be established at New York and Philadelphia for the preparation of extracts and tinctures, and for the repackaging of bulk drugs and supplies.

The laboratory set up at Astoria, Long Island, New York consisted of three buildings formerly occupied by a manufacturing chemist, John Hyer Jr. In Philadelphia, a brick warehouse at Sixth and Oxford Streets, formerly used by John Wyeth and Brother, was leased for five years. The imaginative

Figure 1 - Two U.S.A. Hosp. Dept. bottles

Figure 2 - SDS base embossing

Hammond identified the proposed laboratory as “a storehouse for drugs and medical supplies” and thereby saddled the Quartermaster Department with the rent for the building.

Through other manipulations and juggling of official records and documents, he also made the laboratories “legitimate” expenditures for the Medical and Hospital Department funds.

It should be mentioned that Surgeon General Hammond’s good intentions, but lack of conformance to bureaucratic and military procedure, ultimately led to his court martial.

Operations at the U.S. Army Laboratory at Philadelphia began late in April, 1863 when it was assigned an allotment of Tarragona port wine for assay, bottling, and packing in wooden boxes. Military medicine of the time prescribed huge quantities of whiskey and wine for use in regular therapeutics; and one shipment received at the laboratory in August 1863 consisted of 250 barrels of whiskey and 1,000 gallons of sherry.

Almost simultaneous with the first bottling operations was the manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations. Simple cerate, solution of ferrous tersulfate, ammonia liquor, blue mass, silver nitrate, and various powders were among the early items.

Intriguing relics of peak productivity at the U.S. Army Laboratories are the embossed bottles and jars that were chosen for packaging certain drugs. During the Civil War, these containers could be found amongst the stock of Union Army medicine wagons attached to each brigade, and on the shelves of Army hospitals – including those in many of the frontier military posts manned by the Army of the West.

The bottles were made from private moulds in Pittsburgh, “bottle headquarters” of America, at a price much lower than that charged by glassworks in Philadelphia ($9 per gross for quart bottles in 1863). Two lathes for grinding glass bottle stoppers were purchased for the laboratory at Philadelphia. Most of the moulds were cut to read, “U.S.A. HOSP. DEPT.” (Figure 1), but variations exist in known specimens, e.g. “U.S. ARMY HOSPITAL DEPARTMENT”, and “U.S.A. MED’L DEPT”.

The initials, “S D S” are found on the base of a quart size bottle blown in citron colored glass (Figure 2). The exact meaning

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of these letters remains a mystery; most probably their significance was known only to the glassworks that produced the mould.

The most commonly employed embossed bottle was the cylindrical quart, standing some 9 ½” in height, and ranging in color from aqua to apple green, olive green, citron, various shades of amber and cobalt blue. Medicines supplied in these narrow-necked or “tincture” bottles included alcohol, ammonia water, chloroform, castor oil, olive oil, turpentine, potassium permanganate solution, Labarraqe’s Solution (solution of chlorinated soda), and Sweet Spirit of Nitre (ethyl nitrate). Smaller cylinders, 6 ½” down to 3” tall, in blue aqua, clear, emerald green, and black (deep red) have been found, as have cylindrical wide mouth jars, 4 ½” to 7 ½”, in clear and aqua.

Most unusual are small oval bottles, 1 ½” and 4”, in cornflower blue. Any of these embossed bottles, possibly with the exception of the quarts in common Figure 4 - Map of Fort Bridger colors, can be rated “very rare” vessels were often discarded. Good collections of U.S.A. The most abundant source of these bottles for collectors has Hosp. Dept. bottles have been resurrected from the grounds of been the abandoned Army forts located west of the Mississippi at least two forts in southern Wyoming: Fort Bridger (active River. A large dump was normally situated near the post 1858 – 1890) and Fort Sanders (1866 – 1882). Simplified hospital, and it was into these areas that the currently prized plats of these posts (Figures 3 & 4) reveal locations of the hospitals (marked “H”) as of a specific date.

However, repairs and rebuilding were so frequent that layout of a particular fort often changed from year to year. Assuming that hospitals, like other post structures, also were subject to relocation and rebuilding over the lifetime of a fort, it is conceivable that as many hospital dumps were also founded.

Figure 3: Map of Fort Sanders

Sources: Medicines for the Union Army, George Winston Smith, American Institute of the History of Pharmacy, Madison, WI 1962 Old Forts of the Northwest, Herbert M. Hart, New York, 1963 Old Bottle Magazine, “Pricing Guide”, Pat Rogers, September, 1970

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Bottles and Extras

The Dating Game - The Owens Bottle Co.

By Bill Lockhart, Pete Schulz, Carol Serr and Bill Lindsey

The Owens Bottle Co. (1919-1929) was part of a series of companies that began with the Toledo Glass Co. (18951920), the firm that developed the Owens Automatic Bottle Machine. The principal investors in the Toledo company then created the Owens Bottle Machine Co. (1903-1919) to manufacture and lease the Owens Machine, and the latter company in turn created a series of subsidiaries to make bottles, before renaming itself the Owens Bottle Co. Much of the confusion that still surrounds the early history of the Owens machine, in fact, derives from the seemingly compulsive tendency of the machine’s backers for creating new corporations to deal with new opportunities or new functions.

The story of the Owens Automatic Bottle Machine has been retold in numerous publications (e.g., Scoville 1948:101-174; Skrabec 2007:183-268; Walbridge 1920).

The dates given, however, are often confusing. It is correct that the first fully automatic bottle machine was patented by Michael J. Owens in 1903. However, bottles were not first produced on the machine until the following year (1904), the year credited by almost all the early articles (e.g., Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 1914:864). Although some production began in October 1904, the best practical date for the use of the machine would be 1905 when serious commercial production actually began (Miller & McNichols 2002:2).

Even that fails to tell the full story.

As noted by Jones and Sullivan (1989:3539), there is no way to tell whether a bottle was produced on a semiautomatic or fully automatic machine, aside from the Owens scar visible on early Owens-machine-made bottles. By 1896, machines were used to make wide-mouth bottles and fruit jars in the U.S. Semiautomatic machines were making narrow-mouth bottles by 1901 (Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 1914:864). Thus, narrowmouth bottles with automatic machine characteristics were available (albeit not

in large quantities) two years prior to the generally accepted date for automatic machine-made bottles (1903), while Owens-made bottles were not generally available for two years after (1905).

Early semiautomatic machines only automated a small part of the process; the rest was accomplished by hand. This entailed a two-part process. For narrowmouth bottles, a gob of glass was dropped into a blank or parison mold, where a puff of air formed the upper end of the bottle (known as the “finish” from the early days when that was the final operation in bottle making) and created a small opening in the throat of the blank or parison. The parison was then transferred to a second mold, often called the “blow” mold, where another puff of air blew the bottle into its final shape.

As time passed, more and more of these operations became automated, until only the gathering and application of the initial gob of glass continued to be accomplished by hand. The Owens machine used suction to introduce the glass to the parison mold, automating the only stage that was still only accomplished by hand. The machine was now fully automatic.

The Owens Bottle Machine Co. initially offered exclusive licenses for specific types of bottles. For example, the American Bottle Co. completely controlled the manufacture of soda and beer bottles by the Owens machine from 1905 to 1929, and the Thatcher Mfg. Co. was the sole licensee for milk bottles during a similar period. Corporations owned by Owens controlled grape juice and catsup bottle manufacture. By ca. 1909, the company woke up to the idea that it was cutting itself out of the bottle making business and ceased the exclusive license practice, while still restricting the number of companies allowed to manufacture certain types of bottles. For example, liquor bottles were licensed to the Charles Boldt Glass Co., the Illinois Glass Co., and Owens-controlled plants. Thus, different types of bottles began to be made by Owens machines at different times (see Miller & McNichols 2002:3, 6-8).

History – Overview As with many of the larger companies, a historical assessment needs to be approached on two levels: the overview and the local view. The company underwent two phases in its development: the Owens Bottle Machine Co. and the Owens Bottle Co. Within each of these phases, the company owned or controlled several different plants, and the relationship between the company and the plants changed over time.

Owens Bottle Machine Co., Toledo, Ohio (1903-1919) The Owens Bottle Machine Co. was incorporated in New Jersey on September 3, 1903, with a capital of $3,000,000 and reorganized as an Ohio corporation on December 16, 1907. The main purpose of the company was to manufacture and license the use of the Owens Automatic Bottle Machine, but it also maintained the right to manufacture and deal in glass and to hold stock in other companies. The new company took control of the Toledo Glass Co. plant at Toledo, Ohio (Moody’s 1932:2209; Scoville 1948:101-102; Toulouse 1971:393; Walbridge 1920:67).

The Toledo Glass Co. had been formed as an offshoot of the Libbey Glass Co. in 1895. The company built a factory at Toledo with a 14-pot furnace and several tumbler machines. Through a series of negotiations, Toledo Glass ceased tumbler manufacture by 1900 and became devoted to the development of an automatic machine for bottles. There, Michael Owens invented his initial machine (Scoville 1948:96-98; Miller & McNichol 2002:1).

Skrabec (2002:207) stated that: Owens pushed for the need for an “experimental” plant to promote his machine and help machine sales.

Under this initial guise, he got the approval for a plant. Construction was started immediately near the old shed on Libbey Street (known today as Wall Street).

Bottles and Extras

Skrabec’s positioning of this statement immediately after discussing the founding of the Owens Bottle Machine Co. in 1903 makes it sound like the Owens company built the plant after it was founded.

But this was not the case. A glass trade account in May, 1903, indicates that the “model plant” was “built and about to be operated” (National Glass Budget 1903), more than five months before the creation of the Owens Bottle Machine Co. Walbridge (1920:67), one of the officers of the Toledo and Owens companies, stated that “the newly formed company [i.e., the Owens Bottle-Machine Co.] took over the plant of the Toledo Glass Company . . .” Scoville (1948:102) agreed, stating that “Toledo Glass . . . handed over its experimental plant which had been built on Libbey Street in Toledo.” Toulouse (1971:393) confirmed that “another plant for the Toledo Glass Co. was built on Libbey Street . . . . and . . . became part of the Owens Bottle Machine Co.” once that firm was created. It is thus clear that the initial “experimental” factory of the Owens Bottle-Machine Co. was the older Toledo Glass plant on Libbey St. The company quickly realized that it was losing a tremendous profit-making opportunity by not manufacturing bottles, itself. The firm created three other corporations (in 1904, 1909, and 1912 – see below) to make bottles and issued them licenses, although it retained the license for vinegar, grape juice, and narrow-mouth food (notably catsup) bottles in the name of the Owens Bottle Machine Co. in 1908 (Miller & McNichol 2002:7; Toulouse 1971:394). This retention by the parent company was probably so that they could allow any companies under the Owens umbrella to make such bottles. In 1909, the firm similarly retained the license for prescription bottles (Miller & McNichol 2002:7; Scoville 1948:110), although it also licensed the Whitney Glass Works and Illinois Glass Co. to make prescription ware.

Initially, the Owens operation issued exclusive licenses for the use of its machines to produce particular categories of ware, e.g., beer, soda and porter bottles to the Ohio Bottle Co. (later American

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Bottle Co.); milk bottles to Baldwin-Travis (later the Thatcher Mfg. Co.). Soon, licenses became less exclusive; the Illinois Glass Co., Charles Boldt Glass Co., and the Owens West Virginia Bottle Co. all received licenses to make liquor bottles (Miller & McNichol 2002:2; Scoville 1948:104-105, 107).

Originally, Owens only leased the machines to its licensees. Because of the threat of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Owens changed its tactics and vested the ownership of the machines in each of the licensees in January 1912 (Scoville 1948:108). In 1913 and 1914, the Owens management begged its exclusive license holders to sub-license Owens to manufacture bottles on its own machines – with little success. Thatcher was the only one who granted that option – in return for a reduction of the royalties from 40 cents to 10-15 cents per gross. Owens was granted permission to make 50,000 to 150,000 gross of milk bottles per year for Thatcher at the Clarksburg plant (Scoville 1948:104-107). The original plant (No. 1) retained its experimental machines but did not expand its production. By November 1916, the plant still only had a single 10-arm experimental machine (Palmer 1917:212).

During the teens, Owens began to expand by acquiring the controlling stock of some of its rivals. Owens gained control of the Whitney Glass Works, Glassboro, New Jersey, in 1915, but the company retained its own identity until 1918. In 1916, Owens gained complete control of both the American Bottle Co. and the Graham Glass Co., although both retained their identities. The following year, the firm purchased the former Greenfield Fruit Jar & Bottle Co., Greenfield, Indiana, from its owner at the time, the Ball Brothers Glass Mfg. Co. (Owens Bottle Machine Co. 1917; Toulouse 1971:396; Scoville 1948:110, 113; Walbridge 1920:106).

The firm also began production at the new factory in Charleston, West Virginia, by the end of 1918 and abandoned the old Whitney plant in 1919 (Toulouse 1971:397; Walbridge 1920:107). This was followed by a similar takeover of the Charles Boldt Glass Co., also in 1919 (see 1 and individual plant discussions below).

