Chico Action

The Chico show was incredible this year! I have always looked forward to it as it falls right in "digging season" and frequently, there is an abundance of freshly dug glass, along with some other surprises. Western bitters were very well represented this year with some top examples trading hands, or at least being shown around. There was a beautiful large Rosenbaums in light yellow olive with strong whittle effect. It found a new home with an advanced Western bitters collector from California who was in the right place at the right time. There was also a beautiful yellow green small size Rosenbaums which was shown, but not available for purchase. This collector was able to finally land a mint, and very crude Dr. Miller's Ratafia which will be posted soon. There was a pretty yellow green Renz's Herb Bitters, which I am not aware if it sold , and a goegeous mint A.T. & Co. iin a light yellow olive. These are tough to find in mint condition. A highlight for many was the early San Francisco beer which was on display, but not available for purchase( hence "bottle show"). It was a Jacob Denzler in about mint condition! While not a bitters, it caused quite a stir. Hopefully some photos will be posted of this incredible piece of glass! I did see a few Peruvian Bitters, some nice IXLs including one in a deep turquoise which sold immediately. All in all, it was a great show, with some nice bitters, and some whiskies walking in which were to die for(these will be discussed on the whiskey blog). There is still prime digging time left in the season, so who knows what will show up next!

FOHBC Virtual Museum of American Historical Bottles and Glass

The concept presentation to the FOHBC Board for the FOHBC Virtual Museum occurred prior to the 2010 Baltimore Antique Bottle Show. The presentation was developed by Ferdinand and Elizabeth Meyer. The concept was approved for Design Development. Work sessions and administrative teams are being assembled for the various galleries, exhibitions and other museum areas such as membership, foundation, advertising, gift shop, research, archives etc. Please contact me if you would like a copy of the full presentation. All bottle collecting community comments and assistance for this historic and broad endeavor are welcomed. A still image from the presentation is pictured.

A February 2010 Dig

Nothing heavy....just some fun finds from digging the outhouse for an old M.E. Church. Below is a Mason jar with more olive-amber colored swirls than a bag of candy-canes. Also pictured is a pretty tough Hutch soda from a neat little Southern California town.

A little bit of everything seemed to come out of the hole: bottles of all types, shapes, and colors; not to mention the huge abalone shells, porcelain dolls, and other trinkets.

This church was a drinkin,' as evidenced by the numerous beer, ale, champagne, wine, and liquor bottles we found in the double-seater privy hole.

Hostetter's Closes on Ebay

Not much to report on the auction scene. Western bitters just seem to be getting harder to find. I was surprised to see a listing on ebay for an early large size Hostetter's up for bid. The bitters listings on ebay lately have been pitiful so this listing caught my attention.

Listed as;

1857 DR J.HOSTETTER'S STOMACH BITTERS -olive square-
and just loaded with seed bubbles this 31 oz. dark olive square finished at a half a grand. It takes a pretty early and crude Hostetter's to get this old collectors interest up and this particular "Hoss" did just that. This bottle had a lot going for it and, in my opinion, went for a fair price.

Congratulations to the lucky winner!

What's Been Coming Out of the Ground?

I was talking to a fellow digger and collector the other day and during the conversation he mentioned "not to much coming out of the ground anymore". Har!... (as Oldcutters would say) that got me to thinking. Here's a few photo's of just a small amount of what has been dug here in the west since the first of the year. Heck this doesn't represent anywhere near what I have heard of, let alone the "secret" or "close to the vest" bottles that have been dug. Enjoy the pics!

The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors

The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors is a non-profit organization for collectors of historical bottles and related collectible items. The primary goal of the federation is educational as it relates to the history and manufacture of historical bottles and related artifacts.

Membership is open to any individual, club, group, or organization that has an interest in bottles, flasks, jars, or related items.

Some of the Benefits of Membership in the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (FOHBC):
 A full year subscription to the bi-monthly (6 issues a year) 72-page publication, Bottles and Extras, which is continuously full of specialty articles, regular columns, classified advertising, show reports and a listing of bottle shows nationwide.
 Free advertising of "For Sale" items in Bottles and Extras (Restrictions apply - ads may be up to 100 words, items must be of $25.00 or greater value, and free advertisements are limited to the first 100 received, based upon date mailed.)
 One free ad of 60 words each year for use for items "Wanted", trade offers, etc.
 Advice on publishing your book / manuscript, and a forum for your articles.
 The opportunity to obtain discount to be used on "Early Admission" or table rent at the annual Federation shows.
 Access to the informational FOHBC Slide Show Presentations.

