FOHBC Reno

  The FOHBC show was an incredible event! You could feel the electricity in the air on Thursday afternoon during registration. The show consisted of over 350 tables loaded with great glass, and the "who's who" of the antique bottle community. During the setup and early lookers period, it was almost impossible to determine a game plan to systematically hit each table and have a chance at snagging a great piece before it was gone. Almost immediately, I was able to see the offering of nice western bitters on Ted Siri's table. The selection was amazing with a Bryant's cone and lady's leg, a rare Mohica Bitters, a pretty green Lacour's, bennet's Wild Cherry, Chalmer's, Alpine Thomas taylor, and several others. I was able to pick up a hammer whittled yellow Yerba Buena for a reasonable price. Racing to the rest of the tables was pretty chaotic, and very inconsistent. The plan was to hit the table of each dealer / collector which I suspected would have the possibility of a nice western bitters. I saw Wonser's, Lacour's, Renz's, and another Yerba Buena in a nice yellow with strong olive tone. After shelling out the cash for this one, fellow collector Jon Lawson mentioned that a beautiful emerald green and super crude Dr. Henley's IXL bitters was just put out on a table, and after some negotiation, this gorgeous variant 2 Henley's was added to my bitters collection. This had been a recent find in a Nevada "ghost town" by non collectors who had began repairing a sinking floor in an outbuilding, and viola! Prior to the show , I was able to make arrangements to purchase a green Alex VonHumboldt's Stomach Bitters, and an extremely rare Henley's OK Bitters...my bottle budget was already strained to the breaking point prior to even arriving in Reno.
  There were other great western bottles ( my primary collecting focus)...too many, as it became clear that this entire process was going to be a hit and miss proposition at best. There was a rare Pioneer Brown  blob soda in green with an enormous top which I hesitated on, and it was quickly sold to a collector with better ability to pull the trigger on a purchase. I was able to purchase an extremely rare "Marden and Folger, San Francisco pontiled spice in problem free condition from Aaron Hill. I had never seen one of these Gold Rush bottles available before. This was bottle nirvana! I am fortunate to not have been bitten by the eastern figural bitters bug, as this show was a blur of cabins, barrels, pigs, and others  There will be many posts written with a much better perspective than I, but I wanted to share a bit of my experience. This was a monster show!

Dale M.