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Between 1911 and 1919, the Owens Bottle Machine Co. controlled a total of 17 plants, although four had closed by 1920. The Owens Bottle Machine Co. was renamed the Owens Bottle Co. in 1919.

Owens Bottle Co., Toledo, Ohio (19191929) On May 1, 1919, the Owens Bottle Machine Co. adopted the name that would make it famous as a bottle manufacturer: The Owens Bottle Co. (Moody’s 1932:2209; Scoville 1948:101; Walbridge 1920:111-112).

The company had previously been known primarily as maker of machines with bottles as a sideline. By this time, Owens had acquired or built all the factories that it would own (see Table 1). We have been unable to find a record of any acquisitions between 1920 and the merger with the Illinois Glass Co. in 1929.

In 1927, the combined plants operated 18 continuous tanks that made “prescriptions, patent, proprietary, packers and preservers, catsup, vinegar, salad dressing, fruit juices, narrow neck, etc.”

(American Glass Review 1927:141-143).

This listing continued until 1929, when the Owens Bottle Co. and the Illinois Glass Co. merged to form the Owens-Illinois Glass Co.

History – Individual Plants This section is organized by plant numbers, where available, and otherwise by dates. The divided organization is necessary to address acquisitions that did not fall under the Owens numbering system. The numbering system was apparently developed fairly early, probably by 1911, when the Owens Bottle-Machine Co. officially acquired the second factory in Toledo and the one in Fairmont, West Virginia. It was certainly in place by at least 1913 (Owens Bottle-Machine Co. 1913). The system was complicated because Owens gained control of several companies (Whitney Glass Works, 1915; American Bottle Co., 1916; Graham Glass Co., 1916; Charles Boldt Glass Co., 1919), some of which had several plants.

These were not given Owens numbers but continued to operate under their former names.

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Table 1 – Owens Bottle Co. – Factory Numbers, Locations, and Dates* No.**

Location

Former Name

Dates of Operation

1

Libbey St., Toledo, OH

Toledo Glass Co.

1903-[1919] 1929†

2

W. Toledo, OH

Northwestern Ohio Bottle Co.

1904-[1911] 1918

3

Fairmont, WV

Owens West Virginia Bottle Co.

1909-[1911] 1929†

4

Westlake St., Toledo, OH

Libbey Glass Co.

1913-1915

4***

Clarksburg, WV

Owens Eastern Bottle Co.

1912-[1915] 1929†

–

Evansville, IN

Graham Glass Co.

1916-1929

–

Loogootee, IN

Graham Glass Co.

1916-1926

–

Okmulgee, OK

Graham Glass Co.

1916-1929

–

Chekotah, OK

Graham Glass Co.

1916-1923

–

Newark, OH

American Bottle Co.

1916-1929

–

Streator, IL

American Bottle Co.

1916-1929

5

Greenfield, IN

Greenfield Fruit Jar & Bottle Co.

1917††-1921

6

Charleston, WV

Owens Bottle Machine Co.

1918-1929

7

Glassboro, NJ #1

Whitney Glass Works

1918†††-1919

8

Glassboro NJ #2

Owens Bottle Machine Co.

1918-1929

5‡

Cincinnati, OH

Charles Boldt Glass Mfg. Co.

1919-1926

2‡‡

Huntington, WV

Charles Boldt Glass Mfg. Co.

1919-1929

* Most of the information in this table was taken from a Table 11, Scoville (1948:113). Dates, however, are also from elsewhere in the book, Toulouse (1971:393-397), Miller & McNichol (2002:6-8), or the Owens annual reports. ** Since the companies purchased (as opposed to factories built) retained their former identities, they were not numbered like the ones originating with Owens and bearing the Owens name. *** The Clarksburg plant received No. 4, when the Westlake plant closed in 1915. † These factories remained in business until at least the end of the Owens era; the number in brackets reflects the date they were absorbed into either the Owen Bottle Machine Co. or the Owens Bottle Co. †† Owens may have owned the Greenfield plant by November 14, 1916 (Roller 1994:41). ††† Owens gained control in 1915 but did not own all the stock until 1918. The plant continued to operate under the Whitney name until the 1918 acquisition. ‡ The Cincinnati factory became Plant No. 5 after the Greenfield factory closed in 1921. ‡‡ The Huntington factory became Plant No. 2 after the W. Toledo factory closed in 1918.

To add further complexity, the Whitney and Boldt plants were later given Owens numbers. Thus, in the following section (and in Table 1), the factories are addressed in numerical order from Plant No. 1 to Plant No. 4, followed by the controlled companies that never received numbers, followed by the remaining numbered plants, even though the Owens company gained control of some of those earlier.

The system was adopted and expanded in 1929 to include all the glass plants of the newly-formed Owens-Illinois Glass Co. Eventually, the plant codes were used to mark the bottles that each factory produced, and this has inspired considerable interest in determining which numbers designated which factories. Strangely, although the system was used systematically within the company, external references (newspaper

accounts, directory listings) almost never mention the numerical designation of a factory. Absent research in corporate archives, the best sources for the early codes seem to be the Annual Reports prepared for the stockholders. Some of these were published verbatim in the trade literature, while we have obtained a few others from company sources.

Plant No. 15 – Owens Bottle-Machine Co. (1903-1919) Plant No. 1 – Owens Bottle Co. (19191929) This was the experimental and demonstration factory, located on Libbey St. in Toledo. As noted above, the original Owens machine was developed at the Toledo Glass Co. factory. The company built the new experimental plant in 1903.

With its single machine, the experimental

Bottles and Extras

factory produced bottles, initially perhaps for demonstration purposes. Beginning in October 1904, however, machine operation at the plant fell under the control of the Northwestern Ohio Glass Co., which (pending construction of its own plant) began making beer bottles.

All bottles made at the plant were sold through the Ohio Bottle Co., although the original output went to Mexico. Sales in the U.S. probably did not begin until 1905 (Scoville 1948:109; Skrabec 2002:230; Toulouse 1971:393). See the next section on the Northwestern Ohio Bottle Co. and Lockhart et al. (2007a) for a more thorough discussion.

The American Bottle Co., successor to the Ohio Bottle Co. continued the same policy. On January 18, 1906, however, American Bottle, now secure in its own production, instructed Owens to cease making bottles for its account. In April 1906, the plant began making catsup bottles for local firms and added pharmaceutical and proprietary medicine bottles in 1912 (Scoville 1948:109; Skrabec 2002:230; Toulouse 1971:393). In 1912, the plant burned. The company rebuilt the factory, still using the No. 1 designation (Smith 1976:1; Walbridge 1920:93). Although sources are unclear, it is likely that pharmaceutical and proprietary medicine bottles were added when the new plant was opened.

The new plant housed the company’s machine designing department, construction department, and the principal mold department. By 1916, two machines in the factory made catsup bottles, gallon packers, and siphon bottles. Prior to this addition, virtually all siphon bottles were imported. The following year, the plant received a new furnace, fueled by oil (Owens Bottle-Machine Co. 1916; 1917). The plant remained in business long enough to become Plant No. 1 for the Owens-Illinois Glass Co., after the 1929 merger (Scovill 1948:113; Toulouse 1971:395).

Northwestern Ohio Bottle Co., Toledo, Ohio (1904-1911) Plant No. 2 – Owens Bottle-Machine Co. (1911-1918) Formed by the owners of the Owens

Bottles and Extras

Bottle Machine Co., the Northwestern Ohio Bottle Co. was an Ohio corporation, established in June 1904 to make bottles with the Owens machine. In August 1904 the Ohio Bottle Co. (which had recently formed and been licensed to make beer and soda bottles on Owens machines, which had not yet been installed) became the selling agent for beer bottles made by Northwestern. But Northwestern at that time had no factory and no machines.

Consequently, it was allowed to use the Libbey Street experimental factory for commercial production beginning in October 1904. All of the beer bottles were to be sold by Ohio Bottle, and all were destined-at least initially-for markets in Mexico so as not to compete with home production (National Glass Budget 1904e:10; 1904f:1; Skrabec 2007:209).

Northwestern was licensed to make wine, brandy, and some “branded” medicine bottles on November 1, 1904 (Miller & McNichol 2002:6; Scoville 1948:103, 106, 145-146; Skrabec 2007:209; Toulouse 1971:394; Walbridge 1920:72). The actual Northwestern plant in West Toledo was presumably completed in 1905. The plant originally used two Owens “A” machines and had 50 workers (Skrabec 2007:209).

In January 1908, the Owens Bottle Machine Co. purchased all the stock in Northwestern. The plant operated “two machines making 8-oz. catsups and whisky bottles” during that year (Hayes 1909:1; Owens-Illinois 1943; Scoville 1948:109). In 1911, Owens consolidated Northwestern into the larger company as part of its expansion into bottle production. The installation became Plant No. 2 (Miller & McNichol 2002:6; Owens Bottle-Machine Co. 1916; Scoville 1948:103, 106, 110, 145-146; Toulouse Although the 1913 Owens Annual Report noted that “the factory operated in a satisfactory manner,” it was described as “the least modern of your company’s factories” the following year (National Glass Budget 1913b:1; 1915a:1). In 1914, Plant No. 2 still had two machines making “catsup and brandy bottles” (Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 1914:864). When the Westlake branch (Plant No. 4) was abandoned in 1915, two older machines at Plant No. 2 were

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removed, and the company installed the “newly constructed carboy machine” and operated it experimentally. The 1915 report described the bottles produced as being “of a very superior quality” (National Glass Budget 1915:1).

The Annual Report for 1916, stated that “some years ago your directors decided to abandon [Plant No. 2], but increasing business necessitated a change in plans and modern equipment has been installed in order to fill orders and maintain dependable service” (Owens Bottle-Machine Co. 1916). In November 1916, the plant was listed as having one 6-arm and one 10-arm Owens machine, making “miscellaneous bottles” (Palmer 1917:212).

The Annual Report for 1917 noted that the installation was only used because “abnormal demand for [the] Company’s product necessitated the use of every facility in order to meet, as nearly as possible, the urgent requirements of customers.” The report described the plant as “the least modern of Company’s factories and will probably become a reserve plant as soon as new factories are in operation and its productive capacity can be spared” (Owens Bottle-Machine Co. 1917). That plan apparently changed.

According to Toulouse (1971:394), Owens closed the plant, when it opened the Charleston factory in 1918.

Owens West Virginia Bottle Co., Fairmont, West Virginia (1909-1911) Plant No. 3 – Owens Bottle-Machine Co. (1911-1919) Plant No. 3 – Owens Bottle Co. (19191929) The Owens Bottle Machine Co. created the Owens West Virginia Bottle Co. in 1909 to receive a license on December 27 for “certain kinds of beverage bottles” – actually grape juice bottles – to be made on Owens automatic bottle machines (Scoville 1948:105). The corporation was capitalized at $100,000, and the new firm immediately built a “modern threefurnace, six-machine plant at Fairmont, West Virginia” (Scoville 1948:110) that was formally opened on October 1, 1910 (Toulouse 1971:394). The site near Fairmont, West Virginia, was chosen

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because of its proximity to the natural gas and coal fields, a steady supply of fuel (Walbridge 1920:80).

In 1910, plans were in place to install six 10-arm Owens machines at Fairmont (National Glass Budget 1910:1; Walbridge 1920:80). As noted above, the factory was sub-licensed by both the Illinois Glass Co. and the Charles Boldt Glass Mfg. Co. to make liquor bottles on July 10, 1910 (Owens-Illinois 1943). The Owens Bottle Machine Co. consolidated the Owens West Virginia Bottle Co. into the larger firm during the last quarter of 1911 as part of its plan to increase bottle production (Scoville 1948:110), soon designating the installation as Plant No. 3. In 1914, twelve machines were in production at the Fairmont factory, making “liquor, catsup, and grape juice bottles.” The factory made grape juice bottles in 4- and 16-ounce sizes along with 9-ounce catsup bottles (Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 1914:864).

During 1912 and 1913, the plant added three additional furnaces equipped with AN and AR machines. Over the next few years, the factory replaced the older AE machines with more 10-arm AN and AR machines (Toulouse 1971:394).

During 1913, the factory was expanded to six furnaces with an even dozen ten-arm machines. The plant was described as “the largest of your company’s factories” that was “maintained at the highest standard of efficiency” in the 1915 Annual Report.

By November 1916, the Fairmont factory still made “liquors, bottles, preserves, and miscellaneous” ware at same twelve 10-arm machines (National Glass Budget 1913b:1; 1915b:1; Owens BottleMachine Co. 1916; Palmer 1917:212).

The location, however, was a poor choice. Owens built the factory in a narrow river valley. The topography caused gusty winds and spring flooding to disrupt production. Despite repeated warnings from advisors, Owens expanded the plant two years after its inception (Fones-Wolf 2007:165).

