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 nice labeled example with a nice brilliant color tone.  $20

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 "range" related bottles that was good for "Man or Beast."   $45

CITRATE / OF / MAGNESIA -  This is probably the oldest marked citrate of magnesia bottle there is and it is quite rare - the only one I've ever seen in fact.  It is boldly embossed horizontally within a rectangular plate (aka "slug plate") that is very similar to the rectangular plates used on the the late 1840s through Civil War era soda and mineral water bottles.  The plate on this bottle runs from mold seam to mold seam which, according to Tod Von Mechow's great article on Dyottville Glass Works porter bottles (ABGC May 2006), was the conformation for those beautiful bottles made the latter half of the 1850s (1856 to 1860 or so).  Dyottville is definitely a high possibility for having produced this bottle during that timeframe as they certainly produced clear/colorless bottles during this era of glass that will not turn amethyst (I used to have a Dyottville Washington/Taylor flask in this exact same color).  The bottle has a crudely applied double ring finish/lip, has a large and very distinct blow-pipe pontil scar on the domed "key" mold base (click base view to see such), and is of clear or colorless glass that has a faint brownish gray tint; the glass is also very whittled.  Click close-up of the upper body, shoulder, neck and finish (lip) to see such.  Condition is near mint (bottle appears to have been professionally cleaned) with a short scratch on the lower back side and a very shallow and hard to see flake at and just below the heel on the reverse; no other chips, cracks, fissures, flea-bites, or other issues.  I purchased this bottle specifically for illustrating my other Historic Bottle Website in the citrate of magnesia section of the Medicinal bottles page.  For you citrate collectors, this is as old as they get (being marked as such that is).   $125
 

SOLD ITEMS

THE OWL DRUG CO - POISON - motif of an owl on a mortar & pestle.  This is the next to smallest of the non-machine made owl poisons at 3 1/2" tall.  Medium cobalt blue, smooth base, and a tooled flared single collar.  This is the version where the owl is embossed inside a plate, i.e. it is a plate mold which shows as a line around the edges of the front panel.  Bottle condition is about mint with no chips, cracks, or other damage though there is a little wear and some scattered iridescence to the outside surface from being buried.  A nice pleasing looking example of the oldest style the owl poisons.  An identical one just sold on eBay for $128; my price is less.  SOLD!

TIPPECANOE - H. H. WARNER & Co. - Really not much else to add to the description of this bottle except since it is very familiar to most all collectors.  This one is embossed ROCHESTER N.Y.  on the base with the number "5" in the center.  9" tall, medium golden amber in color, and in almost mint condition with just a tiny nick or abrasion spot on the rounded part of the blob lip; no staining, cracks, chips, or other problems.  As I've noted before, this is one of the bottles - like the Plantation Bitters - that every collector should have one of.  Yes, it is debatably a "bitters" bottle, but many collectors consider it such.  (It is also listed on the medicine page just for consistency.)   SOLD!

GREAT BLOOD & RHEUMATISM CURE / NO. 6088 / MATT. J. JOHNSON CO. / ST. PAUL, MINN.  - All this embossed vertically in a sunken panel on the front; the other 3 sides are not embossed.  Pale bluish aqua, 9" tall, tooled double collar ("double ring" finish),  smooth base, ca. 1890-1900.  A fairly rare "cure" bottle from the upper Midwest.  Condition is about mint - just a few wisps of haze if one looks hard - but no cracks, chips, or damage at all.  A very pleasing to the eye bottle with an assortment of bubbles in the glass and on the larger end of the size range for patent medicines.  Only a couple were known when Agee wrote his book on cures 30+ years ago.  More have been found since, but it is still an relatively uncommon item.  I've got one extra one and this is the best of the two.  SOLD!