As a western bottle collector and member of the federation I highly recommend supporting the efforts of this worthwhile organization.

For more information on the federation take a look at their site http://www.fohbc.com/

Western Bottles.....

They don't have to be pricey to be pretty!

Bottle Folks

Support your local bottle digger, collector and dealer..........

The Western Bitters News Does!

Online Auctions vs Bottle Shows

While browsing an online auction site I noticed this dealer’s description of how he conducts business:

Any questions please ask. These items will be relisted until sold, they are already below what I have paid for them so please do not try to insult me with Dollar Store or FLEA Market Tactics. If you really want it then BID and do not ask me to ship for free. PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE DESCRIPTION I will try to answer all questions and answers as soon as possible. The best time for me is early AM and late PM, this is not a full time job for me If you are interested in large quantities or my entire inventory please ask. I do not have a list. You can email me and make arrangements to see what I have (bring lots of money, big truck and trailer, man power to inventory and load. NO COMPANY AND PERSONAL CHECKS) I state MONEY ORDER ONLY and that means MONEY ORDER ONLY. I do not offer second chance offers, so please do not respond to them. Shipping and handling will be USPS Priority mail it seems there are allot of scammers out there who want to waste time and bidding on an item and refusing to pay shipping GET A LIFE or GET A JOB or GET YOUR OWN ACCOUNT AND SHIP FOR FREE, cause I will not. Honest people will be happy to pay for shipping to ensure they get what they pay for. If you want it insured then ask before you pay, this also includes signature required, otherwise all shipments will be USPS Priority with delivery confirmation. If you purchase more than one item, I will try to combine the S&H and this must be done prior to payment so please email first. I will not ship overseas. Hawaii and Alaska please check shipping costs before bidding and email me prior to bidding (This also includes Puerto Rico and Guam, I never shipped to these areas and do not want to lose money doing it, Thanx for understanding). I only ship on Saturdays, so please be patient. A handling charge is included, this covers packing materials, bubble wrap, tape and labor for my shipper, etc.( Shipper ships items, picks up supplies, travels and stands in line and also packages items again just to explain to those who keep asking, Thanx. If you do not agree to this and would like to list and ship items for me for free then I will wave this otherwise if you bid on this item and know how to read English then I expect you to pay the shipping that is quoted. Returns: I must be notified first, the item must be in the original package and I will return the cost of the item only. Shipping & Handling will not be reimbursed. Or I can exchange for another item. If this item states AS-IS NO REFUND, then it means just that. I will only accept returns that are due to my fault not your understanding of the product, that is why I state ask questions and read the ENTIRE description BEFORE YOU BID. I will only ship to the address listed so if you are using some else’s account , not my problem. These are my items for sale and these are my terms, if you do not agree, DO NOT BID. If I do not receive payment within 10 days then I will send a NON PAYING BIDDER NOTICE and 20 days I will post NEGATIVE FEEDBACK whether you pay late or not pay. NO LAY AWAY, NO GAMES, NO TRADES.

All this for an item starting at $2 with no reserve.....His feedback shows 35 negative transactions (go figure) I can’t wait to buy something from this guy and see how it turns out....... NOT!

Think I'll meander up to the Chico Show on Friday March 12th and do some face to face bottle dealing!
rs

How rare is it?

After reading a comment made on the Wonser's posting, I thought I would examine the topic of rarity ratings. I decided to go back and post ratings that have been used in two well received published bitters bottle books that were published almost 30 years apart. Here are the ratings for the year 1969.

Extremely rare 1 - 10

Very rare 11 - 30

Rare 31 - 60

Very Scarce 61 - 100

Scarce 101 - 150

Common over - 150

Next are the ratings for the year 1998.

Extremely rare 1 - 5

Very rare 6 - 15

Rare 16 - 35

Very Scarce 36 - 75

Scarce 76 - 150

Common more than 150

It has now been an additional 12 years since the last publication for ratings.

How have our bottles stood the test of time?

Alex Von Humboldts Stomach Bitters 1969 rating E R, 1998 rating V R currently with 13 known it now would be considered very rare by both book ratings.

