After missing an example on ebay a few
years ago, a Dr. Hopkins Magic Healing Powder Providence, RI with
a footed base has been one of my most wanted RI medicine bottles.
Well, one finally turned up! It was a little dinged up, but I didn't
complain. The other two examples in this fancy shape I have seen
were embossed Magic Gold Dust, so I think this is the harder to find
version.
A fellow club member listed a scarce
Geo. E. Greene Pharmacist Hope Valley, RI medicine on ebay
that I easily won. I was excited because it was an unlisted shape
(rounded back and 3 flat front panels). That makes it my 6th
Greene bottle!
On my trip back from the Little Rhody
Bottle Club show, I was dead tired and not in the mood to hit a few
shops on the way home. I forced myself to check one antique shop,
and was quite happy I did! I found a nice quart Echo Bristol, RI
crown top soda. This is the only known quart size Echo bottle.
An antique dealer who just opened a
shop recently told me he had a box of soda bottles for me to look
through. Most were from the same company, but there were a few
different examples mixed in. One was an Antonio
Gasbarro Providence, RI blob. With commas after Gasbarro
and Providence, it's a new variant and my 10th Gasbarro
bottle.
Another surprise was an unlisted Roger
Williams Bottling Co. Cranston, RI BIM crown top. I was pretty
sure I had all of the Roger Williams bottles, but I guess I was
wrong! This one had a narrow body and round slugplate, making it my
14th variant.