The plant was still in operation in 1929, when the company merged with the Illinois Glass Co. (Scoville 1948:146) and it continued to operate under the same plant number within that corporation.

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Libbey Glass Co. and Westlake Machine Co., Westlake St., Toledo, Ohio (19081914) Plant No. 4 – Owens Bottle-Machine Co. (1913-1915) The history of this plant is somewhat confusing. Libbey, Owens, and several others with interests in both the Libbey Glass Co. and Owens Bottle-Machine Co. incorporated the Westlake Machine Co. on November 6, 1907. The new corporation built a factory on Westlake St. in Toldeo at some point during 1908. It was established to develop a new machine that incorporated and combined the operating principles of the Toledo Glass Co. semiautomatic light bulb machine and the Owens (fully) Automatic Bottle Machine. The plant actually operated as a joint enterprise between Westlake, Libbey Glass, and the Owens Bottle-Machine Co. (Scoville 1948:113, 130, 165; Skrabec 2007:220, 275).

The Owens company became concerned that the experimental operations would conflict with commercial production in the newly rebuilt Plant No. 1 on Libbey St., constructed in 1912. To alleviate the concerns, the firm leased the Westlake St. plant and transferred experimental operations from Libbey St. to Westlake St. in 1913. This new experimental plant (Plant No. 4) was the focus of development work on furnaces and machines as well as chemical investigations regarding glass composition. It suffered a destructive fire in 1915 and was abandoned (National Glass Budget 1913b:1; 1915a:1; 1915b:1; Scoville 1948:113; Toulouse 1971:396).

So far as we are aware, the Westlake St. factory in Toledo, was the only plant in the history of the system that was never used for commercial bottle production.

Owens Eastern Bottle Co., Clarksburg, West Virginia (1912-1914) Plant No. 4 – Owens Bottle Machine Co. (1914-1919) Plant No. 4 – Owens Bottle Co. (19191929) The Owens Eastern Bottle Company, Clarksburg, West Virginia, was created specifically to use the Owens automatic bottle machines at its new factory. The corporation was capitalized at $1,000,000

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and received a license on June 11, 1912, to make prescription, proprietary, and druggists’ware. Although the Owens Bottle Machine Co. owned 51% of the stock, four other glass houses (Whitney Glass Works, Fidelity Glass Co., Cumberland Glass Mfg. Co., and Bellaire Bottle Co.) each were stockholders (Griffenhagen and Bogard 1999:103; Miller & McNichol 2002; Moody’s 1932:2209; Scoville 1948:106, 110, 146; Toulouse 1971:394396; Walbridge 1920:101).

Although the actual consummation was still more than two years away, plans were already in place to install three machines at Clarksburg in 1910 (National Glass Budget 1910:1). Production did not begin until 1913, when the factory made medicine bottles and pharmaceutical ware on six Owens machines at three furnaces (National Glass Budget 1913a; Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 1913:953). The plant operated five machines making “oval, round, square, and flat prescription bottles, panels and other small ware” the following year (Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 1914:864). In addition, the factory made milk bottles for the Thatcher Mfg. Co. (Toulouse 1971:396).

The first two years were not very profitable, and most of the original stockholders began to regret their decisions to invest. During December 1914, the Owens Bottle Machine Co. bought out all the other stockholders and consolidated Owens Eastern into the larger company (National Glass Budget 1915b:1). The newly absorbed plant used six 10-arm machines to make prescription and proprietary ware and that arrangement continued through 1917. The 1916 Annual Report stated that a second factory was being built and should be operational by May 1917, doubling the capacity at that location. Those plans, however, were dropped, and the plant remained in operation with six machines (National Glass Budget 1915b:1; Owens Bottle-Machine Co. 1916; 1917; Palmer 1917:212).

The Clarksburg factory remained in production and became a plant of the Owens-Illinois Glass Co., retaining its distinction as Plant No. 4 in the new company.

Bottles and Extras

American Bottle Co., headquarters in Newark, Ohio (1905-1916) American Bottle Co. (Owens management), Newark and Streator, Ohio (1916-1929) The American Bottle Co. grew out of the Ohio Bottle Co., established in 1904 to make soda and beer bottles with the Owens machines. The company became the American Bottle Co. in 1905 and rapidly became one of the largest beer and soft drink manufacturers in the United States. The Owens Bottle-Machine Co. gained control of the American Bottle stock in 1916.

The Newark plant had been the flagship factory for American Bottle, but that began to shift after the second plant was built in Streator. The Annual Reports for 1916 and 1917 still listed Newark first, but, by 1920, the factories had been numbered, and American Bottle Co. No. 1 and No. 2 were located at Streator. The Newark plant was American Bottle Co. No. 3 (Owens Bottle-Machine Co. 1916; 1917; Owens Bottle Co. 1920). One Streator plant and the Newark operation survived to become part of the OwensIllinois Glass Co. in 1929.

Graham Glass Co., Evansville, Indiana, and other locations (1907-1916) Graham Glass Co. (Owens management), Evansville and Loogootee, Indiana; Okmulgee and Checotah, Oklahoma (1916-1929) The Graham Glass Co. began in 1907.

The Owens Bottle-Machine Co. purchased the entire stock of the Graham plants at Evansville and Loogootee, Indiana, in 1916 and acquired 50% of the stock of the factories at Okmulgee and Checotah, Oklahoma. Thus, the Owens company gained control of the Graham machine rights and feeder patents. This event led to legal battles between the Owens firm, Harford-Empire (the other major bottle machine manufacturer), and the federal government over who had what rights to what invention. These disputes lasted for the next quarter century (Owens-Illinois 1943).

Like American Bottle, the Graham plants continued to operate under the Graham name. Owens sold the Checotah plant to the Illinois Glass Co. in 1923 and

Bottles and Extras

closed the Loogootee plant in 1926. The Owens-Illinois Glass Co. shut down the Okmulgee branch in 1929 (Keller 1998:27; Toulouse 1971:216).

Greenfield Fruit Jar & Bottle Co., Greenfield, Indiana (ca. 1902-1915) Plant No. 5 – Owens Bottle-Machine Co. (1916-1919) Plant No. 5 – Owens Bottle Co. (19191921) The story of the exclusive Owens license for fruit jars is very convoluted.

James A. Chambers (likely the son of David H. Chambers of A&DH Chambers, the long-lived Pittsburgh glass house) first obtained the license in 1906. Chambers allowed his option to expire, and it was picked up by Frank C. Ball the following year. Ball, too, allowed the option to lapse, and Louis Hollweg acquired the license on January 2, 1909. He assigned the rights to the Greenfield Fruit Jar & Bottle Co. in November of that year. A week later, Greenfield sold the rights (and the factory) to the Ball Brothers. By 1910, the Ball Brothers had paid more than four times the amount stipulated in Frank Ball’s original option (Miller & McNichol 2002:7; Scoville 1948:105).

The Greenfield Fruit Jar & Bottle Co. grew out of Hollweg & Reese at Greenfield, Indiana, and began operations ca. 1902 with seven press-and-blow machines.

For undisclosed reasons, Hollweg closed the plant between August 1905 and June 1906. The reopened factory continued to produce fruit jars, packers, and other jar types. Hollweg apparently installed the Owens machines at Greenfield between January and November 1909. They were almost certainly in place when the Ball Brothers purchased the factory (Roller 1994:38-40).

The Ball Brothers Glass Mfg. Co. officially bought the Greenfield company on November 20, 1909. They continued to operate under the Greenfield Fruit Jar & Bottle Co. name and leased the Ball Factory No. 2, at Muncie, Indiana, to Greenfield to install three Owens AD (nine-arm) machines in late 1910. The Ball Brothers gradually transferred Owens machine operations entirely to Muncie and closed the Greenfield plant in May 1915

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(Roller 1994:40-41).

The Owens Bottle-Machine Co. acquired the operation in late 1916 or 1917, and it became Plant No. 5. The factory was completely overhauled and equipped with three Owens machines, commencing operations in May of the same year. The plant was intended to make catsup bottles for the Frazier Packing Co. Owens closed the plant in 1921 (Owens Bottle Machine Co. 1917; Roller 1994:41; Toulouse 1971:396; Walbridge 1920:106).

Plant No. 6 – Owens Bottle-Machine Co., Charleston, West Virginia (19181919) Plant No. 6 – Owens Bottle Co. (19191929) The Owens Bottle-Machine Co. began construction of Plant No. 6 at Charleston, West Virginia, in 1917. The plant was projected to have a “productive capacity . . . more than 50% greater than that of the Clarksburg factory” (Owens Bottle-Machine Co. 1917). The factory produced pharmaceutical and proprietary medicine bottles as well as milk bottles for the Thatcher Mfg. Co. Thatcher held the exclusive license to make milk containers with the Owens machines, but the Charleston plant manufactured milk bottles for Thatcher until Thatcher acquired sufficient facilities to fill all of its own orders (Toulouse 1971:396) The new plant drew visitors from throughout the industry. It was the first fully automated factory, where the bottle manufacture from mixing of the batch for the glass to the final inspection at the cold end of the lehr was untouched by a single human hand. The plant opened with a single furnace but quickly added three others, all in 1918. The company added a fifth furnace the following year. The factory made prescription, proprietary, pharmaceutical, household, chemical, toiletry, and cosmetic bottles, as well as food containers of all types (Toulouse 1971:396-397).

In1923,theOwenscompanycompleted an enlargement of the Charleston factory.

The new unit contained “the largest furnace your company has yet built” for two new CA machines, “a new type designed to operate with multiple molds.” The 1923

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Owens Annual Report noted that “the completion and installation of the first CA machine is the most important step taken during the past year” (National Glass Budget 1924:9). The plant remained in production into the Owens-Illinois era (Toulouse 1971:397).

Whitney Glass Works, Glassboro, New Jersey (1835-1915) Whitney Glass Works (Owens management) (1915-1918) Plant No. 7 – Owens Bottle-Machine Co. (1918-1919) Although the company traced its origins to 1775, Thomas H. Whitney did not join the firm until 1835, and the company became the Whitney Brothers in 1839 (Toulouse 1971:519-522; Tyson 1971:35-36). Whitney received a license for the Owens machines (to make pharmacy bottles) in 1909. This required a significant rebuilding of the plant, with smaller tanks replacing the three larger ones. Owens shipped the first AE machine to Whitney on February 12, 1910, and the plant had seven Owens AE machines in place by the end of 1911 (Miller & McNichol 2002:7; Scoville 1948:110; Toulouse 1971:523).

The plant was a successful operation, but the Owens Bottle-Machine Co. bought the controlling stock in 1915. Lohman (1972:5) explained the sale: Primarily it was because the Whitney family associated with the enterprise was dying out. . . . The administrators of Dudley Whitney’s estate asked Owens Bottle Machine Company to take up Whitney’s personal notes in order to prevent the immediate and illadvised sale of 1,954 shares of Whitney stock. The company complied and three years later Owens Bottle bought the remaining shares and dissolved the Whitney Glass Works on July 1, 1918.

Whitney retained its own identity from 1915 until 1918, when it still boasted seven Owens machines (Owens BottleMachine Co. 1917; Scoville 1948:110, 113). Owens began construction of a new plant at Glassboro in 1917 and opened the factory in 1918, the same year Owens acquired the remaining assets of Whitney

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and dissolved the Whitney Glass Works on July 1 (Lohmann 1972:5-6; Scoville 1948:110). The firm abandoned the old Whitney plant in 1919. The old and new plants apparently coexisted for at least some time, resulting in the name “Glassboro #2” for the second factory. Although we have not discovered documentary evidence to substantiate this claim, it is very likely that the “Glassboro #1” factory became Plant No. 7 in the Owens lexicon during its brief life as a part of the Owens BottleMachine Co. (rather than its old identity as the factory of Whitney).

Plant No. 8 – Owens Bottle-Machine Co., Glassboro, New Jersey (1918-1919) Plant No. 8 – Owens Bottle Co. (19191929) As noted in the section above, Owens began construction of its new, six-machine plant at Glassboro in 1917.

The plant opened in 1918, just in time for the dissolution of the Whitney Glass Works (see above). At that point, the new factory became Plant No. 8 of the Owens Bottle-Machine Co. It made prescription, proprietary, household, chemical, toiletry, and cosmetic bottles (Lohmann 1972:5-6; Toulouse 1971:397; Walbridge 1920:107).

The plant remained open and became part of the Owens-Illinois Glass Co. in the 1929 merger.

Charles Boldt Glass Co., Cincinnati, Ohio (1900-1919) Charles Boldt Glass Co. (Owens management) (1919-ca. 1921) Plant No. 5 – Owens Bottle Co. (ca.

1921-1926) In 1900, Charles Boldt reorganized the Muncie Glass Co., Muncie, Indiana, to form the Charles Boldt Glass Co. The same year, he built a new plant at Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1908, the Muncie plant was sold to a newly organized Muncie Glass Co. In the July 10, 1910, Boldt acquired the right to manufacture liquor bottles on the Owens automatic machine (Lockhart et al.

