Warner’s Log Cabin Remedies

Posted on 21 June 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

A very nice example of a Warner’s Log Cabin Scalpine came up on eBay the other day. The pictures were rather nice and are posted below. The description on eBay was as follows:

Here’s the one all Warner’s & Hair bottle collectors are looking for. Warner’s Log Cabin Scalpine with complete rear label and contents! 9″ tall x 3 1/8″ wide at base. Unique shaped bottle with flat label panel and 3 beveled, embossed panels on opposite side. Medium amber color and in perfect condition! The rarest and most difficult of the Log Cabin set of bottles to find.

Other’s in the Log Cabin series include the: Extract (in 2 different sizes) [PRG: Example pictured below], the Sarsaparilla [PRG: Example referenced in picture and advertising below], Hops & Buchu Remedy, Cough & Consumption Remedy (in 2 sizes) [PRG: Example pictured below], and the super rare Rose Cream jar [PRG: Example pictured below].

There was also advertising for the Log Cabin Plasters, but to my knowledge – none exist. If anyone out there has any of these or has seen one – please let me know. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Scalpine offered on eBay or even at a bottle show. If you’ve been looking for one of these, look no further. Bottle is in excellent condition with original contents. Complete label shows an even age toning and states: “An Old Fashioned Preparation for the Head and the Hair” This is not a Hair Dye. Made only by H.H Warner & Co. Rochester, NY. Always Gives Satisfaction. A top example that would be hard to improve on, unless you found one with a box, which is almost impossible. In 30+ yrs of collecting, I’ve only seen a few labeled examples and they came with labels for Scalpine and Hair Tonic. I’ve also seen boxes for both the Scalpine and Hair Tonic. All the bottles are embossed: Scalpine.

According to records, Glass Works auctions has sold 2 labeled Scalpine’s over the past 11 yrs: one in 2000 for $2,530. and one in 2007 with 85% Hair Tonic label for $4,200.00. I’m starting this one out at $2,250. and it will be sold to the highest bidder.

I also conduct fully cataloged, absentee mail/phone bid Drugstore/Apothecary auctions 3 times per year, with Auction #49 scheduled to close on Saturday July 14th, 2012. There is a large selection of other labeled Patent Medicine bottles in this auction, including some more Warner’s.

This got me looking around for other Log Cabin products and I again visited the wonderful and deep Warner’s Safe Cure Blog web site by Steve Jackson where I found tons of great information such as:

Warner’s Safe Cure: Artist’s Album (1888) – Part I

Warner’s Safe Cure: Artist’s Album (1888) – Part II

Warner’s Safe Cure: Some Very Rare Safe Remedies

I have added pictures from various sources of some of the Warner’s Log Cabin products below:

WARNER’S LOG CABIN SCALPINE, with complete rear label and contents! 9″ tall x 3 1/8″ wide at base. Unique shaped bottle with flat label panel and 3 beveled, embossed panels on opposite side. Medium amber color and in perfect condition! The rarest and most difficult of the Log Cabin set of bottles to find. – eBay

WARNER’S LOG CABIN SCALPINE, with complete rear label and contents! 9″ tall x 3 1/8″ wide at base. Unique shaped bottle with flat label panel and 3 beveled, embossed panels on opposite side. Medium amber color and in perfect condition! The rarest and most difficult of the Log Cabin set of bottles to find. – eBay

WARNER’S LOG CABIN EXTRACT – photo flickr

WARNER’S LOG CABIN SARSPARILLA – (Large Size) – promised to cure all blood disorders, scrofula, kings evil, salt rheum, erysipelas, humors of all kinds, scald head, general debility, malaria, ulcers, chronic catarrh, rheumatism, neuralgia, syphlitic and mercural boils, pimples, pain in the back, dizziness, constipation, congestion, liver torpidity, biliousness, tired feelings, skin eruptions, female irregularities, dyspepsia, indigestion, liver complaints, common kidney derangements, dropsy, etc. – photo and copy Warner’s Safe Cure Blog

WARNER’S HOPS & BUCHU REMEDY – (Large Size)  – promised to cure dyspepsia (indigestion) and disorders of the stomach, flatulence, pain after eating, liver cough, constipation, vertigo, sick headache, dizziness, bad taste in the morning or coated tongue, hot and dry mouth, pain in the left breast, palpitation of the heart, irritability, vexation of the mind, lump like feeling in the throat after eating, belching wind, sore stomach, heartburn, irregularity of the bowels, etc. – photo and copy Warner’s Safe Cure Blog

Vintage amber patent medicine bottle put up by H.H. WARNER. Embossed on three recessed panels: LOG CABIN / COUGH AND CONSUMPTION / REMEDY. Bottom embossed: PAT. SEPT 6TH 1887. Measures 6¾” tall, tooled lip. Tough to find, as the “log cabin” line of Warner’s medicines was short lived. Smaller size, lots of character in this bottle! – eBay (excellentstuff-auctions)

The January, 1888 Metropolitan advertisement (pictured at the top of this post) for Log Cabin Remedies listed the Rose Cream for “Catarrh, Etc. Elegant.” For those who don’t know, catarrh is a thick mucous discharge associated with the swelling of the mucous membranes. But I digress. I had not seen an example of this rare Warner nostrum until just recently. Enter Dan Cowman. Dan has one of the nicest collections of labelled Warners that I have ever seen. And it includes an example of the Log Cabin Rose Cream. – Warner’s Safe Cure Blog

A chromolithograph advertising Warner’s Tippecanoe Cures and Log Cabin Sarsparilla, which Cures Scrofula, Impure Blood, Biliousness, Dizziness, Headache, Constipation, Salt Rheum, Malaria, Erysipelas Etc. The Greatest Blood Purifier., featuring vignetted portraits of William Henry Harrison (1840) and his grandson Benjamin Harrison (1888), both labeled Tippecanoe, which refers to a nickname W.H. Harrison earned with a military victory over Shawnee Indians at the Tippecanoe River in 1811. The print also includes a large illustration of a log cabin at center, a reference not only to Warner’s product but also W.H. Harrison’s 1840 Log Cabin Campaign, which was subsequently adopted by his grandson during his run for office in 1888. Printed by Cosack & Co., Buffalo, NY; 27 x 41.5 in. – Cowan’s Auctions

LOT of 2 1880 Uncle Sam Log Cabin Extract Litho Posters, For offer, two ORIGINAL advertising poster / broadsides. VERY RARE! Fresh from an estate in Upstate / Western  NY. Great Chromo lithograph Color! Warner’s Safe Cure, Sarsaparilla, Hops and Buchu, liver pills, and other quack medicine related. Uncle Sam leading a band, and smoking a cigar. Superb lithography by Stecher, of Rochester, New York. Each measures 16 1/3 x 10 5/8 inches. In good condition. First one slightly trimmed, and has a few small rips at edges; second one tattered at top with small rips at edges. Please see photos below for details.  – eBay (dalebooks)

Posted in Advertising, Druggist & Drugstore, eBay, Ephemera, Figural Bottles, Hair Tonics, Medicines & Cures, Remedy, Sarsaparilla | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tobias Barto and his Great Gun Bitters – Reading, PA

Posted on 21 June 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

B32_Barto'sgreen_RH

Tobias Barto and his Great Gun Bitters Reading, PA

21 June 2012 (R•031314) (R•020919)

One could buy a Barto’s Bitters, a concoction of whiskey and herbal flavorings, from 1872 to 1892 at the family-run store at 437 Penn Street.

Apple-Touch-IconAA cannon that I have not written about on Peachridge Glass with the exception of one post noting the sale of this legendary bottle (read: A Legendary Barto’s Great Gun Bitters Changes Hands) is the Barto’s Great Gun Bitters. This has to be one of my favorite figural Bitters bottles because of its strong form, clean lines and circular area where the embossing occurs (see below).

There is a fantastic article that I added to this post from the July, 5, 1978 issue of the Reading Eagle  (Read: 6th and Penn Site Rich in History) (see below).

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

B 32  Barto’s Great Gun Bitters
BARTO’S (au ) / READING / PA / GREAT GUN BITTERS ( ad ) // c //
11 x 3 ½
Cannon, Amber, Green and Apricot, DC, Applied mouth, Label panel on reverse, Rare

Barto’s Great Gun Bitters Examples

BARTO’S GREAT GUN BITTERS in a crisp olive coloration – Aprill Collection

Legendary BARTO’S GREAT GUN BITTERS in apricot puce – Fuss Collection

Amber and olive example of the BARTO’S GREAT GUN BITTERS – photo from the John Feldmann collection

Embossed B & CO, on smooth base. Same form as the regular BARTO’S, not a finely made, and probably later label only variant. Deep “tobacco” amber. – Aprill Collection

BartosGreatGunBitters_GWA3

BARTO’S GREAT GUN BITTERS READING PA”, (Ring/Ham, B-32), Pennsylvania, ca. 1865 – 1870, yellow amber center shading to a more amber color, 11”h, smooth base, applied double collar mouth. – Glass Works Auctions

6th and Penn Site Rich in History

Click article to read

BARTO’S GREAT GUN BITTERS article (detail) in the Reading Eagle July 5, 1978

General Tobias Barto

Tobias Barto was one of the best known men in Reading, Pennsylvania and was responsible for Barto’s Great Gun Bitters. Barto was born on June 3, 1822 in Oley, Pennsylvania, the son of Johannes Barth, also from Pennsylvania. Oley is a small town northeast of Reading. He started out in the mid 1840s as an iron manufacturer and operated the Spring Forge in Earl Township for a few years.

Read: Keeping an eye out for H.P. Herband Barto’s Great Gun Bitters at Hopewell Furnace

He next moved to Reading and bought and renovated the Green Tree from a man named Jared Epler on April Fools Day in 1845 for $8,000. In 1848, he opened and ran the newly renamed Keystone House hotel. In 1854, Barto built Keystone Hall which was behind the hotel. The space was used for public meetings, theatrical plays, operas, balls and fairs. It had the capacity for 500 people and was the setting for the “Grand Illumination Ball” which celebrated the first gas street lights in Reading. In the 1920s, this property was renovated again and became the Penn Hotel.

While he was the proprietor of the Keystone House, Barto became very prominent in the councils of the Democratic party. 1857, he was elected to the office of Register of Wills, and in 1865 was elected Sheriff of Berks County. He was also elected as a member of the Board of Prison Inspector in 1873 and a Councilman, among holding positions in other offices. For many years he was a government mail contractor and owner of stage lines running to numerous points.

In his early life, Barto was a captain of the Keystone Dragoons, a volunteer militia company organized by the county. He eventually went through the ranks from Captain to Brigadier General of the State Militia winning election in 1859. Obviously, this is why many refer to Barto as a General.

By 1860, Tobias Barto is listed as a retail wine and liquor dealer at 35 East Penn Square in Reading. His earliest bottles would probably have been made in Philadelphia at that time. He moved to his well-remembered 437 1/2 Penn Street address in 1872 next where he and later his sons, Charles and John, operated a liquor store through the 1880s up until 1892. The map below shows a red rectangle where the Keystone House and the Barto business was located.

General Barto died on his delivery wagon in Reading on October 20, 1887 in the rear of his sons liquor store. The same store he had operated for many years. At the time of his death, he was the manager of the Pewrkiomen and Reading Turnpike Company. Apparently he had apoplexy of the heart.

Read Further: General Scotts Artillery Bitters – The Ultimate Cannon Barrel Figural

Read Further: Figural Cannon Bottles – J T GAYEN / ALTONA

Read Further: A. M. Bininger & Co. Figural Cannon

Read Further: Sol Frank’s Panacea Bitters – Great Form

Read Further: Thad Waterman “Warsaw” Stomach Bitters – Figural Cannon Barrel, Lighthouse or House Roof?

Read Further: Brown’s Castilian Bitters – Transitional Cannon Barrel Figural

Read Further: Castilian Bitters – Brown & Embree Proprietors – New York

Select Listings:

1822: Tobias Barto, Birth Date: 13 June 1822, Father: Johannes Barth  – U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
1850: Tobias Barto, Inn Keeper, Age: 28, Birth Year: abt 1822, Birthplace: Pennsylvania, Home in 1850: Reading, North West Ward, Berks, Pennsylvania, USA, Family Number: 466, Household Members: Tobias Barto 28, Deborah Barto 20, Samuel Barto 5 – 1850 United States Federal Census
1859: Newspaper notice below: Valuable Property Sale at the Public House of Tobias Barto – Reading Times, Saturday, March 26, 1859

1859: Newspaper notice below: Military Election for Brigadier General, Captain Tobias Barto of the Keystone Dragoons – Reading Times, Monday, June 6, 1859

1860: Tobias Barto, Inn Keeper, Age: 36, Birth Year: abt 1824, Birth Place: Pennsylvania, Home in 1860: Reading, North West Ward, Berks, Pennsylvania, Post Office: Reading, Dwelling Number: 2401, Family Number: 2527, Real Estate Value: 31500, Personal Estate Value: 8260, Household Members: Tobias Barto 36, Deborah Barto 31, Samuel Barto 14, John Barto 9, Charles Barto 6 – 1860 United States Federal Census
1861: Tobias Barto, Retail Wine and Liquor Dealer, 35 E Penn Sq Reading, Pennsylvania – Boyd´s Pennsylvania State Business Directory, 1861
1863: Tobias Barto, Pennsylvania, 30 Sep 1863 – Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval in the Service of the United States, Volume 1
1867: Tobias Barto, Wholesale Wine and Liquor Dealer, 540 Penn, Reading, Pennsylvania – Reading, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1867
1869 -1972: Tobias Barto, Liquor Store, Liquor Dealer, 437 Penn, Pottsville, Pennsylvania – Boyd’s Directory of Pottsville, 1869-70
1875: Tobias Barto, Liquors, 437 1/2 Penn, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1875
1880: Tobias Barto, Mail Contractor, Age: 54, Birth Date: Abt 1826, Birthplace: Pennsylvania, Home in 1880: Reading, Berks, Pennsylvania, Street: Penn Street, House Number: 439, Dwelling Number: 257, Marital status: Married, Spouse’s name: Deborah Barto, Father’s Birthplace: Pennsylvania, Mother’s Birthplace: Pennsylvania, Household Members: Tobias Barto 54, Deborah Barto 51, Katie Barto 17, Samuel Barto 34, John Barto 28, Charles Barto 25, Delilah Barto 23, Maria Barto 2 – 1880 United States Federal Census
1882-1887: Barto Brothers (Charles and John Barto), liquors, 437 1/2 Penn (Samuel clerk) – Reading, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1882
1882-1887: Tobias Barto, Boarding Stable, 437 1/2 Penn – Reading, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1885
1885: Tobias Barto, Liquors, 437 1/2 Penn and Court c Ash, Reading, Pennsylvania – Reading, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1885
1887: Newspaper notice below: Row About the Mail Service with Tobias Barto’s contract to run mail – Reading Times, Thursday, March 24, 1887

1887: Gen Tobias Barto, Death Date: 20 Oct 1887, Charles Evans Cemetery, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, Father: Johannes Barth, Spouse: Deborah Barto, Children: Samuel Barto, John Barto – U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
1902: Newspaper notice: Colonel Joseph F. Tobias death – The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sunday, November 16, 1902

Posted in Article Publications, Bitters, Collectors & Collections, Figural Bottles, History, liquor, Liquor Merchant | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cut Decanter and Wine Glasses in Fisher Diamond Pattern

Posted on 20 June 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Mt Washington decanter and wine glasses cut in the Fisher Diamond pattern – Dave Maryo

[Incoming email and pictures from Los Angeles Historical Bottle Club president and early American glass collector Dave Maryo]

Hi Ferd,

I recently purchased an early cut glass decanter and would like to share some pictures. The decanter was cut in the “Fisher Diamond” pattern and is attributed to Mt. Washington Glass Works. Another example of the decanter is on display at the Corning Museum. See link: Cut Decanter in Fisher Diamond Pattern with Stopper.

Mt Washington produced quality cut glass from the time the glass works started in 1827 up to 1894 when it became Pairpoint Manufacturing Company. Globular decanters were popular in America from around 1800 to the Civil War period. Early cut glass decanters had very simple designs that are referred to as rich cut. After the Civil war the cutting became more finely detailed and was referred to as brilliant cut.





Regards,


Dave

Mt Washington wine glass cut in the Fisher Diamond pattern – Dave Maryo

Mt Washington wine glass detail in the Fisher Diamond pattern – Dave Maryo

Bakewell, Page & Bakewell decanter and wine glass cut in the Comet pattern (Haley’s Comet) – Dave Maryo

Posted in Collectors & Collections, Decanter, Early American Glass, Glass Companies & Works, Glass Makers, Museums, Wine & Champagne | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters – Gentry & Otis – New, York

Posted on 20 June 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters – Gentry & Otis – New, York

20 June 2012 (R•052814) (R•102318)

Apple-Touch-IconAMy friend and Civil War medicine authority Jim Schmidt (visit Civil War Medicine (and writing) found this great advertisement for St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters (see below). As Jim puts it “I just LOVE how they made a bottle part of the ad!”

This prompted me to develop this post on this wonderful bitters bottle that can be found in two different sizes (see top of post). Notice the shape of the tapered rectangular wedge form.

This bitters brand has a special place in my heart as my grandson is named Nicholas. It is also somewhat of a coincidence as I was adding and moving some bitters bottles around this past weekend. Both St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters were removed from a shelf and set on a table waiting for a new position. They were still sitting there last night, as almost waiting for special attention and a write-up.

St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters advertisement, Gentry & Otis – New, York – Galveston News, October 2, 1860

The Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham listing in Bitters Bottle is as follows for both sizes (S 16 and S 17).

S 16  ST. NICHOLAS STOMACH BITTERS
f // ST ( sd ) / NICHOLAS ( sd ) / STOMACH ( sd ) / BITTERS ( sd ) // f // IMPORTED ( sd ) BY ( sd ) / GENTRY ( sd ) & OTIS. ( sd ) / NY ( sd ) //
9 3/8 x 3 3/8 x 3 (7 3/8)  5/16
Tapered Rectangular, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, Rough pontil mark and Metallic pontil mark, Extremely rare
Note: S 16 is larger and much rarer than the smaller S 17 bottle. Most S 16 examples are heavily etched and damaged. Example was found in an estate in Texas, examples were dug in New Orleans.

S 16 The larger ST. NICHOLAS STOMACH BITTERS – Meyer Collection

S 17  ST. NICHOLAS STOMACH BITTERS
f // ST ( sd ) / NICHOLAS ( sd ) / STOMACH ( sd ) / BITTERS ( sd ) // f // IMPORTED ( sd ) BY ( sd ) / GENTRY ( sd ) & OTIS. ( sd ) / N.Y. ( sd ) //
7 1/2 x 2 3/4 x 2 1/2 (5 3/4) 3/8
Tapered Rectangular, Amber, LTC, Rough pontil mark and
Metallic pontil mark, Very rare
Note: A number of examples were dug in San Jose, California. Example found in Lake Tahoe.

S 17 The smaller ST. NICHOLAS STOMACH BITTERS – Meyer Collection

Embossing detail on both sizes of the ST NICHOLAS STOMACH BITTERS. S 16 on left, S 17 on right – Meyer Collection

S17_SaintNicholsBothSizes_BBS

ST. NICHOLAS STOMACH BITTERS pair as pictured in Bitters Bottle Supplement by Carlyn Ring and Bill Ham. (Rough and Metallic Pontil Marks)

ST. NICHOLAS STOMACH BITTERS pair – Ham Collection

Newspaper advertisement (above): A.M. Gentry, Wholesale Grocer, Congress Street, Houston, Texas, 200 cases of St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters – Southern Democrat (Waco, Texas), Vol. 1, No. 39, Ed. 1, 1858

J.R.N. & CO / BOSTON / MASS, 7 3/4″ tall, smooth base. Same shape as the St. Nicholas. bitters. – Charles Aprill

Abram Morrice Gentry

Since the “St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters” is also embossed “N.Y.” and “Imported by Gentry & Otis,”  I found a listing for an “A.M Gentry “set up as a grocer in New York located at 121 Front Street in 1857. Oddly enough, another A.M Gentry was showing up in Houston in 1857. He was listed as a wholesale grocer located on Congress Street downtown. His advertising stated that he was connected with the New York firm of Gentry & Otis. There you go; Gentry was kind of in two places at the same time. That same advertisement stated that 200 cases of St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters had just been received at their Houston address! There were also 50 cases of Stoughton’s Bitters, 50 cases of Hostetter’s Bitters and 49 cases of Turner’s Forrest Wine Bitters in the shipment.

Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, and students in various cities and countries around the world. His reputation evolved among the faithful, as was common for early Christian saints, and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the traditional model of Santa Claus (“Saint Nick”) through Sinterklaas. If you look at the advertising above, you will see ole’ St. Nicholas on a roof with a chimney, with a bag of presents, smoking a pipe and holding a bottle of St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters. Pretty cool.

Colonel Abram Morrice Gentry, son of Joseph and Mary (Van Meter) Gentry, was born in Brookville, Indiana in May 1821 and headed to Houston at a young age in 1838. He married Mary Frances Rather in Houston on October 29, 1844 and set up A.M. Gentry & Company offering package express for Houston, Galveston, the United States and abroad via stagecoach lines and steamers. Regular agents, attended to the personal delivery of all valuable letters and packages.., forwarded by their house in New Orleans via fast running steamers to Galveston and Houston and all the intermediate landings. Once at Houston, the mail was connected to stage coach lines which ran to the city of Austin via Washington, Brenham, Independence, Rutersville, LaGrange and Bastrop to Huntsville via Montgomery; also to Columbus, Richmond and San Felipe. Outgoing mail was forwarded from New Orleans to agents in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington city; Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Louisville, Madison, Ia; Nashville and Memphis, Tenn.; Natchez and Vicksburg, Miss.; Galena and Quincy, Ill.; Boonville and St. Louis, Mo; Charleston, SC; Savannah, Ga.; Richmond, VA; Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, and Mobile, Ala. and Great Britain or the Continent.

Gentry then established A.M. Gentry & Co., Wholesale Grocers on Congress Street in downtown Houston in 1855 or so. That is a few blocks from where I sit right now. They were also importers of Wines, Liquors, Cigars, Hardware, Crockery and many other useful items of the time period. He took on partners in New York and Boston and ran similar operations in those cities. First in New York we see Lowery, Gentry, Slote Co., Wholesale Grocers and Commission Merchants located at 121 Front Street in 1856. By 1857, Lowery is gone and the firm is Gentry, Slote & Company. By 1858, it is Gentry, Otis & Co. at the same address. In Boston in 1860, it was Gentry, Stiles & Co. So it looks like 1860 would have been when the St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters was produced as Gentry and Otis or any other Gentry listing does not show up in NYC directories after that date.

The amber bottles come in two sizes and are shaped like tapered rectangle wedges unlike any other bitters. They are usually pretty crude with applied mouths and have rough pontil and metallic pontil marks. Also, the embossed typography is slanted which is quite unique. The existing larger bottles are usually in poor condition and broken. I would consider them both extremely rare. Examples have been found in an estate in Texas and examples have been dug in New Orleans and San Jose, California. Another example was found in Lake Tahoe.

A.M. Gentry, was a well-known Texan and Houstonian and an early railroad promoter, land-owner and represented Harris County in the Senate for the Eighth and Eleventh legislatures. He also ran for Lt. Governor in 1863. He was a man of fine commercial mind and of an enterprising disposition, and his active energies and faculties were always enlisted in the cause of Houston’s progress and prosperity.

Besides being a merchant, he was a government contractor, manager of transportation of the Confederate Government and a railroad promoter and builder. Gentry’s business interest in mail delivery led in 1856 to his plans to begin building the Sabine and Galveston Bay Railroad and Lumber Company to be called the “Texas and New Orleans Railroad, Texas Division” within the state of Texas.

By August, 1860, A. M. Gentry, President of the Railroad, had completed 41 miles from Houston to Liberty, and by the first of the following year the road to Orange was built. From Houston, plans were announced to extend the Opelousas and Houston Railroad to through Gonzales to San Antonio. The “Texas State Gazette” announced on June, 30th, 1860, that “Gentry is the name of a new town established on the railroad at the crossing of the San Jacinto river. H. G. Runnels is running a steamer to the town. The railroad is in good running order between Beaumont and Liberty”. Gentry was instrumental in securing additional funds from New York investors for the line’s development in antebellum Texas and made a number of trips to the state.

Col. Gentry spent the war in the Supply and Commissary Department of the Confederate Army and was in the first company, christened the Gentry Guards, that left Houston to support the succession movement. It went to Brazos Santiago (Brazos Island), under command of I. C. Stafford, on a vessel Commanded by Captain Leon Smith, afterwards a commodore of the Confederate States navy.

After the war, Gentry spent much of his time in New York City and at Huntington, Long Island, where he also had property. He also maintained his home in Houston and devoted most of his time to financing the Texas Western Narrow Gauge Railroad out of Houston. The Civil War really took a toll on Texas railroads as many were in total disrepair from the war. Mother Nature wasn’t kind either as the Trinity River Bridge washed out in 1867 and the Texas and New Orleans continued to offer service between Houston and Beaumont until spring 1868, at which time the company was forced into receivership. From 1870 to 1871 limited service operated between Houston and West Liberty until the railroad was sold. The purchaser was John F. Terry of the New York banking firm of J. S. Kennedy and Company. A new Texas and New Orleans Railroad company was chartered in 1874 and Terry was named president.

Map of Texas showing the Sabine and Galveston Bay Rail Road, or Texas and New Orleans Air Line Rail Line, its connections in the U.S. and adjacent territories. A. M. Gentry, Published New York, 1859. – Library of Congress

Photo is of several gentlemen on the Texas & New Orleans RR carts on the tracks. Photo dated about 1900 to 1910.

Here is a great accounting below of what happened during and after the Civil War in Texas in regards to construction of the all-important railroads. One can only suspect that many St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters bottles are buried along the railroad tracks mentioned in this article.

Read: Allen’s Landing – Houston (not everything is new here) – Part I

Rails Long Burried – Great Bend Tribune, Thursday, July 25, 1907

Gentry died of paralysis of the heart in Huntington, Long Island on 20 February 1883 at the age of 61. He lies in rest at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, Texas

Select Listings:

1823: Abram Morrice Gentry, born in Brookville, Ind., May 14, 1821. Merchant, government contractor, manager of transportation of Confederate Government and railroad promoter and builder. He built the Texas and New Orleans railroad from Houston to Orange, also the Texas Western, from Houston to Sealy, Texas. He was an educated civil engineer; married Mary Francis Rather, Oct. 29, 1844, daughter of James Rather and Harriet Lewen, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., who moved to Texas in 1839. And had: Charles Ruthven Gentry, born Sept. 30, 1845 ; died Oct. 14, 1883, Mary Virginia Gentry, born Dec. 3, 1849; married, Jan. 23, 1873, Jedediah Waldo, who died about 1892, son of Calvin Waldo and Matilda Odeneal, of Osceola, Mo. He was vice-president and general traffic manager of the M. K. & T. Railroad. They had: Gentry Waldo, born Sept. 26, 1874; m. Carrinne Abercrombie, and had : Gentry Chilton and Elizabeth Elliott, Wilmer Waldo, born Jan. 21, 1876, Cora Waldo, born March 2, 1877; m. Pierce Butler of Natches, Miss., and had: Virginia W. Pierce, Mary Francis, Mary Waldo, born Oct. it, 1878, Lula Waldo, born March 8, 1880, Virginia Waldo, born Nov. 8, 1881, Cora Nina Gentry, born April 16, 1854; m. April, 1886, N. H. Worley, and had : Gentry and Charles, Alonzo Mills Gentry, born Sept. 25, 1856; died April, 1898. – The Gentry Family in America 1676 to 1909
1838: A.M. Gentry moved to Houston, where he engaged in merchandising. – The Texas State Historical Association
1844: Abram M Gentry, Marriage Date: 29 Oct 1844, Marriage Place: Harris, Texas, Spouse: Mary Frances Rather – Texas, Select County Marriage Index, 1837-1965
1845: Abram M. Gentry & Company ran a package express for Houston, Galveston, the United States and abroad via stagecoach lines and steamers – WikiTree, Crosby, Harris County, Texas One Place Study
1856: Lowrey (John), Gentry & Slote, Grocers, 121 Front Street – Trow’s New York City Directory
1857: Gentry, Slote & Co., (late Lowery, Gentry & Slote) Wholesale Grocers and Commission Merchants, No. 121 Front Street, New York (Abram M. Gentry, Texas, Alonzo Slote, Texas, George K. Otis, New York) – New York City Directory
1857: Cravens & Gooch, Palestine, Texas, Attorneys, refer to Gentry, Slote & Co., New York – The Texas Almanac, Richardson & Company
1857: Gentry, Slote & Co., Grocers,  New York – New York City Directory
1857: Abram M Gentry, Grocer, 121 Front, New York City, New York – New York, City Directory, 1857
1857: Alonzo Slote, Grocer, 121 Front, New York City, New York – New York, City Directory, 1857
1858: Newspaper advertisement (above): A.M. Gentry, Wholesale Grocer, Congress Street, Houston, Texas, Connected with the New York firm of Gentry & Otis, 200 cases of St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters – Southern Democrat (Waco, Texas), Vol. 1, No. 39, Ed. 1, Thursday, November 18, 1858.
1859: A.M. Gentry was instrumental in securing the charter for the Texas and New Orleans Railroad in 1859. – The Texas State Historical Association
1860: Newspaper advertisement (above): St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters – Gentry & Otis – New, York – Galveston News, October 2, 1860
1860: Gentry & Otis, Grocers, 121 Front – Trow’s New York City Directory
1860: A.M. Gentry bought the charter for the Gas Company in Houston in 1860.- WikiTree, Crosby, Harris County, Texas One Place Study
1870: Abraham Gentry, 49, Birth Year: abt 1821, Birthplace: Pennsylvania, Dwelling Number: 81, Home in 1870: Houston Ward 2, Harris, Texas, Personal Estate Value: 700, Real Estate Value: 2,500, Inferred Spouse: Mary F Gentry, Inferred Children: Charles R Gentry, Mary V Gentry, Cora Gentry, Alonzo Gentry – 1870 United States Federal Census
1875: The Texas Western Narrow Gauge Railroad out of Houston was chartered on January 18, 1875 and became the Texas Western Railroad by a new charter on April 28, 1881. – The Texas State Historical Association
1877: Abram M. Gentry, res SE corner Franklin & LaBranch – Mooney and Morrison´s Directory of the City of Houston, 1877-78
1883: A M Gentry death 20 Feb 1883 (aged 61), Burial, Glenwood Cemetery, Houston, Harris County, Texas
Posted in Advertising, Bitters, Civil War, Collectors & Collections, History, liquor, Liquor Merchant, Medicines & Cures | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Some Early American Glass Bowls

Posted on 19 June 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

The group over at Early American Glass Collectors on facebook have been posting and commenting on some gorgeous early American bowls from the primarily New England glass houses. These are wonderful pieces. So simple and clean. I can not help but to imagine what type of food would look best and would be served in each bowl. Enjoy.

For years, I tried to focus on bottles, flasks, and glass from the Connecticut glasshouses of Pitkin, Coventry, West Willington, Westford and New London. Then came MA, NY state, South Jersey and PA…Well, I do have a thing for Midwestern glass & bowls and here is a grouping of colors. The green bowl I feel is Western NY state, possibly Lockport, which I absolutely adore. – Rick Ciralli

5 inches wide, 2 1/8 inches across. Pontil, out-folded rim. Very light. Maybe used to serve “blueberry yogurt”. My only blue pan. – Charles Aprill

One of my older pics of a cool grouping. The footed bowl is Coventry! The finger bowl in the front? Glastonbury! The flared bowl in the right hand corner? Keene! And that little blue green open salt? – Rick Ciralli

Rick Ciralli, I think this is like your deep dish bowl with the rolled lip. The shard (which matches the lip identical) was excavated at the location of the Granite Glass Co in Stoddard. I am not 100% on it, but is fairly conclusive. This glass is also a little later (1860s) and much cleaner than the earlier Stoddard glass. Although, this one has a huge potstone in the rim…quality control was still an issue! – Michael George

An early New England bowl with a pour spout – John April

Color is King and welcome to the courtyard! A handsome thing from the Midwest? – Rick Ciralli

Here is one of the largest footed bowls attributed to Stoddard. It was once one of a pair that was passed down and together since the 1930. A good friend owns the other example. I uncovered the shard at South Stoddard… it is an identical match of this high sided bowl with a thick folded rim. – Michael George

It’s a greet bowl. Came of out one the McKearin sales at Pennypacker in the early 60’s. – Jeff Noordsy

I have a thing for BTM plates and bowls and here’s a small grouping of the hard to find small ones. GII-18 & a pair of GIII-23’s along with a blown and pressed whale oil lamp. Products of Sandwich, MA, circa 1825 – Rick Ciralli

The bowls both saw a lot of use and have tons of wear. They’re both a fairly deep “aqua” and the one on the right has a huge tubular pontil. – Woody Douglas

Early folded rim pale yellow bowl – John April

Four aqua bowls – Rick Ciralli

Two bowls, different forms, both Hartford County, 1800-1820. – Rick Ciralli

One of my bowls. I believe it’s Hartford County, 1800-1820 – Rick Ciralli

Tall aqua bowl – Woody Douglas

Pontiled green bowl with pour spout – Charles Flint

The small finger bowl in the middle resembles the Glastonbury bowl in Wilson’s NE glassmaking. Ex-Jessie Brainard collection. He had it as Glastonbury also. – Rick Ciralli

Color and character makes this one special – Michael George

All this talk about pans and bowls reminded me of this little gem 3 1/2″D, 12 ribs, probably Pittsburgh. – Jeff Noordsy

Large Midwestern covered bowl – Dave Maryo

Posted in Bowls, Collectors & Collections, Dinnerware, Early American Glass, Facebook, Glass Companies & Works, Glass Makers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Major Glass Movement – Censored

Posted on 19 June 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

I post many stories and pictures and frequently get items that must be censored. This means I have directions to not post the stories and actual pictures until a time when I am released. For these reasons the bottle pictures below are censored or have a mask of concealment like a confidential witness. I do expect to be posting full disclosure and exciting pictures when permission is granted.

Oh my. Incredible new figural bottle fresh to the market. Keep a look out, as this beauty could appear at an Auction House near you sometime soon.

One of only two known examples spotted recently. Movement was so quick that pictures were hard to obtain. Peachridge Glass will report more as the story settles down and becomes more in focus.

Two killer bottles were nabbed in quick succession. This happened in the middle of the night as special night correction equipment and lenses were used to capture this image.

There may not be a better example of this extremely rare bird. I am sure the bottle world will be spinning when this story gets out!

It appears that this one-of-the-kind bottle was found in the arctic encased in recently fallen glacial ice. That may not be the case as this bottle will be making some hot news here very shortly.

This stunner is a legend with an example residing in the Corning Museum of Glass.

Almost spiritual, this majestic apparation made an appearance briefly before settleing in with other colors flankng left and right.

Posted in Bitters, Collectors & Collections, Digging and Finding, Figural Bottles, Humor - Lighter Side, News, Photography | Tagged | 2 Comments

Incoming Questions about Finds

Posted on 19 June 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

I continually get emails and pictures about recents finds and questions about bottles and glass. Though I field the Bitters questions, I typically send the questions outside of my area of speciality to others. Here are a few questions I received in the past few days. I have also published some of the answers. This type of dialogue is really healthy. Most of us are using facebook and other on line forums as an alternative source for almost instant answers as writing to a magazine can take weeks or months for a reply.

I suggest that when submitting questions that you also consider the following general forums and groups:

Early American Glass Collectors | Bottle Collectors | Antique-Bottles.net | Soda Bottle Collectors Group | Collecting Insulators

Australian Amber Target Ball

Hi, I have a amber glass target ball I wish to sell, perhaps on eBay, or maybe you know someone who will give a current price for it. I am aware it is a rare ball, but I need to consolidate my collection. I have had it for 30 years, but if it is worth selling I would part with it. Could you give me a starting price for it? It is in perfect condition. Thanks in advance — Neil

[from Target Ball Authority Ralph Finch] Amazing; there were once very, very rare. Three have sold in the last year, going in the range of $600. (18 years ago I paid $1,200.) You want me to dig out the specific auctions and send it to Neil? Ralph

Drakes Bitters Bottle

Hello, I found your website while trying to learn about a bitters bottle I discovered when cleaning out the home of an elderly relative. I am not a collector so I know nothing about these types of items and I was hoping that perhaps you would be willing to point me in the right direction so that I could determine if the bottle holds any value.

Based on the information I’ve already read on your site, I “think” it is the D110 olive color. I have attached a few images if you have a moment to take a look.

I really appreciate any help you could offer. Beth

[Peachridge Glass] Beth: Thanks for the email. You are correct. You have a found a Drakes Plantation Bitters (figural cabin). It is the four log variant which is D 110. The bottle and color look good. Depending on the exact color (amount of olive tone), and the condition (no chips, cracks or problems) you could get between $1,000 to $2,500 for it. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Ferdinand

Blown Bottle Amber Mug Whimsey

Hi Ferdinand, Found your site a week back and have been mind boggled and hooked since. I’ve been doing bottles and glass all my life and back in the 1990’s have sold a piece or two to the respectable likes of Jeff Noordsy and also Judith Cronin who owns the copyrights to Ruth Webb Lee’s EAPG Pattern Books. I was checking out the Hat Whimsey artice and I was curious to see if what I have pictured here is a possible Mug Whimsey.

It’s bottle amber with an applied handle and looks to be cup blown for the first 2/3’s of it, then it gets all “swirley round” on the top third. The base has what I think is the “right” pontil, and the handle is similiar to a rigaree type. There is age base wear, although the burst bubble on the edge keeps the wear limited to certain areas. It is 5-1/16″ high and the top diameter is 3-3/8″.

It appears that there were some very small chips on the top rim on the left of the handle either from the bottle hitting it when pouring, or it’s possible from hitting the teeth of someone who’s had too much. In the past, someone has apparently ground the chips along the edge; doesn’t bother it’s appearance, but I want to mention all I know about it. I found it in an antique store not 5 miles from my house for 4 clams. I sincerely doubt it’s any type of reproduction, but I want to be sure.

I would be very curious for your opinion and possible others opinions as to whether it’s what I think in my gut level; a mug whimsey circa 1860, or possibly earlier.

Again, I thank you for your site and the enjoyment and education I get from it.
If you ever get up this way, there’s a nice bottle show at Shupp’s Grove in Adamstown the weekend of July 20th, I will be snooping and shopping there.

Thanks again, Eric Richter, Lancaster Pa

[Peachridge Glass] Eric: My hunch is that this is real. I sent a few pics to someone very knowledgeable in this area. Let me know if I can post your email and find on my site. Pretty cool. F

[Rick Ciralli] Hey Ferd, Happy Fathers Day…This piece seems funny to me. The handle attachment is up to high and goes directly into the side of the mug as oppossed to starting down more and then flipping upward….The rigaree appears to be ok…but the underlining fact that scares me is the lack of base wear. The small patch looks fabricated to me…why in that place and not evenly distributed around the base? I have seen pieces from Jersey and NYS that have funky handles that start up high but I go with my gut and it appears to me to be some kind of a revival piece. I would run it by Mike George, Jeff Noordsy and a few others. I can forward it if you like Just say the word…my best to Elizabeth

[Jeff Noordsy] Likely Clevenger. 1930s or newer…(and later) Yes, this one is Clevenger from across the room.

[Clevenger authority Tom Haunton] Hi Rick. Happy Father’s Day to you. Yup. A classic Allie Clevenger-made mug, circa 1930-1960. If your friend wants more proof, I can send some other photos of similar mugs. All the best, Tom Haunton

[Eric Richter] My Thanks to you all for putting my mystery to rest. For the $4 spent; I’ll use it rather than display it. Thanks again, Eric

Hi Ferdinand,

Need some help identifing a bottle. Short story – back in the early 70’s while digging pits in New Haven Ct, I found a few pieces from a bottle that to date have never seen or heard of another. —- Quart size, medium emerald green in color, iron pontil, embossed on the shoulders like the Oak Orchard Acid Springs bottle, “CLARKS CONGRESS (SPRINGS?) / J. GORHAM / NEW HAVEN (CONN?)”, all that I had was the base and part of the shoulder and neck. So cannot be positive that it had SPRINGS or CONN embossed or what might of been embossed on the body.

Since you now have the major bottle & glass go to site, maybe a Saratoga collector can share some info or even a photo. Thanks again for your time. Carl Hotkowski

[Need some help on this one]

Posted in Advice, Bitters, Digging and Finding, Facebook, Glass Makers, Mineral Water, Peachridge Glass, Questions, Target Balls, Whimsies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Early pictures of some of the characters and legends or both

Posted on 18 June 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Dick & Elma Watson

Early pictures of some of the characters and legends or both

18 June 2012

Dr. Burton Spiller

I really like seeing older pictures of some of the collecting greats, legends and characters that I have heard so much about. I realize these pictures are in magazines stacked in closets and garages for many of you, but for a collector like myself, who is relatively new to the hobby (2002), I do not have access to pictures relating to the stories I hear. There is a whole new generation of collectors who want to see this information.

Here are some pictures that I have gathered from Bottle Collectors and Early American Glass on facebook. Thanks to Dana Charlton-Zarro and Mark Vuono for the pictures.

PLEASE send me more pictures if you possess a digital image of these important people and events so I can archive and add to the post. It is so important to remember and save images from our past.

Pictured here is Jessie Brainard, a Coventry resident and glass enthusiast from the past speaking to the Hebron historical society back in the late 1960’s early 1970’s – photo Rick Ciralli

Dr. Burton Spiller & collection – photo Dana Charlton-Zarro

Grinning bottle digger, 1994. We pulled three of these from a pit in a “dug out” backyard. Other diggers claimed that they had “cleaned that yard out”. Shut their mouths. – Michael Dolcini

Picture of the wide mouth JPF flask from 1947 – photo from Mark Vuono

Charlie Gardner and Joe Zarro, Keene, New Hampshire, 1972.

Ray & Marcia Dwyer.both were diggers around Connecticut – she collected chestnuts and Ray everything that caught his fancy – photo Noel Thomas

This privy was c1790 or earlier, New Brunswick, NJ. About 3 or 4 feet of overburden was graded from street level. I dug it in 1977, notice the pile of black glass rums in front. They were all English. Also notice all of the other activity in the photo. There were so many privies to dig and so little time that people were just raking through and metal detecting what we were shoveling out. Colonial coppers and silver coins were showing up daily, even hourly! There were privies several feet from each other in this corner of the block, like a honey comb, they were everywhere. I dug about 5 privies in this area alone. All of the old buildings, except for the Unger Cigar Box Factory, a c1870s building in the middle of the block, were long gone, but the 1831 map showed this block was loaded up corner to corner with large hotels and taverns. The corner property one lot away was the site of the Indian Queen Tavern, a place where Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson once shared a room. The privy pictured also contained a damaged Captain James Morgan Pottery cobalt decorated tankard. What a great piece that was. What’s really funny is how NOBODY other than a few bottle diggers were interested in the historical value of the site. Once the ‘archaeologists’ from (I can’t say where in this forum) got wind of what we were finding we were ‘replaced’ by archaeologists from a certain non-Jersey University so they could show us how to excavate with their whisk brooms, mason trowels and dust pans. – Joe Butewicz

Picture of Helen McKearin and Ken Wilson taken at Old Sturbridge Village in 1956 – photo Mark Vuono

Ron Rainka and Joe Zarro, undated, but a long time ago! – photo provided by Dana Charlton-Zarro

“Eugene Heisey and Shank girls” Chicago Expo 1980 – check out the table! and who else is in the photo? – photo Dana Charton-Zarro

Dennis Traverso, Joe Zarro, and Norm Heckler, 1972 Keene – photo Dana Charlton-Zarro

Dick Watson (with bottle in hand), Keene, New Hampshire sometime in the 1970s – photo Dana Charlton-Zarro

A photo with the right spirit! Charles and Jane Aprill, February 1976 – Ft. Lauderdale, Florida – photo Dana Charlton-Zarro

Ben Crane and Charlie Gardner, Lancaster show 1972 – photo Dana Charlton-Zarro

John Joiner, Don Bryant, Kim Kokles, Jim Mitchell at Gardner sale in1975 (Skinners) – photo Dana Charlton-Zarro

Georgia & Bob Hinely, John Joiner, St. Pete show in 1973 – photo Dana Charlton-Zarro

Gorgeous bottle, example of a GVII-1, NORTH BEND – TIPPECANOE (1840), one sold at auction in 2003 for $31,000. Not many around, the one on display at the Corning Glass Museum is/was on a lower shelf and I remember laying on their floor so long looking at it I thought they were going to charge me rent!held by Norman Heckler at Lancaster, 1972 – photo Dana Charlton-Zarro, comment – Ed Miller

I was a speaker at a club (can’t remember which) showing some of my hundreds of slides taken of personalities, shows and bottles during the late 60s and 70s. That is Mike Voytek next to me who built the inside of a large glass works with worker bees all around the glory holes. The model is in the National Bottle Museum now. – Noel Thomas

Norman Heckler’s 1st Auction – see how many people you recognize: Gale Cambell on left in white shirt; Ralph Finch interviewing Liz Heckler; Thomas Edward Carroll on right in light-colored sweater – Dana Charlton-Zarro

That’s my Grandfather ( Irving Shultis). He was from Glenford N.Y. and moved to Fl. He dug alot in both Florida and New York. – Brian Shultis

From Steve Ketcham: I found this 1977 photo of Gene and Tom and some fellow collectors taken at the 1977 Memphis Bottle Show. The pic is from the August 1977 Bottle News. Look at some of these great names at the 10th Annual Memphis Bottle Show. That is outgoing FOHBC president Gene Bradberry and Fed Conventions Director Tom Phillips! They are both preparing for their 27th Annual Show!

Charles Gardner and Allie Clevenger talking Pickles – photo submitted by Brian Shultis

The late Marion and Tom McCandless at the first Heckler Auction – Dana Charlton-Zarro

Posted in Collectors & Collections, Early American Glass, Facebook, History, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Some Extremely Rare Mississippi Bitters

Posted on 17 June 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Leriemondies_GWA

DR. LERIEMONDIE’S SOUTHERN BITTERS is a piece of art – Glass Works Auctions 2013

Some Extremely Rare Mississippi Bitters

17 June 2012 (Updated 06 Sep 2013) (R•041319)

Apple-Touch-IconAA while ago, I crossed digital paths with Richard Kramerich and he mentioned some extremely rare Mississippi Bitters that I was not familiar with. This set me off and started the hunt.

Close up of DR. LERIEMONDIE’S / SOUTHERN / BITTERS. I love this old bottle. It is just “as dug”, just out of the ground condition. Most of the “patina” is inside. I expect this would clean up nicely, but I can’t part with it – Charles Aprill

Ferd,

Attached are scans of the bitters pages in the Mississippi book. My contact person who gave permission to copy the pages and send them to you is Johnny Campbell. Johnny photographed the bottles that appeared in the book. You may want to call him and ask about the bitters bottles and their rarity.

Johnny did say that there is a known cobalt blue Dr. LeRiemondie’s Southern Bitters bottle and it resides in a collection in California.

At our Daphne show this past March, I talked to Shank Gonzales, who is a long time digger and collector who lives south of Baton Rouge, about the Dr. LeRiemonde bottles. He recalled seeing both colors on a sales table at a bottle show in New Orleans in or around 1973. They were priced at $50. each! He definitely knew what I was talking about and that he did see them.

Hope this helps, and maybe you can track down the cobalt one.

If I can be of any other help, let me know.

Sincerely,

Richard Kramerich
Pensacola, Florida

Well, I have tracked down most of the examples and expect pictures. Richard also connected me with Justin McClure in Jackson, Mississippi. He gathered the material and was the editor of the Mississippi Antique Bottles & Jugs book (cover and Bitters pages pictured below) last published in 2004. He also provided most of the pictures in this post. I am also awaiting more material from Justin. As always, if you have more information regarding these Bitters, please forward so I can add and update this important material.

Cover image – Mississippi Antique Bottles & Jugs (2004)

Mississippi Bitters page – Mississippi Antique Bottles & Jugs (2004)

Mississippi Bitters page 8 – Mississippi Antique Bottles & Jugs (2004)

Mississippi Bitters page 9 – Mississippi Antique Bottles & Jugs (2004)

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

L 77  Dr. Leriemondie’s Southern Bitters
DR. LERIEMONDIE’S (au ) / SOUTHERN / BITTERS // c //
9 7/8 x 4 x 2 3/4 (7)
Oval, Green and Cobalt, NSC, Applied mouth, Extremely rare
Moreys’ Mississippi Almanac, 1860
A Brookhaven, Mississippi bottle.

Brookhaven (pronounced locally: broo-KAY-vən) is a small city in Lincoln County, Mississippi. The population was 9,861 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lincoln County. It was named after the Town of Brookhaven, New York, by founder Samuel Jayne, in 1818.

DR. LERIEMONDIE’S SOUTHERN BITTERS in green – Mississippi Antique Bottles & Jugs (2004)

This Dr. Leriemondie’s is “as dug” in 1973 in New Orleans. Outside washed once. Sapphire blue, round “sand” pontil. – Charles and Jane Aprill Collection

Blue and green DR. LERIEMONDIE’S / SOUTHERN / BITTERS. Both dug in 1973 in New Orleans. – Charles and Jane Aprill Collection

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

C 239.5  Dr. Couparles Medicated Gin Bitters
DR. L. J. COUPARLES // MEDICATED / GIN BITTERS // COUPARLE CITY / MISS. // f //
9 x 2 3/4 (6 3/4) 3/8
Square, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, Extremely rare
Dr. Couparle founded his own town north of Jackson in 1843; however, by the 1870s it had become a ghost town.

DR. COUPARLES MEDICATED GIN BITTERS –  Mississippi Antique Bottles & Jugs (2004)

BITTER APPLE BITTERS

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

B 110.3  Bitter Apple Bitters
// BITTER / APPLE BITTERS / W. A. DOZIER / HATTIESBURG, MISS.  // f // f // f //
L . . . Bitter Apple Bitters Co., Hattiesburg, Miss.
// b // W T CO. / 2 / USA
6 x 1 7/8 (4 1/2) 1/4
Square, Amber, LTC, Tooled lip, Extremely rare
Sample size, Larger bottle exists

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

D 96  L…Dozier’s Bitter Apple Bitters, BAB Co., Hattiesburg, Miss.
9 1/4 x 3
Round, Aqua, LTC, Tooled lip

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

B 248.5  Buck’s Aromatic Bitters
// f // BUCK’S // AROMATIC BITTERS // JACKSON. MISS //
8 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 2 1/8
Rectangular, Amber, NSC, Applied mouth, 3 sp, Extremely rare

BUCK’S AROMATIC BITTERS – Mississippi Antique Bottles & Jugs (2004)

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

C 44.5  J. Caracopulo Vegetable Bitters
J. CARACOPULO / VEGETABLE / BUTTERS / NATCHEZ, MI.
9 1/4 x 3 1/4
Round, Teal, DC, Applied mouth, Metallic pontil mark, Extremely
The Z in NATCHEZ is backwards

J. CARACOPULO VEGETABLE BITTERS – Mississippi Antique Bottles & Jugs (2004)

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

Y2  YAZOO VALLEY BITTERS
FULTON M. Mc.CRAE / YAZOO VALLEY BITTERS / sp // f // sp //
8 1/2 x 2 1/4 (7) 3/8
Square, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, 3 sp, Rare
Trade cards known.

Note: Made in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Fulton M. McRae was a Sheriff in Vicksburg, Mississippi in the 1800’s and 1890’s. Example was dug in Vicksburg, Mississippi and another was dug in Memphis, Tennessee.

Yazoo Valley Bitters – Meyer Collection

United States Patent Office 1883 – McRae, Fulton M., Vicksburg, Miss. “The Austrailian (Eucalyptus Globulus) Anti-Periodic or Fever and Ague Tonic” – April 20, 1883

Posted in Article Publications, Bitters, Club News, Digging and Finding | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Grrrrrwllll…….Figural Bear Bottles

Posted on 15 June 2012 by Ferdinand Meyer V

We all like bears right?

I did a post the other day on some cool embossed bottles (Read: Cool Bottle Embossings) and added a picture of an OLD PIONEER WHISKEY with a ‘walking bear’ (pictured on left). This got me thinking about some other bears I have in my collection.

Pictured below you will find some really great examples of face applied bears.

Bottle collecting is so fun.

Figural Face Applied Bear Bottle, Deep Bluish Aqua, ca. 1880 – 1910, 8″ h, A.A.T. 1890 embossed on side at base, smooth base, tooled mouth, applied face. Scarce in this smaller size. – Meyer Collection

Two different Figural Bear Bottles, both mid-19th century and black, 11″ high (Belknap, 1949: fig. 242). – photo Cowan’s Auctions

Figural Applied Face Bear Bottle, Medium Olive Green 8-5/8”, Smooth base, applied face, tooled lip. Excellent example in a rare size and attractive color. Circa 1885 – 1910 – Meyer Collection

Figural Bottle; Sitting Bear, Milk Glass, 11 inch., Figural sitting bear bottle, circa 1890 to 1910, opaque milk glass, hand applied mouth.

Vintage Jamaica Rum Mini Glass Figural Bear Bottle Mercator Anvers Belgique, about 4 1/4 inches tall. Bottle has labels, embossed on back of bottle is Mercator, Anvers Belgique, Depose. Bottle has most of wax seal – photo My Green Fig

Figural Applied Face Bear Bottle, Dark Olive Green (black), Figural Applied Face Bear, ca. 1880 – 1910, 9 7/8″ h, smooth base, tooled mouth, applied face. – Meyer Collection

Figural Applied Face Bear Bottle, DISTRE MERCATOR S.A. / ANVERS BELGIQUE / DEPOSE, Medium Olive Green, 9 3/4”, Smooth base, tooled mouth. Not often seen with this embossing. Circa 1890-1915 – Meyer Collection

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