Curtis Cordial Calisaya Stomach Bitters Fraud?

Posted on 17 February 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Will the real Curtis Cordial Calisaya Bitters Please Stand Out!

Subject Bottle in Question

On 30 January 2013 I opened up one of my many incoming bottle related emails to see a stunning emerald green Curtis Cordial Calisaya Stomach Bitters with the following question:

“do you buy old bottles i found this bottle in my attic don’t know if it has any value or if it worthless i looked on google for it but couldn’t find it thanks it says Curtis Cordial Calisaya The Great Stomach Bitters”

Anicia Benson (Benson Collectibles)

Seems innocent enough. My first reaction was wow, because this is an undocumented color for a Curtis Cordial. I sent back a cautious reply saying that it was genuine and asking for more pics and colors. I even suggested buying it. The thought did cross my mind that it was not real. I remember thinking Photoshop and the recent Henry Harrison Flask scam on ebay (see below). Because of the girls name and Benson Collectibles, I did however give it a chance. Who knows. New stuff shows up all the time.

Quite honestly I forgot about the bottle as I received no response. I suspected it was being shopped and left it alone. Probably will show up at an auction house if it is real.

Well last night I saw a facebook post from fellow Bitters collector Jeff Burkhardt with the same picture and the following comment:

“A couple of weeks ago some of us received in inquiry/ offer of sorts for a CURTIS CORDIAL CALISAYA BITTERS…in this this UNIQUE bright yellow-green. What became of it?

Jeffrey Burkhardt

Personally I like my cobalt Photoshopped version better – Brian Wolff

Well….so it was shopped. I started reading the comments. A few are noted below:

Burning question! I spoke to them on the phone and paid the seller for the bottle, followed a tracking number for a week to find that it was a decoy. Scammed! Luckily, I just got my money back through Paypal yesterday. I really wish we could rid the hobby of these scumbags!! It is a great bottle, and was a little overexcited about it… may have clouded my senses!

Michael George

If that’s Photo Shop work it’s damn good.

Jeff Noordsy

No way in my opinion. The bottle must exist somewhere… that is the second part of the scam that bothers me!

Michael George

Don’t be fooled, it’s outright fraud and this jerks ship is about to sink……..

This scumbag con artist that’s trying to cheat everyone knows bottles and resides in New Albany, Indiana. The authorities are now involved.

Lou Lambert

[PRG] A quick google of Anicia Benson pulls up the following… Anicia Lynn Benson was born in 1981. Anicia currently lives in New Albany, Indiana. Before that, Anicia lived in New Albany, IN. Anicia Lynn Benson is related to William Benson, who is 47 years old and lives in New Salisbury, IN. Anicia Lynn Benson is also related to Carrie Benson, who is 48 years old and lives in Fort Wayne, IN.

Personally I like my cobalt Photoshopped version better 😉

Brian Wolff

Update from Mark Warne via email: Hi Ferdinand. Hope all is well. Just checked my favorite site and I see my Curtis in a much brighter green than it is. I won mine off ebay and that is positively the bottle. Everything matches perfectly and it has a killer tube in the neck or bubble that sages down 4 inches. Kind of like a 4 inch cocoon with open ends inside the neck. Glass is extremely thin in this area and is very cool. Have never seen anything like it. I see the tail end of it in your photo. Mine happens to be pure green (lucked out for sure 🙂 ) but certainly not like the green in your photo. Someone doctored the colors that you have for sure. I’ll send photos to you soon. Mark

I also have it in Grape, Teal & Copper. Was fun just playing around with it (in Photoshop) – Brian Wolff

Marihuana Tax Act 1937

Posted on 16 February 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

MARIHUANA TAX ACT OF 1937

RJM1a-3a Federal Marijuana imperf tax stamp set.

I suppose it is fitting to see if there are any Cannabis bottles after the recent posts on Peachridge Glass on Cocaine, Heroin and Opium. With my United States postage stamp background, it is exciting for me to look back and be reminded of the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act (note spelling of marijuana with an “h”).

Many of us might remember seeing the movie Reefer Madness which is somewhat of a cult movie. I remember some teachers actually showing this movie to us in high school. Amazing how times change and in some ways they are still the same.

Reefer Madness (originally released as Tell Your Children and sometimes titled as The Burning Question, Dope Addict, Doped Youth and Love Madness) is a 1936 American propaganda exploitation film revolving around the melodramatic events that ensue when high school students are lured by pushers to try marijuana – from a hit and run accident, to manslaughter, suicide, attempted rape, and descent into madness. The film was directed by Louis Gasnier and starred a cast composed of mostly unknown bit actors.

Originally financed by a church group under the title Tell Your Children, the film was intended to be shown to parents as a morality tale attempting to teach them about the dangers of cannabis use. However, soon after the film was shot, it was purchased by producer Dwain Esper, who re-cut the film for distribution on the exploitation film circuit. The film did not gain an audience until it was rediscovered in the 1970s and gained new life as a piece of unintentional comedy among advocates of cannabis policy reform. Today, it is in the public domain in the United States and is considered a cult film. [Wikipedia]

Hemp has been grown for at least the last 12,000 years for fiber (textiles and paper) and food. For 3,000 Years prior to 1842, marijuana and hashish extracts were the most widely-used medicines in the world. Benjamin Franklin even started one of America’s first paper mills with cannabis, allowing a colonial free press from English control. Marijuana has been effectively prohibited in the United States since the 1950s.

The use of cannabis or marijuana for recreational use was not evident in the United States until the first decade of this century. It appeared first on the Mexican borders, when marihuana cigarettes were brought in by migrant labourers. Cannabis had been in use in South America and the Caribbean for many years by then. With the onset of alcohol Prohibition, its popularity burgeoned and by the 1930s there were many hundreds of hash bars in New York alone.

Fairwater Hemp Company, Fairwater, Wisconsin – c1917

Visit: Hash, Marijuana & Hemp Museum – Amsterdam

G A L L E R Y

Dunglison’s Medical Dictionary with medicine bottles – The Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum – Amsterdam

Cannabis Prescription – Easton, Kansas – 1915

$1 Dollar Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 Overprint Revenue Stamp

$2 Dollars and $3 Dollars Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 Overprint Revenue Stamps

$5 Dollars “Marihuana Tax Act of 1937” Overprint from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum deaccession

$10 Dollars “Marihuana Tax Act of 1937” Overprint, Imperforate Pairs (RJM1a-RJM3a). Without gum as issued, bright colors, large margins, Very Fine and choice, scarce, no other Marihuana Tax issues were issued in imperforate form – Robert A. Siegel

10 – Ten Dollars “Marihuana Tax Act of 1937” Overprint from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum deaccession

Posted in Druggist & Drugstore, Ephemera, History, Medicines & Cures, Tax Stamps | Tagged 1937, act, cannabis, Dunglison, hemp, Marihuana, Marijuana, reefer, Revenue, tax | 1 Comment

Blacking Bottles & a little more

Posted on 15 February 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

B L A C K I N G

This past week, a number of primarily eastern US collectors have been posting some really great pictures of Blacking bottles. I thought I would take a moment to nest a few images with support material.

One of my memories from childhood was pulling out a wooden polish box from my fathers clothes closet with instructions to polish my shoes for Sunday School. I remember the little circular cans with different names and colors, the oily rags, the brush and mostly the nice smell. I really didn’t mind the task, though I’m sure I griped as most children do.

In the 19th century, many forms of shoe polish were available in bottles, yet were rarely referred to as shoe polish or boot polish. Instead, they were often called blacking, especially when mixed with lampblack which is the fine soot collected from incompletely burned carbonaceous materials, used as a pigment and in matches, explosives, lubricants, and fertilizers. Blacking is actually “a substance (as a paste or polish) that is applied to an object to make it black”.

