ORANGE TONICA RISLEY & Co. N.Y. embossed around the shoulder of this nicely shaped "quasi-tonic" - probably a liqueur with medicinal qualities. Color is a beautiful golden yellow (see picture), round "drum" shaped body with a ridge at the base and shoulder, long "ladies leg" style neck, plain indented base, fairly crudely applied wide single band type collar, 10 1/4" tall, American ca. 1870-80. Bottle has no stains or cracks and some nice long bubbles in the glass. It does, however, have an extremely shallow, flat side-of-the-lip flake that is 3/16" long and 1/8" wide with some accompanying "roughness" right at the edge of lip. Doesn't amount to much and by describing it I make it seem more than it is - but it's better to have more information than less, eh? There is also an small (1/8" diameter) impact mark on the side of the bottle that has no depth or radiations but it's there - really no problem. This makes a beautiful window bottle (that's were I have it now) with its "clear" yellowish color. Though not quite a figural, it does have some unique shape attributes that make it a handsome piece of 19th century glass.      SOLD!

VIN ZYMO WINE TONIC - This bottle is a very interesting, very early 20th century (1900-1910) "wine tonic" - common sub-species of medicinal tonics - bottle that was bottled in a standard "Bordeaux" style wine bottle.  The bottle was produced in a turn-mold as it has no side-seams and the distinctive concentric horizontal rings on the body typical of that manufacturing method.  It also has a tooled banded "champagne" style lip or finish, smooth base with a 1.25" kick-up and bump ("mamelon") in the center, 11.6" tall, and is a nice medium olive green color. 

The bottle is labeled Vin Zymo Brand Elixir Wine Tonic which was produced by Purexo Products of San Francisco, CA.   It notes a 20 or 30% alcohol level (there is a hole that obscures part of percentage) which is much higher than the usual levels of wine (12-15%) so must have been fortified to give it extra "medicinal" qualities.  The label also notes that it "contains valuable medicaments (whatever that means) in properly blended fully matured California wine" and is "free from iron and laxatives."  The bottle is in about mint condition (a little scratching on reverse) and the original label is very colorful and 95%+ intact and still solid.  Bottle used for and pictured on the Historic Bottle Website.  Interesting California wine related item from the era when the government was just beginning to really crack down on quackery.  $20

MULL'S GRAPE TONIC / ROCK ISLAND, ILL. - Here is a fine example of somewhat scarce tonic, except with the original label, box, AND the original in-box booklet touting all the benefits of this product.  As the side of the boxes notes the product "CURES CONSTIPATION PERMANENTLY."  The label (and label on the box illustration bottle) also notes that the product is "especially prescribed for weak and nervous men, women and children, invalids, and aged persons."  The box is loaded with information regarding this tonics "flesh-building properties", "wonderful blood-making and strength-giving virtues", and  the like.  The bottle is the smaller rectangular variant in a medium amber color with a touch of red,  7.5" tall, has the original cork though no contents, smooth base (embossed with a "3"), tooled "oil" type finish (long tapered collar) and dates from 1904 - just a couple years prior to the passage of the Pure Food & Drugs Act of 1906. 

How do I know it dates from 1904?  It is stamped on the left side of the bottle label in purple ink, i.e., "Mar 17, 04" - click on the image to the above left to see this.  The condition of the bottle is mint with no chips, cracks or other post-production damage; the bottle label is 100% intact with just a bit of staining (from the leaked contents) to the upper right corner as shown in the images.  The box is a bit rougher with some buckling and staining but intact (top box flat detached and inside) and all readable.  The bottle itself is perfectly mirrored by the box illustration.  The little pamphlet is a bit creased and has some soiling, but other wise good shape.  Mull's Grape Tonic was made by the Lightning Medicine Co. - named, I presume, in honor of the speed of "recovery" their product induced!  Neat item with the rarely encountered labels, box, etc.  $75

VIN-TONE / THE FOOD TONIC - Two different sizes! This is embossed on the shoulder of both these bottles - the regular size (a scarce bottle in its own right) and the much rarer sample size!  The taller bottle is almost 9" tall; the sample about 4".  Both are light to medium amber in color, have the unique pedestal shape that is very unique, tooled "ring" type one-part lips, smooth bases, and date right around 1900 I would guess.

