Who doesn’t love Scroll Flasks?

Posted on 21 November 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Who doesn’t love 1/2 pint scroll flasks? – Mike Stephano

Who doesn’t love Scroll Flasks?

21 November 2012 (R•052915)

Apple-Touch-IconABeing a color run ‘kinda-guy’ I just gotta’ say ‘‘Who doesn’t love Scroll Flasks?” Don’t cringe, I guess I coulda’ called this “Scrolling thru some Scrolls.” Anyway, credit for this post belongs to Mike Stephano as the first two pictures of gorgeous Scroll Flasks are from Mike’s collection.

Read: A Stroll through the Scrolls

The Scroll Flasks represent Group IX – Scroll or Violin Flasks in the The McKearin Historical Flask Groups. There are 52 in the Scroll group.

According to Historic Glasshouse, antique scroll flasks are easy to spot thanks to their distinctive shape. While aqua is the most commonly found color by far, other brilliant colors (greens, ambers, blues) are not infrequently encountered and fetch top dollar by collectors. George and Helen McKearin described the scroll (or violin) flasks in their book, American Glass, in the 1940s with details on 51 different molds. This list was later expanded with many variants in American Bottles and Flasks and Their Ancestry. Often, the difference between molds for scroll flasks comes down to the precise placement and shape of embossed stars and other details.

Scroll flasks were made by blowing hot glass into a two piece iron mold. The hinged mold was then opened and the bottle was removed while still attached to the blowpipe. An assistant would then attach another rod (called a pontil) to the base of the bottle. The glass blower could then detach the bottle from its lip by shearing the still soft glass. Most often you will find scroll flasks with a plain sheared lip. Some flasks would receive additional work to finish the mouth and lip. Commonly found are the applied band of glass and, infrequently, an applied lip.

S T E P H A N O    S C R O L L    F L A S K S

Window shot of my 1/2 pint scrolls. No, the GIX-41 is not sapphire, I could only wish..the lighting hints at it being that color though doesn’t it? Just a deep mid-western aqua – Mike Stephano

S C R O L L    F L A S K    G A L L E R Y

Two aqua Scroll Flasks – American, ca 1852-64. A pint example possibly by the Lancaster NY Glass Works, GIX-10, with sheared plain lip and smooth base with molded 5 x 5; 7.25″ high. Together with a half-pint GIX-31 with flat base and rough pontil; 5.75″ high. – Cowan’s Auctions

Lot 59. Scroll Flask, “LOUISVILLE, KY. – GLASS WORKS“, (GIX-6), Louisville Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky, ca. 1845 – 1855, olive yellow quart, red iron pontil, sheared and tooled lip, perfect. Crude pebbly glass, brilliant color, as good as it gets! Rarely seen in aqua and never seen in as stunning a color as this one!mWinning Bid: $ 27,000 (37 Bids) – Glass Works Auction #92

Some of the aqua and green Scroll flasks found on the Steamboat Arabia – Arabia Steamboat Museum

“B P & B” Scroll Flask, Bakewell, Page & Bakewells Glass Manufacturers, 1827 – 1832. Medium golden amber, sheared mouth – blowpipe pontil scar, half pint, GIX-39. A scarce, desirable mold and an exceptional rarity in color with only two or possibly three examples known to exist in amber. In addition, a beautiful example in color, character and condition – Lot 29 – American Glass Gallery | Auction 8

Colored quart Scroll flasks – Newman Collection

Probably John Robinson & Son Glass Manufacturers, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1830 – 1834. Aquamarine, sheared, tooled and expanded wide mouth – blowpipe pontil scar, ½ pint, perfect! GIX-41. A very scarce, early and attractive mold to begin with, this example was fashioned by the glassblower into a jar, possibly for snuff. A great rarity and one of only a handful of documented or known flasks that have been made into whimseys or jars. Note: this example is likely one of the earliest of the various Scroll Flask molds and as mentioned, in a unique class with only a handful of other known flasks that were made into snuff jars or whimseys. – American Glass Gallery Auction #9

Lot: 32 Scroll Flask, possibly Louisville Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky, 1845-1860. Deep forest green, crude applied round collared mouth – huge iron pontil mark, pint; (small spot of damage, includes a chip from the upper medial rib on one side accompanied by a hard to see 1 1/2 inch fissure). Probably GIX-11a Beautiful color, displays well, has an extremely crude and interesting mouth application. David Beadle collection. – Norman C. Heckler & Company

Extremely rare half gallon Fleur de lis Scroll Flask – Newman Collection

mportant, deep sapphire, GIX-38, embossed BP&B/ Fleur- de- lis, lead glass, Bakewell Page and Bakewell, Pittsburgh, Pa, c.1832, ex. Charlie Gardner, ex. Bill Polard, ½”internal hair line crack on side, seen with loop, otherwise perfect! – The SAXE Collection – Glass International Auction 24

Beautiful Scroll flask in a teal coloration – Mitchell Collection

Pint “scroll” flasks in rare colors – American, ca. 1845-1860 – HistoricBottles.com

Three Midwestern aqua Scroll flasks showing pontils – Live Auctioneers

This particular Scroll flask announces that it was made at the Louisville Glass Works, in Louisville, Kentucky, which operated between 1855 and 1874 in a factory opened in 1850 by the Kentucky Glass Works. – Ian Simmonds (Note: The detail picture at the top of this post is the same flask and credited the same)

A photo of my half-pint scroll, from the Vanderbilt sale several years ago. – Dana Charlton-Zarro

Sure wish this was made in the 1850s, but alas, it is one of the excellent Clevenger Brothers reproductions from sometime in the mid-20th century. Note quite early American, but a reproduction of such. I believe this is an imitation of the GIX-10 pint scroll mold which the company made in the 1950s and 1960s according to McKearin & Wilson (1978). – High Desert

DarkBlueScroll_ABA58

SCROLL FLASK. Probably GIX-2. 9”. Quart with sheared lip and open pontil. Here is one of the finest scrolls we’ve handled in our twenty years of business. Open pontil, sheared lip, this is what collectors are looking for. A brilliant deep blue, the color becomes a little lighter on the opposite side and for sheer overall appearance, this one really lights up a room. Condition is perfect with only base wear to remind us of its historic past. This bottle was part of the California whiskey collection kept in boxes for the last 40 or so years. He told us that it was his wife’s favorite bottle. We kind of like it, too. Grade is 9.8. Winning Bid: $ 17,000

AGG14PurpScroll

“J R & Son” SCROLL FLASK, John Robinson & Son Glass Manufacturers, Pittsburgh, PA, 1830 – 1834. Beautiful medium amethyst in the shoulders shading to clear, pale amethyst in the lower scroll and foot area, with profuse striations through the center and lower portion of the flask, sheared mouth – blowpipe pontil scar, Pt; (a shallow, approx. ¼” wide, pontil flake that extends to the edge of the base, and some high point wear). GIX-43. An exceptional flask, exceptional color, and eye-appeal. This flask is an exciting, and significant, “fresh” discovery for the antique bottle world. Quoting Jay Hawkins, a well known scholar of Pittsburgh glass and glass manufacturers, and author of the 2009, 550-plus page book, Glasshouses & Glass Manufacturers of the Pittsburgh Region, 1795 – 1910, “At this year’s Baltimore Bottle show on March 8th I had the opportunity to view and hold what is arguably the quintessential bottle or flask produced in Pittsburgh.” The flask is one of only four, or possibly five examples known. Of the four confirmed examples, three are in museum collections, the fourth, and only confirmed privately held example, is the Ex. Fred Salisbury, Ex. George Austin example, with damage. The museum examples include: The Corning Museum of Glass (a very deep amethyst coloration), The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC (another dark example), and a lavender example that was in the renowned George Lorimer collection, bequeathed to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1938. – American Glass Gallery – Auction 14

Posted in Collectors & Collections, Color Runs, Early American Glass, Flasks, Glass Companies & Works, Historical Flasks | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A couple of Jesse Moore Old Bourbon questions?

