Antique bottles we are currently interested in include:

Beer

Spirits

Scents and Colognes

Beer Bottles: Pre-Prohibition beer bottles (made prior to 1920), embossed or labeled, are always of interest. The bottle may be marked with the name of one of the thousands of beer brands from around the country. Perhaps it may say something like Valentine Blatz Brewing Company or Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. The bottle may be embossed with the word BREWERY or the word BOTTLING. Brands of particular interest include Hamms, Grain Belt, Minneapolis Brewing, Yoerg, Schmidt, Gluek, Schells, Pabst, or Best. Stoneware beers marked with names such as Alstadt, Nauer, or Stoeckert, or any other marked stoneware beers, are also of interest. Advertising trays and glasses from breweries are also on our list of wants.

Spirits Bottles: Early bottles embossed or labeled with spirit names such as gin, whiskey, rum, bourbon, or rye are always of interest. From New York to California, there were thousands of liquor dealers and distilleries before Prohibition. We wish to purchase examples from nearly any of these firms.

Flasks

Patent Medicines

Miniatures & Samples

Flasks: We seek early American flasks embossed with images such as Washington, LaFayette, Ben Franklin, General Zachary Taylor, Jenny Lind, and Andrew Jackson. Flasks embossed with images of eagles, hunters, prospectors, cabins, boats, girls on bicycles, railroad cars or carts, clasped hands, cannons, glass house names, and fancy scroll work are also sought.

Medicine Bottles: We are always seeking antique bottles that are embossed with certain words or feature those words on a paper label. These words include: balm, balsam, bitters, cordial, compound, cough, cream, cure, elixir, expectorant, essence, extract, Indian, invigorator, killer, liniment, laxative, oil, ointment, pectoral, pepsin, pills, purifier, remedy, restorer, sarsaparilla, specific, syrup, tablet, and tonic.

Miniature and Sample Bottles: Many 19th Century manufacturers gave away miniature versions of their wares as samples. We are very interested in smaller examples of all types of bottles that are often marked with the word SAMPLE. Such miniatures or samples may have contained a small sample of beer, whiskey, medicine, ink, bitters, or any other bottled product.

Bar Bottles and Decanters

Sodas

Bitters

Bar Bottles or Decanters: Antique bottles in fancy shapes, or featuring facets of cut glass and with colored enamel or gold wording are one type of bottle we seek. An enameled example may feature a color image such as clasped hands (Union Rye), a rooster (Chicken Cock Bourbon), a horseman (Pedigree or Old Rosebud), a cannon (Old Continental), or an Inspector holding a bottle (Sunny Brook).

Soda Bottles: A wide variety of bottles that once contained soda and mineral water are of interest to us. Many are embossed with a company name only, while others name a specific product like root beer or sarsaparilla. Soda bottles may come with a very short neck and blob top, or they may have a longer neck with a blob top. Most are round, but some are multi-sided. Most sodas are made of glass in colors ranging from clear, aqua, or citron to green, amber, or cobalt blue. Some sodas are made of stoneware with product names stamped or stenciled onto them.

Bitters Bottles: The main word here is the word bitters. However, the word is often combined with one or more other words to describe the product. We seek bottles embossed or labeled with words such as: Indian bitters, kidney and liver bitters, stomach bitters, laxative bitters, old sachem bitters, national bitters, restorative bitters, wild cherry bitters, sarsaparilla bitters, home bitters, wine bitters, blood bitters, iron bitters, herb bitters, vegetable bitters, plantation bitters, hop bitters, bourbon bitters, grape root bitters, appetine bitters, digestine bitters, red star stomach bitters, etc. We especially seek figural bitters in shapes such as: cabins, barrels, Indian maidens, ears of corn, pigs, etc. as well as square examples.

U.S.A. Hospital Department

Inks

Barber Bottles

Ink Bottles: Ink bottles come in many shapes and sizes. We wish to purchase ink bottles in colors such as cobalt blue, green, and amber and in shapes such as a cone (round or multi-sided), a cylinder with pour spout, or a teakettle. Bottles embossed with ink names such a CARTER'S, HARRISON'S, J & IEM, HOVER, DAVIDS', GAYLORD'S, WARREN'S CONGRESS, and HEATH'S are of interest, as are many others.

Barber Bottles: Barber bottles came in a variety of shapes and sizes and were often made in bright colors with fancy decorations of images on them. Words such as WITCH HAZEL, BAY RUM, or SHAMPOO are often found on such bottles. Enameled illustrations of children chasing a butterfly or playing tennis are frequently used to decorate these bottles, as are flowers and rural scenes.

Schafer & Vater Figural Whiskey Nips

Apothecary, Candy, & Soda Fountain Jars

Pickles

Schaefer-Vater Figural Whiskey Nip Bottles or Flasks: Made in Germany, these porcelain figural flasks came in glazes of blue and white, brown and white, pink and white, or green and white. Some were also made in multi-colored designs. Most are in the form of comical figures including farmers, fat men, bowlers, monks, maidens, clowns, and even animals.

Pickle Bottles: Often decorated with embossed designs appearing like cathedral windows, these 19th Century pickle jars are just one sort of early food bottle we seek. Equally interesting to us are cathedral paper sauce bottles. These are much smaller versions of the cathedral pickle bottle and they feature a narrower neck. Colors range from aqua to green, teal and amber.

Poisons

Fire Grenades

Figurals

Poison Bottles: Poison bottles are often found in bright colors such as green, amber, and cobalt blue. Frequently, poison bottles have sharp, embossed points or lines on them to warn that the contents of the bottle could be fatal. Unusual shapes such as triangles and even coffins were used for this same purpose. The word POISON is usually embossed on the bottle as well.

Fire Grenade Bottles: We are very interested in purchasing fire grenade bottles with names such as MAGIC, KALAMAZOO, HARDEN or HARDEN STAR, HARKNESS, HAYWARD, HAZELTON, HEALEY'S, ALLEN'S, CALIFORNIA, BABCOCK, AMERICAN, BBARNUM'S, FLAGG'S, IMPERIAL, N. P. R., HSN (in monogram), RWG (in monogram), NUTTING, AMERICAN ELECTRIC, and PSN (in monogram).

Figural Bottles: Old figural bottles come in many colors and shapes. We seek figural bottles in cobalt blue, white or blue milk glass, green, amber, clear, or in any other color. A figural bottle may be found in the shape of a pig, Indian maiden, alligator, child, man, woman, George Washington, frog, turtle, cigar, gun, barrel, cabin, duck, or bear.

Figural Pig Bottles

Glass House Whimsies

Figural Pig Bottles: The figural bottles that were made in the shape of a pig may be made of clay or glass. Some have writing either embossed or engraved. Often, the words SOMETHING GOOD IN A HOG'S... or GOOD OLD BOURBON IN A HOG'S... are found on such bottles. Two brands of bitters were marketed in bottles shaped as pigs: BERKSHIRE BITTERS AND SUFFOLK BITTERS.

Glass House Whimsies: During off hours and lunchtime, glass house workers created off-hand pieces which were not meant for marketing but were taken home for personal use. Whimsies we seek include glass canes, glass pipes, glass hammers, glass chains, glass hats, and any other odd piece of glass that may have come from a glass factory long ago. Another type of whimsy we seek is any bottle which was overblown or which has an expanded neck that turned it from a narrow-necked ale, bitters, or mineral water, for example, into a wide-mouthed vase or jar.

Pattern Molded & Pitkins

Fruit Jars

Pattern Mold and Pitkin Bottles or Flasks: Blown in glass houses from New England to the Midwestern states, these bottles feature a number of ribs or swirls and often show these features running in more than one direction. Found in greens and ambers, these bottle and flasks are among our favorites due to their eye-pleasing colors and shapes.

Fruit Jars: During the 19th Century, thousands of patents were issued for canning jars. Most patents had little to do with the jar itself; most were patents for the closure since the real challenge in canning was to obtain a hermetic seal to keep the contents sterile and free of spoilage. We seek jars featuring uncommon names embossed upon them or which have unusual closures. We want jars in colors such as amber, green, aqua, or even cobalt blue. Names to watch for include LAFAYETTE, GLOBE, LIGHTNING, MASON, POTTER & BODINE, SCRANTON, THE VALVE JAR, SAFETY, VAN VLIET, and many more.