What was peened out of the Apple Brandy Bitters?

Posted on 23 December 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

AppleBrandyBitters_ABA

What was peened out of the Apple Brandy Bitters?

23 December 2014 (R•122414)

Apple-Touch-IconAThe Apple Brandy Bitters is another extremely rare bitters square that Jeff Wichmann pictured and sold on his new American Bottle Auctions | Bottle Store page. Previously I posted about the Acorn Bitters and Rose Hill Stomach Bitters from the page. His description for the Apple Brandy Bitters:

Two of the panels have areas where letters were peened out.

Apple Brandy Bitters: 9 7/8”. (Ring/Ham 9.5) Applied top, A.&D.H.C on base. Aside from a tiny flake on one panel edge, this example is in great shape. A medium to light amber, it is fairly crude with an uneven front panel and some light crudity to the rest of the bottle. Two of the panels have areas where letters were peened out. A handsome bitters, here’s another extremely rare bottle and the first we’ve seen. We are aware of only one example other than this one, it being dug in San Jose. Western? We have no idea. Grades an 8.9. 

AppleBrandyBittersPairCrop

In a previous post we have looked at Pure Apple Brandy Bitters made by Sanford, Chamberlain & Albers in Knoxville, Tennessee. This interesting figural barrel is pictured above. I believe we are talking about another brand here as the advertisements from The Indianapolis News (Indianapolis, Indiana) local section suggest below. Notice that they reference a W. W. Elliott on 66 South Pennsylvania Street. This is in the heart of the business district. He is selling a Elliott’s Pure Apple Brandy Bitters in 1877. Pure Apple Brandy Bitters to pull you back from bad health. Another angle for these bitters guys.

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Blue Devils – Elliott’s Pure Apple Brandy Bitters advertisement – The Indianapolis News, Wednesday, June 6, 1877

AppleBrandyBitters_The_Indianapolis_News_Mon__Jul_30__1877_

Confidence Game – Pure Apple Brandy Bitters advertisement by W. W. Elliott – The Indianapolis News, Monday, July 30, 1877

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Adam and Eve – Pure Apple Brandy Bitters advertisement by W. W. Elliott – The Indianapolis News, Wednesday, July 11, 1877

GodBless_The_Indianapolis_News_Tue__May_22__1877_

God Bless the man who first invented sleep! – Elliott’s Pure Apple Brandy Bitters advertisement – The Indianapolis News, Tuesday, May 22, 1877

So is this bottle from W. W. Elliott? Hard to tell. Carlyn Ring and W. C. Ham do have a listing in Bitters Bottles for it but it offers no clues except the notation for the two slugged out strips and saying an example was dug in San Jose, California.

A 79.5  APPLE BRANDY BITTERS
APPLE BRANDY / BITTERS // slugged out strip // slugged out strip // f //
8 7/8 x 2 3/4 x 7
Square, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, Extremely rare
Example dug in San Jose, California

Very strange. Why would an Indianapolis bitters be found in San Jose? What was on the slugged out panels? And what did the A & D H C on the base mean? Was this the bottle maker? Maybe someone has some more information here.

Update: The initials A & D H C stand for Alexander and David H. Chambers who operated a glasshouse in Pittsburgh 1841-1888. Read: The Glass Factories and Bottles of Alexander and David H. Chambers.

W. W. Elliott Listings

IF, and that is a big if, Warren W. Elliott worked at Gapen & Catherwood in Indianapolis in 1872 selling wines and liquors, he might have left the company and for a very brief moment produced the Elliott’s Pure Apple Brandy Bitters in 1877. Possibly the Gapen & Catherwood embossing and address was slugged out of two panels. Elliott disappears from Indianapolis in 1880. Maybe he went to San Jose and drank his last bottle of bitters, tossed it in a privy and that one was found. Can only imagine now.

1860: Elliott & Ryan, wholesale liquor dealers, Indianapolis

1871-1872: Gapen & Catherwood (Philip M. Gapen and Joseph Catherwood), wholesale wines and liquors, 92 and 94 s. Meridan – Swartz & Tedrowe’s Indianapolis Directory, 1872 (see below)

CatherwoodListing1872

1875-1876: Warren W. Elliott, bookkeeper, J Catherwood, 180 N. West – Indianapolis, Indiana City Directory

1877: Warren W. Elliott, res St. Charles blk – S.E. Tilford and Co.’s Indianapolis city directory, 1877

1878: Warren W. Elliott, rooms 15 St. Charles blk – Polk’s Indianapolis (Marion County, Ind.) city directory, 1878

1879: Warren W. Elliott, res 28 Hutchins blk – Polk’s Indianapolis (Marion County, Ind.) city directory, 1879

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Not much known about the Acorn Bitters

Posted on 22 December 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

AcornBitters_ABA

Not much known about the Acorn Bitters

… or How to Make Acorn Gruel

22 December 2014

Acorns_Bitters

Apple-Touch-IconAI don’t know about you but whenever I think about an acorn, I think about ole Henny Penny. I read and re-read this story to my grand-kids with delight because it is so darn funny and it applies to some people and situations that are all to real to me. Life is full of irony.

HP_AcornB

Henny Penny, more commonly known as Chicken Little and sometimes as Chicken Licken, is a folk tale with a moral in the form of accumulative tale about a chicken who believes the world is coming to an end when an acorn falls on her head. The phrase “The sky is falling!” features prominently in the story, and has passed into the English language as a common idiom indicating a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is imminent. Versions of the story go back more than 25 centuries; it continues to be referenced in a variety of media.

The bottle picture at the top post position above is from Jeff Wichmann and represents one of his many outstanding bottles on his new American Bottle Auctions | Bottle Store page. His description for the Acorn Bitters:

Acorn Bitters: Almost 9” with tooled top. (A 9) Here’s a western bitters we don’t see a lot. We have sold one with an applied top but most are tooled. Not a lot is known about them aside from the fact they are found in the west and probably made in the 1890’s. Good strike, some light and fairly minor scratches here and there, this is an uncleaned and very presentable example. Considered rare. Grades a 9.2.

AcornBittersMush

Making Acorn Bitters?

Jeff is right. There is virtually no information on this bottle. I did find this interesting article on how the Yosemite indians in California took the bitter acorns to make gruel. Kind of interesting. Maybe the foundation for this bitters. Always wondered why white men don’t eat acorns.

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

A9Drawing

A 9  ACORN BITTERS
ACORN BITTERS // f // f // f //
Square, Amber LTC, Tooled lip, Very Rare
Believed to be of Western manufacture
AcornArticle

How the Acorn Furnishes the Yosemite Indian His Daily Bread – The San Francisco Call, July 23, 1911

the Yosemites, who were the most warlike of the Indian mountain tribes in California.

How the Acorn Furnishes the Yosemite Indian His Daily Bread

THE Yosemite valley was originally the home of the Yosemites, who were the most warlike of the Indian mountain tribes in California. The Ah-wah-ne-chee and Mono families of the Yosemite tribe were of lighter color and finer build than those commonly called “Digger Indians”; but even the “Diggers” of the Yosemite land, invigorated by the better food and purer air of the mountains, had become superior, and all the Yosemite’s were feared and respected by other Indians. The famous valley still contains a few remnants of the tribe and many interesting traces of their former occupation.

PaiuteIndianAcornGruel

A  Indian Squaw grinding acorns in a stone mortar with a stone pestle

The oaks provide the Yosemite Indians with one of their most important and favorite articles of diet – acorns.

The baskets used by the Indians for boiling their food and for other domestic purposes are made of a tough mountain bunch grass, nearly as hard and strong as wire and almost as durable. They are woven so closely that little, if any, water can escape from them, and are rendered wholly impervious by covering them with a resinous compound resembling vulcanized rubber and apparently not at all subject to the action of hot water. The same substance, or „one of similar appearance, is used by the mountain Indians for binding sinews to bows and feathers or barbs to arrows. The resin is obtained from small trees or shrubs and is mixed with some substance such as pulverized lava or sulphur to resist the action of heat and moisture.