2007b; Owens-Illinois 1943).

Due to Prohibition, the liquor industry collapsed in 1919, and the Cincinnati factory apparently closed. The Owens Bottle Co. purchased the majority stock and took control of the Boldt factories

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(including the one at Huntington – see below) as a subsidiary, refurbishing the plants and converting the machinery to produce a general line of glass products.

On November 19, 1922, Boldt offered to sell his remaining stock to the Owens company. Although the date has not been discovered, the Owens firm may have acquired the stock soon after the offer. At some point, probably in early 1923 (but certainly prior to 1925), the Cincinnati factory became Plant No. 5 of the Owens Bottle Co. (the Greenfield plant – formerly Plant No. 5 – had closed in 1921). Owens had certainly acquired the remaining stock by January 1926, when it apparently closed the factory (Lockhart et al. 2007b; Owens Bottle Co. 1920; 1925; OwensIllinois 1943).

Charles Boldt Glass Co. Huntington, West Virginia (1913-1919) Charles Boldt Glass Co. (Owens Management) (1919) Plant No. 2 – Owens Bottle Co. (ca.

1919-1929) Boldt opened the Huntington, West Virginia plant in 1913. Until the Owens Bottle Co. captured the majority stock in 1919, the history of the Huntington factory paralleled that of the Cincinnati plant described above. Probably about 1921 (certainly by 1925), Plant No. 2 – formerly, the identification of the West Toledo factory – had been reassigned to the Huntington factory. Huntington remained a part of the Owens Bottle Co., retaining the Plant No. 2 designation with the Owens-Illinois Glass Co. after the 1929 merger (Lockhart et al. 2007b; Owens Bottle Co. 1920; 1925).

Containers and Marks Owens allowed some companies it purchased to use non-Owens logos and codes. The former Graham plants retained the original Graham marks and code system that included date and factory identifications (see Lockhart 2004; 2006; Porter 1995:4). However, the new management created new marks (but not the Box O) for the American Bottle plants at Streator and Newark (Lockhart et al.

2007a:51-52; Toulouse 1971:454-455).

As more and more feeders were

Bottles and Extras

developed to make semiautomatic machines fully automatic, the Owens machines fell into disuse. The newer machines were easier to use and easier to change molds on. The last Owens machine, a 1914 “AQ” Diphead, was retired from Gas City, Indiana, in 1982 (Skrabec 2002:223).

Box O (1919-1929) Toulouse (1971:393) claimed that the Owens Bottle Co. only used a single mark, the Box O (O inside a square) from 1911 (the date he incorrectly claimed the company was renamed) until the merger with the Illinois Glass Co. in 1929 (Figure 1). Jones (1966:17) dated the mark as

Figure 1: The Box-O mark (El Paso Coliseum collection)

beginning in 1915. She also included an O.B.G. mark that she attributed to “Owens Bottle Glass 1904-05.” She certainly mixed the mark up with the OBCo logo used by the Ohio Bottle Co. during the 1904-1905 period. Giarde (1980:76-77) reviewed the company information but never specifically discussed the application of the mark to milk bottles (the subject of his book). Peterson (1968:48) noted the mark and the beginning date of 1919 but added no other information. The Box O mark was consistently embossed on the bases of bottles, and all bottles with the mark were accompanied by Owens scars (Figure 2).

Figure 2: The Owens Scar (Lindsey)

Bottles and Extras

Citing the U.S. Patent Office, however, Ayres et al. (1980:32-33) noted that the Box O mark, trademark #130,000, was registered on March 16, 1920. The company claimed that the mark had been used since April 4, 1919. This indicates that the mark was used for only about 11 years. When Owens allowed other glass houses exclusive licenses for beer, soda, and milk bottles, it blocked its own path into producing them.

Despite the Owens blockage of its own ability to produce milk bottles, we have seen a single example of a chocolate milk bottle offered on eBay. The bottle was embossed “2 {Box-O} 8.” The bottle is in the typical milk bottle shape, with one of the early Dacro finishes. It is possible that Owens was allowed to make the bottle because of the chocolate designation. In addition to the Box-O mark, the bottle had the typical feathered Owens scar.

Walbridge (1920:111-112) noted that “it was considered advisable to change the corporate name from The Owens Bottle-Machine Company to The Owens Bottle Company, for the manufacturer of bottles, in addition to being a licensor of bottle-blowing machines. The principle business in the future would be that of manufacturing bottles. This change was effective May 1, 1919.” It is notable that this date is only a month after the company began the use of the Box O trademark.

Box (no “O”) Jill Heilman (personal communication, 7/15/2008) reported several bottles with the Box-O mark and the number “62” beside the logo. In addition, in the same deposit, she found several of the same type of bottles marked with the box (with no discernable “O”) along with the “62” designation. All had Owens scars. Thus, it is possible to find some boxes without an enclosed “O” that were made by Owens.

Unless other information was embossed on the base (e.g., the H.J. Heinz name on bottles made by Owens for that company), the Box-O logo was almost always placed in the center of the base. These box logos with no discernible “O” were also centrally placed. Thus, an empty box, accompanied by an Owens scar, is also an indication of Owens manufacture.

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F, G, L, or N (1910-1919) There is evidence that the Owens companies used other marks prior to the adoption of the Box O logo. A good example is provided by Royal Purple grape juice bottles. We have found little data about Royal Purple, but the drink was advertised and bottled by the J. Hungerford Smith Grape Juice Co. in at least 1915 and 1916 (Hull-Walski & Ayers 1989:97; Zumwalt 1980:381). The tiny, four-ounce containers are fairly common throughout the Southwest and possibly elsewhere.

These are colorless bottles with crown finishes, and most (probably all) solarize to a distinct amethyst color.

The bottles appear in two variations, both originally with paper labels. The most common has “Royal Purple” embossed around the shoulder of the bottle and an “F” on the base. A second, illustrated by Hull-Walski and Ayres (1989:97) is embossed “Royal Purple (arch) / F / GRAPE JUICE (inverted arch)” on the base. Each example we have found had an Owens scar on the base, indicating a manufacture by the Owens Automatic Bottle Machine. The Owens Bottle Machine Co. retained the license to manufacture grape juice bottles at the Toledo plant in 1909 (Miller & McNichol 2000:7; Toulouse 1971:394). Thus, the timing (1915-1916) and marking (Owens scar) indicate that the bottles could only have been made by Owens. Colcleaser (1965:69) showed the same “F” mark on a solarized amethyst Welch’s grape juice bottle. Unfortunately, Colcleaser did not include Owens scars in his illustrations.

Thus far, we have found four small letters embossed in the center of the bases of Royal Purple bottles: “F,” “G,” “L,” and “N.” Although the original grape juice bottle license was issued to the Toledo plant in 1909, the Fairmont factory also made grape juice bottles when it began production in 1909, and Owens may have shifted manufacture to other factories prior to 1919.

Thus, it is probable that the “L” indicates the Libbey St. factory (No. 1) after it was rebuilt in 1912 (it was mostly used as an experimental plant prior to that time). The time period suggests that the Greenfield plant (1917-1921) would have

57

Figure 3: G surrounded by an Owens scar (TUR collection)

been the likely user of the “G” (Figure 3), although it could represent one of the Glassboro operations (acquired in 1915 and 1917). The “F” pretty certainly indicates for the Owens plant at Fairmont, West Virginia. We have observed the letter “N” beneath a “6” (or above a “9”) on a machine-made, colorless, 10-sided catsup bottle (Figure 4). Aside from an Owens

Figure 4: N surrounded by an Owens scar (TUR collection)

scar, the bottle had no other markings.

The mark was probably used by the Northwestern Ohio Bottle Co. during the early period of manufacture, 1909-ca.

1912. The plant made catsups by 1909.

Even though the original Owens machines were set up to make beer bottles, one of the earliest adaptations was for catsup containers. The experimental plant

Figure 5: F in an Owens scar on a catsup bottle base (Lockhart)

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at Toledo made catsup bottles for local use prior to 1909 (Skrabec 2007:208, 230).

The Fairmont plant received a license for “certain kinds of beverage bottles” in 1909 and was cited as making “liquor, catsup and grape juice bottles” in 1914 (Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 1914) The small “F” is also found on the bases of catsup bottles (Figure 5), and these, too, frequently solarize to an amethyst color and bear the distinctive Owens scars. Owens retained the license for making catsup bottles beginning in 1906 (Miller & McNichol 2002:6; Scoville 1948:109; Toulouse 1971:393). At this point, we have not seen other letters on similarly-marked catsup bases, so these may have only been made in the Fairmont plant.

F, S, and W in a circle of dots or stars (ca. 1916-1919) The “F” mark was noted by Ayres et al (1980) with an 8 at the top of the circle of dots. The researchers attribute the mark to the Fairmount Glass Works or “an unidentified glass maker, user or merchant or even mold designations.” They added that all the bottles they found with the mark contained “suction machine cut-off scars.”

A search though Miller and McNichol (2002:6-8), however, showed that no Owens license was issued to the Fairmount Glass Works.

By the time Owens machines became available generally, the scars were neater in appearance and were indistinguishable from other types of machine marks. Miller & McNichol (2002:7) noted, however, that only the Owens plants were licensed to make both catsup and grape juice bottles with the Owens machines.

Figure 6: F in a circle of dots (TUR collection)

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Figure 7: W in a circle of dots (TUR collection)

Our examination of the Tucson Urban Renewal collection (the bottles reported

by Ayers and his associates) showed that the “F” surrounded by a circle of 12 dots (with an “8” at the top of the circle) was a colorless grape juice bottle with a crown finish and an Owens scar on the base (Figure 6). We also found a similar, colorless bottle embossed on the base with “W” surrounded by 12 dots with an “8” at the top and an “I” at the bottom of the circle (Figure 7). A final bottle, also colorless, had a basal marking of “S” in a circle of ten dots with a “7” above the circle of dots and a “20” below the circle (Figure 8). The base included an Owens scar.

Figure 8: S in a circle of dots (TUR collection)

We have seen a single example of the “F” surrounded by 11 tiny stars in a personal collection. The bottle was machine made with an Owens scar. It was a colorless, patent medicine bottle, embossed “CALIFORNIA FIG SYRUP CO. / WHEELING W. VA.” The mark had no accompanying numbers. According to Fike (1987:225) California Fig Syrup was introduced in 1878 and was made until the 1970s. The early Owens plants began

Bottles and Extras

making “branded” (including proprietary medicine) bottles in 1905 (Miller & McNichol 2002:6; Scoville 1948:104, 109; Toulouse 1971:329; Walbridge 1920:72).

The “star” variation may only have been used on medicine bottles.

With the exception of the California Fig Syrup bottle, these marks all appear on either catsup or grape juice bottles (in our small sample). All bottles we have examined are either clearly surrounded by dots or are indistinct – with the single exception of the California Fig Syrup bottle.

Thus, it is virtually certain that catsup and/or grape juice bottles with recognizable Owens scars were made by a branch of the Owens company. It is also reasonably certain that the “F” surrounded by a circle of dots was used by the Fairmont plant, probably later than the lone “F” mark.

Since the famous Box-O trademark was not used until 1919 (Ayres et al. 1980:3233), the Owens Fairmont plant was the most likely user of the circle-of-dots (or stars) mark from ca. 1916 to 1919.

We have only seen the “W” mark surrounded by a circle of dots on the base of a single bottle – with an Owens scar. The mark may have been used by the Westlake St. branch in Toledo, Ohio (1913-1915), although the Westlake plant (No. 4) was used as an experimental factory. There is also a chance that the “W” could indicate either the West Toledo branch or the former T. C. Whitney plant (W for Whitney) at Glassboro, New Jersey, controlled by Owens since 1915, wholly owned in 1918. Whitney had obtained an Owens license while it was still separate from the Owens company and, thus, already had the technology in place.

More problematical is another mark, “S” surrounded by a circle of dots. Although the “S” could indicate the Streator, Ohio, plant (controlled by the Owens company by 1916), the plant was noted for making soft drink and beer bottles marked on the heel with the 16 S 3 or similar marks (the 16 being a date code for 1916).

All of these marks – with the circle of dots or stars – appear to be from the later “teens.” The “F” and other single letter marks without the encircling dots or stars were probably used during the ca. 1906-

Bottles and Extras

ca. 1917 period. Because the individual letters with dots or stars appear on bottles with less feathering on the Owens scars, no purple solarization (at least none reported or observed), are much more scarce than the letter-only marks, and include letters that only correspond to later plants, the dot/star marks were probably only used during the ca. 1916-1919 period prior to the April 1919 change to the Box-O mark.

OWENS with the “O” in a box (19191929) In 1919, Owens offered a prescription bottle that was half-oval in cross section, with the other half divided into five sides or panels. The panel opposite the halfoval was the largest flat surface, flanked on each side by thinner panels that were graduated. Graduations on the left were in fluid ounces, with cubic centimeters to the right. The next two panels on both right and left connected to the half-oval at the side seams of the bottle.