A heavy amber bottle standing approximately 5 ½” high with that classic applied stopper top and a most eye appealing label for ROCKWOOD’S YANKEE BLACKING. – Tias.com

H.A. Bartlett & Co., Stove Polish, Philadelphia & Boston Trade Card – Sheaff

Blacking was also used on stoves (see above) and the grates of fireplaces in Victorian times. Mrs. Beetons Book of Household Management (Chancellor Press, 1982 Edition) gives the following instructions under Duties of the Housemaid:

The cinders disposed of, she proceeds to black-lead the grate, producing the black-lead, the soft brush for laying it on, her blacking and polishing brushes, from the box which contains her tools. This housemaids box should be kept well stocked. Having blackened, brushed and polished every part, and made all clean and bright, she now proceeds to lay the fire. Mrs Beeton recommends a blacking made of asphalt, linseed oil and turpentine.

G A L L E R Y

Here are six different blacking bottles… not sure where they were produced, but I assume that they are all from the Northeast. As Mark Yates had mentioned, these were likely produced at most (or all) of the bottle glass factories in the Northeast during the first half of the 19th century. – Michael George

This early 12″ x 15″ chromolithograph was published in Philadelphia in 1863 by H. A. Bartlett. It advertises a boot polish and reads: “Bartlett’s Blacking, Preserves The Leather and Polishes So Easy and Nice.” The central image shows a domestic scene in a gentleman’s study. A young black valet has just finished polishing his shoes. Lifting one leg upon a stool, the master of the house admires the job. Not only can he see his reflection on the shoe, but his dog can see his reflection on the other shoe! – Heritage Auctions’ Political & Americana Auction #6086, May 12, 2012

Here’s a quick picture of some Mt. Vernon blacking shards. – Brian Wolff

Great Uncle Sam and American Eagle Original Label. This rare circa 1890 shoe blacking box depicts a resourceful Uncle Sam using his boot as a makeshift shaving mirror. In the lower lefthand corner of the lithograph, Sam’s pet bald eagle fights its reflection in the other boot! – Z & k Antiques

One of the very few square blacking bottles that is embossed. All of the known examples were found together in one yard in Keene, NH. It is believed that the bottles were never filled with product. – Michael George

Outstanding original color lithograph label for Jacquot & Co. French Paris Blacking, includes a man, a bird and a grinning monkey. Label made by “CRUMP LABEL CO., N.Y.”

OK, it’s not a lily pad, a mini glob or something else fabulous but really, are there many bottles more beautiful than a stout New England blacking? Just got this one and it is a great, great piece of glass. – Jeff Noordsy

C1880 Boot Blacking Box w/Label Black Americana – ebay

Early American Blacking Bottle, about 1840-1860 – Corning Museum of Glass

1800s Mason’s Blacking Shoe Polish Box – Black Americana – Ruby Lane

Four Blacking Bottles – photo courtesy Glass Works Auctions

J. Healey Currier “Blacking Maker To His Majesty” – London

A.A. COOLEY HARTFORD CON blacking bottle. 4.5 inches tall. Huge jagged open pontil. Needs felt pads in order to stand up straight. This bottle was sold to me as repaired. I can not find the repair. looks great under a black light. There is a small open bubble in the letter o of HARTFORD. Minor scratches on the back. – BottleNut.com

Nubian Preparations for Boots & Shoes, Illustrated London News, Sept 1893

Since we are posting a few blackings… here is one that I had tucked away with a group of labeled bottles. This one has a nice colorful and graphical label covering 3 sides. The birthday boy John Panella will appreciate this one! – Michael George

Frank Miller Blacking Trade Card

COLE Cedarville, Herk. Co., N.Y. Price 18 cts. – James Becker

Frank Millers Blacking Trade Card

“Gutta Percha / Oil Blacking / Patent / Forbes & Co / Chatham / Square / New York” Blacking Bottle, a Stoddard glasshouse, Stoddard, New Hampshire, 1840-1860. Rectangular with four embossed indented panels, yellow olive, outward rolled collared mouth – tubular pontil scar, ht. 5 1/8 inches, wdth. 2 1/2 inches, dpth. 1 1/2 inches; (pinpoint sized surface sand grain blemish, a tiny manufacturer’s flaw, tiny bruise with small fissures at the front base corner below the letter “k”). Extremely rare. Kris Kernozicky collection. – Norman C. Heckler Auctions

Frank Miller’s Improved French Blacking Trade Card

Ceramic Blacking bottle, 19th century. – St. Albans Museums

Black Diamond Show Dressing advertising envelope

Cobalt Blue Ivory Blacking bottle – 19th Century Bottle Diggers

Victorian stoneware bottle with label: Day & Martin Real Japan Blacking
The label showing the company’s address, stylish “97” trademark and Directions For Use

Gorgeous and famous RACE & SHELDON BOOT POLISH

Posted in Advertising, Blacking, Ephemera, History, Trade Cards, Utility Bottles | Tagged A.A. Cooley, Bartlett, Black, blacking, Boot, Brian Wolff, Cole, Connecticut, Frank Miller, Gutta Percha, Hartford, Ivory Blacking, J. Healey, Jacquot & Co., James Becker, Japan, Jeff Noordsy, Keene, lampblack, Mark Yates, Masons, Michael George, Mount Vernon, New Hampshire, Paris, Polish, Race & Sheldon, Rockwood, Shoe | 1 Comment

To Smoke Opium is to get out of the Train (while it is still moving)

Posted on 14 February 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

The Queen of Chinatown by Joseph Jarrow – Strobridge & Co., Lithographers, NY, c1899. – Library of Congress

Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death.

Jean Cocteau

Chinese Snuff Bottle – Glass with double overlays of milky white and transparent sapphire-blue colors on white glass carved with a continuous design of two four-clawed dragons, 1760–1790. Bloch Collection.

O P I U M

It is fitting that I round out the Cocaine and Heroin posts on Peachridge Glass with a post on Opium. I like following thoughts and looking at things that I have long forgotten since growing up or going to college. For instance, I remember buying some old vials at an antique shop in the 1970s in Kansas City, Missouri that I have somewhere at home. I was told they were opium vials. Later I began to collect oriental snuff and opium bottles for their decorative beauty (see example above). This was all, way before I got interested in early American antique bottles.

Anyway here are some great pictures and images from my virtual trip today that really took me around the globe and throughout time with stops in the Neolithic Age, China, 19th century France, New Zealand, Chinatown in New York, Chinatown in San Francisco, Baltimore, the Library of Congress and quite a few Opium Dens.

Uncle Marb’s O.B. Bitters – A real mystery

Posted on 13 February 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

UNCLE MARB’S O.B. (not G.B.) BITTERS

UNCLE MARB’S O.B. BITTERS – Dennis Eastley

Got a tip from Dale Mlasko about an extremely rare Uncle Marb’s Bitters coffin flask. Dale was reminded of the flask after reading Two XR Tombstone Flasks containing Bitters (uh Whiskey). The Carlyn Ring and W.C Ham listing in Bitters Bottles is minimal but includes:

U3 UNCLE MARB’S OLD BOURBON BITTERS

UNCLE MARB’S ( au ) / G.B. (should be O.B.) / BITTERS // c //
7 1/8 x 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 (5 1/8)
Flask – coffin, Amber, ARM, Appplied mopith, Extremely rare
From a collection known to have existed in 1928.

