GOLDEN GATE SODA BOTTLE

There is no shortage of bottles that refuse to offer up their lineage in the historical record. One example is the blob top soda water bottle simply embossed GOLDEN GATE. Found on the west coast it surely has its roots in that region, even though it has all the characteristics of being manufactured on the east coast. Beginning some thirty-five years ago, Peck Markota and I would periodically discuss the possible pedigree of this bottle based on research uncovered at that time. Admittedly, very little has changed since then.

The seed for this article was planted when Peck shared with me an article he had found in an old newspaper that described the attributes of the floating palace that regularly plied the route between San Francisco and Panama, bringing gold seekers, their families, and other adventurers to California during the gold rush. The glowing description of the Steamship Golden Gate included a mention of a soda water machine installed on board. Not enough information to conclude that soda water was actually bottled there but certainly something that warranted further investigation. Peck was not convinced, nor was I, and his death left the search to me, which I have been aware of all these years. I had originally possessed a copy of that news article but it has apparently been lost in a sea of paper related to bottles and bottle research that resides in my office. Even with the new onset of digital newspaper research, it has not yet surfaced on-line.

A recent article authored by well known western bottle collector, Max Bell, offered a potential origin of the Golden Gate soda bottle based on his experience and research. (See the March 2020 ‘49er Historical Bottle Assoc. newsletter for his interesting article.) He reported that as many as fifty broken and whole specimens have been excavated in the gold rush town of Yankee Jim’s, in Placer County, California, and may have been associated with a saloon there called the Golden Gate. While there is no documentation of a soda works in the town, this may be a case of a concerted effort to collect and re-use the bottles in association with the saloon.

    

There is no dispute that the name was initially attached to the strait that connects the San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean as early as 1846 by the famous "pathfinder", John C. Fremont, two years before the famed discovery of gold in California. ( see Daily Alta California [San Francisco, Calif.] September 8, 1850, for a description of the term as used in California) Fremont posited that the strait located near the little village of Yerba Buena, soon to become San Francisco, was a "golden gate to trade with the Orient". The term stuck and by 1849, one newspaper reporter noted:

" Company organizations, composed of the flower of each state's population are daily pouring through this golden gate of California, and we have already as large a share of intelligence and capability, truly American, as many of the states of the Atlantic side". (Weekly Alta California [San Francisco, Calif.] November 1, 1849)

 

Later, the term was used to define any number of physical places in the west, from saloons to markets to bridges. It would have been so easy to have established a soda works with that name in any town in California, but  no such documented evidence has surfaced. Certainly, the origin of the bottle could be any of the breweries and saloons that populated central California with that name, but nothing has turned up in all these years that could help in determining the bottle's true owner.

The only shred of evidence is what Peck uncovered related to a rather famous steamer that plied the west coast from San Francisco to Panama and back for nearly a decade. The information was so tenuous that Peck preferred not to publicly speculate on the idea that the S.S. Golden Gate could actually be the origin of the soda bottles that carried the same name. We discussed the issue at length with the hope that a little more evidence would spring forth in the hope that, at the least, even a weak case could be made for the steamer being the origin of the bottles. With Peck's passing I have continued to pursue this avenue but with no conclusive clues being unearthed, except for one more that may provide some circumstantial evidence.

The Steam Ship Golden Gate is one of the most documented vessels to have serviced our west coast. (not to be confused with the clipper ship Golden Gate) Built in 1851 for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company in New York, she was considered the finest ship of her kind when built. She was a double engined side-wheel steamer once described as a "floating palace". The 270 foot wooden hull could accommodate 800 passengers. It was literally a floating city.

The ‘floating palace’ was fitted with any number of amenities to entice gold seekers to book a ticket from Panama to San Francisco. It was upgraded several times in order to maintain its luxury status. If the on-board soda water machinery was part of its initial construction or added later is not known.