The largest flat panel between the graduations was marked at the base of the shoulder with the ounce symbol (looks like a “3” with an extra flat hook on top) followed by the number of ounces in the bottle expressed as lower-case Roman numerals. The shoulder of the bottle was lightly fluted. Bases, of course, had Owens scars.

The term “Owens Ovals” for these bottles was registered (Trade Mark 166,961) in 1923, the application claiming that “the trade-mark has been continuously in use in the business of said corporation since January 1st, 1919.”

A 1928 “Want Book” for druggists (Owens 1928) illustrated the bottle several times and called it the Owens Prescription Oval. The bottle was available in two finish options: cork and threaded. One, called the Handy Service, was a two-part finish for corks. The upper part of the finish consisted of a bead of glass ringing the very top of the finish reinforced with a vertical collar below it. The other finish had continuous threads and was topped by an “attractive white and green lacquered cap.” Both finish types were offered capped (or corked) and sterilized.

The base of each bottle was embossed “OWENS” with the “O” surrounded by

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Table 2 Patterns and Date Ranges for Owens Codes

Figure 9: Box-O creating the first letter of “OWENS” on a drug store bottle base (Lockhart)

a box, creating the Box-O mark at the beginning of the word (Figure 9). After the 1929 merger with Illinois Glass, the Owens Prescription Oval continued in use until at least 1947, although the bottles were marked with Diamond-OI marks from 1930. The cork finish was also used by the successor company until at least 1937. The Box-O mark, of course, was discontinued after the 1929 merger, although existing molds may have been used for a year or so – until they wore out.

Codes The general trend toward the inclusion of date codes seems to have begun in the early 20th century (as early as 1906 by the American Bottle Co.) but did not achieve popularity among glass makers until the mid- to late teens or later. Many companies did not adopt the idea until the mid-1920s (e.g., Southern Glass Co.), and some holdouts did not use date codes until the 1970s. The concept may have only caught on gradually within the Owens Bottle Co. We hypothesized that the numbers to the left and right of the Box O mark followed the pattern later used by the Owens-Illinois Glass Co. (i.e., the numbers to the left were indicative of factories; those to the right represented date codes). To test the possibility, we searched available sources and found numbers accompanying the Box O mark in Colcleaser (1965; 1966), Eastin (1965), and Lockhart and Olszewski’s database from the El Paso Coliseum as well as databases provided

by Carol Serr and a few other bottles from David Whitten’s collection. Altogether, we recorded 51 Box O marks that were accompanied by numbers, although there were numerous marks without numbers in

Plant #

Pattern

Range

Dates

2

x□x

2 □ 3-2 □ 8

1923-1928

3

□ xx*

30-35

1920-1925

3

x□x

3 □ 3-3 □ 4

1923-1924

5

x□x

5□3

1923

6

□ xx*

60-66

1920-1926

6

x□x

6 □ 3-6 □ 7

1923-1927

8

□ xx

80

1920

8

x□x

8 □ 1-8 □ 8

1921-1928

* These may occasionally be to the left or below the mark.

association. See Table 2 for a summary of the patterns we have found.

The search revealed two patterns with a few slight variations: #1 – a single-digit number to the left of the mark and a single-digit number to the right. Left numbers ranged between 2 and 8 (2, 3, 5, 6, 8); right, 1 to 9, inclusive [N=28] . #2 – a double-digit number to the right of the mark (none to the left) ranging from 30 to 35 and 60 to 64 (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 60, 61, 62, 63, and 64) [N=12] These also occasionally appeared to the left of the mark or even below it (08, 32, 62, 66) [N=6].

Five specimens showed only one single-digit number, variously located to the left, above, or below the mark.

As the patterns show, the actual codes are more complex than we originally thought and require a revised hypothesis. Pattern #1 followed the original hypothesis, with the plant code to the left of the mark and the date code to the right. Pattern #2 can be explained with the left digit indicating the plant and the right number showing the date. Instead of surrounding the logo, the two numbers were embossed together.

Actually, the Box O with no associated numbers is a separate pattern and deserves it own discussion. The mark with no accompanying numbers may have only been used during the earliest years, 1919-1921. It is more likely, however, that some plants did not use the system, and our data confirm the likelihood that Plants No. 1 and 4 never used the mark, and Plants No.

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2 and 5 rarely used the system. This would explain why there are numerous examples of the Box-O mark with no accompanying numbers.

Based on our admittedly small sample, only three plants appear to have regularly used the plant/date codes we have hypothesized. These were plants 3, 6, and 8. Our sample turned up one example for Plant No. 2 and two for Plant No. 5 (both the same year). Each plant number deserves its own discussion.

Plant No. 1 By 1919, the plant was in commercial production, but we have not found an example with an embossed “1” in the plant position.

Plant No. 2 The West Toledo factory was closed before the adoption of the Box-O mark, but the number was recycled to the former Boldt plant at Huntington, West Virginia, ca. 1921. The only examples we have seen have “3,” “6,” and “8” (for 1923, 1926, and 1628) in the date position.

Plant No. 3 The Fairmont plant was the largest factory in company. It was open during the entire tenure of the Box-O mark.

Our sample shows the x □ x format with “3” and “4” date codes (1923 and 1924) but has dates from 1920 to 1925 in the □ xx pattern.

Plant No. 4 The Clarksburg plant received the No. 4 designation upon the closing of the Westlake factory in 1915 and remained in operation until the 1929 merger with the Illinois Glass Co. We have seen no examples of “4” in the factory position.

Plant No. 5 The former Boldt plant at Cincinnati received the No. 5 designation shortly after the Greenfield factory closed in 1921. The only examples we have seen each had a “3” date code for 1923.

Plant No. 6 Like Plant No. 3, the Charleston factory

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was active during the entire tenure of the Box-O mark and used both formats. Our sample with the “6” plant code, however, shows a temporal difference between the formats. The □ xx format only has date codes from 0-4 (1920-1923), and the x □ x format is associated with codes 3-7 (1923-1927).

Plant No. 7 This was the original factory of the T.C. Whitney Glass Co. at Glassboro and was only an Owens designate between 1918 and 1919 – not long enough to use the code system or even the Box-O mark.

Plant No. 8 This second plant at Glassboro was completed in 1918 and remained part of the company into the Owens-Illinois era.

It is possible that the factory used the □ xx format (i.e., Box-O 80) in 1920, but the only example we have seen was on a Heinz bottle, so the code may have been connected with Heinz instead of Owens.

The x □ x format (Figure 10), however, was in place from 1921 to 1928 (codes from 1 to 8).

Figure 10: Owens codes for Factory No. 8 and 1921 (Lockhart)

Discussion and Conclusions Available evidence (e.g., Owens scars on bottles where only Owens held the license, such as catsup and grape juice; amethyst glass color; letters matching plant locations or names) indicates that the various single letter marks, either alone or circled by dots or stars, were made by factories of the Owens Bottle Machine Co. Some of these molds may have continued in use during the first couple of years of the Owens Bottle Co. (1919-1920), until the molds wore out.

It is possible that some other early Owens marks or patterns will be

Bottles and Extras

discovered. Although the Owens plants did not seem to mark most of their bottles prior to the adoption of the BoxO mark, the factories seem to have used single-initial logos on grape juice and catsup bottles. Catsup bottles in general were marked with manufacturer’s logos earlier than other food bottles and were sometimes the only bottles made by a company with an embossed logo.

Companies like Curtice Brothers, a major catsup concern, may have required glass houses to emboss some sort of logo on the base. We have found logos on bases of Curtice Brothers’ catsup bottles that we have not seen on any other bottle types.

The Box-O marks are more historically confirmed than the earlier ones and were certainly used from 1919 to 1929. Many of these were embossed by themselves, but many also contained numerical codes associated with the markt. Although this has never been confirmed by documentary evidence, the apparent date codes accompanying the apparent plant codes all fit into the ranges when each individual factory was in business. Although this date/plant code hypothesis could be more clearly demonstrated with a larger sample, we have been unable to locate suitable collection of these bottles as of the time of this writing.

Sources American Glass Review 1927 Glass Factory Yearbook and Directory. American Glass Review, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Ayres, James E., William Liesenbien, Lee Fratt, and Linda Eure 1980 “Beer Bottles from the Tucson Urban Renewal Project, Tucson, AZ.” Unpublished manuscript, Arizona State Museum Archives, RG5, Sg3, Series 2, Subseries 1, Folder 220.

Colcleaser, Donald E. 1965 Bottles of Bygone Days. Privately Published, Napa, California.

1966 Bottles of Bygone Days, Part II. Privately Published, Vallejo, California.

Eastin, June

Bottles and Extras 1965 Bottles West, Vol. I. Press-tige, Ontario, California.

Fones-Wolf, Ken 2007 Glass Towns: Industry, Labor, and Political Economy in Appalachia, 18901930s.” University of Illinois Press, Urbana.

Giarde, Jeffery L. 1980 Glass Milk Bottles: Their Makers and Marks. Time Travelers Press, Bryn Mawr, California.

Glass Worker 1918 “Gas Producers and New Automatic Machinery.” Glass Worker 37(2):1, 12-13.

1924 “Annual Report of Owens Bottle Company.” Glass Worker 43(29):9-24.

[Sixteenth Annual Report of the Owens Bottle-Machine Company, year ending December 31, 1923] Griffinhagen, George and Mary Bogard 1999 History of Drug Containers and Their Labels. American Institute of the History of Pharmacy, Madison, Wisconsin.

Hayes, Denis A. 1909 “Hayes on Bottle Machines.”

National Glass Budget 25(11):1.

Hull-Walski, Deborah and James E. Ayres 1989 The Historical Archaeology of Dam Construction Camps in Central Arizona., Volume 3: Laboratory Methods and Data Computerization. Dames & Moore, Phoenix.

Jones, May 1966 The Bottle Trail, Volume 6. Nara Vista, New Mexico.

Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 1913 “The Present Status of the Glass Bottle and Hollow Ware Industries in the United States.” Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 5(11):951954.

1914 “The Present Status of the Glass Bottle Industry in the United States.”

Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 6(10):864-865.

Lehner, Lois

January - February, 2010 1978 Ohio Pottery and Glass Marks and Manufacturers. Wallace-Homestead Books Co., Des Moines, Iowa.

Libbey, E. D. 1906 E. D. Libby to Ball Bros. Glass Mfg. Co., December 22.

Lockhart, Bill 2004 “A Tale of Two Machines and a Revolution in Soft Drink Bottling.”

Soda Fizz 4(1):11-23.

2006 “A Tale of Two Machines and a Revolution in Soft Drink Bottling.”

Bottles and Extras 17(2):19-25.

Lockhart, Bill and Wanda Olszewski 1994 “Excavation and Analysis of a Nineteenth Century Bottle Pit in San Elizario, Texas.” The Artifact 32(1):2949.

Lockhart, Bill, Pete Schulz, Carol Serr, and Bill Lindsey 2007b “The Dating Game: The Distinctive Marks of the Charles Boldt Glass Co.” Bottles and Extras 18(2):5053.

2007c “The Dating Game: Thatcher Glass Mfg. Co.” Bottles and Extras 18(4):53-65.

Lockhart, Bill, Pete Schulz, Bill Lindsey, Carol Serr, and David Whitten 2007a “The Dating Game: The American Bottle Co., A Study in Contracts and Contradictions.” Bottles and Extras 18(1):47-56.

Lohmann, Watson M. 1972 1904 Whitney Glass Works Illustrated Catalog and Price List with Historical Notes, 1900-1918. Privately published, Pittman, New Jersey.

Miller, George L. and Tony McNichol 2002 “Dates for Suction Scarred Bottoms: Chronological Changes in Owens Machine-Made Bottles.” Paper presented at the 2002 SHA meetings, Mobile, Alabama.

Moody’s Investors Service 1932 Moody’s Manual of Investments: American and Foreign. Moody’s Investors Service, New York, New York.

National Glass Budget 1904e “Big Bottle Company

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Organized.” National Glass Budget 20(8):10.

1904f “The Owens Bottle Machine.”

National Glass Budget 20(15):1.

1910 “Bottle Machine Statitics.”

National Glass Budget 25(50):1.

1913a “Clarksburg Facility Nearing Completion.” National Glass Budget 29(4):1.

1913b “Owens Company’s Earnings.”

National Glass Budget November 29(28):1 [Sixth Annual Report of the Owens Bottle-Machine Company, year ending September 30, 1913] 1915a “The Owens Bottle Machine.”

National Glass Budget 30(24):1.

[Seventh Annual Report of the Owens Bottle-Machine Company, year ending September 30, 1914] 1915b “Annual Report of the Owens Bottle Machine Company.” National Glass Budget 31(27):1. [Eighth Annual Report of the Owens Bottle-Machine Company, year ending September 30, 1915] 1916 “Big Demand for O’Neill Machines.” National Glass Budget 32:(8):1.