This is a rare bird and I expect a unique example but we will see. I can find no information online on Uncle Marb so a little looking and thinking about the “G.B.” is appropriate. G.B. can mean a lot of things including Green Bay (possibly), Game Boy (can’t be that), Great Britain (doubt it), Great Barrington, MA (probably not), Gigabyte (nope), German Baptist (odd) or a persons initials. What do you think?

UPDATE (thanks to Marianne Dow):

(Marianne Dow) Uncle Marb’s Old Bourbon Bitters — so it’s not GB but OB — according to this link to the INDEX of a book on the website of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey – title of book may be Bottled in Illinois —http://isas.illinois.edu/bottlebook-index-full.pdf

(Marianne Dow) Bottled in Illinois: Embossed Bottles and Bottled Products of Early Illinois Merchants from Chicago. www.isas.illinois.edu
‎”Bottled in Illinois: Embossed Bottles and Bottled Products of Early Illinois Merchants from Chicago to Cairo, 1840-1880″

I am also intriqued by the Ring and Ham statement in Bitters Bottles…

“From a collection known to have existed in 1928.”

A real mystery here. Thanks to Dennis Eastley for providing the nice pictures.

“I got it at the Canyonville show and the history is murky. I was told that it came from a collector in Nevada City but when I contacted him he did not remember the flask.
So the history is in a dead end alley.”

Dennis Eastley

UNCLE MARB’S O.B. BITTERS – Dennis Eastley

UNCLE MARB’S O.B. BITTERS – Dennis Eastley

Posted in Bitters, Flasks, Questions | Tagged bitters, Bourbon, coffin, Dale Mlasko, Dennis Eastley, Flask, illinois, John. M. Berry, Uncle Marb | 1 Comment

Heroin – Purest and Best

Posted on 12 February 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

H E R O I N

“In the City Market is the Meet Café. Followers of obsolete, unthinkable trades doodling in Etruscan, addicts of drugs not yet synthesized, pushers of souped-up harmine, junk reduced to pure habit offering precarious vegetable serenity, liquids to induce Latah, Tithonian longevity serums, black marketeers of World War III, excusers of telepathic sensitivity, osteopaths of the spirit, investigators of infractions denounced by bland paranoid chess players, servers of fragmentary warrants taken down in hebephrenic shorthand charging unspeakable mutilations of the spirit, bureaucrats of spectral departments, officials of unconstituted police states, a Lesbian dwarf who has perfected operation Bang-utot, the lung erection that strangles a sleeping enemy, sellers of orgone tanks and relaxing machines, brokers of exquisite dreams and memories tested on the sensitized cells of junk sickness and bartered for raw materials of the will, doctors skilled in the treatment of diseases dormant in the black dust of ruined cities, gathering virulence in the white blood of eyeless worms feeling slowly to the surface and the human host, maladies of the ocean floor and the stratosphere, maladies of the laboratory and atomic war… A place where the unknown past and the emergent future meet in a vibrating soundless hum… Larval entities waiting for a Live One…”

William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch

PUREST & BEST

Three Spices Brand Tropels and Pastilles – Purest & Best with POISON and Heroin Pastilles applied labels

Last September we did a post on Cocaine (Read: If you wanna hang out you’ve got to take her out – Cocaine) and focused on how it ended up in many of the household medicinal and commercial products from times past.

Today we look at Heroin or Big H, the dragon, white horse, Chiva, smack and on and on…

Opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the species of plant from which opium and poppy seeds are derived.

The opium poppy was cultivated in lower Mesopotamia as long ago as 3400 BC. The chemical analysis of opium in the 19th century revealed that most of its activity could be ascribed to two alkaloids, codeine and morphine.

Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertürner (born 19 June 1783 in Neuhaus (near Paderborn), died 20 February 1841 in Hamelin) was a German pharmacist, who discovered morphine in 1806.

In 1806 the German chemist Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertürner isolated morphine from opium, a milky substance found in unripe seedpots of the poppy plant. Morphine is one of the strongest naturally occurring painkillers and of great importance where other analgesics fail. Side effects include depressiveness, drowsiness and a slowing down of breathing and circulation.

The attempt to find a non-addictive replacement for Morphine led to the development of heroin, a morphine derivative, by the German chemical company Bayer in 1898.

The attempt to find a non-addictive replacement for Morphine led to the development of heroin, a morphine derivative, by the German chemical company Bayer in 1898. The pain-controlling and analgesic properties of heroin are much more effective than those of morphine, and for over two decades the use of heroin was promoted to the general public against headache and other minor pain.

The name “heroin” is only used when being discussed in its illegal form. When it is used in a medical environment, it is referred to as diamorphine. The white crystalline form considered “pure heroin” is usually the hydrochloride salt, diacetylmorphine hydrochloride. Diacetylmorphine was first synthesized in 1874 by C. R. Alder Wright, an English chemist working at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London. He had been experimenting with combining morphine with various acids. He boiled anhydrous morphine alkaloid with acetic anhydride for several hours and produced a more potent, acetylated form of morphine, now called diacetylmorphine or morphine diacetate.

Instead, the experiment produced an acetylated form of morphine one and a half to two times more potent than morphine itself.

Later diacetylmorphine became popular only after it was independently re-synthesized 23 years later by another chemist, Felix Hoffmann. Hoffmann, working at the Aktiengesellschaft Farbenfabriken (today the Bayer Pharmaceutical Company) in Elberfeld, Germany, was instructed by his supervisor Heinrich Dreser to acetylate morphine with the objective of producing codeine, a constituent of the opium poppy, pharmacologically similar to morphine but less potent and less addictive. Instead, the experiment produced an acetylated form of morphine one and a half to two times more potent than morphine itself.

An advertisement for Heroin as cough medicine

From 1898 through to 1910, diacetylmorphine was marketed under the trademark name Heroin as a non-addictive morphine substitute and cough suppressant. Bayer marketed the drug as a cure for morphine addiction before it was discovered that it rapidly metabolizes into morphine. As such, diacetylmorphine is in essence a quicker-acting form of morphine. The company was embarrassed by the new finding, which became a historic blunder for Bayer.

BAYER Pharmaceutical Products HEROIN – HYDROCHLORIDE “The Cheapest Specific for the Relief of Coughs – December 1901 Advertisement

The company was embarrassed by the new finding, which became a historic blunder for Bayer.

Heroin prescription from Boone & Boone, Durham North Carolina – November 1932

In the United States, the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was passed in 1914 to control the sale and distribution of diacetylmorphine and other opioids, which allowed the drug to be prescribed and sold for medical purposes. In 1924, the United States Congress banned its sale, importation or manufacture. It is now a Schedule I substance, which makes it illegal for non-medical use in signatory nations of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs treaty, including the United States.

Two BAYER Heroin bottles – circa 1900

The Health Committee of the League of Nations banned diacetylmorphine in 1925, although it took more than three years for this to be implemented. In the meantime, the first designer drugs, viz. 3,6 diesters and 6 monoesters of morphine and acetylated analogues of closely related drugs like hydromorphone and dihydromorphine were produced in massive quantities to fill the worldwide demand for diacetylmorphine—this continued until 1930 when the Committee banned diacetylmorphine analogues with no therapeutic advantage over drugs already in use, the first major legislation of this type.
Later, as with Aspirin, Bayer lost some of its trademark rights to heroin under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles following the German defeat in World War I. [source reference Wikipedia]

Glyco-Heroin Bottle with Label and Box

GLYCO:HEROIN (Smith) – A mixture of heroin and glycerin. “No other preparation has had its therapeutic value more thoroughly defined or better established.”

