Winter Finds #6 2018

By far the best surprise at the Baltimore show was a S.H. Farnham Pure Drugs Wickford, RI. A collector who I never met that knew me from Facebook approached me at the show and asked me if I would be interested in a RI pharmacy bottle. I said most likely, expecting a common example. If I hadn't been so tired I might have started jumping with excitement. I had dug a shard of a fancy S.H. Farnham medicine years ago in Wickford. It quickly went to my top 5 most wanted local bottles list. I was starting to fear I would never see one until now. I thanked him quite enthusiastically, especially after he insisted on selling it to me cheaply even after I told him it was a rare bottle.

Speaking of rare locals my good friend David was kind enough to gift me his duplicate S.H. Donahue Registered Pharmacist Wakefield, RI. He dug the only two examples known, so owning one is truly an honor.

My biggest purchase at the Baltimore show as a pontiled Paine's Vegetable Pain Curer. A direct competitor to the more popular Davis Vegetable Pain Killer, Mr. Paine set up shop literally down the street from Perry Davis. His antics did little to annoy Mr. Davis as his product was immensely popular. The bottle comes in 3 sizes, and the seller had two! I had to opt for the cheaper 5-1/2” middle size.

I made a special trip to a yard sale advertising bottles and my heart sank upon seeing the selection. Two shallow cardboard boxes full of junk bottles. But underneath a few of them was a Geo. S. Wilcox 20 Bridge St. Providence, RI quart blob! RI quart blobs are quite rare, so this was a really nice find.

I generally shy away from ebay sellers asking absurd prices for bottles because they usually can't be reasoned with. I decided to make an offer on a Hazard, Hazard & Co. Chemists New York & Newport round apothecary style bottle and the seller accepted my offer. At 7-3/4” it is an unlisted size.

Winter Finds #5 2018

This year the Baltimore Bottle Show turned out to be quite an ordeal. I tried to coax my ailing car to make the trip one final time and it blew a hose in the middle of NYC. Needless to say I don't think I slept at all, so amazingly my unfortunate carpooling buddy and I were able to buy a new hose the next morning and decided to finish the trip. I wandered the show like a zombie but some great finds made all my suffering worth it. I got a fancy Otis Clapp & Son in amber as a double, but surprise! It was different than the other example I had.

A nice surprise was a WW Trade Mark ink in aqua. I found a teal green example a few posts back and after posting it online someone told me they had seen an aqua example. I kept my eyes open and presto!

A tenacious fellow collector finally said yes to an offer I made him a few months ago, and I added my third 12-sided pontiled Dyer's Healing Embrocation Prov. RI to the fold. It's my best example yet, and my favorite feature is a random comma after Healing.

I was recently reunited with a digger I haven't seen in 7 years. After catching up he showed me some of his recent finds. I bought a few including a Geo. T. Dana & Co. Pawtucket, RI medicine. She's a real beauty!

Ebay delivered again with one of my favorite capitol pharmacy bottles, a H.I. Hough Drug Store Providence, RI. This one was in a different shape than my other examples.

Winter Finds #4 2018

It turns out that the “pothead seller” had one final trick up his sleeve. One of his last listings was a 47-8-11 Cures Malaria C.E. Hornberger quack medicine. I could barely contain my excitement, as this was almost the same as the Rx for Malaria bottle I bought a few years ago. It was an unlisted RI cure and I had to have it. Luckily it didn't got for a lot, and sadly I was victimized once more by unmentioned damage but it was worth acquiring such a rare bottle.

An excavator brought in some bottles he dug at a construction site and among them was a Cappelli Bros. Providence, RI blob. It was beat to heck but I was able to get it for $1. It's a minor variant so my Cappelli Bros. collection grew to 3!

I bought a few bottles from another friend of mine, and guess what he had? Yet another Standard Bottling Co. flag Pawtucket, RI blob! I have to be getting close to having them all now, right?

I revisited one of the “mega-dumps” that everyone knows about but the finds are scarce recently. I noticed a lot of new activity and a soda just lying on the ground! It was a J. Keron Central Falls, RI. While this style Keron bottle is common as dirt when it's machine made, this was the first one I've seen that was BIM! And it looks much nicer than it's ABM counterpart.

Another digger saved a damaged John Bush Opp. City Hall Providence, RI pint whiskey for me. It's a real heartbreaker being completely unlisted (I do have a quart). Let's hope he digs a whole one!

Winter Finds #3 2018

Shortly after dealing with the notorious “pothead seller” I learned that a friend of mine was able to buy some bottles from the same old time collection. This time making the deals was effortless. One of my favorite finds was a McGunagles Drug Store Valley Falls, RI. This one is completely different than the listed example, and quite appealing!

My friend also had an Orange Cream Bottling Co. Providence, RI quart soda. I saw one years ago that was not for sale, so it was nice to finally bring it into the fold.

I was planning to sell a Standard Bottling Co. (flag) Pawtucket, RI but checked it just to make sure it wasn't a variant. Yup, it was!

My latest antiquing run turned out as usual. Very little new in the big shops but I was able to leave with something. This time it was yet another George A. Peckham Grocers Supplies Providence, RI. This example did stick out because it has a disc neck, which no other Peckham bottles have. The disc was a way to help measure how much liquid was poured out of the bottle.

At another shop I snagged a W.H. Arnold River Point, RI blob. Like the Peckham, a common soda but not in this shape! This is what collectors call a “steamer” or ginger ale style blob. It has a narrow body, short neck, and is shorter overall than your average blob. While common in some states this is the first one I have seen from Rhode Island!

Winter Finds #2 2018

An old time seller parted with their modest collection a few months ago and while I was able to get some nice bottles it was a difficult process. The real problem was the guy who bought them to list on ebay, a pothead who knew absolutely nothing about bottles. Half the words in his listings were misspelled, he used incorrect terms and blurry pictures, but I figured I'd take a chance.  I knew after I received a bottle that had significant damage he didn't mention that every purchase was going to be a gamble. My first bottle from this seller was a Dyer's Healing Embrocation Providence, RI. It was a nice larger size with a funny top. I have one just like it with a crude applied top. This one had a much newer looking tooled lip. When it comes to dating the bottle I'm stumped!

A young collector from CT came across a Cotton Club Beverages Cranston, RI deco soda at a flea market. I was blown away that there was more than one deco style soda as the one I have is rare as it is. We made a deal and I'm now the happy owner of both Cotton Club deco sodas.

Another nice surprise was a Frank Heiss & Co. Cranston, RI blob. While not rare, I never saw one with the embossing in a diamond. I had to pay up but hey, so far it's unique!

Another beer I traded for was a Francis Gavin Pawtucket, RI with “hollow hands”. Most of the shaking hands are solid, but there are also hollow versions that are a bit harder to find.

Here's a bottle I bought from the “pothead” seller that I actually returned because it had several significant cracks. It was an It Pays to Trade at Powells Newport, RI. After getting blocked from bidding because I was too “picky”, a friend of mine offered to bid on my behalf and I ended up getting it for significantly less. I have to imagine I was only one in a long list of unhappy buyers from this unsavory seller.

Winter Finds #1 2018

I sell bottles out of a shop called Nostalgia on the East Side. Business is good but sometimes I think I'm the only person who ever sells bottles in there! One day I saw a blob behind some other antiques. I nearly fell over when I read the embossing! F.T. Buffum Prov. RI. I've never heard of the name, and it was dead mint! Needless to say this is definitely a contender for the best unlisted bottle of the year.

A friend of mine found a Martin's Drug Store Pawtucket, RI for me. I have a larger size, and there are no Martins bottles listed!

The Little Rhody Bottle Club's annual show was a blast, even though I didn't make any truly incredible discoveries. I finally got a W.E. Cates Pharmacist Providence, RI. A neat looking medicine and the address is different than the one listed.

A friend traded me a Pascoag Pharmacy Pascoag, RI medicine. At 3-3/4” it's the smallest size known and unlisted!

An uncommon J. Moskol Providence, RI crown top soda was even less common because it was machine made! Talk about a little irony there.

Fall Finds #4 2017

It was a Newport kind of bottle club meeting as I also got a D.W. Sheehan Bottler Newport, RI blob. A scarce bottle to find, this was an unlisted variant!

My favorite addition was an early C.A. Trager Newport, RI blob. I have the other and only listed version, now there are two!

I've dug a bunch of the side embossed screw cap Otis Clapp & Son Inc. medicines, but I've never seen one that's 8-1/2” tall! Yeah I bought it just to complete the run!

I picked up a Hazard Hazard & Co. New York & Newport cobalt square because it looked a little different than mine. I almost returned it because it was so badly damaged but it was taller and narrower than my other example and I wasn't sure when I would see another.

I got a Frank Batchelor Woonsocket, RI etched wine in a trade. It is barely legible but you just don't see these from Woonsocket very often!

Fall Finds #3 2017

I got a Gilbert R. Parker Pharmacist Johnston, RI in a recent trade. It's the only embossed medicine from Johnston and the size is unlisted. In 1890 the part of Johnston Dr. Parker was in got annexed to Providence.

I snagged another D. & M. Co. Providence medicine from a friend. It was an 6-1/2” size. I still need to find an amber one!

I recently had the pleasure of meeting with a RI historian who also loves bottles. We did some trading and among items exchanged was a Remington & Co. Providence, RI pharmacy bottle. The listed version says A. E. Remington so this is a later unknown variant!

My Frank L. Powell Newport, RI collection grew with a larger 6-3/4” example. It so happens to be an unlisted size as well!

From the same seller I got a J.R. Lorah & Co. Newort in a smaller unlisted 3-1/2” size.

Fall Finds #2 2017

Sorry folks I fell behind yet again!  

A big ebay surprise was a Mason B. Wood Apothecary Watchemoket, RI medicine. While I have a few of his bottles, I've never seen one quite like this. Extra large lettering for the name and a wavy line of embossing for the town. It certainly makes a statement!

I was also able to finally add a second size of the elusive WWW Trade Mark ink. This bottle is from the Stylographic Pen Co. of Providence. This is the smallest size, now I just need the two large sizes!

An antiquing run paid off with a nice C.E. Walch Providence, RI medicine. It has a different address than the one that's listed.

If my Davis Vegetable Pain Killer family didn't have enough variety already it just got a little more. The Davis sunken front panel is square, usually it is slightly arched.

Someone reached out to me saying they had a Thomas A. Barber Ashaway, RI medicine. I gladly made an offer for it. Unfortunately it was in a fire and is deformed, but the good news is no cracks and an unlisted size!

Fall Finds #1 2017

At the October club meeting I picked up a Barbour's 18 Broad St. Westerly, RI with ounce measurements on the side. I have one with ounce and CC measurements but not just ounces.

Another recent pickup was a P. Faerber Newport, RI footed seltzer. While not rare, the footed version is older so now I have a duet!

I got a King's White Rock Bottling Co. Westerly, RI seltzer in a recent trade. Pyro seltzers are hard to find in good condition, and this one look great besides my etched example.

At one of the Connecticut bottle shows I picked up a The Shepherd Company quart milk bottle. It's unusual because I thought they only sold cream, which comes in half pints, maybe pints. It's fun to be surprised!

A friend of mine was selling a Cranston Bottling Co. Cranston, RI crown top soda that we both thought I had. I was glad I checked because I did have it, but with a blob top!