Newburgh (Glass House Co.) 1751-1759

Posted on 11 September 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Newburgh (Glass House Co.)

1751 – 1759

Part 1 of a Series

by Stephen Atkinson

11 September 2013

The manufacture of glass was commenced in the village of New Windsor near present day Newburgh, 66 miles north of New York City, sometime mid to late 1751 by a company from New York City of which Christian Hertell, Samuel Bayard, Lodewyck (or Lodewick) Bamper and Mathias (or Matthew) Ernest were partners, the first named being the resident manager. This group hired master gaffer, Johann Martin Greiner of Saxe-Weimar in the Palatinate region of present day Germany to design, help construct the glass works, be the master gaffer and train the new help.

Mr. Grenier was part of the famous (French-German) glass blowing, factory owning Greiner family who had been manufacturing glass from the early 1500s. These wealthy Dutch gentleman were partners of a company named the Glass House Company and were based out of New York City. The following agreement recites the purchase of lots for the purpose and other matters connected with it:

Memorandum that we, the subscribers, have this third day of January, 1751, agreed with Vincent Matthews, who acts in behalf of Samuel Bayard, in New York, for a parcel of lots lying and being at New Windsor, being part of the lands we purchased from John Alsop at New York, in the following manor, that is to say: We, the said subscribers, do agree to sell the following lots with, the prices there unto annexed, viz:

James Tuthill, lots 21 and 58, for £0 9 o o

Henry Brewster to Brant Schuyler, lots 22 and 59 for o 7 o o

Evan Jones, lots 22, and 56 for o 7 o o

John Yelverton, lot 57 for o 3 o o

Hezekiah Howell, lot 43 for o 2 o

Joseph Sackett, lot 71 for 3 o o

Ebenezer Seeley, lot 68 for o 3 o

Vincent Matthews, lot 69 for o 3 o

John Nelson, lot 70 for o 3 o 4000

“Provided, nevertheless, that as the chief reason for selling the above lots at such a low rate and under value, is upon this account, viz: To encourage the said Samuel Bayard & Company for the building and erecting a glass-house for making of glass and potash, which the said Bayard & Company have agreed to erect upon some of the above said lots; but in case the said Bayard & Company should fail, and throw up, and not build the said works, then and in such case the above agreement to be void and the lots to remain to the above owners; and we, the above owners and subscribers, do hereby acknowledge to have received from the above Samuel Bayard, by the hands of Vincent Matthews, the full one equal half part of the above mentioned sum of forty pounds, being half of the above purchase money, and we do promise and agree to execute, each for himself and for his heirs, good and lawful deeds to the said Samuel Bayard & Company, each for his Share or part of the above lots, upon the said Samuel Bayard’s paying the rest or the other half of the above purchase money which said half is to be paid on or before the twenty-fifth day of March next ensuing the date hereof – which said deeds are to be at the proper cost and charge of the said Bayard & Company.”

“In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands the day and year first above written. Signed in the presence of us, Fletcher Matthews, Thos. Jones.”

“Be it remembered. That I, Christian Hertell, in company with the within Samuel Barard, Lodewick Bamper, and Mathias Ernest, did agree to the written purchase made by Vincent Mathews, with the within Proprietors of New Windsor; and do agree for myself and the rest of the company to fulfill the said agreement; and if we fail of building the said glass-house and quit it, then and in such case to release all the said lots back again to the owners thereof upon their returning the purchase money back to me and Company again, or to any of us, as witness my hand this first day of April, 1752. “C. R. HERTELL & COMPANY.

“Signed and acknowledged and delivered in presence of us, Ebenezer Seely, Jr., Judah Harlow.”

The works were conducted for a number of years until after the war of the American Revolution. Based on the archaeological finds of mainly dark green glass at the original factory site, the types of bottles and glassware made at these works are as follows:

Case bottles, the tall square in shape type with high kick-ups in the corners to help stabilize contact on all four corners.

Large wine bottles with string lips made closely in the style of the German mallet type bottles.

Medicine vials, with sheared tops,

Square utility bottles with tapered and chamfered corners.

Large utility bottles in one, two and three gallon sizes all with deep conical bases.

A little history concerning Mr. Greiners roots:

The Glassworks at Munzthal in the year 1585

Henry Heigel writes in his article the German Ballai (1600-1633) that Martin Greiner and Simon Stenger had moved the glass works from Holbach to Munzthal in 1585. In 1601 the glass-master Martin Greiner, paid 80 floren for his glas-haus and eight partners, (Siegwalt Steffel, Hensel Schurer, Ulrich Scheidhauer, Hans Shirer von Petersback, Hans Greiner, Paulus Glaser, Andres Spessart, and Henre Wincker). In 1603 there were ten glass makers at the factory as output had increased.

In the year 1609 there were fourteen glass-makers; Martin Greiner, Jean Houber, Adam and Gaspard Greiner, Nicholas Krebs, George Hoff and Sebastian Ehrlich. The widow of Martin Greiner was allowed to open up one of the huts in a different location.

The first glass works from 1585 had depleted the forest area. It was reported that in 1613 that the glass works from Martin Greiner was located at the end Munzthal.

His son, Jean Greiner operated the glass-house in 1614. Jean Greiner had two sons Nicolas and Leonard who worked for their father. In 1625, both being the new masters of the glass works, Nicolas and Leonard Greiner, employed ten workers including Martin Siegwart, Adam Greiner and Andres Stenger.

The old widow Greiner, planned to give up the lease for the hut because of lack of wood. There were still eleven workers employed in 1629 including Koch, Steffel, Contz, Andres, Stenger, Sigeart, Adam Greiner, Jean Schwan.

As you can see, it is obvious why the Glass House Company sought the expert advice from Johan Martin Greiner, one of the most famous glass makers from Germany at the time. The Greiner family had been manufacturing glass in Germany for 150 years prior to his arrival in New York City in 1750. Johan would go on to be hired by Wilhem Henry Stiegel who used Johan Martin Greiner to design all three of his glass works built over a ten year period at Elizabeth and Manheim, Pennsylvania.

The glass works was still in operation at New Windsor for as the advertisement below from December 28th, 1758 edition of the New York Mercury states:

Notice “To Be Sold at the Store of Matthew Ernest” – December 28, 1758, New York Mercury

Or the property being sold near the glass works mentioned in this advertisement from the April 2nd 1759 edition of the New York Mercury:

Notice of property being sold near the glass works – April 2, 1759, New York Mercury

But the end of the glass works was soon to be, for a little over a month later, as listed here in the advertisement below, which was mixed into a long list of regional stories, “The Glass House at New-Windsor, in this Province, was burnt to the ground.” – The Monday, May 28, 1759 edition of the New York Mercury.

“the Glass House at New-Windsor, in this Province, was burnt to the ground” – Monday, May 28, 1759 – New York Mercury

The glass house demise was mainly due to the disasterous fire and as is the case with most other glass factories, which had been established before and after the forest being depleted, this was another main factor in a glass factorys inability to survive. The North River, as it was known in Colonial times, now the Hudson river, was an excellent means of navigation to and from the city of New York. Plans were already in the works before the fire to build a new factory much closer to Manhattan (New Amsterdam) (New York) by this same group of men.

