Spring Finds #5

June is the last month the Little Rhody Bottle Club meets before our summer break. There is usually some nice goods that show up at this final meeting, and this time was no exception. I was pretty floored to see a J.A. Provost Warren, RI dose cup. Warren bottles are exceptionally rare (save a few of the milks), and dose cups from RI are rare in general. There are no listed bottles from Dr. Provost, but I will certainly take the dose cup!

The dismal river dump also produced a variant that I had previously overlooked. A damaged Olneyville Mineral Waters Johnston, RI had a different looking monogram. Sure enough, there are two monogram variants, as well as a variant with R.I. spaced out (like R. I.). First there was one, then there were three!

Small monogram, spaced out RI on left

I finally made it out to one of the most “middle of nowhere” villages in RI, which is Nasonville. It makes sense they would need a taven/hotel way out here, and the Western Hotel did just that, surviving to this day. McManus & Meade, the proprietors of the hotel in the late 1890s-1910s, started a bottling company there as well, which also thrived. I had the chance to dig the large dump for the hotel, but I wasn't the first to think of doing this. It had been dug quite well, probably since the 1960s. I was happy to leave with a damaged bottle a previous digger had discarded. A P. Lynch Bottler Nasonville, RI was a most welcome addition. Patrick Lynch was McManus & Meade's predecessor, and all of his bottles are unlisted.

Another welcome addition was a small size Gladstone Springs Water Co. Narragansett Pier, RI. This is the only RI soda in this dimunitive 6oz. size. I have one in clear, and this one is aqua with 6 oz embossed on the rear heel.

A long day of antiquing in “south of Boston” Massachusetts was getting pretty dismal. At the last store I visited, I finally found something. A Sunshine Bleach Phillipsdale, RI with a crown top and base embossing was a new one. I'm thinking this might have been an early version which was quickly changed when they realized it looked a lot like a soda bottle. 

Spring Finds #4

At the last club meeting, our club president brought a bunch of labeled bottles he bought in a lot. Most were common and unembossed. I saw a nice labeled medicine from Pascoag, RI, and thought it was pretty cool. I went back again, flipped it over, and was amazed to see it was embossed Miller's / Pharmacy (sides) / Pascoag, RI (back). There is a listed Miller's Pharmacy bottle, but it has front embossing. Even with a high price tag, I couldn't pass it up!

I went digging last month at a well-worn dump. You have to dig 6 feet down to get anywhere, and after two hours, I had only found one milk. I moved to the edge of the dump, and saw a soda just lying on the surface. It was an American Bottling Corp. W. Exchange St. Providence. I guess someone forgot to take it home! This smaller BIM crown top version is unlisted. 

Digging a little further, I found another American Bottling Corp. W. Exchange St. Providence soda. This one was identical to the last, but instead of being BIM, it was ABM. They make a nice pair!

I have found a few Eclipse Food Products Corp. Providence, RI, but never took one home. The amber base embossed screw cap just never appealed to me. I eventually realized these bottles are an important part of Rhode Island history, as the originators of coffee syrup. So, here it is!

 (picture to come)

A return to a river dump had me anticipating broken bottles, as it appears almost all the bottles were broken prior to disposal. Sure enough, a Caproni Bros. & Co. Prov. RI etched wine showed up with no top. Thankfully the break is even, making it a good candidate for repair.