Posted on 21 November 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Jesse Moore & Co. Trade Card, E. Chielovich & Co., San Francisco, California – CasperWhiskey.com

A couple of Jesse Moore Old Bourbon questions?

21 November 2012

Two incoming Jesse Moore questions to PRG that Lance Westfall was kind enough to help me sort out. I find it really interesting to look at the eastern and western variants. What is Lance talking about when he says “German blown?”

Facebook Question: You couldn’t tell me for sure more about my J. Moore bottle (see picture below) could ya? Aaron

Incoming e-mail:

Dear Mr. Meyer,

During the early seventies, a friend took me bottle digging, next to an old cemetary in Decatur. He was a few feet down and I was going through the tailings, when I found a J. Moore Bourbon bottle (see picture below). Guess who kept it, and I still have it. It’s in excellent condition, and I am considering selling it. Would you be willing to give some advise as to how I could go about getting it sold at an auction. Any help you give would be appreciated. The bottle is 6 1/2″ tall. (Revised 11/26 to 6.25″ tall)

Sincerely, David

Lance Westfall: 

Yes, this is the eastern variant J. Moore (top picture). They rarely have much character and are common, but play somewhat scarce due to the wide appeal of Jesse & J. Moore bottles and go-with items. I believe the applied top variants normally sell in the $350-$550 range & the tooled tops (like this one) are about $100-$200.

I’ll email you a few pics of the western J. Moore which only comes applied, and are fairly rare, highly desirable, and quite valuable $2,500-$6500, with the exception being the $12,500 example Dale (Mlasko) sold in Jeff’s (Wichmann) auction last year.

Lance

JESSE MOORE OLD BOURBON & RYE cylinders in a window – photo Lance Westfall

Close-up of my current example. The “Western” J. Moore. The biggest giveaway is the big & bubbly enbossing. – Lance Westfall

JESSE MOORE cylinder color run. All are western blown with the exception of the one on far left being blown in
Germany — slightly shorter & reddish in color, usually highly whittled. – photo Lance Westfall

These were all Dale’s (Mlasko) at one point. The one on left is THE example. I currently own the dark one in center, and formerly owned the lighter example on the right. There are likely only about 30-35 undamaged examples known. – Lance Westfall

JESSE MOORE flask. Pint strapside, olive old-amber. Western blown. Approx. 35 known. Former Mlasko, now
my dad’s (Larry Westfall). – Lance Westfall

Read More: JESSE MOORE The Bourbon Whiskey King by Gordon E. White

Posted in Advice, Bourbon, Color Runs, Flasks, Questions, Spirits, Whiskey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Tippecanoe Bitters Figural Log and Mushroom

Posted on 19 November 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

‘TIPPECANOE – The Best For Malaria Tired Feeling’, framed advertising print – Dan Cowman antiques booth at the Antique Gallery of Houston.

The Tippecanoe Bitters Figural Log and Mushroom

19 November 2012

Lance and Brianna Westfall (San Diego, California) were in H-Town (Bayou City) visiting family over the weekend. Lance said he was able to get in a few probes in Old Town Spring (north of Houston) and to visit a few antique shops. One was the 85,000 sq ft Antique Gallery of Houston which includes over 250 dealers. Lance noticed immediately a booth as he walked in, full of bottles, labeled medicines and advertising. He immediately set his eyes on and purchased a gorgeous, whittled Drakes Plantation Bitters in raspberry and a Drake’s Plantation Bitters Sign for me (see picture below).

For those of you ‘in the know’ down here, Lance had discovered the antiques booth of none other than Dan Cowman. Dan is probably the most well known, along with Terry McMurray (Kirkwood, New York), labeled medicine and advertising collector and dealer in the United States. We sit near each other at the Houston Antique Bottle Show (see: 2012 Houston Antique Bottle Show – Rain or Shine!) and his table is always full to the brim with great stuff. Dan is a fantastic guy that usually has great bottles too. Lance said this could have been, quite possibly, the nicest bottle booth he has ever seen in an antique shop!

Lance, while he was at the Cowman booth, noticed this framed Tippecanoe Bitters advertising piece (see top of post) that when I saw the photo he shot me, I discounted because I thought I had it already. What Lance and I discovered when he visited Peach Ridge yesterday and saw my piece (see below) was that the support copy was different. The sign Lance saw reads, ‘TIPPECANOE – The Best For Malaria Tired Feeling’ rather than ‘TIPPECANOE – The Best For Bilious Headache. Blood Disorders’. I thought this was pretty interesting so it prompted me to look a little further and develop this post on the widely popular TIPPECANOE Bitters figural log.

‘TIPPECANOE – The Best For Bilious Headache. Blood Disorders’, framed advertising print – Meyer Collection

You do not venture anywhere with H. H. Warner from Rochester, New York without acknowledging the great work of Steve Jackson (pictured to left) on the Warner’s Safe Cure Blog. Steve is the foremost authority with the great and wide variety of Warner products in my book. From Steve’s blog “I have always heard that if you are going to create a web page or, in this case, a blog, you should pick a topic about which you are passionate. For over 30 years, I have collected Warner’s Safe Cures, Remedies, almanacs, trade cards, etc. My collection consists of well over 100 varieties of these bottles, including a couple “one of a kinds.” I have had the privilege of meeting some great and famous Warner’s collectors from around the country and some of the bottles and ephemera purchased from them grace my collection.”

T H E    B A T T L E    

O F    T I P P E C A N O E

Battle of Tippecanoe trade card – Meyer Collection

William Henry Harrison as painted by Rembrandt Peale in 1814

[Wikipedia] The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought on November 7, 1811, between United States forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and Native American warriors associated with the Shawnee leader Tecumseh. Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa (commonly known as “The Prophet”) were leaders of a confederacy of Native Americans from various tribes that opposed U.S. expansion into Native territory.

As tensions and violence increased, Governor Harrison marched with an army of about 1,000 men to disperse the confederacy’s headquarters at Prophetstown, near the confluence of the Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers.

Tecumseh, by Benson Lossing in 1848 based on 1808 drawing.

Tecumseh, not yet ready to oppose the United States by force, was away recruiting allies when Harrison’s army arrived. Tenskwatawa, a spiritual leader but not a military man, was in charge. Harrison camped near Prophetstown on November 6 and arranged to meet with Tenskwatawa the following day. Early the next morning, warriors from Prophetstown attacked Harrison’s army.

Although the outnumbered attackers took Harrison’s army by surprise, Harrison and his men stood their ground for more than two hours. The Natives were ultimately repulsed when their ammunition ran low. After the battle, the Natives abandoned Prophetstown. Harrison’s men burned the town and returned home.

The Shawnee Prophet, Tenskwatawa by Charles Bird King.

Harrison, having accomplished his goal of destroying Prophetstown, proclaimed that he had won a decisive victory. He acquired the nickname “Tippecanoe”, which was popularized in the song “Tippecanoe and Tyler too” during the election of 1840, when Harrison was elected president. But some of Harrison’s contemporaries, as well as some subsequent historians, raised doubts about whether the expedition had been much of a success.

Although the defeat was a setback for Tecumseh’s confederacy, the Natives soon rebuilt Prophetstown, and frontier violence actually increased after the battle. Public opinion in the United States blamed the violence on British interference. This suspicion led to further deterioration of U.S. relations with Great Britain and served as a catalyst of the War of 1812, which began six months later. By the time the U.S. declared war on Great Britain, Tecumseh’s confederacy was ready to launch its war against the United States and embrace an alliance with the British.

The Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham listing in Bitters Bottles is as follows:

TIPPECANOE BITTERS, Circa 1880 – 1895

L…Tippecanoe XXX Trade Mark Use No Nostrums Nor Preparations
TIPPECANOE / motif birch tree bark, a canoe, birch tree bark / H. H. WARNER & CO. // ( b ) PAT NOV, 20, 83 // ROCHESTER // NY // 5
9 x 2 7/8 (7)
Round, Amber, FM meant to represent a fungus (mushroom) growing out of the log shaped bottle.
Label: The best stomach tonic. Illustration of typical Warner’s Safe with Trade Mark and Warner’s Cure. Tippecanoe Trade Mark. The best for dyspepsia assimilation of food, stomach disorders, general functional derangements, constipation, tired feelings, malaria, blood disorders, skin eruptions, loss of energy, female disability, feeble appetite, bilious headache, etc.
Drug Catalog: 1885 Goodwin, 1887 Meyer, Trade Cards available.

T I P P E C A N O E    G A L L E R Y

Labeled TIPPECANOE – Glass Works Auctions

TIPPECANOE / motif birch tree bark, a canoe, birch tree bark / H. H. WARNER & CO. in amber – Meyer Collection

TIPPECANOE / motif birch tree bark, a canoe, birch tree bark / H. H. WARNER & CO. in amber – GreatAntiqueBottles.com

TIPPECANOE / motif birch tree bark, a canoe, birch tree bark / H. H. WARNER & CO. in a green toned amber and amber. From time to time, I used to hear that you could find the infamous Tippecanoe in an olive variety. Generally speaking, I considered this to be myth until I actually saw an example that I considered olive. They do exist and some are strikingly olive. More often than not, however, they tend to be amber examples with shades of olive. This makes sense, because the olive coloring is most likely the result of impurities in the glass manufacturing process rather than an intention by either Warner or his bottle supplier to issue an olive Tippecanoe. I mean, really, who wants a green log? – Warner’s Safe Cure Blog (bottles from American Bottle Auctions)

TIPPECANOE / motif birch tree bark, a canoe, birch tree bark / H. H. WARNER & CO. in green – American Glass Gallery Auction #6, Lot 177 (fetched a cool $8,500)

Labeled TIPPECANOE – Glass Works Auctions

Tippecanoe_GW

“H.H. WARNER & CO / (motif of a canoe and tree bark) / TIPPECANOE”, (T-30.8L), New York, ca. 1875 – 1890, amber, 9”h, “PAT NOV. 20, 83 / ROCHESTER / N.Y.” on smooth base, applied mouth, 98% original label. Pristine perfect, you won’t find a nicer one. Of the few known labeled Tippecanoe bottles, this one is thought to have the most complete and free of stain label! Ex. Carlyn Ring Collection. – Glass Works Auctions January 2013

Tippecanoe Patent drawing – Warner’s Safe Cure Blog

Battle of Tippecanoe Trade Card, The Warner trade card pictured above attempts to depict the famous battle. Presumably Harrison is the guy on the horse with his sabre drawn. The message reads “After once using our Tippecanoe – You will use no nostrums nor preparations called Bitters.”  I guess that taking Warner’s Tippecanoe gave you the strength to take on a band of marauding indians. It was clearly an attempt by Warner to move away from the term bitters, although the content of the preparation was doubtless the same. – Warner’s Safe Cure Blog

Tippecanoe Bitters Indian trade card is circa 1880’s and has Indians in canoes going down the waters and on a rock it says ‘Tippecanoe’ Try It! The top of the card has advertising for Tippecanoe Bitters. – Etsy

Posted in Advertising, Bitters, Collectors & Collections, Digging and Finding, Ephemera, Figural Bottles, History, Medicines & Cures, News, Questions, Tonics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Latest news from Outhouse Patrol up in Montana

Posted on 19 November 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

“We awoke to a very cold early October rainy morning after trying to sleep through high winds whistling through the broken out windows and creaking old door.”

Always nice to hear from my friend James Campiglia and the Outhouse Patrol as he represents the very essence of our hobby in our northern region of the FOHBC. He reminds me of the Baltimore star, Chris Rowell. These guys are always thinking bottles, history, digging and furthering our hobby 24/7/365. I sit here in my warm abode and have to smile when I see the lengths that these guys go to looking for privies.

Hello Ferd,

Really was a pleasure to talk the other day as I was on way to Butte to do a little digging. My friend found three nice older plain bottles but I found nothing but that’s fine, he’s a beginner. Looks like we found an old dump and hope to get permission soon.

If you can get the name of the persons (lady with changing looks, etc) and find if they are in Auburn we can watch them. I had an idea that might really shock them. Print up a want list of about ten misc. bottles but include all of those stolen in Reno, and a few misc. Hand out wanted posters but to not be suspicious pass to other dealers but mainly target the suspects. Have a few collectors present to read their actions when they realize its the stolen bottles we are showing them on the want lists. Maybe print some extras for the front door table too. And have these dealers, the suspected ones, set up at other shows does anyone really know them? Did you reach Mike McKillop regarding Auburn?

[PRG: I have been consulting with James on the theft issue plaguing some of our western shows]

I booked a flight tonight and will be in the area a couple of days prior and after the show. Maybe do some digging or go see some collections.

Just saw the Bertrand infomation and the Kintzing bottle shards I had sent in. Thanks for posting some of my notes. Here’s a picture of our latest dig. Way up in the hills. As you can see a ghost town. We awoke to a very cold early October rainy morning after trying to sleep through high winds whistling through the broken out windows and creaking old door. The slapping of the tin on the roof was quite nerve-wracking as well but after a good breakfast at about noon the sun was out and we we digging away. When we find some good bottles will send pictures. 1880’s to 20’s era town with outhouses still standing! And we have full permission to dig away.

And a week later the snow was falling (mid October) It was time to pack up but I hope to return maybe this weekend as hear the snow has melted but a sudden snow storm could come on quick up in these beautiful hills.

See you in Auburn!

Thanks,
James
www.jameschips.com
www.outhousepatrol.com

Posted in Collectors & Collections, Digging and Finding, FOHBC News, News | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

American Dialect Society and the origin of the word “jazz”

Posted on 18 November 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

J A Z Z

Virginia Minstrels circa 1843

An interesting question that Mike Bryant (San Diego Antique Bottle and Collectibles Club) forwarded… I have added the pictures for post support. If anyone can help with bottle and/or advertising images and information it would be greatly appreciated.

“Does anyone have a bottle from the Boyes Spring mineral water spring. Is it identified as “jazz water” or as having “jazz”? (perhaps spelled jaz, jass, or jas)”

Ferdinand ‘Jelly Roll’ Morton poster – circa 1915

Mike Bryant has just forwarded to me the picture of the Boyes Spring bottle. Thank you very much. I have forwarded it to members of the American Dialect Society who are interested in the origin of the word “jazz”.

Louis Armstrong, jazz trumpeter

Mr. Bryant:

Is it possible to put a research question into The Bottleneck newsletter, or
in some other way bring it to the attention of the members of the club?

The question is this: Does anyone have a bottle from the Boyes Spring mineral water spring. Is it identified as “jazz water” or as having “jazz”? (perhaps spelled jaz, jass, or jas)

The story behind this is this. In 1913 the San Francisco Seal baseball team went to the Boyes Spring resort for spring training. A sports reporter from an San Francisco paper who was covering the team picked up the word “jazz” there, meaning “energy”, “enthusiasm” (and also, sometimes, “nonsense”), and used it 8 or 10 times in the course of the season. When the Seals were winning, they were full of jazz; when they were in a slump, the jazz had run out, and the manager had better send off for a couple of cases more.

San Francisco Seals – circa 1909

Meanwhile, the entertainment director at the Springs was a young band leader named Art Hickman who also liked the word, and started to use it to identify his music: energetic, sparkling music for dancing. He went on to be a very popular band leader in San Francisco in the mid-1910s, and one of his musicians went to Chicago with the word, where it was picked up by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, which had a huge hit record at the beginning of 1917, and so the music got a name. The reference to the manager sending away for a case of fresh jazz suggests that the springs bottled the stuff. I’m curious to know for certain that they did, and whether they described the water as having jazz.

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of “The African Theatre”, Northwestern Univ.

The large “plunge pool” at Boyes Hot Springs was billed as the largest swimming pool in Northern California.

