OTHER MEDICINAL BOTTLES & related
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WARNER'S
/ SAFE / NERVINE / (safe) / ROCHESTER N. Y. - Here is a scarce
variant of a scarce size & type of Warner's Safe bottle. First off the
smaller sized Nervine's are not all that abundant and this is one of the earlier
full face "slug plate" examples...with a twist. Specifically,
this example has a plate added to the plate! Look closely at the close-up
image and you will see that the NERVINE is an additional plate
added to the "tombstone" type plate that the entire embossing pattern is
contained within. In addition, this example has an apparent mold plate
strip or part evident as a horizontal band below the ROCHESTER N.Y.
embossing at the base. Listed as "Good to Scarce" in Ojea & Stecher's 1998
"Warner's Reference Guide," this particular conformation of multiple
plates is not discussed in their book, though these examples without the A&DHC
on the base (like this example) are thought to be the second mold class of
smaller Nervine bottles, probably dating from the mid-ish 1880s; my estimate
based on the bottle not having any mold air venting in evidence. This
bottle is about 7.3" tall, has an earlier tooled double ring finish/lip, blown
in a post-bottom mold with a non-embossed base plate, and is a decent relatively
bright medium amber color. The condition is very good with no chips,
cracks or other significant post-production issues but does have a light to
moderate pale haze to the outside surface with is pretty evenly distributed and
not too distracting; it gives the bottle a "matte" type appearance.
Interesting bottle with some mold maker adaptations that add a bit of mystery to
it. $100
OLD
/ DR. TOWNSEND's - SARSAPARILLA - NEW . YORK. - This is
embossed vertically on three sides of this familiar - and desired - bottle to
collectors. The "Old Doctor" bottles were used by the same-named poseur
and competitor of the more common Dr. Townsend's Sarsaparilla. This
bottle is a beautiful medium clear green or blue green depending on ones eye;
the images show the color well. It is 9.5" tall, has a crudely applied
"oil" finish or lip, a distinctly iron pontiled base (click on the image to see
a larger version), and dates from the 1850s most likely. This example is
essentially "attic" mint having no evidence whatsoever of being buried, i.e., no
staining, no chips, or cracks...just a little wear on the base from having sat
somewhere for 150 years. The bottle has some scattered bubbles in the very
clean glass including a large one on the shoulder which has a very fine
in-making (1/4" + or -) fracture on the inside surface of the bubble.
The bubble is not broken open at all on either side of the bottle but has that
small hairline which is visible (just above the arrow) in the close-up image at this link:
close-up of the shoulder, neck
and finish. An overall excellent example that is as made from the
factory, but priced considering the small "issue."
$295
Wm.
PFUNDER'S / OREGON / No 7132 / (baby's face with TRADE MARK and OMNIS
PROSINT) / REGISTERED / MARCH 23rd, 1879 / BLOOD / PURIFIER / Wm. PFUNDER & CO /
PORTLAND, ORE - All this is embossed within an arched plate (aka "slug
plate") on a fine example of a popular medicine bottle from...Oregon, of course.
This example is probably the second or maybe third mold used to put up this
product, dating from the 1890s most likely. It is 7.5" tall, a medium
amber with a but of a reddish hue (see image), smooth base (embossed with
"320"), tooled "club sauce" type lip or finish. Condition of this offering
is near mint with no chips, cracks or significant staining...just a few very
very light wisps of the latter which is almost unnoticeable. Nice example of one
of the most distinctive Oregon bottles.
$75
IMPROVED
/ DESTILLED / MICROBE KILLER - Yes, it is spelled "Destilled" -
with an "e" - not "Distilled" on this mystery bottle that is quite rare;
I've only seen one other. This unusually embossed bottle is about a quart
in size, colorless/clear glass, 9.5" tall, has a tooled "brandy" finish, smooth
base (although it is embossed with I.G.Co. for the Illinois
Glass Company), has a round circle on the back (sort of like a mold embossed
"blob seal" except with no embossing in the seal), and dates from the early
1900s. Click
reverse view to see the back side of this bottle. Condition is mint
with no chips, cracks, staining or other issues.
