Finally! I am up to
date. Well, at least I was when I wrote
this entry! I may not have as many posts
to make, but rest assured I’m still hunting for those elusive unlisted bottles. Here are some of the latest finds.
In one’s digging ventures, you are bound to come across a
few dumps that have bottles, but not enough to hold your interest. Two years ago I got permission to dig a dump
in Shannock, RI. I
found two decent bottles after three days of digging. Discouraged, I looked elsewhere. Some renewed faith in the site led me back
there, and of course, I had been inches away from a bunch of whole soda
bottles. They were all from Westerly, and one stuck
out. I thought it would fall apart in my
hands, but it miraculously survived the trip home and a light cleaning. The New
England Bottling Co. Westerly,
RI handmade crown top is pretty scarce.
What grabbed my attention was the CH monogram. The C was backwards! I can’t say I’ve ever seen an error in a
monogram, so I hope there’s an undamaged example somewhere!
Another Westerly soda from the same dump was a J.H. Blackler Co. Westerly, RI. Now while it is similar to RI-770, there is
no mention of the Contents/ 8 Fluid Ounces embossed on the front heel. It could be the same bottle but I’d need a
picture to verify it.
On my latest trip to David Smith’s house, he was kind enough
to give me a nice Ashaway medicine bottle which he had some extras of. It’s an A.B.
Briggs Physician & Surgeon Ashaway, RI.
It’s in one of my favorite shapes, a round bottle with a flat front
panel. Only a rectangular version with
this embossing is listed.
Another surprise find came from the Seekonk dig. I plucked a Red Fox Beverages Providence, RI art deco soda off the
surface. It’s very common, but this one
was in the tougher to find green color.
It looks just like RI-1460, only instead of Reg. Cap. 7 ½ Fl. Oz. on the
heel it reads Reg. Cap. 7 ½ Oz. Most of
the green ones are from the 1960s, and this was an earlier 1950s example.
Two unlisted quart variants of common sodas also surfaced at
the dig. One was a Kerona Beverages Central Falls, RI with 1 Pt. 12 Flu. Oz. on the
rear shoulder, and the other a shoulder and heel embossed Berry Spring Mineral Water Co. Pawtucket, RI. They're nothing flashy, but they're new!