Owens Bottle Co. 1920 “Thirteenth Annual Report of the Owens Bottle Company of Ohio for the Year ended December 31, 1920.”

Owens Bottle Co. 1925 “Eighteenth Annual Report of the Owens Bottle Company of Ohio for the Year ended December 31, 1925.”

Owens Bottle Co. 1928 Want Book and Catalog of Owens Bottles: Owens Machine Made by Owens for Druggists. Owens Bottle Co., Toledo, Ohio.

Owens Bottle-Machine Co. 1916 “Ninth Annual Report of the Owens Bottle-Machine Company of Ohio for the Fiscal Year ended September 30th, 1916.” Owens BottleMachine Co. 1917 “Tenth Annual Report of the Owens Bottle-Machine Company

62 of Ohio for the Fiscal Year ended September 30, 1917.” Owens BottleMachine Co. Owens-Illinois Glass Co. 1943 “Owens-Illinois Legal History.”

Owens-Illinois Glass Co. Palmer, Walter B. 1917 The Glass Industry: Report on the Cost of Production of Glass in the United States. Miscellaneous Series No. 60, Department of commerce, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Peterson, Arthur G. 1968 400 Trademarks on Glass.

Washington College Press, Takoma, Md. Porter, Bill 1996 Coke Bottle Checklist. Privately printed, n. p.

Scoville, Warren C. 1948 Revolution in Glassmaking: Entrepreneurship and Technological Change in the American Industry, 1880-1920. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachutts.

Skrabec, Quentin R. 2007 Michael Owens and the Glass Industry. Pelican Publishing, Gretna, Louisiana.

Smith, Al G. 1976 “Note for Historical File.” OwensIllinois, Inc. records.

Toulouse, Julian Harrison 1971 Bottle Makers and Their Marks.

Thomas Nelson, New York.

Tyson, Scott 1971 Glass Houses of the 1880’s.

Privately published, East Greenville, Pennsylvania.

Walbridge, William S. 1920 American Bottles Old & New: A Story of the Industry in the United States. Owens Bottle Company, Toledo, Ohio.

Zumwalt, Betty 1980 Ketchup Pickles Sauces: 19th Century Food in Glass. Mark West Publications, Fulton, California.

January - February, 2010 Footnotes: 1 Ohio Bottle obtained an exclusive license in 1904 for production of beer and soda bottles on the Owens machine. The first machine, however, did not arrive until the following year, and it was installed in a new factory owned by the Newark Machine Bottle Co. – a corporation controlled by the Toledo capitalists at Owens. This company received a sub-license from Ohio Bottle (continued by its successor, American Bottle), which sold the bottles made by Newark Machine, an arrangement that lasted at least until 1907. It eventually consolidated with American Bottle (Newark Advocate 1905a; 1905b; 1907; Scoville 1948:104, 146).

The first machine was actually installed at Baldwin-Travis, Kane, Pennsylvania, on December 16, 1903. The firm had recurring problems and was unable to make the machine operational. By October of the following year (1904), Baldwin-Travis had ceased making payments to the Owens Bottle Machine Co., which almost caused the Owens company to become insolvent. The Thatcher Mfg. Co., successor to BaldwinTravis, signed a new lease on September 16, 1904, but continued having difficulties with the machinery, although production commenced in 1905. By 1908, Thatcher wanted to return machines to the Owens firm and stop paying royalties (Lockhart et al. 2007; Owens-Illinois 1943).

3 Oddly, the Owens-Illinois legal history (1943) indicate that the Owens West Virginia plant was actually sub-licensed by the Illinois Glass Co. and the Charles Boldt Glass Mfg. Co., both holders of Owens licenses, to make liquor bottles.

4 According to the Owens-Illinois legal history, the official date for the name change was April 19, 1919 (Owens-Illinois 1943). May 1 must have been the date that the change was released to the press.

2

This designation is slightly misleading.

Although Toulouse (1971:393) claimed that the factory became Plant No. 1 on September 3, 1903, it was the only factory at that time an needed no numerical designation until 1911, when both Northwestern Ohio Bottle Co. and Owens West Virginia Bottle Co. became officially attached to the Owens Bottle-Machine Co. 5

The 1904 scheme to restrict Owens machine beer bottles to Mexican markets was probably intended to avoid labor 6

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difficulties and to allay concerns from hand manufacturers, including E.H. Everett, the driving force in the creation of Ohio Bottle, who was then operating a huge bottle plant at Newark based entirely on hand production.

Although Scoville (1948:109) placed the stock purchase in 1909, the OwensIllinois legal history (1948) indicates that the deal took place a year earlier. Toulouse (1971:394) added that the machines were AD models, and the plant also made vinegar, grape juice, and “other narrowneck bottles.”

7

Moody’s (1932:2209) claimed a 1912 date for the absorption of both Northwestern and Owens West Virginia, and the OwensIllinois legal history (1943) agrees with that date.

8

Giarde (1980:76) noted that Owens Eastern made milk bottles but mistakenly thought that they might have been embossed with the Box-O mark.

9

Scoville (1948:110) placed the date at January 11, 1915, but we have accepted the December 1914 date from the 1915 Owens Annual Report.

10

Although the Owens Annual Report did not mention the purchase until 1917, an article in the National Glass Budget in August 25, 1917, listed the plant as owned by the Owens company by November 14, 1916 (cited in Roller 1994:41).

11

Roller (1994:41) noted that the plant was last listed in a 1923 directory. Since directory listings often continued for several years after a factory closed, we have accepted the Toulouse (1971:396) date of 1921.

12

The plant was located outside Charleston in the then-unincorporated area of Kanawha City. Consequently it is sometimes called the Kanawha Plant in the trade literature.

13

A single radical exception was marked 14 Box-O 4, but this may have been a misrecording or an engraver’s error.

14

The “08” or “80”may not have been a real part of the Owens mark. This was reported on the base of a Heinz bottle. Heinz had its own codes that were used in conjunction with manufacturer’s marks from other glass houses, including Owens.

15

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January - February, 2010

Classified Ads FOR SALE MANY EYEBATHS FOR SALE BREAKING UP COLLECTION Glass – China – Metal – European Rarities. List & Photos Email: rogereye@yahoo.co.uk For Sale: Shaving mugs, mostly occupational, including veterinary surgeon, cigar roller, pair dice, etc.

Contact: Reid Palmer, 2110 Ashmore Dr, Ames, IA 50014, ph: (515) 292-9508, email: reidnuray@aol.com.

For Sale: MICHIGAN: Coffin shaped Amber poison bottle, 3.125 inches tall, embossed: F.A. Thompson & Co. Detroit.

Embossed in large letters on two end panels – POISON, $799. Oval amber pharmacy bottle, 5.125 inches tall. Embossed: Hutty & Dickinson Druggists Grand Haven, Mich. Embossed on based: W.T. & Co. $125. RARE sample miniature blob top beer bottle, 5.5 inches tall with a ladies leg neck, circa 1880s. Embossed in slug plate on front: Muskegon Brewing Co. Muskego, Mich. $200. All are BIM and all are near mint. Email for pictures. Contact: Jeff Scharnowske, 1101 N. Shiawassee, Owosso, MI 48867, ph: (989) 725-3880, email: jscharno@live.com.

For Sale: JARS: Midgets: clear snowflake without immerse $375, Mason 404 with “hinges” $390, 5 point star base clear whittled $175, beehive Mason’s base star, no closure “$590, Mason’s small embossing, base 403 $55, Mason’s III, $275, Mason’s (cross) improved $60, Trademark Mason’s CFJCo Improved $40, Mason’s CFJCo Improved reverse: Clyde, N.Y. swirled glass $120, Mason’s (large 1) no closure $70. All midgets from my collection. Contact: Jon Vander Schouw, PO Box 14035, Bradenton, FL 34280, ph: (941) 792 – jars (5277), email: fljarman@verizon.net.

For Sale: Books on whiskey bottles and jugs: “Mostly Whiskey” $17. The American Whiskey Jug $20. The

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Whiskey Ceramics of Scotland, Ireland, and England $10. Contact: Jack Sullivan, 4300 Ivanhoe Pl, Alexandria, VA 22304, email: jack.sullivan@verizon.net.

For Sale: Salt jar: Saratoga NY (around shoulder) yellow olive, beautiful and crude, excellent condition - $5000.00.

Amber Flaccus Bros Steers Head – glass lid, Redbook 1014, excellent condition - $1200.00, green Flaccus Bros Steers Head – glass lid, Redbook 1014, excellent condition - $3000.00. Contact: Alice Moulton, ph: (813) 754-1396, email: amoul01954@aol.com.

For Sale: bitters, flasks, medicines, fruit jars, pickle jars, inks, 100s of quality bottles. Contact: Ed & Kathy Gray, website: www.greatantiquebottles.com.

For Sale: JUST PUBLISHED - Parkesburg Bottles - History of the Known Bottles from this Chester County, PA Village.

Malt, drug, milk and others from the 1850s to present day. Interesting historical and background facts with color pictures. $25 post paid includes shipping and insurance.

To order contact: Gerald L Treadway, 410 Strasburg Ave, Parkesburg, PA 19365, ph: (610) 857-3677.

WANTED Wanted: Mary Gregory barber bottles; smaller (about 8 inch) with flesh tone face; larger (more than 9.5 inches) with white enamel or flesh tone face. Contact: Reid Palmer, 2110 Ashmore Dr, Ames, IA 50014, ph: (515) 292-9508, email: reidnuray@aol.com.

Wanted: MICHIGAN MICHIGAN. Good bottles from Michigan. Top dollar paid. Call me first. Call me last, just call me. Mineral waters, colored druggists, animal embossed druggists, cures, seltzer & Dykema poisons, strap side flasks, cobalt beers & hutches, Pearsall Beers Flint, pontiled sodas, wolf embossed beer Detroit. Contact: Jeff Scharnowske, 1101 N. Shiawassee, Owosso, MO 48867, ph: (989) 725-3880, email: jsharno@live. com

January - February, 2010

Wanted: MASON quarts: J, O, S, T, U, V, Y, Z, 29, SR, D13D, D16D, D18D, D32, D39, D69, D88, 114, 174, 233, 309, 455.

Letters and/or numbers appear between Mason’s and Patent. midgets pints: 3, 5, 7, 11, 12, (keystone) Keystone, aqua Mason Jar. Other midgets: Acme, The Gem, The Gem (reverse: hourglass). Contact: Jon Vander Schouw, PO Box 14035, Bradenton, FL 34280, ph: (941) 792-jars (5277), email: fljarman@verizon.net.

Wanted: New York state milk bottles from the following towns: Oneida, Canastota, Chittenango, Cazenovia, Warsaw, Perry, Attica, Dansville, Avon, Pavilion, Madison, Dunkirk, Castile, Mount Morris, Bliss, Wyoming, Arcade and Geneseo.

Additionally I am looking for pre-1900 medicines, beers, sodas, bitters and stoneware from any of the same towns.

Contact: Jim Burns, ph: (315) 363-0346 or (315) 527-3269, email: thorlaw@ hotmail.com.

Wanted: Sunburst flasks! Condition is important. Also Utica, NY advertising stoneware jugs.

Contact: Bob Kennerknecht, PO Box 101, Thendara, NY 13472, ph: (315) 369-8257, email: knecht@frontiernet.net.

Wanted: Four or Five log Drakes Plantation Bitters in amber, no special colors. Contact: Josh Dover, ph: (205) 429-4171, or (256) 636-5276 – cell, email: JoshuaMD1981@ hotmail.com.

Wanted: Bottles and go-withs from Detroit area and surrounding counties.

Contact: Michael Brodzik, 26251 Koontz, Roseville, MI 48066, ph: (586) 771-7111, email: bottlemike@wowway.com.

Wanted: Hartley’s/Peruvian Bark/ Bitters//W.D. Souders & CO./Muncie, Ind. Hartley’s/Peruvian Bank/Bitters// W.D. Souders & Co/Cincinnati, O. Cabin Brand Pure Deepwell Beverages//Property of Cabin Creek Land Co. Decota, W. VA and Alaska Territory and West Virginia hutches. Contact: John Akers, 700 Jane St, Charleston, WV 25302, ph: (304) 3438716, email: mulecreekjohn@aol.com.

Bottles and Extras

Wanted: Quart Harris Springs bottles cork or crown tops. Also looking for Harris Springs go-withs and South Carolina slug plate sodas. Contact: Don Hovis, email: hovis1@prtcnet.com.

Wanted: RPPCs (Real Photo Postcards) from Colorado towns. Buying RPPCs of smaller towns showing dirt streets, horse & wagons, old autos, streetcars, etc. Will buy one or a collection. Contact: Don Fritschel, PO Box 3354, Boulder, CO 80307, email: donfrits@aol.com.

Wanted: Roundup Drug & Jewelry Store store items, Roundup, MT. Owner was Oliver Michael Shallow. Contact: Bill or Linda Buttstead, ph: (941) 722-7233, email: originalsabca@aol.com.

