S. T. / DRAKE'S / 1860 / PLANTATION / X / BITTERS - Reverse says PATENTED / 1862 on two different roof panels.  This is another four-log version of one of the most famous and popular of the bitters bottles but in a beautiful light yellow gold color - a color that is significantly lighter than the other 4 log listed (sold section below) and a great window bottle.  The images here are quite accurate, though for a comparison of the color versus a medium amber 6 log example click on the two bottle images thumbnail to see a much larger version.   The offered example has a crudely applied long tapered collar (i.e. "oil" finish), almost 10" tall, smooth base (two dots), ca. 1875-1885.  The embossing is distinct on this example - click close-up to see a close-up of the upper half of this bottle which also shows the color well.  The condition is essentially mint with no chips, cracks, staining, dings, or flea bites; just a couple very small, extremely shallow "onion skin" open bubbles on a couple corners is all I can find.  The potstone visible in the upper front panel in the "two bottle" image has no "issues" involved with it (i.e., no cracks or fissures).  Bottle was likely never buried given the wear on the base.  This really is a very nice light golden yellow (but not quite pure yellow) example that is somewhat hard to capture in the images.  A great "window bottle" color.  Unavailable at this time.

KING SOLOMON'S BITTERS - SEATTLE, WASH. -  This is embossed on the two narrower sides of this rectangular bottle.  Medium amber, tooled double collar ("brandy finish"), smooth base (embossed S. G. CO. which likely indicates a rarely seen product of the Seattle Glass Company of Renton, WA.), 8" tall, ca. 1905-1907 (likely business dates of Seattle Glass).  Click HERE to view a picture of the reverse side of the bottle. To my knowledge, this and it's slightly smaller brother (example sold earlier; see below) are the only embossed bitters bottles from the Northwest with the city of origin embossed on it.  A fairly rare bottle, this example is essentially mint - no problems (e.g., chips, dings, flea bites, staining) that I can find at all.  Great example all round.  Unavailable at this time.

Dr HOOFLAND'S / GERMAN BITTERS - C. M. JACKSON / PHILADELPHIA - LIVER COMPLAINT - DYSPEPSIA & c - All of this is embossed on four sides of the very busy - but great looking - bitters bottle.  Click reverse view to see the other two sides of this bottle.  Not real rare, but this is a pristine example that has an applied double ring finish (aka lip), blown of bluish aqua glass in a true two-piece "hinge" mold (seam dissects the smooth base), and is 6 7/8" tall.  It dates from the 1860-1870 era, just as the pontil era was coming to a close.  As noted this bottle is essentially dead mint - I can't find anything wrong with it.  It also has a beautiful, glossy and rippled glass surface and is an above average Hoofland's.  This bottle is shorter than the 4 examples shown in Ring & Ham's bitters book under H-168.  It also has no period after the "c" on the narrow panel which has "DYSPEPSIA & c" on it; which, though a minor item, makes it unlisted in R&H.  No longer available.

LASH'S BITTERS - This is a relatively common bottle with an unusual label noting that it had been re-used for Ammonia - a tremendously poisonous substance to be put in a bottle originally intended to be consumed internally!  No wonder poisonings were more common back in the "good" old days.   I acquired this bottle to illustrate the concept of bottle re-use on my Historic Bottle Website.  Specifically, it is discussed on the main Bottle Typing (Typology) & Diagnostic Shapes page at this link:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/typing.htm  The bottle is an early machine-made item dating from about 1920 I would guess.  It has a very typical Owens Automatic Bottle Machine "suction scar" on the base.  It is 9.25" tall, the typical tall square "Lash's Bitters" shape, medium amber in color, smooth base (except for the noted suction scar), and has at least 95% of the original "Double Strength Up To Date Brand Ammonia" label used by a bottle pirating Cleveland, Ohio firm by the name of Schorndorfer Co.  The bottle itself is mint with no chips, cracks or other post-manufacturing issues...besides the wrong label.  Neat item from the era of little product quality regulation.  No longer available.

D'ARTAGNAN TO-NI-TA BITTERS - This bottle is embossed around the shoulder with TRADE "TO-NI-TA" MARK - LORENTZ MED. CO.   It has about 100% of the front label and 95% of the rear label, as one can see in the images (click to enlarge).  The front label says "D'ARTAGNAN TON-NI-TA BITTERS Contains Alcohol 23 per cent, Guaranteed by the Erie Distilling Co. under the National Pure Food and Drugs Act, June 30, 1906.  ERIE DISTILLING CO., BUFFALO, N.Y."  The rear label notes what the product was good for treating (readable in enlarged photo).  Not sure what the connection was between the Erie Distilling Co. and the Lorentz Medicine Co., but the other couple examples I've seen or read about have essentially the same embossing and labeling.   These bottles are actually listed in Ring & Ham as T46L and the company (Erie Distilling) noted as in business from 1897 to 1919.  This particular bottle dates from 1906 to maybe 1912 or 1913 when the "Guaranteed by..." type language pretty much disappeared from medicine labels.  Bottle has at least 95% of the contents and is securely corked and label sealed.  Condition is mint...nice item.  Unavailable at this time.

