Here’s a bottle that gets little respect but is one of the earliest products distributed in California’s gold rush country. The Mexican Mustang Liniment bottle is generally found in every camp, settlement and town in the Mother Lode, Northern Mines and also in the early California cities. I have dug dozens of these bottles and I am sure the more prolific diggers have dug hundreds of them over the years.
The agents for this product claimed that it would relieve the pain associated with everyday hard work so common to the times. Not many occupations were more physical than digging for gold and a pain reliever, other than liquor, was an item that flew off of the merchant’s shelves.
The manufacturers of the liniment claimed not only did it work on men and women but was also recommended for children, horses and domestic animals.
These bottles were made for a long time and the earliest examples have an open pontil base and are fairly crude. Some of the earlier examples are embossed D.S. Barnes New York. Later examples have a smooth base and are neatly made.
The agents for this product claimed that it would relieve the pain associated with everyday hard work so common to the times. Not many occupations were more physical than digging for gold and a pain reliever, other than liquor, was an item that flew off of the merchant’s shelves.
The manufacturers of the liniment claimed not only did it work on men and women but was also recommended for children, horses and domestic animals.
These bottles were made for a long time and the earliest examples have an open pontil base and are fairly crude. Some of the earlier examples are embossed D.S. Barnes New York. Later examples have a smooth base and are neatly made.
As common as these are, the two open pontiled examples I have dug are treasures to me and important artifacts from the Gold Rush era. These also come in a much larger size with an iron pontil...these are MUCH more rare and are impressive medicines. Thanks for the post! Dale M.
ReplyDelete