Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Renz Christmas Advertisement


John Renz marketed his fathers recipe for a herb bitters very aggressively. Almost daily advertisements in Sacramento and San Francisco newspapers was not uncommon for Renz.

In the 1874 ad to the right he claims that his bitters are sold in every Grocery, Liquor Store and Drug Store within a thousand miles of San Francisco.

Shouldn't we be digging his bottles from Montana in the east, to Mexico in the south and British Columbia in the north. I don't recall hearing of anyone digging a Renz east of Nevada or north of Oregon.

Was old John Renz pulling the public leg about his distribution network or are there piles of Renz's buried throughout the west?

2 comments:

  1. Hey Rick,
    We find Dr.Renz here in Utah. There have been 3 or 4 whole ones dug over the years. All small lettered variants I believe. Lots of broken ones in the mining districts. Walker Bros. were the local agents, first ad I have seen was 1871.

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  2. I did hear of a few coming from Idaho, but can't recall any Renz's being dug in the Southwest. Anyone know of them being dug in Washington?

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