These tonics seem to come out of the East, though I don't know specifically where.  Both bottles are in good shape though have some light (large) to moderate haze (sample) that isn't too detracting.  There are no chips or notable cracks, though upon close inspection the large size has a short (4 mm) "flash" in the back which is hard to find.  A nice, pleasing-to-the eye pair of food tonics.  Incidentally, there were a lot of food based tonic products during the era from the 1880s until well into the 20th century, including what was essentially just beer marketed as "malt tonic."  This offering was almost certainly one of the many "wine tonics" ("VIN") that were popular during that same era.  A lot of this marketing was a futile attempt by producers of alcohol products to make them more "medicinal" and try to stave off the evil (to them) Temperance types, who of course won the battle with the passage of National Prohibition which took effect in 1919/1920.  Those were the days!  SOLD!

RAMON'S PEPSIN / CHILL TONIC / MADE BY BROWN MFG. CO - NEW YORK, N.Y. - GREENVILLE, TENN. - This is all embossed on three sides of this rare early 1900s medicinal tonic bottle from the South.  Also included with this bottle is an original tin of Ramon's Tonic Regulator made by the same company - Brown Manufacturing Co. that dates from the same era, i.e., the very early 20th century.  The bottle is about 6 5/8" tall, has a tooled double ring finish or lip, and is a nice sun colored amethyst color (whether irradiated or not I can't say).  It has a smooth base which is embossed DIXIE indicating production by the Dixie Glass Works which was located in Tallapoosa, Georgia and operated from 1898 to either 1906 or 1907.  The bottle is essentially mint; the only "issue" I can see is a very, very, very faint iridescence to the inside that is even and almost invisible.  The can is a really neat item that is full of whatever the formula was (fine granular) and has a folded flyer about the product sitting on top of the product and which appears to be in good shape (I didn't open an inspect it, but it has information about the ailments it treated/cured).  The can is in good shape with some soiling and rust spots here and there but is almost all readable (one narrow side is hard to read but the same as the opposite narrow side).  The product was for the "...quick relief in Liver Complaints, Biliousness, Dyspepsia, Bilious Headache, Costiveness..." among other things.   Nice pair of rare tonics for one price.  $45

MULL'S GRAPE TONIC / ROCK ISLAND, ILL. -  Interestingly enough, this bottle was blown in the exact same mold as the labeled Mull's Tonic listed above.  This is indicated via a close inspection of the embossing pattern between the two (identical) and the presence of an embossed "3" mold number on the base.  As with the other example, this bottle is the smaller rectangular variant in a medium amber color with a touch of red (blown out of the same batch as the labeled example?),  7.5" tall, smooth base (the noted embossed "3"), a tooled "oil" type finish (long tapered collar), and dates from the very late 1890s to early 1900s.  Condition of this example is also near mint; no noticeable "issues" like chips, cracks, or staining.  $25

COLUMBIAN / TONIC / (very elaborate CT with TRADE MARK) / COLUMBIAN / MEDICINE CO / FRANKLIN / OHIO - Talk about lots of bold embossing!  This oversized "prescription" type (a "Blake" style) bottle is strongly embossed for a patent medicine instead of a pharmacist, i.e., "Columbian Tonic."  The bottle has a tooled "prescription" style finish (aka "lip"), is 8" tall with a smooth base  which is faintly embossed with W. T. & Co. for Whitall, Tatum & Co. which was probably the largest producer of druggist (aka "pharmacy") bottles between the late 1870s and maybe 1920 or so (although the company continued into the mid-ish 1930s).   This bottle likely dates from the mid-ish 1890s as I suspect the name was inspired by the 1892-1893 Columbian Exposition in nearby Chicago?  The glass is just about crystal clear with just a slight manganese dioxide induced "pink" tint, which is visible in the image.  Condition is immaculate with no chips, cracks, nicks, staining or any other post production damage...in fact, it looks to have never been buried.  I've only seen a few of these through the years and  believe them to be quite rare - certainly very rare in this essentially perfect condition.  Even though clear/colorless glass, this bottles size and boldness of embossing would make a great window bottle, where it may turn a bit darker amethyst(?).  $60

The bottle pictured...is a crown cap finish example of this style that is embossed "CLA-WOOD / MALT TONIC / CLARKE-WOODWARD / DRUG CO. / PORTLAND, OREGON that was produced between about 1906 and 1916.  This company also marketed a "Cla-Wood Malt Extract" which was likely similar to the "Extract of Malt" products discussed earlier (White 1974).  This bottle was mouth-blown in a cup base mold, has multiple air venting marks on each shoulder, and a tooled crown finish.  The crown finish was increasingly popular on mouth-blown soda and beer bottles from the late 1890s up until virtual complete conversion to machine-made crown finish bottles around 1915 to 1917 for beer and soda bottles (Lockhart pers. comm. 2003).