I'll be the first to admit that I really don't know much about the African Stomach Bitters product. That's not saying that I am not willing to learn more about this product and its container. I have thought about collecting some examples of the African ever since I started collecting western bitters, but my lack of knowledge about the bottle and never even finding any pieces of them put them out of my reach. Pictured above is the advertisement for the claim to trademark
for the African Stomach Bitters. This ad was taken from the March 1881 Sacramento Daily Union. The very next month Wilcox, Powers & Co. of Sacramento are advertising that they are not only special agents for African Stomach Bitters but also "sole" agents.
If I am reading this advertisement correctly doesn't that mean that Wilcox, Powers & Co. are the only merchants to offer this product for sale? This product would have been sold in the round bottle without Spruance Stanley embossed in the glass and is the first embossed African product?.
What say you western collectors?
The only African that I have dug around here was the "plain" one, without S.S. embossing. In my experience, they are not at all common around Sactown. So are early '80s pits, for that matter.
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