Dr. Boerhaave's Stomach Bitters 1969 rating E R, 1998 rating E R, currently with 11 known it now would be considered very rare by both book ratings.

California Wine Bitters M. Keller Los Angeles 1969 rating E R, 1998 rating V R, I believe the number in existance now would be considered very rare by both book ratings.

Cassin's Grape Brandy Bitters 1969 rating E R, 1998 rating V R, currently with 1 known (un-repaired) it now would be considered extemely rare by both book ratings. However counting the other 6 repaired examples puts it back to the original ratings.

Cassin,s Grape Brandy Bitters 1969 rating E R, 1998 rating V R, currently with 19 known it would now be considered very rare and rare by both book ratings. However counting another 4 damaged examples doesn't change the ratings.

Chalmer's Catawba Wine Bitters 1969 rating E R, 1998 rating V R, currenly I know of 9 examples, this would make the book ratings still correct respectively.

Lacour's Bitters Sarsapariphere 1969 rating S, 1998 rating R, currently there are 23 V1, 11 V2 & 39 V3. So variant 1 bottles would be considered very rare under the 1969 ratings. Variant 2 bottles would be considered very rare by both book ratings. Variant 3 bottles would be considered very scarce under the 1998 ratings.

G. A. Simon's Medicated Aromatic Bitters 1969 rating E R, 1998 rating E R, currently 3 known, one example repaired. Would still be considered extemely rare under both book ratings.

Dr. Wonser's U. S. A. Indian Root Bitters 1969 rating E R, 1998 rating VR-R, currently the number of examples known would be considered rare and very scarce by both book ratings respectively.

Of course adding different criteria will of course change the ratings even more; such as color, but I thought the results were interesting to compare.

COLOR RUN !

From the Robert Frank collection
Thanks to ABA for the pic.












Dr. Wonser's U. S. A. Indian Root Bitters was first advertised in The Gilroy Advocate newspaper on June 25th, 1870, the advertisement ran for 3 mos in this paper. The manufactory and depot for this product was located at 645 Third St., San Francisco.

Wm. Hawkins displays seven dozen of his U. S. A. Indian Root Bitters at the San Francisco Fair on September 1st, 1870.

Hawkins placed a second advertisement (in a different style format) in the San Francisco Daily Examiner newspaper on December 17th, 1870, this ad ran for 1 month. The location of his manufactory and depot was now located at 418 Sacramento St., San Francisco.

W. M. Hawkins applied for the trademark name of his bitters on June 3rd, 1871, this was reported in the Sacramento Daily Union newspaper on June 5th. [see post of June 21, 2009 by Old Cutters for photocopies of the trademarked application].

Again Hawkins entered his Wonser's U. S. A. Indian Root Bitters in the 1871 State Fair and on September 25th, 1871 received a diploma award. Another advertisement appeared in the Wine Dealers Gazette, a monthly publication in the December 1871 issue. The advertisement stated

"This great remedy strikes at the root of every disease, which lies in the liver and the blood. They are not like the many poisonous compounds with which the country is flooded, under the name of Bitters, which are made of refined poison and gall, and seasoned up to suit the taste. They contain no alcohol, and their effects do not die out, but on the contrary are lasting and beneficial. For Piles, Constitpation, Chronic Coughs, Dyspepsia, Fever and Ague, Kidney, all Billious and Most Chronic Diseases".

Bryant's Bitters

Recently several Bryant's Stomach Bitters bottles were unearthed in a Sacramento privy. Although very exciting news for the bottle collecting world, it really shouldn't come as a surprise to a lot of advanced western diggers/collectors. The Bryant's bitters in both mould shapes was advertised in the Sacramento Daily Union newspaper as well as the San Francisco Alta California newspaper. Several examples in various conditions were found in both these cities as one would expect with the products advertising for use in such establishments as hotels and restaurants. Over the years diggers have found the cone style Bryants bottles in places such as North San Juan, Camptonville, Downieville, San Francisco, Sacramento, Ukiah, Saratoga, Mount Shasta area and Carson City, as well as back east in Connecticut. In one San Francisco auction company alone were 25 cases of this early Bryants Bitters being wholesaled in 1859. The early Bryant's bottles were packed 24 to a case, indicating that 600 of these bottles were sold by this auction house alone. As with a lot of other eastern products being shipped to a relatively young market out west it faced competition from other similar products being marketed at the same time, such as Roback's Stomach Bitters, Turner's Forest Wine Bitters, and Hostetter's Stomach Bitters, which were all advertised during this time.

