"A DRINKING TRIO"

The other day I noticed that great tintype of the Turners Bro's. on Ferdinands web site, what a great image. So I decided to post one of my favorite bottle go-withs. An 1870's tintype of three men drinking with four bottles on the table. From left to right the bottles are a labeled Witch Hazel, blob top soda with a circle slug plate, single rolled applied top flask and a buffalo water. The flask is more than likely western, as this tintype is from Astoria, Oregon..... Its hard to imagine these three made it out of bed the next day after a nite of drinking like that. This trio looks like some bottle collectors I know. Can you guess who?

Jewel Bitters- A. Fortlouis & Co.

There are two versions of this rare bottle. The John Bowman variant, and this A. Fortlouis version. Both date to the 1880s, and while the Bowman name is fairly easy to pin down, the A. Fortlouis type not so much. There are at least two San Diego, California whiskey bottles with the A.Fortlouis name embossed, but Fortlouis was known to have distributed liquor from Seattle, Washington in the later 1880s. This example was found in Washington state and interestingly had a lead top, and neck covering stamped clearly " John Bowman, San Francisco, Cal." I was not able to acquire the lead foil top when I purchased the bottle. Research has raised the possibility that Bowman, and Fortlouis were in a partnership of some kind when these bitters were produced, and this new evidence could lead to this conclusion as well.

Why though, would "partners" manufacture completely different versions of the same product " Jewel Bitters"? They appear to be the same mold, and approximate age with applied tops. I have not seen advertising for either variant, but this would likely provide some clue as to what the relationship was between Boman, and Fortlouis.

The Bowman variant is very rare with perhaps 6-10 known. The A. Fortlouis is extremely rare with less than 6 known.

Rosenbaum's Bitters

Here is yet another Canyonville show surprise. This example of the large size Rosenbaum's Bitters is extremely crude and beautiful It is the variant without the dot on the base which has been theorized to be western blown. The embossing is very bold for one of these, and has never been cleaned...just pristine glass! Any show where one can add a piece such as this to the collection is a great show indeed...

The Jewel Bitters A. Fortlouis was a pretty nice show find too!

SPEAKING of CANYONVILLE.....

Here's a couple of western medicines that I was lucky enough to find at the Canyonville show. The GARLAND'S COUGH DROPS and the LEVING'S HOARHOUND AND ELECAMPANE SYRUP are perfect examples of why we collect western medicines.

The unique and interesting names that were used on western medicines in the 1870's - 80's and the beautiful colors of aqua that they were blown in really grab my attention.

Thanks Bruce, Deb and the Canyonville crew for another great show!
rs

Wild G. Venard Spice

Here is an interesting little spice which showed up at the Jefferson State Bottle Show in Canyonville, Oregon this weekend. I have an affinity for the odd, and unusual when it comes to glass. The nastier and sloppier made the better! This early G. Venard, San Francisco spice is a nice deeper color, but what really attracted me is the top. I have not seen a spice with such a drippy applied top!

Redington & Co. 1864

This is a 1864 Almanac from the Redington & Co. San Francisco, showing all the products they were wholesale agents for. This is probable the oldest ads for the Redington & Co. out there. It also has one of the best full page ads for the famous Fish's Hair Restorative I've seen.

SHOWTIME!

Well, it's almost Showtime; another week and change~ And this year promises to be a real treat for collectors and dealers alike! So what's different? Well, we sold out early this year. Dealer spaces and displays alike are full. And the phone continues to ring with inquiries from collectors and the general public inquiring about the show.

The same familiar faces at the Seven Feathers Casino Resort are back again this year to provide us with the luxurious accommodations that we've come to know and love. Dealers can look forward to the annual complimentary $100~ cash drawing and this years raffle drawings promise to be bigger and better than ever! Hourly free drawings for the general public promise to ensure a steady flow of folks off the street too.Thanks to many of the online sites, we've been advertised heavily on the Internet. We've also invested heavily in Pacific NW print to make sure that we've got a good flow of foot traffic off the street.

We've saturated the media from the California border to Portland and have visited every back water town in the surrounding area as well; plastering antique malls, junk shops, Mom & Pop Markets and anywhere else that the local citizenry might stumble across show flyer's and an invitation to have their hidden treasures appraised for free. And, as always, the ever popular live silent auction returns.

Displays this year include a couple of new offerings including what is considered to be the top EC&M collection in existence.

Bill, Dale, Scott, and I are looking forward to sharing another memorable weekend and seeing one and all. Come join us at Seven Feathers Casino Resort on October 15th from 9AM - 3PM ($10~ early admission Friday the 14th - noon to seven PM) for Canyonville 2011 - Antique Bottle, Insulator and Collectibles Show and Sale where, "You Can Expect the Best"!

Show Website: http://www.ecandm.com/canyonville/

Information: jsglass@q.com

USA Indian Root bitters revisited.

William Hawkins first listing for the USA Indian Root Bitters was in the 1871 Langley's Directory. In that year only he was listed along with his partner I.H.Wonser, the "Dr." whose bitters concoction they sold. No effort was spared in securing a unique bottle to contain the product.

In 1872 and '73 only Hawkins was listed as sole manufacturer of the USA Indian Root Bitters. Wonser is not listed as a resident of S.F.

By 1875 Hawkins had left the business and McMillan & Kester are the agents for Dr. Wonser's USA Bitters. They posted basically the same ad for the years 1875-77. Below is their notice in the 1877 Directory.

AUBURN SHOWDOWN

COME JOIN THE

CLUBHOUSE SHOWDOWN

AUBURN CALIFORNIA FAIRGROUNDS

DECEMBER 2 & 3 2011

SOME OF THE MOST RARE AND DESIRABLE BOTTLES FROM THE 1850’S GOLD RUSH PERIOD WILL BE ON DISPLAY THIS YEAR AT THE AUBURN BOTTLE SHOW. WE WILL BE HOSTING A NON COMPETITIVE GROUP DISPLAY IN TWO CATAGORIES, LONDON JOCKEY CLUBHOUSE GINS AND WISTERS CLUB HOUSE BOTTLES. THESE BOTTLES BOTH COME IN A WIDE VARIETY OF COLORS AND THIS IS A CHANCE TO GATHER THE BEST SPECIMENS TOGETHER FOR A WONDERFUL DISPLAY. WE ARE ENCOURAGING ALL THOSE WHO WISH TO DISPLAY TO PRE REGISTER AS SPACE IS LIMITED.

CONTACT MAX BELL (530)-823-3315 blessedx5@sbcglobal.net

More on the Turner Brothers

Thanks for the post on the Turner Brothers Mike.
Here's a little more information that I have uncovered on the brothers and their bottles.
TURNER BROTHERS
NEW YORK, BUFFALO, NY.
& SAN FRANCISCO CAL
Circa: 1858 – 1865

The five Turner Brothers were manufacturing soda water in Buffalo New York as early as 1850.By 1853 they have opened a branch depot in San Francisco and listed as syrup and cordial manufacturers. The Turner Brothers advertise in the October 1858 Nevada Journal newspaper that they are manufacturers of Turner’s Ginger Wine, Forest Wine Bitters, syrups, cordials and an unrivalled Vegetable Bitters. Sometime in 1865 the Turner Brothers sellout to the firm of McMillan and Kester and thereafter McMillan & Kester start advertising that they are the proprietors of the Turner brands.

Relation to Sierra County California
Several whole and broken examples of the Turner’s bottle were discovered at the old gold rush town of Monte Cristo during the 1990’s.

Three whole examples were unearthed at the gold rush settlement of Chips Flat by a Nevada City digger. The early towns of Excelsior, Downieville and Chaparral Hill have all produced broken examples of this bottle.
The Turner bottles come in four different variants with the earliest and rarest variant having a pontil base. These bottles are considered rare by collectors. I do not know exactly how many examples of the Turner’s are in collections but this is a popular bottle with western collectors.

Turner Brothers ad in SF Directory

Robert Turner, of the Turner Brothers Co placed a full page ad in LeCount and Strong's San Francisco City Directory for the year 1854. Sadly, I have no bottle to show along with this ad as my dug example was sold to another collector who, in turn, also passed it along to who knows where. Bottles have a tendency to do that because we collectors are often only transient caretakers of them.