Here is a Western bottle that I have not been able to find any information on. It is 5 1/4" tall and though tooled, it appears fairly early circa mid 1870s. The embossing reads; " Dr. S.P.P. Vandenberg's Sr. Worm Syrup" I am not sure if this is for livestock, or humans...maybe both? I know it is shown in Tim Higgin's book, but with the top knocked off. I believe it is extremely rare, and would like to know any information possible, Thanks.
Vandenbergh arrived in California from Europe in 1850. He first bottled and marketed his "infallible worm syrup for children" in 1863 from his San Francisco home office. The product was used to expel tape & chain worms from the human body.
ReplyDeleteBy the time your bottle was made the good doctor had relocated to Sacramento and then disappears by 1873. There is also an 1863 version that's four inches tall that was distributed out of S.F. It's embossed the same but a more slender shape with an inward rolled lip and likely Eastern blown. Both versions are extremely rare.
www.oldwestbottles.com
That's about the coolest bottle I've seen under 6" tall. I love those bubbly, curved Western R's. I considered only collecting "Western curved R" bottles for awhile, but there are just too many killer bitters bottles and early whiskies & sodas without curved R's that would have to be ignored. Maybe a small collection of "curved R" western meds would do the trick!
ReplyDeleteFantastic bottle, can you post a few more pics of the base and top ?
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