As time went on in the early 1900’s, the Pure Food and Drug Administration started to regulate the patent medicine industry against the use of narcotics and cure claims. As a result companies made revisions to their products and even this product changed its name from Glyco Heroin to Glykeron. It still contained the Heroin but evidently Glykeron sounded more medicinally correct. Not a commonly seen bottle, actually rarer than the Glyco Heroin bottle – ebay

Posted in Advertising, Druggist & Drugstore, History, Medicines & Cures | Tagged Bayer, C. R. Alder Wright, codeine, diacetylmorphine, diamorphine, Elberfeld, Felix Hoffmann, Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertürner, German, Glyco-Heroin, Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, Heroin, Mesopotamia, Morphine, opium, poppy, William S. Burroughs | Leave a comment

Anchors away and all over on the Dr. Dunlap’s Anchor Bitters

Posted on 10 February 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

DR. DUNLAP’S ANCHOR BITTERS

10 February 2013 (R•082314)

I saw this really nice example of a trade card (see below) on ebay for Dr. Dunlap’s Anchor Bitters which reminded me of my bottle (see above) with the many cool and pronounced anchor embossings that cover the bottle. Now you will not find the word ‘BITTERS’ or any other copy embossed on the bottle but, boy-oh-boy is this a bitters product.

Try Dr. Dunlap’s Anchor Bitters and get an appetite trade card, Manufactured by Arctic Mfg. Co. – ebay

One of the greatest Dr. Dunlap’s examples I have ever seen was sold by Ed and Kathy Gray on their GreatAntiqueBottles.com web site some years back. Fully labeled plus a tax label to boot. With the Gray’s usually killer photography, this was a real catch for someone. Their pictures are represented below.

“DR DUNLAPS ANCHOR BITTERS” on label, semi-cabin shape, has embossed anchors on all four roof panels and two side panels, light amber color, 10 1/2” high, applied top. The bottle has a few tiny wear marks, otherwise perfect, has 95% original labels on three sides. An extremely rare bottle and possibly unique with labels, this bottle is from Minneapolis, Minnesota, circa 1880 – previously sold by GreatAntiqueBottles.com

It looks like these Dr. Dunlap’s were manufactured and sold by Arctic Manufacturing Company in Minneapolis around 1880. They most likely changed their name to Arctic Cracker and Spice Company by 1885 as noted in the directory listings at the bottom of this post. I am trying to find out if earlier examples were from Grand Rapids as Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham note in Bitters Bottles (see below).

D 122 DUNLAP’S ANCHOR BITTERS
Circa 1880 – 1885

L…Dr. Dunlap’s motif Anchor Bitters / motif anchor // sp //motif anchor // motif anchor // motif anchor // motif anchor // motif anchor //
10 1/8 x 2 7/8 x 2 13/16 (7 1/4) 3/8
Slightly rectangular, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, 4 sp

Note: Labels under anchor and on side panels: Dr. Dunlop’s Bitters, Grand Rapids, Mich. A smaller horizontal peened out anchor can be seen above the large anchor on some examples.

Minneapolis Directory 1884: Moved from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Minneapolis, Minnesota (?). Mason, Mendel & Co., jobbers of teas, coffees and cigars, No. 17 Fourth St., S. Minneapolis, Minn., manufactured Barbour’s Flavoring Extracts, Foaming Syrups, Dr. Dunlap’s Anchor Bitters, Baking Powder’s, Blueings, Inks, and Stove Polish, Druggists and Grocers supplies, Northwest agents for Muzzy’s Sun Gloss and Corn Starch.

Dr. Dunlap’s Anchor Bitters noted on The Arctic Manufacturing Co., trade card – Gourd Collection

Dr. Dunlap’s Anchor Bitters noted in Grand Rapids on this Internal Revenue Record and Customs Journal – 1879

Arctic Manufacturing Co., noting Dr. Dunlap’s Anchor Bitters – City Directories for Minneapolis, MN – 1881

Arctic Cracker and Spice Co., Sole Manufacturers of Dr. Dunlap’s Anchor Bitters – City Directories for Minneapolis, MN – 1885

Posted in Bitters, eBay, Liquor Merchant, Trade Cards | Tagged Anchor, Arctic Cracker and Spice Co., Arctic Manufacturing Co., bitters, Dr. Dunlap's, Ed Gray, Grand Rapids, Kathy Gray, Minneapolis | Leave a comment

The Amazing 7 Sutherland Sisters

Posted on 10 February 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

The Amazing 7 SUTHERLAND SISTERS
Niagara County, New York

7 SUTHERLAND SISTERS HAIR GROWER NEW YORK – ebay

Tami Barber posted this really great picture (see top above) of the 7 Sutherland Sisters over on Bottle Collectors on facebook. This really caught my eye as I was intrigued by the hair and had never heard of the Sutherland Sisters. I took a moment to gather some information to round this out a bit.

The Niagara County Family Sensation

One of Niagara County’s historical attractions, apart from the Falls, is really not an attraction at all, but more like a family sensation. Calling Cambria, New York their home, The Seven Sutherland Sisters were world-famous for their incredible hair, which reportedly had a collective length of 37 feet. It is said that the sibling’s mother, Mary Sutherland, applied an ointment on the young girls’ hair to stimulate growth. Their classmates often complained of the offensive odor.

The Sutherland children were all musically inclined and performed around New York State as the “Sutherland Concert of Seven Sisters and One Brother.” In 1881, they entertained at the Atlanta Exposition in Georgia. Around 1884, when the Sisters were traveling with Barnum and Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth, their father, Fletcher Sutherland, realized that crowds flocked to see the girls’ long hair more than their singing talents. He mixed together a liquid concoction that he called The Seven Sutherland Sisters Hair Grower.

Original 1886 packaging of the ‘Seven Sutherland Sisters Hair Fertilizer’

He sent a bottle to a chemist for an analysis and received the following testimonial:

“Cincinnati, Ohio, March, 1884: – Having made a Chemical Analysis of the Hair Grower prepared by the Seven Long Haired Sisters, I hereby certify that I found it free from all injurious substances. It is beyond question the best preparation for the hair ever made and I cheerfully endorse it. — J.R. Duff, M.D., Chemist.”

The Seven Sutherland Sisters Corp. bottled and distributed the Hair Grower from New York City and sold $90,000 worth of product the first year. They soon added a Scalp Cleanser, a Seven Sutherland Sisters Comb and eight shades of Hair Colorators. After achieving world-wide fame in 1893, the Sutherland Sisters spared no expense when building their new mansion on the Ridge Road just west of Warrens Corners. The house had 14 rooms, a marble lavatory with hot and cold running water, a turret, cupola and peaked gables, beds imported from Europe, black walnut woodwork, hardwood floors, massive chandeliers, as well as an attic room for the cook and maids.

On January 24, 1938, the mansion burned to the ground, taking many relics of The Sister’s glory days with it. The Sutherland family lived lives of extreme excess, and even though they earned millions of dollars in their lifetimes, they all died destitute of their riches. [Niagara County Historical Society]

Hair Raising Stories

Fletcher Sutherland was born around 1817 in Vermont. His wife Mary, was born in New York around 1825. They eventually moved to Cambria, New York, where they resided for quite a few years. The two of them had seven daughters as follows: Sarah (1851), Victoria (1853), Isabella (1855), Grace (1859), Naomi (1861), Dora (1863), and Mary (1865). The girls (and a son) became a traveling family singing act known widely for, not only their singing, but also for the long hair they all sported (totaling 37 feet). At some point the awesome hair became such an attraction that they began travelling with Barnum & Bailey’s Show.