DAMIANA BITTERS / BAJA CALIFORNIA - This is embossed vertically on two sides of this tall "fifth" or "sixth" sized Western Bitters bottles from San Francisco, CA.  11 1/4" tall, tooled "brandy" finish (with some of the original foil wrapper still remaining), bluish aqua in color, ca. 1890s.  Click Baja California embossed side to see such.  A nice example of an unusual shaped bitters that began production in the 1870s and continued until about the turn-of-the-century.  This is the variant without "Lewis Hess - Manfr'r" on the shoulder and the last of the three molds to be used.  This bitters (and the Damiana herb in general) was thought to be a sexual stimulant...  Condition is about mint with just a few light scratches and no chips, cracks, or staining.  Has a bit of body crudeness in the form of bubbles - including some neat teardrop ones - and stretch marks.  Unavailable at this time.

 

 

DR HENLEY'S / WILD GRAPE ROOT / IXL (in a circle) / BITTERS - This is an excellent example of these big, bold and popular Western bitters bottles.  This appears to be #40 in Wilson & Wilson's great 1969 Western Bitters book and dates from the mid-1880s and almost certainly a product of the SF&PGW.  It is almost 12" tall, has a crudely applied "champagne" style lip or finish (banded collar), somewhat pointed deeply domed base, and has bold embossing.  The color a deeper than usual blue aqua with a little whittle to the the bubbly glass and stretch marks in the neck.  It is essentially in mint condition with no chips, cracks, flea bites, or other issues...just a bit of a light staining ring to the inside back side.  The outside surface is not stained or dull at all.  I suppose there is a few light scuff marks here and there, though the bottle is just about as made.  Very nice example and way cheaper than a deep blue-green one.   No longer available.

GREELEY'S (vertical) / BOURBON WHISKEY / BITTERS / GREELEY'S (vertical) - Here is one of the variants of the Greeley's/Bourbon Whiskey Bitters "family" of barrel bottles.  This is - for those keeping score at home - classified as Ring/Ham #G-102 - though I don't know which of the two noted mold variations it is specifically.  This example is one of those rosy, plum-ish, pucey - with a touch of amber - examples that are hard to accurately describe.  The comparison image shows the color compared to the medium orange-ish amber Sachem's listed below; not purely red, but dominated by it.  This example has the usual flared applied finish with some slop over, was blown in a true two-piece mold (mold seam dissects the base), and dates from the 1865 to 1875 period.  This example is largely in very good condition with a couple (three I can see) very shallow, very small open bubbles on the body but no staining or cracks.  There is some shallow vertical edge flaking on the finish which is shown with a couple views at the following links:  finish view 1; finish view 2.  There are also a few smaller fleabites along the finish too.  These aren't too bad as all of the flakes are very thin in depth and it displays very nicely, but it is hardly a "perfect lip."  An ex-Hagenbuch sales item from 20 years ago or so.   No longer available.

HIGHLAND BITTERS / AND / SCOTCH TONIC - This product from the South (Memphis, TN. I believe) was a wannabe competitor to the much more popular Old Sachem's bitters during the same era, i.e., late 1850s to 1870s.  There are probably scores of Old Sachem's around for every example of the Highland Bitters barrels today.  Even better, this extremely rare and likely pre-Civil War variant of the Highland's has a very distinct, reddish IRON PONTIL!  (Click on the thumbnails above to see larger examples of the images.)  This prime specimen is a beautiful deep golden amber (the embossing close-up above shows the color well), has a crudely applied thick banded collar, has an incredible hammered whittled appearance, and is essentially in mint - never buried - condition with just the faintest of scuff marks on the back...and one value affecting issue.  The left side of the lip (looking straight on at the bottle) has a relatively small - and pretty well done - repaired chip off the bottom side of the lip.  It is somewhat of an upside down "V" shape with very little of the chip actually touching the rim of the lip.  Specifically, the repair is 7/8" wide at the widest (the lower outside edge of the lip) tapering to about 1/4" right at the base of the lip (at the start of the neck) and 1/4" at the upper outside edge of the lip.  The upper part of the chip only encroaches into the top rim of the lip about 2 mm and is very hard to see there due to the good match of the resin.  Click close-up of the lip to see this repair, which doesn't show up very much as the resin matches the bottle color well.  There are no cracks or continuation into the body related to this chip; it is just a discrete chip on the underside of the lip.  Given the beauty of this bottle it is easy to see why someone took the time to have the chip repaired as it displays essentially mint.  Click close-up image of the lip and neck looking on from the repair side which shows how well done this repair is looking straight on at it.  Great item...how many pontiled Highland barrels have you seen?  This is the only one I've ever seen - for sale or otherwise - but priced recognizing the repair.    No longer available.

