The question of just what was "Bitter Witch" has been bounced around for years. Bill Wilson said, in his 19th Century Medicine in Glass, that it was a product of John H. Redington of S. F. Cal., and that the brand was distributed along with Hostetter's Stomach Bitters, Newell's Pulmonary Balsam., Fish's Infallible Hair Restorative, Woods Liver Regulator, Essence of Jamaica Ginger, and Yerba Santa.
And so, we took Bills word for it... After all, it has that western look, complete with the distinctive double roll applied collar mouth and the (curved right leg) serif "R's".
Bill Ham and Carlyn Ring stated;
Bitters Bottles listing: B 112.5 BITTER WITCH, Circa 1880 – 1890 BITTER / motif horseshoe with TRADE / MARK / WITCH // sp // 8 x 4 x 2 Flask, Amber, DCM, Applied mouth, 2 sp A western brand.
A short time ago, someone posted the following;
“I thought I saw an ad many years ago when I was reading an old 1870s Marysville newspaper at the Marysville library, showing Pratt as being the manufacturer/originator of the “Bitter Witch” product. Has anyone else seen something similar showing Pratt being involve with that product?”
Well, sometimes even a blind squirrel finds an acorn. I found that nut today.
The following ad did indeed begin appearing in the Marysville Daily Appeal starting on October 8, 1873.
P. Pratt of San Francisco was indeed the Proprietor of the brand and Fred Buttelmann & Co. were the Sole Agents for Marysville, Ca. From Marysville the product was shipped via freight wagon over the Sierras and into the mining districts of Nevada, where numerous examples (mainly broken) have been recovered. The identical typeset ad ran consecutively in the Marysville Daily Appeal for over a year, with the final notice appearing on December 20, 1874.
I could find no record of the brand ever being advertised by Pratt in the San Francisco Call, or the Daily Alta California; the two major cat box liners of the day in the "City". Neither could I locate any reference to Redington as a proprietor, owner or distributor of the product.
It would appear that the rarity of the bottle is due to the short lifespan of the product which began in 1873, and ended just before Christmas in 1874.
Very nice to see this ad. It confirms what I have heard for several years. Nice job Bruce!
ReplyDelete“I thought I saw an ad many years ago when I was reading an old 1870s Marysville newspaper at the Marysville library, showing Pratt as being the manufacturer/originator of the “Bitter Witch” product. Has anyone else seen something similar showing Pratt being involve with that product?”
ReplyDeleteAP
Yep.. that's the same ad I saw at the Marysville library while reading old 1870's newspapers up there one day back in the late 1980s ! I should've photocopied it, but at the time I was searching for something else...
AP
By the way, there is a common connection in bottles/brands found in Vallejo and Marysville. The California Pacific Railroad was constructed in 1869 from Vallejo to Sacramento, with side branches to Napa and Marysville. This line was bought by Central Pacific in 1876. These routes allowed for large shipments from San Francisco to arrive in Vallejo and be distributed by rail to the branch-line towns and all the way to Salt Lake City, up until 1874 when Oakland was named the new railroad terminus and took most of Vallejo's business. A revival in the late 1870's, with large wheat shipments from the Starr Mill
ReplyDeletein Vallejo heated up the rail action again locally.
We have dug the Bitter Witch bottles in Vallejo, and I know Lou has dug them in Marysville. The Abolition Oils are popular too in Vallejo, as is the Last Chance Liniment. The only Pratt's bottles I have not seen in Vallejo are the amber New Life's. They seem to have all come from one cache in San Francisco at the Big Dig back in 1998. I'm only aware of one other example that was dug in Oakland, and I think it was broken. I do not know if any have been found in Marysville ??
Last yr, after a death and ownership change on a property, I finally obtained permission on a spot that I had been wanting to dig for many yrs. The prize was there, but it was broken..... a blue PRATT'S NEW LIFE. Western-blown for sure, and had a square collar applied top. These appear to predate the smaller amber examples that have A.M. McBoyle San Francisco embossed on the reverse. I'm not sure what style top the only known intact blue speciman has, as it's been awhile since I saw the photo of it. What a killer wild bottle though, for color, crudity, and rarity !
AP
I believe Dale has an amber Pratt's New Life that was dug in Nevada. I have one of the very dark purplish/brown examples from the 1998 S.F. dig. The other large blue Pratt's had a square collar top as well.
ReplyDeleteI also dug an amber Pratts New Life in old Stockton near the port during the I-5 freeway construction thru town in the late sixties...Andy
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