[Wikipedia] The San Francisco Seals were a minor league baseball team in San Francisco, California, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 until 1957 before transferring to Phoenix, Arizona. They were named for the abundant California Sea Lion and Harbor Seal populations in the Bay Area.

[Wikipedia] Boyes Hot Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 6,656 people at the 2010 census. Resorts in Boyes Hot Springs, El Verano, Fetters Hot Springs, and Agua Caliente were popular health retreats for tourists from San Francisco and points beyond until the middle of the 20th century because of the geothermic hot springs that still well up from deep within the earth. Today the Sonoma Mission Inn in Boyes Hot Springs remains as a main destination resort, and the surrounding valley’s wineries, historic sites, and natural beauty are popular tourist attractions.

[Wikipedia] Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in black communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. Its African pedigree is evident in its use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and the swung note. From its early development until the present day, jazz has also incorporated elements from American popular music.

As the music has developed and spread around the world it has drawn on many different national, regional and local musical cultures giving rise, since its early 20th century American beginnings, to many distinctive styles: New Orleans jazz dating from the early 1910s, big band swing, Kansas City jazz and Gypsy jazz from the 1930s and 1940s, bebop from the mid-1940s and on down through West Coast jazz, cool jazz, avant-garde jazz, Afro-Cuban jazz, modal jazz, free jazz, Latin jazz in various forms, soul jazz, jazz fusion and jazz rock, smooth jazz, jazz-funk, punk jazz, acid jazz, ethno jazz, jazz rap, cyber jazz, Indo jazz, M-Base, nu jazz, urban jazz and other ways of playing the music.

[Wikipedia] 1913-1918 – A more lasting influence emerged in 1913, in a series of articles by E.T. “Scoop” Gleeson in the San Francisco Bulletin, found by researchers Peter Tamony (who carried out the pioneering research in this area) and Dick Holbrook, that likely were instrumental in bringing jazz to a broader public. These initial articles were written in Boyes Springs, California, where the San Francisco Seals baseball team was in training. In the earliest reference, on March 3, 1913, jazz was used in a negative sense, to indicate that disparaging information about ball player George Clifford McCarl had turned out to be inaccurate: “McCarl has been heralded all along the line as a ‘busher,’ but now it develops that this dope is very much to the ‘jazz.’

Three days later, on March 6, Gleeson used jazz extensively in a longer article, in which he explained the term’s meaning, which had now turned from negative to positive connotations: Everybody has come back to the old town full of the old “jazz” and they promise to knock the fans off their feet with their playing. What is the “jazz”? Why, it’s a little of that “old life,” the “gin-i-ker,” the “pep,” otherwise known as the enthusiasalum. A grain of “jazz” and you feel like going out and eating your way through Twin Peaks. It’s that spirit which makes ordinary ball players step around like Lajoies and Cobbs.

The article uses jazz several more times and says that the San Francisco Seals’ “members have trained on ragtime and ‘jazz’ and manager Del Howard says there’s no stopping them.” The context of the article as a whole shows that a musical meaning of jazz is not intended; rather, ragtime and “jazz” were both used as markers of ebullient spirit.
Gleeson used jazz in a number of articles in March and April 1913, and other journalists began to use the term as well. The Bulletin on April 5, 1913, published an article by Ernest J. Hopkins entitled “In Praise of ‘Jazz,’ a Futurist Word Which Has Just Joined the Language.” The article, which used the spellings jaz and jazz interchangeably, discussed the term at length and included a highly positive definition: “JAZZ” (WE CHANGE the spelling each time so as not to offend either faction) can be defined, but it cannot be synonymized. If there were another word that exactly expressed the meaning of “jaz,” “jazz” would never have been born. A new word, like a new muscle, only comes into being when it has long been needed. This remarkable and satisfactory-sounding word, however, means something like life, vigor, energy, effervescence of spirit, joy, pep, magnetism, verve, virility ebulliency, courage, happiness–oh, what’s the use?–JAZZ.

Jazz, in the sense of pep and enthusiasm, continued in use in California for several years before being submerged by the jazz music meaning. Amateur etymologist Barry Popik has located a number of examples from the Berkeley Daily Californian and the Daily Palo Alto, showing that jazz in this sense was collegiate slang at the University of California, Berkeley in the period 1915 to 1917 and at Stanford University in the period 1916 to 1918. President Benjamin Ide Wheeler at Berkeley apparently used jazz with such frequency that many supposed he originated the term, although the Daily Californian stated on February 18, 1916, that he denied this.

Boyes Mineral Water possibly made in 1951 at the Duraglas plant in Oakland, CA (which started in 1937), and is a machine-made bottle. – Collectors Weekly

Boyes Spring Mineral Water – eBay (darker liquid used to show graphics I suppose)

Boyes Spring Mineral Water detail – eBay (darker liquid used to show graphics I suppose)

Posted in Advertising, Bottling Works, Club News, History, Mineral Water, Painted Label, Questions, Soda Bottles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dr Zabriskie’s Bitters – Jersey City, New Jersey

Posted on 17 November 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Dr Zabriskie’s Bitters – Jersey City, New Jersey

17 November 2012 (R•022518)

New Jersey has certainly been in the news of late with the terrible destruction from Hurricane Sandy which has been just tragic. I now see that the inane show Jersey Shore has run its course too. What a shame. New Jersey, you are on our minds.

With that said, I was pleasantly surprised to see a bitters brand and bottle that I was not familiar with in John Pastor’s American Glass Gallery Auction #9. This was the Dr. Zabriskie’s Bitters from Jersey City. Johns write-up:

“Dr Zabriskie’s – Bitters – Jersey City / N. J.”, America, 1840 – 1855. Moonstone, rectangular with indented panels, a very crude, likely applied, thin flanged mouth – solid glass tipped pontil scar, ht. 6”, virtually attic mint condition. R/H #Z1. An extremely rare bitters, and probably quite early, in a color that is seldom seen except on rare occasions in a handful of early flasks. Believed to be only a handful of examples (less than half dozen), in any condition known to exist.

“DR ZABRISKIE’S – BITTERS – JERSEY CITY / N.J.”, (Ring/Ham, Z-1), New Jersey, ca. 1850 – 1860, clear glass, 6 1/8”h, pontil scarred base, tooled mouth. An in manufacturing 3/16” by 1/8” chip off the underside of the flared out lip, otherwise perfect. Extremely rare, one of only a few known examples. T.H. Zabriskie & Sons were located at 122 Deuce Street, Brooklyn. Larry Umbreit Collection. – Glass Works Auctions – Auction 119

The Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham listing in Bitters Bottles Supplement is as follows:

Z1  DR. ZABRISKIE’S BITTERS
DR ZABRISKIES // f // BITTERS // JERSEY CITY / N.J. //
6 3/4 x 2 1/4 (6 1/8) 3/8
Square, FM, 3 sp, Clear with moonstone tone, Extremely rare
T. H. Zabriskie & Sons, 122 Deuce Street, Brooklyn, N.Y., 176 Washington Street   Courtland, N.Y.
Also manufacturers of Zabriskie’s Polish Liniment
Only 3 or 4 known examples, all of which were dug from a privy in Northern New Jersey in the mid 1990’s.

Zabriskie is certainly a unique Polish name, at least to me. Searching online, I see that New Jersey and New York is the epicenter for the Zabriskie name. I was quite amazed to see the name in posts dating from the 1600s to present day. Obviously a strong family name with generations of history. A few snippets of potential information are posted below.

Added new communication below on 26 November 2012

Hi, My buddy Connor sent me a link showing me that one of the Zabriskie Bitters from Jersey City was at auction. One of my digging partners and myself had the pleasure of digging all three of those that exist in one outhouse pit in Jersey City. They are made of flint glass which give them that not so clear appearance. They were a lot worse before I cleaned them. According to the map we were using, there was a flint glass works at the end of the street the pit was on. I’m almost sure the bottles would have been made right there. Also, Dr. Zabriskie lived right on the same street. Thought you might like to know some of the back story from those great bottles.-Tom.

What Zabriskie are we talking about?

