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.
