Summer Finds #4 2017

My fall visit to Brimfield was less bountiful but a S. Hunt's Liniment Prov. RI medicine definitely made the trip worth it! An exciting new early patent medicine that appears to be a possible Davis Vegetable Pain Killer knockoff. The odd placement of Prov. RI on the front panel makes it even more interesting.  Nice!

My Grimes collection got rounded out with a Thos. Grimes & Bro. Inc. Providence, RI crown top. This one has the older Pine St. address, of which all known examples have blob tops.

Continuing a trend I don't mind, the last club meeting produced a Star Bottling Co. Pawtucket, RI quart in green. I have examples in clear and aqua, so now I have a trio!

It's been a while since I picked up an American Bottling Corp. Providence, RI whiskey, so I was surprised to discover this pint was unlisted.

A fellow collector spotted a 4-1/2” Hazard, Hazard & Co. NY Newport square medicine at a flea market and picked it up for me. It's an unlisted size, so I hope I can return him the favor someday!

Summer Finds #3 2017

A midsummer antiquing run produced a clear Esmond Spring Soda Works Esmond, RI soda. I have one in green which is unlisted, and so is this one!

Also present was an old friend, a Bare Rock Spring Bottling Co. Graniteville, RI soda. I had seen this exact bottle a few years ago at a tailgate show. The person who found it wasn't sure if he wanted to sell it so I didn't press him. Like the Esmond bottle, I have one in green so this one completed the set!

I'm usually very good at searching through box lots I buy, so you can imagine my surprise when I found a Greene's Always Open Providence, RI in a box of junkers! This base embossed example is unlisted.

A fellow collector who was moving packed up his collection and weeded out a few extras. Among them was a S.J. Briggs & Co. Druggists Providence, RI. At 6-3/4” it's an unlisted size!

Just when I thought I saw them all, here's another Mt. Hope Distilling Co. Providence, RI. There are so many variants can I just say this one is hopefully the last?

(picture coming)

Summer Finds #2 2017

The most exciting bottle from the river digger was a pontiled Burrington's Genuine Croup Syrup Providence, RI. The Burringtons are hard to find pontiled, and this version embossed Genuine I have only heard of one other!

Another big ebay surprise was a Central Bottling Co. Arctic, RI soda. I had dug a shard of one of these and it became the rarest known Arctic soda. I was thinking it might take me a decade or more to track down a whole one but I got a lucky break!

Also in the lot was a Walter Price & Co. Pure Drugs Westerly, RI. These early Price bottles are harder to find and this is an unlisted 6-3/4” size.

Another nice medicine was a Barbour's 18 Broad St. Westerly, N.Y. While not a rare error, it's always fun to find one, and this larger 7-1/4” size is also unlisted!

The last exciting find was a King Westerly, RI green quart soda. Most King bottles are common, but the quarts are scarce, and you almost never see Kings in green. 

Summer Finds #1 2017

July at Brimfield can be a merciless experience if the temperature decides to go into the upper 80s, but visitors were blessed last year with near-perfect temps in the low 70s. I was very excited to find an elusive Dr. Samuels World's Dyspepsia Cure. I had posted about this bottle as one I didn't have yet, and it's pretty satisfying to cross if off the want list!

A digger in southern RI was selling his collection of bottles he pulled from the river near an old mill. It was a potpourri of bottles ranging from the 1850s-1970s. One of the oldest was a 3-3/4” Dr. Seth Arnold's Balsam with a hinge mold. It is identical to the pontiled version, and I would have to say just as rare!

Another ebay pickup was a jumbo-sized (8”) Caswell Hazard & Co. Newport, RI stoppered apothecary medicine. I have a few of these in smaller sizes but this one is unlisted and impressive!

Local digger Brett was kind enough to gift me a 10z. Otis Clapp & Son medicine. The examples with embossed ounces are slightly less common and most are unlisted!

My other find at Brimfield was an ABM Colaluca Bros. Admiral St. Providence, RI blob. I dug a broken ABM example, so this upgrades it to near mint!

Spring Finds #4 2017

My friend who dug the broken Morris soda was still finding quite a few sodas including a deco style Royal Club / Royal Carbonating Co. Providence, RI. While I'm familiar with the company I've never seen a deco soda from them. Color me excited!

And he also found a undamaged (no surprise) T.M. Morris Bristol, RI crown top. It's a minor embossing variant to add to my sizable Morris family!

Another collector called me about a blob he picked up, a pint sized Rhode Island Diamond Spring Pawtucket, RI blob. I have a quart size and squat size, but they pint is the hardest to come by, and consequentially unlisted.

From the shop that had the Lavell Jr. blob also came a D. Miller & Co. Wines & Liquors Prov. RI blob. I had to take a picture of it and compare it to what I had, and the abbreviate Prov was not listed.

A local ebayer turned up a Rhode Island Bottling Co. Prov, RI blob. While my collection of these is nearly complete, this one has no comma after Prov.

Spring Finds #3 2017

It's with slight irony I'm posting about spring finds in the middle of a blizzard but hey, maybe it will take your mind off all that white stuff.

A J. Fred Gibson Providence, RI citrate of magnesia medicine showed up on ebay and quickly got my attention. This was only the third citrate of magnesia bottle known from RI, which definitely made it something I couldn't pass up.

A friend of mine dug a busted Morris Bros. Bristol, RI soda. Out of all the RI sodas I've seen, this one has teased me the most. I've dug quite a few of them broken, and never saw a whole one. This is the closest I've got so far!

I grabbed a Burke Bros. Eddy St. Providence, RI blob from a local shop and with Registered embossed on the heel you've got a new variant!

Also from that shop I got a James Lavell Jr. Providence, RI blob. James Lavell blobs are common, but not with Jr. embossed on them! His son took over the business when he died, but apparently mostly used his fathers bottles and only made one small order with his name on them.

A swung by a popular flea market after church and picked up a Gladstone Springs Mineral Water Co. Narragansett Pier, RI for resale. I have almost all of the known variants from this local company so I was surprised to find out this one was different (Registered on the heel instead of the shoulder again).