With the number of shards found by diggers over the years, there should be enough to piece together several more of the cone style Bryant's Stomach Bitters for future collections.

photos courtesy of Jeff Wichmann and William Ham

Yerba Buena Bitters

Alright my bottle chums, its time to pay tribute to another great western bitters thats always over looked. The Yerba Buena Bitters. The longest produced western bitters known, from 1870-1920. The early ones have the famous curved R's and come in some wild colors.

Homer Williams and Alfred Wright established a veterinary and medicine business in San Francisco in 1869. They purchased the formula for a new product they thought would be a great seller. The formula was purchased from a S.F. doctor and it wasn't long before the two began producing their own "Good Herb" or Yerba Buena Bitters. In 1880, after 10 years or so, The Paul O. Burn Wine Company of San Jose purchased the rights to the now famous Yerba Buena Bitters. They continued to sell it quite successfully for the next 27 years, until prohibition finally forced them to stop making it.

"California Kid"



Special thanks to the "California Kid" for this post

Paper Label Western Bitters

Looking through some books, amazed at how many different Western Paper Label Bitters there are. Anybody have any of these, the Scarce ones that is? How about some pics and info. The old labels have such Awesome Art Work. DB

A Renz's Not on Ebay...

I was a bit surprised that the variant 3 Renz's Herb Bitters did not see more interest when it ran on Ebay recently. Western bitters are very desirable, and they are rarely available without some condition issues, and the amber example was problem free. Maybe the color held it back in overal appeal, but it seemed to be pretty affordable at hammer time.

Here is a variant #1 with the small lettering, and in a pretty green color. This one dates to the late 1860s I believe, and has some nice character. These do not seem to come up for sale very often either, and I would be interested to see what a colored example in fine condition would bring if offered (which this one will not), in this economy.

On another note, it seems like there is a bit of hostility, or jealousy, or anger in some posts. I am all for expressing one's views, but the internet allows people to hide their identities at the same time they express occasional negative viewpoints, and even verbally attack, and insult people. I believe that everyone who comments or posts on this site should have their name in the post, or at least register. I appreciate most collectors efforts to offer their knowledge, as well at the countless hours of research to enlighten us about the beautiful glass we love. If posts continue to slam, or insult others, I will just turn to another venue, and not tune in at all. No big loss for most, but I hope there can be a positive energy here.

"Can't we all just get along? :)

Dale Mlasko

Better Return Those Pop Bottles

Checked Your Bottom Lately?

Since Rick started this subject, here is another ad I researched for a soda water bottle collector, this gives you a better understanding of how this came about.

A while back I wrote a post titled “The Blue Soda Hole”. Basically a couple of hombres and I dug a small gold rush pit late one afternoon and recovered several blue sodas with iron pontil bases. When we finished the pit it was getting dark and I snapped a couple of pictures to possibly use in a post for this blog. When I posted the pictures on the blog I referred to the blue sodas as having “red iron pontils” – That was before I really examined one of the bottles.
After giving one of the Mineral Waters a nice warm bath I noticed that it didn’t have a red iron pontil after all. What it had was red paint over the iron pontil..... Very interesting I thought and left it at that.

A few days, or weeks, or it could have been longer or sooner (I have a time space thing happening as I get older) I mentioned the painted bottom sodas to Warren in a casual conversation. Of course Warren had seen sodas with painted bottoms, and in fact, knew why the bottoms were painted (which didn’t surprise me one little bit).

It seems that while doing research for his upcoming book Warren ran across an ad for Phil Caduc telling the public to take notice that his genuine Napa Soda had the bottoms of the bottles “painted white”. What I thought Caduc was really saying was that all those white painted soda bottles belonged to him and he sure as heck wanted them back after you had polished off the contents. And this got me to thinking.......

.............Oh boy another mystery to try and unravel, might as well add it to the date and time of the western curved “R”, the Fish’s Infallible western or eastern brain twister, the Mlasko T*M western star and Dale’s maybe it just might be possible that the Chalmer’s Catawba Wine Bitters is a 25th anniversary of the discovery of gold in California bottle theory. Wow..... Its no wonder I have this time – space thing happening.

