TURNER BROTHERS | NEW YORK
TURNER BROTHERS NEW YORK is an exciting figural barrel that comes in some wonderful amber and green colors with tonal shifts left and right. There are also variants with the embossing copy positioning and size of the typography. You can notice these variances in the examples I have posted further below. There is also a TURNER BROTHERS square that had a label for Turner’s Forest Wine Bitters. Some think the barrel contained whiskey while the square contained bitters.
What is great about the Turner name is that it ties directly into New York and San Francisco.
The six (some say five) Turner Brothers were manufacturing soda water in Buffalo, New York as early as 1850. By 1853 they had opened a branch depot in San Francisco and were listed as syrup and cordial manufacturers. The Turner Brothers advertised in the October 1858 Nevada Journal newspaper that they are manufacturers of Turner’s Ginger Wine, Forest Wine Bitters, syrups, cordials and an unrivalled Vegetable Bitters. Sometime in 1865 the Turner Brothers sellout to the firm of McMillan and Kester and thereafter McMillan & Kester start advertising that they are the proprietors of the Turner brands. (source Rick Simi – Western Bitters News)
The Turner Brothers (note there are 6) are each depicted on this Civil War era scrip note payable in Buffalo or New York City. The portraits are extraordinarily realistic and were engraved by W.L. Ormsby. The note also bears the New York Bank Note Co. imprint who did the actual printing. – PCS Currency
Full page advertisement in Colville’s San Francisco Directory 1856-1857 – San Francisco Public Library
TURNER BROTHERS – Thomas’ Buffalo City Directoty
T 67 L Turner’s Bitters, Circa 1858 – 1870
L . . . Turner’s Bitters
TURNER BROTHERS / NEW YORK ( ) // c //
9 7/8 x 3 1/2 x 2 1/4
Barrel, 10-10 Amber and Green, NSC
TURNER BROTHERS NEW YORK, figural barrel, labeled bitters. Yellow shading to apricot puce. Smooth base, applied disc top. Hammered with whittle and a seedy crude example in a great color, shading from yellow amber in the top 1/3 of the bottle to apricot puce. 9.75”. Meyer Collection (Galleria Auction 2006)
TURNER BROTHERS NEW YORK, figural barrel, American Bottle Auctions - Grapentine III Auction 43 - Pure olive green, Applied top, smooth base, loaded with bubbles and overall whittle and crudity. – Meyer Collection (Notice the companion TURNER BITTERS square)
TURNER BROTHERS NEW YORK, figural barrel, a very strong example in reddish amber – Meyer Collection (American Bottle Auctions)
A TURNER BROTHERS NEW YORK figural whiskey bottle, America, 1860 to 1880. Barrel form, golden yellow with an olive tone, applied square collared mouth – smooth base. – Norman C. Heckler & Co.
TURNER BROTHERS NEW YORK whiskey figural bottle, America, 1860 to 1880. Barrel form, golden amber with a red tone turning more yellow in the upper portion of the bottle, applied square collared mouth – smooth base. - Norman C. Heckler & Co.
TURNER BROTHERS NEW YORK figural glass whiskey bottle, America, 1860 to 1880. Barrel form, black amethyst, applied square collared mouth and smooth base. Bright, clean example with strong embossing. Rare color.
Two men drinking and playing cards with a TURNER BROTHERS NEW YORK square bitters - tintype
Read More on Figural Barrels
Barrel Series – The Mysterious Blue Barrel
Barrel Series – Original Pocahontas Bitters
Figural Barrel Series – Hall’s Bitters
Greeley’s Bourbon Whiskey Bitters – aka Vertical Greeley’s
Ferdinand,
I have an article that was written about the Turner Bros. manufactory in San Francisco at Broadway and Market sts. The S.F. newspaper reported on their works in early 1860. At this time the Turner Bros. were importing 40,000 bottles a month from back East to fill their products with.