Spring Finds #1 2017

I was excited to see a pair of Earnshaw Drug Co. East Greenwich, RI medicines on ebay. I had to do a double take when I got them, as they were both different! For a rare bottle like these, it's pretty surprising to get two different versions in one fell swoop.

I spotted a clear 10” Phosa soda in a dump a few months ago. The only problem? It was frozen solid in the ground. My friend went back when the ground thawed to get it for me. I'm pretty sure my Phosa collection is complete now!

I met a collector from northern RI, and got a nice Martin Soda Works Woonsocket, RI quart soda. It took me a second to realize the listed example said Martin's and this one was just Martin. Nice!

I have a bunch of Havens Bottling Works Westerly, RI but the quarts are harder to find. I picked up this one not knowing it was unlisted. That's the kind of surprise I like!

Another nice Brimfield find was a McKenna Bros. 52, 56 Eagle St. Providence, RI. All the examples I have say 52, 54 Eagle St. so this must have been after a little expansion!

Winter Finds #5 2017

After acquiring a few of the small size H.V. French Mineral Waters Rumford, RI blobs I was ready for a quart! The online listing says the quart reads East Providence, not Rumford. This might be an error, but for now I'll call it unlisted!

Another local digger sold me a bucket full of sodas, and my favorite was a Hope Club Maine Bottling Co. Providence, RI deco soda. Unlisted deco sodas are inexplicable exciting to me, and this bottle also proves Hope Club was originally a Maine Bottling Co. product.  And with the RI motto and an anchor embossed, talk about a true RI bottle!

A rather generic looking New England Bottling Co. Westerly, RI turned out to be unlisted! Guess I had every version except for the one that got all the punctuation right lol.

Somehow I'm still finding new Jacob Wirth & Co. Prov. RI bottles. This one was a little easier to pick out because Registered is embossed on the back shoulder.

I'm really hoping this Wood medicine is from RI. I have a few Mason B. Woods in the same shape, but without a label it would be hard to confirm where this one is from.

Winter Finds #4 2017

When a Craigslist ad featuring a blurry picture of a cobalt medicine showed up, I had to see what the fuss was about. After paying more money that I should have at the time, I came home with a Frank L. Powell Pharmacist Newport, RI in cobalt! The only listed cobalt Powells say Chemist, so this was a totally new bottle!

Also speaking of Newport, I traded for a Charles M. Cole Newport, RI medicine. At 5-1/2”, it was an unlisted size.

I was pretty sure I had pinned down most of the Casey bottles, but a beer bottle shaped F.P. Casey North Smithfield, RI proved me wrong.

I had almost literally overlooked an ABM P. Faerber & Sons Co. Newport, RI soda. The one I had says Contents 8 Fl. Oz., and this one lacked the contents embossing.

An antiquing run paid off with the discovery of a nice early Dr. Seth Arnold's Cough Killer. It has a double collar lip, while most examples have a plain square collar top. As a bonus the apostrophe in Arnold,s was a comma!

Winter Finds #3 2017

I see more Davis Vegetable Pain Killers on ebay than almost any other RI bottle. However, when I saw one with a square prescription style lip it really got my attention! Almost 99% of Davis bottles have a signature double collar lip (a rounded disk with a smaller disk below it). Apparently one of the workers at the glass house didn't get the memo!

A digger from Westerly sold me his collection composed mostly of soda bottles he dug. Among them was a rare S.H. Farnham Westerly, RI 8” aqua blob. I've seen aqua Farnhams, but this odd size is a new one! And who would have guessed I would run into the same rare bottle at the Little Rhody show a month later!

Speaking of the Little Rhody show, I bought a Hoyt's Hiawatha Hair Restorative out of speculation. Joseph Hoyt was originally from RI but moved to NY in the 1860s. I'm almost certain that the pontiled examples of this bottle are from RI, but the smooth based ones are a toss-up.

You might laugh at me here. Perhaps one of the most mundane and common soda bottles from RI is the Bell Bottling Co. Providence, RI with bells on the shoulder. I just realized now that one version has solid bells while the other has stippled bells.

Shortly after the Rhody show is the fabled Baltimore show. I only found one dealer with some unlisted RI bottles, but it made an instant collection. I bought 6 Rumford baking powder variants. I had no clue there were that many out there! Some are minor variants, but they are definitely all different.

different embossing locations!

base embossed

Winter Finds #2 2017

I have nearly every Dr. Hayne's Arabian Balsam known, but this clear 7” example was a new one to me. It comes in aqua with a spelling error, but this example spells Providence correctly. It was a little tricky to confirm as the label was applied right over the embossing!

I normally pass by the boring side embossed Blanding Providence medicines, but this one caught my eye. It has a unique double collar style lip.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I saw another The Ewd. Smith Co. Pawtucket, RI error whiskey. This one is my third error (Ewd instead of Edw.) size and it's a beefy quart!

What once was a bottle only spoken about in whispers is suddenly my 4^th size! I guess once one surfaced the rest quickly followed. This Miller's Pharmacy Pascoag, RI is a 5-1/2” unlisted size and color (clear).

When a Clark Stanley's Herbaline Eye Water showed up on ebay, you can imagine how excited a bottle nerd like me got. Clark Stanley is the man responsible for the term snake oil, and his bottles are easily found. But he also made a few other much less successful products like this one. So far it's the only one known!

Winter Finds #1 2017

A friend of mine came across a J.H. Hagan & Co. Providence, RI blob. I have one in script lettering that is unlisted, and this block letter example has not been documented either!

He also had a nice McKenna Bros. Providence, RI blob. It had “this bottle to be returned” on the heel, making it a new variant!

Another dug medicine this winter was a W.H. Boardman Pharmacist Lonsdale, RI. I thought I had all the sizes, but apparently not this one, which measures 6”.

My friend was still on a roll when it came to finding RI bottles a month later with a Barbour's Westerly & Watch Hill, RI in an unlisted 6-3/4” size.

A reclusive collector was selling their lifetime collection from Newport, which needless to say got me quite excited! There was only one local medicine in the entire collection, but it was a good one. Wright & Hay Pharmacists Newport, RI. Only bottles from James T. Wright are listed.

Fall Finds #8 2016

I know, it's September 2018 and I'm nearly a year behind.  Rest assured I'll have more time to catch up once winter comes!

Another weekend and the dump continues to give up the goods! A Boston Store Pawtucket perfume was a delightful surprise. RI perfumes are very hard to come by, and an unlisted one is even better!

A rather boring looking whiskey is simply embossed D. & C. on the base. Lucky for me I had seen a labeled one from Dodge & Camfield of Providence, RI.

Another nice medicine showed up, this one was embossed Colton's Drug Store Pine & Somerset Sts. That was a location in Providence, and just like that another unlisted RI med is found!

Another crier was a rather elusive medicine, Alex McGunagle Pharmacist Central Falls, RI. There is only one version listed and this ain't it!

A couple of dose cups are listed in our miscellaneous category, but most of them are not. I was lucky enough to grab a Bannon's Drug Store Westerly, RI etched dose cup.