Polish Roots – The Polish People of Passaic

There is no authentic record of, first Polish settlement in Passaic, which was settled by wealthy Dutch farmers as early as 1679. However, one of the earliest Polish land owners in the area was the Zabriskie family, which claims descent from Olbracht Zaborowski who emigrated from Prussia to New Amsterdam in 1662. There is no record of the exact time when the family took up residence in Passaic, but deeds recorded in the land office for Passaic County at Paterson, New Jersey, reveal purchases of land in Passaic by Henry J. Zabriskie in 1816, by Christian B. Zabriskie in 1824, and by Abraham Zabriskie in 1832. At the time Passaic was still a predominantly agricultural and commercial village.

Abraham Zabriskie built a dock in Passaic and operated a fleet of boats sailing to New York. He tried to improve the navigation facilities of the Passaic River and spent fifty thousand dollars for this purpose. The project was unsuccessful and brought about his financial ruin.

Another member of the family, Dr. John B. Zabriskie, was licensed to practice medicine and surgery in New Jersey on November 4, 1826. Unable to make a success of his practice, he moved to New York and later settled in Jersey City.

Still another descendant, Christian B. Zabriskie, took part in the planning of a bridge to be erected at some point between Zabriskie’s Landing and the Dundee Dam before the Civil War, but the undertaking proved a failure.

Christian A. Zabriskie, who was born March 14, 1829, was considered one of the oldest residents of Passaic.

John C. Zabriskie, also from Passaic, took part in the Civil War.

The Zabriskie Tenant House

The Zabriskie Tenant House was an historic house on Dunkerhook Road in Paramus, New Jersey. The Zabriskie family built the home to house their slaves, who remained tenants even after they were liberated. It was one of the few structures left in New Jersey directly related to slavery in the state. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1984.

A proposal to demolish the house and subdivide the land for housing development was approved by the Paramus Planning Board in late April, 2011, and the house was scheduled to be demolished in June, 2011. Local historians and preservationists had worked out a plan to move the house to Bergen Community College for an educational adaptive reuse, a plan supported by the County’s Board of Chosen Freeholders. The county was in the process petitioning the state for funds to move and rehabilitate the structure when on 13 July 2012, the developer Sal Petruzella demolished the Zabriskie Tenant House with no warning or indication to the preservation community.

Westwood in 1894

January 5, 1894: Dr. Zabriskie has begun excavating for his new building.

February 9, 1894: Dr. Zabriskie’s new building has been raised and will be pushed to completion. Westwood will then have what it has needed for a long time: a drug store.

April 27, 1894: J.W. Wardell, a druggist from Closter, has leased Dr. Zabriskie’s new building and will open a drug store.

Cornelius Zabriskie

Cornelius Zabriskie, banker, born in that part of Bergen county, N. J., known as Cherry Hill, Feb. 24, 1839, is a son of the late David A. Zabriskie, a prominent and influential citizen and great grandson of a paymaster in the Continental army; noted both for his bravery and careful supervision of the finances. The family is an old one and its members have always borne a high reputation and shown marked public spirit in their respective generations.

Leaving home at the age of fifteen, Mr. Zabriskie moved to Jersey City, where,
after completing his studies at the public schools, he gained a thorough knowledge of
chemistry and was for nine years connected with the oldest drug house in Jersey City.

I understand that this bottle will be joining a collection of Bitters bottles in Texas. It will certainly go in the “Aqua Room’ on a special lower shelf of rare clear bitters.

A Q U A    R O O M

Posted in Auction News, Bitters, Druggist & Drugstore, History, Medicines & Cures | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Looking for Bottles Carried on the Steamboat Arabia

Posted on 16 November 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

T H E    S T E A M B O A T    A R A B I A

Looking at famed Civil War author Jim Schmidt’s interview with Andrew W. Hall and the Galveston-Houston Packet this morning made me think of the bottles stored on these and other steamboats that traveled our waterways. While looking at the Steamboat Bertrand cargo recently (see: Looking at some of the Bitters Bottles on the steamboat Bertrand – Part 1 and Looking at some of the Bitters Bottles on the steamboat Bertrand – Part 2), I was reminded of the Steamboat Arabia in Missouri. I also did a post recently where some Charles Lediard products were found on the SS Republic (see: Charles Lediard and his Liquor Products). What amazes me most is that the Arabia was found beneath 45 feet of silt and topsoil as the Missouri River had shifted 1/2 of a mile from where the Arabia was found. I suppose I always assumed great rivers shifted course over eons of time and not in 130 or so years.

Over time, the river shifted a half a mile to the east. The site of the sinking is in present-day Kansas City, Kansas.

Let’s look a little closer at the Arabia steamboat and see what bottles were recovered. I am particularly interested in seeing if Kelly’s Old Cabin Bitters, OK Plantation Bitters, Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters and any of the other famed bitters products were on board.

Steamboat Arabia Museum Postcard

[Wikipedia] The steamboat Arabia was a side wheeler steamboat which hit a snag in the Missouri River and sank near what today is Parkville, Missouri, on September 5, 1856. It was rediscovered in 1988 by a team of researchers. Today, the artifacts recovered from the site are housed in the Arabia Steamboat Museum.

The Arabia was built in 1853 on the banks of the Monongahela River in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Its paddlewheels were 28 feet across, and its steam boilers consumed approximately thirty cords of wood per day. The boat averaged five miles an hour going upstream. The boat traveled the Ohio and Mississippi rivers before it was bought by Captain John Shaw, who operated the boat on the Missouri River. Her first trip was to carry 109 soldiers from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Pierre, which was located up river in South Dakota. The boat then traveled up the Yellowstone River, adding an additional 700 miles to the trip. In all, the trip took nearly three months to complete.

In spring of 1856, the boat was sold to Captain William Terrill and William Boyd, and it made fourteen trips up and down the Missouri during their ownership. In March, while heading up river, the boat collided with an obstacle and nearly sank. Repairs were made in nearby Portland. A few weeks later the boat blew a cylinder head and had to be repaired again. The rest of the season was uneventful for the boat until September 5.

On September 5, 1856, the Arabia set out for a routine trip. At Quindaro Bend, near the town of Parkville, Missouri, the boat hit a submerged walnut tree snag (see picture above of actual tree part found in hull). The snag ripped open the hull, which rapidly filled with water. The upper decks of the boat stayed above water, and the only casualty was a mule that was tied to sawmill equipment and forgotten. The boat sank so rapidly into the mud that by the next morning, only the smokestacks and pilot house remained visible. Within a few days, these traces of the boat were also swept away. Numerous salvage attempts failed, and eventually the boat was completely covered by water. Over time, the river shifted a half a mile to the east. The site of the sinking is in present-day Kansas City, Kansas, although, as described below, many of the remnants have been removed to a museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

In the 1860s, Elisha Sortor purchased the property where the boat lay. Over the years, legends were passed through the family that the boat was located somewhere under the land. In the surrounding town, stories were also told of the steamboat, but the exact location of the boat was lost over time.

In 1987, Bob Hawley and his sons, Greg and David, set out to find the boat. The Hawleys used old maps and a proton magnetometer to figure out the probable location, and finally discovered the Arabia half a mile from the river and under 45 feet of silt and topsoil.

The owners of the farm gave permission for excavation, with the condition that the work be completed before the spring planting. The Hawleys, along with family friends Jerry Mackey and David Luttrell, set out to excavate the boat during the winter months while the water table was at its lowest point. They performed a series of drilling tests to determine the exact location of the hull, then marked the perimeter with powdered chalk. Heavy equipment, including a 100-ton crane, was brought in by both river and road transport during the summer and fall. Twenty irrigation pumps were installed around the site to lower the water level and to keep the site from flooding. The 65-foot-deep wells removed 20,000 US gallons per minute from the ground. On November 26, 1988, the boat was exposed. Four days later, artifacts from the boat began to appear, beginning with a Goodyear rubber overshoe. On December 5, a wooden crate filled with elegant china was unearthed. The mud was such an effective preserver that the yellow packing straw was still visible. Thousands of artifacts were recovered intact, including jars of preserved food that are still edible. The artifacts that were recovered are housed in the Steamboat Arabia Museum.

