Recently Dale Sanders wrote a story in the Antique Bottle and Glass Collector magazine about the upcoming FOHBC Reno Expo this 27-29 July. I immediately connected with his wonderful photography and asked for more information as I knew I had seen and heard his name before. After some correspondence back and forth and looking at all his great photos, Dale allowed me to develop this post. Small world. What an extraordinary individual.
Diving photograph credited to Dale Sanders (travel Editor for Antique Bottle and Glass Collector)
Dale is a multi-award winning photojournalist and travel photographer specializing in: Islands & coastal destination travel, cruise & adventure travel, luxury destination travel, tropical resort destinations, historical travel, antiques & collectibles, outdoor & water sports travel, spa & well being travel, boating & maritime history, and other specialty destination topics. He is also the Travel Editor forAntique Bottle and Glass Collector Magazine(See Article) and a member of the Suncoast Antique Bottle Collector’s Association.
Dale allowed me to post a few of my favorite pictures. I will also connect you back to a gallery with more pictures of Dales work with bottles. See Dale Sanders photography gallery.
I developed a post yesterday on the wonderful graphics and associated material related to Hunts Remedy from Providence, Rhode Island. (Read: Fighting Skeleton and Beating off Death – Hunt’s Remedy). The symbolic skeleton, scythe, hour glass and patient using a bottle of Hunt’s Remedy to beat away death is outstanding. During the post I was constantly thinking of Radam’s Microbe Killer and wondering how similar the graphics were as they both used similar art (see above).
GERM BACTERIA OR FUNGUS DESTROYER Wm RADAM'S MICROBE KILLER {man beating skeleton} REGISTERED TRADE MARK DEC 13, 1887 CURES ALL DISEASES - Cure Bottle Hall of Fame - antiquebottles.com
Many of us own an example of a Radam’s simply because of the pronounced embossed graphics on the bottle face (see above). If you look at the graphics, (refer to the advertising art as it is easiest to see) you will notice the absence of the hourglass and that the scythe is broken into pieces. The gentlemen is also not using a bottle to beat the skeleton as in the Hunt’s Remedy art. The Radam’s Microbe Killer art substitutes a club with the Radam’s product name written on the club side.
Mr. Radam was an interesting man as you will see and really knew how to spin a story and appeal to peoples fears. He represented quack medicine to the fullest with his outlandish boasts. I think it is interesting or alarming, depending on how you look at it, that there is very similar medicinal product advertising happening today that makes incredible promises. The only difference is a page full of small copy to warn of side effects and sometimes death…so consult your doctor first right?
The symbolic skeleton, scythe, hour glass and patient using a bottle of Hunt’s Remedy to beat away death is outstanding.
Radam's Microbe Killer label - 1887
“William Radam probably perpetrated the biggest medicinal hoax of all with his celebrated Microbe Killer”.
William Radam working on his Microbe Killer - 6 Microbes and the Microbe Killer
“Germ, Bacteria or Fungus Destroyer”
Since its annexation into the United States in 1845, Texas has provided a home to its share of medical quacks who made their living off of the desperate and the scientifically illiterate.
Of the many Texan nostrum peddlers throughout history, however, William Radam probably perpetrated the biggest medicinal hoax of all with his celebrated Microbe Killer. This elixir was even more successful because it made its debut just as the link between microbes and disease was first being documented. As science would eventually demonstrate, the Microbe Killer was absolutely worthless.
William Radam was a native of Prussia, and once served in the Prussian army; however, his first love was gardening. Radam eventually moved to Austin, Texas, and established a gardening store and nursery, tending to his 30 acres of land for nearly two decades. Then he was taken ill with malaria, and sought out doctors who prescribed various drugs for him; in his 1890 book Microbes and the Microbe Killer, Radam stated: “I swallowed the contents of bottle after bottle, until their number became too great for calculation. I took quinine until it failed to have any effect.” Rheumatism and sciatica made Radam’s life even more difficult, and then two of his own children died. At that point, the broken-hearted and ailing Radam, no longer strong enough to attend to his affairs, began his own quest to cure himself. [William Radam and the Microbe Killer]
Nearly all well-read people are familiar with the scientific investigations of Profs Koch and Pasteur, respectively of Germany and France, as well as a number of other scientists of almost equal renown, whose experiments have proven conclusively that all diseases are causes by microbes in the blood. They are called microbes, because they are a living matter, and only discovered by the aid of powerful microscopes.