Tickets were not cheap. In 1854 a one way ticket from Panama to San Francisco was about $200 for upper deck staterooms and decreased to $45 for a steerage bed. She continued this route until July 27, 1862, when she traveled from San Francisco to Panama and burned at sea where the captain immediately turned her shore-ward and beached in rough surf north of Manzanillo, Mexico. There are many eye-witness accounts on the Internet of the horrors that unfolded on that tragic day. When the burned out hulk met the shallow surf she was broken apart and strewn along the beach, along with the passengers, in all manner of physical condition. Of the 338 passengers and crew aboard, as many as 223 souls lost their lives. (Refer to: http://www.aquaticsportsadventures.com/Articles/Misc/SSGoldenGate/SSGoldenGate.html, for perhaps the best compilation of knowledge on the sinking of the S.S. Golden Gate)

Part of the scenario that caused such a tragic loss of life on the Golden Gate was the wind. Initially many of the crew and passengers ran for the bow of the ship since the wind driven flames were blowing aft. The ship then turned around causing the flames to blow toward the bow, thus stranding many with no option but to jump overboard or be burned to death. Unfortunately many suffered debilitating heat exposure before they jumped, causing them to be in a weakened state before swimming the quarter mile to dry land.

Aside from the great loss of life at the time of her destruction, the ship was most famous for the treasure she carried during that fateful trip.  As well as considerable specie, she was transporting $1.4 million in gold bullion. Today's value of just the bullion would be closer to $51.5 million. Over the next few years considerable effort was expended in recovering the gold with most of it found, however, no one is sure how much may still lay on or under the sea floor.

The survivors were stranded on a beach with no food, water or shelter. One account notes that, "A group of men was sent to scour the debris scattered along the beach and to retrieve any items that they thought would be useful. Among the most valuable finds were crates of unopened soda bottles that were packed in sawdust and must have floated up from the hold." (Legend of the Golden Gate. Roman Rivera Torres. 2003, pg. 140) A natural question would be; why would the Golden Gate be carrying soda water in bottles from San Francisco toward Panama? Since there were no glass works in California at that date soda bottles would need to be shipped to California, not from it. And full bottles make even less sense. Unless, of course, they were to be used by the passengers, which would be especially in high demand on the return trip from Panama.

It has been a subject of confusion that there has been no locus for where the Golden Gate soda bottles have been found. While numerous western population centers are the most common locations they are also found in less densely populated areas as well. Could it be that the bottles were taken from the steamer by travelers as a memento of the trip to California and eventually discarded throughout the West, wherever the new immigrants may have settled? This seems very plausible and could explain a lack of concentration around a land-based use point. The Golden Gate bottles have been found as far north as Portland, Oregon, and to the south in San Diego, California.

With an idea that the Golden Gate bottles may still be associated with the wreck of the steamer, I contacted Terry Scovil who is a recreational diver and part owner of Aquatic Sports and Adventures in Manzanillo, Mexico. (Terry Scovil, Aquatic Sports and Adventures, Santiago, Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico.) He is familiar with the wreck as well as many of the diving community in that part of Mexico. Terry made contact through his communication network and social media to determine if the Golden Gate bottles have been found in the vicinity of the wreck site. It was, of course, a long shot, but worth a try. No one responded positively to his query.

Of course, this conjecture could easily spill over to yet another soda water type bottle, simply embossed EL DORADO, yet another bottle carrying the same name as a ship, and with no known land based proprietor.

Two distinct molds were used for the manufacture of the Golden Gate soda water bottles.  Of greatest interest are the bottles from the earliest mold, which appear to have all been blown with the use of a bare iron punty rod. What are likely the earliest specimens appear to be produced with a clean and readable embossing.

 Later specimens begin to show a more degraded embossing as the mold began to ‘wear out’.  Could this be because the mold was stored aboard the ship and exposed to the salt-water environment that would be expected in the hold? We simply don’t know but it is possible.

What is assumed to be the later mold has slightly different embossing and all the bottles examined have well formed words with no degradation. These specimens all have a basal hyphen between the two words.  Since the Golden Gate sank in 1862 the later mold may not have been used long enough to show any signs of pitting. This variant has no pontil.