Wanted: Los Angeles Harbor area items.

Bottles, drug store go-withs, ashtrays, thermometers, etc. from the cities of Long Beach, Wilmington, and San Pedro, California. Contact: David Hall, ph: (310) 834-6368.

Wanted: Barq’s Root Beer memorabilia – bottles, signs, advertising, ads, photos of trucks, Barq’s factory, delivery men. Barq’s was nationwide and they were strong in Ohio and Texas. Any history from another state would also be appreciated. Contact: Don Griffis, 109 Lafitte Dr, Slidell, LA 70458, ph: (985) 646-0677 (home) or (985) 640-6601 (cell), email: d_griffu@ bellsouth.net.

Wanted: Crazy collector wants your porcelain Schafer and Vater whiskey nips and decanters, aka “German Giveaways”.

Figural specimens preferred; all size and glaze variations sought. No Japanese knock-offs please. Contact: Tom Lines, ph: (205) 410-2191, email: bluecrab1949@ hotmail.com.

Wanted: Coca-Cola Hutchinsons from the following towns: Gadsden, Anniston, Talladega, Tuskeegee, Jasper, Bessemer, Alabama. Chattanooga, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia. Also want pottery pigs from Elberton, Macon, and Milledgeville, Georgia. Contact: Tom Hicks, 332 Rabbitskip Rd SW, Eatonton, GA 31024,

Bottles and Extras

ph: (706) 485-92802.

Wanted: Oyster items – all types of oyster related items, ie pottery crocks & jugs, tins, cans, advertising, etc. Fruit jars – unusual jars, lids, and closures. Contact: Dave Brown, ph: (302) 738-9960, email: dbrown3950@comcast.net.

Wanted: Cyrus Noble bottles and advertising. Western liquor advertising.

Stretch glass and carnival glass. Gambling items. Reno Brewing Company items.

Contact: Russell Umbraco, 10195 Silver Knolls Blvd, Reno, NV 89508, ph: (510) 693-0550, email: russellu1@juno.com.

Wanted: Embossed pharmacy bottles from Florida, Georgia, and/or Alabama with pharmacy name, street address, state, telephone number and/or symbol. Also wanting Oviedo Bottling Works soda bottles from Oviedo, Florida. Contact: Keith Evans, PO Box 6274, Spring Hill, FL 34611, email: petcat2006@yahoo.com.

Wanted: Old Arrona bottles, photos, paper. Western bottles. Colored tooledtop medicine bottles. 32 ounce Western

January - February, 2010

tooled-top medicine bottles. Contact: Cole Lewellen, ph: (980) 766-3468, email: colelewellen@yahoo.com.

Wanted: Utah bottles, Western bitters, and whiskies, tokens and mining memorabilia.

Contact: Byron Muir, ph: (435) 463-2220, email: bcmuir@gmail.com Wanted: Humboldt county, California bottles. Contact: Martin Ludtke, email: beeemartin@gmail.com.

Wanted: Barrel bitters and barrel whiskeys, especially in unusual colors, any Biningers that are unique because of their shape or color and/or Nevada embossed bottles.

Contact: Bob Ferraro, ph: (702) 2933114, email: mayorferraro@aol.com.

Wanted: California colored blob top sodas. Rare colors, extra crude, big blob tops, gigantic pontils. Especially need open pontil, a green Bay City, S.F. dark blue Billings, Sac City, etc. Also hard to find colors of Hostetters Stomach Bitters & Wolfe’s Schnapps. Thanks. Contact: James Campiglia, ph: (406) 219-3293, email: jameschips@bresnan.net.

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FOHBC Sho-Biz

Calendar of shows and related events FOHBC Sho-Biz is published in the interest of the hobby. Federation affiliated clubs are connotated with FOHBC logo.

Insulator shows (courtesy of Crown Jewels) are indicated with an insulator. 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 June Lowry, 401 Johnston Ct., Raymore, MO 64083 or E-mail: OSUBuckeyes71@aol.com. Show schedules are subject to change. Please call before traveling long distances.

January 8 - 9 Palmetto, Florida The Sun Coast Antique Bottle Collectors Association’s Show & Sale, (early admission: Friday 4 pm - 7:45 pm, general admission: Saturday 9 am - 5 pm) at the Manatee Civic Center, 1 Haben Blvd, Palmetto, FL 34221. Info: George Dueben, PO Box 4141, Seminole, FL 33775, ph: (727) 383-8189, email: res08w341@verizon.net.

January 10 Muncie, Indiana Midwest Antique Fruit Jar & Bottle Club’s Annual Show & Sale (9 am - 2 pm), at the Horizon Convention Center, 401 S High St, Muncie, IN. Info: Dave Rittenhouse, 1008 S 900 W, Farmland, IN 47340, ph: (765) 468-8091, email: rittjman@aol.com.

January 10 South Attleboro, Massachusetts The Little Rhody Bottle Club Annual Show & Sale (10 am - 2 pm, early buyers 9 am), at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 304 Highland Ave, South Attleboro, MA. Info: Bill or Linda Rose, ph: (508) 880-4929.

January 16 Jackson, Mississippi Mississippi Antique Bottle Show & Sale (9 am - 4 pm), at the Mississippi Fairgrounds, Jackson, MS. Info: John Sharp, PO Box 601, Carthage, MS 39051, ph: (601) 507-0105, email: johnsharp49@aol.com.

January 16 Maitland, Florida The Central Florida Insulator Collectors and Antique Telephone Collectors Association’s Annual Show & Sale (8 am - 4 pm with setup at 7 am), at the

Maitland Civic Center, 641 South Maitland Ave, Maitland, FL. Info: Paul Mikula, 650 E Champman Ct., Oviedo, FL 32765, ph: (407) 365-4686, email: wecoman@bellsouth.net.

January 23 Anderson, California The Superior California Antique Bottle Club’s 34th Annual Show & Sale (9 am - 4 pm), at the Shasta County Fairgrounds, Anderson, CA. Info: Mel Hammer, ph: (530) 241-4578 or Phil McDonald, ph: (530) 243-6903.

February 6 Rome, Georgia Rome Antique Bottle & Collectibles Club’s Annual Show & Sale (8:30 am - 3:30 pm), at the Rome Civic Center, Turner McCall Blvd, Rome, GA. Info: Jerry Mitchell, PO Box 475, Beemen, GA 30110, ph: (770) 537-3725, email: mitjt@aol.com or Bob Jenkins, 285 Oak Grove Rd, Carrallton, GA 30117, ph: (770) 834-0736.

February 6 Yuma, Arizona Grand Canyon State Insulator Club’s 11th Annual Insulator Show/Tailgater (9 am - late afternoon) at the Riverside Park next to the Yuma Territorial Prison.

Info: Roger Nagel, ph: (623) 566-0121, email: mr.162@cox.net.

February 7 South River, New Jersey The New Jersey Antique Bottle Club’s 15th Annual Show & Sale (9 am - 2 pm), at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 88 Jackson St, South River, NJ 08882.

Info: NJABC, 24 Charles St, South River, NJ 08882 or Joe Butewicz, ph: (732) 236-9945, email: botlman@msn. com

February 12 - 13 Las Vegas, Nevada The Las Vegas Antique Bottles and Collectibles Club’s 45th Annual Antique & Collectibles Show & Sale (Friday $15 for early bird, 11 am - 5 pm, Saturday $5, 9 am - 4 pm), at the Palace Station Casino, 2411 W Sahara Ave, Las Vegas, NV. Info: Stan Pullen, ph: (702) 4527218.

February 12 - 13 Sarasota, Florida The Sarasota-Manatee Antique Bottle Collectors Association’s 24th Annual “Tail-Gators” Bottle Show (setup Friday, 1 pm - 8 pm and general admission Saturday, 9 am - 3 pm) at the Sarasota County Fairgrounds, 2890 Ringling Blvd, Sarasota, FL. Info: Ed Herrold.

PO Box 18928, Sarasota, FL 94276, ph: (914) 923-6550, email: drbitters@ mindspring.com.

February 19 - 20 Aurora, Oregon The Oregon Bottle Collectors Association’s 2010 Winter Antique Bottle Show & Sale (early birds Friday 1 pm - 6 pm and general public Saturday 9 am - 3 pm), at the American Legion Hall, 3rd & Main, Aurora, OR. Info: Jim Dennis, ph: (541) 467-2760, email: jmdennis@hotmail.com.

February 19 - 20 Columbia, South Carolina The 37th Annual South Carolina Antique Bottle Show & Sale (Friday 11 am - 6 pm, Saturday, 9 am - 1 pm No early admission fee) at the Meadowlake Park Center, 600 Beckman Rd, Columbia, SC 29073. Info Marty Vollmer, ph: (803) 755-9410, email: martyvollmer@ aol.com or Eric Warren, email: scbottles@aol.com

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January - February, 2010

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(More) Sho-Biz February 20 Columbus, Ohio The Columbus Ohio Antique Bottle Show & Sale (9 am - 2 pm, early buyers 7 am), at the Ohio State Fairgrounds, 17th Avenue & I-71, Columbus, OH. Info: Joe Hardin, 594 Laymon Rd, New Vienna, OH 45159, ph: (937) 371-0264, email: jkcollectables@gmail.com.

February 27 Grand Rapids, Michigan West Michigan Antique Bottle Clubs 21st Annual Show & Sale (10 am -3 pm), Fonger American Legion Post, 2327 Wilson, SW, Gd. Rapids, Mi. Info: Elmer Ogg, (231)798-7335, email: elogg@comcast.net or Steve DeBoode, (616)667-0214, email thebottleguy@ comcast.net February 28 Enfield, Connecticut The Somers Antique Bottle Club’s 40th Annual Show & Sale, (9 am - 2 pm, early buyers 8am), at the St. Bernard’s School West Campus, 232 Pearl St, Exit 47W, Enfield, CT. Info: Rose Sokol, 164 Elm St, Enfied, CT 06082, ph: (860) 745-7688, email: enfieldrose@ aol.com.

March 7 Baltimore, Maryland The Baltimore Antique Bottle Club’s 30th Annual Show & Sale (8 am - 3 pm), at the Physical Education Center, CCBC-Essex, 7201 Rossville Blvd, (I695, Exit 34). Info: Eric Ewen, ph: (410) 265-5745, email: teresaanderic@ comcast.net, www.Baltimorebottleclub. org March 12 - 13 Chico, California The 44th Annual Antique Bottle, Jar, Insulator and Collectable Show & Sale, (Friday 10am - 7pm $5, Saturday 9 am - 4 pm free admission), at the Silver

Dollar Fairgrounds, Chico, CA. Info” Randy Taylor, PO Box 546, Chico, CA 95927, ph: (530) 345-0519 evening or (530) 518-7369 cell, email: RTjarguy@ aol.com.

March 13 Badin, North Carolina The Uwharrie Bottle Club’s 3rd Annual Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show & Sale (8 am - 3 pm), at the Badin Fire Department, Badin, NC. Info: Todd McSwain, ph: (704) 474-0552, email: mcswain8649@alltel.net.

March 13 St. Joseph, Missouri The 8th Annual St. Joseph Insulator and Bottle Show & Sale( 9 am - 3 pm with dealer setup at 7am), at the American Legion Pony Express Post #359, 4826 Frederick Ave, St. Joseph, MO. Info: Dennis R. Weber, 3609 Jackson St, St. Joseph, MO 64507, ph: (816) 364- 1312, email: stjoeshow2010@aol.com.

March 19 - 20 Deland, Florida The Deland M-T Bottle Collectors Association’s 40th Anniversary Antique Bottle & Insulator Show & Sale (Friday early buyers $20 3 pm - 7 pm and Saturday 7:30 am - 9 am, regular admission free 9 am - 3 pm), at the Volusia County Fairgrounds, Deland, FL. Info: Brian Hoblock, ph: (386) 804-9635, email: hoblick@aol.com or Louise O’Quinn, ph: (386) 943-2766, email: louiseoquinn@hotmail.com March 21 Flint, Michigan The Flint Antique Bottle and Collectibles Club’s 40th Annual Show & Sale (9 am - 3 pm) at the Dom Polski Hall, 3415 N Linden Rd, Flint, MI. Info: Tim Buda, 11353 Cook Rd, Gaines, MI 48436, ph: (989) 271-9193, email: tbuda@shianet.org.

March 21 St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis Antique Bottle Collectors Association’s 40th Annual Show & Sale (9 am - 3 pm), at the Two Hearts Banquet Center, 4532 S. Lindbergh, St. Louis, MO. Info: Pat Jett, 71 Outlook Dr, Hillsboro, MO 63050, ph: (636) 9483029, email: patsy_jett@yahoo.com March 21 Enfield, Connecticut The Yankee Pole Cat Insulator Club’s Insulator, Bottle, and Table-top Collectibles Show & Sale (8 am - 2 pm with dealer setup 6am - 8am). American Legion Hall, 566 Enfield St (US Route 5), Enfield, CT. Info: John Rajpolt, ph: (203) 261-1190, email: rajpolt@earthlink.net March 26 - 27 Morro Bay, California The San Luis Obispo Bottle Society’s 42nd Annual Show & Sale, (Friday, 3 pm - 7 pm, Saturday, 9 am - 3 pm), at the Morro Bay Veterans Hall, 209 Surf St, Morro Bay, CA. Info: Richard Tartaglia, ph: (805) 543-7484.