But until William Radam discovered his Microbe Killer Medicine there was absolutely nothing known in the annals of Medicine that would destroy these Microbes or Germs of Diseases existing in the blood. The Microbe Killer does Kill the Microbes in the blood without fail, as the thousands of testimonials we have in our possession demonstrate. Microbes being the cause of all diseases, Microbe Killer will therefore cure them.
WE EXCEPT NO DISEASES WHATEVER. Ladies and gentlemen desiring light upon the Microbe Theory, as well as upon any disease they may be afflicted with, are cordially invited to call and get pamphlets for full particulars. We will forfeit $1,000 if any single one of our testimonials can be proven as not genuine. RADAM’S MICROBE KILLER CO.
For sale by E.C. FLEMING, Druggist, No. South Detroit Street
Trademark for the Radam's Microbe Killer. Note the broken scythe lying at the skeleton's feet - 6 Microbes and the Microbe Killer
Wm Radam's Microbe Killer - Meyer Collection
Graphics for William Radam - Microbes and the Microbe Killer, 1890 - from William H. Hefland's book Quack Quack Quack
Rare variant of the classic trade card showing a man using Hunt's Remedy to beat off death.
One of the really great advertising graphics that you will find relating to medicines, cures and the bottles that we collect is the Hunt’s Remedy. The symbolic skeleton, scythe, hour glass and patient using a bottle of Hunt’s Remedy to beat away death is outstanding.
“Never Known to Fail”
Hunt’s Remedy – the Great Kidney Medicine dated back to the very early days of Manhattan, and was manufactured for some time before William E. Clarke of Providence came into possession of it in 1872. Clarke subsequently added Health Pills and Liver Cure, as well as Hunt’s Infallible Eye-Wash, to his products. The three-cent private die stamps were issued briefly in 1880. Only 9,000 were printed, on watermarked paper (see picture below).
Hunt's Remedy bottle embossing
On advertising pieces, trade cards, revenue stamps and other ephemera you will see patient beating off death with a bottle of Hunt’s Remedy. Mr. Hunt was afflicted with Bright’s Disease and dropsy, and came under the care of Dr. David Hosack, a physician who practiced in the 18th century and until 1835. He and the Dutch Brevoort family believed in the curative powers of a mixture of a particular root and other vegetable substances. This remedy cured many cases of liver, kidney and bladder disease; dropsy always yielded. Or so it was claimed.
Hunt's Remedy Trade Card Graphics
Mr. Hunt took the medicine about a year, and “his bloated flesh was reduced, and his vigor restored. He remained portly, but until he died from another disease he was well and happy.” His remedy was used by both regular and homeopathic physicians. It was perhaps New England’s most popular product.
This remedy came into the possession of William E. Clarke of Providence, RI, who trademarked the name in 1872 and advertised it for Bright’s Disease and Diabetes. It also “has cured every case of dropsy in which it has been given.”
“has cured every case of dropsy in which it has been given.”
The 3c stamp (see below) was used on a bottle which sold for 75 cents (a six cent stamp was required for the $1.50 bottle), and the bottle was a blue glass, about 17.5 cm tall and with raised letters embossed on the glass, “Hunt’s Remedy” and “William E. Clarke, Providence, R.I.” Although the product was advertised as “For sale by all druggists,” more than likely it was hawked by traveling salesmen. (source: Samford University – McWhorter School of Pharmacy in Birmingham, Alabama).
What is Dropsy?
More commonly known today as edema in the United States and oedema in the United Kingdom,dropsy is the accumulation of large amounts of excess fluid below the surface of the skin or in some cavity of the body. Inflammation is often one of the underlying causes for dropsy or hydropsy and can occur just about anywhere in the body. Fortunately, the condition is treatable in most situations, unless complications from a concurrent health problem arise.
One of the leading causes of the development of dropsy has to do with the condition of the blood vessels. For example, if there is some type of obstruction in the vessels running through a leg, this will lead to a drop in the oncotic pressure with the vessel system. Fluid will begin to build up, leading to swelling in the leg and possibly the ankle. Locating and eliminating the obstruction can allow the proper amount of pressure to resume and thus alleviate the pain in the swollen region. (source – wiseGEEK)
Labeled example of a Hunt's Remedy
Hunt's Remedy Three Cents Revenue Stamp - Only 9,000 were printed, on watermarked paper.