The bottle below is very typical of the type manufactured at these works:

CASE TYPE BOTTLE

Case type bottle, 14 inches tall, olive amber in color, large deep blow pipe type pontil mark, 1750 to 1770

Case type bottle, corner view of the same bottle.

Case type bottle, in close on the shoulders and the lip. Pretty colored bottle with lots of small bubbles.

Case type bottle, lip close-up, slightly slanted and reversed rolled in make up.

Case type bottle, concave base, deep blow pipe pontil mark with a large chunk of glass extending downward from the perimeter of the pontil mark.

Case type bottle, view from the north.

Case type bottle. Looking through 275 year old sun glasses into my back yard at the neighbors huge Victorian home!

Case type bottle, On the side of the bottle, the shoulder line is a huge bubble which burst and resealed itself in the making. I have never seen this before on glass.

The January 5th, 1969 edition of The Evening News Newspaper of Newburgh, New York had the following headline:

About Stephen Atkinson

Stephen Atkinson, from Sewell, New Jersey has been collecting bottles and glass since he was 12 years old. He once dug an original EG Booz figural cabin bottle on Norris Street in Mantua, New Jersey in 1972 at 12 years old and traded it for six bitters bottles. Fast forward to 2012 and Stephen bought the exact bottle back at an estate auction in New Jersey!

His passion is for pre-1880 glass, as the majority of his collection consists of historical flasks, colonial era chestnut bottles, and whimsical end of day pieces of glass. He also has three rare T.W. Dyott bottles, an original Dr. Robertson’s family medicine; one of the rarest collectable American bottles, a T.W. Dyott vial bottle dug by Chris Rowell and a paper labeled T.W. Dyott bottle. He has researched many southern New Jersey glass works first hand by locating the original factory sites. The best piece in his collection is the Wistarburgh Glass Company ledger showing monies paid out to Caspar Wistar’s Children and their husbands and wives.

Read more Stephen Atkinson articles in this series:

The New York State Glass Factories | Preface to a Series

Brooklyn (Glass House Co.) 1754-1758 | Part 2

Glass House Farm (Glass House Co) 1758-1772 | Part 3

Posted in Article Publications, Blown Glass, Early American Glass, Gin, Glass Companies & Works, Glass Makers, History, Medicines & Cures, Utility Bottles, Wine & Champagne | Tagged bottles, case, Christian Hertell, dutch, gaffer, Germany, Glass, Glass House Company, Henry Heigel, Johann Martin Greiner, Lodewyck Bampe, Mathias Ernest, Munzthal, New Windsor, Newburgh, Samuel Bayard, Saxe-Weimar, Stephen Atkinson, Wilhem Henry Stiegel | Leave a comment

Glass House Farm (Glass House Co) 1758 – 1772

Posted on 10 September 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Glass House Farm (Glass House Co) 1758 – 1772

Part 3 of a Series

by Stephen Atkinson

10 September 2013

A farm that ran from Fitzroy Road to the Hudson River in what is now the West 30’s in New York City was the site of the last Colonial glass works. It was called The Glass House Farm because of a glass-bottle factory established there in 1758. The factory lasted ten years, but the Glass House Tavern, on the same property, was a popular roadhouse and stage coach stop, up until the Revolutionary War and after.

Around 1800, a small subdivision was laid out, and lots were sold off, in the area roughly bounded by 32nd and 34th Streets between Ninth and Eleventh Avenues. There were three east-west streets named Rapilje, Jersey and Schroepel; and three shorter north-south streets named Moses, Maple and Tulip. The description of the property lists the area still as the Glass House Farm. Refer: Old Streets of New York

The Glass House Company of New York would build its last glass factory in Newfoundland which is in present day, mid-town New York City which was three miles north of the Glass House Company’s headquarters. We find Matthew Ernest placing an advertisement in the newspaper in the Monday, December 11, 1758 edition of New York Gazette or Weekly Post-Boy. He talks of the newly erected Glas-house.

Advertisement from Matthew Ernest announcing the newly erected Glas-house – Monday, December 11, 1758, New York Gazette or Weekly Post-Boy.

Two weeks later on December 23rd, 1758, the following advertisement was placed in the same paper by Matthew Ernest.

Advertisement from Matthew Ernest announcing “To Be Sold” – Monday, December 23, 1758, New York Gazette or Weekly Post-Boy.

With the year being 1760, these glass works were the only ones left in the New York City vicinity as the Newburgh and Brooklyn enterprises had come to their ends. Unfortunately, one of the founders of the Glass House Company, which oversaw all of these factories, was Samuel Bayard who had passed away in 1758. Matthew Ernests money supply was dwindling and the business mood in general in the Colonies as a whole was not very optimistic. These glass works continued to operate right on up until the start of the American Revolutionary War.

Following the first and largest major engagement of the Continental Army and British troops in the American Revolutionary War, at the Battle of Long Island (also known as the Battle of Brooklyn) on August 27, 1776, General George Washington and the Continental Army retreated to Manhattan Island. The Continentals withdrew north and west and, following the Battle of Fort Washington on November 16, 1776, evacuated the island. For the remainder of the Revolutionary War much of what is now Greater New York and its surroundings were under British control. New York City (then occupying only the southern tip of Manhattan) became, under Lord Howe and his brother Sir William, the British political and military center of operations in North America. David Mathews was the Mayor of New York City during the British occupation.

Correspondingly, the region became central to the development of a Patriot intelligence network, headed by Washington himself. The famous Nathan Hale was but one of Washington’s operatives working in New York, though the others were generally more successful.

The site of the glass factory was north of New York City and was spared some of the horrors of war and it was tough to operate because the North River was being patrolled by the British fleet and shipping and receiving products was difficult at best. Ultimately the war was the most detrimental aspect the factory dealt with and all output ceased when the War of Independence was in full swing. The British were now in control of the city of New York from 1775 through 1776.

The output of this factory did not really differ from the other two works owned by the Glass House Company as all of them made window glass and hollow ware. Glass color again found at the factory site by Fredrick Hunter indicates that dark green glass was used almost exclusively.

With glass blowers from Bristol, England and Germany a very good product line was being turned out. The types of sealed wine bottles in the Van Cortlandt Museum would have been the type still made at this factory. In 1909, workers removing walls and foundation pieces in the old Van Cortlandt home found many sealed F. V. C. 1765 tall wine bottles along with bottles similar in shape but void of the seals. All of these bottles are now preserved in the Van Cortlandt Museum. The works were abandoned during the war as the British were in control of the city.

In the Monday, March 23, 1761 edition of the New York Mercury, Matthew Ernest lists the following long advertisement and he must have sub-divided the property prior, for he lists as for sale, only two thirds of the Glass House. He does state that the works is being operated by a gentleman from Bristol, England with a large work force suggesting the factory was in good operation and that he was probably still selling their wares.