March 28 Brewerton, New York The Empire State Bottle Club’s 40th Annual Show & Sale (9 am - 3 pm) at the Brewerton Fire Hall, 9625 Rt. 11, Brewerton, NY. Info: John or Carol Spellman, PO Box 61, Savannah, NY 13146, ph: (315) 365-3156, email: spellmanjc@tds.net.

March 28 Bloomington, Minnesota North Star Historical Bottle Association and Minnesota’s First Antique Bottle Club’s 39th Annual Show & Sale (9:30 am - 2:30 pm), at the Holiday Inn and Suites, 3 Appletree Square (I-494 & 34th Avenue South), Bloomington, MN. Info: Steve Ketcham, ph:(952) 920-4205, email: steve@antiquebottledepot.com

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(More) Sho-Biz April 10 Daphne, Alabama Mobile Bottle Collectors Club’s 37th Annual Show & Sale (9 am - 3 pm), at the Daphne Civic Center, Whispering Pines Road and US Highway 98, Daphne, AL. Info: Jim Simmons, 8851 Foue Mile Rd, Irvington, AL 36544, ph: (251) 824-2697, email: josphs@emai.msn. com or Rod Vining, 8844 Lee Circle, Irvington, AL 36544, ph: (334) 9576725, email: vinewood@mchsi.com or Richard Kramerich, PO Box 241, Pensacola, FL 32591, ph: (850) 435-5425, email: shards@bellsouth.net.

April 10 Kalamazoo, Michigan The Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Club’s 31st Annual Show & Sale (10 am - 3 pm), at the Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds, 2900 Lake St, Kalamazoo, MI. Info: John Pastor, 5716 Versailles Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, ph: (616) 5817005, email: jpastor@americanglassgallery.com or Mark McNee, ph: (269) 343-8393.

April 11 Tylersport, Pennsylvania The Bucks-Mont 15th Annual Bottle Show & Sale (9 am - 2 pm with early buyers in at 8 am), at the Tylersport Fire Company, 125 Ridge Rd, Tylersport, PA. Info: David Buck, ph: (215) 723-4048 or Greg Gifford, ph: (215) 699-5216.

April 16 Antioch, California Golden Gate Historical Bottle Society’s 44th Annual Antiques & Collectibles Show & Sale (9 am - 3 pm), at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds, Sunset Hall, Antioch, CA. Info: Gary or Darla Antone, ph: (925) 373-6758 April 17 Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania Western Reserve Insulator Club’s 10th Annual Allegheny Valley Insulator

Show & Sale (9 am - 3 pm), at the VFW Post #894. Info: Ron Barth, ph: (724) 845-8439, email: rktbarth@windstream. net.

April 18 Rochester, New York The Genesee Valley Bottle Collectors Association’s 41st Annual Bottle, Antiques, and Paper & Postcard Show & Sale (9 am - 3 pm admission $4) at the Monroe County Fair & Expo Center, Minett Hall, Rt. 15A & Calkins Rd, Henrietta, NY. Info: Aaron or Pam Weber, ph: (585) 226-6345, email: gvbca@ frontiernet.net April 25 Harrisonburg, Virginia The Historical Bottle Diggers of Virginia’s 39th Annual Show & Sale (9 am - 3 pm), at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds, US Route 11 (Exit 243 off I-81), south of Harrisonburg, VA. Info: Sonny Smiley, 1025 Greendale Rd, Harrisonburg, VA 22801, ph: (540) 434-1129, email: lithiaman1@yahoo. com May 1 Gray, Tennessee The State of Franklin Antique Bottle & Collectibles Association’s 12th Annual Show & Sale (Friday, April 30 setup & early buyers $10 12 pm - 6 pm; Saturday, May 1 general admission free 8am - 2pm) at the Appalachian Fairgrounds, Gray, TN (Johnson City, TN - Bristol, TN/VA area). 150 tables available. Info: Melissa Milner, ph: (423) 928-4445, email: mmilner12@chartertn.net website www.sfabca.com.

May 2 Brick, New Jersey Jersey Shore Bottle Club’s 38th Annual Postcards & Local Memorabilia Show & Sale (8:30 am - 2 pm), Brick Elks Lodge, 2491 Hooper Ave, Brick, NJ 08723. Info: Richard Peal, 720

Eastern Ln, Brick, NJ 08723, ph: (732) 267-2528, email: manodirt@msn.com or www.bottleclub.org May 8 Aiken, South Carolina The Horse Creek Bottle Club’s 2nd Annual Show & Sale (dealer setup 7 am - 9 am, general admission 9am - 3 pm), at the H. Odell Weeks Activities Center, 1700 Whiskey Rd, Aiken, SC 29803.

Info: Geneva Greene, ph: 9803) 5932271 or Mike Newman, ph: (706) 8298060.

May 8 Salisbury, North Carolina Piedmont Bottle Club’s 4th Annual Bottle and Pottery Show & Sale (8 am - 2 pm), at the Salisbury Civic Center, 315 S Boundary St (AKA Martin Luther King Jr Ave), Salisbury, NC 28144.

Info: John Patterson, ph: (704) 6369510, email: ncmilks@carolina.rr.com or Jimmy Wood, ph: (704) 692-7888 or Chuck Rash, ph: (704) 732-0373. club web-site: www.antiquebottles.com/piedmont May 8 Tallahassee, Florida The 4th Annual Tallahassee Antique Bottle Show & Sale (9am - 3pm), at the North Florida Fairgrounds, Tallahassee, FL. Info: Britt Keen, 1144 Azalea Dr, Tallahassee, FL 32301, ph: (850) 8774490, email: britt_keen@hotmail.com website: www.floridabottles.com May 8 Mansfield, Ohio The Ohio Bottle Club’s 32nd Annual Mansfield Antique Bottle and Advertising Show & Sale (8 am - 2 pm with early buyers Friday, May 7 2 pm - 6 pm), at the Richland County Fairgrounds, Trimble Rd Exit, US Route 30, Mansfield, OH. Info: Bill Koster, PO Box 585, Barberton, OH 44203, ph: (330) 690-2794

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(More) Sho-Biz May 16 Washington, Pennsylvania Washington County Antique Bottle Club’s 36th Annual Show & Sale (9 am 2pm), at the Alpine Star Lodge, 735 Jefferson Ave (Exit 17 off I70), Washington, PA. Info: Russ Crupe, 52 Cherry Rd, Avella, PA 15312, ph: 724) 345-3653 or (412) 298-7831, email: heidirus@gmail. com May 16, Millville, New Jersey New Jersey Antique Bottle Club (NJABC) Millville Annual show and sale, from 9 a.m. till 3 p.m. at the Elks Lodge of Millville, 1815 East Broad Street, Millville, NJ. For Info. eMail paulhavoc@comcast.net or call Paul Delguercio at 609-352-7104.

June 4 - 5 Butte, Montana The Montana Bottle Collectors Association’s 9th Annual Antique Bottle, Insulator, Collectable and Advertising Show & Sale at the centrally located Butte Civic Center Annex, 1340 Harrison Ave, Butte, MT. Friday, June 4 dealers in at 3 pm with early birds 4 pm to 8 pm. Saturday, June 5, doors open from 9 am to 4 pm. Info: Bill Henness, PO Box 5301, Helena, MT 59601, ph: (406) 459-3038, email: bhenness@bresnan.net or Ray Thompson, ph: (406) 273-7780, cell: (406) 529-2255, email: KCthomp@aol. com.

June 12 Smyrna, Georgia The 40th Annual Atlanta Bottle and Pottery Show & Sale (9 am - 4 pm with early buyers at 6 am), at the Smyrna Community Center, 200 Village Green Circle, Smyrna, GA. Info: Jack Hewitt, 1765 Potomac Court, Lawrenceville, GA 30243, ph: (770) 963-0220 or John Joiner, ph: (770) 502-9565, email: propjj@bellsouth.net

June 12 San Diego, California The San Diego Antique Bottle Club’s Annual Show & Sale, (dealer setup 7:30 am, early bird 8 am - 9 am $10, general admission 9 am - 3 pm $2), at the Al Bahr Shrine Tempe, 5440 Kearney Mesa Rd, San Diego, CA 92111, Info: Jim Walker, ph: (858) 490-9019, email: jfw@internetter.com, website: www.sdbottleclub.org.

July 3 - 4 Urbana, Ohio First Annual Urbana Ohio Bottle Swap (Both days 8 am - 4 pm) in conjunction with the Urbana Antique Show & Flea Market. Info: Steve Goddard, 5890 Valley Pike, Urbana, OH 43078, ph: (937) 788-2058, email: stevegoddard@ woh.rr.com or John Bartley, ph: (937) 964-8080, email: jbartley@woh.rr.com.

July 23 - 24 Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham Antique Bottle and Pottery Show (Saturday 8 am - 3 pm free admission, Friday 4 pm - 7 pm dealer setup and early buyers), at the Bessemer Civic Center at Exit 108 off I-20/59. Info: Tom Lines, PO Box 382831, Birmingham, AL 35238, ph: (205) 410-2191, email: blue-crab1949@hotmail.com August 6 - 7 Wilmington, Ohio FOHBC 2010 National Show will be held at the Roberts Center in Wilmington, OH (half-way between Columbus, OH and Cincinnati, OH on I-71).

Info: Jamie Houdeshell, PO Box 57, Haskins, OH 43525, ph: (419) 7223184, email: JHBottle@hotmail.com or Joe Hardin, 594 Laymon Rd, New Vienna, OH 45159, ph: (937) 371-0264, email: jkcollectables@gmail.com.

Check Bottles and Extras and www.

FOHBC.com for more information as it becomes available.

August 14 Martinsburg, West Virginia The Chesapeake Bay Insulator Club’s 11th Annual Shenandoah Valley Insulator Show & Sale (9 am - 2 pm with dealer setup at 7 am), at the Calvary United Methodist Church, 220 W Burke St, Martinsburg, WV. Info: Jeff Hollis, 56 Corning Way, Martinsburg, WV 25405, ph: (304) 263-6140, email: wvacampfire@verizon.net, website: www.insulators.info/clubs/cbic.

Attend a Show Support the hobby

Encourage New Members

They are the future of our hobby!!!

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FOHBC MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY ADDITIONS & CHANGES New Members Eddie Bellamy 804 Busbey Ave Bridgeport, AL 35740 256-495-9094 cebellam@tva.gov Old coke bottles, hutchinsons, Indian artifacts and Civil War David Bobb 343 Valleywood Dr Woodland, CA 95695 530-666-3595 Dan Brown 120 Eastside Cir Petaluma, CA 95437 707-964-4301 1858 Mason jars and San Francisco beers & hutchinsons

James Burns 334 Valenti Country Estates Oneida, NY 13421 315-527-3269 thorlaw@hotmail.com Western New York medicines, beers, sodas and milks

Dave Hall 3405 Franor Alton, IL 62002 618-463-8819 paleo56@att.net Alton, Grafton, Jerseyville, Illinois items

Mike Gish PO Noc 274 Dallas, OR 97338 503-623-0568 HDShovelheadftw@aol.com Western whiskies, fruit jars, small bottles‌

Vince Madruga 1440 Welburn Ave Gilroy, CA 95020 408-847-0639 oldsignet@hotmail.com Western whiskeys and western bitters

David Guthrie 1356 Middlebrook Way Rohnert Park, CA 94928 707-794-7975 bottleguthrie@aol.com San Francisco blob top beers

Bill Meier 103 Canterbury Ct Carlisle, MA 01741 978-369-0209 bill@insulators.info Insulators

Mark Newton 92 Knight St Milford, NH 03055 603-672-2586 mnewton@hendrix-wc.com Lyndeboro glass Changes Richard Bales 915 Kensington Pl Aurora, IL 60506 630-871-3507 balesd@ctt.com Chicago pre-prohibition shot glasses & A.M. Smith pre-prohibition shot glasses Bill & Cyndy Ham 4237 Hendricks Rd. Lakeport, CA 95433 707-263-6563 billham9@gmail.com Colored pontiled medicines and bitters & shaving mugs

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Membership Benefits

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: • A full year subscription the Federation’s official bi-monthly publication, Bottles and Extras • One free ad per yearly membership of 60 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...

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 Federation’s National and EXPO shows, 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: June Lowry FOHBC Business Manager 401 Johnston Ct. Raymore, MO 64083 816-318-0160 OSUBuckeyes71@aol.com

or visit our home page on the web at www.FOHBC.com

Legends of the Jar! - page 34

Peruvian Bitters Trade Cards - page 8

www.FOHBC.com