Hunt's Remedy postage Stamp - Issued in 1998 to commemorate the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. - The stamp was in the 1st sheet of the Celebrate the Century, 1900's, Scott #3182.
Page from a druggist's catalog dating around 1881 advertising Hunt's Remedy
Hunt's Remedy Co. Almanac - some of the Hunt's advertising graphics did not include the skeleton graphics.
I came across Rulon – Miller Books in St. Paul, Minneasota while looking for some information on a post I am developing. Within their site are some really wonderful Almanacs related to some of the medicines, cures and bottles we collect. Check it out.
I have re-posted some of my favorites. In many cases, I possess examples of the product and related advertising. This is really a nice resource.
A. B. C. of society. Providence: Hunt’s Remedy Co., n.d., (1883) – image Rulon – Miller Books
Burdock Blood Bitters 1890 almanac and key to health. Buffalo: Foster Milburn & Co., n.d., (1889) – image Rulon – Miller Books
De Witt’s 200 year calendar and biographies of the world’s greatest men and women. Chicago & New York: E. C. De Witt & Co., n.d., (1912) – image Rulon – Miller Books
Green’s diary 1882- 83 almanac. Woodbury, NJ: G. G. Green, n.d., (1882) – image Rulon – Miller Books
Hostetter’s illustrated United States almanac 1897, for merchants, mechanics, miners, farmers, planters, and general family use. Pittsburgh: Hostetter and Smith, (1896) – image Rulon – Miller Books
Ladies’ note-book and calendar. Buffalo: World’s Dispensary Medical Assn., 1899. – image Rulon – Miller Books
The New York almanac 1888. New York: n.p., (1887) – image Rulon – Miller Books
Dr. Sawens’ family manual and Empire State almanac 1877. Lockport, NY: Dr. W. Sawens & Co., n.d., (1876) – image Rulon – Miller Books
Dr. Kilmer’s swamp-root almanac and weather forecasts for 1928. Binghamton, NY: Dr. Kilmer & Co., n.d., (ca. 1927) – image Rulon – Miller Books
People’s free almanac 1854. St. Louis: A. G. Bragg & Co., n.d., (ca. 1853) – image Rulon – Miller Books
Rexall family almanac 1917. Boston (?) – image Rulon – Miller Books
HARTMAN, SAMUEL B., MD. The ills of life or the encyclopedia of family medicine. [Columbus, OH: S.B. Hartman, 1901, i.e., 1904. – image Rulon – Miller Books
Dr. Harter’s Wild Cherry Bitters and the Bottle Gods
10 June 2012 (R•021514 Playing Cards added) (R•032214 Marriage Puzzle Card added) (R•111817 Top image added from AGG) (R•101018) (R•060320-H 51)
Dennis Humphrey posted the following pictures over on the Peachridge Glass facebook page for a recently found shard and a new Dr. Harter’s Wild Cherry Bitters miniature in a gorgeous pale lemon yellow color. His enthusiasm is contagious. Congratulations Dennis!
Went creek walking in Walker County, Alabama and thought it was gonna be a good day when I found a Dr Harter’s Wild Cherry Shard. – Dennis Humphrey (03 June 2012)
My buddy Bobby McGraw told me that if I find a good broken bottle or shard, to keep it and the Bottle Gods will bring you a better one. Remember the Dr Harter’s shard? Well here is a photo of the one I picked up today at the Atlanta Bottle Show in as light of color as I have seen. Can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday. It is a dug bottle but I don’t care. I love this small little bottle.
Dennis Humphrey
DR. HARTER’S WILD CHERRY BITTERS sample (H 52) – Dennis Humphrey (recent purchase at Atlanta Bottle Show)
I like when fellow collectors send me pictures and stories as it prompts me to dig into my collection archives and to re-look at a certain brand.
The Dr. Harter’s is fun because it is a later bottle and common, so you can find some great examples and material. A bottle does not have to be expensive.
DR. HARTER’S WILD CHERRY BITTERS
DR. HARTER’S MEDICINE CO. – St. Louis, Missouri (1855 – 1898)
The company was established in Saint Louis in 1855 (according to company advertising) by Milton George Harter, Samuel K. Harter and Thomas W. Boyer, believed to be from Ohio. Dr. M. G. Harter died around 1890.