Further comments on this subject are always invited.

The loss of the S.S. Golden Gate had such an impact on the people of California that a song was even prepared about the tragedy

"Hamburger Tropfen Bitters" Mystery no more

The Hamburger Tropfen Bitters and John Carl Mitau. We know that Wm. Hoelscher & Co. from San Francisco, was the agent for the brand. The embossing on the bottle reads "Hamburger Lebens Tropfen", which in german means "Hamburg Life Drops"  But, where was it from and who was John Carl Mitau? Well, I just discovered this article in the "Independent Calistogian" March 19, 1884, newspaper from Calistoga, California.

 

 

There you have it. A Calistoga, California Bitters and John Carl Mitau is from Germany. He manufactured the popular "Hamburger Tropfen Bitters" and brought it to California. Also, Could it be possible that Wm. Hoelscher was the relative they refer to, that assisted J.C. Mitau in bottling, marketing and selling his stomach bitters here in California. I believe so.

 

 

This western bitters lasted from 1884 - 1906. Wm. Hoelscher & Co. trade marked the brand in 1900. The first bottles were label only followed by the embossed bottle by the late 1890's. Making the embossed bottle extremely rare with only a hand full known, in either aqua or amethyst seen here. 

 

 

 

 

 

Miracle Dig and Beginners Luck

Getting permission to dig is no easy task these days. So is the case with this project. It took a lot of hard work and 3 1/2 weeks to finally get permission on a major project. Now that is not the miracle here. The miracle is that the bottles you see have been saved or rescued from not only the ground but from an excavator, a dump truck and a D6 Cat on a construction site. The mere fact that they exists is the miracle.

     Now, the story gets better. Yeah I may have found some good sodas. But, one of the young guys that was running a bobcat with a sifting bucket for getting the junk out of the dirt, along with bottles in the process, didn't know anything about bottles. But, he and his dad do collect Native American items and metal detect for gold. So he has the collecting bug already. At the beginning he started pointing out bottles for me and picking them up himself. Then he wanted to know more about bottles and had some great enthusiasm. His excitement for the hobby was fun to see and he is a young guy. So, I started teaching him the ropes and wanted him to keep what he found. I told him the history of every bottle he found. He got more into it. He even told me his dad really liked the bottles and history also. They went as far as to build a shelf to display his new bottles. Everything from blue bromo's to the whiskey you see here. Yes, he rescued this piece of history from destruction. I was next to him while he was operating the Bobcat with the sifting bucket. He runs the Bobcat into the pile of dirt super fast and picks up a load and shakes it. This time he stopped and kept the bucket up, crawled underneath and grabbed it. He turned to me and asked, Mike what is this. I about shit my pants. I could not believe what I saw. A beautiful Jockey Club Whiskey. The look on his face when I told him what he had found was priceless. The fact that this bottle exist is a true miracle. I told him to keep it for as long as he can, don't part with it. He was over the moon with excitement and I was excited for him. The best part for me is that the young guy Seth who found the whiskey along with his dad are now new bottle collectors and are looking to learn more. He is also looking forward to going to his first local bottle show. Now, isn't that what the hobby is about. The most fun I had digging in a long time. Many thanks guys.

 

 

MEXICAN TONIC

Note:  This is research by a joint effort between Bruce Silva and Eric McGuire. We both realized we were doing concurrent research and decided to collaborate in a single article. Great fun, and we welcome any comments or further information on this subject.

"El  fantasma". Translated into English, means "the ghost".

And that's exactly what the Mexican Tonic fifth has been. One example was dug down in

Southern California years ago. Since then, no more have surfaced. The bottle is a

beautiful example of a clear picture "whiskey". Embossed MEXICAN TONIC / large

picture of an eagle but with no serpent in its beak, and talons holding a branch with a flower / JOSE GARCIA, MEX.

