Spring Finds #2 2019

Well the construction site dig was cut short when the entire area was graded. We almost called it but I decided to have one more go at it. It turned out that they left a thin layer of old dump behind. I was finding a lot of 1860s shards when suddenly a squat soda popped out of a sandy layer! I picked it up and stared in disbelief at an iron pontiled green Ira Harvey! It was my second dug pontiled soda, and an absolutely amazing one at that. This style is only known in cobalt, so this is an unlisted color! It is easily my best dug bottle ever, and probably one of the top 15 best bottles from RI.

A few months back I got outbid on a beautiful A.L. Calder Providence, RI flint glass medicine. A friend of mine was the winning bidder, and after enjoying it for a while he was kind enough to offer it to me. This is the same Calder who sold the hugely popular dentine.

Another friend sold me a couple soda bottles including a Carbonated Spring Water Co. Newport, RI. I thought it was one I already had until I looked at the monogram and saw it was different! Instead of the ES monogram it was E & S. Gotta love the variants!

I was almost positive I had a 4-1/2” E.P. Anthony, Inc. Pharmacists Providence, RI, but before I went to sell it I double checked and surprise! This is my 7^th size of this bottle.

One of my favorite semi-local medicines is the Earnshaw Drug Co. East Greenwich, RI. It's the only RI druggist with a clock on the front. I have one that is nearly identical to this one except the ounce and CC measurements are on the opposite sides. 

 

Spring Finds #1 2019

An exciting construction site dig yielded a bunch of unlisted RI bottles. One of the first finds was a Cundall & Earnshaw Pharmacists East Greenwich, RI medicine.

The biggest crier from the dig was a beautiful Frank C. Cundall Pure Drugs East Greenwich, RI medicine. Even with the damage it was a great find!

A nice Chas. A. Gladding Providence, RI was a different shape than the listed examples, so we have a new variant!

The second Chas. A. Gladding Providence, RI was a familiar shape in an unlisted 6-1/2” size

The last pharmacy bottle to emerge was a nice half ounce size E.C. Danforth PhG Providence, RI. This size is unlisted too!

Winter Finds #6 2018

I was finally able to acquire a suspected RI pontiled medicine. This cylinder is just marked D. Andrews, but who else could it be besides the famous David Andrews? The flared lip was ground off (probably badly chipped), but I'm happy to have an example!

It's been a while since I was really excited over a completely unlisted RI pharmacy bottle. A friend brought in a W.E. Watson Druggist Pawtuxet, RI medicine and I was almost in disbelief. I had thought it was Pawtucket at first glance, but no it was Pawtuxet! It's a small village on Narragansett bay located on the Cranston/Warwick line. I never expected to see an embossed medicine from there. I passed the first time because the price was far too high, but a few months later he came down and it came home with me!

I was surprised yet again to see a new Otis Clapp & Son ground screw cap bottle. These large rectangular versions usually have an internal threaded glass screw top, but this one had an external screw top with a metal lid! I can't wait to get all these together and on display!

A visit to the Little Rhody Bottle Club president's house is always a good time. I spotted a nice 3” Chas A. Gladding Pharmacist Providence, RI med on the shelf and home it went. This fella wasn't only cute but an unlisted size as well!

This bottle has a funny story behind it. I saw a 4-3/4” Blanding & Blanding Pharmacists Providence, RI at a club meeting and thought yup, I sure have that one! But measured it anyway. When I checked I saw it was an unlisted size I lacked. But come next meeting it had been sold in a large group to an ebay seller I knew. Well, sure enough it appeared on ebay and I was able to get it nice and cheap!

Winter Finds #5 2018

A Newport collector really wanted a milk bottle I had, and while I wasn't planning to sell it he offered a nice B.F. Downing Jr. Newport, RI as a partial trade and I relented. As a bonus it was an unlisted size!

Another dump crier was a damaged Geo. M. Butler Pawtucket, RI. This one happened to be an unlisted clear ABM variant. Let's hope there's a mint one out there!

I met with someone who was advertising old bottles on Craigslist on the way back from a bottle show. I was surprised to learn he wasn't a collector and just got a whole collection from a storage locker auction! There were many commons but quite a few rare bottles in the lot. Among them was a Wm. D. Rife & Co. Newport, RI blob top. I had never heard of it so it was a good find!

Fellow collector Art sold me a nice clear quart Bell Bottling Co. Providence, RI soda. I have one in aqua but it is unlisted in clear! It's a nice addition to my modest collection of pictorial RI sodas.

The Craigslist collection yielded another surprise, a green Yacht Club Bottling Works Centerdale, RI soda. It was my first embossed one in green, which is an unlisted color!

Winter Finds #4 2018

While I still haven't been able to prove this is a RI bottle, I bought the iron pontiled Read & Hall just to be on the safe side. It's a nice rare squat so I'll keep it until it's proven to be from somewhere else!

My friend Mark had a few more nice RI bottles tucked away. One was a George S. Morgan Chemist Pawtucket, RI. These Morgan bottles were unknown until a few variants were dug this winter. So far there are five different bottles from him. Where have they all been the last 50 years?

I was very excited to add a Strachan's Anti-Mosquit to my “almost positive it's from RI” group. This is the second one dug in RI, and there is a William D. Strachan listed as a pharmacist in Pawtucket. The evidence is looking pretty good!

And yes, Mark finally parted with his Krealin Co. Providence, RI. I had included this bottle in a “New But Not Mine” post a while back. Here's a picture of it all cleaned up!

Lastly I rounded out my Pawtucket soda collection with a Crown Bottling Co. Pawtucket, RI. This one has an unlisted round slugplate and long neck.

Winter Finds #3 2018

I was completely surprised when Jim Hall messaged me saying that he had yet another Paine's Vegetable Pain Curer. Getting the last two from him was a monumental achievement, so to add the final 4-3/4” size went far beyond my expectations.

My VT friend David scrounged up a quart crown top American Bottling Corp. Providence, RI. Easily one of the most common RI soda/liquor bottles, almost all of the listed examples are 12oz bottles. This big guy was a welcome surprise!

Ebay delivered again with a small pontiled Dr. Seth Arnold's Balsam. I have this bottle with a flared lip, so the rolled lip on this one was a nice contrast. It is also so crude that it doesn't even stand up!

A little cabin fever digging at the mega dump unearthed a 2-7/9” Fisk & Co. Druggists Pawtucket, RI. It's my smallest size yet, and happens to be unlisted too.

 

My friend Mark (aka the human backhoe) had a few bottles rolling around in his basement. One of them became my favorite bottle from this company. A Caproni Bros. & Co. Spruce St. Providence, RI blob just has a great look to it. Despite being damaged it's a real looker!

Winter Finds #2 2018

My friend Art had the luck of finding two beefy 16oz. Newport meds. One was a 8-1/4” Chas M. Cole Pharmacist Newport, RI. I have a few of these, but not this big!

It was deja vu for the other large med. It was a nearly identical Frank L. Powell Chemist Newport, RI. The odds of finding two different pharmacy bottles that are the exact uncommon size is pretty slim!

My friend was doing alright in his soda bottle dump. He cleaned some of his summer finds and among them was a J.L. Gannon Co. Providence, RI. It looked a lot like the listed ABM version, but this one was BIM.

I bought a large lot of RI soda bottles that were dug just across the border in Mass.  They were all pretty common but I did get a J. Keron Central Falls, RI narrow crown top.  I was pretty sure I had it but surprise!  It has the contents embossed on the heel.

A friend picked up a 3-1/2” Mullen's Prescription Pharmacy Pawtucket, RI. A tougher medicine to find, I was happy to see it was an unlisted size to boot!

Winter Finds #1 2018

One of my favorite purchases from the dose cup collector was a Baldwin & Northup Sick Room Supplies Providence, RI glass spoon! These are pretty rare to find in general, and one from RI is a truly awesome addition.

The mega dump produced yet another crier, this time a Royal Carbonating Co. Providence, RI topless soda.

A friend slowly selling his collection came up with a 6-1/2” W.W. Logee Pascoag Pharmacy Pascoag, RI it is my largest size yet and is also unlisted!

A while back I determined that base embossed whiskeys that said D & C were from Dodge & Camfield of Providence. What I didn't realize is that there were a few variants out there! Instead of an ampersand this ABM one says D and C.

I figured these were all ABM but then surprise! Here's the BIM D & C version.

(picture on the way!)

Fall Finds #4 2018

Things got exciting at the big dump when a friend dug an A.J. Johnson Jr. (owl) Pawtucket, RI medicine. It is the only pictorial Pawtucket pharmacy, so I was very exited when he agreed to part with it in a trade.

There was some activity on ebay with a W.E. Cates Pharmacist Providence, RI medicine. No Cates with a mortar and pestle are listed, so it's a new one!

Recently one of the biggest dose glass collectors in the country decided it was time to sell his collection. I made two purchases, and much to my anguish the USPS lost one of the boxes. Thankfully the box with the embossed glasses made it. Among them was a W.H. Hinds Providence, RI dose cup.

Also in the lot was a Hall & Lyon Providence & Waltham dose cup. I really like two state bottles, and now that includes two state dose cups!

The big dump produced another exciting find, a nice medicine embossed Morgan in script. Sadly it was damaged, but it is definitely the same from the same Morgans Pharmacy my friend had!

Fall Finds #3 2018

Colored RI medicines are generally very elusive, so when I spotted a n amber J.R. Lorah & Co. Newport on ebay, I just had to have it. As a bonus it was an unlisted size!

I picked up a Hope Club Beverages Providence, RI semi-deco soda that brought back some fond memories. A similar soda was one of my first surface finds.

My friend from the last two posts also had a killer Geo. T. Dana & Co. Druggists Pawtucket, RI medicine. This one was rectangular which was an unlisted shape!

Also in his basement was a mysterious Morgan's Pharmacy. It didn't take me long to discover that it was a Pawtucket, RI medicine! This 5-1/4” size was the first of hopefully a few more!

I made a trip back to my friend's huge soda dump. Among a bunch of fun finds was a badly damaged ABM Batchelor's Bottling Works Woonsocket, RI.