In 1895, the business had relocated to Dayton, Ohio and by the end of the century had been taken over by the San Antonio Drug Company. The company’s products included Dr. Harter’s Fever and Ague Specific, Dr .Harter’s Fever and Ague Pills, Dr. Harter’s Pile Ointment, Dr. Harter’s Little Liver Pills – Do not Gripe or Sicken, Dr. Harter’s Iron Tonic, Dr. Harter’s Lung Balm , Dr. Harter’s Soothing Drops, Dr. Harter’s Liniment, Dr. DuChoine’s Nerve Pills, Dr. DuChoine’s Female Regulating Pills, Dr. Harter’s German Vermifuge Candy and the famous Dr. Harter’s Wild Cherry Bitters. Dr. Harter’s daughter, Mary Jayne Harter Coleman, married William Hayner of Hayner Distillery fame in 1891.
Business name timeline: M G & S K Harter & Co. (1855 – 1872), The Dr. Harter’s Medicine Co. (1873-?)
DR. HARTER’S IRON TONIC WAS AN ELIXIR OF LIFE FOR DAYTON
by Roz Young
About a century ago in St. Louis after the death of their founder, owners of the Dr. Harter Family Medicine Co. hired W.M. Hayner, president of the Hayner Distilling Co., Troy, to manage the business. The company manufactured “Dr. Harter’s Iron Tonic,” a proprietary medicine that was a staple on the shelves of every drug store in the country. As soon as Hayner became a member of the firm, he proposed that the company needed a new building in a new location.
He came to Dayton and talked to prominent businessmen here about the idea. J.K. McIntire, wholesale grocer and vice president of the Weston Paper Co., A.C. Marshall, partner in the North Star Tobacco Works, Col. Harry E. Mead, secretary of the Mead Paper Co., Inc., W.H. Nesbitt, real estate, Fred Reibold, president of the Teutonia National Bank, John Kirby, Jr., manager of the Dayton Manufacturing Co., Will H. Kinnard, secretary-treasurer of the Crume and Sefton Co. and secretary of the Dayton Autographic Register Co., and Torrence Huffman, president of the Fourth National Bank and the Union Safe Deposit and Trust Co., formed a committee to raise funds for a site and building if the company would agree to move here. The company agreed.
The committee bought land on the northeast corner of First Street and the canal (now Patterson Boulevard), erected a five-story building and placed a giant wooden medicine bottle on the top.
Aug. 5, 1895, a train carrying the first of the manufacturing equipment and the officers of the company left St. Louis for Dayton. Newspaper reporters from Dayton and every town on the route between St. Louis and Dayton went to St. Louis to accompany the train.
Local businesses declared a holiday, and when the train arrived at Union Station, the whistles of every Dayton manufacturing plant blew, and the huge bell at the Central Fire Station rang. At the signal, thousands of Daytonians hurried downtown, some to inspect the 18-car train, and others to crowd along the curbs to watch the parade. At 7:40 p.m. Col. Torrence Huffman, grand marshall, gave the signal and led by the Springfield Cadet Band and a platoon of mounted police, the parade began. All the houses along the route were decorated and lighted with Japanese lanterns. Dayton businesses were represented by company express wagons. The Harter company express wagons followed, and at the last of the parade were 200 carriages filled with Dayton citizens. All occupants of the wagons and carriages had been given red flares and Roman candles to shoot, and the entire parade was a ribbon of colorful explosions as it countermarched along Main Street to the Atlas Hotel.
Officials of the Harter company were feted at a banquet at the Atlas, attended by 150 invited guests of the Dayton business community. Ebenezer M. Thresher, manufacturer of varnish and linseed oil, president of the Board of Trade and toastmaster, greeted the company on behalf of the citizens of Dayton, and Hayner accepted the greetings. He introduced Thomas Kyle, Harter spokesman, who said he had been told that Dayton had a population of 80,000 but he had seen 800,000 at the parade.
The next day the new plant opened with Hayner as manager and Walter C. Kidder as assistant manager. For many years thereafter, Dr. Harter’s Iron Tonic carried the name of Dayton, Ohio on its bottle labels.
