Welcome back! A lot has happened since my last post, including my official purchase of the rest of the Otis Collection, which was close to 500 bottles, plus the ones I already bought. I have a bit of catching up to do, so I will stick to that for now!
With this post I can finally finish up my new finds from the
Otis collection. As my financial
situation allows, I will continue to purchase small amounts of his unlisted
bottles. For now, here’s the rest!
Another nice and early blob top was from J.H. Branaghan Pawtucket, RI. Branaghan was a successful dealer in liquors,
as evidenced by the large variety of bottles made by the company. This aqua blob top is easily one of the first
Branaghan bottles ever produced.
Another J.H.
Branaghan bottle is of a newer vintage but still very appealing. This handmade crown top has the embossing in
a shield design which was used extensively by the Burke Bros. of
Providence. The bottom is embossed Mfrs.
Bottle Co. Boston, a company which also produced the Burke bottles.
One of the most handsome handmade crown tops from the bunch
was a J. Keron Herbola Central Falls, RI. This green aqua bottle features a nice
tombstone shaped slugplate on the front.
J. Keron’s Herbola drink started him on a successful career which would
lead to the creation of the Kerona Co.
These Kerona bottles are some of the most common RI soda bottles around.
Well, I must confess that this next bottle is even more
handsome than the last. The successful
Caproni Bros. also produced a wide variety of soda and beer bottles. An amber handmade crown top Caproni Bros. Spruce St. Providence, RI
is a swell bottle. Its large size and unapologetic
bulging beer bottle style neck give it a commanding presence.
An uncommon and unsurprisingly unlisted blob is from the American Wine Co. Pawtucket, RI. A large bottle is listed, but not this
average-sized blob. RI companies dealing
expressly in wine are uncommon, but a few like the California Wine Co. enjoyed
considerable success.
There was one bottle I missed during the collection selloff
I mentioned in the last two posts. I
wasn’t the only one scouring the collection.
A friend of mine picked up a blob soda and never put it down again. I figured it had to be a nice one, but I
didn’t know how nice. I read the
bottler’s name, but quickly forgot it when I saw the town. It was a G.A.
Wagner Berkeley, RI. At the time I didn’t even know that there was
such a town. Some searching showed it
was a small mill village in the town of Cumberland. It is exceedingly rare for a small town like
this to have an embossed bottle. Usually
the only bottles from small towns are milk bottles.
Well, he enjoyed it for a few weeks then listed it on
ebay. The opening bid was high but
reasonable for a blob this rare, and I happily got it for the minimum bid!
