Summer Finds #2 2020

 

The same excavator also had all the bottles in this post. A Caswell Massey & Co. NY Newport clear rectangle was definitely different than other Massey bottles I have seen.

A James O'Hare Providence, RI medicine with bold lettering was unlisted at 4-3/8”.

A second Rhode Island Bottling Co. Olneyville, RI narrow blob was a nice looking new style!

My fairly impressive Caproni collection grew by two with a Caproni Bros. & Co. Spruce St. Providence, RI blob.

 

 

The second one was a Caproni Bros. & Co. Atwells Ave. Providence, RI, which is the newer address.

 

Summer Finds #1 2020

I spotted a stained Wm. B. Blanding Providence, RI medicine in an antique shop. While not in great condition it was one of the earlier styles so I picked it up. Sure enough, it was unlisted!

Lightning struck twice and I spotted my second new Otis Clapp & Son bottle within two weeks! This one was a large 8” square with cursive embossing. Nice!

I traded someone for a Rhode Island Bottling Co. Onleyville, RI blob because they look nice and are uncommon. Turns out I have the exact bottle but with a crown top!

A friend of mine found an E.J. Day & Co. Westerly, RI pharmacy bottle. I was pretty excited because despite it being badly damaged, it is completely unlisted!

An excavator who collected bottles was moving and wanted to sell. I wasn't able to buy his entire collection but did get a decent assortment of medicines and blobs. A Herbert Haynes Providence, RI medicine had a double square collar lip, which is an unlisted variant.

 

Spring Finds #3 2020

 

I saw an online ad for bottles that included two Palmer & Madigan Providence, RI flasks. I didn't realize until I looked closer that they were error embossed Palmer & Maggan! My interest kicked into high gear. The guy ran a hole in the wall junk shop but I made him a fair offer so he would keep looking for more bottles.

A recent basement pick yielded a bunch of locally dug bottles. I had a lot of the RI bottles but a few were new to me. One was a base embossed AO (American Oyster) bottle. This might have been the first or last version of this bottle?

Also in the basement pick was a D & C (Doge & Camfield) strap sided pint flask. That's my second flask size!

Unsurprisingly there was also a quart D and C flask. This was different than the one I picked up a few months back (said D & C).

The last of the new basement bottles was a 6” Otis Clapp & Son square med. I figured I had it but surprise! The Clapp horde still grows.

 

Spring Finds #2 2020

 A friend was going through their collection and found a H.A Pearce Providence pharmacy bottle. At first glance I was actually a little unsure if it was from RI, but a quick bit of research confirmed that it was! I was quite excited, and to my astonishment he sent it to me for the cost of shipping! Needless to say he earned an IOU note in my book!

I saw a lot of bottles online and one appeared to be a Charles M. Cole Newport, RI medicine. My hunch was correct, and I added this unlisted 6” size to the collection!

Ebay also produced a clear 6” Caswell Mack & Co. Chemists NY Newport medicine. A nice unlisted size of this early bottle!

An excavator in Woonsocket stumbled across a bottle dump and made a few decent finds. Sadly it was paved over the very next day, but I did get an unlisted version of a Robert F. Linton Woonsocket, RI medicine. Hopefully there is a mint one out there!

I recently picked up a Five Sullivan Bros. Providence, RI etched wine, and while I knew I had one I double checked and saw it was a different variant! These are notoriously hard to photograph as you can see.

 

Spring Finds #1 2020

Also at the estate sale was the elusive unlisted version Walter & Baur Narragansett Pier, RI. This is only the third example I have seen so it's quite exciting to have the Waler & Baur pair now!

I was quite surprised to see an unknown Olneyville Pharmacy Providence, RI medicine show up on ebay. It was not cheap, but I knew I would probably never see another one!

Antiquing finds have been pretty scarce this year. I was pleasantly surprised by a James Lavell Pleasant St. Pawtucket, RI crown top. James Lavell bottles are common but they are all from Providence. This one was from his smaller second location.

Keeping with the Olneyville theme I added an unlisted style Byron A. Smith Druggist Olneyville, RI. It was found by an excavator before he retired.

 

Also from the excavator was a rare Shepard & Co. Providence, RI perfume. Although badly damaged I have never seen a round one!

 

Winter Finds #3 2019

An estate sale manager contacted me about an estate he was going to offer soon and told me there were a bunch of bottles in it. A bunch of them were local so I made it a point to be there early. I grabbed most of what I wanted and then made a second pass. I noticed an embossed whiskey flask and when I picked it up I nearly fell over. It said Oak and Elm Cafes Narragansett Pier, RI. I never would have imagined there was an embossed whiskey from Narragansett but there it was. This was easily my favorite find of the year!

A friend of mine had a nice McKenna Bros. Eagle St. Providence, RI blob with an unlisted embossing style.

I saw a quart flask marked D. & C. flask at a local shop for a few bucks. I know the square whiskeys are from Dodge & Camfield and am 99% positive this flask is too!

A local digger gave me a broken Earnshaw Drug Co. East Greenwich, RI medicne. At 4-1/4”, it was an unlisted size. I hope there is a whole one out there!

A dig in a small marsh dump yielded a bunch of interesting finds including a Clark Stanleys Herbaline. I have one of these but this example has a period after Herbaline. How curious!

 

Winter Finds #2 2019

The Little Rhody Bottle Club's winter show had a great turnout last year. I didn't buy much but a fellow digger had two medicines I didn't have. One was an E.T. Luther Druggist Olneyville, RI in an unlisted 6” size.

I was even more excited with the W.A. Walling Providence, RI medicine which was unlisted with the Charles St. address. Sadly it's nuked purple but still a great rare bottle!

I haven't added a dose cup in ages so when a Dr. E.P. Stimpson Tiverton, RI showed up on ebay I didn't take any chances. It is the only embossed piece of glassware from Tiverton besides milk bottles, so I'm very happy with it!

A digger out in the lakes region dug a A.O. Hull & Co. Pharmacists Central Falls, RI medicine and emailed me about it. It was completely unlisted and to find one so far away was quite the surprise. We worked out a deal and now it's back in its home state!

Ebay also provided my second A.J. Johnson Jr. Druggist Pawtucket, RI medicine. Considering this was also a completely unknown bottle before I got another one a few months back I was surprised at the coincidence of a second one appearing!

Winter Finds #1 2020

 

A recent online ad yielded a bunch of dug local sodas. The best had been sold off, but a few were still decent finds. One interesting soda was embossed Aetna on the base. This was the Aetna Bottle & Stopper Co. from Providence.

I spotted a nice Caswell Hazard & Co. NY Newport cobalt medicine in an unlisted size on ebay. It wasn't cheap but neither is getting all the different cobalt sizes!

A friend had a pretty exciting Indian Sebago Providence, RI etched wine bottle. I had only known it existed from a shard so it was nice to finally see a whole one!

The same friend also had a Valley Bottling Works Riverpoint, RI etched blob. No bottles from this company are listed, but this is the third variant known!

picture coming soon!

He also had a variant of the Providence Wine Co. Providence, RI blob.

Fall Finds #1 2019

A collector reached out to me when he acquired a S.J. Esten squat sod with a double sloping collar lip. This was one of the three very rare variants of the Esten sodas that I haven't seen yet.

In my last visit to the salt marsh I found a 3-1/2” Downing Bros. Druggists Newport, RI pharmacy bottle. Sadly it was badly cracked, but at least it's an unlisted size!

I was about to accept defeat during my latest antiquing run when I spotted a pint whiskey on a shelf. It was facing backward and appeared to be embossed. I was pretty much shocked to see it was a Five Sullivan Bros. Family Liquor Store Providence, RI. It was a different version than the one listed and my second size of this rare whiskey.

I get quite a few emails due to my blog asking about RI bottles. A number of them are people looking to sell a bottle that I reply to and never hear back from. Considering they usually have scarce bottles this can be very frustrating. I was pleasantly surprised when someone with an Albert O. Hull & Co. Central Falls, RI medicine actually responded a few months later. This bottle was completely unlisted so I made an offer and it showed up in the mail a few days later!

The Keene show had slimmer pickings for RI bottles this year but I did get another exciting addition. My friend Carl accidentally nuked a completely unlisted Great Western Wine Co. Providence, RI crown top. It looks just like a Narragansett beer and I was unable to find any records of the company.

Summer Finds #4 2019

A friend picked up this recently dug whiskey last summer and I instantly sat up in my chair. It was a Palmer & Madigan Choice Liquors Providence, RI in amber! The earliest Palmer & Madigan bottles known are from the 1890s so this was a real surprise. I was able to arrange a trade and picked it up at a bottle show.  I'll give this one second place next to the Ira Harvey for best unlisted RI bottle of the year.

A beautiful J.R. Lorah & Co. Newport amber med showed up on ebay. It was an unlisted 2-1/2” size, and despite a fairly high buy it now, I couldn't let it slip by. That makes my second amber Lorah!

I was recently reunited with an old friend who let us dig a massive town dump on his property. He had found a few bottles since we last talked including a 8-1/2” Chemical Industrial Co. R. DeAngelis Providence, RI ABM cork top. This style is unlisted in this large size!

Brimfield produced again this fall with a healthy crop of RI bottles (including two unlisted!) While nuked and damaged this C.E. Walch Providence, RI med was unlisted at 4-1/2”.

I like my late BIM pharmacy bottles with the side measurements, and this Quality Drug Providence, RI was no exception! At 6-1/2” it is an unlisted larger size.