Fall Finds #5 2015

The November club meeting was a fun one, and while I didn't buy much, one was all I needed! An Edward Mee & Son Woonsocket, RI whiskey easily stole the show. A rare bottle as a blob top, a whiskey has never been documented. Add a bunch of embossing to the slugplate, and you have one of the nicest looking Woonsocket bottles I've ever seen!

A constructions site that backed up to the railroad had a promising vein of ash in the back corner. It turned out to be a 1910s dump, and soon ABM ketchups and whiskeys were erupting from the ground. Thankfully that wasn't all I found. A Burke Bros. Providence, RI crown top beer made things interesting. I have seen the shoulder slugplate style on other RI bottles, but not a Burke Bros.!

A prodigal return to a very rewarding Providence construction site dump was well worth the effort. I had previously given up on the place, but when I opened a nice deep hole where I left off, it turns out there was more to be had! A Wm. K. Reynolds Providence, RI was the first prize of the day. The only version known has a fancy shield design on the front. While not as fancy, this one is just as exciting to find!

Next up was a H.I. Hough Drug Store Olneyville, RI with an embossed bird! It was a wonderful case of deja vu, as I had found a larger size of this bottle here as well. This smaller size was unlisted!

Perhaps not as exciting, I was still surprised to see a Davol Nurser Providence, RI show up on ebay in an unlisted size. It is only one of two known nursing bottles from RI.

Fall Finds #4 2015

It was that time of year again to return to the big 1930s city dump. After a lot of digging, I finally got to a productive pocket. I was beyond excited when I found a Kist from West Barrington, RI! I had always assumed that the West Barrington Kist bottles were unmarked, but surprise, the 6oz. Size is marked!

A mill village dump that I have dubbed “the dusty one” I initially abandoned. There was very little to be found, and the dust was overpowering. Yet, perseverance paid off! I found a pocked in a less dusty part of the dump. Among the finds was a Fisk & Co. Pawtucket, RI medicine. At 3-1/2”, it was an unlisted size.

A not so uncommon sight on ebay is that of a Scientific Prepared Beef, Wine, & Iron People's Chemical Co. Providence, RI medicine. However, when a pair of them surfaced recently, I was surprised to see one had a donut ring style lip. The cross on the bottle was also different, resembling more of a plus mark than the Maltese style usually seen. As an added bonus it was attic mint!

A lady in Virginia recently reached out to a club member looking to sell a bottle she had. It was a Jas. Hanley Brew Co. Needless to say I was pretty excited since it was an unlisted RI beer. We agreed on a price and now I have my second embossed Hanley bottle!

Another exciting appearance on ebay was a The Cal. Wine Co. T.S. Mitchell Providence, RI quart whiskey. It wasn't a pretty transaction, with the seller purposefully leaving some damage unmentioned, but worse things have happened. Listed in a pint size, which I have never seen before, an unlisted size was even better!

Oh no, can it be? Yet another Geo. A. Peckham Grocers Supplies Providence, RI! It's actually not as bad as it sounds. This one was a fairly scarce unlisted large size.

(picture coming!)

Fall Finds #3 2015

I savaed the best for last with the flea market finds my friend got for me. A Ferro China DeAngelis Chemical Industrial Co. Providence, RI was the find of the month. After digging a broken example, I was determined to dig a whole one. When that proved to be unlikely, I was a little discouraged until now! With this addition my DeAngelis collection is now 90% complete.

A club member recently picked up a Checinis Indian Sebago the Great Blood Purifier. This was a bottle I had mentioned earlier in one of my “new but not mine” posts.  Virtually all Indian bottles from RI are very rare, and this one is no exception.  I am now the proud owner of one! 

A digger in South Carolina found a cobalt blue Caswell Mack & Co. Chemists New York & Newport medicine recently. Talk about a traveling bottle! This version is only listed in clear.

When it comes to the Everett & Barron shoe polish bottles, the word “rare” is scarcely ever used. The exception is when one deals with the amber versions. I was quite delighted to finally get an amber Everett & Barron Co. Providence, RI. While listed as BIM, this example is ABM.

It was with some reluctance that I made the trip to the Coventry, CT bottle show. It is one of the smaller shows in the area, and the last couple times I went I fould very little. My persistence paid off in a big way when one seller handed me a Cundall & Ball's Pharmacy Block Island, RI medicine!!! Little did he know that this was my most wanted local bottle of all time. Once he handed it to me the bottle never left my hands. It was even more exciting to find out that it was unlisted size! Where's the other one?

Fall Finds #2 2015

Another flea market prize was a rare Blanding & Blanding cylinder in an unlisted size (9-1/8”). It was my second size of this attractive bottle, now I just need one more to complete the trio!

This month's bottle club meeting produced a nice S.J. Briggs & Co. Providence, RI medicine. Most Briggs bottles have three lines of embossing, but this one just had two.

A friend gifted me a scarce Shiloh Bottling Co. Providence, RI green deco soda recently. There is a fancy clear deco bottle listed, but this one is “scaled back” a little to accommodate a label.

The fall LRBC tailgate show was a little slow, but the weather was very agreeable! I grabbed two blobs, including a Douglas Ave. Bottling Co. N. Providence, RI. While I have a small horde of these, I didn't have one with an AC monogram. The examples I have either have an O (Oates), or C (unknown). The mystery deepens!

A visit two an antique shop that recently changed owners produced a nice John E. Good Importer & Jobber Providence, RI whiskey. The listed example I have has a double sloping collar lip, while this version has a simple square collar lip. 

Fall Finds #1 2015

I spotted a group of bottles on ebay that looked rather dismal. Yet, among “junkers” and other common bottles, I spotted a D. Miller & Co. Providence, RI quart whiskey! D. Miller whiskey bottles aren't easy to find, and there are none listed in a quart size. I'll take it!

I almost forgot to mention a bottle you're probably pretty familiar with by now. A Puritan Bottling Co. Providence, RI ABM crown top. Hiding on a Brimfield table, I was surprised to see it was (1) machine made, and (2) aqua! Together those two attributes make it yet another unlisted variant.

The Keene, NH show always starts the fall bottle season off in a grand style. My first pick was a Rumford Chemical Works. This early version has crude gothic panels embossed on each side, making it unlisted.

While at the Keene show a RI collector hitting up local flea markets called me about a dealer with a table full of RI bottles! They were all $5 each, and by the time he was done listing them there were 10 that I wanted. Among them was an A..F. Cappelli Providence, RI shoulder slug plated beer. There is a similar bottle listed, but this version had This Bottle Not to Be Sold on the back.

Another exciting addition from the flea market find was a J.H. Branaghan Exchanage St. Pawtucket, RI blob. Not only was this the only Branaghan blob with an address on it, but it was an address I've never seen! I even checked the old city directories, and while he was on Exchange St. for 2 years, it was not at this address!