Hayner and Kidder in 1901 sold the business to B.H. Winters of Springfield, and O.F. Davisson and opened the first mail-order whiskey business in the country with a distillery at Troy and the offices and storerooms in Dayton. The company went out of business in 1911.
Dr. Lee T. Cooper, who had a family practice at 812 E. Fifth St., started a new tonic business in the old Harter building, calling his product “Cooper’s New Discovery.” He sold his product throughout the country in the approved medicine-wagon style, with music, a health talk and vaudeville acts and his tonic at $1 a bottle. When a newspaper reporter asked him what was in his medicine that made it so successful he became a millionaire in a very short time, he winked and said, “It’s about 90 proof.”
DR. HARTER’S WILD CHERRY BITTERS
DR. HARTER’S WILD CHERRY BITTERS sign – eBay
Labeled with cork DR. HARTER’S WILD CHERRY BITTERS (H 50) – Meyer Collection
H 50DR. HARTER’S WILD CHERRY BITTERS Circa 1885 – 1900 DR. HARTER’S / WILD CHERRY / BITTERS / ST. LOUIS // sp // sp // sp // b // DESIGN / 40 / PATENTED facing front 7 7/8 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/8 (5 1/8) Rectangular, Amber, SCM, Tooled lip, sp, Common
Label: For the relief of all Distresses of the Stomach. Will check immediately all sickness and tendency to vomiting, settles and sweetens the stomach, correct acidity, improve appetite, aid digestion. Unequaled as a remedy for all kidney troubles. The combination of wild cherry bark, juniper berries, buchu and dandelion is the best general tonic and light stimulant on earth.
Labeled with cork DR. HARTER’S WILD CHERRY BITTERS (H 50) – Meyer Collection
H 53DR. HARTER’S WILD CHERRY BITTERS DR HARTER’S / WILD CHERRY / BITTERS / ST LOUIS // sp //sp // sp // b // DESIGN / PATENTED facing front 4 1/2 x 2 3/4 x 1 7/16 (2 7/8) Rectangular, Yellow, Gold and Amber, LTC, Tooled lip, 4 sp, Common
Very rare DR. HARTER’S WILD CHERRY BITTERS poster – previously sold by Showtime Auction Services
1898? Pictorial advertising cover for “Dr Harters Wild Cherry Bitters for Medicinal Use” with picture of bottle & all over reverse advertising, franked Presidents 2c & 5c pr with m/s cancels & tied by indistinct” … quarter” cds – Stamp Auction Network
2 1/2 Cents Dr. Harter Medicine Company U.S. Internal Revenue Proprietary Stamp, April 3 1899
The Biggest Bottle Show in the Biggest Little City in the World!
UPDATE
Dealer Tables are Sold Out!
Folks this could be the biggest show ever with tables selling like pancakes. Look for close to 350 tables filled to the brim with antique bottles, glass and related collectibles. There may not be a 3-day show like this for years to come!
Antique Bottle and Glass Judged Shoot-Out!
The event will be sponsored by Norman C. Heckler & Co. This will be a landmark chance and great opportunity to see many great examples together in one event which rarely happens. A cocktail event will occur simultaneously. Categories to be displayed and judged include Drakes Plantation Bitters (4 log , 6 log and Arabesque), J H Cutter Whiskey (Circle Cutter, #43 in Thomas Whiskey Book, Sole Agent, plain reverse) and Umbrella Inks (pontiled base, smooth base).
Exceptional Educational Seminars!
The FOHBC is pleased to host a wonderful selection of Educational Seminars that you will not want to miss. This includes “Values and Investing”, “The Label: A Wealth of Information”, ”Grace Bros. the Company and its Products”, “EC&M Insulators”, “Altered Glass Colors”, “San Francisco Beer and Western Sodas”, “Hutchinson Sodas” and “The World of Bitters Bottles”.
Fantastic Display Gazebo
Bring your two favorite bottles. The Northwestern Bottle Club is going to take to Reno their famous Gazebo and set up a feature for people that want to display bottles in a non-competitive setting. The Gazebo will hold all sizes of bottles from inks to tall bitters. The bottles will be signed in with the person’s name on the bottom and that person is the only one able to remove them. There will be hired security along with others watching this display.
The Banquet
It gives us great pleasure to announce that Warren Friedrich will be the guest speaker for the banquet at the FOHBC Reno Expo and will also be one of the two 2012 FOHBC Hall of Fame inductees at the event. We hope to see you for some good food, great company as well as an informative presentation on a brief history of the “Early Glassworks of California” from the first commercial bottle factory in 1859 to the demise of the largest factory in 1899.
Visit FOHBC.org for all related show information…see you soon!
July | August Bottles and Extras Expo interior spread
May | June Bottles and Extras Expo interior spread
March | April Bottles and Extras Expo interior spread
January | February Bottles and Extras Expo interior spread
Posted on eBay now you will see a wonderful example of a Crookes’s Stomach Bitters from New Orleans. The seller, who has provided some nice pictures, is turnitup38 with a 100% rating. This a a favorite bottle of mine because of the large bulbous form in the neck. It is almost like the bottle is posturing or in mating season. I also really like the Crookes’s name.
The Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham listing in Bitters Bottles is as follows:
C 253CROOKES’S STOMACH BITTERS, Circa 1860 – 1865
// s // H. // M. CROOKES’S / STOMACH BITTERS //
10 1/8 x 3 1/2 (6)
Round cream-top style neck, Olive green, LTC, Applied mouth, Rare
Initial H is only letter on other side of mold seam and is unlike other letters in size or placement.
Crookes’s Stomach Bitters antique bottle New Orleans La. Rare ! NO RESERVE
CROOKES S STOMACH BITTERS Ring and Ham C-252. 10 1/4 inches tall, olive-green with a hint of amber. This bottle is listed as extremely rare, and that crooke was a distiller in New Orleans from 1856-65. I found listings from Harmer Rooke in 1991 for $2,750, and Charles G. Moore in 1996 for $1,980 in my Browns auction price guide. Pretty desirable. the condition is great, no damage, chips, or cracks. there is the slightest fine wear here and there on the bottle but I cannot find an actual scratch. mint condition. eye-catching cream top style neck. Other bottles shown for color comparison only and not included in auction.
Humorous Crookes Stomach Bitters Advertisement – New Orleans Daily Crescent, March 04, 1861
Crookes’s Invigorating Aromatic Vegetable Stomach Bitters was advertised in New Orleans and Shreveport, Louisiana between 1860 and 1862 as “The Great Medical Drink of the Ages.” It was said to be prepared from Aromatic Herb Bitters under the “Auspices of an Eminent Physician”. There is a reference in advertisements that indicates that a H.M. (Hugh M. ) Crookes had a Chemical Laboratory on West Broadway in New York City in February 1860. Later that year, the bitters was being advertised by presumably, James Crookes who was a merchant in New Orleans. Could be father and son. The company name was Crookes & Company and they were Sole Proprietors of the product addressing at a warehouse at 110 Tchoupitoulas street. I see some other evidence that James Crookes was a Private in Company G in the 20th Louisiana Infantry. He enlisted on December 21st, 1861 at Camp Lewis. He made Roll for January and February 1862 and was transferred from Company E on February 18th, 1862. He made Roll for March and April of 1862 and then was killed in action at Shiloh. He father also enlisted in New Orleans but survives the war and resided in New Orleans.
There is a Branch, Crookes & Company who made saws in the 1860s and 1870s in New Orleans. Working on that relationship.
CROOKES’S STOMACH BITTERS – eBay
CROOKES’S STOMACH BITTERS – eBay
CROOKES’S STOMACH BITTERS – eBay
CROOKES’S STOMACH BITTERS – eBay
CROOKES’S STOMACH BITTERS – Meyer Collection
Advertisements
Crookes’s Invigorating Aromatic Vegetable Stomach Bitters advertisement – The Times Picayune (New Orleans), Sunday, December 2, 1860
Advertisement from The Daily True Delta, Wednesday, November 11, 1860
1827: James Crooke born in Belfast, Ireland about 1827.
1859: James Crooke, New York City
1860: H. M. Crookes, Chemical Laboratory, West Broadway, advertisement references February 6, 1860.