DR. TOWNSEND'S / SARSAPARILLA / ALBANY, N.Y. is embossed on three sides of a very familiar (to collectors)  early patent medicine that dates from the 1840s or 1850s.  This is the variant with the "SARSAPARILLA" in fairly small letters and shifted towards the shoulder (not centered).  Bottle is 9 3/8" tall, sand pontil scarred base, medium olive green in the upper half getting darker towards the base with a crudely applied long tapered collar.  This bottle is made of very heavy, crude glass with a wavy, rippled surface texture which is also full of hundreds or thousands of bubbles of various sizes.  Also has some neat swirling stretch marks on the shoulder and lower neck.  Click on the following links to see the other two embossed sides of the bottle and some more visual evidence of the crudeness: SARSAPARILLA side (just a tad lightly embossed); ALBANY, N.Y. side.  The bottle is near mint with a bit of light wear on the sides and a couple small (< pin head size) nicks on the inside of the lip that are most likely the result of manufacture as the lip rim is very crude and wavy.  However, they have a bit of an "edge" to them so they are noted.  Overall a nice, typical example of these classic early American medicine bottles.   SOLD!

THE OWL DRUG CO. / motif of a two winged owl on a mortar & pestle / SAN FRANCISCO - Here is the classic colored Owl "citrate of magnesia" (I think) bottle that looks great in the window.  This is the blue-green variant with the two winged owl that just has great color and makes a fantastic window bottle.  Tooled blob lip, smooth base, 9 1/2" tall, ca. 1895-1910.  Click HERE for a close-up picture of the embossing which is pretty good - at least average for this variant.  The condition is almost mint - no nicks, cracks, or dings, just a couple obscure scratches and some very light scattered internal content haze that does not detract much.   The external surface of the bottle is glossy and nice.  Take a look a the pictures and decide for yourself.  An identical one recently sold on eBay for $235.  Great bottle!  SOLD!

THE OWL DRUG COMPANY - That wording is, as most collectors know, embossed in script on the back shoulder of this milk glass "owl" bottle.  On the front is the owl on a mortar & pestle that has TODC embossed on it.  This is the 4 3/4"+ tall example (the next to smallest I believe), has a smooth base, tooled "prescription" finish or lip, and dates from the 1900 to 1915 era.  This example is in mint condition with no chips, cracks, dings, flea bites, or noticeable staining (hard to see on these anyway) with just a few tiny spots of dirt or rust from being dug, most likely.  SOLD!

THE OWL DRUG CO - POISON - motif of an owl on a mortar & pestle.  This is the next to largest of the non-machine made owl poisons at almost 8" tall.  Medium cobalt blue, smooth base, and a tooled flared single "prescription" finish or lip (click to view a close-up).   Bottle condition is essentially mint with no chips, cracks, staining or other damage and it has a brilliantly glossy surface appearance (not professionally cleaned it appears).  Bottle also used for and pictured on the Historic Bottle Website.  Not much else to say about these familiar bottles except that this is a big, bold, beautifully intense colored bottle that would liven up any group of bottles on your shelf or in your window.  SOLD!

C. BRINKERHOFFS - HEALTHY RESTORATIVE - PRICE $1.00 - NEW YORK - The Brinkerhoff's bottles are one of the more available early, pontiled, dark olive green (almost black glass) medicine bottles around and still not that commonly seen anymore.  It is embossed reasonably bold - for these bottles - on four sides with C. BRINKERHOFFS - HEALTH RESTORATIVE - PRICE $1.00 - NEW YORK.  (See the various linked images to view some images showing the boldness of the embossing.)  This product was advertised between 1845 and 1849 as a cure for consumption (tuberculosis), liver complaint, asthma, colds, coughs, and pains in the side and chest according to Odell's great book on pontiled medicines.  This bottle has a crudely applied short oil finish, was blown in a two-piece "hinge" mold (as indicated by the mold seam crossing diagonally across the entire base), and has a large sand pontil scar (aka "sticky ball pontil).  Click side view to see the HEALTH RESTORATIVE side of the bottle.   The condition of the bottle is essentially mint with no staining, chips, cracks, nicks, major abrasions, or other issues.  Nice example with that great crudeness that makes early American glass so wonderful.  Bottle used for and pictured on the Historic Bottle Website.  SOLD!

Click on the following links to go to these other pages with more bottles for sale.