My take on this weird bottle, which is in a shape that the Illinois Glass Company in 1906 called their "squat seal brandy" style (see the page from that catalog on my other website at this link: http://www.sha.org/bottle/Typing/IGCo1906/IGCo1906page120.jpg ), is that it is a period "spoof" liquor bottle. That is, it was used for some type of liquor not medicine but was poking fun - sort of like the picnic flasks with embossed drunk leaning against the lamp post with the dog at his feet...well, you know the one. In this case, it may be spoofing Radam's Microbe Killer and their claim to "Cure All Diseases" or it could be poking fun at the rabid Prohibitionists of the period who believed all liquor to be evil incarnate...or a mixture of both. In any event, this is an unusual and unique item. I should note that when I was a kid, my father always called stopping at the state liquor store a stop to get his "medicine" so maybe it did contain "medicine" that at 80 proof would surely kill microbes! $95
STEWART
D. HOWE'S - ARABIAN / TONIC / BLOOD PURIFIER - NEW YORK - These Arabian
Tonic bottles have always been a favorite of mine - have had several through the
years - in that they are big in size, nicely embossed, a bit earlier in age
(1870s), and have a great name! This bottle is 9.5" tall, 3.25" wide and
about 2" thick. It also has an applied "patent" finish, blown in a
post-mold (smooth base), lacks any mold air venting, and as noted likely dates
from the 1870s (possibly late 1860s or very early 1880s) era I would estimate
from the manufacturing characteristics.
This example is boldly embossed and is essentially mint with just a bit of content haze in the upper front shoulder that takes a bright light to see. It also has some nice bubbles in the glass, a pleasant blue aqua color, stretch marks on in the neck, and a bit of slop over below the lip. I don't believe it has every been buried and certainly not professionally cleaned. One of the bigger, better, and fairly scarce "medicinal tonic" bottles! $75
UMATILLA
/ INDIAN HOGAH - CAMPBELL & LYON - DETROIT, MICH. - Oh, do I wish this
was a true Oregon bottle - being a collector of such things - but the "Detroit,
Mich." on the side dispels that wishful myth. However, it is certainly at
least connected to Oregon via the medicine name...though what a "hogah" is I
don't know nor could I find anything about it online. I really don't know
much about these bottles except that the Umatilla Indians lived since "time
began" (by their reckoning) in the middle Columbia River area in northeast to
north central Oregon. It was popular in the 19th century to note that a
patent medicine had some special Indian herbalist connections and such and use
of the names of tribes like this to make the product seem more exotic or valid
or interesting or whatever - especially Western American tribes during the late
19th century. For example, the Oregon Medicine Company, who made
the Modoc Indian Oil (a tribe from my area here in south central Oregon),
was actually located in...Pennsylvania! Anyway, this scarce bottle is 9"
tall, smooth base, tooled "oil" type finish, and has a cup-base mold with mold
air venting in evidence pointing towards a manufacturing date of the 1890s to
very early 1900s. Condition is very good with no chips, cracks, dings or
other damage...just a bit of very, very light haze in a few places (too little
to really show up in the images) and probably a light scratch or two. Of
manufacturing interest (to me anyway) is a small "plate" below the front panel
that has three rivet or screw heads visible. This was possibly a patch to
the mold or where the plate was affixed for the front embossing (although there
are not equivalent marks on the side panels)...or who knows what. Just an
interesting reminder of the ways of hand-made glass making techniques (and jerry
rigging) in the 19th century. $65
JOYNER
/ UNITED DRUG CO. (in a shield) / TRADE MARK / SPOKANE / U.S.A. - This
is a scarce druggist bottle from Spokane, WA. that is quite rare with the
original label and string around the neck that probably had some tag attached at
some point. Click close-up of
the embossing to see such. This 7 3/8" tall (12 oz.) bottle from the
early 20th century has a tooled, unusual two-part lip or finish - what is called
the "reinforced extract" or "collared ring" depending on what reference is used.