OLD SACHEM / BITTERS / AND / WIGWAM TONIC  - Offered here is a nice example of this classic and ever popular bottle.   9 1/4" tall, usual conformation (10 rings above and below the embossing), smooth base, applied blocky flared lip.  Color is a light to medium orange-ish amber which is very pleasing in the window and only just a shade less "rich" than the example that sold earlier (listing moved below).  There are also some scattered bubbles in the glass and a little body crudeness.  Click embossing close-up to see a close-up of the embossing and a better look at color and color density of the glass.  Condition is about mint with what appears to be a 1/4" open bubble along the base edge on the back; click open bubble close-up to see such.  The lip is just about perfect with the tiniest little flea-bite; click lip close-up to see such though the small nick is too small to be picked up in the photo and is very hard to see in real life.  The lip close-up also shows the great spill-over from the application of the glass to form the lip (i.e. finish).   There is some natural wear to the base (shows a bit in the base image) and a little bit on the high points on the side opposite the embossing.   Nice example that isn't absolutely perfect, but darn close...and priced accordingly.  No longer available.

DR. J. HOSTETTER'S / STOMACH BITTERS - Although one of the most common of mouth-blown bitters, this example is a rarer version with almost complete labels two opposite sides (no contents).  This is the typical late 19th to early 20th century, tooled lip/finish, 22-24 oz. (8 5/8" tall) version with very bold embossing (and an "A" on the base).  This example dates from about 1906 to 1910 or so since it notes the "Food and Drugs Act of June 30th, 1906" on the label.  The darker label is virtually 100% complete; the lighter label is about 96-97% complete; click on the small images here to view larger versions of each image to view more detail of the labels and embossing.  This bottle is essentially mint with no chips, cracks or staining (just one tiny - 3 mm - "flash" in the glass on the unlabeled & non-embossed side).  I acquired this bottle to picture in the bitters section of my Historic Bottle Website.  A nice bright, clean example in a light to medium golden amber color as shown in the images.  No longer available.

S. T. / DRAKES / 1860 / PLANTATION / X / BITTERS - Also embossed PATENTED / 1862 (on the two lower roof panels) on the back.  There must be thousands of the cabin shaped Plantation Bitters still out there, produced by scores of different molds.  Though abundant, they are still incredibly popular and in demand for obvious esthetic reasons.  The more common configuration is the 6-log versions like this one.  This example is 9 3/4ths" tall, has a very crudely applied lip with lots of slop over, smooth base (two dots embossed), ca. 1865-1875.  Click HERE for a close-up picture of the upper portion of the bottle showing the front embossing which a weak in the upper parts though the bottle itself is fully blown and sharply detailed.  Color is a bright, clear, medium golden amber.  The condition is essentially mint with no chips, cracks, staining, or other issues - just a bit of wear on the base and a bit on the lower roof edges (from laying on it's side I guess).  The label panels have some pleasantly wavy crudeness to them and the glass has an assortment of teardrop bubbles spread throughout.  Overall this is a nice, pleasing example in near mint shape.  No longer available.

S. T. / DRAKES / 1860 / PLANTATION / X / BITTERS - This mold variation of the ubiquitous Drake's Bitters has the PATENTED / 1862 embossed totally on one (the center)  roof panel on the reverse.  This example shares the same general dimensions as the example above - almost 10" tall, crudely applied "oil" type finish or lip (aka "long tapered collar), smooth base (no embossing at all on this one), and dates from the heyday of the 6-log Plantations - 1865 to the mid to late 1870s.  This example is, however, a medium dark chocolate amber; the comparison image shows the color difference with the golden amber example above.  Click close-up of the upper half of this bottle to see such.  This example is essentially mint with no chips, cracks, or other post-production damage; just a few spots of very faint inside content haze visible under a very bright light and a few wisps on the back outside panel.  There is also some nice body crudeness in the way of wavy glass and bubbles.  This is one of those darker but interesting colors that helps set off the moderate to lighter colored Plantations - as the image shows.   A beautiful, dark-ish, crisply molded example.   No longer available.

 

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