Bob Barnett first documented it's existence in 1997, in Western Whiskey Bottles 4th

edition as #549, with a footnote that only one damaged example existed. He'd guessed

that it dated ca. 1895 - 1905. At the time Bob saw the bottle it was in a collection in

Carson City Nevada. Since then, the bottle had disappeared from the radar. Oh well, it's

Mexican anyway so of no real interest to collectors of western American pre-pro whiskies; or so we thought...

This rather rare bottle is not known to many collectors. The name implies some connection to Mexico even though the words MEXICAN TONIC are decidedly English. The proprietor appears to be Jose Garcia from, or in, Mexico. I couldn’t imagine the difficulty in attempting to document this man in Mexico. It would be even more difficult than finding a certain John Smith in the United States. Fortunately, the implied proprietor of this MEXICAN TONIC  is only fictitious. The bottle was actually a product of two California men who are not impossible to document but still a challenge – Alphonso Moncton Peache and Myndert LaRue Starin.

A search of available online digital newspapers turned up this small advertisement. It ran from January 6, 1890 through June 1890. Lowenthal & Myers, wholesale liquor dealers of Albuquerque, New Mexico, secured the wholesale agency for that state in January 1890 and ran a few ads in the Albuquerque Morning Democrat  until April 1890. The only wholesale agent located who advertised the product in California was Brassy & Co. in San Jose, who continued a similar ad from July 1890 to September 1890. Brassy & Co. was primarily a wholesale liquor agent, which lends credence to the conjecture that the Mexican Tonic was an alcoholic beverage.

The partners, Starin and Peache, residents of Los Angeles, created a medicinal product, as phony as the ‘best’ of them, claiming it was good for dyspepsia, constipation and loss of appetite. Packaged in a whiskey style bottle it probably carried a healthy dose of alcohol. Understanding the basics of marketing, the bottles were nicely embossed with a Mexican eagle and the artwork of the labels were first class. The name and graphics were trademarked with the California Secretary of State to help deter imposters who were expected to copy the product if it were to become wildly successful, as they hoped. It received trademark No. 1665 on October 24, 1888, which was undoubtedly about the time that Mexican Tonic was first marketed.

The beautiful front label for Mexican Tonic

The secondary bottle labels for Mexican Tonic

The son of  England born William E. and Mary J. Thompson Peache, Alphonso Moncton Peache was born in Michigan in 1868. His father was a boiler maker in Port Huron, but Alphonso apparently had no interest in that trade. He first appears in the registration record of the Seventh Infantry Regiment of the California National Guard (Los Angeles) as a Hospital Steward on October 10, 1888.

Of course, there was no bona fide Major George LaRue. Starin had created a fictional person using his middle name for this Major who so loved the Mexican Tonic. This was the earliest ‘advertisement’ located, running on January 1,2 and 3 of 1890.

The 1890 Los Angles Business Directory lists both Peache and Starin as being associated with the Mexican Tonic Co., and both residing at 210 Boyd St. In 1891 Peache is listed as a druggist at the same address, along with Starin, but the latter is listed as a salesman with the Germain Fruit Co.

One may begin to wonder if the Mexican Tonic Co. had reached the end of the line by 1890. To even bolster this thought the Mexican Tonic advertisement that can be found nearly every day in the Los Angeles and San Jose, California, newspapers abruptly ended in September 1890. The only other continuing advertisements for Mexican Tonic were from retailers who were offering sale of the tonic at a reduced price. All indications conclude that the tonic was a defunct product by the end of 1890.

