Spring Finds #3

Shortly after digging season began I got brave enough to commence wading season. While it was a tad chilly, following a lead on a new spot made it well worthwhile! A Burke Bros. Providence blob was among the finds. This example with an oval slugplate, but circular embossing is a new variant.

One of my personal favorites was a Blue Rose Bottling Co. Providence blob. This company was only in business for two year. This almost clear bottle with a gray tint was an unlisted color.

A Natick Bottling Works Natick, RI BIM crown top had seen much better days, but looked different. It had the phrase “this bottle registered” on the shoulder, which is unlisted. This one definitely needs a replacement! 
Update:  Just a week after I found this example, I dug another in much better condition!  This second example is the one pictured.

A recent antiquing trip produced a Douglas Ave. Bottling Co. Providence blob. This example has erased lettering under Ave. and no period after Ave.

While digging the big dump with a few friends last month, one of them found a Cranston Mineral Water Works Cranston RI BIM crown top. I have a Cranston Mineral Water Co. bottle, which is uncommon, and this new variant was pretty exciting. It didn't take long for me to find the right bottle for him and make the trade.

Spring Finds #2

Early this March the ground finally neared the defrosting phase, and it was open season in my favorite town dump. After failing to annihilate one of the last chunks of frost from one of my old holes, I settled for a hit-and-miss spot that today provided some hits! A nice J.L. & P. Gannon N. Providence blob was one of the first to surface. Normally a common bottle, this example had a nice block letter G monogram. Additionally, the heel read “this bottle registered / not to be sold”, which is an uncommon phrase.

Next up was an exciting What Cheer Bottling Co. Providence blob. Sadly it was cracked, but that didn't lessen my excitement! I have an example that is not embossed Providence, so they will make a perfect pair! What Cheer is the motto for Providence.

One of the most common sodas from this dump is the John Theroux Pontiac, RI blob. This larger size of the two known variants, and this one has a period after Pontiac and no period after the R in RI. Erased embossing on the heel adds to the mystery.

A recent trade involved a nice Sullivan Bros. Providence 13oz. ABM blob. Only a crown top is listed with the 13oz. embossing, and the machine made blob factor was a surprise. By the time machine made sodas were becoming popular blobs were becoming obsolete, so machine made examples are fairly hard to find.

I found a Nutro Registered (on base) ABM soda while wading last year, and thought that I already had one. After double checking, I noticed my old one was clear, and the fresh-dug example was aqua!  Now for a better-looking example...

Spring Finds #1

No, this is not an April fool's joke, I have indeed found yet another one! This time it is an amber Otis Clapp & Son Incorporated. Usually ABM, this was a beautiful BIM example. I now believe quite earnestly that I will not come across another new Otis Clapp bottle for quite some time!

My first return to the big town dump found bottles still frozen in the thawing ground. I was able to free a damaged J. Lifschitz & Son Providence blob. This scarce blob looked a little different than the example I had, and sure enough it was! I have included a picture of the listed version on the right, with the new version on the left.

There is only one bottler from RI that dated his bottles somewhat consistently. I was delighted to add a J.H. Branaghan 7 Pawtucket, RI crown top to my run of dated sodas. There are no listed 1907 versions, so it goes quite well with my 6 and 9 examples!

Another bottle that has proved to be rather elusive is a smooth based Dyer's Healing Embrocation Providence. The small versions are fairly common, but this 6” version is most often found pontiled. This particular double apostrophe version is listed pontiled but not smooth based! In my humble opinion it looks like they simply forgot the pontil!

The Dyers above and this base embossed sample 2" Rumford bottle came from the collection of Ed Greer. He was one of the founding collectors of the Little Rhody Bottle Club, and it was an honor to finally meet him. Since things were a little tight for me financially, a friend of mine bought a bunch of his collection which he was parting with. Luckily I was able to afford a few of those gems! 

Winter Finds #8

I'm sure you are tired of seeing blogs with "winter finds" still appearing, but rest assured this is the last one!

I was excited to finally obtain a green Bell Bottling Co. Providence seltzer. Colored seltzers from RI are considerably harder to find than clear ones, and are usually offered at exorbitant prices to the home decorator crowd.

If you think I am done with Otis Clapp & Son bottles, guess again! A large 8-3/4” rectangular example surfaced on ebay. This shape and size is normally found with a fancy glass top with inside screw threads. This plain cork top was a newcomer!

I was eyeballing an Antonio Gasbarro Providence crown top on ebay. I only have one crown top version, so I picked it up. Turns out it was an unlisted version with a comma after Providence. It is possible that the online listing of RI-1035 is just a poor description of this bottle.

Another common bottle in an uncommon color was a green Dybalas Spring Bottling Works Woonsocket, RI. It turned out not only to be an unlisted color, but also an unlisted 7oz. size.

Also with the Dybala was a base embossed Sherba Beverage Co. This West Barrington, RI based company was one of the most successful bottling companies from the East Bay part of RI. No base embossed examples are listed.

Winter Finds #7

I apologize for my slacking as of late.  The weather finally broke early last month, and I was having a field day catching up on digging! 

I have been having good luck finding a wide assortment of Otis Clapp & Son bottles. This latest one is the amber counterpart to the clear labeled one I found a few posts back. It has two lions flanking the company name in a shield. I have to say it is one of my favorite Clapp bottles yet!

Yet another uncommon Clapp surfaced at the Enfield, Ct. show. This square Otis Clapp & Son is very common in clear (typically $1 value), but it is hard to find in amber. This small size is listed in clear, but not amber.

Another nice surprise was a G.A. Hazard Newport, RI etched wine bottle. One normally sees the large “champagne” style wine bottles with etching like this, and smaller sizes like this one are fairly rare.

A small jar that I thought I might have turned out to be a variant! Embossed Horsford on the shoulder, the other example I have says Horsfords. It’s a sharp looking early baking powder bottle.

I was finally able to snag a nice citron Davis Vegetable Pain Killer. I have seen citron Davis bottles in the small size and the older BIMAL style, but this average size is a new one! This was not an intended color, but a result of contaminated cullet, or the batch of glass that was used.