Mystery of the "Bitter Witch" finally solved.

I've had a bottle in my collection for many, many years that has always intrigued me. It was dug in V.C. Nevada, is not a western whiskey and, in fact, is part of what a friend of mine has called my "darker side" of collecting.

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.

The Pacific Ink Factory

It is commonly thought among collectors that the Higgins Ink bottles
from Virginia city Nevada were the only western embossed ink bottles.
The Pacific Ink Factory was listed in the San Francisco directories from
1871 through 1897 at three different locations throughout its history.
There is an early aqua dome ink with an applied top embossed PACIFIC on
the shoulder. Is this possibly a western ink from The Pacific Ink
Factory in San Francisco.

Regards Michael

 

 

Wister's Clubhouse

Rick,
this is from my friend Nick Kane   This find and the 2 Wisters that came out of a barn this month  make 3 more mint examples of a rare bottle sought by many California collectors    MAX

  A few months back I dug a beautiful green WISTER'S CLUB HOUSE in the Sierra foothills  .  As a result of this find I wanted to find out all I could about these beautiful bottles.  I started  my search seeking out when the words  Club House hit the papers . I bracketed the search between 1850 - 1864 & the first mention I found for the Club House name appeared in the west on January 8th. 1857. After this date the Club House name appears to have become very popular with cases & BBLs flowing readily into California for the thirsty miners. The earliest date through my extensive research for the Wister's brand is from the November 11 ,1860 Marysville Daily Appeal .

If anybody has found the " Club House " name used earlier than 1857 or any info on the Wister's please contact me.

PS

There is strong belief by me & a few fellow diggers that many of these Wister's resemble the colors of the Baltimore torpedoes.

Nicholas Kane

 

 

 

Thanks to Nicholas ( great find!) and Max for the picture and information.

There's Wister's in them thar hills - rs -

More on the Circassian Tonic

This may answer some questions about the mysterious Circassian Tonic.................

 

Perhaps like the little known "sub-categories" of Western bottle collecting -- for example perfumes or olive oils -- here we have a nice example of an SF extract bottle. Several Western druggists are known to have had their own extract bottles blown and embossed. Here we have an attractive extract bottle from the well-known Crane & Brigham firm in San Francisco.

Let's Get Ready for Antioch

Western Blown ?

Here is what is believed to be a western blown Injection Ricord. It appears that B. Lefevre was the wholesale agent for this product in at least 1868 and 1869. Does anyone know what evidence exists to prove this is a western blown product other than the look and feel of the glass ? Perhaps the western looking variants were the "spurious article" mentioned in the below ad. How many western variant examples are known ?

Sacramento Daily Union 10/30/1868

Marysville Daily Appeal 10/8/1869

The Times-Picayune from New Orleans 7/28/1868

 

Thanks to Richard Siri for the above ad 

Another Spring Day

Cramped Quarters

 

Nice western med

 

Open pontil Oxygenated Bitters for Dyspepsia, Asthma, and All Debilitating Disease. 

Perfect condition

 

Pretty Mint

Dr.. Henley's Wild Grape Root IXL Bitters

Here is a reasonably decent example which I was able to afford due to the old-time "epoxy" lip chip repair. I'm going to soak the "repair" out with acetone. This is the Henley's mold with 2 dots under the R in "Dr" and it has the distinct font along with the "log/wood texture" in the IXL letters. For the sake of the newer collectors who peruse this blog, I thought those with more Western Bottle knowledge than me would be willing to weigh in with their information on this particular Henley's: age, mold, attributes, et cetera. I notice the Dr.. Henry's Sarsaparilla has 2 dots under the R in "Dr" as well. Same mold maker?

More Bottle Gardens / Dumps

Some small dumps are well hidden   MAX

 

 

Thanks for posting picture. I have a few more of my yard art. ....I can't post to site with my new email address. Could I get back on as a contributor again please.  

Mike

The Lindgren's Bottle Garden

 

Downieville Brewery

 

From Mike McKillop

 I have a picture, I would like to post. I want to see how many of you have your own bottle dump. Looking at mine always gives me the itch to go digging

Thanks Mike. I will have to get my camera and take some pictures to post of the "Bottle Gardens" here in Downieville. - rs -

Hi Rick,
Saw Mike`s post about his dump here is mine Bill C.

From Peachridge Glass

Story of a Bottle

Posted on 20 March 2016 by Ferdinand Meyer V

Story of a Bottle – Barkhouse Bros.

 & Co. Gold Dust Kentucky Bourbon

49er Bottle Jamboree

20 March 2016

In preparation for the Holabird Americana “49er Bottle Jamboree” Auction at the FOHBC 2016 Sacramento National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo, we will be featuring some of the bottles and other pieces in the auction. According to Fred Holabird, the auction will be live with four (4) different live auction/internet bidding platforms. Here is an interesting email I received recently.

 

Dear Mr. Ferdinand,

I found your article when I was looking for information on an old bottle I purchased yesterday. I hope that you might be able to point me in the right direction. The bottle is embossed with the following words: Trade Mark Barkhouse Bros. & Co. Gold Dust Kentucky Bourbon, John Vanbergen & Co Sole Agents. I read an article that said a bottle like this sold for $28,000 in 2011. Do you know who I should speak to in regard to my bottle? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Paul

 

Read: Rare Barkhouse bourbon bottle – one of ‘finest’ – brings $28,000 at auction

I contacted Richard Siri (Show Chair) and Eric McGuire (FOHBC Western Region Director) for an appraisal based on the images. Here is their response:

Ferd, I ran this bottle by Richard Siri and we are in complete agreement that it should bring between five to eight thousand. If it goes runaway it might go to ten thousand, but that should be absolute max. The selling point that must be made to the owner is that anyone who would be willing to pay top dollar will be in attendance at the Sacramento show. There is no better venue for selling it. Then, of course, there will be the ability to market it through the FOHBC website. [Editor Note: Eric also was curious about the mouth appearance which will be reviewed upon bottle receipt at the auction house]

Eric M. (McGuire)

 

Thanks to Peachridge Glass for this article and don't forget about the upcoming FOHBC expo in Sacramento - rs -

St. Patrick's Day - Show Your Green

Get Ready for a Road Trip to Oregon!

Bottles and Antiques sounds like my kind of show. See you in Oregon - rs - 

Outstanding OGW from Arizona

Here's a beautiful golden yellow half pint OGW that found its way to Arizona. Just thought you guys might want to see it.
Kelly P.

 

 

 

I agree Kelly, that's one beautiful OGW flask.....Those Miller's in the background are pretty nice also - rs -

OGW from the Mud

Rick,

I noticed you've been showing various OGW bottles on your blog site.  Here's a couple photos of an OGW flask I found in an embankment along the shoreline of San Pablo Bay.  Once cleaned of mud, it had a beautiful yellowish-amber color.

Chuck Ingraham

Nice find - Thanks Chuck - rs -

OGW Bitters

Here is a recent find, a nice light OGW square. I have personally only seen OGW squares in dark reddish amber, straight amber, and now this light honey color. Has anyone ever seen a green one ?

Two OGW squares with different lip treatments.

Apparently OGW made claret bottles, but as far as I know none are known. Perhaps they were not base embossed ?