1860: James Crooke, merchant, New Orleans Ward 8 (wife Mary, children, Thomas, Charles, Ellen, William – 1860 United States Federal Census
1860: Crooke & Company, Sole Proprietor, Crookes’s Invigorating Aromatic Vegetable Stomach Bitters advertisements, Warehouse, 110 Tchoupitoulas street – The Times Picayune (New Orleans) November and December 1860 (see example above)
1861: James Crookes, Conscripts, Louisiana, P – Z AND French Co. of St. James, Militia AND Capt. Herrick’s Co. (Orleans Blues)
Crooks, James (also Crookes, James),Pvt. Co. G. 20th La. Infty. En. Dec. 21st, 1861, Camp Lewis. Roll for Jan. and Feb., 1862, Present. Transfd. from Co. E. Feb. 18th, 1862. Roll for March and April, 1862, Killed in action at Shiloh.
1861: H.M. Crooks, Antoine n. Annette – New Orleans City Direcrtory
1862: Crookes, H. M., Private Company H. Confederate Guards Regiment, Louisiana Militia. Enlisted March 8th, 1862, New Orleans, Louisiana Roll to April 30th, 1862, Absent on sick furlough.
1861-1867: Branch, Crookes & Company, saws (see advertisement below) – New Orleans City Directory
Branch, Crookes & Co., Saws advertisement – 1866 New Orleans City Directory
1869: Mary Crookes, widow (this is James Crookes wife) – New Orleans City Directory
1866-1870: H. M. Crookes (also Crooks), res 296 St. Charles – New Orleans City Directory
Glass canes and other “whimsies” can be seen at the Terwilliger House in the Village of Ellenville. Photo by Carol Nelson Falcone. Courtesy of Ellenville Public Library and Musuem.
In my continued effort to stay ahead of the curve and to look at other examples of Glasshouse Whimsies or End of the Day Glass, I developed this post and dedicate it to a rather unique whimsy and that is the glass cane, or as I have heard it also referred to, the Parade Stick or Baton.
Glass House Whimsies are non-production glass items made by the glass workers on their own time, possibly for their own use and enjoyment, or to demonstrate their ability with glass, or as a special presentation item.
I usually do not see many cane examples at shows or in my travels but I do remember seeing some at my fathers house in Delaware when visiting as a child. Usually placed in a corner and waiting for someone to walk over and ask, what the object was? I also imagine that these pieces are quite delicate and just waiting to be broken.Here are a few pictures and images I have found online. As usual, I ask for other cane examples for consideration in this picture gallery.
A collection of glass canes and whimsies – Antique Trader
Glass whimsies, including corkscrew style cane, glass chain, candy cane style cane, cane with brown streak running down centre, c. 1906 – 1908, Manitoba Glassworks – Manitoba Museum of Art
Very rare postcard showing a glass gaffers and his glass cane whimsy along with a award of some sort. You just don`t find cards like this ever! Judging from the cane I’d say its from the midwest. – Old South Jersey Glass and Antiques
Berkshire Glass Works cane from 1878. It’s filled with the pure quartzite sand they were so proud of. It was 99.98% pure, the purest in the world. – Charles Flint
Berkshire Glass Works cane from 1878 – Charles Flint
We bought them as a lot at an Estate sale here in Wa. – Tami Barber
Group of eleven Art Glass Cane Whimsies or Parade Batons comprising a colorless and amber glass example with twisted shaft and ball handle, two pale green examples with square shafts and twisted terminals, aqua example with square shaft and twisted handle, colorless glass example with a single cobalt cane, square shaft and twisted terminal and six colorless glass examples decorated with turquoise, opaque white and maroon swirls. Height of tallest 44 1/2 inches. – Live Auctioneers
Two clear glass whimsy or parade canes – Dan Ripley’s Antique Helper
Glass whimsy cane – GoAntiques
Band master’s cane whimsey, Montreal, c 1885, Delormier Glass Works – Canada Museum of Civilization
I will be the first to tell you, I am out of my area of specialization in many cases when I post about glass but still very willing to learn from some of the glass authorities who continually post great pieces of Early American Glass on various web sites and facebook. My question here is…
Why are glass balls on Early American Glass pieces?
I suspect it is primarily aesthetic, in that the forms of the combined pieces are pleasing to the eye. For practical reasons, the balls may have protected the contents from insects or spoiling. In many cases there are Witch Balls that were set atop a vase or pitcher because where else can you lay a glass ball without worrying about it rolling off a table?
