Fall Finds #8

Despite it being the middle of December, the ground actually thawed out for a while, and it was a great time to dig! An S.J. Briggs Prescription Specialist Providence, RI medicine was an unlisted size at 5”. Sadly it has a hole in it :-(

Just down the road, my digging partner and I decided to check out a mill village dump. I nearly fell over when I pulled out an A. Zurlinden 50 Spring St. Manville, RI medicine! Sadly the top was broken off, but this find was so exciting I plan to have it expertly repaired. There is only one other known medicine bottle from Manville.

A fairly common James O'Hare Pharmacist Providence medicine was slightly different from my other examples. The embossed letter are all the same size, while on my other examples, the first letter of each word is larger than the rest.

Another A.F. Cappelli 255 Atwells Ave. Providence blob had a different embossing style, with 255 on a separate line from Atwells Ave. Behold, another unlisted variant!

This dump is full of criers, and a Rhode Island Bottling Co. Johnston, RI blob was no exception. There are very few sodas from Johnston, and these Rhode Island examples are iconic as far as RI blobs go. With an oval slugplate, this one achieves unlisted status.

Fall Finds #7

A the construction site continued to produce bottles, despite some of them being bad teasers, like a Hazard Hazard & Co. Newport & New York. This fancy square bottle has rounded corners and a frosted throat, making it unlisted. (pardon these pictures, better ones to come!)

Just when I thought I had all the different versions, I found another Mt. Hope Distilling Co. Providence aqua blob. The only extra embossing was Registered, which was embossed on the front heel. This one makes 14 versions now.

Another fairly common soda showed up in an uncommon style. A Sullivan Bros. Providence, RI crown top had a distinct narrow body and long sloping shoulders. It was enough to be a new variant, and is my 10^th Sullivan bottle.

I was invited to pick a southern RI basement, and found an assortment of neat stuff, from medicines to stone jugs! A Thomas J. Bannon Druggist Westerly & Watch Hill, RI was one of my favorites. A 4-1/4”, it was an unlisted size.

Back at the construction site, a damaged A.F. Cappelli Atwells Ave. Providence, RI blob had a different look to it. Sure enough, it had “Registered” embossed way up on the neck, which is unusual.

Fall Finds #6

Two RI sodas were recently offered by a Texas seller on ebay. They both created a small explosion in the world of unlisted RI bottles. They were both brand new squat (one squat-ish) blobs, which is unheard of for RI. First was an H. Rosenberg Snow St. Providence, RI. This was the predecessor to John Scheminger, whose 3 bottles I have are also unlisted.

The second was even more exciting, a Thos. McGuire & Son River Point, RI blob! The listed Riverpoint sodas are well-known and fairly common. This is the earliest known soda from Riverpoint, and a beauty too!

A new construction site in Providence was loaded with bottles, and I came home with a full bucket each day! I was giddy with excitement when I found a R.E. Glavin Pharmacist Providence, RI Open Until Midnight. Not only was it a brand new bottle, but it had an awesome slogan as well! That's what I live to dig for!

The same site also produced a Florence Drug Store Atwells Ave. Providence, RI medicine. This larger size was unlisted, and sadly damaged.

Another dump scouting expedition in Providence turned up a Lobello Spring Water & Soda Co. Providence crown top. This one was just lying on the ground! With the heel only embossing, it was an unlisted version.

Fall Finds #5

At the last bottle club meeting an avid digger brought in a real attention-grabber. A J.A. Feeley Providence, RI medicine with an embossed eagle never left my hands. There are a handful of RI medicines with embossed eagles, but they are all hard to find. I was even more surprised to find out it was an unlisted pharmacist! There is a P.J. Feeley (likely his father) listed who also had embossed eagles on his bottles.

A trio of hard to find Otis Clapp & Son Homepopathic Pharmacy Providence medicines was too good to pass up. I have two versions of this early Otis Clapp bottle, and now I have four! A 2-3/4” small size was unlisted.

 

The other was embossed Otis Clapp & Son Homeo Pharmacy. This abbreviated Homeo version was also unlisted.

An excavator posted a group of bottles on Craigslist that he dug up. One was a McKenna Bros. Providence blob. This example has an oval slugplate and a different style monogram.

My Cranston connection came through with a nice hard to find blob. A Ruhland & Co. Cranston turned out to be an unlisted version. Lewis Ruhland bottles are uncommon, and Ruhland & Co. examples are even harder to find.