There’s been a lot of interesting stories about the relationship between the girls and the Baileys. Naomi married J. Henry Bailey in 1885, and they had 4 children. The Bailey of circus fame was actually James Anthony Bailey, and his original name wasn’t even Bailey. Harry Bailey (J. Henry), of Philadelphia registered a label for a “Hair Restorer” in 1883. In 1886 he registered labels for both a “Hair Grower,” and a “Scalp Cleaner.” He also registered a Trade Mark for Seven Sutherland Sisters “Hair Tonics or Washes” the same year (TM #12,994).

The label for the Hair & Scalp cleaner indicated that it was in powder form, and came in a box. Bailey claimed that he had been doing business in Philadelphia, and from place to place, and had been using the Trade Mark since 1884. Bailey also mentioned in the petition, that the preparation was made of “borax, salt, quinine, cantharides, bay rum, glycerine, rose water, alcohol, and soap.”

There is an amazing amount of info on the Sutherlands at: Long Hair Lovers. I found Seven Sutherland Sisters listed in New York in 1886 and 87 on W. 14th Street. The name “Seven Sutherland Sisters” and the picture of the seven above, were registered as Trade Marks in 1912, and they claimed to have been using the name since 1884. By 1912, they company was made up of J. Henry Bailey, and five of the sisters. Naomi Sutherland Bailey, and Victoria Sutherland Craw were both deceased by 1912. Also by that time, they were making other products such as a face-powder, and face-cream. The word “Colorator” was registered as a trademark in 1923, and they claimed at that time that the name had been used since 1900. Apparently Fletcher Sutherland died around 1888, and the business was in decline by 1907. The business was located at 18 Desbrosses in 1900, and at 59 Bank by 1908. In 1908, Grace was the Secretary, and Dora was the Vice President. The 1922 Montgomery Ward’s Catalog listed the Hair Grower in 8 ounce bottles. The products were still being advertised in 1930 by Seven Sutherland Sisters, 242 Bradhurst Ave., New York.

In 1893, the Pharmaceutical Era examined the Hair Grower and found it to contain about 56% water of witch hazel, 44% bay rum, and small amounts of salt, hydrochloric acid, and magnesia q.s. They determined that the hydrochloric acid was only to get rid of the yellowish color produced by the agitation of the Bay Rum, Witch Hazel, and Magnesia. It was added with the salt after the mixture was filtered.

SARAH SUTHERLAND

Sarah Sutherland (1845 – 1919)

VICTORIA SUTHERLAND

Victoria Sutherland (1849 – 1902)

ISABELLA SUTHERLAND

Isabella Sutherland (1852 – 1914)

GRACE SUTHERLAND

Grace Sutherland (1854 – 1946)

NAOMI SUTHERLAND

Naomi Sutherland (1858 – 1893)

DORA SUTHERLAND

Dora “Kitty” Sutherland (1858 – ?)

MARY SUTHERLAND

Mary Sutherland (? – 1939)

Posted in Advertising, Article Publications, Druggist & Drugstore, Ephemera, Hair Tonics, History, Humor - Lighter Side, Medicines & Cures, Tonics | Tagged 7 Sisters, Barnum and Bailey's, Cambria, Dora Sutherland, Fletcher Sutherland, Grace Sutherland, Hair, Isabella Sutherland, Mary Sutherland, Naomi Sutherland, New York, Niagara County, Sarah Sutherland, Sisters, Sutherland, Tami Barber, Victoria Sutherland | Leave a comment

Dr. Flint’s Rhode Island Bitters Products

Posted on 9 February 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Try this and thou shalt be benefitted!!

Dr. Flint’s Rhode Island Bitters Products

09 February 2013 (R•061914) (R•042815) (R•111815)

Norman Heckler had a stellar example of a labeled Dr. Flint’s Stomach Bitters in his Auction 102 that closed earlier in the week. Actually it had a label over a label (see above). This prompted me to pull out my files for the Flint products that are grouped in at least three areas in the Ring and Ham Bitters Bottles books. In the alphabetically grouped “Q” section you have Quaker Bitters, in the “W” section you will find Old Dr. Warrens Root & Herb Bitters and in the “F” section you will find a grouping of Dr. Flint’s Quaker Bitters.

The bottle boxes, labels, advertising, advertising currency and postal history is wonderful with the Quaker man and the bottle. There are also some pretty cool trade cards.

The Flint Name

Flint & Co. (Henry S. & Ezra H. Flint) were involved in all sorts of housewares such as furniture, stoves, crockery, glassware, etc. at 102 Broadway in Providence, Rhode Island in 1864.

In 1868, Alonzo Flint, another partner at 124 Broad St., claimed to have the largest junk store in R.I. at 134-138 Dorrance St.

When Ezra died in 1867 there were three stores in operation. Harvey Flint, a cashier for Flint & Co., quit in 1872 and started putting up Quaker Bitters at 197 Broad St. with his two sons, Geo. H. and Harvey J. as clerks. They retained the name Flint & Co. with Henry and Alonzo as partners.

In 1876, Henry, who was by then a physician, became proprietor of Old Dr. Warren’s Herb & Root Bitters which was made from choice roots and herbs. Henry changed the name of the product to Dr. H.S. Flint & Co. Quaker Bitters and was located at 197 Broad St.

The bitters, sold by the leading druggists of the time, purified the blood, took care of dyspepsia, jaundice, loss of appetite, headache, back pains, dizziness, fevers, liver ailments, and practically all ailments which existed.

In 1881, the Dr. H.S. Flint & Co. was out of business and all of the Flint names were back in the furniture business.

Harvey died a year later and Henry acquired the Providence Furniture Co. at 189 Weybosset St. He retired in 1887.

Flint & Co. Furniture remained in business and by 1920 had become the Flint-Adaskin Furniture Co. located at 245 Weybosset. They were considered the largest of their kind in R.I. until the 1930’s. [source Little Rhody Bottle Club]

Dr. Flint’s Quaker Bitters. Wonderful illustration of man with flask of bitters on Dec. 1873 1c Postal Card to New York City – Robert A Siegel Auction Galleries

DR. FLINT’S STOMACH BITTERS

R/H #F-60.3 This extremely rare bottle has interesting labels. On one large embossed panel the label is marked, “Dr. Flint’s / Celebrated / Bitters.” etc., on the opposite side are two labels, one laid over a second one, the top label reads, “Dr. Flint’s / Stomach Bitters”, the earlier label underneath reads in part, “Pawtucket, RI” giving rise to the thought that the Quaker Stomach Bitters came from an earlier location than the Flint’s Celebrated Quaker Bitters. [Norman Heckler]

“Dr. Flint’s” – “Stomach Bitters” Bottle, America, 1860-1880. Rectangular with beveled corners, aquamarine, applied square collared mouth – smooth base, ht. 8 5/8 inches; (the interior appears to be oil coated). R/H #F-60.3 This extremely rare bottle has interesting labels. On one large embossed panel the label is marked, “Dr. Flint’s / Celebrated / Bitters.” etc., on the opposite side are two labels, one laid over a second one, the top label reads, “Dr. Flint’s / Stomach Bitters”, the earlier label underneath reads in part, “Pawtucket, RI” giving rise to the thought that the Quaker Stomach Bitters came from an earlier location than the Flint’s Celebrated Quaker Bitters. Extremely rare, one of five known examples. – Heckler Auction 102

OLD DR. WARREN’S HERB AND ROOT BITTERS

OLD DR. WARREN’S HERB AND ROOT BITTERS detail – Meyer Collection

W 47 OLD DR. WARREN’S HERB AND ROOT BITTERS

f // OLD DR. WARREN’S // HERB AND ROOT / BITTERS // FLINT & CO.
PROV. R.I. //
9 1/2 x 3 1/4 x 2
Rectangular, Aqua, NSC, Scarce

OLD DR. WARREN’S HERB AND ROOT BITTERS detail – Meyer Collection

Label only (front and back) Old Dr. Warren’s Root & Herb Bitters – Blake Dehler Collection

DR. FLINT’S QUAKER BITTERS

Q 1 QUAKER BITTERS, Circa 1870’s

QUAKER BITTERS // DR. FLINT’S // PROVIDENCE, R.I. // f //
L…Dr. Flint’s Quaker Bitters Providence, Rhode Island
9 1/8 x 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 (7 5/8) 5/8
Rectangular, Aqua, NSC, Applied mouth, Common
The Evening Register October 21, 1873

Dr. Flint’s Celebrated Quaker Bitters advertisement – Lewiston Evening Journal – June 10, 1884

F 58 DR. FLINT’S QUAKER BITTERS

*see also F 59, F 60 and F 60.3

f // DR FLINT’S // QUAKER BITTERS // PROVIDENCE, R.I. //
Prepared by Dr. H. S. Flint & Company, Medical Depot, 195-7 Broad Street
9 1/2 x 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 (7 5/8) 5/8
Rectangular, Aqua, NSC, Applied mouth, Common

Label: Try this and thou shalt be benefitted!! Patented 1872.

Providence Directory: 1864, Flint & Company first listed. 1872 Harvey Flint of the same firm, listed as Manufacturer of Quaker Bitters. 1885 last mention as Dr. H. S. Flint & Co. 1886, first mention of Flint & Co. as Manufacturer,

Trade Mark 846, date June 1872, Used since 1869.

FlintsQuakerBitters1875_RocklandCountyJournal

Advertisement, Dr. Flint’s Quacker Bitters – 1875 Rockland County Journal

A stomach tonic. For nervousness, catarrh of the head and stomach, scrofulous humor, canker, pimples and humors on the face, summer complaints, female weaknesses. Restores the appetite, purifies the blood. For dyspepsia, constipation, sick headache, dizziness, low spirits caused by disordered stomach, rheumatism, neuralgia, kidney and liver complaints, bilious attacks, piles, malaria, torpidity of the system, languor, general debility, fever and ague.

Dr. Flint’s Quaker Bitters packaging box and labeled bottle – National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center

Dr Flint’s Quaker Bitters bottle in aquamarine with four labels featuring Dr. Flint in full color; image courtesy of Norman C. Heckler & Company

“DR FLINT’S – QUAKER BITTERS” (with complete original labels and contents), America, 1870 – 1880. Aquamarine, rectangular with beveled corners, applied square collar – smooth base, ht. 9 3/8″, bottle and all four labels are virtually perfect. R/H #F60. Provenance: NCH Auction 83, Lot 70. Exceptional and colorful graphic label showing a full-figure image of a Quaker physician holding a bottle. This is absolutely a “Finest possible example”. If you missed it the first time, don’t miss it this time! – American Glass Gallery

Q1 DR. FLINT’S QUAKER BITTERS, PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Meyer Collection

Label only (front and back) Dr. H. S. Flint & Co. Celebrated Quaker Bitters – Danny Cathreno Collection

“Girl in Barrel” Take Quaker Bitters trade card

Advertisement for Quaker Bitters depicting an adorable girl in a wooden barrel. In the bottom left corner are the words, “Rustic Beauty”. The heading is: “Standard Family Medicine of New England In Constant Use Past 25 Yrs.” The words on the barrel are “Take Quaker Bitters for Dyspepsia & Blood”. The reverse of the card states “If at any time you feel the least unwell begin immediately a course of diet and regulate your Stomach by the use of Quaker Bitters. Give nature a chance and you may dispense with a Doctor almost entirely”. Donaldson Brothers, Five Points, N.Y.

“The Brighton Belle” Quaker Bitters trade card – Meyer Collection

{Front) Providence, RI. Dr. Flint’s Quaker Bitters. $500. Ad Note. Printed in green and black, this ad note offers a $500 reward “for any Medicine equal to Quaker Bitters for all internal difficulties and derangements.” Dr. Flint’s visage appears fashionably attired at center, while a Quaker gentleman looks on at left and a bust of Columbia, quite similar to that found on the Fourth Issue 15 Cents Fractional Currency. – Stacks Bowers

(Reverse) Providence, RI. Dr. Flint’s Quaker Bitters. $500. Ad Note. Printed in green and black, this ad note offers a $500 reward “for any Medicine equal to Quaker Bitters for all internal difficulties and derangements.” Dr. Flint’s visage appears fashionably attired at center, while a Quaker gentleman looks on at left and a bust of Columbia, quite similar to that found on the Fourth Issue 15 Cents Fractional Currency. – Stacks Bowers

Quacker Bitters advertising trade card (front), Eastman & Brown, Wentworth, New Hampshire, – Joe Gourd Collection

Quacker Bitters advertising trade card (back), Eastman & Brown, Wentworth, New Hampshire, – Joe Gourd Collection

Posted in Advertising, Bitters, Collectors & Collections, Druggist & Drugstore, Ephemera, History, Liquor Merchant, Medicines & Cures, Trade Cards | Tagged Alonzo Flint, Blake Dehler, Danny Cathreno, Dr. Flint, Ezra H. Flint, Flint & Company, George H. Flint, Harvey Flint, Henry Flint, Meyer, Norman Heckler, Old Dr. Warren's Quaker Bitters, Pawtucket, Providence, Quaker Bitters, Rhode Island | 1 Comment

Two XR Tombstone Flasks containing Bitters (uh Whiskey)

Posted on 9 February 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

“If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.”

Two XR Tombstone Flasks containing Bitters (uh Whiskey)

09 February 2013 (R•122117)

It was nice to see two very similar ‘coffin shape’ aqua bitters flasks in Heckler Auction 102. Both are extremely rare and have great provenance as both are ex. Elvin Moody collection, ex. Judge E.S. MacKenzie collection and ex. Kris Kernozicky collection. At some point I suppose, they might be ex. Ferdinand Meyer V collection.

What is really great about these ‘whiskey looking’ flasks is that they contained bitters. Now really, you have got to be kidding me. Corn Juice Bitters….(corn whiskey) and Fitzpatrick’s Stomach Bitters. You ever see an Irish medicine in a coffin flask and I will find a duck that barks. The Fitzpatrick’s contained 58% proof spirits!

The F 5o, Fitzpatrick’s is also not pictured or listed as a bottle in Carlyn Ring and W.C Ham’s Bitters Bottles or Bitters Bottle Supplement, The only reference is a trade card with the name of the product and the wholesale agent listing from Louisville, Kentucky. Hmmmnnn…what else is Kentucky known for.

There really are not too many coffin shape bitters bottle flasks. The one that comes to mind first is the well know and popular, western Yerba Buena Bitters.