It also has a large majority of the original label (see image) which notes that
it contained "Ideal Blood Mixture and Tonic" with an alcohol level of 20%; it
also notes all the maladies it would treat - from acne to "malarial poison."
The bottle is also embossed just above the label with "12 OZ.", has a smooth
base, clear or colorless glass and is in mint condition with no chips, cracks,
staining or other issues...reflecting it having never been buried. It does
have a bit of dirt inside which would certainly wash out easily, though I did
not since I didn't want to possibly disturb the label integrity. This
bottle was acquired for use in helping illustrate some concepts on the
Historic Bottle Website. Nice item with bold embossing and a
pretty nice original label. $30
BLANDING & BLANDING / PHARMACISTS / PROVIDENCE, R.I. -
This is embossed vertically (in a plate) on one side of this early 20th
century "French Square" style of presciption or druggist bottle.
This bottle was acquired for use in helping illustrate some concepts on the
Historic Bottle Website -
specifically because it has the original label which includes the date
(5-?-1904). Such bottles with dated labels (quite rare with an actual prescription filling date inscribed) places the date
of manufacture to a fairly precise period - in this case 1903 or 1904
given that druggists typically ordered bottles once a year or
more. The bottle is about 5.25" tall, has a smooth base with an
indented square but no embossing, tooled "prescription" style finish,
and has a couple of mold air venting marks at each shoulder opposite
the mold seams. The bottle is essentially dead mint with the
exception of a bit of dirt on the inside. The label (99%
intact) is a bit darkened with age as the image shows well though the year is
quite visible as well as the company name, city, and to some degree the
prescription itself though it is in longhand writing and hard to figure
out (and is some Latin-y type name for some concoction). Don't
know if bottles from this particular druggist are rare or not though it
is listed in the "Antique Bottles of Rhode Island" (1996) book as RI-047 though no history for this company noted. $25
SANFORD'S
- RADICAL CURE - This is another of those great named cure bottles that
thrill bottle collectors. Not quite as dramatic as the Radam's Microbe
Killer claim to "Cure All Diseases" but darn close. However, the color is
dramatic - a deep cobalt blue - and the glass has some nice scattered bubbles
here and there. This example is 7 3/4" tall, has a crudely applied patent finish
or lip, and a smooth base (embossed number "1"). This example has no
chips, fleabites, cracks or other damage but does have an overall moderate -
though evenly distributed - haze that isn't too distracting (see images which
show the dullness). This bottle would respond well to a professional cleaning
since the dullness is light and there is no associated etching. This bottle was used to
illustrate the medicine bottles section of the
Historic Bottle Website. Here is the write-up from that website
which more fully describes this interesting bottle:
The deep cobalt blue bottle pictured to the right is another example of a "straight neck panel" bottle similar to the one described above in shape, though with a patent instead of an oil finish, three indented panels instead of four, and of course in a more brilliant color. It is embossed on the two narrow sides (both indented) with SANFORD'S - RADICAL CURE. The wider sides of the bottle, of which one is indented (shown in picture) and one not, are not embossed. This medicine was probably introduced about 1871 by Weeks & Potter (Boston, Mass.) which was later (1883) called Potter Drug & Chemical Co. (Wilson & Wilson 1971; Holcombe 1977). This particular bottle most likely pre-dates that renaming since bottles that are obviously later produced (i.e., have tooled finishes and mold air venting) are base embossed with POTTER DRUG & CHEMICAL COMPANY, BOSTON USA (Fike 1987). The pictured bottle has no base embossing (besides the mold number "1") though some other earlier examples do have WEEKS & POTTER / BOSTON USA embossed on the base. (Click Weeks & Potter base view to see an example with this base embossing [photo courtesy of Joel Williams].) Considering these facts together with the primary manufacturing related diagnostic features (applied finish, no evidence of mold air venting, post base mold), this bottle can quite reliably be estimated to have been made between 1871 and 1883. Click on the following links to see more images of this bottle: base view showing the post base mold conformation; close-up of the shoulder, neck, and finish; view of one narrow side with the embossing SANFORD'S; view of the other narrow side with RADICAL CURE.
