This site is presented and hosted by Ferdinand and Elizabeth Meyer. We hope to share our passion for collecting and dealing in Early American Antique Bottles and Glass. Please contact us for any information and or bottle and glass news for post consideration. We are also looking for guest authors as we continue work on the FOHBC Virtual Museum project. Thanks!
Bitters Bottles Supplement 2 Progress
Bitters Bottles Supplement 2 (BBs2) is progressing daily with a Bill Ham book signing event and sale scheduled for the Reno 2020 Antique Bottle Convention. Since March, I have been putting on average, 5 hours a day into the book. The Index is totally being redone. This is a great tool. I’m working through the alphabet and am on Letter O now. A massive amount of work that has to be verified and cross-referenced with my database on Peachridge Glass. There will be Color Plate sections on extremely rare bitters squares, bitters facsimile currency and bitters almanacs. The great archives of Dan Cowman, Joe Gourd and Ben Swanson, among others, is being referenced. Thanks to Bill Ham, Joe Gourd, Ira Burney, Ben Swanson and Jeff Burkhardt for their contributions. Joe, in particular is doing some great proof reading work. Every bottle has a story!
American Glass Gallery Sale opens Wednesday, November 6th
Auction #24 includes a fantastic grouping of 312 Lots of quality Bottles, Flasks, Jars, and Blown Glass. In addition, we are pleased to include Part 6 of the Ralph Finch collection of Target Balls, Traps and Shooting Ephemera. This is the final section in this landmark collection, believed to be the finest collection of Target Balls and related material ever assembled. Visit Auction.
RENO 2020 Shootout!
This friendly competition will compare and judge three particular types of bottles from anyone who would like to enter examples that they own. The three judging events will be for the ‘best’ J. F. Cutter star shield type whiskey fifth, Bay City Soda Water Co. bottle and for the Old Sachem’s Bitters and Wigwam Tonic. The merits of each bottle will be judged by a panel of veteran collectors experienced with each type. Each bottle entered into the competition will be given a unique code that represents the owner, so the judges will not know the identity of the owner until after final judging. Limit three bottles per category per person.
November December 2019 issue of Bottles & Extras
The entire issue is dedicated to the recent 2019 FOHBC 50th Anniversary National Antique Bottle Convention in Augusta, Georgia. Mailed 22 October 2019. Features: G. Harral – Best of Georgia by Eric McGuire, From Russia With Love by Felix & Marina Segal, The Man from Down Under by Bill Baab and Everything was just Peaches & Cream in Augusta by Ferdinand Meyer V. Become a member of the FOHBC.
Augusta Prizes and Drawings
As a bonus to show-goers and dealers, the FOHBC raffled a Jim Healy 2019 Augusta Canal commemorative stoneware jug . Tickets were $2 each or three for $5. You were encouraged to “Play to win!” The winner was announced around 4:30 pm on Saturday. Vaughn Jones from Statesboro, Georgia won this jug. Thanks to Mike Newman for making sure Vaughn received his jug as you did not have to be present to win.
Augusta People on the Showroom Floor
So far, we’ve put out eleven (11) Augusta events on the FOHBC web site and related social media. This includes all the special events from Thursday, 01 August, like the FOHBC Board Meeting, Mike & Julie Newman Open House, Augusta Museum of History Reception and Sweet Georgia Peaches Bottle Competition. We also covered the Friday, 02 August events, such as the Membership Breakfast, Educational Seminars, Ribbon Cutting, and Banquet.
Augusta Educational Displays
The Educational Displays are one of the most exciting components of a Federation national convention. The FOHBC encourages collectors to share their knowledge, enthusiasm and interests with other collectors by displaying their collections or related material. This year, Walter Smith from Team Augusta, was in charge of our displays. He did a great job!
Augusta General Admission | On the Tables
So far, we’ve put out nine (9) Augusta events on the FOHBC web site and social media. This includes all the special events from Thursday, 01 August, like the FOHBC Board Meeting, Mike & Julie Newman Open House, Augusta Museum of History Reception and Sweet Georgia Peaches Bottle Competition. We also covered the Friday, 02 August events, such as the Membership Breakfast, Educational Seminars, Ribbon Cutting, Youth Corner and the Banquet. You can also read the Augusta Souvenir Program.
FOHBC Augusta Banquet
Each FOHBC national event has a banquet that is preceded by a cocktail hour. What is so nice about these dinners is that it is a chance to unwind after a long day that typically includes the Membership Breakfast, Educational Seminars, Ribbon Cutting and Early Admission…
Augusta Youth Corner
We struggle every year to bring younger people into our hobby. Usually we are unsuccessful as there are just so many competing interests facing the next generation. Where once a parent or grandparent would spend precious weekend time working with a child on a postage stamp album or looking through old coins for that elusive Indian Head penny, now video games seem to be the norm. Interaction with elders has been minimized as a virtual world is boundless. Of course there are many other reasons and we should not give up.
Team Augusta & the Ribbon Cutting
It is no secret that in recent years it has become ever so difficult to find individuals that will step up and co-chair a national FOHBC convention. The workload is immense, and the challenges seem unsurmountable when you look at the big picture including site selection, events, workload, budget and operations to name a few. With this in mind, a group of extraordinary southern gentleman banded together to take on the task and make the FOHBC 50th Anniversary..
Augusta Educational Seminars
After our FOHBC Membership Breakfast, we were truly fortunate to be able to present a variety of fascinating educational seminars this year at our convention. We had a distinguished group of seminar presenters organized by seminar coordinator Bill Baab from Team Augusta. Bill did a wonderful job and made sure we all would have something to look forward to.
FOHBC General Membership Meeting Breakfast
The FOHBC bylaws require that an annual meeting be held with our members during our national convention. In past years, we had the meeting on the first day, directly after the FOHBC board meeting after a quick lunch break. Problem was, only a handful of members would show up, as many had not arrived in town yet or they weren’t inclined to start off their bottle trip with a meeting. Anyway, back in 2015 at the Chattanooga National, we decided to have a membership meeting breakfast. You know the old adage, have food and they will come.
Sweet Georgia Peaches Bottle Competition
Our power opening day already started out with the 8:00 am- noon FOHBC Board Meeting followed by the early afternoon Mike & Julie Newman Open House. We spent our late afternoon at the Augusta Museum of History Reception. This left the evening for our next event.
Augusta Museum of History Reception
Thursday was our big first day as we started off in the morning with the FOHBC Board Meeting followed by the early afternoon Mike & Julie Newman Open House. As this ended at 3:00 pm, our Team…
Mike & Julie Newman Open House
The widely and wildly anticipated Mike & Julie Newman Open House occurred after the FOHBC Board Meeting. This was our lead-off event and boy was it a success! Guests were given directions to car pool or they could be shuttled by two (2) contracted vans that ran between our host Marriott Augusta Hotel and the Newman residence. A pair of the Newman’s retired friends, Tom …
FOHBC Board Meeting at the Augusta National Bottle Show
The first event for any FOHBC national antique bottle show is actually the board meeting. The nineteen FOHBC board members are requested to attend, preferably in person, although we have a conference line for officers who cannot make the show. Read about the 2018 – 2020 officers here. FOHBC members, as guests, are welcome to attend in a non-speaking capacity.
Looking at a Moffat Billhead
Ben Swanson submitted this important illustrated billhead in the form of a stampless folded letter dated 1846 to Dr. William Washington Fritts of Carlisle, Kentucky from Dr. William Brinckerhoff Moffat proprietor of Phoenix Bitters. Hand written and signed.
Daily Dose carrying the Freight These Days
Starting with my injury back in March, I have been on an almost non-stop push to get outstanding material into Bitters Bottles Supplement 2. Working closely with author Bill Ham, we plan to have the book available for Reno 2020. There will be special bitters sections on Facsimile Currency from the Ben Swanson Collection and Almanacs from the Dan Cowman Collection coupled with years of new information from collectors. Just hit the dose glass to the left or right for daily bottle and glass news.
2019 FOHBC 50th Anniversary National Antique Bottle Convention | Augusta, Georgia | Souvenir Program
Well, the show is over and we are catching our breath. A couple of years of work boiling down to three or four intense days in Augusta. Now as the dust settles, we settle our accounts, collects some comments, look thru a couple thousand images and prepare for write-ups in Bottles and Extras and Antique Bottle & Glass Collector. A special shout-out to advertisers in our Souvenir Program. An important source of revenue and information.
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I’ve just spent several hours perusing this website for Antique Bottle Collectors, I have to say this is the most comprehensive internet site ever developed for the antique bottle enthusiast. It is destined to be the GO TO site for all those interested in the antique bottle hobby.
This is a great looking website — well done! Love all the pix of the beautiful bottles. Looking forward to watching this site grow. All the best wishes from the Findlay Bottle Club! –Marianne Dow
Well done, Ferd. Lots of great info and destined to be a favorite of a bunch of collectors.
Great job Ferd ! The information and enjoyment of your site is a huge asset to the bottle and glass collecting community not to mention the history buff ! My enjoyment of collecting has just increased 10 fold thanks to your efforts !