The Wizard of Oz and Angostura Bitters

Posted on 16 October 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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The Wizard of Oz and Angostura Bitters

16 October 2013 *Updated (R•021514-Wuppermann letter added)
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Advertisement for Angostura Bitters – New York City. Notice the J. W. WUPPERMANN name on the advertisement.

His mother was born in the U.S. of English descent. The family earned its wealth distributing Angostura Bitters, permitting Frank to attend Cornell University where he joined Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. 

Apple-Touch-IconATwo things I didn’t know…until last night. Frank Morgan (born Wuppermann) from The Wizard of Oz, played five parts in the movie. I suppose I just thought it was two parts, the black & white medicine man, and of course, the wizard. I also did not know that the Morgan aka Wuppermann family earned its wealth distributing Angostura Bitters which is a concentrated bitters made of water, 44.7% alcohol, herbs and spices. The recipe was developed as a tonic by German Dr. Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert, a Surgeon General in Simon Bolivar’s army in Venezuela, who began to sell it in 1824 and established a distillery for the purpose in 1830. Siegert was based in the town of Angostura, now Ciudad Bolívar, and used locally available ingredients, perhaps aided by botanical knowledge of the local Amerindians.

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48 page softcover booklet featuring many delightful recipe ideas for using Angostura. Published by Angostura-Wuppermann Corporation, Norwalk, Conn.

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Gorgeous Angastora Bitters trade card – Bill Ham

Frank Morgan (born Frank Phillip Wuppermann; June 1, 1890 – September 18, 1949) was an American actor best known for playing five separate characters, including the title character, in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

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Morgan was born Francis Phillip Wuppermann in New York City, the youngest of eleven children (six boys and five girls) born to Josephine Wright (née Hancox) and George Diogracia Wuppermann. His father was born in Venezuela, of German and Spanish descent, and was raised in Hamburg, Germany. His mother was born in the U.S. of English descent. The family earned its wealth distributing Angostura Bitters, permitting Frank to attend Cornell University where he joined Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. He then followed his older brother Ralph Morgan into show business, first on the Broadway stage and then into motion pictures.

* See Angostura Dry Ginger Ale update at bottom of post.

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1872 advertisement for Angostura Bitters – New York City

According to Ginger Ale authority Ken Previtali, there’s another piece to the Wuppermann story. During prohibition, they distributed ginger ale under the Angostura name. Note the “Fragrance of the Tropics” neck label (see image below) which could have been implying that the South American botanicals used in the alcoholic bitters recipe were part of the ginger ale flavor. How much of the bitters flavoring was actually used in the ginger ale is left to our imagination. The copyright date on the label is 1929.

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Angostura Dry Ginger Ale, distrubuted only by J. W. Wuppermann – Ken Previtali Collection

[Wikipedia referenced for Frank Morgan, Wizard of Oz and Angostura Bitters information]

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1894 J.W. Wuppermann Letter noting Angostura Bitters – ebay

Posted in Advertising, Bitters, Ginger Ale, History, Humor - Lighter Side, Medicines & Cures | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bismarck Bitters – William H. Muller – New York City

Posted on 15 October 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V
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B 107 – Bismarck Bitters – ebay

B I S M A R C K   B I T T E R S

William H. Muller – New York City

15 October 2013

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The mixture of ground roots and bark having, on the wrapper of the package containing the mixture, directions how to make the bitters by steeping the contents in Holland gin…

Apple-Touch-IconAThere was an interesting, 6″ tall, Bismarck Bitters put out by William M. Muller in New York City that closed on ebay last Sunday evening. Of course this bitters is named after the Prussian statesman, Otto von Bismarck. I have a Bismarck Bitters from Chicago (another brand – B 105) and was pleased to be adding this example to my collection. The ebay listing read:

B 107 BISMARCK BITTERS / great condition / SCARCE – Here is a very scarce bitters that packs a lot into a small size . When was the last time you saw one? Embossed with a strong strike “BISMARCK / BITTERS / W H MULLER, NEW YORK, U.S.A. ” Base embossed “W. T & CO”. Bottle is 6″ tall – smooth base. Condition is very good with no chips or cracks – minor interior water mark on back side and one side panel. VNM. A must have for any bitters collection! – newengland-glass-co (100% PositiveFeedback)

ENJOY LIFE. BISMARCK BITTERS ONCE A DAY

There are quite a few Wm H. Muller listings in New York City from the 1870s to 1910 or so that I had to weed through. The most likely and probable candidate is William H. Muller who was born in Germany, and was a druggist in the 1870s through the early 1900s.

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A later Bismarck Bitters advertisement – 1902 World Almanac and Book of Facts

Representative Timeline:

July 1857 – William H. Muller, from Germany, immigrated to United States, 1867, Wife Kate, married 1883, Son, William H. born 1883, New York City

1883, 1884, 1885 – Muller Wm. H. drugs, 61 Seventh av. h 159 W. 14th, New York City Directory

1890, 1895, 1899 – Muller Wm. H., drugs, 45 University pl. h 11 Perry, New York City (Brooklyn) Directory

1902 – 1907 – Muller Wm. H., drugs, 74 University pl., New York City Directory

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Bismarck Patent filed 05 October 1905 – Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office – 1907

The Schuster Co. v. Muller

Opinion of the Court

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MullerPatent2 MullerPatent3 MullerPatent4

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Portrait Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck

Otto von Bismarck

Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg (1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian statesman who dominated German and European affairs with his conservative policies from the 1860s to his dismissal in 1890 by Emperor Wilhelm II. In 1871, after a series of short victorious wars, he unified most of the German states (excluding Austria) into a powerful German Empire under Prussian leadership. He then created a balance of power that preserved peace in Europe from 1871 until 1914. [Wikipedia]

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B 106 – Bismarck Bitters – BottlePickers.com

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Bismarck Bitters shot glass with slogan for Muller brand. Another shot glas from PrePro.com for Bismarck Magen Bitters

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

Pure Apple Brandy Bitters – Sanford, Chamberlain & Albers

Posted on 14 October 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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Two labeled, Pure Apple Brandy Bitters – Knoxville, Tennessee & Goodson, Virginia

Pure Apple Brandy Bitters

Sanford, Chamberlain & Albers

14 October 2013

Apple-Touch-IconALast week, you may remember a post I developed on the unlisted Betterton Bitters from Knoxville, Tennessee. Read: The Betterton Bitters brands – Knoxville, Tennessee. One of the bottles was the Betterton’s Celebrated Apple Brandy Bitters. While I was working in this area I also came across a labeled, Pure Apple Brandy Bitters put out by Sanford, Chamberlain & Albers in Knoxville. This bitters is listed in Ring & Ham. These bottles were on Charlie Barnette’s wonderful web site, Bristol, Tenn-Va Collectible Bottles & History. As it turns out, there is a wealth of interesting information regarding this brand and the proprietors. I also wanted to make note that the label is applied to a figural barrel bottle if you had not noticed.