That about tells the story of this bottle. SOLD!
Sample
Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills, and Comstock's Dead Shot Worm Pellets -
This is very neat sample "envelope" of the famous patent medicine product which
was first produced in the 1830s. This items appears to date from the late
19th century or early 20th and is sealed with the original "pills" and "pellets"
still included within! This item is like a small first class mail envelope
except that it is only 3.2" by 2" in size. Still fully sealed - never
opened - and in great condition as it still has a crisp and solid feeling with
only some mild soiling and a tiny (2 mm) tear on the top (above the "P" in
SAMPLE). Dr. Morse's Pills was bottled in a small pill bottle; the company
history and bottle is outlined in one of Dr. Cannon's great articles from
AB&GC Magazine (on the Glass Works Auctions site) at this link:
http://www.glswrk-auction.com/073.htm Great go-with for the medicine
bottle collector...or just bottle collectors in general. $17.50
MONITOR
/ LINIMENT - D. EDWARD'S / ST. ANTHONY, MINN. - Here is a small medicine
bottle from what is now essentially a suburb in the Twin Cities area I believe -
St. Anthony, Minnesota. Don't know if these are rare or not, but suspect
they aren't very common. This bottle is 5.75" tall, has a nice crudely
applied (with slop) double ring (aka double collared) lip or finish, was blown
in an early "key base" mold (click
to see image of base) with no pontil scar, and appears to date from the
early 1860s to early 1870s era...an early "smooth base" medicine bottle.
Condition is pretty good with no chips, cracks or fleabites, though it does have
some spotty light staining which is apparent in the images. A nice, small
town (or used to be), early medicine bottle from Minnesota that is likely quite
scarce as I've never seen or heard of another. $35
DR.
SLACK'S / MEXICAN / CATARRH REMEDY / CLAYTON, N. MEX. - Here is a patent
medicine bottle from a small town (current pop. less than 3000) located in the
NE corner of New Mexico. How many actual patent or proprietary medicine
bottles have you seen from the entire state of New Mexico? I know of no
other types, but also know of no book on New Mexico bottles (besides sodas) so
don't have much to go on. I've seen a few of these Dr. Slack's
bottles on the internet over the past
decade,
but they still seem to be a very scarce or rare bottle. It has a tooled
rounded "bead" lip or finish, is almost 6" tall, smooth base, colorless/clear
glass with a slight amethyst tint and some bubbles in the glass, and appears to
date from the early 1900s as there is ample mold air venting in evidence on the
shoulders and base. Condition of this one is comparatively quite good (the
few examples I remember were quite stained, some with damage) with some
moderate, internal white staining - which is pretty even and not overly
distracting - and some swirly mild etching lines on the outside; otherwise no
chips, cracks, flea bites, or other post production damage. It seems like
someone dug a few of these at one point - probably in or near Clayton - and they
reacted to the alkaline soils probably typical of this high (5000') desert area.
$90
Cocaine producer paperweight
- This is great go-with for the medicine bottle collector and an
interesting reminder of how loose times were prior to the FDA and Pure
Food and Drugs Act of 1906. This paperweight has the following writing
inside in addition to the illustration of the factory where the "goods" were produced -
FERRATIN, LACTOPHENIN, IRON TONIC and FOOD. ANTIPYRETIC, SEDATIVE, ETC.
WORKS OF C. F. BOEHRINGER & SOEHNE, MANNHEIM, GERMANY - (then the large illustration of the factory) - LARGEST MAKERS IN THE WORLD OF QUININE AND COCAINE. NEW YORK OFFICE 7 CEDAR ST.