CORN JUICE BITTERS

“Corn Juice / Bitters” Flask, America, 1870-1890. Coffin shaped form, aquamarine, applied collared mouth – smooth base, pint; (some light interior haze, 3/8 inch bruise on the top of the mouth). R/H #C-235.2 Extremely rare, strongly embossed, generally good condition with the bruise not obvious. Ex Elvin Moody collection, ex. Judge E.S. MacKenzie collection, Kris Kernozicky collection. – Heckler Auction 102 (previously sold by Heckler in March 1995)

C 235.2 CORN JUICE BITTERS

CORN JUICE ( au ) / BITTERS ( ad )
8 x 1/4 x 3
Flask – coffin, Aqua, LTC, Applied mouth, Extremely rare

FITZPATRICK’S STOMACH BITTERS

“Fitzpatrick’s / 50 Cent / Stomach / Bitters” Flask, America, 1880-1890. Coffin form, aquamarine, tooled sloping collared mouth with ring – smooth base, pint; (professionally cleaned, one interior bubble has a crack in the onion skin on the interior of the bottle). Similar to R/H #F-50 Generally fine condition, extremely rare. Ex Elvin Moody collection, ex Judge E.S. MacKenzie collection, Kris Kernozicky collection. – Heckler Auction 102 (2 examples sold previously in 1995 and 1996)

F 50 FITZPATRICK’S STOMACH BITTERS

FITZPATRICK’S ( au ) / 50 CENT / STOMACH / BITTERS
8 x 1/4 x 3
Flask – coffin, Aqua, LTC, Tooled mouth, Extremely rare

Trade Card: Fitzpatrick’s 50 Cent Stomach Bitters, R.A. Robinson & Co., Wholesale Agents, Louisville, KY. (see below)

Fitzpatrick’s 50 Cent Stomach Bitters advertising trade card from the Joe Gourd collection.

Reverse: Fitzpatrick’s 50 Cent Stomach Bitters advertising trade card from the Joe Gourd collection.

L. A. Fitzpatrick

Brig. Gen. Louis Alexander Fitzpatrick, commanding the First Brigade, Arkansas Division, U. C. V., died at his home in Helena, Ark., August 7, 1922, after a long illness. He was born in Houlka, Miss., November 23, 1847; enlisted as private in the Confederate army at the age of sixteen from the Tuscaloosa, Ala., College, in Company C, 31st Mississippi Regiment, surrendering at Greenville, S.C.

Comrade Fitzpatrick moved to Helena, Ark., in 1869, and was prominent in the business circles of that town, being at the head of the Fitzpatrick Drug Company; was city treasurer in 1875-78, director of the St. Francis Levee Board of 1892, and at one time one of the largest land owners in Arkansas. In all the relations of life-as husband and father, as a citizen, a neighbor, and a friend-he measured up to the highest. Through life he clung steadfastly to his patriotic ideals, and his loyalty to the Confederate cause was marked by the unswerving interest he took in all its organizations, attending and taking an active part in reunions. He married Miss Alzena Jacks in 1872, and on August 26, 1922, they would have celebrated their golden anniversary. He is survived by his wife, two daughters. and three sons.

Clothed in his Confederate uniform, which he loved so well, he was laid to rest in the cemetery at Helena.

Obituary of Louis Alexander Fitzpatrick, Helena, Arkansas. Confederate Veteran Magazine, December, 1922.

************************************

L. A. Fitzpatrick, of the firm of Jacks, Fitzpatrick & Co., wholesale druggists at Helena, was born in Chickasaw County, Miss., in November, 1848, and is the son of B. F. and E. J. (Moore) Fitzpatrick, natives of Georgia and Alabama, respectively. The parents moved to Mississippi at quite an early date, but from there went to Mobile, Ala., where they are now living, the father being a cotton factor. L. A. Fitzpatrick’s time in youth was divided between assisting on the farm and in attending the common schools. In 1864 he enlisted in the Confederate army, and served one year. In 1868 he came to Helena, Ark., and be. gan clerking in a drug store, but in 1872 he pur. chased an interest in the business of Jacks & Moore. In 1879 the firm title was changed to Jacks & Co., and in 1884 the present company was formed. They carry a stock of goods valued at $25,000, and do an annual business of $200,000. They are the largest dealers in drugs in Helena, and are enjoying a liberal patronage, being careful and reliable men. Mr. Fitzpatrick was married in 1872 to Miss Alzena F. Jacks, a daughter of Dr. T. M. Jacks, and to this union were born seven children living: Katie, Lotta M., Ben. F., L. A., Jr., Hopkins R., Curtis H. and Ione. Mr. Fitzpatrick is a member of the I. O. O. F., and Knights of Pythias, American Legion of Honor, Royal Arcanum and Ladies and Knights of Honor. He held the office of city treasurer for several years, and was also alderman for some time. He is a large stockholder in the Jacks Real Estate Company, the Arkansas Building Association and the Electric Light Company.

‪Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas: Comprising a Condensed History of the State, a Number of Biographies of Distinguished Citizens of the Same, a Brief Descriptive History of Each of the Counties Named Herein, and Numerous Biographical Sketches of the Prominent Citizens of Such Counties‬‬ – Goodspeed Publishing Company‬‪, Southern Historical Press, 1890 – Reference – 708 pages

************************************

Richard Alexander Robinson, Sr.

Born Oct. 23, 1817, Winchester City, Virginia, USA, Death: Dec. 9, 1897, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, USA

Established the wholesale drug company of R. A. Robinson & Co., company evolved into Robinson & Pettet Co. to become one of the largest drug companies in the South.

************************************

Large Fire in LOUISVILLE, Ky., Tuesday, June 13, 1865 – New York Times

A serious fire is progressing here on the promises of R.A. ROBINSON & CO., involving one of the largest stocks of wholesale drugs west of the Alleghanies. Probably the total loss will be from one to two hundred thousand dollars.

Louisville Fifty Years Ago

Eighty one Years Old This Year, THE old drug firm of Robinson-Pettet Co. originated prior to 1840 with William T. Pettet, father of Mrs. R. A. Robinson and Charles H. Pettet. The record shows that he sold his business which had been going on for some years to two of his young clerks, James George, and Arthur Peter, under the firm name of James George Co. Wholesale House in 1846. In 1842 Mr. Robinson took over the interest in the drug house and the name was changed to Peter Robinson. The wholesale drug house as it now continues on Main Street was not opened until 1846, at which time George H. Cary entered the firm which became Robinson, Peter Cary. Four years later Mr. Peter retired and moved to the country and the firm was again changed to Robinson Cary. Later on in 1855 Mr. Cary retired and the firm became R. A. Robinson Co., composed of R. A. Robinson, Henry Chambers and W. Wallace Powers.

Charles H. Pettet, son of the original founder of the house, William H. Pettet, began work with the house at the same time and later was admitted to R.A. ROBINSON the firm. William A. Robinson and Worthington Robinson, sons of R. A. Robinson were admitted to the firm later on, also Henry Tyler Robinson and Richard A. Robinson III, became partners. Charles P. Barton, J. Thomas Schorch, Charles P. Frick, now deceased, were active stockholders for a great many years and with the exception of Mr. Frick are still directors. In 1890 R. A. Robinson retired in his seventy-fourth year, and a corporation was formed entitled the Robinson-Pettet Co. The original directors of the corporation were Charles H. Pettet, William A. Robinson, Worthington Robinson, A. Lee Robinson, Charles P. Barton, Henry Tyler Robinson, and Charles P. Frick. Of the original directors, two are still alive, A. Lee Robinson, and Charles P. Barton; Mr. Barton having been connected with the house for forty-five years and Mr. A. Lee Robinson for nearly forty years. The Present Officers and Directors. The present directors are A. Lee Robinson, president; Charles P. Barton, vice president and treasurer; J. Thomas Schorch, secretary; H. Guy Lyon, cashier; William C. Robertson, assistant secretary. The career of this firm has been remarkable, indicating very able and efficient management and unusual success. It has gone on for many years at the same location. Old residents will perhaps remember the disastrous fire which occurred in this building in 1865. The entire fire department was called out, and successfully confined the fire to the one building occupied by the drug house. It is said that before noon the next day business was again actively resumed.