Warren also mentioned that he had seen other bottles with different colors painted on the bottoms and possibly the reason for the different colors were the bottles belonged to different merchants.

Here we go.....

Three red bottom sodas (and three other broken examples) recovered from the same gold rush era stage stop privy, all possibly purchased from the same merchant somewhere along the stage route who is probably, to this day, still mad about not getting his bottles back! ....Makes sense to this old geezer

Amber Renz on Ebay

An example of the third variant of the Dr. Renz's Herb Bitters with the curved R's in an amber coloration realized $373 on ebay last week. One of the few desirable western bitters that has been listed on the bay in the last several months didn't come near what I thought it would bring.

It seems like at the present time listing bottles on ebay is a crap shoot. On any given day the same bottle can bring a different price at auction. Why is this? Heck, if I knew that I could retire a wealthy man.

One thing is for sure, the winning bidder has a very desirable western bitters for a very reasonable price.

Dr. Boerhaave's Stomach Bitters

The number of western made 1860's decade bitters bottles can almost be counted on both hands (aproximately 13 embossed on glass brands). Out of almost 100 brands manufactured for the western market, this is a pretty exclusive group. Most collectors would be pretty excited to have an example from this group.

Of those 13 brands of bitters bottles, approximately 4 are known in a square shaped container. This Boerhaave's example is in company with the Rosenbaums Bitters, Alex Von Humboldts Bitters and the G. A. Simon's Bitters as the only square shaped bitters made during the 1860's, (there are of course the Dr. Renz's Bitters and the E. G. Lyon's bottle but these continued into the 1870's decade).

Now that is an exclusive group! This particular example has some wonderful glass characteristics, the surface of the glass is whittled, which is not normally seen on these bottles, the old amber coloration varies in shades from the bottom half of the bottle being darker while the upper half is much lighter, with the neck and top being a darker shade again due to glass thickness. The embossing is quite bold, with the letters themselves being gloppy in appearance (my term used to describe the peaks and valleys of the letters due to the glass not forming evenly in the cavaties). There are currently 11 examples in western collections, 4 are a dark green coloration, 5 are various shades of amber, 1 is a light green color and 1 is a yellow olive coloration.

The firm of Siegfried Wertheimber and Louis Waterman were the manufacturers and proprietors of this bitters. It was first advertised on March 7th, 1868 with the principle depot being at 311 Commercial St, San Francisco, by June of 1868 the firm was advertising this product from their 219 Commercial St, S. F. address. Dr. Boerhaave's Bitters was also being advertised thru the Portland Morning Oregonian newspaper from May 15th, 1868 thru January 28th, 1869, Millard and Van Schuyver were the agents for Oregon. The Los Angeles Star newspaper ran an advertisement for the Boerhaave's Bitters placed by a local druggist for several mos. in 1868 as well.

Wertheimber & Waterman also marketed a cordial called The Splendid and another bitters called Boonekamp and Maag-Bitters, these two products continued to be advertised without the Boerhaave's bitters throughout 1869 in a Sacramento newspaper. At the 1868 San Francisco Mechanics Institute Fair, Wertheimber & Waterman displayed two kegs of their Boonekamp and Maag-Bitters along with a case of their Dr. Boerhaave's Stomach Bitters.

In a notice placed in the San Francisco Daily Examiner newspaper, the firm of Wertheimber & Waterman dissolved their partnership on September 25th, 1869. Siegfried Wertheimber having sold his entire interest in the business to Phillip Wertheimber and the firm continued as before under the name of Wertheimber & Waterman. [see post of September 21, 2009 for additional information on Dr. Boerhaave's Bitters.]

Dr. Henry's World's Tonic & Blood Purifyer

This 9" knife edge tonic/ bitters is very rare. It actually comes in two different molds, with one being more oval in shape with a tapered neck, and this mold, with a true knife edge shape, and a straight neck. Both have crudely applied top, and usually come in a turquoise aqua coloration which is very attractive. This product is related to the Dr. Henry's Sarsaparilla, and the Dr. Henry's Botanic Preparations. This one is interesting in that "purifier" is spelled incorrectly "purifyer". I know of about 10 of these in Western collections, with the majority being dug in California and Oregon. Has anyone heard of them being found elsewhere? It somewhat resembles the Bitter Witch in shape and size. I wonder if they were competitors? Obviously the Bitter Witch was more successful, as there are certainly more of them around. These come in some terrific deep colors, and usually are quite crude.