Cocaine was a common ingredient in many patent medicines during the
last half of the 19th to early 20th centuries as it was known to
"...give great vigor to the nervous system...is of great value to
public speakers and timid persons" (as per the Frederick Stearns & Co.
druggist's catalog 1886). This cool paperweight is about 4" by
2.5",
backed in white enamel over the black and red transfer print, and dates
probably from the 1890s to maybe 1910 or so...though it is hard to say
for sure. "Ferratin" was an alledged nutritional enhancement that
promoted health; click on the following link for information from an
1894 medical book: Ferratin discussion. Certainly this was a salesman's give-away in the U. S. since
it has the New York office listed and is in English. Condition is
excellent with just a bit of minor scratching on the upper surfaces and
a scratched spot on the reverse white enamel which does not go through
the surface at all. Regulated drug (today that is) related go-withs
which note opium or cocaine or the like are highly collectible items in
recent years. $65
WARNER'S
/ SAFE / NERVINE / (embossed safe) / ROCHESTER, N. Y. - The Warner's
Safe bottles are quite popular with collectors for several reasons - one can
collect a "run" of different products put up in essentially the same shape
bottle, the bottles are big and boldly embossed, come generally in nice shades
of amber color (some green and aqua ones also to spice up the mix), and have
that big safe embossed on them. This is an earlier pint (large
- 9.5" tall) size "Nervine" bottle that has an applied double ring lip or
finish (I don't think the pint Nervine ever came in a plate mold [slug plate]
version), is in a deep chocolate amber color with a glossy glass surface, has a
backwards "N" embossed on the post mold base, and is not visibly air vented
implying an early to mid-1880s date. This example is near mint with
a few minor scuff marks on the outside, the faintest of haze wisps inside
in a couple spots (only visible under a bright light), and a small (2-3 mm)
impact mark at the heel just below the O and C in Rochester that has some
iridescence to it...very hard to see (barely shows in the close-up image), but
it is there & priced accordingly. A nice early example.
SOLD!
C.
C. C. - CALIFORNIA CATARRH CURE
- This cool 100% intact labeled bottle with about 95% of the original
contents (some evaporation), original black print on red box (claims and
directions on all sides)
AND the original handbill or flyer framed comes as a package deal.
The bottle has four indented panels (panel on the reverse is oval in shape) with
a label on one side as shown in the image; the only embossing is W. T. & CO.
/ U. S. A. on the base. The label notes all the things that the
product would cure. Bottle is aqua in color, 8 1/3" tall, with a tooled
"patent" lip or finish, and dates from the mid-1890s given the testimonials on
the handbill; it is also in mint condition and wrapped with plastic wrap around
the cork to preserve the contents. The box is covered with directions for
use, what it cures, with the back a list of "some symptoms of catarrh" which
includes about everything from bad breath to dizziness to "a pain in the top of
your head." One narrow box side has "C. C. C. ALWAYS Cures" (click
to see this side) and the other has " C. C. C. NEVER Fails"...sounds like it
could beat many medicines available now! The box has some staining here
and there, from the contents leakage I suppose, though the wording is all easily
readable and the box entirely intact, though the top flap is pretty fragile.
The handbill is a large 9" wide by 24" tall and has testimonials and all kinds
of cool verbiage about catarrh. I framed the handbill myself (had the
precisely right size frame; no trimming) and it is included. Condition of
the handbill is very good with no rips or tears, just some wrinkling from being
in the box for 100+ years and one small staining spot at the top middle edge and
more lightly on the right side edge (from the bottle leaking I presume).
The product was produced by "The California Catarrh Company" of Woonsocket, R.
I., of all places. Nice item for a medicinal bottle collection (Ex-McMurry
Antiques & Auctions item.)
SOLD!
PAINE'S
/ CELERY COMPOUND embossed on two sides. Light to medium golden
amber (nice color - see pictures), tooled double collar (or "brandy finish" or
"long tapered collar with ring" depending on your preference), 9 1/2" tall,
smooth base, American ca. 1890-1905. Click
HERE to view a picture of the
other side or half of the bottle. This Paine's has about 85% of the front
label and virtually 100% of the back one. Needless to say the bottle is
attic mint. A common bottle without labels, though this is a way scarcer labeled example
with a nice brilliant color tone. SOLD!
PROF.