Here is some later freeblown bottleglass circa 1840-1860. The one on the left is amber with a yellow tone and is thought to be NH or Ct., the middle piece is very thick glass in red amber. The last, also very thick, olive green. As you can see the feet on the left and center pieces have been drawn out of the original gather of glass as opposed to being formed and applied separately. This allowed the blower to form the piece without the help of a skilled assistant. These were made when bottle houses had primarily moved to hinge molds to blow bottles as opposed to the skilled manipulation it took to blow say a chestnut or pattern molded flask. Although they lack the grace and artistry of the earlier freeblown they have a funky quality I like. – Woody Douglas
Some early pieces – Rick Ciralli
Greenwich Show, three pitchers and a ball – picture Noel Thomas
A couple of tall sided bowls with heavy folded over rims… similar dip molds, one example flared out. – Michael George
Here is a cool pair….Daniel Baldwin (Lily pad pitcher on left)
gutsy pitcher, possibly Redford or redwood… Just under 9″ tall – Daniel Baldwin
Hat Whimsey and Glass Ball – Rick Ciralli (ex: Daniel Baldwin)
Aqua pitcher with applied rigaree. Likely a Jersey piece. Ex: Kearin. This little guy has so much going on! – Michael George
My run of jars with balls! Awful pic, my apologies… – Rick Ciralli
Pair of South Jersey pitchers and witch balls, ca. 1850, sold for $28,080. (Pook & Pook inc.)
Witch ball used to cap and seal a glass pitcher
Witch Balls and Stands offered by Jeff and Holly Noordsy
Huckleberry Food Jar with Witch Ball Circa 1860’s. Olive Green. Size: 11″ high x 5″ dia.
Freeblown Witch Ball And Stand, probably a South Jersey glasshouse, New Jersey, 1850-1860. A hollow ball on a trumpet form base, colorless with profuse white pulled loopings, sheared rim – pontil scar, overall ht. 11 3/8 inches. Fine early decorative freeblown American glass. – Heckler Auction 102
I wanted to create a gallery of my favorite vintage drinking pictures. Some are in my collection. If you have any candidates for inclusion, please forward. Thanks.
Drinking Gallery
Two men drinking and playing cards with a TURNER BROS tintype
Tintype of Drinking “Buddies,” – Cowan’s Auctions
A Drink and a Good Cigar Tintype – Heritage Auctions
Miners drinking – Colorado Historical Society
Maj. H.H. Humphrey and others – Library of Congress
Original antique Carte de Visite By “Traveling Artists” Peter & Kresge (probably from Pennsylvania) Handsome Young Man in Uniform (Civil War?) with Fish Bottle
Men gathered for a drink in the Road House Saloon, Bluff City, Alaska – ca. 1906
Men posing with beer postcard
Bealeton, Va. Noncommissioned officers’ mess of Co. D, 93d New York Infantry – Library of Congress
Framed Old Continental Whiskey photograph
Three unidentified soldiers playing cards, smoking, and drinking in front of American flag – Library of Congress
Hutchinson Women
Three men drinking wearing hats tintype
Cowboys drinking in a saloon bar
Lad enjoying a frosty mug of Drake’s Plantation Bitters
Fred D. Follett Bottled Milk
Saloon pose – location unknown
Orient Saloon – Bisbee, Arizona
Civil War table pose
Farmer and ex-cowboy drinking beer in North Platte, Nebraska, saloon ca. 1938
Tintype: Men Drinking Liquor
Unknown men in unknown location. They appear to be drinking beer and all are wearing medals of some type. – Brodhead Historical Society
Drinking and Smoking Tintype
Drinking, smoking & poker. 3 things that do go well together!
Love this picture…probably during prohibition. Maybe drinking Atlas Beer – Daffys Landing Antiques
A Quiet Sunday at Scotia – The photo was taken in front of a bunkhouse at the company town of Scotia just south of Eureka, in Humboldt County, Ca. Scotia was big redwood lumber company town in the 1800′s. The town still exists but not as a company town. You can see the bunkhouse number on the wall behind the men and you can see hobnails on the bottom of the boots on one of the men playing cards. – photo Martin Ludtke
Ca. 1870 Tintype – Man w/Wine Bottle & Historical Union Clasped Hands Flask – Here is a pretty cool item that ended recently on eBay that was similar to the fish bitters picture. – Brandon Smith