The Munster House Dig

It was a Superbowl Sunday....a time most Americans reserve for kicking back on the sofa while enjoying an ice cold soda or beer, the newest witty commercials, and taking-in the game. And I figured that's what I'd resort to doing, as I normally have in the past. After all I didn't want to miss two good quarterbacks go head-to-head, see good food go uneaten, and bail out on "The Who's" half-time rock & roll set!

But the haunted Munster House was whispering to us. My digging partner Dave G. and I had wanted to dig this freakish-looking Southern California dwelling for years, and we knew the perfect opportunity to dig it had arrived!

Check out the unique Mansard-style roof. I would guess this house to date early 1880's. The architecture seems to have an oriental influence:
As seen on our 1891 insurance maps, there was also a small pioneer-style or small carriage house located at the rear property-line (facing from the other street at a 90% angle).

The maps showed a total of 3 shared-hole locations for the Munster House, the blue pioneer dwelling, and a later house that moved-in a few years later. After making some drill holes (about the size of a quarter) where the outhouse map-box was, we probed and crunched on glass with the 4-footer. Then the hole decided to swallow the 6 foot probe too. So we brought in the 8 foot probe and POW, another layer of glass all the way to the handle....We knew we were in for a bomber pit. So Dave quickly fired up his new concrete slicing Skill-saw and cut out the slab of concrete which covered the old privy pit.

About 3 feet into the hole, a few late bottles and shards of glass so far. I was able to locate each wall of the outhouse with some help from the old redwood lined walls.

We pried loose this sunken panel, square-design pint sized bitters container around the 8 foot level. It reads: LASHS'S KIDNEY AND LIVER BITTERS reverse THE BEST CATHARTIC AND BLOOD PURIFIER. The bottle is fashioned with a tooled-finish top and records tell us it was manufactured from, 1884-1893. It is pictured in Jeff Wichmann's Western Bitters book (pg. 76)

After unearthing the Lash's Bitters we knew the hole was turning back a page with its age. We also knew the potential for more bitters was quite possible too. I thought I might have been working on digging out a green Henley's IXL Bitters for a minute, but it turned out to be a large wine. Oh well, digging an embossed bitters bottle is really tough, tougher than finding an old embossed whiskey container, and those are challenging enough! At the end of the day we were a bit disappointed that the Lash's was the only "decent" bottle to come out. The rest of the stuff was mostly unembossed, national brands, or broken. But any dig that produces a decent + bitters bottle is a great day to be a digger, even on a Superbowl Sunday!

The concrete repair job that we promised the very cool home-owners we would do:

In need of a washing:

After a soap-sud and luke-warm H2O bath:

We were also able to dig the M.E. Church hole across the alley this past weekend. A pretty decent hole overall. More digs to follow....

All for now,

~J.F. Cutter

Gold Rush Doctors McDonald & Levy

While we are on the subject of gold rush era bottles thought I might relate a little information about another couple of pioneer merchants.

In 1849, a year after gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill; Richard McDonald opened a drug store at 143 J Street in Sacramento California. McDonald’s first drug store was operated from a wood and tent structure and sometime in 1852 he took as a partner a Mr. Levy.

Sometime in 1853 the partners started a traveling drug store to supply remote mining camps with medicinal supplies. McDonald and Levy’s idea of taking a wagon load of medicine and drugs to the miners was not revolutionary but their timing was perfect, few if any early mining camps at that time had a drug store or a place to buy medicine.

It is believed that Levy ran the medicine show (or traveling drug store) while Mc Donald was in charge of the store on J Street in Sacramento. Levy took his wagon from the placer diggings in the Mother Lode foothills all the way up into the northern mines area of the Sierra Nevada Mountains peddling the wagons nostrums’.

The traveling drug store was a huge success and by 1853 The Miners Drug Store of Sacramento was firmly established. Levy left the partnership around 1854 and quite possibly the embossed bottle that they are responsible for was made for only one year

By early 1860 the R.H. McDonald Co. was primarily a wholesale drug business with a branch office in San Francisco and an agent for William T. Cutter Whisky. One of McDonald’s best selling products was J. Walker’s Vinegar Bitters and was responsible for the great success of his company. McDonald continued in the wholesale drug business until his death in Montreal Canada in 1903.

The Compound Fluid Extract of Manzanita bottle produced by McDonald and Levy is believed to have contained a remedy for the rash from poison oak or ivy. I have no concrete proof that the Manzanita product was a cure for poison oak.

Back in 1993 two undamaged examples of the Manzanita bottle were recovered from the early gold rush settlement of American Hill. Another example of the Extract of Manzanita was discovered in the Forest City area in the late 1990’s and later sold at a Glassworks Auction.

Both American Hill and Forest City are located near the Henness Pass Road, an early wagon road used to reach the gold rush camps in western and southern Sierra County. The discovery of these bottles near a major gold rush road and the abundance of poison oak in that vicinity lead me to speculate that old Doc Levy’s traveling medicine show quite possibly visited the Southern Sierra County area during gold rush times.

HUTCHINGS DYSPEPSIA BITTERS

While going through some information that I had squirreled away for my gold rush book I ran across some photo’s of this Hutchings Dyspepsia Bitters. This bottle was recovered from a long gone gold rush town in Northern Sierra County by AH, a long time digger and collector from Nevada City. I don’t recall ever hearing of another Hutchings being found here in Sierra County.

The Hutchings is a rectangular shaped bottle that comes in aqua colored glass with an open pontil base. These bottles are pretty early and date from the beginning 1850’s and are considered rare.

Dyspepsia was as common a medical condition in the 1850’s as it is today. Known as upset stomach or indigestion it is characterized by chronic or recurrent pain in the upper abdomen and feeling full earlier than expected when eating. Almost every bitters manufacturer claimed that their product would cure dyspepsia and several used the actual word dyspepsia as part of the name of their product.

Although this product was not manufactured on the west coast evidence indicates that it was distributed here in the Sierra’s during the California gold rush.
Anybody out there discovered any other Hutchings here in Northern California?

The Politics of Acquisition

Ever wonder why that certain bottle, you just have to have, keeps winding up in someone else’s collection?
How come the fellow that collects the same category as you keeps putting keepers on his shelf while you have to settle for traders or bottles out of your category?
Have you ever found out a couple days, or even a couple of hours after a bottle you really needed was sold to someone you know without it being offered to you?
Been feeling like a bridesmaid and not a bride?

Well... don’t get all bent out of shape... You’re just a victim of “The Politics of Acquisition”
Yea, I know you’re thinking right now, has the old timer gone off his rocker. What the heck is he talking about?
We all know what the definition of politics used to be... it meant policy. That was then, now politics means money. You know... greenbacks, frog skins, the silver pick and whatever else you want to call it. And in the bottle world money talks and just being chummy or late on the draw with a potential seller walks!

Most collectors collect within certain limited self imposed guidelines. Western glob top whiskies, square western bitters, local medicines, colored soda’s, a mix of categories etc. and are content to pursue the bottles within those guidelines. Other collectors seem to want em’ all. These guys that “just have to have everything” are the driving force behind the price of mid range to high end bottles. More often than not, these collectors are willing to pay more for a bottle then other collectors.

When you consistently pay more for an item than other collectors you become a favored buyer or what us mountain folks would call “A TARGET”. A “favored buyer” always gets offered a bottle first... heck he’s the guy that’s likely to pay the most for the item and always gets the chance to pull the trigger first. The budget conscience collector, or guy that can’t make up his mind in a split second, always winds up at the bottom of the acquisition food chain.

What’s the cure for the favored buyer syndrome? You could step up and let the bottle community know you’re willing to pay more for certain bottles then the average collector. . We have seen these advertisements forever... “Paying top dollar”...”Willing to over pay for a particular bottle” and so on and so forth.

When it comes to collecting the more desirable bottles, and shoveling out more than an item is worth just to own it, I always think about what my amigo from Oregon says: “If you can’t run with the big dogs – stay on the porch with the pups”
For me, the view from up here on the porch is pretty nice!

rs

Coming This Weekend !!!

FEBRUARY 19 & 20 AURORA, OREGON

The Oregon Bottle Colletors Assoc. Annual Winter Show & Sale

(9 AM to 3 PM, early buyers Friday 1 to 6 PM), at the American Legion Hall, 3rd & Main Street, Aurora, OR. Info: JIM DENNIS, PH: (541) 467-2760 or email: jmdennis@hotmail.com

Support your local bottle show!