After running some errands I decided to jump in the river
again. I found a few bottles, but nothing
of particular note. A common Mt. Hope Dist Co. Providence, RI blob
was almost a guaranteed double. I was
again surprised to see it was yet another variant! The listed version has Registered embossed
arching up on the shoulder, and this one has it embossed straight. That’s variant #12!
The Keene Show is one that is at my outer limits of how far
I’m willing to drive for a bottle show.
Last year was my first time there, and it was so fruitful I put it on my
“must attend” list. I got a few nice doubles
this year, along with some sales. The
only newcomer was a nice G.P. Harvey
& Co. Newport, RI squat soda.
The listed version has Geo. P. Harvey
spelled out (just a little less abbreviated).
(Note: This might be RI-1085, but “squatty” is used to describe the
shape, which seems to refer to a shorter neck and abrupt shoulder, as opposed
to this sloping shoulder version).
Another extremely common RI deco soda is the ubiquitous Kerona.
I almost accidentally picked one up on a friend’s table, and was taken
aback to see the embossing was one sided!
These usually have Kerona embossed on the front and back shoulder, but
this one simply had a blank spot on one side.
It goes to show one should never assume!
Another fairly common RI medicine is marked D. & M. Co. Providence. I got this one in a lot of RI bottles. At 6” it was an unlisted size.
Another find from the “box lot” was a Scientific Improved Beef, Wine Iron Providence, RI. These heavily embossed medicines show up
semifrequently. The subtle difference
for this one was a missing comma after Providence.
