Two New Lacour’s Bitters added to the Meyer Collection

Posted on 3 April 2011 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Lacour's Sarsapariphere Bitters - Meyer Collection

My Lacour’s Color Run has Wings!

Two (2) incredibly gorgeous Lacour’s Sarsapariphere Bitters joined my lone oldest amber variant Lacour’s. Both specimens came from the Robert Frank collection from Lompoc, California. The Variant 2 Yellow Green killer is heavy and just breathtaking. This came about from a visit to his house with Bob Ferraro and Pam & Randy Selanek this past September.

In December, prior to the Auburn Bottle show, I met up with Robert at Jeff Wichmann’s American Bottle Auctions shop in Sacramento and he surprised me with the Variant 1 Mint Green example. Just had to have it. Killer color.

L 3  LACOUR’S BITTERS // c // SARSAPARIPHERE // c //
9 x 3 1/2 (6 1/2), Round, Lettering in sunken side panels, NSC, Applied mouth, Amber and Greens – Rare; Aqua – Extremely rare, 3 ring pedestal. There are three distinct mold variants The design was based on a lighthouse.

The Daily Dramatic Chronicle: (San Francisco) April 22, 1868: Winner of Bitters Sarsapariphere award at California State Fair to L. Lacour of San Francisco. Design Patent No. 2,915 dated February 4, 1868.

For more Lacour’s Bitters information visit Western Bitters News.

For a very informative article written by Eric McGuire and Warren Friedrich on Louis Lacour please download PDF from the FOHBC Bottles and Extras, May – June 2010 issue.

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Ferd gets a new Trophy!

Posted on 3 April 2011 by Ferdinand Meyer V
Jeff Wichmann of American Bottle Auctions

Ferd gets a New Trophy!

Elizabeth created this photograph in Photoshop as a joke for Jeff Wichmann, owner of American Bottle Auctions, who posted a similar altered image of me holding my new Bryant’s Bitters cone. We jokingly spoofed the FOHBC and stated we wanted to start a new hobby group called the Federation of Hysterical Bottle Collector Heads (FOHBCH).

Posted in Auction News, Bitters, FOHBC News, Humor - Lighter Side | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nice Dr. Halls California Pepsin Bitters Snagged on eBay

Posted on 3 April 2011 by Ferdinand Meyer V

DR. HALLS CALIFORNIA PEPSIN WINE BITTERS – eBay picture

A super rare H 11 – Dr. Thos Halls California Pepsin Wine Bitters showed up on eBay the other night. I already had a perfect example from the Grapentine Collection (see pictured). I went after this new one because it had a crude applied top where my existing example had a tooled top. This San Francisco bottle, circa 1875-1880, will be coming from Dale Mlasko in Medford, Oregon. Dale notes that this is only one of two he has seen with an applied top. Possibly only made during one or two years. Can’t wait! See picture Dale took and posted on eBay.

DR. HALLS CALIFORNIA PEPSIN WINE BITTERS – My first example with a tooled top. Ex: Grapentine – Meyer Collection

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

H 11  DR. HALLS CALIFORNIA PEPSIN WINE BITTERS, Circa 1875 – 1880

DR THOS HALL’S / CALIFORNIA / PEPSIN WINE BITTERS // f // f // f //
9 x 2 3/4 (6 3/4) 5/16
Square, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth and Tooled lip, Rare

DR. HALLS CALIFORNIA PEPSIN WINE BITTERS, My new applied top example. Ex: Mlasko – Meyer Collection

According to Bill & Betty Wilson in their book, Western Bitters, Thomas Hall came across the plains in a covered wagon and settled in Sacramento for a number of years. He married a Sacramento girl and for several years studied to become a physician. In 1875 he moved to San Francisco and practiced medicine, as well as formulate a bitters. He retired in 1880 and became a artist.

Dr. Thos. Halls Pepsin Wine Bitters Advertisement

Dr. Thomas Hall’s California Pepsin Wine Bitters is a not so common bottle, but the trade cards from the early 1870’s are very scarce. I happened on this one in a book where it had been stashed years ago. A humorous bit of advertising. – Michael Dolcini

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A couple of great Old Homesteads show up in Baltimore

Posted on 3 April 2011 by Ferdinand Meyer V
Extremely Rare

Emerald Green Old Homestead Wild Cherry Bitters - Fuss Collection

Showing up at the Baltimore Antique Bottle Show in March 2011 were two classic bitters that were moving from the Jim Hagenbuch collection to Sandor Fuss, a rather new and advanced collector from Denver, Colorado. Sandor kept the emerald green Old Homestead and Bill Taylor from Oregon picked up the yellow Homie. This green Old Homestead (purchased for $150,000) will go nice with Sandor’s landmark Blue Old Homestead that he purchased a few years back for a record $175,000.00. The Ring & Ham listing is as follows:

