Posted 7 years ago
SpiritBear
(813 items)
Bush, Gale, & Robinson. I find most references from 1858 and 1860, with one in 1859 and a reference without Bush in 1865. Listed at 186 Greenwich Street in New York City, New York, U.S.A. I also found their credit rating, which was highest out of all those reported around them. 4 A's.
I am quite certain the label is original to the bottle. Glue wasn't very cheap. They used as little as possible, hence why labels often fell off. On many labeled bottles (not all), only the sides are glued down (thus you could slip a paper under the label in its middle). This displays that. When someone puts a fake label on, he often glues the whole thing. Further, this one is slightly off center and at a slight angle, whereas most people try to make it perfect for display-- which is too time-consuming for a disposable bottle like this. The wear and damage is quite correct for its age, rather than artificially created, and the bottle is free of interior staining except for a build-up of dust and residue (not ground staining). The bottle is period-correct for the info I've found on the company, too.
While I normally collect labels based on condition and graphics (or, my city), this one was too good to pass up as it is 160 years old.
If it is of interest, there is enough left to determine that it says CASTOR OIL on the bottle. Some of you know how yummy that was (sarcasm).
Wow the pontil is just fab & original paper label my goodness makes the bottle so precious plus the history
thanks for sharing SpiritBear
Thank you, Malkey. It was blown into a snap-case mold and grabbed with the blow rod, thus leaving both the mold-seam in the base and the pontil. Common in 1850s American bottles.
I nailed it for a very good price on e-Bay. The seller forgot to put "pontil" into his description and title, and instead labeled it as "O. P." (Open Pontil), so even if you were searching for it you wouldn't find it that easily. LOL.
The bottle also has something similar to a "whittle" (as we call the wavy, distorted glass here) in the glass, but I don't know if it is due to a cold mold or the chemical structure. Either way, it makes the glass look different than normal.
Do you. display you bottles in a glass case or just right out on a bookcas I has a friend that dug bottles in Maryland and he displayed his in a chest of drwers...Laying down.His collection was his pride and joy.
Thank you for sharing this bottle and info about it!
I'm looking forward to looking closer at my bottles label after I recover from my gdaughters bday party. It might take a couple days...lol
Post Card Collector: I can't afford many glass cases And new additions for my collection (so I select new additions, LOL). I do have one glass-enclosed display case, though, for my druggist bottles; it's become to small. Eventually I will post pics of where the bottles go.
LOL, Karenoke.