 By 1892 Peache is listed as a salesman at 124 Spring St., and residing at 500 Buena Vista, in Los Angeles. Starin is missing from the listings but is noted as a salesman at 210 Boyd in the 1893 listing. Also of interest is a listing for Helen Starin at 224 Boyd. She was Starin’s mother. Starin is listed at the same address in 1894 as a “business manager Trade”, and in 1895 as a salesman and in partnership with Abe Hart as proprietors of the St. Louis Lunch Room at 109 W. Second. (In 1897and 1898, Starin is a clerk and residing at 210 Boyd, and as a salesman in 1899)

In fact, Peache was acting as a salesman for the Cudahy Packing Company of Omaha at least by January 1892. He continued in the employ of Cudahy as a traveling salesman and is documented traveling throughout the west as far as Helena, Montana, in the north and Dallas, Texas, to the south. He eventually became a manager for Cudahy in 1902 and Peache was quickly ensnared in matrimony when he married Clara Fotheringham on May 14, 1903, in her home town of Sutter Creek, California. He and Clara had two children in San Francisco, Dorothy on March 2, 1904, Kathryn on  March 25, 1907. They then moved to Oakland about 1911 and had Alphonso, jr. on February 19, 1912.

Tragedy struck quickly to the Peache family when Clara died December 1, 1913, and Alphonso died a week later on December 7, 1913. Their three children were suddenly orphans which was quickly remedied when Clara’s parents, Fred and Emma Fotheringham, took them in and raised them in San Francisco.

The obituary notice for Alphonso Peache (Oakland Tribune, December 8, 1913)

Myndert LaRue Starin was born April 5, 1857, in Watertown, Wisconsin. He moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in the Spring of 1880. (Los Angeles Herald, 15 Nov 1896)) Starin is first documented in California as a member of the Eagle Corps of the California National Guard in Los Angeles in 1882, and working for Hellman, Haas & Co., wholesale grocers.  He was elected a third sergeant of the California Eagle Corps National Guard, under the supervision of then Major George S. Patton, in 1884. (He was the father of General George S. Patton, Sr.) (Los Angeles Herald, January 17, 1884) By 1886 Starin was instrumental in organizing Company C of the Seventh Regiment, Los Angeles and elected its captain. (San Diego Union and Daily Bee, August 4, 1889)

It is highly likely that Starin and Peache became friends through their National Guard activities, both committed salesmen; probably saw the potential benefits of creating and selling a medicinal product of their own making. Both apparently loved the world of sales and felt they could succeed handsomely with their talents. Starin’s father, Erastus Charles Starin, died June 30, 1891, leaving his estate equally divided to Myndert Starin and to Helen, who was Myndert’s mother. Myndert’s father had worked in the insurance industry and owned a hotel in Los Angeles. It is probable that Myndert received a considerable estate from his father.

Acting as a traveling salesman, Starin sojourned to Manila in the latter part of 1899. Assessing the business conditions he was pessimistic about opportunities. However, he noted,,. . . “that there are good openings in Manila at present for a manufacturing chemist, lawyers, a photo supply house and a manufacturing confectioner”. (Los Angeles Herald, 12 February 1900) . He may have tipped his hand a bit as a reason for traveling there when he further stated, . . . “The coldest weather there is warmer than in Los Angeles at this time and you can see the ‘miasma’ rise out of the ground every morning.  It is like breathing a poisonous gas, and then there are no sewers.  The moist tropical climate produces all kinds of malarial and tropical fevers and I hear the plague is there now.  If that is so, the question of living there is settled.”

Back in Los Angeles, in 1900 Starin invested in the Oak Oil company, becoming a director, and secretary,  at a time when the Los Angeles fields were booming. (Los Angeles Herald, 4 Mar 1900).  He also became a director of the newly incorporated Kismet Oil company a month later (Los Angeles Herald, 5 April 1900)  He then became a director of the newly incorporated Trophy Oil company in May of 1900.  (Los Angeles Herald, 9 May 1900)  With continued trust in the oil business he then subscribed $7,000 to the incorporation of the Arfena Oil company. (Los Angeles Herald, 19 Jul 1900) It appears that he got a little carried away with investments for in 1903 Starin, still defined as a commercial traveler, filed bankruptcy alleging his liabilities to be $2390 and assets, $350.  (Los Angeles Herald, 22 Jul 1903) And, this was at the time when California was the largest oil producing state in the U.S.

 As he had done several years earlier, Starin purchased a liquor license, this time from A. T. Carter for use at 115 Wilmington Street, Los Angeles. ( Los Angeles Herald, 4 May 1904).  In 1907 he then purchased the liquor license of wholesale liquor dealer, C.R. Grand of 422 North Main Street. (Los Angeles Herald, 11 December 1907). The 1910 U.S. census lists Starin as a wholesale liquor salesman.

Starin was active in politics and attended many of the city, county and State Republican conventions for years, as a delegate. His first bid for the Los Angeles City Council came in 1896, but he lost. In 1909 Starin again threw in his hat for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council. (Los Angeles Herald, 14 Sep 1909) He wasn’t elected but tried again in 1913.  Chances were slim, as the San Pedro Daily News exclaimed the “Aspirants for Mayor and Council (are) thick as dots in a telegraph office”. (San Pedro Daily News, 27 Mar 1913). Not gaining a council seat Starin eventually settled into the accounting business. He died February 25, 1945, in Los Angeles County.

Another company by the name of Goldschmidt Bros. also advertised a Mexican Tonic in the Spanish newspaper, Las Dos Republicas, from 1896 until July 1898. Goldschmidt was a large wholesale liquor company in Los Angeles, and it is my guess that it had acquired the remaining stock of Mexican Tonic, and was attempting to sell it to the Mexican population of Los Angeles.

The elusive Mexican Tonic bottle

A close-up view of the embossing

SAN FRANCISCO GLASS WORKS

Any dedicated collector of western glass is familiar with Warren Friedrich's book on the subject. He spent many hours in libraries and poring over microfilm machines. But, no one can find it all. Below is yet another article on a visit to the San Francisco Glass Works, which was published in September 1872. There are some interesting observations that help piece together the activities of the works. 

The second item is a very interesting advertisement of the same vintage and from the same document, the PACIFIC COAST MERCANTILE DIRECTOR(Y). Yes, it is not really a directory but called a "Director". I don't really know what the word means in this context, but the ad contains some very interesting information about bottles and molds. It looks like a standard lettered bottle mold would cost about $25.00, or about two weeks wages for a working person.

ALLEN'S  JAMAICA  GINGER

A number of years ago the Governor’s mansion in Sacramento was in such a dire need of renovation that no head of the State wanted to reside there. The State finally allocated funds to fix up the grand old structure. I stopped by one day to check out the progress, not knowing if they would accept my impromptu visit. To my surprise the workers, which included a few staff members from the Office of Historic Preservation, gave me a tour of the very meticulous restoration process. I just happened to mention if they had discovered any old bottles in the process of their work. Several had been found and I followed one of the staff members to a room where a variety of historical items had been collected.

The few bottles were not very interesting except for one that had been located within a wall. It was a typical Jamaica ginger style with a paper label. The label was less than attractive and I turned the bottle over expecting to find no embossing. To my surprise it was embossed “Allen’s Essence of Jamaica Ginger”. This bottle had been a bit of a mystery as to where it originated, especially since all the specimens I had seen were not characteristic of western glass. I turned the bottle back to the label side to look for an obvious clue for whom may have made it. To my surprise, at the bottom of long verbiage defining directions for its use, was the wording, “Prepared and sold by ISAAC P. ALLEN & CO., WHOLESALE DRUGGISTS AND CHEMISTS. 139 J street, Sacramento.”

What an unexpected surprise! This bottle had not strayed very far from its origin. That label had solved a mystery that, to my knowledge, still has not been verified by any other source. Needless to say, I photographed the label as documentation, for fear that the bottle may never surface to the public eye again. I have no idea where it may be today, but hope it safely resides in the public domain.

A photograph of the Allen’s Jamaica Ginger label that was discovered during the renovation process of the California State Governor’s mansion.

I won’t go into great detail here about Isaac Allen, but will note that he was born in Massachusetts in 1847 and came to California as a young child with his father, Isaac S. Allen, in 1856. He worked as a druggist for a short while in Sacramento and eventually moved to San Francisco about 1873. He then entered the banking industry where he remained for the rest of his life. Allen died in Alameda, California, in 1925.

The most spectacular event in the life of this family was when his father, Isaac S. Allen, was connected with the San Francisco Benevolent Society. This organization was formed to provide help to economically disadvantaged people within the City. The elder Allen formed a friendship with a woman who needed support and happened to have a daughter who Allen had an interest in. The woman began receiving funds on the condition that Allen could spend some private time with the daughter. This illegitimate tryst was eventually exposed which caused a scandalous uproar in San Francisco. The senior Allen ended up in big trouble. This affair is well documented in the San Francisco newspapers.

Isaac Allen assumed the drug business of R. H. McDonald in Sacramento. (Sacramento Daily Union, September 16, 1871). After moving to San Francisco he continued in the drug business in San Francisco for a few years, and produced yet another embossed patent medicine.

2020

HAPPY  NEW  YEAR

As 2020 unfolds we will soon b e experiencing the largest antique bottle event in the Western Hemisphere from July 30 to August 2, in Reno, Nevada. If you would like to attend this event I strongly encourage you to get your reservations early - especially for the accommodations at the Grand Sierra Hotel. It makes life much easier as this event is held in the hotel and rooms are limited,  If you are planning on selling, I also recommend reserving your sales table(s) early as well. Please go to the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors website at fohbc.org for the most current information.

Ken Schwartz Collection - Just the facts~

I've received a ton of emails and phone calls asking just what the heck is going on. Truthfully, I didn't know. Rather than speculating and spreading rumors, I went straight to the horses mouth.

Ralph Hollibaugh and Ken were close friends for as long as I've known both. Ralph is also extremely knowledgeable and honest.

Ralph was selected by the family to facilitate liquidating the collection. And this, is what Ralph had to say.

 ------------------------------------------------------

Bruce; 

This whole thing started last Tuesday with a $XXXXX offer on a flask the offer was accepted and two people there are bidding on lots were able to buy what they wanted. Then **** **** called and made an offer on three of the top 10 whiskeys and then it exploded.

I started getting calls for items; getting maybe 50 phone calls a day. Sold a considerable amount to a few people. I couldn’t handle more than a couple to three people at a time and sending a list is an impossibility. There’s things on the list that were priced out 40 years ago and there’s also things that are more recent and it can take an hour or so just to find an item on the list and then it can take up to an hour or two to find it.

There’s no preference who buys.  It is taking the time to process everything.

  

Thanks for your interest.

Also you can relate this to everyone on the Internet.

Thanks,

Ralph

 ------------------------------------------------------

If anyone is interested in making arrangements to meet with Ralph, drop me a line and I'll provide you with Ralph's contact info. You can contact me via email at jsglass@q.com

Good luck, Bruce

 

CUTTING & CO. - WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE

It can often be challenging to determine the initial date and longevity of a bottled product used by a company that was in business for a long time. Such is the case with the Cutting & Co. Worcestershire Sauce bottle.

The partners Lea and Perrins of Worcestershire, England, were so successful with their world famous sauce that they were forced to employ a team of lawyers to defend their product from unscrupulous imitators. Wikipedia  notes that John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins first marketed their Worcestershire Sauce about 1838. Its popularity was indisputable as born out by the literally hundreds of imitators around the globe.  Protecting their trade name was a constant battle.

Pictorial advertisements began showing up all over the world as noted in this 1858 example.

Perhaps one of the most contentious battles to preserve their proprietary stake in a product, they were challenged throughout the world, mostly in English speaking countries. The resolve of different legal entities made the issue even more confusing with regard to the prevailing rights of the trade mark. Other subtle differences of the brand were also tread upon, with one of the most obvious being the shape of the bottle. Not being necessarily unique, most imitators used the same style and the same configuration of lettering placement on the bottles, all in an attempt to bend the mind of the consumer into thinking their product was at least the same as the original. English made imitations were being advertised in San Francisco as early as 1859. This was certainly a very flattering situation for Lea & Perrins but also costly at the same time.

Apparently there was a judicial decision some time in 1874. Cross & Co. of San Francisco, established in October of 1850, had been the authorized agent for Lea & Perrins’ Worcestershire Sauce in California since 1860. Lea & Perrins trademarked its label for Worcestershire sauce in California on April 21, 1874, but it was not specific to the use of the word ‘Worcestershire’. This issue was followed upon with a federal trademark that focused on the words “Worcestershire Sauce”, on July 28, 1874.

The famous label for Lea & Perrins' Worcestershire Sauce was given full trade mark protection in the United States with registration of the words 'WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE" on July 28, 1874, with the U.S. Patent and Trade Mark Office.

 Pursuant to a legal finding Cross & Co. pressured three of the San Francisco imitators to desist in using the name Worcestershire or, Worcester, in the sale of their own recipe of the sauce. This action is memorialized in an advertisement that appeared in the Daily Alta California of November 16, 1874.

Cutting & Co. is the only firm of the three that used bottles blown with the word ‘Worcestershire’ impressed in the glass. It must be assumed that this particular bottle was no longer made after 1874.

Embossed vertically, CUTTING & CO., and embossed horizontally around the shoulder, WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE, in the same style as the Lea & Perrins bottle, it was determined to be an infringement of trade mark rights and had to be discontinued.

Of course, imitators continued to cash in on the famous sauce. Fisher Packing Co., of San Francisco tried bending the word ‘Worcestershire’ to ‘Wargestershire’ and trade marked the same in 1884. It took a few years for Lea & Perrins to catch up with the ruse but in 1890 the U.S. Circuit Court finally decided in favor of Lea & Perrins when their lawsuit enjoined Fisher from using the word Wargestershire. 

Another obvious deception was the sauce sold by the Fisher Packing Co. of San Francisco that slightly tweaked the word WORCESTERSHIRE, but it failed the legal test and was ordered removed from the market place.

While we can pin down the final date for the Cutting & Co. Worcestershire Sauce bottle, that still leaves its beginning date to be determined. No advertisements were uncovered that could establish Cutting actually selling Worcestershire Sauce except one in May 1872.

The only ad located for the Cutting & Co. Worcestershire sauce was this one dated 1872 which listed the product under "Sauces".

For the moment, the inception of Cutting’s attempt to capitalize on someone else’s extremely popular product will remain a mystery.

West Coast Shows-2020 will be here before we know it!

I figured we'd get ahead of the curve and start publishing West Coast Show notifications.

Here's the first five in order of appearance.

WESTERN SPICE BOTTLES

For some unexplained reason the western spice manufacturers had an affinity for a certain style bottle like no other place in the United States. The prototype bottle appears to be the slightly earlier J.W. HUNNEWELL & Co. bottle from Boston, Massachusetts. These bottles generally contained milled, or ground spices of all types. They were manufactured in San Francisco from the late 1860’s through the decade of the 1870’s. Except for the Marden & Folger and Bovee spice bottles, which are too old to have been made in California, the embossed San Francisco made examples are pictured below.

I am not aware of any other embossed California examples and would like to hear from anyone who can add to the inventory of known California spice bottles of this type.

CHS BERNARD / SAN FRANCISCO

D. GHIRARDELLI & CO / SAN FRANCISCO 

This example is the uncommon half size version of its larger size variant. Perhaps it held a more expensive article, or one that had a tendency to degrade more quickly.

D. GHIRARDELLI & CO / SAN FRANCISCO  This is the regular, or larger size example of the item pictured above.

G. VENARD / SAN FRANCISCO

G. VENARD / SAN FRANCISCO  An obvious completely different variant of the Venard spice pictured above.

H. C. HUDSON & CO. It is not marked with a city of origin but it is a San Francisco company.

W. P.  This spice bottle was difficult to identify for many years but the initials are the unregistered trademark of Wellman, Peck & Co. of San Francisco. The mark is often seen on their early tea boxes as well.

Who can add to the list of these little embossed jewels of San Francisco glass?