I soon located what I had traveled this distance to see — bottles! Food bottles embossed ‘Well’s, Miller & Provost‘ filled several shelves, many had original lead labels and contents. Earlier ‘large size’, Dr. Hostetter’s Bitters, were in abundance, as were a number of unembossed ‘lady’s leg’  bottles, both having original contents. Peppersauce bottles with the desirable ‘Western Spice Mills‘ embossed appeared in several areas, as did a sprinkling of various pontiled cologne and scent bottles. One case exhibited several rows of medicine bottles.

Another case exhibited several rows of medicine bottles: ‘Mexican Mustang Liniment’, ‘McGuire Druggist, St. Louis’, and ‘Nerve and Bone Liniment‘, all still in their original contents. Ink bottles, still in their original packing box, and early case gins were also to be found.

To me the most rewarding display of all was a portion of one wall holding row after row of early Scroll flasks! Approximately 100 were on display, all being pint and quart size. They were displayed in alternating rows of deep aquamarine and medium yellow green and all sparkled like the day they were blown!

Treasures of The Steamboat Arabia

What a surprise. Obviously the cargo was meant for the small grocers, hardware stores, businesses and eating and drinking establishments. The Steamboat Arabia Museum is definitely a place I want to visit. What and where do you suppose all those Scroll Flasks were headed and doing on board?

A R A B I A    G A L L E R Y

Read More: Treasures of The Steamboat Arabia

Read More: Steamboat Arabia – A Historian’s Blog (great!)

Posted in Bitters, Digging and Finding, Dinnerware, Display, Flasks, History, Museums, Questions, Treasure | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A labeled Dr. Hopkin’s Union Stomach Bitters

Posted on 15 November 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

A labeled Dr. Hopkin’s Union Stomach Bitters

15 November 2012 (R110614)

“It is priced at 75 cents – pretty good since it ‘cures’ pretty much EVERYTHING.”

Apple-Touch-IconAI have said this many times before, and I will say it again. “It sure is fun to get an email with bottle pictures and questions.” In this case it is from ‘Jeanne’ from somewhere in bottleland asking about her special bottle.

Hello,

I was trying to look up some information on some of my bottles. One of them is an amber bitters bottle with three sides of labels and an embossed side. Most of the three labels are intact and readable. It is priced at 75 cents – pretty good since it ‘cures’ pretty much EVERYTHING. Then again, three wine glassfuls a day would make you forget you had anything wrong with you in the first place. I guess it’s like yours except for the labels.

How does one get an appraisal or who would YOU trust if you were a collector. The definition of collector as it pertains to me is, I collected any bottle I liked since I was 20 and that was decades ago. Thanks for any help or suggestions. Sincerely,

Jeanne

I mentioned to Jeanne that I might post her pictures due to the completeness of the labels and the super character of the bottle. Pretty decent for a Dr. Hopkins. Jeanne mentioned that she might want to sell the bottle too. Let me know if you are interested and I will put you in touch with her. Look at the labels closely, as it seems that each side of the bottle advertises a different Hopkins product. Dr. Hopkins sure knew how to use the label for advertising and information. Jam packed.

DR. A. S. HOPKIN’S UNION STOMACH BITTERS (embossing)

DR. HOPKIN’S CELEBRATED UNION STOMACH BITTERS (label side)

SARSAPARILLA AND OTHER ROOTS AND BARKS (ingredients)

UNION CELEBRATED ROOT & BARK BITTERS (label side)

The Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham listing in Bitters Bottles is as follows:

H 180

H 180  DR. A.S. HOPKINS UNION STOMACH BITTERS
DR. A. S. HOPKINS / UNION STOMACH BITTERS / HARTFORD CONN. // f // sp // f //
L…Union Celebrated Root & Bark Bitters
9 3/4 x 2 3/4 (7) 3/8
Square, Yellow, Amber and Green, LTC, Applied mouth, 3 sp, Scarce
Label: Composed of sarsaparilla and other roots and barks. Compounded so as to act in concert, and assist nature in eradicating disease, stimulating, importing tone to the stomach, and strength to the system and a most efficient tonic. Warranted a pure vegetable medicine, guaranteed to keep in any climate and improve with age. Unequaled for hotel, family or medicinal Use. Cholera morbus, asiatic or spasmatic cholera, dysentery and diarrhea. It gives immediate relief in all cases of pain, bilious and painter’s colic, cramps, spasms, convulsions, etc… Cures sudden colds, coughs, fever and ague, canker in the mouth and stomach, kidney complaints, seasickness, headache, cleanses the stomach, regulates the bowels and imparts a tone of health and vigor to the body. Continued to be advertised in 1912.

Read More: Union Bitters – Haven’t Seen this One Before

Posted in Advertising, Bitters, Medicines & Cures, Questions, Sarsaparilla | Leave a comment

Bennett & Carroll – Figural Barrel Series

Posted on 14 November 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

 BENNETT & CARROL(L)  PITTSBURG(H)

Earlier this year I did a comprehensive series on most of the great figural barrels. I knew I had missed a few odd ones such as the Bennett & Carrol barrel (note spelling of Carrol missing an ‘L’, and the alternate earlier spelling of ‘Pittsburg’). At the time I could not find much information and certainly could not find a good image. John Pastor with American Glass Gallery has a wonderful example in his Auction #9 that ends tonight. The description is as follows:

Lot #131: Bennett & Carrol / 120 Wood St / Pittsburg” Figural Whiskey Bottle, America, probably a Pittsburgh district glasshouse, 1855 – 1860. Brilliant yellowish golden, or light honey amber, barrel form, applied square collared mouth – iron pontil scar, ht. 9 ¼”, very near mint; (a little minor roughness along the back edge of the square collared mouth, otherwise pristine perfect). A beautiful example of this very rare whiskey barrel, bright, crisp and nicely whittled. Note; we have added an additional photo taken on a bright, slightly overcast sunny day to show the beautiful yellowish and honey tones evident in this particular example.

Note this other example of a Bennett & Carroll flattened chestnut form that was sold in Heckler 98 Auction. Very similar pieces of glass. Unfortunately I can not find any other information on Bennett & Carroll so I welcome any new information that can be provided.

Bennett & Carroll flattened chestnut (note spelling of Carroll) – Heckler 98 Auction

Bennett & Carrol figural whiskey bottle – American Glass Gallery Auction #9 (Studio illumination)

Bennett & Carrol figural whiskey bottle – American Glass Gallery Auction #9 (window illumination)

Bennett&Carrol_GW98

“BENNETT & CARROL / 120 WOOD ST. / PITTSBURG”, (Denzin, BEN-31), Pennsylvania, ca. 1855 – 1870, medium yellowish amber barrel, 9 1/2”h, smooth base, applied square collar mouth, perfect condition. A rarely offered barrel, and it’s a good one having nice glass whittle a bold impression and almost no trace of wear! A Pittsburgh classic! Ex. Robert Pattridge Collection. – Glass Works Auctions | Auction 98

Bennett & Carrol figural whiskey bottle – American Glass Gallery Auction #9 (mouth detail)

Bennett & Carrol figural whiskey bottle – American Glass Gallery Auction #9 (pontil base detail)

Read More on Figural Barrels

Barrel Series – Crow’s Celebrated Tonic Bitters

Barrel Series – Chapin & Gore – Chicago – Sour Mash

Barrel Series – Brent, Warder & Co. – Louisville

Barrel Series – Bininger Old Kentucky Bourbon

Barrel Series – Columbus in a Barrel

Barrel Series – I. Nelson’s Old Bourbon

Barrel Series – W.C. Bitters

Barrel Series – W. Wolf found at Thrift Shop for $1.00

Barrel Series – Ben Franklin Bitters

Barrel Series – Highland Bitters and Scotch Tonic

Barrel Series – Smith’s Druid Bitters

Barrel Series – Roback’s Stomach Bitters (the smaller ones)

Barrel Series – Roback’s Stomach Bitters (the big boys)

Barrel Series – Dr. Chandler’s Jamaica Ginger Root Bitters

Barrel Series – Favorite Bitters & Peoples Favorite Bitters

Barrel Series – Wormser Bros San Francisco

Barrel Series – Mist of the Morning

Barrel Series – Old Sachem Bitters and Wigwam Tonic

Barrel Series – Turner Brothers New York & San Francisco

Barrel Series – The Mysterious Blue Barrel

Barrel Series – Original Pocahontas Bitters

Figural Barrel Series – Hall’s Bitters

Greeley’s Bourbon Whiskey Bitters – aka Vertical Greeley’s

Peach colored Bourbon Whiskey Bitters added to Color Run

Greeley’s Bourbon Bitters – A Great Boston Bitters Barrel

Posted in Auction News, Chestnut, Early American Glass, Figural Bottles, Spirits, Whiskey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Daily Dose

Posted on 14 November 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

M A R C H   2 0 1 3

Section dedicated to daily thoughts and interests

Saturday, 30 March 2013

Spent most of the day mowing grass on the tractor and then crashing for an hour or so. Feels good to get something done and it looks nice even though the grass really has not grown too much without rain. Just opened a bottle of  2004, La Crau de Ma Mere Chateauneuf du Pape. Very relaxed. Girls off riding horses. Just me and the dogs.

B&ECover_MayJun13

 

Earlier competed the design on the May June issue of Bottles and Extras. Will give you guys a sneak peek. Great article on TWIABA and Nevada by Eric McGuire.

Twiaba

Friday, 29 March 2013

ChocoBunnies

Working out of Peachridge today. I see this chocolate bunny graphics every year around Easter and I still chuckle each time.

Thursday, 28 March 2013

SpurgeonFruitJars

Don’t forget the North American Glass Fruit Jar auction. The Heckler auction ender last night. Only after one item. The Glass Works Auction ended Monday night.

Robacks_GW_lot96

Lovin’ that small Roback’s in green. At $12k without the juice. Read: Barrel Series – Roback’s Stomach Bitters (the smaller ones)

Absinthe Borgeois

New Absinthe Bourgeois poster submitted by Bruce Silva. A favorite of his. Visit Post

ShermansPricklyAsh_KC_TC#2

Posts in development for Dr. B. F. Prickly Ash Bitters and FOHBC Manchester 2013 National Antique Bottle Show Seminar Announcement.

MichaelGeorgeSeminar

Tuesday, 26 March 2013

Albert_Maignan_-_La_muse_verte

Always enjoy learning something about my bottles and our great hobby. I really wasn’t sure what absinthe was until the email and post – The New Orleans Absinthe Makers. I certainly had not heard the term “Green Fairy”. Love it! So many questions and so many avenues to explore. No wonder Warren F has so much fun.

Bininger_OldMonongahila

Watching some really interesting $$ numbers in the Glass Works Auction “March Madness” that closed last night. Look at the Bininger Old Monogahela now at $14k. Great bottle.

More: Bininger Gallery

Monday, 25 March 2013

IronBittersBrownsSign_C

In the thirties this morning at Peachridge. Headed to work. Nice Brown’s Iron Bitters advertisement from Dave’s Great Cards. Read: Baltimore’s Iron Bitters – Brown Chemical Company

Sunday, 24 March 2013

KenSchwartz_Pam

So how was Morro Bay? Next year for sure. Pam Selenak sent in another picture of Ken Schwartz. See Obituary (Allen & Dahl Funeral Chapel)

1857 Liberty $20_8

Hi Ferd,

Attached is a photo of the Type 1 Reverse $20 Gold Coin as depicted on the U.S. Gold Bitters. The difference is there is no “In God We Trust” inside the circle of stars above the eagle on the reverse.

Tom Phillips FOHBC Conventions Director

Read: U.S. Gold Bitters – Augusta, Maine

Looks like we passed 1/2 million visits to PRG today. Wish I could really open this up with regular writers, bloggers and posters.

Saturday, 23 March 2013

It shouldn’t have been a shocker but it was as Ken has been hanging on. What a huge loss to the bottle collecting world. One of my greatest memories was visiting with Ken and Teenie. Bill Ham was kind enough to take Elizabeth and myself up for an afternoon visit. What a man, what a wife and what a collection.KenSchwartzSq

Kenneth Schwartz, 83, of Redding died Friday at Vibra Hospital of Northern California in Redding. Arrangements are pending at Allen & Dahl Funeral Chapel in Redding (243-1525).

Published in Redding Record Searchlight on March 22, 2013

Friday, 22 March 2013 Finally back in Houston. I wish I could go to the Morro Bay show this weekend. I’m bushed though. Been emailing back and forth about the possibility of a ‘Glass in the Grass’ event here at Peachridge. Would anybody come? Kind of like a Heckler event. Had fun with the S.O. Richardson piece yesterday. Have a few updates. Hope to leave the office early today.

KeeneMasonicEagles

Three EARLY 1815-1820 KEENE NH Eagle / Masonic flasks. Lead glass, brilliant colors, fantastic early American historicals!! The center one is a new addition to my collection… very excited about the color!! – Michael George (PRG: you may recognize the flask from the latest ABA auction)

Wednesday, 20 March 2013

[In from Pam Selenak] Ferd, Could you please post this for me asap. KenLawlerDigging Remembering Ken Lawler at Morro Bay show this weekend. There will be a gathering at “Dockside” restaurant for remembrance of Ken Lawler. I have put aside an area at the restaurant that we can gather and enjoy our stories and give Ken the tribute that he so deserves. Dar has talked to me and sends her thank you to everybody. She wishes she could attend but has family with her at this time. Drinks and food are available but everyone is responsible for their own tab. Address: 1245 Embarcadero, Morro Bay, Ca. 93442, Phone# 805 772-8100, This will take place after the bar-b-que from the Morro Bay show on Friday 3/22/13 at around 630 till? Bring your camera, any pictures you would like to share and of course those memories that we will all keep close to our hearts. Pam 22 & 23 March 2013 (Friday & Saturday) Morro Bay, California – The San Luis Obispo Bottle Society’s 45th Annual Show and Sale, Friday, March 22nd, 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm and Saturday, March 23rd, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Morro Bay Veterans Hall, 209 Surf Street, Morro Bay California, Free admission and no charge to early birds. Info: Richard Tartaglia, Show Chairman, Tele: 805.543.7484 or email Steve Mello dirtytiver53@gmail.com. FOHBC Member Club

Just Plain Weird

Raw: Storm Drops Hail on Cars, Roads in Brookshire. Elizabeth called me at my hotel room in the middle of the night scared to death as she huddled with our four dogs. Freak storm centered over Peachridge. I watched it on radar later and it was serious. Look at this video. Keep in mind that it broke a 100 year record being in the low 90’s on Monday.

BrookshireHail

Tuesday, 19 March 2013

Mohawk_GW97

Traveling most of the day. In Augusta, Georgia now. Look at this GREAT Mohawk Whiskey Queen in Glass Works Auction #97. Wow. Compare the gold paint with the ABA example in the PRG post which was updated. Very interesting. Factory paint job. READ: Mohawk Whiskey Pure Rye Indian Queen

Monday, 18 March 2013

Lots of bottle news coming in from all points. Heckler has announced Auction 103 that starts todays. These auctions are never ending of late? Is this good or bad? Prices seem strong in areas I am interested in.

The Original Pocahontas bitters bottle (Y. Ferguson) is a rare bitters that always appears as aqua. The one in this auction (est. 4,000-$8,000) is covered in a Benicia film and “any way you look at it, it’s a very gorgeous bottle,” said Wichmann. “We can say without any hesitation that this is the finest Benicia bottle we’ve ever offered.” It is graded a near-mint 9.9.

Updated the Barrel series – Original Pocahontas Bitters post with clarification from Bill Ham on the misspelled variant O 86.1. FYI…there is an example of an O 86.1 in the current Glass Works Auction #97. Love that video of Michael Polak digging in Hawaii. Wouldn’t that be a dream 3 week vacation. I can not seem to find three hours to take off of late!

Jug NBM

Ferdinand,

Roy Topka with the Bottle Museum in Ballston Spa here. Local collector and artisan Jim Healy (he was tickled pink by the mention of his good work in the current Bottles and Extras) created the attached Fantasy Jug for the Museum and donated it to be raffled. The theme being the 150th anniversary of the Racetrack in Saratoga. By early April the Museum website should be featuring the jug and information on the raffle, along with other media exposure that will be undertaken to promote the raffle. What I am asking, is it possible when the website is ready could the jug be pictured on your website with the link to the NBM? I understand if this is not possible, as all the clubs and the Federation are needing to raise money for their own purposes. I figure it never hurts to ask! Thank you for your consideration, if you have any questions, or if there is ever anything I can do please let me know.

Roy Topka 2013 Saratoga show chair

Saturday, 16 March 2013

Hearing that the long lost, T 17 | THELLER’S STOMACH BITTERS has been located in a long dormant collection. Could be the lone sole example. Ring & Ham say “This bottle was dug in an old pre-Revolutionary dump on a clay bank in East Greenbush, Rensselaer County, New York.”. Theller’s name pops up on other bottles such as my Theller’s Bitters lady’s leg from NY and a Red Cloud Bitters variant from NY. Read: Labeled Theller’s Bitters Lady’s Leg – New York Read: Red Cloud Bitters – One of the Chicago ‘Indians’

Merchants_Poster

“This is an old piece you don’t see too often, and great color and condition. Guess I’m in the market for a frame now. That is four large size Gargling Oils holding down the corners. This is a big piece.” – Dave Kam Read: Merchant’s Gargling Oil – “Good for Man and Beast”

Friday, 15 March 2013

Texas Antique Shop

Texas Antique Shop

Working out of Peachridge today. Great weather that is just making the bottles look their best in the windows. Prompted me to develop the latest ‘Windows‘ post. Snapped this phone picture below of my OK Plantations as I was reading on the den sofa. The sunlight was bouncing from bottle to bottle. Quite spectacular. This is a North window so sunlight was being redirected off the horse trailer windows onto the bottles.

OKSunlight

Thursday, 14 March 2013

RedJacketBittersLewisAsbwART

At my office now. About 6:30 am. My grandson and I are going to take the light-rail to the Museum District and visit the Zoo this morning. Great weather and spring break. Hopefully you took a peek at Starr Weems work. Met her online yesterday. I like when someone connects with our hobby in artistic ways. Also posted the story of Sgt. Reckless the War Horse. Nothing to do with bottles and glass. Just a great story. Thanks to my friend Paul Kaminski for sharing. Hope to put up the last of the Chicago ‘Indian’ posts this morning with Lewis’ Red Jacket Bitters. That is there advertising motif on top. Product actually from New Haven, CT. [email from Mark Warne] “Hi Ferdinand. About a year or so ago another Red Cloud Bitters sold on ebay. Dark amber. It went for $825 and you were the underbidder”. Mark

Wednesday, 13 March 2013

R 019_RedJacketBitters

Bogged down trying to distinguish the differences with what I am calling the Chicago ‘Indians’. Basically I am talking about RED CLOUD BITTERS and RED JACKET BITTERS. Very interesting to look at the differences and evolution of the brands. Also finally understanding the differences with the New Haven, Connecticut, RED JACKET STOMACH BITTERS.

Monday, 11 March 2013

[Always nice to hear from Rick Simi from Downieville, CA]

Ferd, I was pleasantly surprised by your comments in the Dr. John’s post. Take a look at a post I wrote back in 2010. Read at Western Bitters News: The Times -They Are a Changin. I enjoyed your chronicle of the Baltimore show. rs

TomArticle

We are also very pleased to know that Tom Doligale is back from his first round of 29 days of grueling cancer treatments. Tom is the best of the best as far as representing the passion and expertise that defines our hobby. He also has the greatest Udolpho Wolfes Schnapp’s collection on Earth. Tom you are an inspiration. Tom chronicled his treatment almost daily on facebook and stayed connected which is amazing. He even had some of his favorite bottles with him. Read: Tom Doligale and his Udolpho Wolfe’s Aromatic Schnapps

Saturday, 09 March 2013

Finally home from this long 10-day bottle, business and family trip. Hope to complete the Baltimore Journal today with the most important day…Sunday. Lots of cool bottle pictures. [Update to the Coca Bitters post] I also see, (with the eyes of Warren Friedrich) that this new dug example is different than the example I possess. It looks earlier with indented panel(s) and smaller embossed typography. Is the mouth also applied. I only received one picture. I will ask for more. Stay tuned.

LacoursBroken

Love this picture of Lacour’s shards. Will do a post later.

Friday, 08 March 2013

HobsonFlask

Finally headed home later today. Been about 10 days or so of hotel rooms and restaurant meals. Miss all my dogs and country runs. Incoming groovy material last night from Sandor, new bitters find from Maine and so much more. Need to unpack my bags and my mind. Need some fresh clothes. Also, just finished squeezing in a post on label under glass bottles from the last ABA auction. Inspired by Dennis Humphrey and the Richmond P. Hobson flask.

Thursday, 07 March 2013

GreenAquaOldSachemsHoly Moses! Look at this incoming picture of an  Old Sachems Bitters and Wigwam Tonic in a light green aqua. Coming from a private collection. About perfect.

Make sure you read the Looking back at Deadwood, South Dakota post. It is fun going back and reading about history and connecting pictures of historical significance to our great hobby.

Liberty

Will also be putting up a post on Collector Rights from Jimmy Bray. Please read. Need your comments.

Wednesday, 06 March 2013

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In the tail end of this snow event in Kentucky last night and today. This storm is headed to Maryland. Glad I got out of there on time. Bottles should arrive today in Houston. Four were broken on the way up. This really upset me.

BaltimoreBrokenBottles

Really intrigued by that Deadwood Saloon shot with all the bottles. Found the source photo. Working on a post for Deadwood, South Carolina. Any of you remember that great HBO series “Deadwood”?

DeadwoodSaloon

Tuesday, 05 March 2013

Exhausted Icon

Just starting to hear who won the American Bottle Auction lots that I forgot about Sunday night. I just emailed a bottle friend and said that I was exhausted Sunday night and fell asleep. All of Jeff Wichmann’s bulk emails go into quarantine. Usually I check each day. This time I got very backed up in Baltimore with the big 4-day weekend of bottle events. Typically a Sunday night is good to end an auction for me as I usually do not fly. In this case, many people were traveling, on ground and in air. I crashed at my moms house.

WeisKnickerbockerFound2

Just did a post on Weis Brothers Knickerbocker Stomach Bitters based on an incoming find. Check it out. Also getting lots of Baltimore pictures in. Haven’t decided on a post or article. How about Sandor’s Barto’s Great Gun Bitters?

www.studiomathewes.com

March Mailbox Letters updated.

Monday, 04 March 2013

Crazy, wild weekend at the Baltimore Antique Bottle Show. Very little sleep except last night. Off to Lexington, Kentucky today. Backed-up with posts and reports. Stay tuned. Thanks

Saturday, 02 March 2013

FOHBCFaceBookArt

Very busy. First cup of coffee. Preparing for a five hour FOHBC board meeting this am prior to the Baltimore Show set-up.

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Liking that XR Bininger Old Monongahela at Glass Works Auctions #97.

Friday, 01 March 2013

COPYRIGHT / USAGE

Now in Baltimore. Hope to do some fun bottle related stuff later today like go to Fells Point, the Washington Monument, the Bromo Seltzer Tower etc. My home town.

GlassWorksJTeam

Like this Photoshop update titled “Meet Glass Works Auctions “J” Team!” Came by email blast yesterday..

 

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