Recent Acquisitions

Seems like almost once or twice a month I read online, or hear through the grapevine, about someone finding an extremely rare or unlisted bottle at a flea market, yard sale or sitting right there in front of God and everyone in the widow of an antique store.

I can assure you that the lucky person that found that one in a million bottle has never been this old collector. Heck, I go to the antique stores, flea markets and yard sales when I get the opportunity and you would think that here in the Sierra's there might be some goodies on yard sales tables. Oh, I am sure there have been some beauties found here in the mountains over the years and I guess I just have never been in the right place at the right time to be the lucky fellow to find something special.

Well that all changed the other day when I returned from the Grass Valley Old West Show and to my surprise a box of bottles was sitting there on my picnic table in my patio. An attached note was from a part time gold miner that comes to Downieville every summer stating to look through the box and see if there was anything that I might want.

After pawing through the box full of screw top bottles and a couple of crown top sodas sitting on the bottom of the box was a hutch soda embossed The Belfast Soda Water & Ginger Ale Co. San Francisco. Nothing special, nothing rare but a western soda with  western curved R's in collectable condition.
Maybe, just maybe, this is the bottle that breaks that "never found a decent bottle at a yard sale" monkey that's on my back. But more than likely a once in a lifetime fluke.

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Since we are on the subject of recent finds here's a picture of what came home with me from the Golden Gate Show

 

 

Left to right

Dr. D.B. Vincent Magic Cough Cure San Francisco in what I would call green

Dickey 1850 pioneer Chemist S.F. w/ original stopper

Boericke & Tafel's Triturations yellow amber

Citrate of Magnesia H.P. Wakelee Druggist in a nice blue

 

Come to think of it I have been pretty lucky lately - rs