Though the caches are principally of acorns, many contain California laurel leaves, pinon (or digger) pine, chinquapin nuts, grass reeds, wild rye or oats (scorched), dried worms, scorched grasshoppers and the larvae of insects gathered from the waters of the lakes in the Sierras.

The large baskets, made for gathering or transporting food supplies, are round, with a sharp pointed apex, toward which, when the baskets are placed on the back, everything runs down. Baskets of this form help the bearers to keep their balance while they are passing along rocks or precipices. These baskets are made of bark, the roots of the cedar or tamarack, willow or tule. Smaller baskets serve as water buckets, and yet smaller ones as bowls and cups. The water baskets are also made of the wire grass mentioned above. As they are porous, the water in them is cooled by evaporation as in the earthen water jars of the Mexicans. Boiling is accomplished by plunging hot stones into the liquid until the desired temperature is obtained.

In the minor valleys of the Yosemite and the flats of the main canyons there are extensive groves of oaks, the chief variety being the black and gold cup oaks. The California black oak is one of the largest and most beautiful of the western oaks, attaining (according to that eminent authority on all that pertains to California forest scenery, John Muir) a height of 60 to 100 feet with a trunk three to seven feet in diameter possessing wide-spreading, picturesque branches and foliage that is purple in spring, green in summer, red and yellow in autumn. It grows best in sunny, open groves, and in strength and beauty is surpassed by few of the famous European Oaks. The gold cup, or mountain live oak, is very tough and sturdy; in appearance much resembling the great live oak of the southern states. It has pale gray bark and branches that form noble arches. It flourishes in large groves at heights of 3,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level. At 4,000 feet it has a diameter of six to eight feet; while at 7,000 feet it is only a shrub though it still bears acorns; at 8,000 feet it is yet smaller. The oaks provide the Yosemite Indians with one of their most important and favorite articles of diet – acorns.

Though it is free from grit and clean, few white men, even when quite hungry, can eat it. It seems as though the taste for it must be acquired in youth.

Large quantities of acorns are gathered and laid away for rise during the winter in a cheeckah, or store house, at some height above the ground, so as to be out of the reach of wild animals. The cheeckah is thatched with pine branches, hung points downward so as to prevent squirrels and other small creatures from plundering the acorns. Though the caches are principally of acorns, many contain California laurel leaves, pinon (or digger) pine, chinquapin nuts, grass reeds, wild rye or oats (scorched), dried worms, scorched grasshoppers and the larvae of insects gathered from the waters of the lakes in the Sierras.

The old Indian camping grounds are supplied with hoyas (holes or mortars) of a permanent character in the bed rook, or in large detached rocks that fell from the cliffs above. These mortar rocks are numerous, but many of them have evidently not been used for a long time. Using stone pestles, the squaws reduce the acorns or grass seeds to flour or meal in these rude mortars. Stones are heated in a fire and when red hot, are plunged into baskets nearly filled with water, the process being continued until the water boils. The stones are taken out and the acornmeal, or a paste of it mixed with cold water, is stirred in until a gruel is made; then the hot stones are plunged again into the liquid, taken out and plunged in again until the mass is cooked sufficiently. This “atola,” or porridge, is poured into molds of sand. During the process of cooling the water drains off  into the sand, leaving the woody fiber, the tannin and the coarse meal in distinct
strata; the eatable part being so defined as to be separated easily from the sand and refuse. Indians think very highly of this preparation, and, contrary to what might be supposed, say that the bitter acorns are the best when cooked. It much resembles cornstarch blanc mange in color, but is denser in consistency. Though it is free from grit and clean, few white men, even when quite hungry, can eat it. It seems as though the taste for it must be acquired in youth.

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Rose Hill Stomach Bitters – New York

Posted on 21 December 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

RoseHillBitters_Wichmann

Rose Hill Stomach Bitters – New York

21 December 2014

Apple-Touch-IconARose Hill Stomach Bitters from New York made by H. M. Mosher & Company. That is pretty much all we really have on this one. The actual bottle, the name, some bottle pictures by Jeff Wichmann and a listing in Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham’s Bitters Bottles book that does not match. I suspect the listing has a typographical error. Bill Ham may want to track down the original notes for the listing.

MOSHER or MOSLIER

R 92  ROSE HILL STOMACH BITTERS
ROSE HILL // STOMACH BITTERS // H. M. MOSLIER & CO / NEW YORK // f //
9 3/8 x 2 3/4 (7 1/8) 1/2
Square, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, Extremely rare

My interest in this bottle occurred when I opened an e-mail from American Bottle Auctions announcing some great bottles for sale on their new Store Page. I immediately noticed the Rose Hill Stomach Bitters and that it had already been sold. Disappointing. You have to move fast sometimes. Next, almost within minutes, I received an e-mail from early American glass collector, Michael George saying he had purchased the Rose Hill. Small world really. Good for Mike.

Ferd, I purchased the ROSE HILL STOMACH BITTERS off Jeff Wichmann’s site. It is listed as R-92, ROSE HILL STOMACH BITTERS / H. M. MOSLIER & CO / NEW YORK. Listed as Extremely rare. I don’t collect these, but I bought this one because it actually has the name MOSHER? I was just thinking it might be a mistake or variation of the extremely rare MOSLIER? Any info?

Mike

I thought this would be a quick, mystery solved, kind-of-thing, but this one is tough. There are various H. M. Mosher listings in United States, many Moslier listings but none that I can tie to the bottle. The closest I got, whether right or wrong were these passages from History of Parish, NY, from Landmarks of Oswego County, 1895

Among other prominent residents of the town may be mentioned S. T. Parsons (a lawyer), Dr. Cornelius S. House (deceased), J. H. Hoose (born here and subsequently the principal of the State Normal School at Cortland), Romain C. Robertson, Hon. Newton W. Nutting, a brother of Harmon D. Nutting, both lawyers, the latter still in practice here, Edwin G. Lynch (a practicing attorney in Parish), John Osborn, Andrew Ashton, Dr. C. D. Barney (dentist), J. W. Bliss (died March 11, 1895), William Carley, Jerry Foley, W. T. Seymour, L. D. Snell, Daniel White, Charles Le Clair (died in November, 1894), George R. and Hamilton A. Mosher (brothers)

In 1832 Dr. Austin White, the first physician in town, became a resident, and the same year a post route was established from Camden to Colosse, passing through Parish. Mail was carried each way once a week, the carriers being Cyrus H. Harvey and Dexter Howard. Ephraim E. Ford was appointed the first postmaster and held the office until his removal in 1856. Among his successors were Charles H. Edick, Charles F. Trowbridge,W. H. Baker, E. D. Edick, William B. Harter, and Burr J. Morgan. incumbent. The first lawyer, Archibald N. Ludington, settled in Parish in 1848 and remained three years. Among the oldtime merchants were the Mosher Brothers.

The first store was built and opened by Ephraim E. Ford in 1829, who kept it until 1856. For a time Mr. Ford was in partnership with Paul W. Allen. The building was eventually enlarged and occupied by the Mosher Brothers.

The village of Parish was incorporated in 1883 and the first meeting of the trustees occurred October 5 of that year. The corporation comprises a square mile. The first officers were George R. Mosher, president; William H. Baker, Lester D. Pickens, and Lorenzo D. Snell, trustees; J. S. Ludington. clerk. The presidents have been as follows: G. R. Mosher, 1883-4; C. S. Tallcott, 1885-6; Dr. John B. Todd, 1887; C. D. Barney, 1888-9; G. D. Houghton, 1890-91; George R. Mosher, 1892; L. D. Pickens, 1803; H. A. Mosher, 1894; L. D. Pickens, 1895.

The Board of Education for 1894-5 consists of C. D. Barney, president; W. B. Harter, clerk; H. M. Mosher, P. D. Edick, and Dr. J. B. Todd. The principal is Prof. W. F. Canough.