DEAN'S / KING CACTUS OIL / THE GREAT / BARBED WIRE / REMEDY / OLNEY & McDAID
all embossed within a weird image that includes a bottle and lamp(?), wire
netting, other unknown symbols, and "Trade Mark" at the base. A fairly
scarce and unusually named remedy from Clinton, Iowa. Clear (colorless)
glass, tooled narrow collar ("patent" finish), 6" tall, smooth base, ca. early
1900s. These are neat bottles and also came in amber glass and
in two sizes, this being the smaller size. Like most of these
bottles the lettering is sharp but somewhat garbled; a function of a drunken
mold cutter or something - click
embossing close-up.
The bottle is mint with nice bubbles in the glass and no chips, cracks, or other
issues. One of the classic "rangeland" related bottles
(something of interest to me) that was good for "Man or
Beast." SOLD!
JOHN
H. PHELPS PHARMACIST / PHELP'S RHEUMATIC ELIXIR / SCRANTON, PA. - This is
all pretty boldly embossed vertically on this interesting (great name!) - and
likely rare - Pennsylvania patent medicine bottle from the early 1900s. (I
must admit to having a weakness for American-made bottles that say "elixir.")
This neat bottle is bluish aqua in color, has a tooled patent lip or finish,
smooth indented base (base is embossed with S. G. CO.), and is 5.5" tall,
2.3" wide, and 1.5" deep. The condition of this example is near mint with
just a few wisps of faint haze on the inside along with a little bit of dirt
that would easily wash out; no chips, cracks, or other post-production damage.
I purchased this item primarily to get an image of the base makers mark for my Historic Bottle Website
- a mark that almost certainly indicates production by the Scranton Glass Co.
SOLD!
PARK
PHARMACY / E. G. COOK / DETROIT - This neat chunk of bottle making iron
is an original mold plate - aka "slug plate" - that was used for the production
of embossed druggist bottles during the 1910s. It is embossed as noted, as
a mirror image of course to the bottles produced by this plate. According
to the story I've heard, this - and a small "horde" of such plates - were found
many years ago in an old shed at the site of the Whitall Tatum & Co.
glass company (Millville, NJ). Whitall Tatum & Co. was one of the
biggest producers of proprietary (i.e., embossed specifically for a particular
customer) druggist/pharmacy bottles from the 1870s to 1930s, including embossed
mouth-blown ones until at least 1924. This plate is 3.5" long, just under
an inch deep, and 1.3" wide and weighs one full pound. The back of this
plate has the engraved glass company catalog or tracking number of P3465E and a
screw hole where the plate was secured to the mold. The condition is
excellent with just some scattered rust here and there. An interesting
feature of this item is that it has the mold air venting holes scattered
throughout the engraved lettering. These small pin holes connect with a
larger drilled hole that runs the length of the plate. These vent holes
allowed for the venting of the hot gases from the mold insides as the bottle was
expanding. This plate was procured and used to illustrate the
Historic Bottle Website. Great go-with for medicinal and/or
druggist collectors and just to those interested in the lore of mouth-blown
bottle manufacturing. SOLD!
LINDSEY'S
/ BLOOD / SEARCHER - R. E. SELLERS & Co. PROP'S - PITTSBURGH - This is
an example of what is almost certainly the last (6th mold) in the long run of
Lindsey's Blood Searcher bottles beginning in the 1850s. This one most
likely dates from the 1890s to possibly the early 1900s. This example is
about 8 3/4" tall, smooth base, tooled double ring finish or lip, and colorless
(clear) like all of the bottles from this mold in my experience. The
embossing on this example is probably better than average for a mold that was
lightly engraved it seems (maybe a weak mold engraver!). Condition is
about mint with no staining of note or chips, cracks, or other major issues
though there is a couple very small reflective spots within the edge of the
crudely tooled and folded upper part to the finish that appear to be in-making
related, i.e., one is from a bit of the folded glass and the other appears to be
a pin head size stone just on the sharp edge of the upper ring. No cracks
or issues related to these spots, but they are there. Overall a nice
example and well priced. SOLD!
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Page Last Updated: 1/23/12