Matthew Ernest property listing – Monday, March 23, 1761, New York Mercury,

Robert Turlington was advertising quite heavily in New York and Philadelphia newspapers in the late 1750s right through the start of the Revolutionary War. No other nostrum was as counterfeited as Turlington’s Balsam Of Life because Robert was in a constant battle with the agents he hired to sell his medicine in the two cities. A quite likely source of the imitation bottles being sold, that Robert shares with the reader in the New York market, was most likely the Glass House Farm and a gentleman who had dealings with them in the past. They were also just 3 – 1/2 miles to the north and were in business during the time period the counterfeiting began.

I strongly believe that some of the pale green, aqua colored versions of this bottle which appear from time to time pontiled and quite crude, were the earliest attempts of counterfeiting in the 1760 to 1790 time period. All made by workers at the Glass House Farm who had emigrated from the Bristol, England area and who had worked in the glass industry while living there. This was big business and Robert Turlington was hiring and firing agents every few years. Here are a series of notices from New York City newspapers showing the great concern Robert Turlington had for his product.

Robert Turlington ‘Original Balsam of Life’ notice – New York City

In the Monday, November 2, 1761 edition of the New-York Mercury newspaper (New York, NY) we find Turlington denouncing Mr. John Milligan who had sold the medicine for Robert Turlington for the past five years. Milligan was accused of selling refilled original bottles and counterfeit ones by Turlington and was no longer considered an agent for the product. Turlington was now including a large paper wrapper around each bottle stating the contents and originality of the product in the bottle. Without this paper, with Turlingtons signature on it, a bottle was considered counterfeit and should be avoided by the consumer.

Robert Turlington denouncing John Milligan – Monday, November 2, 1761, New-York Mercury

On the same day he was accused and banned from selling the Turlington Balsam, John Milligan placed an advertisement in the Monday, November 2, 1761 edition of the New-York Gazette (New York, NY) and stated his side of the accusation of impropriety leveled by Robert Turlington. Milligan was not going to go away easily and continued to sell the product at his store even though Robert Turlington forbade him to do so.

John Milligan placed an advertisement in the Monday, November 2, 1761 edition of the New-York Gazette stating his side of the accusation of impropriety leveled by Robert Turlington.

Here are some of the type of Turlington bottles that may have been made at the Glass House Farm and sold to the public as original medicine imported from England. Most of these were found in the Philadelphia – South Jersey area but I am using these as a reference as to what the imposters may have looked like.

Robert Turlington Balsam bottles from the late 1700s aqua in color and made very crudely. The long neck version is unique, and I have never seen another like it.

Robert Turlington Balsam bottle from the late 1700s – Close-up of the shorter one from above.

Robert Turlington Balsam bottle. The long necked version close-up from above. Green striations of color in the glass near the lip.

Group shot of four Turlington Balsam of Life bottles. The one on the far right is a British made original example from the mid 1700s.

The British ‘Turlington Balsam of Life” example in close has a silvery greyish cast to the clear flint glass.

This American ‘Turlington Balsam of Life” example does not look completely annealed!

About Stephen Atkinson

Read more in this series by Stephen Atkinson:

The New York State Glass Factories | Preface to a Series

Newburgh (Glass House Co.) 1751-1759 | Part 1

Brooklyn (Glass House Co.) 1754-1758 | Part 2

Check these T. W. Dyott bottles out!

Henry Bolingers Maysville Glass-Works 1814-1825

Posted in Article Publications, Blown Glass, Glass Companies & Works, Glass Makers, History, Medicines & Cures, Revolutionary War | Tagged Bristol, colonial, England, Fredrick Hunter, George Washington, Glass House Company, Glass House Farm, Glass House Tavern, John Milligan, Matthew Ernest, New York City, Revolutionary, Revolutionary War, Samuel Bayard, Stephen Atkinson, Turlingtons Balsam Of Life, Van Cortlandt Museum | 1 Comment

Brooklyn (Glass House Co.) 1754-1758

Posted on 9 September 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Brooklyn (Glass House Co.)

1754 – 1758

Part 2 of a Series

by Stephen Atkinson

09 September 2013

A glass works was founded on what would become State Street in the present day Brooklyn, NYC in 1754 by the Glass House Company of New York. It was to be located near one of the partners, Lodewyk Bampers home. These works were the second ones built by the Glass House Company, as three years prior they had founded the glass house 70 miles north in the village of New Windsor, now present day Newburgh.

Johan Martin Greiner again designed the glass works and skilled glass blowers from Bristol and Germany were acquired for this venture. An advertisement placed in the New York Gazette or Weekly Post Boy on October 7th, again on Oct 14th and lastly on the 21st of October in 1754 stated:

The key words in the advertisement are, “Gentlemen that wants Bottles of any size with their names on them”. This is huge in the attribution of North American made sealed gentleman’s bottles. Many glass historians have always dismissed the notion that these type of bottles could have been made here in the Colonies and have just assumed they were always made in Europe in the countries of England, Germany, Holland, France or Scandinavia.  

Glass historian Frederick Hunter looked at bottles in the Van Cortlandt Museum with seals impressed upon them of Sidney Breese 1765, and another with the initials F V C which stood for Fredrick Van Cortlandt with the date 1765. After examination, and in his own judgment, Hunter said they looked every bit the type made at Wistarburgh where he had previously found seals walking the grounds of the factory site. Even though Hunter felt the bottles were most likely made at Wistarburgh, and I believe he is incorrect, it has become quite evident to me they were a product in present-day New York City, most likely by the Glass House farm which was in operation in 1765.

Although the Brooklyn Glass Works advertised that they made sealed bottles for gentleman, they most likely were not the makers of the Sidney Breese and Frederick Van Cortlandt bottles in the museum that he saw first hand as the Brooklyn Glass Works was out of business in 1758, seven years prior to the date on the seals.

Fast forward to Monday, August 19th, 2013

A friend of mine, Gary Katzen from Haddonfield, New Jersey and a fellow glass collector with an amazing milk glass collection (Read: Gary Katzen Milk Glass Collection), has in his possession, a bottle with a seal of the initials “P S”. This bottle has been attributed by glass collectors and glass historians to Peter Stuyvesant, who served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York.

By doing a little research, it becomes quite apparent that this bottle was was made in the style and era historically proven to be in the period of the mid 1700s. Armed with this information, it is now very easy to prove the bottle was not made for Peter Stuyvesant (the first), however quite excitingly, the bottle may have been made for his great, great grandson, Petrus (Peter) Stuyvesant (1727 – 1805). Petrus Stuyvesant (1727 – 1805) was an extremely influential New York merchant who was a close associate and neighbor of Lodewyck Bamper and as stated earlier, was a descendent to his very famous, great, great grandfather.

The pictures below represent Gary’s bottle photographed in his home and back yard. I feel pretty confident that bottles like this type were the ones being advertised by Lepper for the Glass House Company and they quite likely made this one, as there are just too many good reasons to believe otherwise.  A big thank you to Gary for allowing me to use his bottle pictures in this article.

Gary Katzen’s, 14 inch tall, personalized with the letters “P S”, German type, rolled lip, seen often on glass attributed to Wistarburgh. Deep olive amber in color – Katzen Collection

The impressed seal with the letters “P S” – Katzen Collection

Photographed outside on a stone top table. This bottle is as black as night in broad day light. The color looks like dark amber but it is black glass in the true sense when photographed outside – Katzen Collection

Photographed with a Wistarburgh attributed mallet type wine bottle. This bottle is a huge wine bottle as the Wistarburgh bottle stands 9 and a half inches tall. Both bottles are extremely dark in color.

Outside photograph of “P S” seal – Katzen Collection

Two sea serpents, Nessie and Champ!

Beautiful sand type pontil mark on the “P S” bottle – Katzen Collection

Looking down into each bottle, you can see similar markings on the inside of each lip. The bottle sports the famous Wistar rolled lip, suggesting a gaffer from the same region Caspar and his son Richard imported their workers from.

In close on the rolled lip, Gary suggested umbrellas and sheets and…I told him it would cost us a fortune to have these bottles professionally photographed!! This is good enough!!

I have named this picture the world map pontil mark for I can see Africa and Asia like shapes in the areas within the sand pontil mark.

About Stephen Atkinson

Read more in this series by Stephen Atkinson:

The New York State Glass Factories | Preface to a Series

Newburgh (Glass House Co.) 1751-1759 | Part 1

Glass House Farm (Glass House Co) 1758-1772 | Part 3

Check these T. W. Dyott bottles out!

Henry Bolingers Maysville Glass-Works 1814-1825

Posted in Article Publications, Black Glass, Blown Glass, Collectors & Collections, Early American Glass, Glass Companies & Works, Glass Makers, Holiday, Questions | Tagged Black, Brooklyn, English, Frederick Hunter, Fredrick Van Cortlandt, Gary Katzen, Glass, Glass House Company, Johan Martin Greiner, Lodewyk Bampers, New Netherland, New York, Peter Stuyvesant, Petrus Stuyvesant, seal, Sidney Breese, Stephen Atkinson, Van Cortlandt Museum, Wistarburgh | Leave a comment

Heckler Auction 105 – Looking at Paint on Bottles

Posted on 9 September 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Heckler Auction 105 – Looking at Paint on Bottles

From the late Carl Sturm Collection

09 September 2013

The folks at Heckler have another outstanding auction that closes this Wednesday evening. This is one of their ‘Opportunity’ auctions meaning it is not a ‘full fledged higher dollar catalog event’. The bottles and presentation photography are extraordinary as usual.

Lot: 126 Scroll Flask, probably Louisville Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky, 1845-1860. Deep root beer amber with a puce tone, sheared mouth – pontil scar, half pint; (light high point wear). GIX-34 A beautiful flask. Fine condition. Carl Sturm collection. – Heckler Auction 105

What I wanted to look at here were a few of the ‘painted’ bottles from the late Carl Sturm collection. Carl was an extraordinary man, with an extraordinary collection who obviously preferred paint on his bottles. I suspect we will see more of Carl’s collection in upcoming Heckler auctions. Many of you do not like paint on bottles as I monitor the conversations on facebook etc. Some collectors apply the ‘removable paint’ for presentation and readability. My father liked painted typography on bottles even though I didn’t and I told him. It did not matter. When I was at the legendary John Feldmann’s house looking at his great bottle collection, many of the ‘secondary’ bottles were in an adjacent room without display windows, contrary to his killer window room. The bottles were primarily amber bitters squares and painted with white graphics. Neither John, nor any viewer like myself could have ever read or understood what each bottle was because the lighting was dim and there was wood behind the bottles. The paint made it work. To each his own. Many of the older collectors prefer and preferred this method. I even have a few bottles with painted graphics. It is interesting, when I put the painted bottles in windows, you really cannot see the paint. Of course, I can always remove the paint. Just don’t use sandpaper! Here are a few of Carl’s bottles in the Heckler auction. Let’s look at these with respect. As someone said on Facebook, “That is why there is Vanilla and Chocolate”.

Lot: 6 “Will You Take / A Drink / Will A / (Duck) / Swim?” Pictorial Flask, probably Lockport Glass Works, Lockport, New York, 1870-1880. Aquamarine, tooled sloping collared mouth with ring – smooth base, half pint. GXIII-29a Strong embossing. Fine condition. Carl Sturm collection. – Heckler Auction 105

Lot: 175 Byron – Scott Portrait Flask, a Stoddard glasshouse, Stoddard, New Hampshire, 1840-1860. Yellowish olive, sheared mouth – pontil scar, half pint; (light high point wear). GI-114 Great color. Fine condition. Carl Sturm collection. – Heckler Auction 105

Lot: 19 Two Men Arguing – Grotesque Man’s Head Pictorial Flask, Europe, 1830-1860. Brilliant cobalt blue, sheared mouth – pontil scar, half pint; (minor exterior high point wear). GX-12 Brilliant, beautiful color. Fine condition. Carl Sturm collection. – Heckler Auction 105

Lot: 37 “Our Choice / Cleve & Steve / November 8th 92 / March 4th 93” And Busts – Rooster Portrait Flask, America, 1892-1893. Medium golden amber, tooled sloping collared mouth with ring – smooth base, half pint. GI-124 Strong mold impression. Fine condition. This flask is accompanied by a related souvenir advertising coin and banner. Carl Sturm collection. – Heckler Auction 105

Lot: 47 Eagle – Grapes Historical Flask, Coffin and Hay Manufactory, Hammonton, New Jersey, 1836-1847. Brilliant golden amber, sheared mouth – pontil scar, half pint; (1 inch by 1 inch piece has been broken away and reglued to mouth). GII-56 Outstanding rare color. Numerous bubbles. Carl Sturm collection. – Heckler Auction 105

Lot: 56 “For Pike’s Peak” And Prospector – Eagle Historical Flask, America, 1860-1870. Medium yellowish amber, applied square collared mouth – smooth base, half pint; (1/2 inch bruise and crack on mouth, multiple 1 inch hairline fissures near base). GXI-23 Strong mold impression. Carl Sturm collection. – Heckler Auction 105

Lot: 105 “Lafayette” And Bust – Liberty Cap Portrait Flask, Coventry Glass Works, Coventry, Connecticut, 1824-1825. Bright yellow olive, sheared mouth – pontil scar, half pint; (minor high point wear, 1/8 inch bruise in shoulder). GI-86 Beautiful color. Carl Sturm collection. – Heckler Auction 105

Lot: 107 Eagle And “Pittsburgh / PA” – Eagle Historical Flask, Pittsburgh district, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1860-1870. Medium greyish olive green, applied double collared mouth – smooth base, half pint; (1/8 inch by 3/8 inch chip from lower mouth ring, overall wear). GII-109 Good color. Carl Sturm collection. – Heckler Auction 105

Lot: 129 Cornucopia – Urn Pictorial Flask, Keene Marlboro Street Glassworks, Keene, New Hampshire, 1820-1840. Medium blue green, sheared mouth – pontil scar, half pint; (minor high point wear). GIII-7 Pretty color. Good mold impression. Carl Sturm collection. – Heckler Auction 105

Lot: 142 “Bininger’s / Travelers / Guide / A.M.Bininger & Co. / No. 19 Broad St. N.Y.” Pocket Flask, America, 1860-1870. Bright yellow amber, applied double collared mouth – smooth base, half pint. Beautiful lighter color. Fine condition. Carl Sturm collection. – Heckler Auction 105

Lot: 229 “Lowell / Railroad” And Horse And Cart – Eagle Historical Flask, Coventry Glass Works, Coventry, Connecticut, 1820-1840. Brilliant yellow olive, sheared mouth – pontil scar, half pint; (shallow 1/8 inch by 1/4 inch flake off mouth, 1/8 inch mouth bruise). GV-10 Pretty color. Carl Sturm collection. – Heckler Auction 105

Posted in Advice, Auction News, Collectors & Collections, Flasks, Historical Flasks, News, Questions | Tagged Carl Sturm, Flask, Heckler, paint, Scroll | Leave a comment

Check these T. W. Dyott bottles out!

Posted on 9 September 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Check these T. W. Dyott bottles out!

09 September 2013

It has really been just fantastic lately to see researchers, collectors and writers submit information for posting on Peachridge Glass. The last exchanges with Stephen Atkinson have been perfect examples. Read: Henry Bolingers Maysville Glass-Works 1814-1825 and The New York State Glass Factories. In this case, Steve sent me an e-mail with some rather interesting information and imagery to share.

Ferdinand:

Check these T. W. Dyott bottles out! The Robertson’s and the small vial have had lip repairs but are about the rarest of all the collectable medicines. The vial has never been recorded (not one example!!) and the Dr. Robertson’s Family Medicine may have had ten examples show up in 80 years of glass collecting as attested to by Helen McKearin. Chris Rowell dug the Dyott vial in a deep privy in Philadelphia. The Robertson bottle was dug by Christian Raezer in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The paper labeled one, again never before seen. I acquired it in a trade for a damaged EG Booz bottle. I think the Dyott’s and the Lee medicine bottles out of Baltimore and New York City are about the rarest of all the collectable medicines. I have a huge write-up planned on Dyott and the Kennsington glass factory he owned. I will send you the finished pages in the next two weeks.

Dr. ROBERTSONS FAMILY MEDICINE

SOLD ONLY BY T W DYOTT

TW DYOTT embossed on a small vial type bottle

Paper labeled, square flint glass bottle labled T W DYOTT

I was at Dyottville while it was exposed during the archeological dig in the winter of 2011 and was invited to the site. This was the archy’s attempt at showing the public their work. When I inquired about getting a few bricks from the site they said I needed permission from Penn DOT (well, we know how that would have gone). They didn’t even offer Corning, Wheaton, Winterthur, or even the Smithsonian, all who had representatives at the site the same day I was there, anything from the site. All finds,which were immense, were going to the Penns Landing Museum and believe me, it wasn’t much of a display. A small 10 x 10 area, as most was just being stored. I have called Corning and Wheaton and neither entity ever received anything from the dig.

Dyott owned the factory in 1820 to 1840 but It was founded much earlier in 1770. The bricks that were recovered are from the oldest part of the factory in which I sent you pictures.

The photos I sent you are the following items:

The rectangular shaped bottle Embossed with Dr. ROBERTSONS FAMILY MEDICINE SOLD ONLY BY T W DYOTT. The name TW DYOTT embossed on a small vial type bottle and a paper labeled, square flint glass bottle labled T W DYOTT. The bricks from the site and the exposed foundations of the ovens and the factory walls at Dyottville are the other pictures. Enjoy.

Thanks again – Steve

The bricks from the site and the exposed foundations of the ovens and the factory walls at Dyottville

Beer Street and Gin Lane by William Hogarth

Posted on 8 September 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Beer Street and Gin Lane

William Hogarth

08 September 2013

William Hogarth

Beer Street and Gin Lane are two prints issued in 1751 by English artist William Hogarth in support of what would become the Gin Act.

they depict the evils of the consumption of gin as a contrast to the merits of drinking beer

Designed to be viewed alongside each other, they depict the evils of the consumption of gin as a contrast to the merits of drinking beer. At almost the same time and on the same subject, Hogarth’s friend Henry Fielding published An Inquiry into the Late Increase in Robbers. Issued together with The Four Stages of Cruelty, the prints continued a movement started in Industry and Idleness, away from depicting the laughable foibles of fashionable society (as he had done with Marriage à-la-mode) and towards a more cutting satire on the problems of poverty and crime.

On the simplest level, Hogarth portrays the inhabitants of Beer Street as happy and healthy, nourished by the native English ale, and those who live in Gin Lane as destroyed by their addiction to the foreign spirit of gin; but, as with so many of Hogarth’s works, closer inspection uncovers other targets of his satire, and reveals that the poverty of Gin Lane and the prosperity of Beer Street are more intimately connected than they at first appear. Gin Lane shows shocking scenes of infanticide, starvation, madness, decay and suicide, while Beer Street depicts industry, health, bonhomie and thriving commerce, but there are contrasts and subtle details that some critics believe allude to the prosperity of Beer Street as the cause of the misery found in Gin Lane. [Wikipedia]

Listen to NPR: ‘The Book Of Gin’ Distills A Spirited History

BEER STREET

Beer Street depicts industry, health, bonhomie and thriving commerce.

GIN LANE

Gin Lane shows shocking scenes of infanticide, starvation, madness, decay and suicide.

Posted in Advice, Ales & Ciders, Art & Architecture, Breweriana, Gin, History, Spirits | Tagged Beer, Gin, William Hogarth | Leave a comment

Henry Bolingers Maysville Glass-Works 1814-1825

Posted on 8 September 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Henry Bolingers Maysville Glass-Works

1814-1825

by Stephen Atkinson

08 September 2013

The Kentucky glass industry begins with a gentleman with a colorfull past named John Henry Bolinger (known as Henry). Henry was born in 1761 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In 1803, he was married in the First Reformed Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Susan Anna Wigman who was born 1780. She was the daughter of Joachim Wigman. By 1805, the couple had moved west over the Alleghenies. They settled in Pittsburgh and Henry began to work for Colonel O’Hara at the glass works south of Pittsburgh. Soon Henry became involved in politics and he was elected as the High Constable of the city of Pittsburgh in the general election on March 15, 1806.

Henry Bolinger became involved in politics and he was elected as the High Constable of the city of Pittsburgh in the general election on March 15, 1806.

Things did not go so well for him as a few years later Henry found himself in debtors prison begging his creditors to be released. Henry’s reputation was tarnished now in Pittsburgh and it was time to move on.

Henry Bolinger found himself in debtors prison – March 3, 1812

In the autumn of 1813, Henry moved his family to Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky. It was here that Henry, now a middle aged man of 51 years of age, began to farm and sell tobacco and hemp. He became quite successful and invested his money wisely this time unlike back in Pittsburgh. As part of the town of Maysville hierarchy, he heard the concerns from the business owners and local residents. One common complaint was the high prices paid for glass imported from Pittsburgh. Henry saw the sandy silica beaches on the banks of the Ohio River in Maysville. Yet it was another very key ingredient in glass manufacture that made Maysville the perfect place for a glass works. Limestone was also present, and there was plenty of it as the town of Maysville was formerly called Limestone in the year 1799.

Henry saw first-hand the glass factories of Colonel Ohara and Albert Gallatin and how successful they were. He also remembered in his youth how Henry Stiegel, the glass mogul, had amassed a fortune making glass back in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. There were no glass factories yet in Ohio either and with Pittsburgh being the only glass center even remotely close he decided to set up his own glass works in town. His first business partners were John & Joseph Sumrall & Company. They were also the agents to sell the glass. They had a store front in Maysville.

Maysville Glass-Works now in operation notice – Maysville, January 19, 1815

In the next year, the Summrals got into financial difficulty and disolved their business with the partners they had, Scott, Trotter and Tilford. Bolinger soon realized running a glass works not only needed good experienced workers but also needed a constant supply of cash. Henry then enlisted the help of William Porter. Porter was a very influential business man and Henry saw this and immeadiatley made him a partner and agent. Mr. Porter promised the public that a much better grade of items would be being manufactured then the prior owners and agents had done.

Notice of new ownership for Maysville Glass-Works – February 2, 1816

Business was good for over a year.

Good, clean ashes needed at Maysville Glass-Works – November 9th, 1816

It was obvious who supplied this brewery with glass bottles.

Maysville Brewery advertisement, November 1st, 1816

Glass bottles were now being purchased from a great distance.

Lexington Porter and Ale Brewery advertisement – May 10, 1815

Then suddenly the works were put up for sale.

Maysville Glass-Works for sale notice – September 16, 1817

An unknown buyer was found and the works continued until the spring of 1825 when the fire would go out for the final time. In the end, the easier transportation from Pittsburgh and the many factories that existed created a flooded market where the wares were only worth half of what they were just three short years prior.

I believe the London Mustard styled bottle with the lettered embossing KENTUCKY, with a blow pipe pontil mark and rolled lip, were in fact an early product of this factory. The bottle has the beveled corners and wide mouth suggesting either Mustard or Chocolate as the content in the bottle.

About Stephen Atkinson

A little on HOBOKEN DE BIE & Co.

Posted on 8 September 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Cruising around the net the other day, I came across the picture below of the workers posing for a photo at the Hoboken de Bie & Co. gin distillery in Rotterdam that I thought was pretty cool. Looking for the source, I see that it was used as a recent image by NPR (National Public Radio) on a piece on gin. Brian Shultis, once I posted the picture on PRG Facebook, sent me a picture of a HOBOKEN DE BIE & Co. bottle as this was the brand initials on the gin barrels.

HOBOKEN DE BIE & Co. Crock – minibottlelibrary.com

A little on HOBOKEN DE BIE & Co.

08 September 2013

Workers pose for a photo at the Hoboken de Bie & Co. gin distillery in Rotterdam, Netherlands, circa 1900. By the end of the 19th century, cocktail culture had helped make gin a more respectable spirit.

Read or Listen to Story

‘The Book Of Gin’ Distills A Spirited History

Unlike a good martini, the story of gin isn’t smooth; it’s long, complex, sordid and, as Richard Barnett has discovered, it makes for tantalizing material. Barnett’s newly published The Book of Gin traces the liquor’s life, from its beginnings in alchemy to its current popularity among boutique distillers.

by NPR Staff

HOBOKEN DE BIE & Co.

HOBOKEN DE BIE & Co ” LA CATEDRAL ” ROTTERDAM, circa 1895, St. Laurens Church in Rotterdam – dating from 1409 AD – www.gin-bottles.com

Approx. 6.25″ tall, HOBOKEN DE BIE & Co bottle with seal reading HdB&C, circa 1870 – www.gin-bottles.com

Large Dutch “case gin” bottle marked A VAN HOBOKEN & Co. / ROTTERDAM and with maker’s seal, 1800s. – auction.sedwickcoins.com

A Van Hoboken &Co Rotterdam bottle – photobucket.com

Posted in Gin, Liquor Merchant, Spirits | Tagged Gin, Hoboken de Bie & Co., Netherlands, NPR, Richard Barnett, Rotterdam | Leave a comment

The New York State Glass Factories

Posted on 7 September 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

The New York State Glass Factories

Preface of a Series | New Amsterdam

by Stephen Atkinson

07 September 2013

Below is a 1640 map of New York City, known then as New Amsterdam. As you can see, the area was quite developed in 1640 and Glass Makers Street is marked in yellow the Canal Street in Blue.

makes a strong case for quite a bit of glass manufacture occurring on Glass Makers Street which proves beyond a doubt that dark green drinking vessels were being blown here in 1640.

The Canal made it quite easy and safe to load and unload products from ships. Tall arched bridges cross the Canal allowing ships easy passage beneath. One other neat feature is the wall that was built around the entire city for protection mainly from Native Americans but also from invading countries from Europe.

Glass Makers Street was in the heart of the manufacturing district and judging from this map, looked quite developed and very busy. To see New York City this developed in 1640 is amazing and something I can not recall that I learned about in school. This makes a strong case for quite a bit of glass manufacture occurring on this street which proves beyond a doubt that dark green drinking vessels were being blown here in 1640.

New Amsterdam was the first successful area in North America to manufacture glass continuously in the 17th century.

Evert Duycking came to America in 1638. By 1640 he had constructed his first glass house and manufactured mainly window glass. He soon realized the need for utilitarian glass but there were no master gaffers in the colony of New Amsterdam at the time. Soon master gaffers were being lured from Germany to come to New Amsterdam to blow glass. Evert who was a leading citizen in his day, was a general artisan who was succeeded in 1674 by one of his assistants, Jacob Melyer. His family was said to have made glass “unto the third and fourth generation.” Cornelis Dirkson, and members of the Jansen family, and other Dutch artisans also practised the art of glass-blowing in New York during the late 1600s.

His glass works made bulls-eyes, for the windows and doors of the early homes, and plain utilitarian bottles and all the hollow ware for the citizenry of New Amsterdam.

At the same time, Johannes Smedes who had been here quite a while, was allotted an area of land on which he erected a glassworks in 1654. The bordering path soon became known as Glass-makers Street. Smedes also had a neighbor, Jacob Melyer (mentioned above). After a few years in America, Johannes simplified his name, becoming Jan Smedes. He retired from the glass business in the same year that Peter Stuyvesant “retired” from the Governorship in 1670. His glass works made bulls-eyes, for the windows and doors of the early homes, and plain utilitarian bottles and all the hollow ware for the citizenry of New Amsterdam.

With the influx of German refugees from the Palitinate region in Germany, it wasn’t long before new glass houses would be established at present day Brooklyn, mid-town Manhattan, and Newburgh, New York. All of these were the direct result of the Glass House Company formed in 1750 by Lodewick Bamper, Samuel Bayard, Matthew Earnest, Christian Hertell, and a master gaffer, named Johann Martin Greiner from the Saxe-Weimar Palatinate region of present day Germany. Greiner, who also a few years later would be hired by Wilhelm Henry Stiegel in 1767, entered into partnership and organized the Glass House Company of New York.

This location was then known as New Found Land, where a stage coach road with a tavern had been established in the late 1600s when New York was under Dutch rule.

With financial backing from the Dutch West Indies Company, they constructed their first glass factory at the present day site on the Hudson River in Newburgh, New York, 12 miles north of Manhattan on January 3rd, 1751. The second factory was established near Lodewick Bampers home in Brooklyn in 1754 and the last factory was built in December 1758, in what is now present day, mid-town Manhattan near a location which would now be located between 34th and 40th Streets, and 8th and 11th Avenues. This location was then known as New Found Land, where a stage coach road with a tavern had been established in the late 1600s when New York was under Dutch rule.

As a resident of southern New Jersey and an amateur glass historian at best, I have always been quite proud to have known that the first successful glass works in the colonies, The United Glass Company, was located just 15 miles from my home at Alloway, New Jersey, Salem County in 1738. Was it the first? Evidence seems to prove otherwise quite clearly. It now is quite evident to me that the English, when they ruled the Colonies in the late 1600s on and up to the American revolution, may have conveniently forgotten about the history above when assembling the records of the glass industry in the now United States.

As students of the early glass manufactured here in the United States it is time to give due diligence to the Dutch as the first at glass manufacture on a grand scale in North America.

As students of the early glass manufactured here in the United States, it is time to give due diligence to the Dutch as the first at glass manufacture on a grand scale in North America. Secondly we need to rethink that all the black glass bottles which turn up in large numbers were only produced in Europe in the glass centers of England, France and The Netherlands when in fact they were produced right here at home in New York City beginning as early as 1640. The sealed, dark glass wine bottles in the Van Cortland Museum from Mr. Bamper were most definitely produced here for the prominent citizenry of the colonies from Boston to New York to Philadelphia.

Was New Amsterdam first? Or as I am finding out now, by bits and pieces, a glass factory may have been erected by the Swedes and Finns in present day Wilmington, Delaware in 1638. It lasted for six years. If this account is true, then this attempt would have been two years prior to the Dutch at New Amsterdam. Stay tuned!

Mallet type bottle has a sheared lip, unseen on this type of large vessel.

About Stephen Atkinson

Read more in this series by Stephen Atkinson:

Newburgh (Glass House Co.) 1751-1759 | Part 1

Brooklyn (Glass House Co.) 1754-1758 | Part 2

Glass House Farm (Glass House Co) 1758-1772 | Part 3

Check these T. W. Dyott bottles out!

Henry Bolingers Maysville Glass-Works 1814-1825

Posted in Article Publications, Black Glass, Blown Glass, Early American Glass, Glass Companies & Works, Glass Makers, History, Questions, Utility Bottles, Windows | Tagged Canal Street, Christian Hertell, Cornelis Dirkson, dutch, Evert Duycking, factory, gaffer, Germany, Glass Makers Street, Jacob Melyer, Jansen, Johann Martin Greiner, Johannes Smedes, Lodewick Bamper, Matthew Earnest, New Amsterdam, New York City, Peter Stuyvesant, Samuel Bayard, Van Cortland Museum, Wilhelm Henry Stiegel | Leave a comment

Did N. A. Binks make an Alpine Bitters too?

Posted on 7 September 2013 by Ferdinand Meyer V

The photo was taken in Escanaba, on Michigan’s upper peninsula. I wonder if the Alpine Bitters is the labeled bottle and the larger cylinder bottles are Fairmont and Clutch Rye? Could that be N.A. Bink with the tie? What about that Sheriff?

I wonder if the Alpine Bitters is the labeled bottle and the larger cylinder bottles are Fairmont and Clutch Rye? Could that be N.A. Bink with the tie? What about that Sheriff?

Did N. A. Binks make an Alpine Bitters too?

07 September 2013

Bill Ham and I were corresponding yesterday and comparing notes on the various Alpine Bitters brands. As you may be aware, I got side-tracked and went off on this rather exciting journey to look at a few of the rarer and unlisted Alpine Bitters.

Read: The Widemann & Chappas Alpine Stomach Bitters – Marysville

Read: Our Most Celebrated Alpine Stomach Bitters – Gehrmann’s, Ahrens, Co., NYC

Read: Otto Kornemann and his Alpine Bitters Statuette – New York

Read: Alpine Herb Bitters – Western Mountain Themed Square – San Francisco

The Mysterious E-mail

Just when I thought I had things ‘under control’ with the various Alpine Bitters, Bill sends me this mysterious e-mail:

Ferdinand – Does this work for the new things?

Serving Tray
A 34.5 N.A. Binks
“Drink Fairmont Rye, Ask for Alpine Bitters”, Escanaba, Mich.
16 inches long

Binks may have been a distributor for A 36 Alpine Bitters and Fairmont Rye. Tray pictures beautiful Victorian women. – Bill

Wow. Strange. Bill and Carlyn do have a rather diminutive listing for an Alpine Herb Bitters in Bitters Bottles and have assigned it A 36 (listing and picture below).

A 36 – Alpine Herb Bitters illustration, p60 Bitters Bottles

A 36 ALPINE HERB // sp // BITTERS // f //
10 x 2 3/4 (7 1/2) 1/4
Square, Amber and Yellow, 2 sp, LTC, Tooled lip, Rare

Other ‘Oddball’ Alpine Bitters References

While we are at it, let’s add in a few other Alpine Bitters ‘oddball’ references in Bitters Bottles. Maybe they are also linked to N. A. Binks, whoever that is?

Alpine Bitters Dispensing Barrel listings and illustrations, p60 Bitters Bottles

Alpine Bitters Decanter listing and illustration, p60 Bitters Bottles

Who is N.A. Binks?

“listed in various census reports and directories as a wholesale liquor dealer in 1893 and a saloon owner”

A quick search online pulls up references to a Bink and Coca-Cola in Escanaba, Michigan. Interesting. I really need to find out what “N. A.” stands for so I jump over to the powerful tool, Ancestry.com and type in N. A. Binks, 1890 (+/- 10 years), Escanaba, Michigan. I get some of the typical mis-connections and a few possibilities. You see, the United States census collectors hand wrote their entries so I see no direct links. I remove the ‘s’ from Bink and there he is, Nicholas A. Binks. I now can cross reference various records and confirm that in the years 1889 – 1910, a Nicholas A. Bink was listed in various census reports and directories as a wholesale liquor dealer in 1893 and a saloon owner in 1897 for instance.

Bink, Nicholas A. – Delta Ave. – Escanaba – 20 – bookkeeper, 1889, Escanaba City Directory

Bink, Nicholas A., sample rooms. Dealer in fine wines liquors, cigars and fresh beer, 1003, 1893-95 Escanaba Directory

Bink, Nicholas A., saloon, Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1897

Now that I have a full name, I go back and search for Nicholas A. Bink and get the following great information:

Nicholas A. Bink has been a resident of the city of Escanaba, Delta county, since he was a youth of nineteen years, and has been actively associated with the business interests of this vital community during a period of more than forty years, so that, as proprietor of the City Bottling works, he now ranks as one of the veteran business men of the city.

Mr. Bink was born at Fredonia, Wisconsin, September 7, 1866, and is a son of Michael and Mary K. Bink, the former of whom was born in Germany and the latter in Belgium. Michael Bink was a youth of fourteen years when he came to the United States, and after having been for a number of years actively identified with farm industry in Wisconsin he engaged in the hotel business at Belgium, Wisconsin, Ozaukee county, where also he conducted a general store and served a number of years as justice of the peace. He finally retired from active business and he passed the closing period of his life at West Bend, Wisconsin, where he died in 1922, at the venerable age of eighty-four years. He was a staunch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party and was a communicant of the Catholic church, as was also his wife, who died in 1921, at the age of seventy-five years.

engaged in the retail liquor business, and thereafter he conducted a substantial wholesale liquor business, under the title of Bink Wholesale Liquor and Supply company

The early education of Nicholas A. Bink was obtained mainly in the district schools of Wisconsin, and at the age of nineteen years he came to Escanaba, Michigan, and entered the employ of the Escanaba Brewing company, with which he continued his association three and one-half years. During the ensuing ten years he was here engaged in the retail liquor business, and thereafter he conducted a substantial wholesale liquor business, under the title of Bink Wholesale Liquor and Supply company, until the national prohibition laws came into effect. Since 1922 he has been the proprietor of the City Bottling works, and has developed a prosperous business in the bottling of aerated beverages and other “soft drinks.”

Mr. Bink has been an upright and reliable citizen and business man and has a host of friends in this section of the Upper Peninsula. He gives his political allegiance to the Republican party, he and his family are communicants of the Catholic church, and he is affiliated with the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On the eighth of September, 1891, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bink to Miss Anna Groos, who was born and reared in Escanaba and who is a daughter of the late Peter and Anna (Huffman) Groos, of whom more specific mention is made in the personal sketch of their son Dr. John O. Groos, elsewhere in this volume.

Another nice bit of information on Bink Wholesale Liquor and Supply Co:

was occupied in 1907-08 by Bink Wholesale Liquor and Supply Co., incorporated October 1, 1903, with Capital Stock of $30,000, N. A. Bink, manager (Polk 1907). After Prohibition began in 1919, Bink remained in business as the City Bottling Works, distributing “soft drinks” that included Bink’s Beverages (Fuller 1926: 267; Bink 2003). It has remained in business, becoming a Coca Cola franchisee in 1932 and becoming one of the Upper Peninsula’s largest distributors of soft drinks (Bink 2003).

And more on the Coca-Cola business:

Bink’s Coca-Cola was founded as Bink’s Wholesale Liquor and Supply Company on October 10, 1903 by Nicholas A. Bink. In December, 1921, the company became The City Bottling Works.

The second generation of ownership was with Nicholas J. Bink, the founder’s son. Bink’s Coca-Cola Bottling Company began selling Coca-Cola in 1931 and purchased the Coca-Cola franchise for Delta and Schoolcraft counties in 1936. In 1961, Bink’s purchased the franchise to sell Coca-Cola in Dickinson, Iron, and part of Florence, Menomonee and Marinette Counties.

Robert N. Bink, the founder’s grandson is the current president of Bink’s Coca-Cola. He represents the third generation in the family business. Robert has continued to provide growth to the Coca-Cola business and has maintained the status of being a Coca-Cola Bottler.

Nicholas R. Bink, general sales manager for Bink’s Coca-Cola, is the fourth generation in the business. Nick has continued to provide growth and superior service to Coca-Cola customers. As a father and son venture, Robert and Nick have recently partnered to form Bink’s Wines & Beverages. This new Bink enterprise currently services five counties in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with fine wines from around the world.

The Serving Tray

Since we still have no Alpine Bitters mentioned with Nicholas A. Bink or Bink Wholesale Liquor and Supply Co., we need to look at this tray Bill references. Bill unfortunately, upon questioning, does not have an image of the Fairmont Rye serving tray, only the mysterious notation from his record from some years ago.

Crutch Rye Whiskey Escanaba, Michigan Advertising Tray, Escanaba, Michigan. Manufactured by American Can Co. Chicago. 13 1/4″ x 10 1/2″. – O’Gallerie Auctions

I start looking for images of the Fairmont Rye tray and ‘almost’ hit payola with a Bink Wholesale Liquor and Supply Co., tray image (above) with a Victorian woman. Unfortunately it says “CRUTCH RYE” instead of “Fairmont Rye”. Not a big stretch to think another similar tray may be out there. But where is the “Drink Clutch (or Fairmont) Rye, Ask for Alpine Bitters” copy? Could this be on this tray, and the copy mostly faded away or too small? Someone out there has these trays. Maybe they will surface.

I am now starting to think that Bink, since he was a wholesaler, was in the saloon businnes and had a liquor supply company, it is entirely possible that the Alpine Herb Bitters, Alpine Bitters Dispensing Barrels and Decanter pictured further above, may be related. No proof though. Someone owns these pieces out there. Bill and Carlyn had to get the information to create the listings in Bitters Bottles.

So we leave today with the mystery not solved and no concrete proof. I bet we can solve this.

A Little on Escanaba, Michigan

Mid 1800s Birds Eye View of Escanaba, Michigan, 1881

Wikipedia: Escanaba is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, located in the banana belt on the state’s Upper Peninsula. The population was 12,616 at the 2010 census. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 13,140, making it the third-largest city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie. Named for the Escanaba River that flows into the Little Bay de Noc of Lake Michigan just north of the city.

Early Escanaba photograph. Look at the ships in the background.

Old Ludington Street Escanaba

Ludington Street Escanaba hand tint Post Card

The word “Escanaba” roughly translates from various regional native languages to “land of the red buck” although some people maintain that it refers to “flat rock”. Escanaba was an Ojibwa village in the early 19th century. As an American settlement, Escanaba began as a port town in the mid-19th century, gaining importance to the Union as a shipping point for iron ore, lumber and copper during the Civil War. In his poem “The Song of Hiawatha”, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow described how Hiawatha “crossed the rushing Esconaba” referring to the river. Located on Little Bay de Noc at the northern edge of Lake Michigan, Escanaba continues to serve as an important shipping point for iron ore to other Great Lakes ports, especially south to Chicago and northern Indiana. The local paper mill, for many years Mead Corporation’s Publishing Paper Division, is currently operated by NewPage Corporation; located on the outskirts of the city alongside the Escanaba River, it is now the area’s largest employer.

Ore Docks, Escanaba, Michigan 1870s

As shipping increased, a lighthouse was needed to warn of a sand shoals that reached out into Little Bay de Noc from Sand Point, a sandspit located just south of and adjacent to the harbor area. The United States Lighthouse Service approved construction of the Sand Point Lighthouse at a cost of $11,000. Construction began in the fall of 1867 and was completed in early spring 1868. It was deactivated in 1939, and was used by the United States Coast Guard to house seaman assigned to Escanaba. The building was completely restored to its original design in the late 1980s, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The U.P. Original Old Portable Sawmill located in Escanaba MI.

Escanaba Ore Docks

The Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad was closely linked with the lumbering and iron ore shipping of the region for many years, and now is playing an important role in the industrial activity of Escanaba and vicinity.