O 37   OLD HOMESTEAD WILD CHERRY BITTERS, circa: 1860 – 1875, // s // OLD / HOMESTEAD / WILD CHERRY / BITTERS. // motif of shingles // PATENT // sp // motif shingles //
9 7/8 x 2 7/8 x (5 7/8) 3/16. Square cabin, LTC, Applied mouth, Amber, Common; Yellow, Lime, Puce and Olive yellow, Rare; Cobalt Blue, Extremely rare; Green and Amber with inside screw and glass stopper, Extremely rare. T. B. Slingerland & Co., No 69 Beekman Street, New York

Label: Compounded from wild cherry bark and fruit, Jesuit’s bark, Prairie Red Bloom, Madaril Indian Orientalis and several other choice strengthening, purifying and life-giving medicinal agents, forming the most helpful and pleasant beverage, stimulating tonic, and cleansing bitters for improving the appetite giving tone and vital energy to the blood and system, unsurpassed for medicinal purposes for hotels, voyagers, family use etc.

Note: There are a number of variants of this bottle which include 12 pane and 15 pane windows with door ending above the base and going to bottom of the bottle. The Cobalt blue example, and the Emerald green with inside screw top example are considered among the top bitters bottles. Letterhead dated February 23, 1869, T. B. Slingerland, Rome NY.

Yellow Old Homestead Wild Cherry Bitters - Taylor Collection

Cobalt Blue Old Homestead Wild Cherry Bitters - Fuss Collection

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What’s in the Fridge?

Posted on 3 April 2011 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Improvising a quick but cold Light Box

Sometimes after a bottle show you just have to pull out your goodies and look at them. In this case we were in Jerry and Helen Forbes hotel room at the Marriott in Towson, Maryland after the Baltimore Antique Bottle Show. It’s Sunday evening and we have no light to embellish the bottles. So some quick thinking led us to a refrigerator in their room. The improvised light box works enough to get a look see though you can see a slab of room service steak and one of the wives Martini’s that shares the space. Bottles that Jerry picked up include the following from left to right…

• Pretty Green Heineken

• Deep cherry Drakes Plantation Bitters

• Nice dark sapphire blue US Hospital

• Pretty puce Old Sachems Bitters

• Dr. Soules Bitters in a peachy taupe coloration

• Greeley’s Bourbon Bitters in a crisp moss green

• Skilton Foote Bunker Hill Pickle in the form of the Cape May lighthouse.

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Bunker Hill Pickle Lighthouse Color Run

Posted on 3 April 2011 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Bunker Hill Pickle Lighthouse Color Run

03 April 2011 (R•070514)

Nice run of Skilton Foote Bunker Hill Pickles in MBR

Apple-Touch-IconAOne of our favorite figural bottles in our collection. In the form of a lighthouse (Cape May Lighthouse), these great Pickle Bottles are embossed with the famous Bunker Hill Monument, two fences and three barrels. They are usually around 11 1/4″ tall, come in a variety of colors and use the Seaworth Bitters Mold. The Bunker Hill Monument stands 221 feet tall and is located at Breed’s Hill Boston, the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution fought on 17 June 1775. The bottles above are from our collection.

Read: Bunker Hill Monument Figural Colognes

I am always asked, ‘How did the pickles fit in the bottle?’ They were used for pickle sauce. Quite a fancy bottle which was produced in the 1870’s thru 1890’s. Here are a few other neat pieces related to Skilton, Foote & Co., the proprietor in Boston. They were established in 1863.

BunkerHillOnSilk

LabeledBHP_Gherkins

BunkerHillPickleBox

Skilton, Foote & Co. advertising silk and shipping crate images from Keith Bellew.
Posted in Collectors & Collections, Color Runs, Figural Bottles, History, Pickle Jars, Sauce | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Baltimore Bottle Show March 2011

Posted on 3 April 2011 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Baltimore Bottle Show March 2011

03 April 2011
The Grandaddy of Shows

Jeff Noordsy & Ferdinand Meyer

Apple-Touch-IconAThe Baltimore Antique Bottle Club hosts the grandaddy and biggest of shows the first week of March each year.

Wow. Elizabeth and I usually arrive on Thursday night, visit with business clients, visit family and start Show activities on Saturday. This year it started with a FOHBC Board meeting from 8:00 AM to Noon, followed by lunch with Bob Ferraro and Bill Taylor. Special meetings with collectors occurred in the afternoon. Set-up starts promptly at 5:00 pm on Saturday. This is when the real action occurs. The public show is on Sunday.

Jerry Forbes from California was my table mate again. His wife Helen also made the trip. My special friends.

Sales were strong and I was especially pleased to pick up the following for my collection:

• Berliner Bitters (yellow amber, round, short ladies leg, ex: Carlyn Ring). Very rare.

• Arabesque Drakes in a wonderful candy yellow color. L0ts of character.

• Snyder’s Celebrated Bitter Cordial is a wonderful light color.

• London Medicated Health Restorer. A great Baltimore bottle. Good form.

• Dr. Munholland Medicated Bitters, Unheard of and unlisted. Recently dug.

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