Rose Hill can also reference the following geographic locations in New York city:

Rose Hill, Manhattan: Rose Hill is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, surrounded by the neighborhoods of Murray Hill to the north and Gramercy Park to the south. It straddles Manhattan Community Boards 5 and 6.

Watts’ Rose Hill in the Bronx: The designation “Rose Hill” is also used in The Bronx, where Rose Hill Park is a vestige of a far larger estate once called “Rose Hill” by its owner, Robert Watts, and Rose Hill Campus is part of the site of Fordham University. 

The Watts farms “Rose Hill”: According to a historical genealogical source, the first “Rose Hill” was the farm acquired from James DeLancey in November 1747 by the Hon. John Watts (1715–1789), who represented the city for many years in the Colonial Assembly. It contained over 130 acres which lay on the East River between what were to become 21st and 30th streets and between the future 4th Avenue and the water.

Wikipedia
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Hathaway’s Celebrated Stomachic Bitters – Wilkes-Barre, PA

Posted on 19 December 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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Hathaway’s Celebrated Stomachic Bitters – Wilkes-Barre, PA

19 December 2014

Apple-Touch-IconAAn unlisted Hathaway’s Celebrated Stomachic Bitters from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania sold on eBay yesterday. Coincidently, I was in Reading, Pennsylvania yesterday, home of the H.P. Herb Wild Cherry Bitters. Mark Warne reminded me of this. The extremely rare Bloch’s German Bitters also just sold on eBay. In Dallas now for business. Headed home to Houston midday. Lots of rain.

Bill Ham assigned the following number for the planned Bitters Bottles Supplement 2:

H 69.5  L . . . Hathaway’s Celebrated Stomachic Bitters
L. C. HATHAWAY / WILKES-BARRE PA  // f // NONPARIEL / STOMACHIC // f //
Square, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth

Hathaways2_eBay

Levi Caleb Hathaway

Levi C. Hathaway was born in New South Berlin, New York on 20 June 1829 and was a prominent grocer and merchant in the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley areas of Pennsylvania. These valleys stretched between Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Carbondale in a southwest to northeast line. He was the son of Silas B. Hathaway, a well-known and liked man himself. When he was a boy, Levi came with his parents to Carbondale and he learned the wheel-wright trade. He then went to Williamsport and to several other towns in New York state assisting in the building of mills.

HathawayImage

From New York, Hathaway went into the mercantile business in Shakopee, Minnesota and became prominent in Masonic circles. He then returned to Carbondale and married Louise Furnham on June 24, 1869. His first wife, Elizabeth Jackman, had died in 1867. M. D. Farnham, Louise’s father, was one of the prominent pioneers of Carbondale. Levi and Louise had four children, Helen, Grace, William and Bertha. These added to four children from his previous marriage.

WBP

In 1870, Hathaway relocated to Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania and went into business with William R. Herbert. Wilkes-Barre was established in 1769 along the banks of the Susquehanna River. The community was named after two British members of Parliament that supported America, John Wilkes and Isaac Barre. Wilkes-Barre was found to be situated in the midst of the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania in the late 1800’s.

Herbert & Hathaway operated three large mercantile stores; on each in Wilkes-Barre, Nanticoke and Mill Creek and sold dry goods and groceries. Their address in Wilkes-Barre was 35 Public Square. They seem to split around 1873 or so and Hathaway goes into business himself in Wilkes-Barre and puts out the labeled Hathaway’s Celebrated Stomachic Bitters as the bottle does not have the word Bitters embossed on it. He sells it for a dollar a bottle.

In 1879, Hathaway came back to Carbondale and established himself in the grocery and dry goods business for the next 20 years or so. He retired in the late 1890s only to get restless and become a traveling salesman for South Philadelphia Wollen factory from about 1900 to 1907. Levi C. Hathaway died on July 20, 1908. His obituary is below.

Hathaway_The_Scranton_Republican_Tue__Jul_21__1908_

Levi C. Hathaway Obituary – The Scranton Republican, Tuesday, July, 21 1908

Select Listings:

1829: L. C. Hathaway born in New South Berlin, New York on 20 June 1829. Father (Silas B. Hathaway) born in New York, Mother Elizabeth (also Nancy Preston?) born in New Jersey.

1840: Levi Hathaway, Venango, Erie, Pennsylvania – United States Federal Census

1850: Levi C. Hathaway, age 21, Tioga, Pennsylvania, sister Charlent – United States Federal Census

1860: Levi C. Hathaway, farmer, Shakopee, Scott, Minnesota, born in Pennsylvania, wife Elizabeth – United States Federal Census

1869: L. C. Hathaway married to Mary L. Hathaway

1871: Herbert & Hathaway (William R. Herbert and  Levi C. Hathaway), dry goods and groceries, 35 Public Sq – Boyds Wilkes-Barre City Directory

1871: S. B. Hathaway & Son (Silas B. Hathaway and Charles A. Hathaway), fruit and meat market, 210 N. Main – Boyds Wilkes-Barre City Directory

1873: Levi C. Hathaway, h. 132, N Franklin – Boyds Wilkes-Barre City Directory

1875: Levi C. Hathaway, drygoods, 105 N. Main, h. 132, N Franklin (Charles A. Hathaway, clerk) – Boyds Wilkes-Barre City Directory

1880: L. C. Hathaway, grocer, Carbondale, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania – United States Federal Census

1883-1885: L. C. Hathaway, grocer and baker, 12 Salem – Scranton (Carbondale), Pennsylvania City Directory

1888: L. C. Hathaway, general store and bakery, Market bet Church and Main – Scranton, Pennsylvania City Directory

1892: L. C. Hathaway, constable, collectors, h. 66 N Terrace – Scranton, Pennsylvania City Directory

1900: L. C.Hathaway, age 71, traveling salesman, Carbondale Ward 2, Lackawanna,Pennsylvania, married to Mary L. Hathaway – United States Federal Census

1908: Death Levi C. Hathaway July 20, 1908, traveling salesman, Carbondale, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania

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Koopmann’s Bitters, for use in Marshy and Swampy Districts

Posted on 15 December 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

KoopmannArt

Koopmann’s Bitters, for use in Marshy and Swampy Districts

15 December 2014 • Updated 21 August 2016 • R-081618

DismalSwampKoopmann

Apple-Touch-IconAI came across this advertisement below for Koopmann’s Bitters put out by B. Koopmann in Charlotte, North Carolina around 1871. Let’s check it out. Koopmann said in 1871, that his bitters “has stood the test of a hundred years” saying it had been used in Germany and the recipe was in the possession of his father’s family for the last 60 years. He said that in the “past fifteen years these Bitters have cured thousands of cases in Western North Carolina and Northwestern South Carolina.” I suppose those are the marshy and swampy districts.

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Koopmann’s Bitters advertisement – The Southern Home, Tuesday, December 19, 1871.

In marshy and swampy districts, where the malarial influences are so deadly poisonous, this Bitters is the only sure remedy known which will prevent its attack and insure a freedom from its poisonous effects.

At first I thought that the Koopmann’s Bitters was unlisted though Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham do have a K | 73 listing for a Kookman’s Bitters in Bitters Bottles referencing a Louisville, Kentucky bitters from a newspaper advertisement. Imagine having Kookman as a last name. When you look at Bitters Bottles Supplement, there is a listing for a Koopmann’s Bitters saying an example was dug in Iowa in the 1970s. This is odd, a bitters made for the swampy districts of the Carolinas being found in Iowa. It migrated west if it is the same bitters.

K73drawing

K 73.5  KOOPMANN’S BITTERS
// sp // KOOPMANN’S // sp // BITTERS
8 1/8 x 3 3/8 x 2 (5 1/2)
Rectangular, Aqua, LTC, Applied mouth, 4 sp, Extremely rare
The “S” in KOOPMANN’S is backwards, Lettering starts at base and reads upward.
Example was dug in Iowa in the 1970s.

21 August 2016: Koopmann’s Bitters dug in Savannah

Bernard Koopmann (sometimes spelled Koopman), was born in Oldenburg, Germany around 1824. His wife is Johanna. Koopmann shows up in Statesville, North Carolina records as a Jewish merchant around 1856 prior to moving to Charlotte in the late 1850s as a retail merchant at Koopmann & Phelps. In Statesville, Wallace & Elias advertise his Koopmann’s Celebrated Bitters. Koopmann moves to a new store in October 1858 at The Old Stand which I believe to be in the downtown Trade and Tryon Street area, as just about everything of importance was at that time in Charlotte. The Koopmann’s Anti-Dysenteric and Anti-Dyspeptic Bitters makes an appearance in advertising at the same time. The bitters probably was first sold in 1856 in Statesville based on the advertising statement I mentioned earlier.

bvilleKoopmann

Mower’s Union troops attack the Confederate left flank, March 21, 1865, Battle of Bentonville – Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper

After the The Battle of Bentonville, the southern Civil War wounded were moved to Koopmann & Phelps along with many other locations in Charlotte. Bentonville produced 2,500 or so Confederate casualties. Koopmann’s Bitters are reduced in price to a $1 dollar a bottle in 1868 indicating either an abundance or less popularity of the product. Koopmann seems to be on his own in 1868 as Phelps drops from the name.

Around 1870, there are listings for Koopmann & Rothschild with Bernard Koopmann and Jacob Rothschild as partners. They start a new mercantile company selling the bitters, millinery, white goods and notions on Trade Street between Tryon and Church. Sales continue through the early to mid 1870s with Elias Koopmann helping with the bitters marketing. Koopmann & Rothschild dissolve in 1875 though the bitters continues to be sold by Wilson & Burwell in Charlotte up until 1877. Surprising, there are not more examples of this extremely rare bottle.

Bernard Koopmann dies in Atlantic City, New Jersey on December 1, 1895 where he is the proprietor of a hotel. He is buried in Philadelphia.

KoopmannAtTheBeach

At Day at the Beach – Augustus B. Koopman

As a side note, I believe Bernard Koopmann may have been the father of the famous artist Augustus B. Koopman (1869-1914). Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Augustus Koopman was a painter and etcher of subjects that included the American West. He lived only 45 years and spent most of his short life in Paris where he was a member of an extensive expatriate community in Montparnasse. He also did much painting of marine and figurative subjects at Etaples, along the coast near Belgium. Koopman studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and in Paris between 1887 and 1892, at the Academie Julian.

American_Mutoscope_and_Biograph_Founders_1895

First meeting of the members of the K.M.C.D. Syndicate on September 22, 1895, from left: Henry N. Marvin, William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, Herman Casler, and Elias Bernard Koopman Elias Bernard Koopman (1860 – August 23, 1929) was a founder of the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company.[1] He was also a founder of the The Magic Introduction Company. He later headed the Runsyne Corporation, a maker of electrical signs.

I also have suspicions that Elias Bernard Koopman (1860 – August 23, 1929), who was born on 7 November 1860 in Charlotte, North Carolina, was also a son of Bernard and Johanna Koopmann. In 1895, Koopman, along with William Kennedy Dickson, Herman Casler and Henry Marvin founded the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company.

Prior to Elias Koopman founding of the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, he was also the founder of The Magic Introduction Company. He later headed the Runsyne Corporation, a maker of electrical signs. Jason Champlin points out interesting enough, there was a bottle made from the Magic Introduction Company (see below).

Magic Introduction Co., New York – Jason Champlin

Koopman committed suicide by stabbing himself in the abdomen in 1929 in the Hotel Cumberland. He was taken to the hospital while still alive, but he died a few hours later. He left a note for his brother, Harry Koopman telling him of his intentions. In the note he asked that his family not mourn for him. He also asked that his body be donated to science. He was 69 years old. [Wikipedia]

Select Listings

1858: Koopmann & Phelps change of address –  The Charlotte Democrat, Tuesday, October 26, 1858

Koopmann&Phelps_The_Charlotte_Democrat_Tue__Oct_26__1858_

Koopmann & Phelps change of address – The Charlotte Democrat, Tuesday, October 26, 1858

1860: Koopmann’s Anti-Dysenteric and Anti-Dyspeptic Bitters advertisement (see below) – The Charlotte Democrat, Tuesday, March 13, 1860

Koopmanns_The_Charlotte_Democrat_Tue__Mar_13__1860_

Koopmann’s Anti-Dysenteric and Anti-Dyspeptic Bitters advertisement – The Charlotte Democrat, Tuesday, March 13, 1860

1861: Koopmann & Phelps Wholesale and Retail Dry Goods Merchants advertisement (see below) – The Evening Bulletin (Charlotte, North Carolina), Friday, August, 9 1861.

Koopmann&Phelps_The_Evening_Bulletin_Fri__Aug_9__1861_

Koopmann & Phelps Wholesale and Retail Dry Goods Merchants advertisement – The Evening Bulletin, Friday, August, 9 1861.

1861: Koopman’s Bitters advertisement (see below, note misspelling) – The Evening Bulletin, Tuesday, December 17, 1861

KoopmannsBittersR_The_Evening_Bulletin_Tue__Dec_17__1861_

Koopman’s Bitters advertisement (note mispelling) – The Evening Bulletin, Tuesday, December 17, 1861

1865: The Battle of Bentonville (March 19–21, 1865) was fought in Bentonville, North Carolina, near the town of Four Oaks, as part of the Carolinas Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the last battle between the armies of Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. Casualties at Koopmann & Phelps.

CasultiesAtKoopmann&Phelps

100 Bentonville casualties at Koopmann & Phelps – Civil War Charlotte: Last Capital of the Confederacy by Michael C. Hardy

1866-1867: Koopmann & Phelps, merchants, Charlotte. – Branson & Farrar’s North Carolina Business Directory for 1866-67

1866: B. Koopmann Tax Assessment, Retail Dealer, Charlotte

1868: Koopmann’s Bitters advertisement (see below) – The Land We Love, 1868

KoopmannBittersAd_TheLandWeLove1868

Koopmann’s Bitters advertisement – The Land We Love, 1868

1868: B. Koopmann mercantile house advertisement (see below) – The Western Democrat (North Carolina) July 21, 1868

BKoopmannsTradeStreetR

B. Koopmann mercantile house advertisement – The Western Democrat (North Carolina) July 21, 1868

1868: Koopmann’s Bitters price reduced (see below) – The Charlotte Democrat, Tuesday, October 20, 1868

KoopmansBittersReduction_The_Charlotte_Democrat_Tue__Oct_20__1868_

Koopmann’s Bitters price reduced – The Charlotte Democrat, Tuesday, October 20, 1868

1869: Koopmann’s Bitters advertisement (see below) – Daily Charlotte Observer, Saturday, September 25, 1869

1KoopmannsBitters_Daily_Charlotte_Observer_Sat__Sep_25__1869_

Koopmann’s Bitters advertisement – Daily Charlotte Observer, Saturday, September 25, 1869

1871: Koopmann’s Bitters advertisement (see top-most subject post advertisement) – The Southern Home, Tuesday, December 19, 1871.

1875: Koopmann & Rothschild, (Bernard Koopmann and Jacob Rothschild) (Elias B. Koopmann, clerk (*listed as selling the bitters), millinery, white goods and notions, Trade between Tryon and Church – Beasley & Emersons Charlotte Directory

1875: Koopmann & Rothschild Closing Out notice (see below) – The Charlotte Democrat, Monday, September 6, 1875.

KoopmannClosingOut_The_Charlotte_Democrat_Mon__Sep_6__1875_

Koopmann & Rothschild Closing Out notice – The Charlotte Democrat, Monday, September 6, 1875.

1877: Wilson & Burwell selling Koopmann’s Bitters (see below) – The Charlotte Democrat, Friday, April 27, 1877.

Wilson&BurwellKoopmanns_The_Charlotte_Democrat_Fri__Apr_27__1877_

Wilson & Burwell selling Koopmann’s Bitters – The Charlotte Democrat, Friday, April 27, 1877.

1895: Bernard Koopmann dies in Atlantic City, New Jersey (see below) on December 1, 1895.

KoopmanDeath_The_Times_Mon__Dec_2__1895_

Death of Bernard Koopman – The Times, Monday, December 2, 1895

1970s: Koopmann’s Bitters example is dug in Iowa in the 1970s.

Posted in Advertising, Art & Architecture, Bitters, Civil War, Digging and Finding, Druggist & Drugstore, History, Medicines & Cures, Remedy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is there really a Burton’s Bitters?

Posted on 14 December 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

This gallery contains 10 photos.

Is there really a Burton’s Bitters? 14 December 2014 I quite innocently posted the above picture on PRG and Facebook earlier in the week and said, “Anybody ever heard of a Burton’s Compound Vegetable Bitters? New to me. Can anyone … Continue reading →

More Galleries | 3 Comments

Dr. White’s Compound Golden Seal Bitters

Posted on 13 December 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

WhitesGoldenSeal

Dr. White’s Compound Golden Seal Bitters

13 December 2014 (R•121614) (R•121215) (R•011715)

LNM

Apple-Touch-IconAThe bottle pictures at the top of the post are darn right poor like pictures of the Loch Ness Monster, the Abominable Snowman and merfolk but none-the-less, we’ve got some pictures of the extremely rare Dr. White’s Compound Golden Seal Bitters from Bill Ham.

"Ferdinand: Here’s an interesting bottle I found pictures of in my files from quite a while ago, Bill

The new listing from Bill Ham for the forthcoming Bitters Bottles Supplement 2:

G 64.3 A

G 64.3  DR. WHITE’S COMPOUND GOLDEN SEAL BITTERS
G 64.3 // GOLDEN SEAL BITTERS // f // DR. WHITE’S / COMPOUND // f //
9 x 2 1/2
Square, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth Smooth base, Extremely rare
DrWhitesDandelion1_Martin

A labeled Dr. White’s Compound Dandelion Alterative – Martin Van Zant Collection

Not much to go on here but there was a Dr. A. R. White who had a patent #743 for a Dr. White’s Compound Dandelion Alterative (see picture above) on June 6, 1876, this from the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents in 1877. Maybe, just maybe, this is our guy. The name and content make-up is very similar. This is the same guy who put out the W 101 | White’s Stomach Bitters. He was a druggist in Indianapolis, Indiana. The missing “Dr.” embossing concerns me though.

W 101Drawing

W 101  WHITE’S STOMACH BITTERS
WHITE’S / STOMACH / BITTERS // f //
9 1/2 x 2 1/2 (7) 5/16
Square, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, 3 sp, Rare
Drug Catalogs: 1882 VS&R, 1888 RS Dr. A. R. White, Druggist,
Indianapolis, Indiana, Almanac 1881: Advertised this and two other products
W101_WhitesBitters_Meyer

White’s Stomach Bitters (W 101) – Meyer Collection

Updated: 17 January 2015 with material below from Martin Van Zant

AR_White

Ahira Raymond White – Indiana

AHIRA RAYMOND WHITE

We have again been reminded of the uncertainty of life and of the inevitable that awaits us all – Death. Another of our illustrious and beloved brethren has answered the final summons and entered into his Eternal rest; his death was untimely and his brethren mourn.

Ahira Raymond White was born near Youngstown, New York, on January 20, 1842; died at Indianapolis, December 23, 1907.

He received the Entered Apprentice degree June 13, 1863, passed to the degree of Fellowcraft June 25, 1863, and was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason July 18, 1863, in Tonawanda Lodge, No. 247, F. & A. M., Tonawanda, New York; was elected and served as Worshipful Master in the years 1868 and 1869, maintaining his membership in said Lodge until his death.

He became a member of Keystone Chapter, No. 6, R. A. M., of Indianapolis, Indiana, MarCh 20. 1888; was elected and served as High Priest during the years 1891, 1892, 1893 and 1894. He became a member of Indianapolis Council, R. & S. M., March 7, 1887; was elected and served as Illustrious Master in 1895-1896. Was knighted in Raper Commandery, No. 1, K. T., of Indianapolis, February 12, 1884, and after having served faithfully in the various positions he was elected and served as Eminent Commander in the years 1895-1896. He received up to and including the fourteenth degree, A. & A. S. R., in Adonirani Grand Lodge of Perfection, April 16, 1884; the Council degrees in Sariah Council, Princes of Jerusalem, April 25, 1884; the Chapter degrees in Indianapolis Chapter of Rose Croix April 30, 1884, and the Consistorial grades to the thirtysecond degree, inclusive, in Indiana Consistory May 28, 1884, all of Indianapolis, Indiana. He was crowned an Honorary member of the Supreme Council, 33°, September 10, 1893. His interest in the Scottish Rite was no less manifest than in York Rite Masonry. He was elected as Master of Ceremonies in Sariah Council, Princes of Jerusalem, February 1, 1888, serving two years in that capacity; Junior Warden from February 5, 1890, to February 6, 1895; Senior Warden from February 6, 1895, to 1900, when he was compelled on account of business calling him away from home the greater portion o1′ his time, although reluctantly, to give up his active Masonic work, which to him was a labor of love. He was buried December 26, 1907. at Indianapolis, under the auspices of Adonlram Grand Lodge of Perfection, A. & A. S. R., and the funeral was largely attended by his Masonic brethren and admiring friends to pay the last tribute of respect to his memory.

Our deceased brother in early life took up the study of medicine and graduated from the Buffalo Medical Institute, after which be practiced his profession near the place of his birth at Tonawanda, New York. He came to Indianapolis in the year 1873, which city has been his home ever since. During the last ten years of his life he was largely identified with the oil business, and up to the time his health began to fail was quite successful. He was of a cheerful disposition, warm friend, a kind and loving husband and father, and one whom we all delighted to honor.

He leaves besides his widow three daughters, Mrs. C. C. Pierce, Jr., of Seattle, Washington; Mrs. Ernest M. Elliott and Mrs. Joseph I. Averill, of Indianapolis; one brother and two sisters survive him, who, on account of age and distance, were unable to be present.

Abstract of Proceedings of the Supreme Council of Sovereign Grand Inspectors General of the Thirty-third and Last Degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States of America, 1909

The problem is, there are lots of other White’s bitters references. Just look at Bitters Bottles and Bitters Bottles Supplement. You have references to White’s Able Bitters, White’s Angostura Bitters, Dr. John White’s Deperiant Bitters, Dr. White’s Female Bitters, Dr. John White’s General Restorative Syrup Bitters and Dr. John White’s Stomach Bitters. Most of these references are coming out of Memphis and Cincinnati newspapers. Worth checking out this Dr. John White.

Hydrastis_canadensis_-_Köhler–s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-209

GMFOne might think that reference to Golden Seal is like Gold Metal Flour but it references Goldenseal also called orange root or yellow puccoon. Golden Seal is a perennial herb in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to southeastern Canada and the eastern United States. Goldenseal has been ascribed the following herbal properties (whole herb): bitter, hepatic, alterative, anticatarrhal, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, laxative, emmenagogue, and oxytocic. Goldenseal is often used as a multi-purpose remedy, and is thought to possess many different medicinal properties. In addition to being used as a topical antimicrobial, it is also taken internally as a digestion aid. Goldenseal may be purchased in salve, tablet, tincture form, or as a bulk powder. Goldenseal is often used to boost the medicinal effects of other herbs with which it is blended or formulated. [Wikipedia]

Jury still out on this one.

Update 16 December 2014 with small advertisement found by Brian Wolff in Auburn, NY in 1877.

EveryBodyDieGoldenSeal

Everybody Must Die advertisement – Auburn, NY, 1877.

Posted in Advertising, Bitters, Medicines & Cures, Questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Old Dr. Bone’s Bitters and Pills

Posted on 10 December 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

OLDDRBr

Old Dr. Bone’s Bitters and Pills

10 December 2014

Apple-Touch-IconAAt first when I saw mention of an Old Dr. Bones’ Bitters I thought it was in reference to a fictitious person and product. I was wrong. Dr. Bone is real. When I imagine what he may have looked like, I conjure up the image above.

This world’s benefactor all nations will bless —
     EXCELSIOR! he towers alone —
The sick and the feeble will ever express
     Their gratitude to OLD DR. BONE!
Like the Fountain of Health, his Bitters and Pills,
     Endowed by the blessings of Heaven,
Have proved a specific for all human ills,
     When’er to mankind they’ve been given!

The Dr. Beach’s Restorative Wine Bitters post the other day led me to Dr. Bone. One of the Beach advertisements said that Dr. Beach’s formula for his Compound Bitters was made from Dr. Bone’s Bitters and that it was four times the strength of the predecessor.

Dr. Lewis H. Bone was the son of Dr. Christian Bone. He was one of the pioneering physicians of New York. Lewis was born in New Jersey about 1831. His father was from Germany and his mother was born in New York. The Bone family were one of the original members of the Eclectic Medicine Movement. Dr. Lewis Bone said that his bitters had been used by for seventy years, and if true, take this product back to 1797 or so. Quite old for a bitters. In 1857, his Medical Depot and “The Root Doctors Family Medicines” was addressed at 559 Sixth Avenue and the intersection of Broadway in New York City.

Quite wisely, Dr. Bone said that you needed to take both his bitters and pills to make the cure effective. The bitters sold for a dollar and the pills 25 cents per box. It is odd, other 1857 advertisements say he is located at 284 Grand Street, east of the Bowery. That is probably where he practiced. He said “he would much prefer having a personal interview with each of his patients, but those residing at a distance, by remitting $3, and stating symptoms of their disease, will receive medicines by express that will shortly restore them to health.”

Dr. Bone had a son with the same name who was a physician and graduate of The Eclectic Medical College. The Old Dr. Bone’s Bitters was only marketed in 1857 in New York and 1858 in Ohio, at least from the advertisements that I could find. Of course he said that his products were sold by druggists and “country merchants” everywhere.

Old Dr. Bones’ Bitters is listed in Bitters Bottles as B 145, Old Dr. Bones’ Bitters from an advertisement in 1857 in the New York Daily Times. This listing probably wants to be expanded in the forthcoming Supplement 2.

OldDrBone1857

Old Dr. Bone, The Root Doctor’s Vegetable Family Medicines advertisement – Rockland County Journal, June 20 1857

OldDrBonesBitters_ Rockland County Journal, December 19 1857

Old Dr. Bone’s Bitters and Pills – Rockland County Journal, December 19, 1857

BonesBittersRecipe

Old Dr. Bones Bitters Recipe – Medical, Matrimonial, and Scientific Expositor, Dr. Jefferson B. Fancher, publisher, 1867

OldDrBonesMedicines1857

Old Dr. Bone’s Medicines advertisement – 1857

OldDrBonesAdOhio1858

Old Dr. Bone’s Medicines advertisement – Holmes County Republican (Ohio), February 18, 1858

Select Listings:

1831: Lewis H. Bone born in New Jersey about 1831. Father from Germany. Mother born in New York.

1857: Advertisement for Old Dr. Bone’s Bitters and Pills, 284 Grand street, NYC – Rockland County Journal, December 19, 1857

1859: Lewis H. Bone, physician, 284 Grand – New York City Directory

1860: Lewis H. Bone, New York County, Township: 8 W. Nyc Div.3 – Federal Population Schedule

1862-66: Lewis H. Bone, physician, tax assessment, New York city – U.S. IRS Tax Assessment

1867-1868: Lewis H. Bone, physician, 114 W. 16th – Wilson’s Business Directory of New York City Directory

1870: Lewis H. Bone, physician, age 39, Lewis H. Bone, clerk in drug store, age 18 (son) – United States Federal Census

1870-1873: L. H. Bone, physician, 106 W 16th – New York City Directory

1874-1875: Lewis H. Bone, M.D., student, practitioner, New York – The Eclectic Medical College

1876-1879: Lewis H. Bone, M.D., physician, graduate, 106 W. 16th. New York – The Eclectic Medical College

1877: Dr. L. H. Bone, New York City, Names of Some of the Pioneering Physicians of New York – Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, 1877

1880: Lewis H. Bone, M.D., age 49, New York City, wife Amie. – United Stated Federal Census

1880-1891: Lewis H. Bone, physician, 243 W. 24th – New York City Directory

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

Dr. Beach’s Restorative Wine Bitters

Posted on 9 December 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

DrBeachsDet

Dr. Beach’s Restorative Wine Bitters

09 December 2014

Dr. Beach says, “The effluvia is very offensive; and I have seen worms, or maggots crawling in the flesh; and yet the patient has recovered.”

Apple-Touch-IconAAhhh….another reference to an unlisted bitters, or is it? Sorry for the poor quality of the advertisement below, as it is all I can find at the moment. Many bitters collectors are familiar with the semi-cabin form, Dr. Beach’s Bitters. The bottle pictures used in this post are from my collection and date 30 years or so later than the advertisement. Not much is known about the bottle. Could the Dr. Beach’s Restorative Wine Bitters mentioned in the advertisement be related to the Dr. Beach’s Bitters bottle? The advertisement was found in the New York Tribune on Thursday, December 31, 1846. Actually, as we will find out, Dr. Beach is extremely important as he was the founder of the Eclectic Medicine movement.

This is another post from the “Restorative Health” series of botanic medicines that include:

Dr. Von Cort’s Restorative Bitters (and his Segars for Asthma)

Knapp’s Health Restorative Bitters – New York City

Restorative Bitters – Charles H. Ring (Unlisted)

C. Brinckerhoff’s Health Restorative New York

John Thomson and his “Thomsonian System of Practice”

The Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham listing in Bitters Bottles for the Dr. Beach’s Bitters is as follows. There is no reference to where the bottle is from.

B 39

B 39.5  DR. BEACH’S BITTERS
DR. BEACH’S BITTERS // sp // DR. BEACH’S BITTERS / sp //
9 3/4 x 2 3/4 (7)
Square, semi-cabin, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, Extremely rare
Apostrophe is upside down and reversed

The Dr. Beach’s Restorative Wine Bitters Advertisement

Beaches_New_York_Tribune_Thu__Dec_31__1846_

Dr. Beach’s Restorative Wine Bitters advertisement – New York Tribune, Thursday, December 31, 1846

Dr. Beach says: “I find this the best medicine for fever and ague of any with which I am acquainted.”

DrBeaches

Restorative Bitters

The restorative bitters coming out of New York and New England at that time were usually vegetable based and without alcohol, or at least that is what they said in advertising. I was surprised to see that Holland gin and pure wine was used as a base for the Dr. Beach’s Restorative Wine Bitters. Please reference the recipe clipping below.

Dr. Beach says: “These bitters are priceless. They are sure to correct the bile, and create an appetite, by giving tone to the digestive powers, and may be freely used, both as a restorative, and as a preventative of disease.”

RestorWineBittersRec_R

Restorative Wine Bitters recipe – Dr. Chase’s Recipes: Or, Information for Everybody: an Invaluable Collection of about Eight Hundred Practical Recipes, R. A. Beal, 1880

As you can see from the 1854 clipping below from the Catalogue of Apothecary, Book and Variety Store, Dr. Beach was a prominent physician and well-known in the medical community. The tall advertisement above says that gold medals were received by Dr. W. Beach who was a Professor of Surgery and Clinical Medicines, from Sovereigns of Europe whose name they bear. The list of Dr. Beach’s products is impressive. One advertisement below says that Dr. Beach’s formula for his Compound Bitters was made from his Dr. Bone’s Bitters and that it was four times the strength of the predecessor. That would be the addition of Holland gin and pure wine.

BeachesBittersChart

Dr. Beach’s Restorative Wine Bitters is one of many products offered by Dr. Beach – Dominicus Hanson’s Catalogue of Apothecary, Book and Variety Store, Rochester, N.H., 1854

RestWineBitters1Doz

Beach’s Restorative Wine Bitters, per dozen. Note the Dr. Bones’ Bitters reference. – The Cincinnati Lancet and Observer, E.B. Stevens, 1859

Who is Dr. Bones?

The Dr. Bone reference by Dr. Beach above has a loose reference in Bitters Bottles as B 145, Old Dr. Bones’ Bitters from an advertisement in 1857 in the New York Daily Times (see below). So, Dr. Beach made Dr. Bones Bitters?….interesting…could it be? Am I reading this right? The address below is No. 284 Grand Street in New York, 3rd block east of the Bowery. This might help us find Dr. Beach if they were really one and the same. I am having a hard time believing that there was really a Dr. Bones. I do see a Dr. John Beach at 287 Bowery in New York in 1856. There is no Dr. Bones listing the same year. I am looking in the wrong direction. Who is Dr. Beach and who is Dr. Bones.

Next, I do find the advertisement below for Old Dr. Bone’s Bitters which was apparently made by L. H. Bone, son of Dr. Christian Bone addressing at Medical Depot, 559 Sixth Avenue, Junction Broadway in New York city.

OldDrBone1857

Old Dr. Bone’s Bitters and Pills advertisement – Rockland County Journal, May 16 1857

OldDrBones_The_New_York_Times_Sat__Apr_25__1857_

Old Dr. Bone’s Bitters – The New York Times, Saturday, April 25, 1857.

Eclectic Medicine

Eclectic medicine was a branch of American medicine which made use of botanical remedies along with other substances and physical therapy practices, popular in the latter half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries.

The term was coined by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1784-1841), a physician who lived among the Native Americans and observed their use of medicinal plants. Rafinesque used the word eclectic to refer to those physicians who employed whatever was found to be beneficial to their patients (eclectic being derived from the Greek word eklego, meaning “to choose from”).

Eclectic medicine appeared as an extension of early American herbal medicine traditions, such as “Thomsonian medicine” in the early 19th century, and Native American medicine. Regular medicine at the time made extensive use of purges with calomel and other mercury-based remedies, as well as extensive bloodletting. Eclectic medicine was a direct reaction to those barbaric practices as well as the desire to exclusivize Thomsonian medicine innovations to “professionals.”

Alexander Holmes Baldridge (1795-1874) suggested that the tradition of Eclectic Medicine should be called the American School of Medicine, given its American roots. It bears resemblance to Physiomedicalism, which is practiced in the United Kingdom.

In 1827, a medical tradesperson named Wooster Beach, who broke with John Thomson (see advertisement below) as he believed the field needed to be professionalized, founded the United States Infirmary in New York in 1827 and the Reformed Medical College in 1829, to practice and teach “Eclectic Medicine”.

Thompsons_The_Evening_Post_Sat__Jan_28__1832_

Thompdson’s Celebrated Stomach Restorative or Vegetable Anti Dyspeptic Wine Bitters advertisement – The Evening Post, Saturday, January 28, 1832

Between 1837 and 1842, Dr. John King of the Eclectic accidentally produced a highly concentrated extract of a plant that he was boiling. Finding it to still be effective, he promoted the use of these “concentrated extract” and tried to patent his formulas. This method of manufacturing herbal medicines was subsequently taken up by a number of companies, at least one of which was a regular medicine company. From about 1845 to 1853, the Eclectics were most strongly associated with this drug production technique. By the mid-1850s, the Shakers ultimately had their own producers engaged in this, which ultimately led to the formation of companies that specializing in these products using their herbs.

The Eclectic Medical Institute in Worthington, Ohio graduated its first class in 1833. After the notorious Resurrection Riot in 1839, the school was evicted from Worthington and it settled in Cincinnati during the winter of 1842-3. The Cincinnati school, incorporated as the Eclectic Medical Institute (EMI), continued until the last class graduation in 1939 more than a century later. Over the decades, other Ohio medical schools had been merged into that institution. The American School of Medicine (Eclectic) in Cincinnati operated from 1839 to 1857, when it merged with the Eclectic Medical Institute.

EclecticMedical College1846

Eclectic medicine expanded during the 1840s as part of a large, populist anti-regular medical movement in North America. It used many principles of Samuel Thomson’s family herbal medication but chose to train doctors in physiology and more conventional principles, along with botanical medicine. The American School of Medicine (Eclectic) trained physicians in a dozen or so privately funded medical schools, principally located in the midwestern United States. By the 1850s, several “regular” American medical tradespersons especially from the New York Academy of Medicine, had begun using herbal salves and other preparations.

EclecticMedicalCollege1872r

The movement peaked in the 1880s and 1890s. The schools were not approved by the Flexner Report (1910), which called for medical schools to use evidence-based practices. In 1934, J. C. Hubbard, M.D., the president of the Eclectic Medical Association said, “We must choose between being absorbed by the dominant section, our professional activities dictated and controlled, our policies subject to the approval of an unfriendly, prejudiced, self-constituted authority, and soon lose our identity as the Eclectic Section of American Medicine, or adapt ourselves to the general social change and retain the old Eclectic values of individual freedom of thought and action, independence in practice and the right to use that which has stood the test of experience in our service to mankind.”

EclecticMedicalCollege1910

The last Eclectic Medical school closed in Cincinnati in 1939. The Lloyd Library and Museum still maintains the greatest collection of books, papers and publications of the Eclectic physicians, including libraries from the Eclectic medical schools.

The contemporary herbalist Michael Moore recounts: “In 1990 I visited the Lloyd Library in Cincinnati, Ohio, where, in the basement, I found the accumulated libraries of All the Eclectic medical schools, shipped off to the Eclectic Medical College (the “Mother School”) as, one by one, they died. Finally, even the E.M.C. died (1939) and there they all were, holding on by the slimmest thread, the writings of a discipline of medicine that survived for a century, was famous (or infamous) for its vast plant ‘materia medica,’ treated the patient and NOT the pathology, a sophisticated model of vitalist healing.”

Major Eclectic practitioners include John Uri Lloyd, John Milton Scudder, Harvey Wickes Felter, John King, Andrew Jackson Howe, Finley Ellingwood, Frederick J. Locke, and William N. Mundy. Harvey Wickes Felter’s Eclectic Materia Medica is one of several important Eclectic medical publications dating from the 1920s. It represented the last attempt to stem the tide of “standard practice medicine”. This was the antithesis of the model of the rural primary care vitalist physician who was the basis for Eclectic practice. [Wikipedia]

Dr. Wooster Beach

WoosterBeach_olderR

Wooster Beach, M.D.

In the early 1820s, in New York City, Wooster Beach (1794-1868) set out to reform the existing forms of medical practice. He did so well that he is now revered as the pathfinder and founder of American Eclecticism in Medicine. He was an accomplished author and was honored on several occasions with royal recognition from ruling princes and kings of the Old World. That is what he was referencing with all of the medals at the top of the subject advertisement in this post.

Dr Beach says: “that gold medals were received from Sovereigns of Europe whose name they bear”

Wooster Beach was born in Trumbull, Fairfield County, Connecticut in 1794 and learned medicine in an unorthodox way by studying under an unlicensed country doctor living in a secluded part of New Jersey. He obtained unique and uncommon facts regarding treatment and medical procedures and upon returning to the city he obtained his university education and degree. This unique path allowed him an open perspective to practice medicine with his own vision without the interference of modern practice techniques. He leaned strongly toward the use of vegetable medicines opposed to what was then termed mineral medicines. To spread the gospel, he opened a clinical school known as the United States Infirmary in 1827. Prior to this he instructed students at home as early as 1825. By 1829 the school was enlarged and was named the Reformed Medical Academy. The following year it was called the Reformed Medical College of the City of New York. He practiced medicine and was a physician at a number of addresses in New York city including 51 Roosevelt in 1846 and 1827. In 1839 and 1840 he is at 196 Bowery. He also has a partner and they practice as Beach and Upham. In 1846 he is at 239 Bowery. His son, Lewis Beach is also a physician at the same address.

Dr. Beach next migrated westward toward Ohio, where he was accepted by a medical school in Columbus, Ohio around 1834. Between 1820 and 1834, he like others promoted Thomsonianism, and attended their regional and national Friends’ meetings. But Beach’s Reformed Medicine was also into certain allopathic principles as well, and so soon came to be called “Eclectic Medicine” according to the recollections of a fellow student, historian and practitioner of this field), due to comments about “the eclectic nature” of how its practitioners selected their remedies. This field allowed for most kinds of treatment then popular with the exception of blood-letting and the use of mineral remedies (although some exceptions exist), and due to some ongoing politics then developing, the practice of homeopathy. This form of non-allopathic medicine had a very strong following between upstate New York and Ohio. Its association with the Shaker’s herbal medicine market however is uncertain during the early years (pre-1835).

Dr. Wooster Beach died in New York in 1866.

Conclusion:

We certainly have a couple of unlisted bitters here with the Dr. Beach’s Restorative Wine Bitters and the Dr. Beach’s Compound Bitters. The Dr. Bones’s Bitters listing can also be updated. I see no direct link to my Dr. Beach’s Bottle being put out by Wooster Beach. Probably the name was used down the line somewhere. I will continue looking.

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Cotton’s Southern Star Stomach Bitters

Posted on 7 December 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

hattie-cotton-school-bombing

Cotton’s Southern Star Stomach Bitters

On September 9, 1957, Hattie Cotton was dynamited because one African-American girl had been enrolled in first grade.

Top picture is a crowd gathered at the bombing site.
07 December 2014

Apple-Touch-IconACotton’s Southern Star Stomach Bitters was manufactured by Martin C. Cotton at 292 South Cherry Street in Nashville, Tennessee. He said that his bitters were “purely medicinal and are presented to the public as a remedy prepared especially for the miasmatic diseases of the South”. I am not aware of any examples of this bottle nor can I tell you if it is labeled and/or embossed. Neat name though. I can almost imagine what an embossed example might look like.

Finding the advertisement below was the motivation for this post. The Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham listing in Bitters Bottles is as follows:

C 239  COTTON’S SOUTHERN STAR STOMACH BITTERS
*N. C. Cotton, Sole Proprietor, Nashville, Tennessee *Should be M. C. Cotton
Nashville Union & American May 24 1870
CottonsSouthernStarBitters_1870

Cottons “Southern Star Stomach Bitters” advertisement – Nashville and Her Trade for 1870

Martin C. Cotton

Martin C. Cotton was born in Davidson, Tennessee in 1827 and lived in Nashville most if not all of his life. He married Margaret Mosely and they had three children, Fanny, Willie and Hattie.

NashCityCem

From about 1855 to 1860, Cotton was Nashville’s sexton working and living at the Nashville City Cemetery. One directory listing says, “keeper of the city grave yard, near the gate”, meaning if you have mail for him or if you are looking for him, look near the gate. Addresses were so much simpler then. In 1865 he moves into the retail drug business as a partner of Cotton and Adams (A. A. Adams, M.D.), druggists and apothecaries at South Cherry Street near Fireman’s Hall. Again, pre zip-code. Gravekeeper to druggist? Not that common of a career change.

From 1867 to 1872, Cotton has his own drug store at 292 South Cherry Street, presumable the same location as Cotton & Adams. From 1868 to 1872, he is the proprietor of Cotton’s Southern Star Stomach Bitters. He quits the drug business in 1873 he next sells insurance for Aetna Life Insurance Company until his death in 1879.

Here is some interesting information about his daughter Hattie.

Hattie Reeder Cotton

A teacher for forty-nine years in the Nashville Public Schools, Hattie Reeder Cotton was the third child of Nashville druggist Martin C. Cotton and his wife, Margaret. She began her teaching career at the age of fifteen. Miss Cotton loved teaching and understood children. Then superintendent of Nashville Schools, H.C. Weber, said, “she had more power to inoculate children with a desire to learn than any person he had ever known.” Miss Hattie had a winning way and a good sense of humor. She was popular with the board of education and parents. She taught in two East Nashville elementary schools, Main Street and Warner. Tuberculosis ended Miss Hattie’s teaching life. Retiring only when she became too ill to continue, the last eighteen months of her life were spent at the Davidson County Tuberculosis Hospital. Miss Hattie is buried in the historic Nashville Cemetery. The original Hattie Cotton building had been designed by one of her former pupils, architect Joseph Holman and was built as a tribute to her. Miss Hattie was a small lady in stature but a great person and invaluable in the lives of many children’s’ education.

Haddie Cotton Elementary School

Hattie Cotton was built because there had not been an elementary school for the white children in the community west of Gallatin Pike to attend. The community petitioned the Nashville Board of Education for an elementary school to meet their needs.

The school was named in honor of a teacher by the name of Hattie Reeder Cotton. She had taught for forty-nine years in the Nashville Public School system. Hattie Cotton School opened in 1950 and Miss Margaret Cate was the principal. There were 385 students and 13 teachers housed at Hattie Cotton. The school was opened to teach grades kindergarten through sixth grades. In the fall of 1957, the Supreme Court had already ordered desegregation of schools. About thirteen African-American elementary school students had gained the right to attend five different predominately white schools. Some white parents resisted their attending these schools by keeping half of the white students at home from school. This passive resistance lasted about a month. On September 9, 1957, Hattie Cotton was dynamited because one African-American girl had been enrolled in first grade. The entire front right corner was damaged in this explosion. Through the tireless efforts of Miss Cate and the staff the damage was cleared and school was able to be conducted in the remainder of the building after just a few weeks.

Beginning in the 1980’s the needs of the school had outgrown the original building and in 1996 a new building was built on the original 6.98 acres. Today, Hattie Cotton is a two-story building with 28 classrooms, one computer lab, a library media center, lunchroom/ auditorium, four specialized rooms for art, music and small reading groups, and a full size gymnasium.

Martin C. Cotton

1827: Martin C. Cotton born about 1827 in Davidson, Tennessee

1855-1857: Martin Cotton, sexton, Cherry st at cemetery – Nashville Tennessee City Directory

1859: Martin Cotton, keeper of the city grave yard, near the gate – Nashville Tennessee City Directory

1860: M. C. Cotton, city sexton, residence near the cemetery – Nashville Tennessee City Directory

1865-1866: Cotton & Adams, druggists and apothecaries (M. C. Cotton, A. A. Adams, M.D. , e s S. Cherry nr Fireman’s Hall) – Nashville Tennessee City Directory

Cotton&Adams_1866

1867-1869: M. C. Cotton, druggist, 292 S. Cherry, h. 313 S. College – Nashville Tennessee City Directory

1870: M. C. Cotton, age 42, Nashville Ward 8, Davidson, Tennessee, wife Margaret, children: Fanny, Willie and Hattie – United States Federal Census

1870: M.C. Cotton, Drugs and Medicines – Nashville Tennessee City Directory

1871: M.C. Cotton, retail druggist, 292 S. Cherry – Nashville Tennessee City Directory

1871: Cotton’s Southern Star Stomach Bitters advertisement – Nashville Union and American, Wednesday, February 8, 1871 (see below)

Cottons_Nashville_Union_and_American_Wed__Feb_8__1871_

Cotton’s Southern Star Stomach Bitters advertisement – Nashville Union and American, Wednesday, February 8, 1871

1872: M. C. Cotton, druggist, 292 S. Cherry, h. 313 S. College, proprietor Cotton’s bitters – Nashville Tennessee City Directory

1873-1876: M. C. Cotton, agent, Aetna Life Insurance Company, h. 313 S. College – Nashville Tennessee City Directory

1877: M. C. Cotton v. Brien and Woodard, Davidson, Tennessee – Tennessee Supreme Court Case

1879: death M. C. Cotton, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, 8 December 1879

1880: Margaret Cotton, widow Martin C. Cotton, h. 234 S. College – Nashville City Directory

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