Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Caspar Landis' trade mark



Not much to it, but this is Landis' filing for Circassion Tonic.
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13 comments:

  1. Numa.GJanuary 31, 2012 at 1:21 PM

    Wow, looks just like the bottle. Does it mention what the tonic was intended to remedy ?

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  2. Mike DolciniJanuary 31, 2012 at 2:43 PM

    The entire trade mark and all pertinent info is what you see. No label, nothing else. The book said 2 labels, but I suspect that they were pilfered long ago. Like Tom Quinn suggested, and I have long believed, there were very few numbers of this tonic actually bottled. I have found shards here and a few others have turned up in other places. With any luck, maybe a perfect example will be dug.

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  3. WesternglassaddictJanuary 31, 2012 at 2:46 PM

    Since Landis basically ran a spa for several years, perhaps the product was related to this somehow. Hair Grower? Hair Tonic? Circassian is frequently related to hair grower or tonic. Pretty large "hair" bottle though. Maybe bubblebath :)

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  4. LordbudJanuary 31, 2012 at 4:12 PM

    Funny how bottles traveled in the days of transport by railroad and wagon. One of these Circassian Tonics (HL monogram) S.F. examples might well turn up in Nevada, Utah, the South Bay. A Cotton, Calif. druggist was recently dug on the East Coast. Went for a pretty penny on ebay...as far as druggists go. You never know.

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  5. Mike DolciniJanuary 31, 2012 at 6:09 PM

    Bubble bath!? Now, that's funny, and maybe not far from the truth. A "tan bath" in Ess Eff wouldn't raise an eyebrow nowadays, but what went on in the 1870s and 80s?

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  6. IXLJanuary 31, 2012 at 11:02 PM

    I think Miller's Extra presents a good point regarding the hair connection. With a quick search I found this:

    Back in the 1800s the Circassian women were played up to be beautiful, elegant, and desirable. They took on an almost erotic vibe in literature of the time and “Circassian” was often attached to the names of beauty products to make them more appealing. Their appeal may have started because of their presence in the sultan’s harem in the Ottoman Empire, in which they were seen as chaste and lovely.

    P.T Barnum took advantage of this Circassian popularity by forming his “Circassian Beauties”. The women featured were usually American girls who’s hair had been soaked in beer and teased to stand up and out, dressed exotically, and given foreign sounding names. The ”Circassian Beauties”, also referred to as “Moss haired girls”, idea spread to sideshows and dime museums."

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  7. Numa.GFebruary 3, 2012 at 8:41 AM

    While it makes sense that this could be a hair bottle, I do have to note that this privy was stuffed with dozens and wines and black glass ales. Further, I have been told that the pit that produced another example was also full of wines.

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  8. Mike DolciniFebruary 3, 2012 at 3:55 PM

    The busted one that I dug around here was not in a pit full of wines or blacks. It did have a couple of wines, but was mostly patent medicines and broken bitters, but only Hostetter's. More dishes that bottles.

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  9. AnonymousFebruary 6, 2012 at 8:25 AM

    Probably was some sort of medicial product linked to the baths. I always heard that kenny boy salazar would hit up the bathouses in SF after a long day of digging. Some things just don't change.

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  10. Mike DolciniFebruary 6, 2012 at 10:22 PM

    That is a low blow to the man who has been historically the most prolific digger and without any doubt the finder of some of the best bottles to come from the City. You, obviously, aren't qualified to carry his water.

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  11. AnonymousFebruary 7, 2012 at 2:03 PM

    Dont know why going to bath houses is a low blow, but Salazar found good stuff back in the day. He was an animal, a legend. We should make a bronze statue and place it infront of the Auburn bottle show. Nobody will ever come close to digging the glass he has.

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  12. AnonymousFebruary 8, 2012 at 6:24 PM

    HAR! My vote is going to Golden Plantation or A.P for top western digger. The combined finds of GP and AP will knock the socks of anyone, period. As far as I know, Essef has not kicked down that many great bottles over the years.

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  13. WesternglassaddictFebruary 9, 2012 at 8:03 AM

    Can you imagine gathering all of the great glass in one place dug by the above as well as Mike D. The "Brothers",A.T., Lane P.,Ken S., A.H., Mark A., Bob K., and believe me, a few diggers from the Northwest that have recovered such epic glass it would blow your mind?

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