Col. Fitzpatrick in New York. – Daily Arkansas Gazette, Thursday, August 28, 1879

Fitzpatrick Drug Co. Kelena, Ark – The Helena Weekly World, Wednesday June 10, 1896

Legal problems noted with alcohol content for Fitzpatrick’s Bitters – The Lawyers Report – 1917

The Internal Revenue Record and Customs Journal, Volume 25 – 1879

Advertisement for R.A. Robinson & Co., Wholesale Agents for Fitzpatrick’s 50 Cent Stomach Bitters – Southern California Practitioner, Volume 3 – 1888

Advertisement for R.A. Robinson & Co., Wholesale Agents for Fitzpatrick’s 50 Cent Stomach Bitters – The Medical Age, Volume 5 – 1887

Posted in Advertising, Bitters, Collectors & Collections, Druggist & Drugstore, Ephemera, Flasks, Trade Cards, Whiskey | Tagged Arkansas, bitters, coffin, Corn Juice, duck, Elvin Moody, Ferdinand Meyer V, Fitzpatrick, Helena, Joe Gourd, Judge McKenzie, Kentucky, Kris Kernozicky, Louis Alexander Fitzpatrick, Louisville, R. A. Robinson & Co., Richard Alexander Robinson, Whiskey | Leave a comment

Will the real Curtis Cordial Calisaya Bitters Please Stand Out!

MARIHUANA TAX ACT OF 1937

G A L L E R Y

B L A C K I N G

G A L L E R Y

Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death.

O P I U M

UNCLE MARB’S O.B. (not G.B.) BITTERS

“From a collection known to have existed in 1928.”

“I got it at the Canyonville show and the history is murky. I was told that it came from a collector in Nevada City but when I contacted him he did not remember the flask. So the history is in a dead end alley.”

H E R O I N

PUREST & BEST

The attempt to find a non-addictive replacement for Morphine led to the development of heroin, a morphine derivative, by the German chemical company Bayer in 1898.

Instead, the experiment produced an acetylated form of morphine one and a half to two times more potent than morphine itself.

The company was embarrassed by the new finding, which became a historic blunder for Bayer.

DR. DUNLAP’S ANCHOR BITTERS

10 February 2013 (R•082314)

D 122 DUNLAP’S ANCHOR BITTERS Circa 1880 – 1885

L…Dr. Dunlap’s motif Anchor Bitters / motif anchor // sp //motif anchor // motif anchor // motif anchor // motif anchor // motif anchor // 10 1/8 x 2 7/8 x 2 13/16 (7 1/4) 3/8 Slightly rectangular, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, 4 sp

Note: Labels under anchor and on side panels: Dr. Dunlop’s Bitters, Grand Rapids, Mich. A smaller horizontal peened out anchor can be seen above the large anchor on some examples.

The Amazing 7 SUTHERLAND SISTERS Niagara County, New York

The Niagara County Family Sensation

Hair Raising Stories

SARAH SUTHERLAND

VICTORIA SUTHERLAND

ISABELLA SUTHERLAND

GRACE SUTHERLAND

NAOMI SUTHERLAND

DORA SUTHERLAND

MARY SUTHERLAND

Try this and thou shalt be benefitted!!

Dr. Flint’s Rhode Island Bitters Products

09 February 2013 (R•061914) (R•042815) (R•111815)

The Flint Name

DR. FLINT’S STOMACH BITTERS

OLD DR. WARREN’S HERB AND ROOT BITTERS

W 47 OLD DR. WARREN’S HERB AND ROOT BITTERS

f // OLD DR. WARREN’S // HERB AND ROOT / BITTERS // FLINT & CO. PROV. R.I. // 9 1/2 x 3 1/4 x 2 Rectangular, Aqua, NSC, Scarce

DR. FLINT’S QUAKER BITTERS

Q 1 QUAKER BITTERS, Circa 1870’s

QUAKER BITTERS // DR. FLINT’S // PROVIDENCE, R.I. // f // L…Dr. Flint’s Quaker Bitters Providence, Rhode Island 9 1/8 x 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 (7 5/8) 5/8 Rectangular, Aqua, NSC, Applied mouth, Common The Evening Register October 21, 1873

F 58 DR. FLINT’S QUAKER BITTERS

*see also F 59, F 60 and F 60.3

f // DR FLINT’S // QUAKER BITTERS // PROVIDENCE, R.I. // Prepared by Dr. H. S. Flint & Company, Medical Depot, 195-7 Broad Street 9 1/2 x 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 (7 5/8) 5/8 Rectangular, Aqua, NSC, Applied mouth, Common

Label: Try this and thou shalt be benefitted!! Patented 1872.

Providence Directory: 1864, Flint & Company first listed. 1872 Harvey Flint of the same firm, listed as Manufacturer of Quaker Bitters. 1885 last mention as Dr. H. S. Flint & Co. 1886, first mention of Flint & Co. as Manufacturer,

Trade Mark 846, date June 1872, Used since 1869.

“If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.”

Two XR Tombstone Flasks containing Bitters (uh Whiskey)

09 February 2013 (R•122117)

CORN JUICE BITTERS

C 235.2 CORN JUICE BITTERS

CORN JUICE ( au ) / BITTERS ( ad ) 8 x 1/4 x 3 Flask – coffin, Aqua, LTC, Applied mouth, Extremely rare

FITZPATRICK’S STOMACH BITTERS

F 50 FITZPATRICK’S STOMACH BITTERS

FITZPATRICK’S ( au ) / 50 CENT / STOMACH / BITTERS 8 x 1/4 x 3 Flask – coffin, Aqua, LTC, Tooled mouth, Extremely rare

Trade Card: Fitzpatrick’s 50 Cent Stomach Bitters, R.A. Robinson & Co., Wholesale Agents, Louisville, KY. (see below)

L. A. Fitzpatrick

Obituary of Louis Alexander Fitzpatrick, Helena, Arkansas. Confederate Veteran Magazine, December, 1922.

Richard Alexander Robinson, Sr.

Louisville Fifty Years Ago

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“I got it at the Canyonville show and the history is murky. I was told that it came from a collector in Nevada City but when I contacted him he did not remember the flask.
So the history is in a dead end alley.”

D 122 DUNLAP’S ANCHOR BITTERS
Circa 1880 – 1885

L…Dr. Dunlap’s motif Anchor Bitters / motif anchor // sp //motif anchor // motif anchor // motif anchor // motif anchor // motif anchor //
10 1/8 x 2 7/8 x 2 13/16 (7 1/4) 3/8
Slightly rectangular, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, 4 sp

The Amazing 7 SUTHERLAND SISTERS
Niagara County, New York

f // OLD DR. WARREN’S // HERB AND ROOT / BITTERS // FLINT & CO.
PROV. R.I. //
9 1/2 x 3 1/4 x 2
Rectangular, Aqua, NSC, Scarce

QUAKER BITTERS // DR. FLINT’S // PROVIDENCE, R.I. // f //
L…Dr. Flint’s Quaker Bitters Providence, Rhode Island
9 1/8 x 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 (7 5/8) 5/8
Rectangular, Aqua, NSC, Applied mouth, Common
The Evening Register October 21, 1873

f // DR FLINT’S // QUAKER BITTERS // PROVIDENCE, R.I. //
Prepared by Dr. H. S. Flint & Company, Medical Depot, 195-7 Broad Street
9 1/2 x 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 (7 5/8) 5/8
Rectangular, Aqua, NSC, Applied mouth, Common

CORN JUICE ( au ) / BITTERS ( ad )
8 x 1/4 x 3
Flask – coffin, Aqua, LTC, Applied mouth, Extremely rare

FITZPATRICK’S ( au ) / 50 CENT / STOMACH / BITTERS
8 x 1/4 x 3
Flask – coffin, Aqua, LTC, Tooled mouth, Extremely rare