Friday, January 8, 2016

Winter Finds #3 2016

I've always been a fan of smaller sized blobs, and this Caproni Bros. Co. Atwells Ave. Providence, RI is no exception. It is nearly identical to RI-837, but it has a comma after Providence instead of the listed period. 


Ah yes, there is always another Jacob Wirth & Co. Inc. Prov. RI out there. This one had a bad case of botched punctuation, with the period after Co being absent.


I was delighted to finally add a Woonsocket seltzer bottle to the collection! It was a Standard Bott. Co. Woonsocket, RI. Of couse, while it is one of the few seltzer bottles actually listed on the website, this one does not have Registered embossed on the front!


I've been quite happy with the progression of my etched wine collection. My most recent unlisted acqisition was a Providence Bottling Co. John E. Good Prop. Providence, RI etched wine.


Out of all the Caproni bottles, the early aqua versions are my favorites. A Caproni Bros. Co. Spruce St. Providence, RI aqua blob is my newest example! This one has Registered embossed on the front heel.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Winter Finds #2 2016

I recently had the honor of being offered a collection of almost 300 RI soda and beer bottles.  A former club president was thinning out his collection, and there was no way I would pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity.  The majority of the bottles were listed, but there were also a good number of unlisted bottles as well!


I was surprised to see an E.E. Ferrin Prov. RI etched blob. I found one a few years back, and to my knowledge it was the only example known. This one however, is an older aqua blob. I was confused at first because Ferrin was only a bottler for one year (1899), but then I realized he had simply used whatever unembossed blobs he could find.


I was even more surprised to see another John Scheminger Providence, RI blob. This bottler is completely unlisted on our website, but I have three different bottles from him. I certainly did not expect to see a fourth, but hey, the more the merrier!


Of course there had to be another variant! This one is cryptically embossed 119 Snow St. JHS (in cross) Prov, RI. My first example had a similar design, but the address wasn't the first thing embossed in the slugplate.


One surprise bottle found its way into the lot. Simply embossed “Arabian”, this bottle held Arabian (Coffee Syrup) from Grants Mills, RI. Since coffe milk is the official state beverage of RI, this bottle is a pretty neat piece of history!


A Geo. M. Christoph & Co. Cranston, RI crown top was a first for me. I have only seen blobs from Christoph. Also, the J.E. Monogram was one I have never seen before.

Winter Finds #1 2016

Continuing from my last post, we have a really nice looking McKenna Bros. Mineral Waters Providence, RI seltzer. If you look back a few posts, you will find a T.E. Hickey seltzer with a nearly identical design. It's an early style, and one of my favorites!


I was pretty surprised, but very happy to see a local seltzer up in a northern RI antique store! The Gladstone Springs Water Co. Narragansett Pier, RI is my first local seltzer, and one of only two seltzers from Narragansett Pier.


It always hurts to find that rare bottle you've been after in bad condition, but it's certainly better than not finding it! Such was the case when I dug this Percy Allanson Providence, RI medicine. I have only seen one on ebay years ago, so to finally have one (albeit damaged) is pretty satisfying.



The recent purchase of a massive collection of RI soda and beer bottles produced a host of unlisted finds. (I will go into more detail in my next post.) A J.W. Gaddis Riverpoint, RI was the first unlisted bottle I came across. The only example with a monogram has a short neck, while this one has a normal appearance.


A shoulder embossed A.F. Cappelli Providence, RI became my 3rd shoulder embossed variant. This version has 12oz. embossed in the slugplate.


Fall Finds #6 2015

I picked up two sodas at the last bottle club meeting, and both turned out to be unlisted! The first was a P. Faerber & Son Newport, RI crown top. This handmade example has an oval slugplate, but the embossing would fit in a round one.


The second soda was a Geo. S. Wilcox Providence, RI. Listed as a clear BIM crown top, this one is aqua and ABM. I now have four of these!


Recently spotted in an antique shop was a J.A. Hebert Central Falls, RI crown top. While not rare, I noticed that Contents 10-1/2 Fld. Oz. embossed on the heel, which the listed version doesn't have.


I was pretty happy to acquire my first labeled Batchelors soda bottle, and to make it even better it was unlisted! It is embossed Batchelor's Bot. Wks. Inc. on the base.


Stopping by an antique shop I don't usually visit paid off quite well when I came away with four scarce RI seltzer bottles! First up is a M. Shmirer Provience, RI. This is only the second RI seltzer I have seen with an animal (this looks like a deer?) etched on the front.