Salmon’s Perfect Stomach Bitters – Manhattan

Posted on 24 August 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

SalmonsSide_Meyer

Salmon’s Perfect Stomach Bitters – Manhattan

24 August 2014 (R•100514)

Apple-Touch-IconABill Ham picked up a pretty rare Salmon’s Perfect Stomach Bitters on a table at the recent FOHBC 2014 Lexington National and flipped it to me for a couple hundred bucks. Not a terribly exciting bottle but a tough one to find. We both thought it should be rated extremely rare though Bill and Carlyn Ring rated it rare previously in Bitters Bottles. We both had not seen another example before and the book says one was dug in New York State. Could this be that example?

S 19  SALMON’S PERFECT STOMACH BITTERS
SALMONS / PERFECT / STOMACH / BITTERS // f // f // f //
9 1/2 x 2 1/2 x (7 1/4) 3/8
Square, Amber, LTC, Tooled lip, Rare
Dug in New York State.

Not much to go on here but I look at New York as the example was dug there. Bingo! I quickly figure out that we are talking about Maximillian or Max Salmon. Max was Canadian born and spent time in his early 20’s as a liquor store clerk in Baltimore. His father, Philip Salmon had a liquor store in Baltimore so presumably, Max worked there. Max’s sister was Sarah Salmon Grosner of the Grosner’s menswear dept store in Baltimore. Finding a wife in New York City leads Max to move to Manhattan and become a wine and liquor merchant in the early 1890s.

Max stays in this profession until about 1915 when he moves to the insurance business. From 1907 to 1912 he is the proprietor of Salmon Bitters Company at 1954 3rd Avenue in Manhattan. Make sure you read the news clipping from 1893 below where Max gets in trouble with the law for selling wine to two thirteen year olds who also purchased a gun to accompany their mischief. You might get in a wee bit more trouble if you did that nowadays.

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Salmon’s Perfect Stomach Bitters – Meyer Collection

Max Salmon

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Max Salmon, circa 1893, New York City

1857: Max(millian) Salmon, born 31 March 1857 in Canada. Parents Philip Salmon (1830-1902), born 23 Sept 1830 in Friedeberg Neumark, Brandenburg, Pommern, Prussia, Germany and Mina “Minnie” Bamburg (1831-1915), born 15 September 1831 in Prague, Austria.

1861: Max Salmon living in Arthabaska, Quebec, Canada – 1861 Census of Canada East

1880: Max Salmon, Living in Baltimore City, Maryland, Clerk in Store – United States Federal Census

1890: Marriage to Sophie Stern (1858 – 1943) in Manhattan, New York, Children: Wallace Arthur Salmon (1891-1959), Leo Jerome Salmon (1894-1936), Stella Salmon (1896-1904), Joseph Harold Salmon (1899-1972)

1893: Max Salmon fined $500 for selling wine to underage youths (see below)

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With his mothers $10. Max Salmon held in $500 bail for selling wine to two thirteen year olds – The World (New York City) Friday, February 10, 1893

1900: Max Salmon, Living in Manhattan, New York, Wine Merchant – United States Federal Census

1907-12: Salmon Bitters Company (R.T.N.) Max Salmon, 1954 3rd Ave – The Trow (formerly Wilson’s) Copartnership and Corporation Directory of New York City

SalmonBittersNewYorkTimes_Sun__Mar_17__1907_

Salesman Wanted – New York Times, Sunday, March 7, 1907

1910: Max Salmon, Wine and Liquor Merchant, Manhattan Ward 12 – United States Federal Census

1915: Max Salmon, Life Insurance Agent, 3671 Broadway – New York State Census

1917: Max Salmon, New York Life Insurance Company, h. 3671 Broadway – New York City Directory

1918: Happy New Year from Max Salmon – New York Times, Sunday, September 8, 1918 (see below)

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Happy New Year from Max Salmon –New York Times, Sunday, September 8, 1918

1920: Max Salmon, Life Insurance Agent, 3671 Broadway, Manhattan, New York – United States Federal Census, and New York City Directory

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Max Salmon Obituary

1925: Max Salmon: Death 6 November 1925 in New York City, buried Ridgewood, Queens County, New York

Posted in Bitters, History, Liquor Merchant, Wine & Champagne | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The E. Julin – ABO football sized torpedo

Posted on 23 August 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

E_Julin_Torpedo1

The E. Julin – ABO football sized torpedo

23 August 2014 (R•091814)

Apple-Touch-IconAIncoming e-mail from prominent west coast bottle collector, Dale Mlasko. We’ve seen many of Dale’s great western bitters pictures before. He had this oddity needing identification. I quickly cross referenced it with the great Julien’s Imperial Bitters, thinking a misspelling, but no connection. Read: The two Julien’s Imperial Aromatic Bitters Variants

Hi Ferd, I recently picked up this huge torpedo and have been unable to find anything about it. It is Jurassic looking in age, and is a gigantic 10″ tall and as large as a football. It looks 1840-ish to me but I honestly have no clue. None of the collectors I have asked had ever seen one before. The embossing reads ” E. Julin” Reverse reads “ABO.” Any thoughts? It was dug in downtown San Francisco over 50 years ago. I have a small torpedo from the same company also. Thanks! – Dale Mlasko

E_Julin_Torpedo2

Taking a stab at San Francisco, I look for E. Julin and don’t really see anything in Ancestry.com and a few other sources. There is an E. Julin who was a carpenter and train engineer in the 1890s though. When I open up the search globally, I do start to see some E. Julin’s listed as a passenger on cross atlantic and European ship passenger manifests. One find is particularly interesting as it lists an E. Julin and E. Julin Jr. as passengers on the John Bull (see below) arriving in London, England from Hamburg, Germany on 11 August 1851. Both are listed as natives of Finland. If you read closely, the occupation is Apotheker (Apothecary) for both.

E_JulinAriving

When I Google “ABO” I get a break and find out that Turku (Finnish pronunciation) and Swedish: Åbo is a city on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper. Turku, as a town, was settled during the 13th century and founded most likely at the end of the 13th century, making it the oldest city in Finland. It quickly became the most important city in Finland, a status it retained for hundreds of years. After Finland became part of the Russian Empire (1809), and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland was moved to Helsinki (1812), Turku continued to be the most populous city in Finland until the end of the 1840s, and remains a regional capital and an important business and cultural centre. [Wikipedia]

With the Swedish and Finland connection I am led to a list of Forwarding Agents by Cities within BOOKS on PHILATELY, Philatelic Bibliopole by Leonard H. Hartmann and see:

ABO (Turku), Finland

    1. A. Dromberg
    2. E. Julin & Co.
    3. Abr. Kingelin
    4. A. Kumlin
    5. Save & Co.
    6. Otto Sjostrom
    7. C. F. Wendelin

I am also thinking Julin came to America a few years later and arrived in New York. He may have been using the name John E. Julin. So here we have this football sized torpedo from Finland found in San Francisco. I wonder if Baltimore collector Chris Rowell, who specializes in this form has any information on the bottle?

The pictures of the two E. Julin bottles below came with the following e-mail: As promised here are a few of the early sodas that were dug in San Francisco in the 1970 era. The Trans America Building now sits on what was the old shoreline of the Bay/Beach and is really some of the earliest bottles dug from the California Gold Rush. – John Shroyer

E_Julin2John E_Julin1John

Read More: “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

Read More: Just Love Those Torpedo Soda’s

 

Posted in Collectors & Collections, Digging and Finding, Figural Bottles, History, Liquor Merchant, Questions, Soda Water, Spirits | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pawnee Bitters and the Pawnee Indian Medicine Co. – San Francisco

Posted on 22 August 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V
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P 35: Pawnee Long Life Bitters (Left) P 34: Pawnee Bitters – Pawnee Bitters Co. – S.F. (Right) – Meyer Collection

Pawnee Bitters and the Pawnee Indian Medicine Co. – San Francisco

22 August 2014 (R•082414) (R•070719)

Apple-Touch-IconAI was able to add a second Pawnee Indian Medicine Company bottle to my collection at the Lexington National. I already had a very rare Pawnee Bitters from the Feldmann collection. This new bottle is also aqua and is a different rectangular shape. It is embossed Pawnee Long Life Bitters and is rated extremely rare. Both are from San Francisco and are pictured above. Was this just another example of using an Indian reference in a bitters product name or is there a real Indian story here? You bet there is!

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

P 34 PAWNEE BITTERS / PAWNEE / INDIAN MEDICINE CO. / S.F. // f // f //
8 5/8 x 4 7/8 x 1 3/4 (6 1/8)
Rectangular, Amber and Aqua, LTC, Tooled lip, Very rare
San Francisco Directories: 1891 C.A. Burgess and William Burgess as Pawnee
Indian Medicine Company. In 1923 Mrs. F. P. Burgess is listed instead of the man.
Also manufacturers of Pawnee Indian Too-Re.
P34_FLT_Meyer

P 34: Pawnee Bitters – Pawnee Indian Medicine Co. – S.F. – Meyer Collection

P34_FR_Meyer

P 34: Pawnee Bitters – Pawnee Indian Medicine Co. – S.F. – Meyer Collection

P34_FL2_Meyer

P 34: Pawnee Bitters – Pawnee Indian Medicine Co. – S.F. – Meyer Collection

P 34 PAWNEE LONG LIFE / BITTERS / NEW CONTENTS 1 PINT 3 OZ // f // f // f //
8 x 3 x 1 5/8 (5 1/2) 7/16
Rectangular, LTCR, Tooled lip. Amber – Very rare; Aqua – Extremely rare
Advertising Fan
L 118.7 LONG LIFE BITTERS, Die-cut fan, front: two children playing game on wall, reverse: G. Rottanzi, Dealer in Pure California and Foreign Wines and Liquors. Manufacturer of Champagne Cider, Sarsaparilla Beer, Raspberry Champagne, and the Celebrated “Long Life Bitters” 1027 Market St. & 1012 Valencia St. San Francisco.
Charles Albert Burgess (C. A. Burgess & Co.) buys the business of Giesue Rottanzi in 1890, who produced Long Life Bitters and other patent medicines. Their new product was called Pawnee Long Life Bitters, See P 35

This advertising fan is from Joe Gourd. G. Rottanzi first put out the Long Life Bitters.

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P 35 Pawnee Long Life Bitters in amber, bottled in San Francisco, California. Beautiful color label, scan does not do it justice. Measures 8″ tall, 3 3/4″ wide and 2 1/4″ deep. Bottle is embossed with Pawneelonglife Bitters on the back side. Never opened, with original contents and cork. Bottle has notched corners. – AntiqueBottles.com

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P 35: Pawnee Long Life Bitters – Meyer Collection

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Pawnee Indian Too-Reh! – Call in and see the Indian Doctor advertisement by C.A. Burgess & Co. – 1892 San Francisco City Directory

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Pawnee Indian Remedies advertisement (back of page above) by C.A. Burgess & Co. – 1892 San Francisco City Directory

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Two examples of Pawnee Indian Too-Re medicine bottles – WeLoveOldBotles.com

William Burgess

WilliamBurgessPawnee

The story here starts with William Burgess (pictured above) who was born on February 13, 1823 in Falls township, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Israel Burgess and Ann Price. William married Elizabeth S. Longshore (1825-1900) in 1846 and they both founded the Greenwood Seminary in Millville, Pennsylvania in 1851 where they had moved. Both William and his wife were teachers before their marriage and continued for a time teaching in various capacities from 1846 to 1866. They had five sons, and two daughters, one deceased, including Franklin P. (1848-), Anna Mary (1849-1853), Alpheus N. (1851-), Marianna (1853-1931), William Watson (1855-), Charles Albert (1857-1945) and Henry Edwin (1859-). Franklin P. and Charles Albert Burgess would later found C. A. Burgess & Company and the Pawnee Indian Medicine Company in San Francisco, California.

During the Civil War, William would enlist with his eldest son Frank in the 203d Pennsylvania Volunteers, Company E and “marched into the wilds of Virginia”. Also during this period, William would get involved with a number of newspapers including the Wyoming Republican in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania before the war and the Intelligencer in Belevedere, New Jersey.

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Government Buildings at the Pawnee Reservation, Genoa, Nebraska. The house in the foreground was the residence of William Burgess and his family from 1873 to 1875 – History of Nebraska

In 1873, William Burgess and his family left the peacefulness of Pennsylvania and moved to the wild west settling in Genoa, Nebraska, in the heart of the Pawnee people. Back east, Burgess had been appointed by the Baltimore Meeting of the Society of Friends as an Indian Agent for the Pawnee Reservation. Burgess and his family were heavily influenced by this relocation and new assignment. He resigned the post in the late summer of 1877 after four event-full years of understanding, hatred and hostility, politics, Indian uprisings, massacres, tribe defections and tribe relocations. [reference: Illustrated History of Nebraska]

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Pawnee Indians – 1912

The Pawnee people (also Paneassa, Pari, Pariki) are a Caddoan-speaking Native American tribe. They are federally recognized as the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma and have four confederated bands: the Chaui, Kitkehakhi, Pitahawirata, and Skidi.

Historically, the Pawnee lived along outlying tributaries of the Missouri River: the Platte, Loup and Republican rivers in present-day Nebraska and in northern Kansas. They lived in permanent earth lodge villages where they farmed. They left the villages on seasonal buffalo hunts, using tipis while traveling.

In the early 19th century, the Pawnee numbered about 10,000 people and were one of the largest and most powerful tribes on the Great Plains. They had escaped some of the depredations of exposure to Eurasian infectious diseases impacting other Indian groups. By 1859, their numbers were reduced to about 1,400; however, by 1874 they had increased to 2,000. Still subject to encroachment by the Lakota and European Americans, finally most accepted relocation to a reservation in Indian Territory. This is where most of the enrolled members of the nation live today. Their autonym is Chahiksichahiks, meaning “men of men”. [Wikipedia]

After Genoa, Burgess moved his family to Columbus, Nebraska in 1880 where he would publish the Columbus Gazette and the Genoa Leader newspaper. He sold the Leader on July 14, 1881. An 1880 census says he was the head of the household (age 57) which included his wife and two of his adult sons, Frank and Charles. The census also mentions three servants and two boarders. William must have been doing OK financially.

Next William shows up in National City, San Diego County in 1882 with his family and he starts a newspaper called The Record. After this, he moves to San Francisco and continues his editorial and newspaper work and is noted with the Pawnee Indian Medicine Company in 1891. It is also possible that William Watson Burgess, his son, was also with the company at this time. In 1892, his sons Charles and Frank Burgess are running a business called C.A. Burgess & Company. William was listed as a capitalist in a number of city directory years in San Francisco during this period. I believe he used his money and his experiences with the Pawnee Indians to found the company and set up his two sons. This company would last until about 1923. The tireless Williams, husband and wife, then go back to Pennsylvania in 1897 and lived there until 1905 when he moved to Chicago to be with his daughter and two other sons. He died in Chicago on November 1, 1905.

Frank P. Burgess

The eldest son of William Burgess would follow his fathers footsteps as noted above. On June 9, 1864, Frank Burgess, at the age of 16, enlisted as a private in Company E, in the 203rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment and became part of Birney’s Sharpshooters who were issued distinctive green uniforms. He was also in the Second Battle of Fort Fisher at an outlet of the Cape Fear River which resulted in the Union capture of the last Confederate port still open. Out of 9,632 Union troops involved (and 60 ships), there were 1,341 killed and wounded taking the fort. 

FlagPawneeBurgess

National colors of the regiment after the Battle of Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865. The 203rd Pennsylvania suffered the highest Union casualties in the battle which the largest amphibious operation of the US Army before World War II. With 46 killed and 145 wounded, the 203rd suffered nearly 50% casualties. Company E, with a muster roll of 131, lost 8 dead and 15 wounded. – Richard Cramer

In May, 1875, Frank P. Burgess started the Columbus (Nebraska) Republican, an eight-column folio, which obtained a good local circulation, and said paper was continued successfully for over a year, when in 1877, he sold the office to Calmer McCune, who removed it to David City, and started the David City Republican. In 1892, he is listed as one of the partners of C.A. Burgess & Company and The Pawnee Indian Medicine Company.

Charles Albert Burgess

PawneeIndianReliefCharles A. Burgess of C. A. Burgess & Company in San Francisco was born on May 12, 1857 in Millville (Columbia Co., Pennsylvania). He too followed his fathers footsteps. Charles, also known as Nebraska Charlie, Wild Charlie and Dr. C. A. Burgess, was a child on the Pawnee reservation. There was a book written called “The Adventurous Life of ‘Nebraska Charlie’ – Charles E. Burgess – The Boy Medicine Man of the Pawnees” by Col. Prentiss Ingraham (New York: 1882). He was later a stage actor, presumably in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show 1n 1880 at the age of 23. In 1890, at the age of 33, in San Francisco, Charles would buy the business of Giesue Rottanzi, who produced Pawnee Long Life Bitters, Pawnee Bitters, Pawnee Indian Too-Re, Pawnee Indian Relief (pictured at left from eBay) and other patent medicines. Their marketing slogan was Too-Re-or not Too-Re! He died on May 30, 1945 in Cook County, Illinois. 

Henry Edwin Burgess

BoyChiefBurgessPawnee

The figure in the center may be Henry Edwin Burgess (known as the Boy Chief). The names for the Boy Chief match those used by Eddie Burgess in handbills from the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show – Richard Cramer

Mr. Henry Edwin Burgess, of San Francisco, visited his sister at our school on Sunday. Mr. Burgess has had considerable experience among the Indians of the plains, his father having been agent for the Pawnees during the boyhood days of the first named. Mr. Burgess speaks the Pawnee language with the fluency of a native, and can carry on an intelligent conversation for hours with any of the tribes of the south west, in the interesting sign language. In 1875 he was inter-tribal interpreter for the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Comanches, Kiowas and Pawnees, being employed by the Government to assist in adjusting the deal which the latter made for the Pawnees with the tribes of the southwest, at the time the Pawnees bought their present reservation. He was struck with the gentlemanly bearing and demonstrativeness of our boys and girls in contrast with the taciturn Indian youth he used to see hanging around the schools on reservations, in days gone by. [The Indian Helper – Carlisle Pennsylvania, Miss Marianna Burgess, Manager]

Select Timeline:

1823: William Burgess, San Francisco, age 67, born on February 13, 1823 in Falls township, Pennsylvania – various sources

1870: William Burgess, Genoa, Nebraska, appointed by the Baltimore Meeting of the Society of Friends as an Indian Agent for the Pawnee Reservation.

1890: Charles Albert Burgess, at the age of 33, in San Francisco, buys the business of Giesue Rottanzi, who produced Pawnee Long Life Bitters and other patent medicines.

1891: Pawnee Indian Medicine Co., C. A. Burgess & Co., proprietors, William Burgess, superintendent of factory, accounts and supplies, office and laboratory, 937 Howard, San Francisco City Directory

1892-1893: Pawnee Indian Medicine Co., (see advertisement above) Patent Medicines, C. A. Burgess & Co., proprietors (Charles A. Burgess and Frank P. Burgess), 937 Howard, San Francisco City Directory

1895-1903: Pawnee Indian Medicine Co., Proprietary Medicines, 941 Howard, San Francisco City Directory

PawneeBittersListing1907

Pawnee Indian Medicine Company relocated to the 2476 address in 1907, shortly post ’06 Earthquake and fire. They do not show in the post quake emergency and or temporary relocated business directories, but pop up in 1907. This is a clip from the ’07 directory. – Bruce Silva

1907-1921: Pawnee Indian Medicine Co., Patent Medicines, 2476 Howard, San Francisco City Directory

1922: Pawnee Indian Medicine Co., 1058 Valencia, San Francisco City Directory

1923: Pawnee Indian Medicine Co., Addie L. widow Frank P. Burgess, 3466 20th, San Francisco City Directory

Posted in Advertising, Bitters, Civil War, Collectors & Collections, History, Medicines & Cures | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

West India Stomach Bitters from St. Louis, Missouri

Posted on 20 August 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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West India Stomach Bitters – St. Louis, Missouri

20 August 2014 (R•031815)

Apple-Touch-IconAOK, so we already looked at two “East India” embossed bitters and one embossed “India” bitters. Now we will look at a scarce and extremely rare “West India” embossed brand from St. Louis. This being the West India Stomach Bitters from St. Louis, Missouri. The top pictured W 79 example is from my collection and does not have the rarer and earlier Moody, Michel & Co. embossing as the second example further below depicts.

Using ‘West India’ in the name sure gives the product some global, old-world, marketing reference as many at that time were familiar with the great Dutch, Danish, French and Swedish West India Trading Companies.

Read: East India Root Bitters – George R. Clapp

Read: Kennedy’s East India Bitters – Omaha, Nebraska

Read: Dr. J. W. James India Bitters – East Brady, Pennsylvania

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Most of a label of a later West Indie Stomach Bitters – eBay

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

W 79  WEST INDIA STOMACH BITTERS
WEST INDIA / STOMACH BITTERS // f // ST. LOUIS MO. // f // b // WIM CO.
West India Mfg. Co, Inc.
8 1/2 x 2 5/8 (6 1/4) 3/8
Square, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, Scarce
Drug Catalogs: 1882 VS&R, 1896-7 and 1901-2 JP&K Co.

WestIndiaSBRevenue

Note: Moody, Michel & Co., proprietors, St. Louis Missouri (known from 1 cent revenue stamp) 4 cent black revenue stamp, West India Manufacturing Co., Proprietors, St. Louis, Missouri (see above)

There are also 2 extremely rare variants embossed West India Stomach Bitters. One is also embossed Moody Michel & Co and St Louis and is 8 1/2 inches tall and the other is embossed West India Stomach Bitters, Moody Michel & Co, St Louis and is 8 3/4 inches tall. Both are amber and square. See picture below.

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West India Stomach Bitters, Moody Michel & Co., St. Louis – Faulkenberry Collection

Moody, Michel & Company

Wholesale Grocers and Commission Merchants

MoodyMichelART Matthew Moody was prominent among the businessmen of St. Louis and was born in 1816, in the County Tyrone, Ireland. Like many other men of sound business qualifications, his early years were spent on a farm. His father, who was quite an extensive farmer of that section of the country, possessed the highest regard for education, and spared no pains to bestow upon his family the very best instruction his means and the educational facilities of the country he lived in would permit. Young Moody was first sent to a country school, and for four years afterwards to what is known in Ireland as a boys’ seminary, where the youth of the country secure instruction in the higher branches of English and the classics.

In 1831, he left his native land for a home in the Western world, and lived for two years in Philadelphia. But the City of Brotherly Love did not offer many attractions to young Moody, who soon removed to Lexington, Kentucky, where he engaged in a wholesale grocery store. This employment lasted for two years, when, meeting with another young man from Ireland anxious to improve his condition, and enter business for himself, the two joined fortunes, and, purchasing a stock, removed to Beardstown, Illinois.

The business under the partnership continued in a flourishing condition for very nearly three years, when Mr. Moody resolved to seek other and wider fields for enterprise and the exercise of his business capacity. With this intention, he sold out his interest in the Beardstown business, and started South on a trading expedition, which lasted several months. In search of fortune he visited St. Louis. In those days the transportation of the West was chiefly conducted by water; railroads had not then succeeded in revolutionizing the carrying trade as they have since done. Mr. Moody resolved to turn his attention to steamboating, and entered as a clerk in the Illinois River trade. This occupation lasted one year, when he entered the mercantile house of Davis, Tilden & Richards.

Here his strict attention to business, and his manly and upright bearing, soon won for him the esteem and confidence of his employers to such a degree, that when, four years afterward, the firm determined upon opening up a retail branch of their business on Broadway, Mr. Moody was one of the parties chosen to manage it. He continued at this business four years, when the firm of Smith & Moody purchased the business of which they were merely the managers, though all along it had been ostensibly their own. After the expiration of three years, he retired from this concern and became a partner in the well-known house of Samuel C. Davis & Co.

In 1855, he removed to Chicago, to establish and conduct a branch house organized there under the style of Davis, Moody & Co. He remained in Chicago until 1859, when, having disposed of his interest in the business of the firm, he returned to St. Louis, and for about one year was in the employment of Robert Campbell. He then purchased an interest in the mercantile house of Singleton & Co., and thus laid the foundation of the present flourishing concern of Moody, Michel & Co., of which Mr. Moody in the senior partner. During the many years in which he has been engaged in trade, Mr. Moody has enjoyed the reputation of an attentive, prudent and energetic business man, and his record is unstained by a single questionable transaction. He is full of public spirit, and never fails to take a prominent part in all matters and things tending to advance the commercial growth of St. Louis. [Northern Illinois University Libraries]

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Moody, Michel & Co. advertisement – Lexington (Missouri) Weekly Intelligencer, January 29, 1876

Joshua Canby Michel was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on 15 November 1832. He worked for several years in St. Louis in the wholesale grocery and commission merchant business with Matthew Moody and Morey T. Andrews under the banner Moody, Michel & Company. The 1860 Kennedy’s St. Louis Directory lists their address as 41 and 43 N. Commercial Street. Moody, Michel and Andrews put West India Stomach Bitters on the market in 1873 and obtained a patent on February 8, 1876. That year Michel dropped out of the grocery business and became a broker for the bitters and apparently some other West India medicines. West India Stomach Bitters was later in drug catalogs from 1882 through 1902. Michel died on 14 October 1904 in St. Louis.

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Letter from Moody, Michel & Company, St. Louis to Charles Henry Hardin, November 28, 1874 – Missouri Digital Heritage

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Location of Moody, Michel & Company (#94 in white box) – “Pictorial St. Louis 1875”

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Joshua C. Michel document, 19 July 1862 – Union Provost Marshals’ File Of Paper Relating To Individual Civilians

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The West India Manufacturing Company Proprietor of the West India Stomach Bitters advertisement – Arizona Silver Belt, Saturday, August 18, 1883

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The West India Manufacturing Company Proprietor of the West India Stomach Bitters advertisement – Arizona Silver Belt, Saturday, July 27, 1889

Posted in Bitters, Ephemera, History, Medicines & Cures, Tax Stamps | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dr. J. W. James India Bitters – East Brady, Pennsylvania

Posted on 19 August 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

J19_DrJamesIndiaBittersSide_Meyer

Dr. J. W. James India Bitters – East Brady, Pennsylvania

19 August 2014

Apple-Touch-IconAContinuing today with the series of bitters brands with “India” in the name, is another extremely rare bitters from my collection from East Brady (or Bradys Bend), Pennsylvania. Back in 2008, I was fortunate enough to pick up a number of embossed  “Doctor” bitters from the Dr. James Carter collection. One was the Dr. J. W. James India Bitters.

Read: East India Root Bitters – George R. Clapp

Read: Kennedy’s East India Bitters – Omaha, Nebraska

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

J 19  DR. JAMES INDIA BITTERS
DR. J. W. JAMES / INDIA / BITTERS // f // f // f //
J. W. James & Co. East Brady, Pennsylvania
8 3/4 x 2 1/2
Square, Amber, LTC, Extremely rare
Drug catalogs: 1876-7 and 1885 Goodwin Trade Mark No. 22,567, dated February 18, 1893
J19_DrJamesIndiaBitters_Meyer

Dr. J. W. James India Bitters – East Brady, Pennsylvania. Ex: Dr. James Carter Collection – Meyer Collection

Dr. J. W. James 

J. W. James M.D., was one of the leading representative men of East Brady, Pennsylvania and was described as courteous, genial and well-informed. East Brady is a bit northeast of Pittsburgh.

eastbradybend

Brady’s Bend, also known as Bradys Bend, is named for Captain Samuel Brady (1756-1795), famed frontier scout and the subject of many legends. Near this location on the Allegheny River in Western Pennsylvania June 1779 – in what was then Seneca territory – Brady led a force seeking to redress the killing of a settler and her four children, and the taking of two children as prisoners. The force surrounded a party of seven Indians – apparently both Seneca and Munsee – killing their leader (a Munsee warrior) and freeing the two children. [Wikipedia]

Dr. James was born in Aaronsburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania on 25 February 1826 and belonged to an old Pennsylvania family, his father being James James, a pioneer merchant of Aaronsburg. His mother, who bore the maiden name of Agnes Williamson, was of Scotch ancestry, and was also a representative of a pioneer family from Pennsylvania.

The doctor moved on and acquired his literary education in Millheim, Centre County, and then entered the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, where he graduated with the class in 1847. Locating in Brady’s Bend, he next successfully engaged in general practice as a physician and surgeon until 1869 when he embarked in the manufacture and proprietor of medicines as president of the J. W. James Medicine Company. Some of his products included Dr. James’ Stillingia or Blood Compound, Dr. James’ Pulmonary Cough Syrup, Dr. James’ Soothing Syrup, Dr. James’ Sugar Worm Powders, Dr. James’ Headache and Liver Pills and Dr. James’ India Bitters. His medicines were very popular throughout the United States, and were touted as being sold from Maine to California. I doubt this, but it is nice to see a doctor who was really a doctor in the bitters marketing world. Much later, in 1890, a trade mark would be applied for the James India Bitters. Probably sold by his son.

In Greenville, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, Dr. James was married to Miss Margaret, daughter of William and Rachel Templeton. The Doctor and his wife were the parents of five children: Ida, William D., a physician and surgeon of East Brady; Robert C., who was employed by Standard Oil Company of Chicago; Emma, wife of John V. Sloan; and Edwin, of East Brady. In politics Dr. James was a Republican, in religious faith he was a Presbyterian and, in his society relations, a Knight of Honor.

The 1876 map below depicts Bradys Bend in Pennsylvania. The enlarged map of Brady’s Bend Township actually notes the location of Dr. J. W. James.

BradysBend_DrJames

1876 Map of Brady’s Bend showing the location and notice for Dr. J. W. James. James J. W., Physician and Surgeon; also Manufacturer and Proprietor of Dr. James’ Stillingia or Blood Compound; Dr. James’ Pulmonary Cough Syrup; Dr. James’ Soothing Syrup, for children teething, Cholie, &c.; Dr. James’ Sugar Worm Powders; Dr. James’ Headache and Liver Pills; Dr. James’ India Bitters, &c., for sale by Druggists, Store-keepers and Dealers in Medicines. P. O. Brady’s Bend. – U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps

Below is an example of a dug, Dr. J. W. James India Bitters. Read: Bitter January Digs by Jeff Mihalik.

DugDrJames

Dr. J. W. James India Bitters right out of the ground – Jeff Mihalik

Posted in Bitters, Digging and Finding, History, Medicines & Cures | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kennedy’s East India Bitters – Omaha, Nebraska

Posted on 18 August 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

K26_KennedysEastIndiaBoitters_MeyerKennedy’s East India Bitters – Omaha, Nebraska

18 August 2014 (R•022218) (R•071219)

Apple-Touch-IconAEarlier today I put up a post on a Boston product called East India Root Bitters by George P. Clapp. It reminded me of my clear Kennedy’s East India Bitters from Omaha, Nebraska, if only by name. It even has an ever-so-slight, olive striation in the neck. How cool is that?

East_India_Billhead_1ARTb

Read about a found Kennedy’s East India Bitters: Daily Dose – November 2013

The brand first make’s an appearance in 1865 advertising in Cairo, Illinois (below) that references testimonials in 1863. Patrick Kennedy is the proprietor in Cincinnati. In an 1864 Cincinnati directory, he has the word’s Kennedy’s Nervine Invigorator next to his name which is repeated on the third line below.

We also know of bottle examples that have been dug in holes from the same period. What is interesting is that the bottle looked basically the same all these years.

Using East India as a reference in the name was obviously an attempt to give it global presence and mystique.

Logo_eitc_emblem

[Wikipedia] The East India Company (EIC), originally chartered as the Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies, and more properly called the Honourable East India Company, was an English, and later (from 1707) British joint-stock company, formed to pursue trade with the East Indies but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent, Qing Dynasty China, North-West Frontier Province and Balochistan. The company rose to account for half of the world’s trade, particularly trade in basic commodities that included cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpetre, tea and opium. The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India.

Kennedys_The_Independent_Record_Sat__Jun_7__1884_

Advertisement: Kennedy’s East India Bitters – The Independent Record, Saturday, June 7, 1884

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

K 26 KENNEDY’S ( au ) / EAST INDIA / BITTERS / ILER & CO / OMAHA NEB // f // f // f //
8 7/8 x 2 7/8 ( 7 3/8) 3/8
Square, NSC, Tooled lip, 1 sp, Clear – Common; Amber – Rare
Note: Iler manufactured American Life Bitters. Classified as a medicine, and therefore tax exempt, July 27, 1883. Trade Mark No. 9508 dated July, 1882. In use since 1860.
Trade Card: These bitters do not require starvation or unnatural exercise, but leave the patient at liberty to eat any healthful food his appetite may crave.
K 28 KENNEDY’S (au ) EAST INDIA / BITTERS / ILER & CO. /
OMAHA, NEB. // f // f // f //
4 1/8 x 1 1/2 (3) 3/16
Square, Clear, NSC, Tooled lip, Scarce

138. “KENNEDYS / EAST INDIA / BITTERS / ILER & CO / OMAHA, NEB.”, Ring/Ham, K-26), Nebraska, ca. 1900 – 1910, clear glass, 9”h, smooth base, tooled mouth. 98% very graphic front and rear labels. The bottle is perfect. This is the first one we’ve seen with an original label! Larry Umbreit Collection. Glass Works Auctions – Auction 119

K28_KennedysSample_Meyer

Fully labeled (front & back) Kennedy’s East India Bitters sample bottle – Meyer Collection

Many bitters collectors are familiar with Iler & Co. Not only were they the sole manufacturers of Kennedy’e East India Bitters but also American Life Bitters.

A 049 (American Life)

American Life Bitters – Tiffin, Ohio Varient – Meyer Collection

Read about Iler & Company and American Life Bitters: Log Cabin Series – American Life Bitters

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Iler & Co billhead. Sole Manufacturers of American Life and Kennedy’s East India Bitters, 08 March 1897 – Gourd Collection

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10 cases Kennedy’s East India Bitters billhead, May 24, 1898 – Meyer Collection

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Iler & Co billhead. Sole Manufacturers of American Life and Kennedy’s East India Bitters, 11 August, 1891 – Gourd Collection

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Labeled Kennedy’s East India Bitters – source unknown

Four Mikado trade card faces. Reverse (below) advertising Kennedy’s East India Bitters – Joe Gourd Collection

Reverse of Mikado trade cards (above) for W. J. Van Schuyver & Co. advertising Kennedy’s East India Bitters – Joe Gourd Collection

Posted in Bitters, Ephemera, History, Medicines & Cures, Miniatures | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

East India Root Bitters – George P. Clapp

Posted on 18 August 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

EastIndiaRootBitters_MeyerEast India Root Bitters – George P. Clapp

18 August 2014

Apple-Touch-IconAI picked up a good-looking and pretty rare East India Root Bitters, in a tapered, case gin form from Boston, Massachusetts at the recent Lexington National Glass Works “Thoroughbred Auction“. A few people saw me eyeing the bottle and seemed surprised that I did not possess an example. I commented that this bottle was a different brand than the Kennedy’s East India Bitters from Omaha, Nebraska and the Dr. James India Bitters from East Brady, Pennsylvania, both of which I have examples in my collection. This bottle is also exciting in that it has great provenance with applied stickers from the Charles Gardner collection, Judge MacKenzie collection and Paul Hadley collection. EastIndiaRootBitters3_Meyer The Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham listing in Bitters Bottles is as follows:

E 13  EAST INDIA ROOT BITTERS
EAST INDIA ROOT / BITTERS / GEO. P. CLAPP / SOLE PROPRIETOR // BOSTON MASS // ESTABLISHED ( au ) 1858 // 9 5/8 x 2 1/2 (7 1/8) 3/8 Square – tapered, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, Very rare Lettering reads base to shoulder
Note: Boston Directory: 1849-70 Geo. P. Clapp listed as liquor agent, wine merchant and proprietor of the Celebrated East India Root Bitters. 1880-85 Geo W. Clapp & Co, Bitters Manufacturers.

George Pickering Clapp was born on December 02, 1808. His father was Zebulon P. and mother Nancy. George married Mary A. Hawks on June 03, 1833 in Boston, Massachusetts who was the daughter of Joseph Hawks and Hannah Liswell. Clapp was initially a tailor but spent most of his life in the retail liquor business selling wines. He marketed and sold his Celebrated East India Root Bitters from about 1868 to 1871 though he states that the brand was available as early as 1858. “Establish 1858” is embossed on one shoulder of the bottle and also appears on a later patent application. Mr. Clapp was also a prominent member of the Massachusetts legislature, Masons, and Second Methodist Episcopal Church of Boston. Their children were Mary Motley Clapp, George Monroe Clapp, Abba Louise Clapp, and James Liswell Hawks Clapp. George P. Clapp died on August 04, 1872.

There was a Seth E. Clapp who filed for patent for “Root and Herb Bitters” (see below) on 21 April 1874. This is odd as I do not see reference to this product after his George Clapp’s death. There is also a tendency to want to find a relationship to Boston based, Billings, Clapp & Company who were manufacturing chemist and druggists in the 1870s. The partners were C. E. Billings, Albion R. Clapp and C.S. Davis and they have quite a few bottles embossed with Billings, Clapp & Co. As of this moment, I can find no direct link between Geoge P. Clapp and Albion R. Clapp or Seth E. Clapp. There were quite a few ‘Clapp’s” running around the Boston area at that time, many probably related.

Select Timeline Events

1808: George Pickering Clapp was born on December 02, 1808.

1833: Clapp marries Mary A. Hawks on June 03, 1833 in Boston, MA, daughter of Joseph Hawks and Hannah Liswell.

1839-1842: George P. Clapp, tailor – City of Boston Directory

1859-1869: George P. Clapp, age 62, liquors, wines, 3 Cambridge – City of Boston Directory *Note same advertisement as below except 3 Cambridge address.

Clapp1870Ad

Advertisement George P. Clapp, Dealer in Wines, Proprietor of the Celebrated East India Root Bitters, Nos. 9 and 11 Cambridge Street – 1870 City of Boston Directory

1870: Advertisement (see above) George P. Clapp, Dealer in Wines, Proprietor of the Celebrated East India Root Bitters, Nos. 9 and 11 Cambridge Street – City of Boston Directory – also George P. Clapp, Liquor Agent, 1870 United States Federal Census

1872: George P. Clapp died on August 04, 1872

IndiaClappPatent

Seth E. Clapp files for Patent for “Root and Herb Bitters” (see above) on 21 April 1874 – The Commissioners of Patents’ Journal

1874: Seth E. Clapp files for Patent for “Root and Herb Bitters” (see above) on 21 April 1874 – The Commissioners of Patents’ Journal

Posted in Auction News, Bitters, History, Liquor Merchant | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Abel, Humiston & Co.’s Mountain Root Bitters!

Posted on 15 August 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

abel and humiston

Abel, Humiston & Co.’s Mountain Root Bitters!

15 August 2014 (R•042110)

Apple-Touch-IconAI received an e-mail (see below) while I was at the Lexington National Antique Bottle Show from a fellow in Illinois regarding the Mountain Root Bitters put out by Abel Humiston in Sandwich, Illinois. At first I was thinking there was a person named Abel Humiston, but we are really talking about Jonathan Abel and Lanson S. Humiston who produced this bitters for a short period in 1867.

[e-mail 1] Just saw you on the Extreme Collection TV show. I’m looking for a bitters bottle from my home town of Sandwich, Illinois. It says Mountain Root Bitters on one side and Abel Humiston Sandwich Ill on the other. There is a picture of a broken one in the Bottled in Illinois hardback book. I know of a few but they are not available here locally. I’m also interested in Sandwich soda bottles or any bottle at all from Sandwich. Milks and even meds. Just wondering if you may have any or know of anyone that might that I could contact.

[e-mail 2] Sorry, don’t have any other pictures right now. Can’t find any info on the bottle except that the guy was in the sandwich area from the mid 1860s to the early 1900s if my memory is correct. I looked up old obituaries locally and found his name. Couldn’t find anything else about him. I purchased from a guy I know that said his grandfather had it many years ago. His grandfather was around in early 1900s. Have you ever seen any bottles from sandwich, Illinois?? Thanks

MountainRootBittersAd_

Mountain Root Bitters advertisement – 17 April 1867 – West Eau Claire Argus from West Eau Claire, Wisconsin

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

M152R&H

M 152  MOUNTAIN ROOT BITTERS
“MOUNTAIN / ROOT BITTERS” // f // ABEL HUMISTON & CO./ SANDWICH ILL. // f //
9 11/16 x 2 3/4 (7 5/8) 3/8
Square, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, Extremely rare
Note: Quation mark before Mountain is reversed; quote mark after Bitters is in normal position. Both are diagonal.

Jonathan Abel

Jonathan Abel was born in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, New York on the 4th of December 1832 and was the son of John and Miranda (Sampson) Abel, of German and English extraction. He received a good English education at an excellent Quaker school in Oswego, New York. Jonathan assisted his father at the home farmstead until 24-years old when he set out with his friend, Lanson Humiston to start a new career. Looking out west, he settled in 1857 in Sandwich, DeKalb county, Illinois where he resided about ten years. Abel worked in the lumber dealing, livestock and drug business as Abel, Humiston & Company, chemists and druggists. The last of these years was when he and Humiston put out the Mountain Root Bitters in 1867. They were selling the product in Sandwich, Chicago and parts of Wisconsin. Abel was also identified with banking operations in Sandwich and held the office of postmaster for a number of years, serving under the administrations of President’s Lincoln and Johnson. He was a also Master Mason in the Meteor Lodge in Sandwich.

Abel moved to Chicago in February 1868 and first partnered at Plows, Abel & Humiston (William J. Plows had his name embossed on Plows Sherry Bitters) who were liquor dealers and within the following year purchased an interest in the extensive distilling business of Dickinson, Leach & Company, succeeding Colonel Wheeler, who had died. The company met with immense financial losses in the great Chicago fire on October 8th and 9th, 1871 due to the collapse and failure of the insurance companies through their heavy losses. It is interesting to note that there were upwards of fifty retail druggists and five wholesale druggists whose stores and stocks were utterly consumed during the great Chicago fire.

Chicago-fire

Artist’s rendering of the fire, by John R. Chapin, originally printed in Harper’s Weekly; the view faces northeast across the Randolph Street Bridge.

In 1874, Mr. Leach sold his interest in the business to Mr. Ames and the firm became Dickinson, Abel & Company, and so remained until the two years prior to the death of Mr. Dickinson, in 1878, when it incorporated as The Phoenix Distilling Company with Mr. Abel as president.

Abel would reorganize in 1887 as Distilling and Cattle Feeding Company and Abel, Ames & Company in the general distribution business in connection to distilled liquors, their operations annually reaching a million dollars. Later he would be a stockholder in the Metropolitan National and Union National Banks of Chicago. [references: Compendium of Freemasonry in Illinois and A Biographical history, with portraits, of prominent men of the great West]

Lanson S. Humiston

Lanson S. Humiston was born on 22 September 1827 in Dutchess County, New York and was the son of Samuel Dunbar Humiston (wife Catherine Kilmer) who was born on the 4th of March 1805 in Hillsdale, Columbia, New York. Their child was Lanson S. Humiston, who married Mary E. Litsey in 1848. The family came to Kendall County, Illinois from New York in 1838. They had four children, Samuel A., Ella, Marietta and George Abel Humiston (note middle name, named after his lifelong friend). Lanson, who was probably childhood friends with Abel, would eventually make the Mountain Root Bitters in 1867. Humiston would follow Abel to Chicago where they were in the liquor and distilling business together. Humiston died on  8 January 1869 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Sandwich, Illinois

The town is inexorably tied to politician “Long John” Wentworth and his efforts to move the State of Illinois border with Wisconsin from being even with the bottom of Lake Michigan to the current line of where it is now. If the border were not changed, the State Line would actually reside along the LaSalle-DeKalb County border, splitting parts of Sandwich from the main areas of the incorporated community. The community was established when Almon Gage sought a railroad stop on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad that ran through town. Originally naming it Newark Station, (not to be confused with the nearby village of Newark), he and Wentworth worked extensively to create the community and also to get the railroad stop created. In honor of his efforts, Wentworth had been given the opportunity to name the town, and he named it after his home of Sandwich, New Hampshire. The town’s Wentworth apartments and Wentworth Street are also named after Mr. Wentworth. [Wikipedia]

Select Timeline Events:

1805: Samuel Dunbar Humiston born 4 Mar 1805 in Hillsdale, Columbia, New York, Death 12 Aug 1894 in Yorkville, Kendall, Illinois.
1838: Samuel Dunbar Humiston and his wife Catherine (Kilmer) Humiston came to Kendall County, Illinois from New York in 1838. Their child was Lanson S. Humiston, who married Mary E. Litsey in 1848. They had Samuel A., Ella, Marietta and  George Abel Humiston.
185o: Samuel D. Humiston, home in 1850 – Big Grove, Kendall, Illinois, Farmer, Wife Catherine – 1850 United States Federal Census
1863: Jonathan Abel, Merchant, born New York, residence Somonauk, DeKalb, Illinois – Civil War Draft Registration Records
1864: Jonathan Abel, Appointment as Postmaster, Sandwich, DeKalb, Illinois, 8 Dec 1864
1867: Mountain Root Bitters advertisement (see above) – 17 Apr 1867 – West Eau Claire Argus from West Eau Claire, Wisconsin
1868: Plows, Abel & Humiston, Liquor Dealers (William J. Plows, John Abel, Lan S. Humiston), 154 Dearborn – Chicago, Illinois City Directory
1869: J. A. Montgomery & Co. (J. A. Montgomery, Jonathan Abel and L. S. Humiston, distillers and rectifiers, 407 to 411 Wells – Chicago, Illinois City Directory
1870: S. D. Humiston, home in 1870 – Big Grove, Kendall, Illinois, Farmer, Wife Catherine – 1870 United States Federal Census
1870: Jonathan Abel, Salesman, Charles Thacher – Chicago, Illinois City Directory
1900: George A. Humiston, Traveling Salesman, Drugs, born June 1864, born in Illinois. Father born in New York, mother born in Kentucky, wife Marietta – United States Federal Census
Posted in Bitters, Druggist & Drugstore, History, Liquor Merchant | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

FOHBC 2014 Lexington National | Those Lucky Raffle Winners

Posted on 14 August 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

LexRaffles_YellowShirtF

FOHBC 2014 Lexington National | Those Lucky Raffle Winners

14 August 2014

LexingtonWidget Apple-Touch-IconAWith a record of $6,125 in donation money, the FOHBC was pleased to hold scheduled raffles throughout the 2014 Lexington National Show. An anchor $5 thousand dollar donation was given to the FOHBC by Jeff Wichmann (American Bottle Auctions) to greatly supplement a series of raffles during the show. The FOHBC thanks this well known west coast auctioneer and bottle giant for this generous gift.

The donations allowed for raffles on Saturday for the early buyers and dealers, and again throughout the day on Sunday. Vouchers were given to the lucky winners to be spent at the show or the auction only. Raffle times were Saturday (3 drawings) at 2:00, 3:00 and 4:00 pm and Sunday, every half hour from 10:00 am until 1:30 pm. There was also a $100 prize (show gift certificate) announced at the Banquet. Randee Kaiser, show Co-Chair called the raffles and presented the certificates. See if you recognize any of the people.

Print

FOHBC officers, show chairpersons, and their spouses/partners or children were not eligible for the raffles. Any consultants to the FOHBC are also not eligible. Only one win per person.

All photographs by FOHBC photographer, Scott Selenak

five_thousand_dollar_bill

 THOSE LUCKY RAFFLE WINNERS

LexRaffles_Bill&Gail LexRaffles_CarolAshby LexRaffles_FloweredShirt LexRaffles_RedDress LexRaffles_JeffMihalik LexRaffles_WhiteShirt LexRaffles_SmileScarf LexRaffles_Ralph LexRaffles_BlueShirtM LexRaffles_BlackSweaterF

Posted in Bottle Shows, Club News, FOHBC News, News | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

FOHBC 2014 Lexington National | Educational Displays

Posted on 14 August 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

LexDisplayHeaderART

FOHBC 2014 Lexington National | Educational Displays

14 August 2014

LexingtonWidget Apple-Touch-IconAWe ended up with thirteen education displays at the Lexington National that were as different from the recent Reno and Manchester National displays as possible. Interesting and interactive to some extent, they seemed to get quite a bit of attention. As I viewed the exhibits and look at the pictures from our show photographer, Scott Selenak, I realize that we need some type of backdrop for the displays next year. There were two awards, one for Most Educational and the other for Best In Show. The audience voted and the winners were announced at 2:00 pm on Sunday, 1 hour before show close. Plaques and ribbons were presented to the winners, Tom Sproat (Most Educational) and Jim Hubbard (Best in Show). Let’s look at the displays! All photographs by FOHBC photographer, Scott Selenak

PRICE’S PATENT TEXAS TONIC – Tom Phillips

The first example of this bottle was discovered in 1987 by some local diggers in Lexington, Kentucky. They dug the bottle out of a local privy. The hole had other bottles dating from the 1840s. With the exception of a small corner hole, the bottle was found in excellent condition. Tom purchased this example in the late 1980s and kept it until recently; He sold it to a native Texan. Read More: The incredible Price’s Patent Texas Tonic Lex_Prices1_10 Lex_Prices3

CELERY COLA – Dennis Smith

Definitely a very nice display with a variety of elements to make it engaging. The rear- illuminated “Celery Cola 5c” caught many eyes as you first focused on the Celery Cola graphics and then the cool bottles. Various ephemera and advertising elements rounded out the display. LexDisplay_ColaFull LexDisplay_CeleryColaBottleDetail LexDisplay_DrinkCeleryCola LexDisplay_CeleryColaWindow

PHARMACY BOTTLES – Bruce Wood & Ron Dadiras

A handome display of druggist and apothecary bottles show depth in the collection of Pharmacy bottles. So many bottle brands and concoctions start with the druggist. Lexdisplay_Apoth1 LexDisplay_ApothDetail LexDisplay_Kook&Link LexDisplay_Apoth6

SCHAFER & VATER GIVEAWAY BOTTLES, FLASKS, & DECANTERS – BLUE AND WHITE GLAZE ONLY – Tom Lines

An amazing collection of very interesting and sometimes amusing figures in immaculate condition. This caught my eye for visual appeal as the blue and white colors really stood out. I found myself wondering how these pieces survived over the years with the fragile forms. Read More: Shafer & Vater Whiskey Nips over at American Bottle Auctions LexDisplay_Schafer&VaterFull LexDisplay_SchaferVaterDetail LexDisplay_SchaferDetai2 LexDisplay_SchaferDetail1

END OF DAY GLASS HOUSE WHIMSIES – Dale Murschell

An incredible assortment of end-of-day glass pieces. Usually we think of turtles, hats and canes but on this table you could see so many interesting and colorful objects. LexDisplay_Whimsies LexDisplay_Whimsie3 LexDisplay_Whimsie2Detail LexDisplay_WhimsieDetail

KENTUCKY POCKET FLASKS – Jim Hubbard

This display was a monster and certainly got one of my votes. Taking up three or so tables was Jim Hubbard’s Kentucky Pocket Flasks. The display was brilliant and enticing. You wanted to read reach flask. Jim’s display won Best of Show. Lexington Show Co-Chair, Sheldon Baugh presented Jim with a plaque and ribbon. LexDisplay_KentuckyFlasksFull LexDisplay_KentuckyFlasksFront LexDisplay_KY3 LexDisplay_KYPocket1 LexDisplay_Award1

EARLY AMERICAN WAX SEALER JARS – Ron Hands

Another favorite and well put together display belonged to Ron Hands with his Early American Wax Sealer Jars. These type of jars seemed to dominate the jar category at the show as a seminar was given on them too by Jerry McCann. A great variety of material made for strong eye appeal. The colorful children’s blocks were a great way to label the display. LexDisplay_Fruit LexDisplay_WaxSealer1 LexDisplay_Wax1 LexDisplay_FruitDetail1

STRAP SIDE HALF PINTS – David Berry

These little flasks are so fun to see grouped. So many colors. I was also really pleased to see the Star in Circle Airport Whiskey. This is one of my favorite graphics on a label. LexDisplay_HeyHalfpint LexDisplay_HeyHafPint1 LexDisplay_StarInCircle LexDisplay_HeyHalfPintD1

19th CENTURY GLASSMAKING TOOLS – Tom Sproat

Tom Sproat won an award for Most Educational Display with this well thought out exhibit on 19th century glassmaking tools. Large and easily readable graphics and a variety of glass and tools made this easy to understand and learn from. LexDisplay_Glassmaking1 LexDisplay_GlassMake2 LexDisplay_GlassMake1 LexDisplayGlassMake4 LexDisplay_Winner2

MIDWEST AND KENTUCKY FEATURE BOTTLE DISPLAY – Collective Effort

The Federation commissioned Brian Riecker to build a new illuminated display cabinet for Lexington and future shows. This cabinet was used during the Run for the Roses bottle competition event and to display extremely rare Midwest and Kentucky bottles during the show. Many of these beauties were filmed by the virtual museum crew. Look at that green Roback’s Stomach Bitters barrel on the top shelf! LexDisplay_ComDisplay LexDisplay_3Eagles LexDisplay_Display3 LexDisplay_Squares

FOHBC HISTORY – Dick Watson

As many of you have probably heard, Dick Watson and Dave Olson had a major traffic accident heading out of New Jersey to Lexington. We understand that they are both in good recovery. It was sad that Dick could not see the great display that he and Jim Bender put together for the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors. What a super effort. This display and the Federation history will be expanded on in the November/December issue of Bottles and Extras. LexDisplay_FOHBC1 LexDisplay_FOHBC2 LexDisplay_FOHBCDetail1 LexDisplay_PastPres LexDisplay_FOHBC3

REPRODUCTION BOTTLES – Jim Bender

One of our interactive displays in that Jim Bender gave periodic talks at the display to explain and point out, “Is it Real of Fake”. Jim is a real authority in this area. The display received a lot of attention and will be profiled in the November/December issue of Bottles and Extras. LexDisplay_ReproFull LexDisplay_ReproDetail LexDisplay_Repro3

Virtual Museum Filming – Steven Libbey

Steven R. Libbey and his 2-man crew, filmed “Spinners” during Saturday and Sunday for the Virtual Museum. Steven is founder of the Wisconsin Antique Advertising Club. Some of the greatest midwest and other specific bitters bottles were filmed for the first gallery. Many of the owners were interviewed for video segments for the museum. LexDisplay_VM1 LexDisplay_VM3 LexDisplay_VM4 LexDisplayBryants

BOOK SIGNING EVENT – Michael R. Veach & Chet Zoeller

Not really a display though we dedicated a table for our FOHBC Banquet speaker, Michael R. Veach to sign his latest book, “Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey”. Michael was joined by fellow author, Chet Zoeller who signed his book. “Bourbon in Kentucky“. LexDisplay_Book1 LexDisplay_BookSign2

Posted in Advice, Apothecary, Bottle Shows, Bottles and Extras, Bourbon, Club News, Cola, Collectors & Collections, Display, Druggist & Drugstore, Ephemera, Flasks, FOHBC News, Fruit Jars, Glass Companies & Works, History, Medicines & Cures, News, Photography, Soda Bottles, Soft Drinks, Spirits, Technology, Virtual Museum, Whimsies, Whiskey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment