Poison Bottles

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About Antique Poison Bottles

Beginning in the mid 1800's, poisonous substances came onto the market to control plants and vermin, and as surface cleaners. To prevent mishaps, poison bottles were given distinctive features, which today make them fun to collect. Colors like cobalt blue, inky black, and dark green ensured they were easily recognizable. So did raised lettering or inlays of the words 'POISON' or 'DEATH' (especially useful if you were fumbling by candlelight). Patterns included latticework, deep grooves, geometric shapes, and most commonly, the skull and crossbones. Look for figural bottles (including a rare few shaped like coffins or skulls) and other shapes (e.g. cigar-shaped bottles).


Articles

An Interview With Antique Bottle Collector Bill Lindsey

An Interview With Antique Bottle Collector Bill Lindsey

My maternal grandfather and uncle got into bottles in about 1965 or ‘66 when I was in high school, and we s…  [more]

Guest Column: Collecting Antique Ball Jars

Guest Column: Collecting Antique Ball Jars

One of the most common fruit jars ever produced is the lowly Ball jar. Historical figures show that from betw…  [more]



Article Libraries

Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors

Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors

“The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors is a non-profit organization for collectors of historical bot…  [more]





Top Websites (“Hall of Fame”)

Historic Glass Bottle Identification

Historic Glass Bottle Identification

Bill Lindsey's fantastic bottle identification and information site. Loaded with detailed descriptions and diagrams…  [more]

Cape May County Bottle Collectors

Cape May County Bottle Collectors

Ed and Mark Runyon's wonderful guide to the antique bottles of Cape May County, New Jersey is a great site for anyo…  [more]

Antique Bottle Collector's Haven

Antique Bottle Collector's Haven

There's a ton of information here, but as with bottles, you have to dig to find the best stuff. Start with the famo…  [more]

Diggersdiary.co.uk

Diggersdiary.co.uk

This great site, from British diggers Darren Gray and Jeremy Kemp, is rich in information about hunting for antique…  [more]

Bottle Cap Index

Bottle Cap Index

Assembled by Gunther Rademacher with the help of several other contributors, this collection of over half a million…  [more]

Plopsite.de

Plopsite.de

Norbert Lamping's collection of 600+ ceramic bottle stoppers, Hutter stoppers, swingtops, swivel stoppers, and ligh…  [more]

Old Spice Collectibles

Old Spice Collectibles

Lather up with Creighton Friceks complete chronology of collectible Old Spice shaving products. Start with the bott…  [more]


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Top eBay Auctions    (get weekly Poison Bottles email)

Status       Display       How this works
Coffin Poison Flask Coffin Poison Flask$22.50 Ends in 4 hours 3 bids
Small Poison Bottle Small Poison Bottle$5.99 Ends Tuesday 1 bid