The Carlyn Ring and Bill Ham listing in Bitters Bottles Supplement is as follows:

A 79.7 L … Pure Apple Brandy Bitters, Sanford, Chamberlain & Albers, Goodson, Virginia (should be Knoxville, Tennessee first)
Label on an unembossed clear whiskey barrel figural.
Similar label on bottle: Prepared only by Sanford, Chamberlane & Albers, Knoxville, T. , Jan 29, 1860

The Knoxville drug firm Sanford, Chamberlain & Albers was founded in 1872. Edward Jackson Sanford, who moved to Knoxville from Connecticut in 1853, worked as a carpenter, contractor and partner in a lumber firm prior to the Civil War.

Sanford, Chamberlain, and Albers would serve as a vibrant part of Knoxville’s business community for one hundred years.

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Advertisement for Edward J. Sanford’s drug store in Knoxville, Tennessee, 4 April 1866

When Confederates seized Knoxville, Sanford and his wife, Emma Chavannes fled to Kentucky to join the Union Army. Rejected from service due to an illness, Sanford and his wife spent a few years in Connecticut before returning to Knoxville after Union forces under General Ambrose Burnside had captured the city. In Knoxville, Sanford joined the Union Army and fought in the Battle of Fort Sanders. As a result of the war, Sanford extended his business interests and organized the drug firm of E. J. Sanford and Company in 1864 (see advertisement above). Sanford quickly became a wealthy and influential citizen of Knoxville. In 1872, he saw an opportunity to increase his business by merging his firm with the Albers and Chamberlain Drug Company (see advertisement below). The new company changed its name to Sanford, Chamberlain, and Albers and became one of the leading drug companies in the industry. Sanford, Chamberlain, and Albers would serve as a vibrant part of Knoxville’s business community for one hundred years. The company’s name was shortened to Alber’s Drug Company in 1926 and remained in the hands of the Albers family until 1994 when it was sold to the Walker Drug Company in Birmingham, Alabama.

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Advertisement for the Sanford, Chamberlain and Albers Drug Company in the Knoxville, Tennessee, Norwood’s Knoxville Directory of 1884.

Edward-jackson-sanford-1905Edward Jackson Sanford (November 23, 1831 – October 27, 1902) was an American manufacturing tycoon and financier, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the late 19th century. As president or vice president of two banks and more than a half-dozen companies, Sanford helped finance Knoxville’s post-Civil War industrial boom, and was involved in nearly every major industry operating in the city during this period. Companies he led during his career included Sanford, Chamberlain and Albers, Mechanics’ National Bank, Knoxville Woolen Mills, and the Coal Creek Coal Mining and Manufacturing Company.

Sanford was born in Fairfield County, Connecticut, in 1831. He was trained as a carpenter, and moved to Knoxville at the age of 22 to work in this trade. He initially worked for Shepard, Leeds and Hoyts, which built railroad cars. Later in the decade, he cofounded a lumber and construction company. Although many people fled Knoxville during the city’s cholera outbreak of 1854, Sanford stayed behind to help care for the sick and dying.

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Edward Jackson Sanford & Emma (Sister) Ogden

At the outset of the Civil War in November 1861, Sanford helped fellow Unionist William Rule sneak out of Confederate-occupied Knoxville to carry messages to newspaper editor William G. Brownlow, who was in hiding in the mountains. In 1862, Sanford fled to Kentucky to join the Union Army, but fell ill before he could enlist (Sanford’s account of his escape to Kentucky was later published as an appendix in Thomas William Humes’s The Loyal Mountaineers of Tennessee). He returned to Knoxville following Burnside’s capture of the city in late 1863. Sanford fought at the Battle of Fort Sanders on November 29, 1863, and years later, provided historian Oliver Perry Temple with an account of the battle for Temple’s book, East Tennessee and the Civil War.

Toward the end of the war in 1864, Sanford formed a drug company, E. J. Sanford and Company. In 1872, this firm consolidated with Chamberlain and Albers, which had been established by Knoxville businessmen Hiram Chamberlain and A. J. Albers, to form Sanford, Chamberlain and Albers. In subsequent years, this new company grew to become one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the South.

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Sanford, Chamberlain and Albers letter, 1876 – Knox County Public Library

During the late 1860s, Sanford helped establish the Coal Creek Mining and Manufacturing Company, which purchased over 60,000 acres of land in the coal-rich Coal Creek Valley of western Anderson County. This company in turn leased the land to various mining firms, most notably the Knoxville Iron Company and the Tennessee Coal Mining Company (TCMC). In 1891, an uprising known as the Coal Creek War erupted when the latter attempted to replace its free miners with convict laborers. While Sanford blamed a “fool contract” made by TCMC president B.A. Jenkins for the uprising, he nevertheless supported the use of convict labor as a means to keep regional coal companies competitive.

In 1882, Sanford helped organize the Mechanics’ National Bank, and initially served as the bank’s vice president. In October of that same year, however, the bank’s first president, Thomas O’Connor, was killed in a notorious shootout in Downtown Knoxville. Sanford served as an interim president until Samuel B. Luttrell was elected president of the bank in 1883.

During the late 1880s, Sanford became enamored with social theories regarding the development of planned cities, where company workers could live free from the vices that plagued large cities. In 1889, he and his long-time associate, Charles McClung McGhee, founded the Lenoir City Company with plans to establish such a town. The company purchased the Lenoir estate in Loudon County and platted what is now Lenoir City in 1890. While the Panic of 1893 seriously stunted the new city’s growth, the city survived, and today, part of the city still follows the Lenoir City Company’s early-1890s grid.

During the 1880s and 1890s, Sanford served as president of the Knoxville Woolen Mills, which under his leadership had grown to become Knoxville’s largest textile firm by 1900. During this same period, he served as a director of several other companies, including the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railway, the Knoxville Brick Company, and the Knoxville Iron Company. In 1898, Sanford purchased both the Knoxville Journal and the Knoxville Tribune, and combined the two into a single newspaper. He retained his old Civil War-era associate, William Rule, as the paper’s editor.

Sanford died at his home in Knoxville on October 27, 1902. He is interred in Old Gray Cemetery. The company he cofounded, Sanford, Chamberlain and Albers, continued operating in Knoxville as Albers, Inc., until 1994. The company’s former store and office at 430 South Gay Street still stands, and is a contributing property in the National Register of Historic Places-listed Gay Street Commercial Historic District. Maplehurst Park, an apartment complex in Downtown Knoxville, is named for Sanford’s mansion, Maplehurst, which once stood on the property.

Sanford was a lifelong advocate for education in Knoxville. In 1869, working as an agent for East Tennessee University (now the University of Tennessee), he helped secure for the institution the state’s Morrill Act (land-grant) funds. During the same period, he advocated the establishment of a public school system in Knoxville, and served as the president of the city’s Board of Education in the early 1880s.

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Persons in the photo: Edward J. and Emma (Chavannes) Sanford and family, August 1886. From left: Mary (Sanford) Ault, Edward J. Sanford, Emma (Sanford) Sanford Robinson, Emma (Chavannes) Sanford, Edward T. Sanford and Alfred F. Sanford. Seated on the floor: Louise (Sanford) Fisher, and Hugh W. Sanford.
This photo and discription of persons in the photo is found in the book by David Babelay, They Trusted and Were Delivered, The French-Swiss of Knoxville, Tennessee. Pub 1988.

Sanford’s son, Edward Terry Sanford (1865–1930), was a prominent Knoxville attorney who served as an associate justice on the United States Supreme Court from 1923 until 1930. Another son, Alfred (1875–1946), continued publishing the Knoxville Journal until 1928, when he sold the paper to senator and publisher, Luke Lea. Sanford’s son, Hugh (1879–1961), was a Knoxville-area iron manufacturer who advised the War Industries Board and the Council of National Defense during World War I. [Wikipedia]

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Pure Apple Brandy Bitters, Knoxville, Tennessee [Collection of Ralph Van Brocklin] – purchased at Yankee Bottle Show in Keene, New Hampshire

GOODSON, VIRGINIA…Where’s That? – Charlie Barnette

From: BRISTOL, TENN-VA COLLECTIBLE BOTTLES & HISTORY

When Joseph R. Anderson purchased the King’s Meadows property from his father-in-law in 1852, the parcel was found to extend into both Tennessee and Virginia. After he named his town Bristol, and began laying off streets and lots, there came into existence both a Bristol ,Virginina and a Bristol, Tennessee.

Adjoining his parcel on the northeast in Virginia was land owned by Col. Samuel Goodson, who also began to lay off streets and lots and, who named his town Goodsonville (about 1852-53). In December of 1855, a meeting was held by its citizens to incorporate Goodsonville and Anderson’s Bristol, Virginia into one town, to be named Goodson. This incorporation was granted in March of 1856.

From the beginning, Goodson had an identity problem. All through its 34 years of existence it was known as Bristol (research indicates even Goodsonville had the same problem). After the incorporation, many businesses continued to to give their locations as Bristol, Virginia. Newspapers, contracts, business cards, some deeds, even the official records of the Confederacy gave the location as Bristol. There are numerous papers showing the double identity, such as Bristol-Goodson or Goodson-Bristol, when locations were on the Virginia side of town. Occasionally one may find such addresses as “Bristol – north of Main Street” or “the Virginia side of Bristol.”

Adding to it all was the fact that the railroad flatly refused to recognize Goodson and continued to give its depot location as Bristol, Virginia. There are many stories of the confusion and difficulty encountered by people during this time. One story has a perplexed wholesaler stating he sold a bill of goods to a merchant who said he was doing business in Goodson, Virginia, but the goods had been sent to Bristol, Virginia, and the man gave his address as Bristol, Tennessee! This type of problem and confusion continued until 1890, when the town took back the original name of Bristol, Virginia.

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Goodson, Virginia, Pure Apple Brandy Bitters was sold on eBay. (Nov.2005) The label is in much better condition than the previously  known example’s. [Collection of Ralph Van Brocklin]

There may be other bottles from Goodson but this one (Pure Apple Brandy Bitters, pictured above) is the only one I have seen or heard of in 34 years in the bobby. Quite possibly the above difficulties encountered by businesses is the reason why?

Embossed Knoxville, Tennessee bottles from E. J.Sanford & Co., Albers & Co., as well as those from Sanford, Chamberlain & Albers have been dug in Bristol and its environs. The Goodson, Virginia store must have been an outlet they began here in an attempt to make their products more known. When established and for how long is not known by me. Also, why they chose to place Goodson, Virginia on their labels doesn’t make sense, given the difficulty and confusion surrounding Goodson’s identity crisis during its existence. – Charlie Barnette

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Vintage medicine bottle Sanford Chamberlain & Albers Co.,  Gay St., Knoxville, TN – ebay

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Sanford Chamberlain & Albers- Knoxville, Tenn. – Small aqua bottle – ebay

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

Thomas Wriggins Stanger and John Marshall 1832-1839

Posted on 13 October 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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Thomas Wriggins Stanger and John Marshall 1832-1839

Part 2

by Stephen Atkinson

13 October 2013

Part 1: Frederick Stanger and John Marshall 1831-1832

Part 3: The Isabella Glass Works of Thomas Stanger 1841 to 1856

Thomas Wriggins Stanger was born on December 10, 1811 and died on February 23, 1892. He married Elizabeth Marshall, the widow of his second cousin, on March 11, 1835 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was born in 1796, and died in 1877. Thomas a single man, saw the strife his cousins widow went through after the untimely death of Frederick Stanger. The factory was now his to operate and with John Marshall’s advancing years, the factory’s survival was set on the shoulders of Thomas.

The Stanger family was a tough, resilient one, that had weathered many storms in their 70 years in the United States. No one glass family influenced the styles of the outputs of many of the early American glass factories spread out over the entire eastern United States like the Stangers did. Thomas with good glass blowing genes imbedded in him, set out to make his glass factory very successful.

At just 21 years of age and married to a woman 15 years older then he, and raising his nieces as now his daughters, was about to mature into a good business man and father to a large family including a young girl named Isabella who would one day have her fathers second glass factory named after her.

Thomas was going to become the most successful Stanger up to this point, having these works to maintain and would be building a new one just 1 mile south of this factory. The business did well for the seven years Stanger and his father-in-law ran the works. The output of this factory was the same as when his cousin Frederick ran the operation with production of vials, demi-johns, porters, whiskeys and window glass. In 1839, John Marshall would retire due to declining health. Thomas was now forced to carry more of the financial burden of the factory losing his father-in-law as a partner.

Shown below is a finger bowl which I picked up which was said to have been blown at the works in the year 1837. This bowl has a rough pontil mark and has 12 ribs very indicative of the German influence on early South Jersey glass. The top is folded over and tooled with a flat rolled lip.

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Shown below are shards found at the factory site.

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Tableware was being made as evidenced by this footed glass fragment.

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Tube shaped handles and the same piece as above. The Stangers are well known for their end of day glass pieces.

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These glass works were located next to the saw and grain mills at the head end of the lake. Shown below in the red area is an old map showing these works and Thomas Stangers second works at the left hand side.

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Read more from Stephen Atkinson:

Hilltown Glass Works site in Bucks County, Pennsylvania 1753-1784

The Providence Flint Glass Company 1831-1834

Caspar Wistar and The Red Rose Rent

The United Glass Company located at Wistarburgh

The Dowesburgh/Albany Glass House 1785-1815

Newburgh (Glass House Co.) 1751-1759

Glass House Farm (Glass House Co) 1758 – 1772

Brooklyn (Glass House Co.) 1754-1758

Check these T. W. Dyott bottles out!

Henry Bolingers Maysville Glass-Works 1814-1825

The New York State Glass Factories

Posted in Article Publications, Blown Glass, Digging and Finding, Early American Glass, Glass Companies & Works, Glass Makers, History | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chicago Bottle Dig – Jigsaw Puzzle

Posted on 13 October 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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Chicago Bottle Dig – Jigsaw Puzzle

13 October 2013

Apple-Touch-IconAI received this interesting e-mail and pictures from Barry Rustin thru Alan DeMaison (FOHBC Business Manager) regarding a Chicago bottle dig. I contacted Barry with a few questions, and congratulated him on the dig and his fantastic pictures. Barry said his first quantity of puzzles have already been sold. He said he will produce a few more and send a photograph of the puzzle in a box that I requested. What a great idea and Christmas gift!

All Images: Barry Rustin Photography

Dear Alan:

Attached per our recent conversation are a few of the bottle shots recently taken after my dig from a Chicago area dump site. This garbage dump from the early 1900s had been built upon in approximately the late 1940s. The industrial building on that property recently was demolished.

The bottles came to my attention when a truck dumping fill dirt from that site was filling a hole across from my neighborhood Starbucks. After much coaxing, the truck driver finally divulged the location of the site.

In addition to bottles, a number of ceramic and metal objects of interest were also found. I have produced a jigsaw puzzle of FILE #1464 (first image below) and would like to offer them to your subscribers as an unusual gift idea. I think it makes for a challenging puzzle.

Let me know if you have any interest in either these photos or the story itself as a potential feature. Thank you for your time and interest.

Best wishes, Barry

Jigsaw1 Jigsaw2 Jigsaw3

Posted in Advice, Digging and Finding, Photography | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Frederick Stanger and John Marshall 1831-1832

Posted on 12 October 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

StangerMarshallHeaderART

Frederick Stanger and John Marshall 1831-1832

Part 1

by Stephen Atkinson

12 October 2013

Part 2: Thomas Wriggins Stanger and John Marshall 1832-1839

Part 3: The Isabella Glass works of Thomas Stanger 1841 to 1856

In 1831, John Marshall purchased land in what is now the border of Williamstown in Gloucester County and Winslow Township in Camden County, New Jersey. His daughter Elizabeth, had married Frederick Stanger’s son Phillip, who was one of the brothers that worked at Johannes Stengers (Stangers) glass works in Glassboro between 1780 and 1783.

The name of the small village where the factory was to be built was called Seven Causeways. This later was known as Brooklyn and later on as Old Brooklyn. Marshall had constructed a saw mill over the Four Mile Branch creek. He also erected a grist mill nearby and supplied it with power by damming up the Great Egg Harbor River. The two mills collectively became known as Marshall’s Mills. The grist mill failed due to a severe drought in the early 1830s. The saw mill was prosperous as heavy thick pines abound in the area.

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1857 Map of the village of New Brooklyn – You can see on the map above, from the year 1857, two glass works in the small village. The one in the red vein on the map is the original 1831 Thomas Stanger and John Marshall Glass works. The glass works to the left of the bold name NEW BROOKLYN are the Isabella glass works of Thomas Stanger. The glass fragments and shards shown in this article are from the first 1831 works.

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1861 map of the village of New Brooklyn – On this map from the year 1861, the northern original glass works are no longer shown and the other glass works are now called the Isabella Glass works of Thomas Stanger. Notice all of the property the Marshall and Stanger families owned. Glass factory’s were a two edged sword. They could make you rich in a instant and take it all away just as quickly.

The name Brooklyn is an anglicized name of the Dutch name Breuckelen, which was a small village in Holland, and it means a broken upland or marshy land. This description fits well with this area around New Brooklyn. About the year 1829, Marshall’s son-in-law, Frederick Stanger, began constructing a glass works between the saw mill and grist mill. He built the factory very similar to the one in Glassboro where he had worked as a 15 year old for Colonel’s Heston and Carpenter.

John Marshall was the majority owner of this partnership and Frederick Stanger was the practical glass maker who was to oversee the daily operations of the factory. Fredrick hired his second cousin Thomas Wriggins Stanger to help in the factory. Frederick’s father, Phillip and Thomas’s Grandfather Christian, were very important glass factory workers, and owner-operators from the late 1700s through the early 1800s. The first furnace was completed and ready for blast in September of 1831. The early output of this factory was window glass and utilitarian hollow ware. While on a trip to Philadelphia by stage coach, Frederick became trapped in the wilderness during a blizzard. He contracted pneumonia and soon died at the young age of 45.

The story of Frederick Stanger’s early life is a tragic one. He met his first wife Ann Marshall in Port Elizabeth while founding a glass works in 1809 with his Uncle Jacob, which his father Phillip called the Union Glass Works. It was while he resided in Cumberland County in Southern New Jersey, that he met his first wife, Ann Marshall, daughter of Randall Marshall, who bought a 1/4 interest in the Union Glass Works on June 6th, 1811.

Tragedy struck in 1815, when young Ann Marshall died giving birth to her daughter Ann. For Frederick and Randall, this was a serious blow to their well being. It was tough enough to run a glass factory early in the 19th century without having such a unfortunate an untimely death of a young wife and a daughter. It was this one event that triggered Frederick’s next move, but first he would gain another Marshall, as a father-in-law, as he would marry Elizabeth Marshall, daughter of John Marshall, Randalls brother. This marriage has made it difficult, to say the least, for genealogical historians tracing the Stanger and Marshall family roots.

Shown below are fragments of hollow ware and window glass found at the factory site in 2011 near the Atlantic City expressway. The colors found were light to dark aqua, blue aqua to a pale green to a deep blue green to a dark green and amber. Judging from the glass fragments I found, these glass works produced porter bottles, medicine vials, chestnut flasks and Demi-Johns. No charted historical flasks were thought to have been made at this factory as far as we know but they may have as workers, molds and factory ownerships changed hands quite often.

UnionGlassFrag2UnionGlassFrag1UnionGlassFrag3UnionGlassFrag4

Read more from Stephen Atkinson:

Hilltown Glass Works site in Bucks County, Pennsylvania 1753-1784

The Providence Flint Glass Company 1831-1834

Caspar Wistar and The Red Rose Rent

The United Glass Company located at Wistarburgh

The Dowesburgh/Albany Glass House 1785-1815

Newburgh (Glass House Co.) 1751-1759

Glass House Farm (Glass House Co) 1758 – 1772

Brooklyn (Glass House Co.) 1754-1758

Check these T. W. Dyott bottles out!

Henry Bolingers Maysville Glass-Works 1814-1825

The New York State Glass Factories

Posted in Article Publications, Blown Glass, Early American Glass, Glass Companies & Works, Glass Makers, History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Axel Lindskog attended the Wright & Taylor Old Charter Distillery Event

Posted on 11 October 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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Axel Lindskog attended the Wright & Taylor Old Charter Distillery Event

DR. LINWOOD CABINET BITTERS

11 October 2013

Apple-Touch-IconAI recently added this unlisted color, extremely rare Dr. Linwood’s Cabinet Bitters to my collection from a listing on ebay. According to the seller, the bottle was dug in Chicago in the late 1970s – early 1980s, by Chicago father and son bottle diggers with two examples in two different colors being dug. At first, I was running into blank walls trying to search for information. I wanted to find out who was Dr. Linwood and who was A. Lindskog? Now that is a strong Swedish name.

First of all, the Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham listing in Bitters Bottles is as follows:

L 94.5  DR. LINWOOD’S CABINET BITTERS

DR. LINWOOD’S / CABINET BITTERS / A. LINDSKOG / SOLE AGT. / FOR U. S. A. // f // f // f //
8 ¾ x 4 ¼ x 2 ½ (6) ¾
Rectangular, Amber and Aqua, LTC and LTCR, Applied mouth, Extremely rare
Examples dug in Chicago

LinwoodsCabinetBitters_ebayCropSQ

My first sound hit occurred after I searched for an ‘A. Lindskog’ in Chicago. I knew this was a later bottle so anything centered around 1900 might work. It looks like a ‘Axle Lindskog attended this grand event for Wright & Taylor Distillery.

Wright&TaylorLouisville

Wright & Taylor letterhead – PrePro.com

What is so cool about the event is the Pennsylvania Railroad “Old Charter Special” locomotive and passenger cars that were used to transport the liquor dealers from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky and back. Man I wish I could of been on that train and at that event! You can see the train in the background of the group pose below.  The story was reported in The Wine and Spirit Bulletin on June 1, 1916.

OldCharterVisit

A BIG PARTY OF VISITORS TO OLD CHARTER DISTILLERY

June 1, 1916

Kentucky and Kentuckians are noted for their hospitality, and Kentucky distillers have always ranked in the forefront of hosts. A party of 100 liquor dealers from Chicago, Ill., and some nearby towns, who, on May 22nd and 23rd were the guests of Wright & Taylor, of Louisville, are now ready to proclaim the distilling company, its officers and representatives, as the pre-eminent hosts of Kentucky.

BigPartyOldCharter

OldCharterSpecialAgenda

Look at this fantastic itinerary of events starting with “The Old Charter Special” leaving Chicago with the liquor dealers and arriving in Louisville.

Wright&TaylorBottle

Wright & Taylor Distiller bottle – ebay

Dated Material

According to PrePro.com, WRIGHT & TAYLOR was in business in Louisville, Kentucky from 1886 – 1919.

1835 – Axel E. Lindskog, born, Sweden, (wife Alma C.) occupation Saloon (1900 Federal Census)

1890 – Lindskog & Benson (Emil Lindskog and Albert Benson) grocers 448, 31st, Chicago City Directory

1895 – 1906 – Axel E. Lindskog, Saloon, 456 31st Street, Chicago City Directory

SteinmetzSaloonChicago

Just a neat Chicago saloon picture in the same time period. Steinmetz Saloon, South Loop, Chicago – 1898

Posted in Article Publications, Bitters, eBay, History, Liquor Merchant, Questions, Spirits, Whiskey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Betterton Bitters brands – Knoxville, Tennessee

Posted on 10 October 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

InternalRevenueJournal1881

The Betterton Bitters brands

Knoxville, Tennessee

Knoxville1871

View of Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee, 1871 – drawn & published by A. Ruger.

10 October 2013 (R•110513) (R•032818)

Apple-Touch-IconAWhile looking through the 1881 Internal Revenue Record and Customs Journal, I came across three unlisted bitters from Knoxville, Tennessee with the name Betterton attached. To this bitters collector, the excitement must compare to finding a new specials of fauna, bird, animal or bug deep in the Amazon jungle or an unlisted dinosaur to the archaeologist or a new planet to the astronomer. These bitters were listed in the IRS document as:

Betterton’s Evening Star Bitters (Knoxville, Tennessee)

Betterton’s Celebrated Corn Bitters (Knoxville, Tennessee)

Betterton’s Celebrated Apple Brandy Bitters (Knoxville, Tennessee)

McClung&BettertonShultis

Possible label only Eureka Bitters – McCLUNG & BETTERTON’S / KNOXVILLE, TENN. – Shultis Collection

EurekaBittersAd1870

EUREKA BITTERS ! advertisement, McClung & Betterton’s – 18 December 1870. Note Pepper Bros note on bottom.

My first stop in researching this brand led me to very informative web site Bristol, Tennessee – Virginia Collectible Bottles & History. Specifically, I found the following information about the Pepper family of Dr. Pepper fame.

PEPPER BROTHERS – Around 1858, a large family of Peppers relocated to Bristol (Tennessee) from Mt. Airy ( Rural Retreat), Virginia. This included James R. Pepper, William H. Pepper, Charles T. Pepper, Jessee H. Pepper, and John Givens Pepper. Charles and John Pepper purchased the business of Thomas & Campbell and operated as the Pepper Brothers Drug Store, located “at the sign of the Red Mortar“. The Pepper Brothers first advertising appears in October of 1866 and continued well into 1872.

In 1873, John Givens Pepper was located on Main Street and advertised as a “sole proprietor.” In 1873, Charles T. Pepper and William H. Pepper entered into a partnership with Dr. Jere Bunting. In 1875, John Pepper was having a new home constructed and while inspecting the second floor, fell and was fatally injured. In 1879, the Pepper & Bunting partnership was dissolved.

Charles T. Pepper was born in 1830. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1855. In November 1865, he became a member of the Bristol Masonic Fraternity. From 1870 to 1876, Pepper was a Bristol-Goodson City Councilman. In 1875, he is on the Board of the Bristol Academy of Medicine and is the Deacon of Central Presbyterian Church. In 1879, he is the Treasurer of the Bristol Academy of Medicine.

A May 1879 advertisement notes that Dr. Charles T. Pepper and Mrs. Pepper will erect another brick store. However, something occurred to change this plan, for in August of 1879, Charles and his family move back to Rural Retreat. There he opens a pharmacy soda fountain business (It is from here that the “legend” about the Dr. Pepper soft drink begins).

An 1892 advertisement notes Drs. Rhea & Pepper, Dentists.

In 1870, Pepper Brothers prepared and sold “Pepper’s Celebrated & Aperient Tonic Bitters.” They also sold McClung & Betterton’s Eureka Bitters, manufactured in Knoxville, Tennessee, Rosenheim’s Bitters, Plantation Bitters, and Stoughton’s Bitters.

An April 1871 advertisement for Pepper’s Aperient & Tonic Bitters, claimed it was for dyspepsia, diseases of the liver, stomach, headache, constipational, and all diseases arising from a torpid condition of the digestive organs.

The new listing for the forthcoming Bitters Bottles Supplement 2:

Newspaper Advertisement
P 43.1 PEPPER’S CELEBRATED APERIENT AND TONIC BITTERS, Pepper Bros. (ref. Dr. Pepper), Druggists and Apothecaries
Bristol News (Bristol, Tennessee), December 2, 1870

Pepper’s Celebrated & Aperient Tonic Bitters advertisement, Pepper Bros., Druggists and Apothecaries – Bristol News (Bristol, Tennessee), December 2, 1870

This information above confirmed and gave me the name of McClung and Betterton. A search online reveals the following advertisement for M’Clung & Betterton noting the Celebrated Evening Star Bitters and Eureka Bitters.

The new listing for the forthcoming Bitters Bottles Supplement 2:

Newspaper Advertisements
E 54.7 EUREKA BITTERS, McClung & Betterton, Sole Proprietor, Gay St., Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville Daily Chronicle, December 15, 1870, 1871
BettertonAd1

M’Clung & Bettertons advertisement noting Celebrated Evening Star Bitters and Eureka Bitters – Knoxville (Tennessee) Daily Chronicle – 1871

Searching further online we can establish the following information related to the Betterton name in this region:

BettertonKnoxville1884

Betterton (John N. Betterton) & Company listing – Norwood’s Knoxville Directory – 1884

John Nathan Betterton

1843 – J. N. Betterton born August 22, 1843 in Campbell County, Bedford, Virginia, Knox County Genealogy & History
1850 – J. N. Betterton, residence Campbell, Virginia, Federal Census
1855 – C. (Charles) M. McClung born May 12, 1855 in St. Louis, Missouri, Knox County Genealogy & History
1870 – John N. Betterton married Zephana Whitlow
1871 – M’Clung (also McClung) & Bettertons advertisement noting Celebrated Evening Star Bitters and Eureka Bitters – Knoxville (Tennessee) Daily Chronicle
1873 – J. W. Betterton & Bro, Wholesale Liquors, Tennessee State Directory
1876 – Betterton & Rollings (John N. Betterton and George W. Rollings) wholesale liquors, 207 Gay, Knoxville City Directory
1884 – John N. Betterton (Betterton & Co) Norwood’s Knoxville Directory
1884 – Betterton & Co (J N Betterton and Joseph H Whitlow) wholesale liquor dealers 220 Gay – Norwood’s Knoxville Directory (thru 1895 or so) (1895 located 214-216 Lucky)

Bettertonoldwhiteoak

1890 – T. F. Betterton, Annex Saloon, Cumberland St. (Bristol, Tennessee)

PRG: Online question I found – There was a T. F. Betterton in Bristol as a saloonist and an E. R Betterton in Chattanooga (see above flask picture) as a distiller. Which one was the Knoxville Betterton? Neither, It is John N. Betterton from Knoxville.

While researching this article, the following bitters have either been mentioned above or crossed my plate:

Apple Brandy Bitters (A 79.7) L … Pure Apple Brandy Bitters, Sanford, Chamberlane & Albers, Goodson, Virginia

Betterton’s Evening Star Bitters  (Unlisted)

Betterton’s Celebrated Corn Bitters (Unlisted)

Betterton’s Celebrated Apple Brandy Bitters (Unlisted)

Grape Bitters

Home Bitters (New find)

McClung & Betterton’s Eureka Bitters (Unlisted)

Pepper Brothers (or Pepper’s) Celebrated Aperient & Tonic Bitters

Thomas & Campbell’s Stoughton Bitters

Geo. R. Anderson’s Scrofula Bitters

Bunting’s Tonic & Alterative Bitters or Bunting’s Tonic Bitters

Home Bitters – Betterton Bros. – Kingston, Tenn.

28 March 2018

Example of a Betterton Brothers Home Bitters from Kingston, Tennessee. “Came out of a basement here in Roanoke. Guy had know idea where he got it.” – Travis Layman

Posted in Bitters, Druggist & Drugstore, History, Questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bitters Stamped – 1881 Internal Revenue Record and Customs Journal

Posted on 9 October 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Hi-Hi_LabeledBitters Stamped – 1881 Internal Revenue Record and Customs Journal

Published by P.V. Van Wyck & Company, 1881

09 October 2013 (R•042019)

Apple-Touch-IconAHere is an interesting Internal Revenue document dated, April 19, 1881 that shows a list of bitters brands needing to be classified as medicinal bitters that when properly stamped may be sold by persons who have not paid special tax as liquor dealers. I like to find lists like these and do a cross reference with the Ring and Ham Bitters Bottles, Bitters Bottles Supplement and the draft Bill Ham forwarded me that I am referring to called Bitters Bottles Supplement 2.

VanDykeBittersTaxStampsWhat is interesting about this supplemental IRS list is that it includes quite a few unlisted bitters. Each will have to be cross-referenced with the books to see if they are not listed elsewhere, possibly under another name. Pretty exciting.

Messrs, Editors: Please publish the following supplementary list, to the lists which you have hereto before published, giving the names of compounds which this Office has decided, may, for the purposes of taxation under the Internal revenue law, be classed as medicinal bitters, and when properly stamped may be sold by persons who have not paid special tax as liquor dealers. Yours respectively,

GREEN B. RAUM, COMMISSIONER

InternalRevenueJournal1881

IRSBittersList1881

Detail of list above  from The Internal Revenue Record – April 19, 1881

Listed (found in Bitters Bottles and Bitters Bottles Supplement)

Bonekamp Maag Bitters (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)  (B 152) 

Caldwell’s Herb Bitters (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)  (C 9)

Celery Bitters (Halifax Court House, Virginia)  (C 102)

Clayton and Russell’s Celebrated Stomach Bitters (New York City)  (C 170 L)

Fritsch’s Prussian Stomach Bitters (St. Louis, Missouri) Probable (F 92) Fritsch’s Prussian Bitters or (F 93) Fritsch Stomach Bitters

Family Bitters (Lynchburgh, Virginia) Probably (F 1.5) Clark & Thompson Family Tonic Bitters

Garnett’s Compound Vegetable Bitters (Richmond, Virginia) (G.5)

Hartwiz Karotowicz Stomach Bitters (New York City) Probably (L 106)

Old Carolina Bitters (Charleston, South Carolina) (O 20)

Rosenheim’s Celebrated Stomach Bitters (Baltimore, Maryland) Probably related to (R 96)

Steketee’s Blood Purifying Bitters (Grand Rapids, Michigan) (S 187.5 & S 188)

Strasberg Herb Bitters (Fond du Lac, Wisconsin) Probably Strassburg Bitters, Grand Rapids

Sumpter Bitters (Charleston, South Carolina) (S 221)

Sunny South Bitters (East Saginaw, Michigan)

Swiss Imported Bitters (Alspen Magenbetter) (New York City)

Warners Safe Bitters (Rochester, New York) (W 34)

Zu Zu Bitters (Baltimore, Maryland) (Z 9)

Unlisted – 1881 Internal Revenue Record and Customs Journal

Anti-Malarial Bitters

Anti-Malarial Bitters (Rocky Hill, South Carolina). Most likely talking about J. A. Mayes & Co., Mayesville, South Carolina (Drugs, Medicines, Groceries and Provisions). See newspaper advertisement below. Anti-Malarial Specific Tonic Bitters, January 1, 1870 – The Sumter Watchman, Wednesday, April 27, 1870

The new listing within the forthcoming Bitters Bottles Supplement 2:

IRS Listing and Newspaper Advertisement
A 75.5  ANTI-MALARIAL SPECIFIC TONIC BITTERS, Rocky Hill, South Carolina
J. A. Mayes & Co., Mayesville, South Carolina (Drugs, Medicines, Groceries and Provisions).
1881 Internal Revenue Record and Customs Journal
Anti-Malarial Specific Tonic Bitters, Jan. 1, 1870 – The Sumter Watchman, Wednesday, April 27, 1870

There is an (A.75) Anti-Malarial Bitters listed for reference only from Petersburg, Virginia. See newspaper advertisement below. Anti-Malarial Bitters, D. T. Everts & Co., Sole Proprietors, Petersburg, Va. – The Progress Index, Monday, March 18, 1867. There is also an update in Bitters Bottles Supplement 2.

Read: Anti-Malarial Bitters, D. T. Everts & Company – Petersburg, Virginia

Angelica Bitters

Angelica Bitters (Paris, Texas) No support information. Can not add to Bitters Bottles Supplement 2.

There is however, a newspaper advertisement below for an (A.58) Angelica Bitters or Poor Mans Tonic listed from Circleville, Ohio. George H. Fickardt’s Angelica Bitters. Sold for 25 cents bottle. See Bitters Bottles.

Here is a newspaper advertisement below for an unlisted Compound Angelica Bitters, prepared by L. Brewer & Co., 55, 57, 59 and 61 North Commerce Street, Mobile, Alabama. –  Greenville Advocate, October 21, 1875.

The new listing within the forthcoming Bitters Bottles Supplement 2:

Newspaper Advertisement
C 206.5  COMPOUND ANGELICA BITTERS, L. Brewer & Co., 55, 57, 59 and 61 North Commerce Street, Mobile, Alabama
Greenville Advocate, October 21, 1875

Baer’s Liver Bitters

Baer’s Liver Bitters (Charleston, South Carolina). Probably talking about Dr. H. Baer, 131 Meeting Street, Charleston, South Carolina. He sold bitters at his drug store such as Hostetter’s Bitters, Plantation Bitters, Hufeland’s German Bitters, Stoughton Bitters and Wine Bitters. At this time, I have not seen any bitters reference with Baer’s name on it, so we will not yet list in Bitters Bottles Supplement 2. Advertisement below from The Charleston Daily News, Monday, March 15, 1869.

Bolivian Indian Cocoaine Bitters

Bolivian Indian Cocoaine Bitters (Plattsburgh, New York). Could be referencing  Bolivian Bitters sold by Herman Berg, Jr. from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. At this time, I have not seen any bitters reference with Bolivian Indian Cocoaine Bitters from Plattsburgh, New York, so we will not yet list in Bitters Bottles Supplement 2. Advertisement: Weekly Herald, Thursday, May 4, 1893

Betterton Bitters

Betterton’s Evening Star Bitters (Knoxville, Tennessee)

Betterton’s Celebrated Corn Bitters (Knoxville, Tennessee)

Betterton’s Celebrated Apple Brandy Bitters (Knoxville, Tennessee)

Read: The Betterton Bitters brands, Knoxville, Tennessee

Black Cohosh Bitters

Black Cohosh Bitters (Pana, Illinois). Could be referencing Black Cohosh Bitters that poisoned many people as referenced in this newspaper article in The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois), Monday, July 17, 1871. I have not seen any specific bitters reference with Black Cohosh Bitters from Pana, Illinois, so we will not yet list in Bitters Bottles Supplement 2.

California Stomach Bitters

California Stomach Bitters (Terre Haute, Indiana). There are so many California Bitters. I can not find any California bitters from Terre Haute, so we will not yet list in Bitters Bottles Supplement 2.

Read: Riddle, Fuller & Co. selling Celebrated California Bitters?

Read: California Bitters / Manufactured only by / J. G. Frisch San Francisco

Read: Use Dr. Henley’s Celebrated California IXL Bitters

Chamomile Bitters

Chamomile Bitters (Harrisonburg, Virginia). I can not find a Chamomile Bitters from Harrisonburg, Virginia. There is a (T 75) Tyree’s Chamomile Bitters from Staunton, Virginia which is relatively close in proximity. We can not list yet in Bitters Bottles Supplement 2.

Chill’s Boneset Bitters

Chill’s Boneset Bitters (Ninety Six, South Carolina) What a strange name for both the bitters and the location. I can’t find any support information on this bitters so we’ll hold off listing it in Bitters Bottles Supplement 2.

As far as the word ‘Chill’ is concerned, there is a (C45) Chill-Chilli Bitters listed in Bitters Bottles. An advertisement is represented below from the Lancaster Daily Intelligencer on Wednesday, September 29, 1880. The bitters was manufactured by Samuel A. Groff who had an office and laboratory at No. 248 North Queen Street and a wareroom at 240 Market Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

While searching for Chill Bitters, I did come across this unlisted Reed’s Kansas Chill Bitters noted in this “A New Alphabet” newspaper advertisement taken from the Iowa Point Weekly Enquirer on Friday, July 30, 1858. J. W. Reed was a druggist in Iowa Point, Iowa who sold his bitters for a dollar a bottle.

The new listing for the forthcoming Bitters Bottles Supplement 2:

Newspaper Advertisement, “A New Alphabet”
R 28.5 REED’S KANSAS CHILL BITTERS, J. W. Reed was a druggist in Iowa Point, Iowa who sold his bitters for a dollar a bottle.
Iowa Point Weekly Enquirer, Friday, July 30, 1858

Creole Bitters

Creole Bitters (Selma, Alabama). No support information. Can not add to Bitters Bottles Supplement 2.

What is interesting here is that there is an aqua Creole Bitters referenced in Bitters Bottles. There is no proprietor or manufacturer embossed on the bottle and a labeled example has not surfaced. Jim Hagenbuch at Glass Works Auctions recently sold an extremely rare example that is pictured below with the lot description.

189. “CREOLE BITTERS” – (indented label panel on the reverse), (Ring/Ham, 246.5), American, ca. 1860 – 1870, aqua, oval form, 10 3/8”h, smooth base, applied double collar mouth. Some light inside stain and a few light scratches, otherwise perfect. Very rare, the last one sold was in 1995!

I wonder if it is related to this unlisted Creole Bitters I found in the newspaper clipping from the Staunton Spectator on Tuesday, January 23, 1866. The time period is correct. The ad reads, “Established 1861, The Celebrated ‘Virginia’  Creole Bitters, Sole Manufacturer, D. S Huffard, Iron Front Warehouse, Governor St., Richmond, Va.”

The new listing for the forthcoming Bitters Bottles Supplement 2:

Newspaper Advertisement
C 246.5 CREOLE BITTERS, Established 1861, The Celebrated ‘Virginia’ Creole Bitters, Sole Manufacturer, D. S. Huffard, Iron Front Warehouse, Governor St., Richmond, Va.
Staunton Spectator (Virginia), Tuesday, January 23, 1866

Dandelion Bitters

Dandelion Bitters (Terre Haute, Indiana) No support information. Can not add to Bitters Bottles Supplement 2. There are many other Dandelion Bitters, some that I have posted on before such as:

What about this Tilton’s Dandelion Bitters?

Dr. Trowbridge’s Dandelion Bitters – Stamford, Connecticut

Lucius W. Bissell and his Dandelion Bitters

Lyman’s Dandelion Bitters – Bangor, Maine

Bond’s Dandelion Bitters – Fort Wayne, Indiana

Dandelion Bitters – The Great Herb Blood Remedy

The Beggs’ and their Dandelion Bitters

Dr. J.R.B. McClintock’s Dandelion Bitters – Philadelphia

Dr Grant’s Dandelion Bitters, New York.

Smith’s Gentian, Dandelion and Yellow Dock Bitters

Dandelion & Wild Cherry Bitters – Iowa

Electric Bitters

Electric Bitters (Lancaster, Missouri) No support information. Can not add to Bitters Bottles Supplement 2. There is a well known Electric Bitters out of Chicago.

Read: H.E. Bucklen & Company of Chicago – Electric Bitters

Forest Bitters

Forest Bitters (St. Louis, Missouri) No support information. Can not add to Bitters Bottles Supplement 2.

The Turner Brothers from New York City, Buffalo and San Francisco had their popular Turner’s Forest Wine Bitters. There are also two new listings in Bitters Bottles Supplement 2 for Dr. Bourbon’s Aromatic Forest Bitters.

Halland’s Strengthening Bitters

Halland’s Strengthening Bitters (Ottumwa, Iowa). No support information. Can not add to Bitters Bottles Supplement 2.

We might be talking about Bengt Magnus Halland or a family member who left difficult circumstances in Sweden to come to America, to Illinois in 1855. He sought out the Burlington Railroad to become a promoter of new lands in the promising west. His decision to focus on southwest Iowa was the beginning of the largest and most prosperous Swedish settlement in the state.

Old Kentucky Bitters

Henry Clay’s Old Kentucky Bitters (Lexington, Kentucky) No support information for Henry Clay component. Can not add to Bitters Bottles Supplement 2. There is this clipping below from the Chicago Tribune in 1909 that says that Old Kentucky Bitters have 30.31 Percentage of alcohol.

Indian Valley Bitters (St. Louis, Missouri)

Jepson and Rathburn’s Tonic Bitters (Utica New York)

Keystone Bitters (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) *unlikely Mishler’s Keystone Bitters

Minnesota Tonic Bitters (Maukato, Minnesota)

O.K. Bitters (Rocky Hill, Kentucky)

Old North State Bitters (Hickory, North Carolina)

Otto’s German Bitters (Pana, Illinois)

Peruvian Bitters (Wheeling, West Virginia)

Plant Bitters (Terry, Mississippi)

Rector’s Stomach Bitters (Lincoln, Nebraska)

Smoke’s Tonic Bitters (Winchester, Virginia)

Staunton Bitters (Staunton, Virginia)

Stone’s Celebrated Stomach Bitters (Home, Tennessee)

White Ash Bitters (Little Rock, Arkansas)

Posted in Article Publications, Bitters, History, Liquor Merchant, Medicines & Cures, Questions, Tax Stamps, Tonics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Indian Blood Bitters – Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

Posted on 8 October 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

IndianBloodBitters_SL

Indian Blood Bitters

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

09 October 2013

Apple-Touch-IconAMark Nelson posted the really nice picture above of an Indian Blood Bitters over on the facebook Bottle Collectors page. I like the setting with the other labeled bitters and the flat quilted lightning rod ball. I have not seen this extremely rare brand put out by the Sterling Medicine Company from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin before and was curious to find out more. A quick search online finds another example and a shipping crate that was sold previously on ebay.

I have three bitters from Fond du Lac. I have the Indian Blood Bitters, Burkart’s Homestead and now the Dr. Warren’s Universal Tonic Bitters. They are all sweet bitters and hard to find. I don’t know how I have been so lucky. I guess all I can say is being at the right place at the right time.

antique-bottles.net

PRG: *I am also also aware of a Strasberg (Straussburg?) Herb Bitters that is noted on an Internal Revenue document from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

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

I 14  INDIAN BLOOD BITTERS

INDIAN BLOOD BITTERS / STERLING MED. CO. / FOND DU LAC. WIS. // f // f // f //
9 x 2 ¾ (6 ¾) ¼
Square, Amber, LTC, Tooled lip, 1 sp, Extremely rare

IndianMedCoPlayers

Extract from a court case involving Sterling Medicine Company and various members of the Marshall family from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin – North Western Reporter – 1881

Searching online, I find the above court case records that tie the Marshall name to Sterling Medicine Company in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in 1881. Apparently, Samuel Marshall, from 1857 to 1870, when he died, held a recipe for Old Dr. Marshall’s Celebrated Liniment which he sold without a patent. His son, M. W. Marshall assumed the medicine sales after his fathers death leading up to the court case with his siblings in 1881. I would suspect that the Indian Blood Bitters was made somewhere around 1890, possibly only for a year or so based on the extremely rare rating.

MarshallLungSyrup

Marshall’s Artic Lung Syrup – MrBottles

In 1897, M. W. Marshall (patent medicines) at is listed at 14-16 Oak Street. Sterling Medicine Company was located at 728 Main Street in the same year.  In 1907 – 1913 there is a M. W. Medicine Co. (M. W. Marshall and Frank P. Marshall) listed at 250 Oak.

MarshalllsLinimentCase

Marshall’s Liniment Case Overview – The Commercial and Financial Chronicle – 1881

IndianBloodBitters2

Indian Blood Bitters Sterling Med. Co Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. This is a very nice example of a scarce bitters bottle from Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin that is embossed “Indian Blood Bitters Sterling Medicine Co. FOND DU LAC, WIS.” It has a tooled lip and lots of bubbles in the glass. No glassworks is given. – MrBottles

Sterling Medicine Company Shipping Crate

*NOTE: At first I thought this was the same Indian Blood Bitters, especially since the typography was in upper and lower case characters. Now I am thinking this crate might be for another, yet unlisted, Indian Blood Bitters from Portland, Ontario. It could be that T.K. Scovil (listed on crate wrapper) imported the Indian Blood Bitters from Fond du Lac and combined it with a number of other similar products in his ‘Family Medicine Chest’.

[ebay listing] Old family medicine chest, 8 3/8″ tall by 7 1/2″ long by 3 1/2″ wide. Held one bottle Indian Blood Bitters, 50 cents, one bottle Indian Cough Balsam, 50 cents, one bottle Indian Oil, 25 cents, one bottle Deckers Vegetable Pain Remedy, 25 cents, one bottle Deckers Horse and Cattle Liniment, 25 cents, two boxes Indian Pills, 50 cents and one box Deckers Carbolic Salve, 25 cents (that is what it states on one of the torn stained and loosely attached labels). The other labels decry the merits and uses for Indian Blood Bitters, Indian Cough Balsam and parts of three of the Deckers product labels.

Apparently Deckers Pain Remedy was good for bites from poisonous reptiles. Deckers Carbolic Salve was used in the war of 1854 according to the label. This wood crate has the original aged wood patina and shows its age but still a piece of the old west. On the top where there once existed a sliding top, there are small pieces missing at the very top which I have tried to show in the photos.

IndianBloodBittersCrate1

Indian Blood Bitters medicine crate – ebay

IndianBloodBittersCrate2

Indian Blood Bitters medicine crate – ebay

Posted in Bitters, eBay, History, Legal, Medicines & Cures | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment