Woodgate & Company – Club House Gin

Posted on 18 September 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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Woodgate & Company – Club House Gin

18 September 2014

NO PLEASURE CAN EXCEED THE SMOKING OF THE WEED

Apple-Touch-IconAKen Edward had this cool Woodgate & Co., Club House Gin bottle at the Downieville Bottle Show this past weekend. Ken let me photograph it (see above) while I said I would try to track down some information. Apparently some shards and a few complete examples have been found on the west coast while another example, and maybe more, were found in the New York area.

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1860 Woodgate & Co., New York City, token front – Heritage Auctions

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1860 Woodgate & Co., New York City, token reverse – Heritage Auctions

If we look at New York City from around 1857 – 1860 or so, we find a Woodgate & Company on 83 Water Street who were importers of brandies, wines, and gins. They were obviously in to tobacco too judging from the puffing gentleman. An advertising token supports this information (see above). Previously, in 1852, there was a Woodgate & Roome who were wholesale wine and liquor dealers, and importers located at 46 Vesey according to a New York City Directory. So we can lean towards New York City as the primary source of this bottle. This looks like we are talking about John H. Woodgate who was born about 1802 in England and was listed as a grocer as early as 1835 in New York City.

I am really wondering if this is the same Woodgate as Woodgate’s Plantation Bitters?Read: The Mystery surrounding the Woodgate’s Plantation Bitters

There is also another similar Western gin embossed Woodgate & Co. Clubhouse Gin. I dug one with a few friends about 3 or 4 years ago in the bay area, and know of two other diggers that dug about 6 broken and damaged examples, 1 mint. I can only account for two mint examples, and 3 intact examples…2 of those have big lip chips and the other a blown out hole in the corner. I will try to post a picture of the example I have later in the week…. – J.F. Cutter Extra (Western Bitters News)

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We dug this last week and are trying to put an approximate value on it for the split. I am guessing it is from NY – Antique-Bottles.net

Posted in Advertising, Bitters, Digging and Finding, Ephemera, Gin, History, Liquor Merchant, Tobacco, Wine & Champagne | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Great Comet of 1811 & Comet Wine

Posted on 17 September 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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The Great Comet of 1811 & Comet Wine

17 September 2014

Apple-Touch-IconAKen Edward pulled me aside at the Downieville Bottle Show this past weekend and showed me what he called a “Halley’s Comet bottle” with an embossed comet seal and the date 1811 on a portion of the label. Ken was close but this is not Halley’s comet but rather the “Great Comet of 1811”.

“the year 1811 turned out to be particularly fine for wine production, and merchants marketed ‘Comet Wine’ at high prices for many years afterwards”

The comet of 1811 was thought to be responsible for the long, hot summer and dry autumn and the following abundant harvest that year. As it turned out, the year 1811 turned out to be particularly fine for wine production, and merchants marketed ‘Comet Wine’ at high prices for many years afterwards.

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[Wikipedia] The Great Comet of 1811 was a comet that was visible to the naked eye for around 260 days, a record it held until the appearance of Comet Hale–Bopp in 1997. The comet was discovered March 25, 1811 by Honoré Flaugergues at 2.7 AU from the sun in the now-defunct constellation of Argo Navis. After being obscured for several days by moonlight, it was also found by Jean-Louis Pons on April 11, while Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach was able to confirm Flaugergues’ discovery the same night.

The first provisional orbit was computed in June by Johann Karl Burckhardt. Based on these calculations, Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers made a prediction that the comet would go on to become extremely bright later that year.

From May to August, the comet’s position made it difficult to spot because of its low altitude and the evening twilight. Both Flaugergues and Olbers were able to recover it in Leo Minor during August, Olbers noting a small but distinct tail, consisting of two rays forming a parabola, when viewing through a comet seeker. By September, in Ursa Major, it was becoming a conspicuous object in the evening sky as it approached perihelion: William Herschel noted that a tail 25° long had developed by October 6.

By January 1812, the comet’s brightness had faded. Several astronomers continued to obtain telescopic observations for some months, the last being Vincent Wisniewski at Novocherkassk, who noted it as barely reaching an apparent magnitude of 11 by August 12.

The Great Comet of 1811 was thought to have had an exceptionally large coma, perhaps reaching over 1 million miles across – fifty percent larger than the Sun. The comet’s nucleus was later estimated at 30-40 km in diameter and the orbital period was calculated at 3,757 years (later adjusted to 3,065 years). In many ways the comet was quite similar to Comet Hale–Bopp: it became spectacular without passing particularly close to either the Earth or the Sun, but had an extremely large and active nucleus.

Astronomers also found the comet a memorable sight. William Henry Smyth, comparing his recollections of the Great Comet of 1811 to the spectacular Donati’s Comet, stated that “as a mere sight-object, the branched tail was of greater interest, the nucleus with its ‘head-veil’ was more distinct, and its circumpolarity was a fortunate incident for gazers”.

The comet was apparently visible during the New Madrid earthquakes in December, 1811. A report on the first steamship to descend the Ohio River as it approached the confluence with the Mississippi River states, “December 18, 1811. – The anniversary of this day the people of Cairo and its vicinity should never forget. It was the coming of the first steamboat to where Cairo now is – the New Orleans, Capt. Roosevelt, Commanding. It was the severest day of the great throes of the New Madrid earthquake; at the same time, a fiery comet was rushing athwart the horizon.

The Great Comet of 1811 seems to have had a particular impact on non-astronomers. The artists John Linnell and William Blake both witnessed it, the former producing several sketches and the latter possibly incorporating it in his famous panel The Ghost of a Flea.

The English travel writer, novelist, and political economist Harriet Martineau (1802–1876) makes an odd reference to not seeing the comet in her Autobiography: “When the great comet of 1811 was attracting all eyes…[n]ight after night, the whole family of us went up to the long windows at the top of my father’s warehouse; and the exclamations on all hands about the comet perfectly exasperated me,–because I could not see it!… Such is the fact; and philosophers may make of it what they may,–remembering that I was then nine years old, and with remarkably good eyes.”

At the midpoint of War and Peace, Tolstoy describes the character of Pierre observing this “enormous and brilliant comet […] which was said to portend all kinds of woes and the end of the world”. The comet was popularly thought to have portended Napoleon’s invasion of Russia (even being referred to as “Napoleon’s Comet”) and the War of 1812, among other events. In 2012 the Off-Broadway musical Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy opened to wide acclaim; the musical chronicles the romantic plot of Natasha, Anatole and Andrei, culminating in Pierre’s witnessing of the comet.

The year 1811 turned out to be particularly fine for wine production, and merchants marketed ‘Comet Wine’ at high prices for many years afterwards. The film Year of the Comet, a 1992 romantic comedy adventure film, is based on this premise and tells the story of the pursuit of a contemporarily discovered bottle of wine from the year of the Great Comet bottled for Napoleon. The film stars Penelope Ann Miller, Tim Daly and French film legend Louis Jourdan (his last film before retiring to the south of France, which is known for its wine making).

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Comet of 1811 Bottle – Ken Edward

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Comet of 1811 Bottle – Ken Edward

 Read More: Dr. C. V. Schmidt’s Asteroid Tonic Bitters – 1848

Posted in History, Wine & Champagne | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

California Wine Bitters – From the vineyard of Kohler & Frohling

Posted on 16 September 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

CWBLabelCalifornia Wine Bitters – From the vineyard of Kohler & Frohling

16 September 2014 (R•030615)

Apple-Touch-IconAHere, everything is not as it should be. The first example of the California Wine Bitters lady’s leg pictured below was spotted on a table at the Downieville Bottle Show and was recognized as a potential label applied to a bottle, meaning not an original application. The label was just too fresh and clean. The dealer noted this. The bottle stayed on the table though I was intrigued by the graphics.

The listing in Bitters Bottles is as follows:

C 25.5  California Wine Bitters
From the vineyard of Kohler & Frohling, 626 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California
Rennert, Prosch & Co, 26 & 28 Vesey Street, New York
Known from a trade card.

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Kohler & Frohling (Charles Kohler and John Frohling) was established in 1854 with the partners playing key roles in the development of the Southern California wine industry. They were the founders of Anaheim which was born in 1857, when 50 German-American families from the San Francisco area paid $750 each to invest in the Los Angeles Vineyard Society. Kohler and Frohling hired George Hansen, Los Angeles County’s assistant surveyor, to purchase and lay out the new wine-making colony. Kohler was also a member of the Los Angeles, California, Common Council, the governing body of that city. Kohler and Frohling planted 3,000 vines of wine grapes in the Los Angeles area. The firm of Frohling and Kohler was so successful that they began looking for a steady sources of grapes for their wine making.

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Labeled California Wine Bitters – North American Glass

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Label Only, ‘California / Wine Bitters / From the Vineyard of / Kohler & Frohling / Rennert, Prosch & Co. / 26 & 28 Vesey St. New York / 626 Montgomery St. San Francisco’, (Ring/Ham, C-25.5), American, ca. 1865 – 1875, yellowish olive green ladies leg, 11 5/8”h, smooth base, applied ring mouth, 98% original label. – Glass Works Auctions

CALIFORNIA WINES

IT IS A PRACTICE AMONGST certain Dealers to announce to the public that they do not sell any other than the pure article and for that reason ask for or claim the patronage of purchasers, while the Wines which they offer for sale are frequently PRICKED and SOUR, and detrimental to health, by occasioning, to a great degree, acidity of the stomach; an indication of their inferiority is to be noticed, in general, by their RILY appearance.

The undersigned, who had the honor of introducing California Wines, in 1854, the FIRST, and therefore the PIONEERS in the business, having sustained their reputation for the supply of a GENUINE ARTICLE, so that connoisseurs of Wines admit that KOHLER & FROHLING have the BEST stock of NATIVE WINES in the market, all of which have been PROPERLY ATTENDED TO and MATURED BY AGE. As they are sold at the same prices at which the Inferior descriptions are offered, it will be the fault of Dealers and Consumers should they not call for

KOHLER A FROHLING’S WINES,

Which are PERFECTLY PURE, CLEAR and SOUND, WILL ALWAYS KEEP and GIVE SATISFACTION TO EVERYBODY.

We OFFER FOR SALE :

SUPERIOR PORT WINE, For Medicinal purposes;

ANGELICA AND WHITE WINES, Vintage of 1857 and 1858;

WINE BITTERS, The best Appetizer in the State;

With a variety of other articles.

KOHLER & FROHLING, 626 Montgomery street, Montgomery Block,

San Francisco.

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California Wines advertisement by Kohler & Frohling – Sacramento Daily Union, 7 July 1862

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Kohler & Frohling California Wines & Brandies letterhead, San Francisco 1894 – eBay

Read about another California Wine Bitters: El Aliso, Jean Louis and Pierre Sainsevain and their California Wine Bitters

Read about another California Wine Bitters: M. Keller Label over at Western Bitters News

Posted in Bitters, Figural Bottles, History, Liquor Merchant, Wine & Champagne | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An unlisted Dr. Abbott’s Bitters by C. A. Richards

Posted on 15 September 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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An unlisted Dr. Abbott’s Bitters by C. A. Richards

15 September 2014 (R072719)

Apple-Touch-IconAHere is another labeled bitters that was presented to me by Jerry Forbes at the Downieville Bottle Show. With a label in rather poor shape, it is still exciting none-the-less because we have an unlisted Dr. Abbott’s Bitters. The bottle was found in Sacramento in an attic in 1999, off of J Street, by a contractor who sold the bottle to Jerry.

The label reads “Dr. Abbott’s Bitters” with a picture I presume of Dr. Abbott. Also on the label, “For the Cure of Indigestion”, “C. A. Richards, Sole Proprietor” and “80 State Street, Boston”. The label is also signed by C. A. Richards. Advertising for this brand seems to be from 1849 to 1860. There are plenty of advertisements showing cases of Abbott’s Bitters for sale in places such as Vermont, Richmond and even Honolulu, Hawaii.

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C. A. Richard’s famous Abbott’s Bitters! advertisement – Vermont Phœnix (Brattleboro, Vt.), September 06, 1856

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2 cases Dr Abbott’s Bitters – The Daily Dispatch. (Richmond, Va) December 25, 1852

I immediately liked this bitters because of the Dr. Abbott name and the C. A. Richards link. We certainly know this name. Read: Two examples of a C.A. Richards 99 Washington St. Boston.

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C. A. Richard’s famous Abbott’s Bitters advertisement – The Middlebury Register. (Middlebury, Vt.), December 17, 1856

Carlyn Ring and W. C. Ham do have a related listing in Bitters Bottles:

A 3.5…DR. ABBOTT’S BITTERS
I.D. Richardson & Son, Agents, 34 Elm Street, Boston
Newspaper Advertisement: Salem, Mass. Nov 1, 1849
The subscriber having relinquished the manufacture and sale of the above Bitters entirely to his agents I. D. Richardson & Co., No. 24 Elm Street, Boston, on account of ill health, would inform his friends, and the public that any of his medicine purchased of them, can be depended upon as genuine. All orders and communication must be addressed to the above firm.

The information above probably means that C. A. Richards took over the brand around 1850 or so from I. D. Richardson & Co.

Here is a new listing that will be used in Bitters Bottles Supplement 2:

A 3.4 L … Dr. Abbott’s Bitters, (Portrait Dr. Abbott in oval), For the Cure of Indigestion, C. A. Richards, Sole Proprietor, 89 State Street, Boston, signature C. A. Richards
11 ½ x 3
Round, Black green, DC, Applied mouth
Bottle found in Sacramento, California

Read Daily Dose, Saturday, 27 July 2019

Read about another Abbott’s Bitters: Abbott’s Aromatic Bitters – A Later Bitters with Class

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A labeled Dr. Abbott’s Bitters – ex Forbes Collection

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A labeled Dr. Abbott’s Bitters. Here you see the C.A. Richards signature – ex Forbes Collection

Posted in Bitters, History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Hufeland Swiss Stomach Bitters

Posted on 14 September 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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Hufeland Swiss Stomach Bitters

14 September 2014 (R•091814)

Apple-Touch-IconAJerry Forbes brought a labeled Hufeland Swiss Stomach Bitters from the Downieville Bottle Show back to our cabin last night. I think he purchased it for $25. This joins some other exciting bitters that were picked up and spotted at the show yesterday.

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The primary label reads “Hufeland Swiss Stomach Bitters“, N. Van Bergen & Co., Sole Manufacturers, San Francisco“. The secondary, oval label reads, “First Premium Awarded by the Mechanics Institute, San Francisco, 1860“. So the brand has been around for some time as this is an 1890s or so bottle. There is no embossing. The graphics are really neat showing three men, one presumably a doctor.

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N. Vergen & Company, as you can see from the listing below, is Nicholas Van Bergen, John W. Van Bergen and Fritz Habenicht. Nicholas was also associated with Kohler & Van Bergen.

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Crocker-Langley San Francisco directory for the year 1899

[from Eric McGuire] Regarding Jerry’s very nice labeled example of the Hufeland’s Bitters bottle, as you noted, it all began with J. G. Frisch, the earliest proprietor. I have attached a copy of the label (see below) which was deposited with the Secretery of State of California as Trade Mark No. 40, in 1864.

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Frisch was an important figure in the early liquor industry of California but is not well known, as he died fairly early in the history of the West. Johann Gottfried Frisch died in San Francisco on December 26, 1865. That Thomas Taylor, the well known San Francisco and Virginia City liquor dealer would succeed in Frisch’s business was natural since Taylor was running the business anyway in Frisch’s later years, and most importantly, Taylor was his son-in-law. He had married J. G. and Dorotea Frisch’s daughter, Bertha. To make things even more interesting, the Frisch’s had another daughter, Wilhelmine. She married Amandus Fenkhausen, who was also a successful San Francisco liquor dealer.

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Dr. Hufeland Swiss Stomach Bitters advertisement – Mariposa Gazette, 24 April 1868

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Dr. Hufeland Swiss Stomach Bitters advertisement – The Virginia and Truckee Railroad Directory, 1873-74

Christoph Wilhelm Friedrich Hufeland (12 August 1762, Langensalza – 25 August 1836, Berlin) was a German physician. He is famous as the most eminent practical physician of his time in Germany and as the author of numerous works displaying extensive reading and a cultivated critical faculty. Hufeland was born at Langensalza, Saxony (now Thuringia) and educated at Weimar, where his father held the office of court physician to the grand duchess. In 1780 he entered the University of Jena, and in the following year went on to Göttingen, where in 1783 he graduated in medicine.

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After assisting his father for some years at Weimar, he was called in 1793 to the chair of medicine at Jena, receiving at the same time the positions of court physician and professor of Pathology at Weimar. In 1798 Frederick William III of Prussia granted him the position director of the medical college and generally of state medical affairs at the Charité, in Berlin. He filled the chair of pathology and therapeutics in the University of Berlin, founded in 1809, and in 1810 became councillor of state. In 1823, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

In time he became as famous as Goethe, Herder, Schiller, and Wieland in his homeland.

Hufeland was the inventor of the term macrobiotic, was Physician Royal to the King of Prussia, as well as giving medical attention to the following illustrious patients: “Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832), Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744-1803), Schiller (1739-1805), and Christoph Martin Wieland (1732-1813).” He was also a close friend of Samuel Hahnemann and published many of his original writings in his Journal. He also “joined the Illuminati order at this time, having been introduced to freemasonry in Göttingen in 1783.” He also seems to have professed an interest in Chinese Alchemy and methods of extending longevity.

The most widely known of his many writings is the treatise entitled Makrobiotik oder Die Kunst, das menschliche Leben zu verlängern (1796), which was translated into many languages, including in Serbian by Dr. Jovan Stejić in Vienna in 1828. Of his practical works, the System of Practical Medicine (System der praktischen Heilkunde, 1818-1828) is the most elaborate. From 1795 to 1835 he published a Journal der praktischen Arznei und Wundarzneikunde. His autobiography was published in 1863. [Wikipedia]

We have written about Bergen before. Read: Old Dr. C. W. Hufeland’s German Bitters – For Dyspepsia

This appears to be unlisted variant of the Dr. Hufeland’s Swiss Stomach Bitters. The Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham listing in Bitters Bottles for a very similar labeled example reads:

H 206 L … Dr. Hufeland’s Celebrated Swiss Stomach Bitters
J. G. Frisch, Sole manufacturer and proprietor, San Francisco, California
11 3/4 x 3 1/4 (6 1/2)
Round, amber, LTCR

Notice that J. G. Frisch is the sole manufacturer and proprietor. Frisch is rather well-known to Western bitters collectors as he put out the California Bitters.

Here is a new listing that will be used in Bitters Bottles Supplement 2:

H 207.3 L … Hufeland Swiss Stomach Bitters, Van Bergen & Co., Sole Manufacturers, San Francisco
12 ¼ x 3 1/2
Round, Dark green, ARM, Applied mouth
Van Bergen & Co was Sole Agent for Barkhouse Bros. & Co Gold Dust Bourbon in business from 1871 till the 1890s.
J.G. Frisch trademarked the Hufeland Swiss Stomach Bitters brand, No. 40 in the State of California in 1864.
Thomas Taylor & Co., Sole Agents for Dr. Hufland’s Swiss Stomach Bitters, No. 72 South C Street, Virginia, Nevada, The Virginia and Truckee Railroad Directory, 1873-4

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

Kegs of lard, 25-pound shipments of dry mustard, barrels of tar and even a new safe were among the items recorded in invoice logs being shipped to the largely uninhabited frontier. The records are all written in immaculate cursive handwriting, showing products delivered by companies such as Taylor & Bender Wholesale Grocers, “sole agents for Dr. Hufeland’s celebrated Swiss stomach bitters.”

An invoice ledger from the late 1890s recently donated by the Alaska Commercial Co., that includes order forms and invoices. The first known shipment of Pilot Bread to Alaska is listed among the items.
Posted in Advertising, Bitters, History, Liquor Merchant, Medicines & Cures | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cool Embossings 3

Posted on 9 September 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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Cool Embossings 3

09 September 2014

Apple-Touch-IconALions, Bears and Bulls oh my. This is the third post in the series titled “Cool Embossings”. See Cool Bottle Embossings and Cool Bottle Embossings 2. I carry these images around in my digital purse, and periodically want to post. Please send me any pictures you have of cool embossings.

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Crouching Lion In Shield) Sealed Onion Wine Bottle, England, 1690-1710. Flattened bulbous form with embossed seal at mid body, medium olive green, sheared mouth with applied string rim – pontil scar, ht. 6 1/4 inches, greatest dia. 5 3/4 inches; (3/4 inch chip from applied seal, numerous chips from applied string rim and sheared mouth). Similar in form and construction to RD plate 10 Early and rare. – Heckler Premier Auction 115

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“WASHINGTON SPRING CO / (bust of Washington) / BALLSTON SPA / N.Y. – C”, (S-61), American, ca. 1865 – 1875, deep emerald green pint, smooth base, applied sloping double collar mouth – Glass Works Auction 98

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SLOOP – STAR, (GX-8), Bridgeton Glass Works, Bridgeton, New Jersey, ca. 1825 – 1840, deep sapphire blue half-pint, tubular open pontil, sheared and tooled lip. – Glass Works Auction 98

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“TRAVELER’S” / STAR / “COMPANION – RAVENNA” / STAR / “GLASS CO.”, (GXIV-3), Ravenna Glass Works, Ravenna, Ohio, ca. 1855 – 1865, tobacco amber pint, reddish iron pontil – Glass Works Auction 98

Walking lion on a Cold Lion Iron Tonic

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“INDIAN MEDICAL SPRING WATER CO. / (motif of an Indians head) / “MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.”, Minnesota, ca. 1895 – 1910, cobalt blue half-gallon. – Glass Works Auction 98

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“MANITOU” (motif on an Indians head) / “BITTERS”, (M-28.3), American, ca. 1880 – 1890, amber, 7 7/8”h, smooth base, tooled ringed lip. – Glass Works Auction 98

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Girl on a Bicycle from a GXIII-3 historical flask pint.

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Duram Whiskey Bull

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Rattle Snake Oil – Embossed Snake – eBay

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Embossed Indian Head on Shiloh Bottling Works, Providence, R.I.

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Man pouring beer hutch – Brad Seigler

Embossed Bear Seal

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The extremely rare Maynard’s Star Bitters from Pittsburgh

Posted on 7 September 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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The Extremely Rare Maynard’s Star Bitters from Pittsburgh

07 September 2014 (R•102916)

Apple-Touch-IconAI haven’t thought about my Maynard’s Star Bitters (my example is pictured at the top of this post) until I saw another example in the upcoming Heckler Premier Auction 115. Their example is pictured below. I was able to pick up my example at the live auction at the FOHBC York National Antique Bottle Expo in 2008.

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Lot: 3 “Maynard’s / Star Bitters” Bottle, America, 1860-1880. Square with beveled corners, medium yellowish amber in shoulders shading to reddish amber in base with puce overtones, applied sloping collared mouth – smooth base, ht. 8 7/8 inches; (3/8 inch by 1/4 inch open bubble on label panel, 1/16 inch flake from interior mouth edge, professionally cleaned with remaining stain on base). Unlisted Great whittled appearance. – Heckler Premier Auction 115

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“MAYNARD’S – STAR BITTERS”, (unlisted), American, ca. 1870 – 1880, reddish amber, 9”h, smooth base, applied tapered collar mouth. A shallow open bubble is on a label panel, lightly cleaned. Good glass whittle and probably unique! – Glass Works Auctions – Auction #113

What is exciting is that five of these bottles were found in a dig in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. At that time, the bottle was a new find and unlisted. Two were broken and two had some damage. Four were in amber. My example came out in great condition and in unique coloration with olive amber tones. You can read about the dig and discovery in the July/August 2008 issue of the FOHBC Bottles and Extras.

Read: Bitter January Digs by Jeff Mihalik

The Carlyn Ring and Bill Ham listing in the upcoming Bitters Bottles Supplement 2 will be:

M 51.4  MAYNARD // STAR // BITTERS // f //
8 7/8 x 2 3/4
Square, Amber and Olive-yellow, 3 sp, LTC, Applied mouth, Very rare
A olive amber (revise) example, and three undamaged amber examples were dug in Beaver Falls, PA., two more amber examples, one with a potstone with tails and a cracked example were also dug.

E. Frank Maynard was a druggist and a manufacturer of patent medicines between 1869 and 1873 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is most likely that he put out a limited run of Maynard’s Star Bitters in 1870 and 1871. Later Maynard was a liquor broker at various locations in Pittsburgh. There is very little information other than he was born in Ohio in 1845. His parents were from Vermont. His wife was Rosanna Maynard and children were May, Nellie, Florence and Asa Maynard.

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Maynard’s Star Bitters advertisement – The Cairo (Cairo, Illinois) Bulletin, 29 August 1871

Select Timeline

1845: Born November 1845, E. F. Maynard, Ohio

1867: E. F. Maynard, clerk, 40 Wylie – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Directory

1868: E. Frank Maynard, druggist,  3 Monongahela House – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Directory

1869: E. F. Maynard, Patent Medicines, 3 Monongahela House – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Directory

1871: E. F. Maynard, druggist, 3 Smithfield, h Bidwell n Ohio av, A – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Directory | Maynard’s Star Bitters advertisement (see above) – The Cairo (Cairo, Illinois) Bulletin, 29 August 1871

1873: E. F. Maynard, druggist, Pasture Lane, Mt W – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Directory

1875: E. F. Maynard, clerk, 2131 Sarah, s s – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Directory

1877: bookkeeper, 2111 Sarah, s s – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Directory

1878: E. F. Maynard, clerk, 148 Third Ave – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Directory

1879: E. F. Maynard, manager, Hiland Ave, 19th wd – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Directory

1881: E. F. Maynard, clerk, Hiland Ave, e e  – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Directory

1882: E. F. Maynard, Grain Broker, 59 Fourth Av  – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Directory

1887-88: E. F. Maynard, bookkeeper, 19 Fourth – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Directory

1890: E. F. Maynard, 116 Smithfield – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Directory

1900: E. F. Maynard, Liquor Broker, Allegheny Ward 5 – United States Federal Census

Posted in Auction News, Bitters, Druggist & Drugstore, History, Liquor Merchant, Tonics | Leave a comment

Two California collections at Holabird’s Western Americana Collections

Posted on 7 September 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

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Two California collections at Holabird’s Western Americana Collections

07 September 2014

My name is Joe Elcano and I work with Fred Holabird. He has asked me to contact you to see if you could help us. Our September and December auctions have materials that your membership may be interested in it.

In September, we have paper label bottles and California whiskey and brewery paper and envelopes from the Ken Prag Collection. There is quite a variety of other bottle related materials. All together there are 132 lots. I have attached a couple of photographs and the descriptions of those lots are at the bottom of this e-mail.

In December we have a world-class California Brewery Collection from Tom Burt including glassware, signs, back bar, only known Buffalo Brew cooler.

You can see the entire catalog online at Holabird’s Western Americana Collections or let me know and I will send you a catalog(s).

If I can be of any further service, please contact me,

Joe Elcano
joe@fhwac.com
3555 Airway Drive
Suite #308
Reno, Nevada 89511
775.851.1859

See Saloon Lots

Fred was very excited to hear from you. He says ‘hi.’ I attached a list of items for sale in the major wine, whiskey, and brewery related ephemera, paper label bottles, California wine menus, etc in the next e-mail. I have also included a couple of photographs that might be useful. The descriptions for those photographs are below.

Please let me know if I can do anything else to make this easier for you! Joe

2442

Lot 1465 Fabulous full face Old Phoenix whiskey bottle, c1890 PHOENIX / OLD / picture of eagle / BOURBON / NABER, ALFS, & BRUNE / S.F. / SOLE AGENTS. 11 3/4″, amber, cylinder fifth, glop top, 1880-1895. Barnett #578. tine 1/4 – 1/2″ split inside back. As is!

11146

Lot 1480 Jessie Moore Sour Mash Whiskey Under government supervision at distillery #150 in the 5th district. Label has one hole and some tears on left. One rip on right.

11183

Lot 1484 Original 1890 Liquor License for the Mitchler Saloon in Murphys Signed by Mitchler, auditor A. L. Wyllie, tax collector A. F. Jordan and deputy W. D. Riley. $16.00 ($51/3 per month) for the last quarter of the year. Some spotting, but an incredibly historic piece.

2899

Lot 1550 Senator Leland Stanford’s Vina Distillery Leland Stanford acquired some land in Tehama County and he built it into the Great Vina Ranch. In 1955 it came into the hands of Trappist Monks. Very nice broadside of the Stanford Winery in Vina, California. Advertising ‘Pure Grape Brandy.’ Stanford was U. S. Senator from 1885-1893. He was also the Governor of California, one of the founders of the transcontinental railroad, and founder of Stanford University. There are some small issues for this 125 year old piece: please see photograph.

199

Lot 1577 Brighton Beach Wine List and Menu Group c1870-1880 This is a really fun lot from the resort town of Brighton Beach. This lot has 5 various wine lists and menus from the various establishments during the 1870s-1880s. Just some of the wines featured in the menus are; champagnes, Rhine, burgundy and Moselle. 1) West Brighton Beach Hotel bill of fare and wine list for June 15, 1882. 2) Another item from the West Brighton Beach Hotel, only this was for the 1879 Arion Sea-side Summer-Night’s Festival. 3) Small wine list from an unknown location. It features a short list of champagnes, claret, white and Rhine wines, burgundy, sherry and liqueurs. 4) Hotel Brighton dinner and wine list from August 23, 1882. 5) Another item from the West Brighton Beach Hotel’s 1879 Arion Sea-side Summer-Night’s Festival. This is just a small wine list from the hotel.

11323

Lot 1578 William S. Turner Distilling Company hand bill and price list Includes Crown Rock & Rye and Wild Cherry Bitters. Hole in middle of paper.

Posted in Advertising, Advice, Auction News, Breweriana, Collectors & Collections, Ephemera, News, Spirits, Whiskey | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Daily Dose | September 2014

Posted on 1 September 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

SEPTEMBER  |  2 0 1 4

Monday, 29 September 2014

Kind of fun with all these extremely rare, listed and listed bitters that are surfacing. It is a great time to be a bitters collector. Hearing of an extremely rare Dr. Whitney’s Bitters from Olean, New York this morning. The neat thing is, at least for me, is just learning and recording these bitters. Of course if I can add it to my collection, that is nice to Ke-mo sah-bee.

Saturday, 27 September 2014

IrobBittersPrescription

I like this excerpt from an early Iron Bitters newspaper advertisement. From Dr. Cure. Read: Baltimore’s Iron Bitters – Brown Chemical Company

Friday, 26 September 2014

SwaynesSidePontil

Working on a post for an early, extremely rare and pontiled, “Swayne’s – Valuable Bitters – Bitter, / Catholicon – Philada” bottle that I purchased last night from a Vermont dealer and collector.

Thursday, 25 September 2014

LoveridgeJug

Picked up the Loveridge’s Wahoo Bitters Jug the other night from the Glass Works auction. If you remember, I saw this same jug at the Lexington National. Read: Loveridge’s Wahoo Bitters Jug – Buffalo N.Y.

Tuesday, 23 September 2014

SnakeofCorruption

Sorry just so busy. In Kentucky again today on business. Was watching the Glass Works Auction last night. Of particular interest was the “Snake of Corruption” historical flask. Wow-o-Wow. I understand one exists in screaming yellow.

SnakeOfCorruptionGWA

150. AMERICAN EAGLE – EAGLE WITH SERPENT IN BEAK, (GII-9), Pittsburgh District, ca. 1835 – 1840 clear glass pint, pontil scarred base, sheared and tooled lip.
Pristine perfect and with an exceptional impression, one of the best! This very rare flask was rated as number 29 in McKearin’s, American Glass ‘top 40’ historical flasks. Referred to as the ‘ 6f9 Snake of Corruption’ it has always been believed to have been made for either William Henry Harrison Presidential campaign of 1836, when he lost to Martin Van Buren, or 1840 when he defeated Van Buren trying for his second term. In our opinion this is the finest example of this historically important flask that we have seen!

Thursday, 18 September 2014

GoldVials

Just getting back from Downieville and Sacramento last night. A quickly paced and fun week for sure. A group of bears visited us each night. That added some suspense. Especially since one got into the local pizza parlor. Jerry Forbes and I tried our luck panning for gold on Tuesday. Thought I would share some pictures.

JerryPanFull

GoldPan

[from Eric McGuire] Regarding Jerry’s very nice labeled example of the Hufeland’s Celebrated Swiss Stomach Bitters bottle, as you noted, it all began with J. G. Frisch, the earliest proprietor. I have attached a copy of the label (see below) which was deposited with the Secretary of State of California as Trade Mark No. 40, in 1864.

HufelandLabelEric

Frisch was an important figure in the early liquor industry of California but is not well-known, as he died fairly early in the history of the West. Johann Gottfried Frisch died in San Francisco on December 26, 1865. That Thomas Taylor, the well-known San Francisco and Virginia City liquor dealer would succeed in Frisch’s business was natural since Taylor was running the business anyway in Frisch’s later years, and most importantly, Taylor was his son-in-law. He had married J. G. and Dorotea Frisch’s daughter, Bertha. To make things even more interesting, the Frisch’s had another daughter, Wilhelmine. She married Amandus Fenkhausen, who was also a successful San Francisco liquor dealer.

Monday, 15 September 2014

DVBear

[from last Friday] CoCo and I took our run in the mountains and saw a big BEAR this early morning in Downieville as we prepare for the big party tonight at Rick Simi’s. It was only later when the sun came up, and I had my glasses on, that I saw that mean bear again. At least that is what I told Elizabeth. Yipes Strips. [Update] Not kidding. Bear broke into Downieville pizza joint last night and razed it. Bottle Show just started. Not good if bear gets into show.

Thursday, 11 September 2014

Remember 9/11 my friends. Flight to Sacramento here shortly. Dropped CoCo off at PetSafe. Lunch with Jeff Wichmann, and meeting some folks at the FOHBC 2016 Convention and Hotel facility. Then off to Downieville to meet Jerry Forbes and Cutter, his MinPin.

BrokenLithia

In from Jim Bender… Hi Ferd, I have to tell you in all the years of collecting I have never had this happen. I received my copy of Bottles and Extras the other day and saw where the base had popped off a bottle. I thought boy he must have had a big temperature change or something. Well guess what happened to me last night? I go to our local flea market early Sunday mornings whenever I can to see if there is anything. I normally hope to find something I can sell and at least cover gas. I picked up this Sunset Spring Water bottle. It had been in a barn or something so I put it in our big sink in the laundry room to soak. I left it in there almost a week and decided to finish wash it. Looked good and I sprayed Windex inside as I do most of the time after cleaning a bottle. Carried it out to the sink in the kitchen and put in it the dish strainer. Walked away 15 feet and heard a pop. Looked back and the base had popped off. I have never had this happen before. Please don’t run any articles about necks falling off.  Jim Bender

Tuesday, 09 September 2014

2LabeledZingaris

Two outstanding examples of a labeled Zingari Bitters lady’s leg in the upcoming Heckler Premier Auction 115. Heckler had one a year ago or so. Suspect someone found a case and is letting a few go at a time.

Read: Lady’s Leg Series – Zingari Bitters

Sunday, 07 September 2014

WoodbridgeHeadacheHecker

Wow-o-wow. Norman Heckler has a Dr. F. Woodbridge Headache Bitters in his upcoming Premier Auction 115. This is a KILLER square!!!

Read: A ‘Fancy’ Bitters Square for Headaches

Saturday, 06 September 2014

SuffolkHadleyLiking this Suffolk Pig at the new Glass Work Auctions Catalog Auction #104. Ex. Dr. Burton Spiller Collection, Paul Hadley Collection.

Read: Figural Pig Series | Suffolk Bitters

Read: 1970’s Suffolk Pig reproductions, but way cool…

Thursday, 04 September 2014

Been in Louisville with client since Tuesday. Finally getting used to losing Monday to a holiday, which was nice but it threw off my weekday internal clock. Off to Miami tonight for business then back to Houston. Sacramento trip next week for American Bottle Auctions, Jeff Wichmann meeting and 2015 Sacramento Convention meeting later in day. Then off to Downieville for show. Can’t wait. CoCo coming too!

OhioLogoThe Ohio Bottle Club announced their new web site yesterday.

I just thought you all would like to see the color news article the Daytona Beach News Journal Newspaper wrote up about our Bottle Club and about our upcoming 45th Annual Bottle & Insulator Show and Sale coming next year on March 20 & 21, 2015. I just wish she would of used the photo of me holding the Wine Bottle (Demijohn/French BonBonne) in the upright position. I was just trying to show folks what a rare Emerald Green Alsace BonBone Looks like with the light shining through it. This is the only small emerald green one I have ever seen in looking for them for 20+ years. Happy Bottle Collecting and Enjoy!!! Dwight (Pettit) Read Article

Monday, 01 September 2014

RichardsGoldenWhiskeyLabeled

Nice labeled C.A. Richards Golden Sheaf Whiskey on ebay. Read More: Two examples of a C.A. Richards 99 Washington St. Boston

WrightDugNicMeyer

Hi Ferdinand, this is Nic Meyer from Bay City, Michigan. I dug this up today and thought you might be interested in see it. Came out of a pit 6 ft by 6 ft and 5 ft deep. It was full of stuff from the 1860s to 1880 including a nice IRA Paines cobalt target ball, also broken of course. I have almost the whole Wright bottle, it’s in three pieces and unfortunately about 2/3 of the top is missing. I sifted for hours but no luck. I was just wondering if this is as rare as the amber ones and if I could find someone interested in this one. Thanks. Nic Meyer

Read: R. & G. A. Wright – Great Gun Cologne

Read: “R & G. A. Wright / Philada” Miniature Figural Bottle

Posted in Advice, Daily Dose, News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Was there really a Dr. Robertson?

Posted on 30 August 2014 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Advertisement: Dr. Robertson’s Medicines preparedly T.W., Dyott – Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, Friday, February 16, 1810

Was there really a Dr. Robertson? 

30 August 2014 (R•100318)
StephenGroup

Dr Robertson’s Family Medicine / Prepared only by T.W. Dyott 1809-1815, a T.W. Dyott small vial, 1810 to 1825, Daffys True Elixir, Lee’s Prepared by Noah Ridgley Baltimore, Liquid Opadeldoc, Robert Turlington Balsam Of Life 1754 to 1780, Robert Turlington Balsam Of Life 1790 to 1810, True Cephalick Snuff 1810 to 1830, Dalbys Carminative 1820 to 1830 and Macassar Oil London 1815 to 1830. – Stephen Atkinson Collection

Read: Check these T. W. Dyott bottles out!

Read: Dyottville Glass

Apple-Touch-IconAI received an original newsprint copy from Carl T. Hotkowski of the Connecticut Mirror (Hartford) from Monday, June 26, 1820. Within that newspaper were a few advertisements for bitters including the Cooley’s Anti Dispeptic Bitters and the Dr. Robertson’s Patent Stomachic Bitters. Carl certainly knows how to get my attention.

DrRobertsonsBittersJuly1820CT

Dr. Robertson’s Patent Stomachic Bitters advertisement – Connecticut Mirror (Hartford), Monday, June 26, 1820

DrRobetsons2July1820CT

T. W. Dyott, M.D. grand-son of the late celebrated Dr. Robertson, of Edinburgh – Connecticut Mirror (Hartford), Monday, June 26, 1820

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

R 78  ROBERTSON’S STOMACHIC BITTERS Prepared and sold by T.W. Dyott, M.D., Philadelphia Dr. T.W. Dyott Drug Catalog 1820 Newspaper Advertisement 1824, also mentions Robertson’s Nervous Cordial, Robertson’s Stomachic Elixir of Health. Western Courier (Elliotsville, New York) November 29, 1826 New York Statesman October 9, 1829
R 79  DR ROBERTSON’S STOMACH WINE BITTERS Advertised from 1809-1820. Possibly predecessor to the preceding.
Robertsons1810

T. W. Dyott, M.D. grand-son of the late celebrated Dr. Robertson, of Edinburgh – The Times (Charleston), Tuesday Evening, October 30, 1810

Advertisement: T.W. Dyott’s – image from Don Lindgren, Rabelais Books Inc., Biddeford, Maine

What is interesting is that T.W. Dyott used to proclaim that he was the grandson of the late and celebrated Dr. Robertson, of Edinburgh, Scotland. This could be a reference to William Robertson as he was certainly well known and celebrated. Did he make medicines though? Dyott also said he was a doctor. I have had trouble making these connections in the past but not today as I visit a reference from The Toadstool Millionaires: A Social History of Patent Medicines in America before Federal Regulation, Chapter 3: Vials and Vermifuges, James Harvey Young, PhD. Specifically the passage, “Most of these creations bore the name of a Dr. Robertson. This worthy, Dyott asserted in his advertising, was his own grandfather, a distinguished physician in Edinburgh. The enterprising editor of a Philadelphia medical journal, looking into the matter, discovered that there had been no noted Dr. Robertson in Edinburgh for nearly two centuries. This intelligence did not disturb Dyott in the least.” This same information is echoed in “The first century of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, 1821-1921”. Maybe Dyott was related, or maybe he just used the name and embellished his relationship. It wouldn’t be the first time and certainly not the last time that we will see this type of marketing.

RobertsonsStephen

Two and a half very rare medicine bottles. Two bottles embossed Dr Robertsons Family Medicine Prepared Only By T W Dyott and a Lee’s Valuable Family Medicine Prepared by Noah Ridgley – Stephen Atkinson Collection

Chapter 3: Vials and Vermifuges

Dr. Thomas Dyott

[a selection from The Toadstool Millionaires] A man named Dyott surpassed all his rivals during the first generation and became the king of nostrum makers in the American republic.

At the start Dyott relied heavily on a compound for the cure of “a certain disease,” but soon he was producing a long line of remedies similar to those of Richard and Michael Lee. Most of these creations bore the name of a Dr. Robertson. This worthy, Dyott asserted in his advertising, was his own grandfather, a distinguished physician in Edinburgh. The enterprising editor of a Philadelphia medical journal, looking into the matter, discovered that there had been no noted Dr. Robertson in Edinburgh for nearly two centuries. This intelligence did not disturb Dyott in the least. He went on vending Robertson’s Infallible Worm Destroying Lozenges and the other priceless preparations devised by his honored progenitor, and he made bold to claim a more lofty dignity himself, assuming the title of Doctor of Medicine and fabricating a tale of long experience as a physician in London, the West Indies, and Philadelphia.

Business boomed. Dr. Dyott’s advertisements were displayed prominently in daily papers, of the Eastern cities and occupied columns of space in the rural weeklies of the hinterland. Better to service his far-flung market, Dyott established agencies in New York, Cincinnati, New Orleans, and other cities. His advertisements featured drawings of large Conestoga wagons being loaded from his capacious warehouses with nostrums for the South and West. Besides his own brands, Dyott distributed the old English patent medicines, and the pills and potions of his rivals, among them the bilious pills of Samuel H. P. Lee.

As Thomas Dyott, early in his career, had expanded from blacking to nostrums, so later he enlarged his enterprises again and again. Living in the day of a barter economy, the shrewd merchandiser accepted produce for patent medicines. Soon he was dealing in such things as tobacco and turpentine, peach brandy and rum, candles and castor oil. The scope of his nostrum sales required thousands of bottles, an article he had first required while vending blacking, so Dyott acquired, first, an interest in a glass works, and then full ownership of a large factory on the Delaware River near Philadelphia. Dyott not only undercut the prices of imported British glassware, but soon was turning out the best grade of bottle glass in America. One product of his factory, preserved in the Smithsonian Institution, was a double portrait flask, honoring those two distinguished adopted sons of Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Dyott [10]. By the 1830’s Dyott was living extravagantly on a princely income of $25,000 a year. His personal estate was said to be worth $250,000. He dressed oddly and drove about in style, with four horses attached to his elegant English coach and several outriders in attendance. A man with such expansive vision who had achieved so much was perhaps bound to fancy himself a humanitarian. A pioneer at price-cutting, Dyott had offered to sell his remedies to the “laboring poor at one-half the usual price.” For his own laborers he sought to turn his factory into a sort of model community. Whatever the proportion of alcohol in his remedies, the nostrum king permitted no spirituous liquors in Dyottsville. He made this clear in a high-toned pamphlet composed by his own hand and garnished with classical quotations. Nor was his establishment to be disgraced by swearing, fighting, or gambling. Infractions brought deductions from pay. The former druggist’s apprentice decreed that his own hundred apprentices, who lived on the grounds, be taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and singing. They must also bathe and go to Sunday School. They worked a ten-hour day.

 

Posted in Advertising, Article Publications, Bitters, Collectors & Collections, Druggist & Drugstore, Early American Glass, Glass Companies & Works, History, Medicines & Cures | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment