Welcome to the latest bottle collecting news!
At one time or another we’ve all read stories about bottles being found with a message. Buy recently, a Perth family made a major find on a West Australian beach of a 132 year old bottles with a message. The second oldest bottle was 108 years old. Toyna Illman waa walking across sand dunes north of Wedge Island, 180 kilometers north of Perth when she notices some thing in the sand. The bottle was a mid-to-late 19th century Dutch Gin-Bottle and the note inside was written on century old paper with a message in German that asked the finder to write when and where the bottle had been found. The Illmans took the bottle to the Western Australian Museum with the Assistant Curator, Martin Anderson, conducted an investigation and contacted colleagues in Germany for help The Germany colleagues compared handwriting samples from the form and the Captain’s entries from the sailing ship Paual. Dr. Anderson said, “Incredibly, there was an entry for June 12, 1886 made by the Captain when the drift bottle was thrown overboard. the date and coordinates correspond exactly with hose on the bottle message. The bottle is on loan to the Western Australian Museum for the next two years. How cool is that!!!
A special perfume exhibition made its debut at the Thomaston-Upson Archives in Thomaston, Georgia. The overall collection is a combination of six separate collections featuring 58 pieces of porcelain and glass artwork. Included are 12 Lubin perfume bottles (1830-1960) recovered in the United States, among which is a bottle containing remnants of a 150 year old perfume. Many of the pieces were excavated from privies and wells across America. The most elaborate set is the Antique Perfume Bottles of New Orleans Collection, which includes 17 perfume bottles (1830-1890) and antique French Rouge jars (1820-1830).
IPBA Member Lewis Hales, who created the exhibition and loaned his pieces to the Celtic Collection Program, Inc., to display at the archives states, “These bottles are not just a reminder of forgotten fragrances, they document and are a reflection of America’s historical economic growth, personal lifestyles, even current social traditions and earliest ties with France.
The International Perfume Bottle Association (IPBA) is partnering with the North Carolina Arboretum to develop “Making Scents: The Art and Passion of Fragrance” an exhibition that opened in May 2018 and travel around the U.S. during the next 10 years. Making Scents is designed to inspire and educate visitors about the history and evocative power of scent, it classic containers, and some of Mother Nature’s most fragrant botanicals. Visitors can experience the art and science behind various perfumes and compose their own basic fragrance. For more information, visit www.makingscentsexhibit.com
The International Perfume Bottle Association will be holding their 31st Annual Convention May 2 – 5, 2019 at the Westin Chicago Northwest, Itasca, IL. The great show will be featuring Displays, Educational Seminars, and a major auction on the night of May 3 by Ken Leach. There will also be dealers offering various categories of Perfume Bottles for sale. For more information, contact conventions@perfumebottles.org, or Teri Wirth at 407-973-0782 or teri.wirth@att.net.
The FOHBC will be sponsoring their next EXPO at the Augusta Marriott and Convention Center in August, GA from August 1-3,2019, and at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, NV from 7/30-8/4, 2020. For additional information contact the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (FOHBC) at www.fohbc.org.
We all know that guys who steal stuff aren’t known to be brilliant. Well, here’s one of those stories. Recently, a guy broke into the Beatty, Nevada (approximately 100 miles Northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada) Museum and stole thousands of dollars of rare and scarce antique bottles from the Friends of Rhyolite bottle collection. Rhyolite dates back to the early 1900’s and was a booming and thriving silver mining town that didn’t last long, but left a huge impact on Nevada’s mining history. Here’s the brilliant part. This guy then decides to sell a large quantity of the bottles on Ebay, and it didn’t take long until the local bottle collectors saw the postings and knew exactly where those bottles came from. Now, it became easy to trace the seller through Ebay, and Mr. Sticky Fingers soon was paid a visit by the Nye County Sheriff’s Dept. and arrested. Fortunately, all of the bottles back in the museum and will be on display this summer, and he’s in the Gray Bar Hotel where he belongs.
Bottle Book Collecting news! Good News!! The 9th Edition of “Bottles: Identification & Price Guide, has a tentative publishing date of April/May 2020. The 8th Edition of “Bottles: Identification and Price Guide, published March 1, 2016, is the most informative reference and Pricing Guide available providing the beginner and veteran collector with a broad range of detailed pricing information and reference data, major updates and additions have been included in this revised edition. I want to make a special offer to all collectors that don’t have the book that you just can’t refuse. The book normally retails for $24.99 + Shipping $6.70. For a short time only, I’ll offer the book for $20.00 + Shipping. If you want more than two books, the shipping cost will change, but the $20 Book Cost will remain the same. If you have any questions, you can always contact me at bottleking@earthlink.net or through my website at www.bottlebible.com.
In the quest for locating museum’s that feature bottles and glass, I wanted to suggest the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio, that has an entire building, The Glass Pavilion, dedicated to glass collectors which opened in 2006 with more than 5,000 collection items. The Pavilion collection include many great Flasks, Bottles, and Blown Glass. Some of the rarer items include the only know example of the GX-23 Standing Liberty-Log Cabin Historical Flask, an extremely rare GI-117 Blue Columbia – Eagle Flask, and a very rare Sapphire Blue pattern molded Midwestern Club Bottle. The best part is that admission to the museum is free and open during regular museum hours. For addition information check out their website at www.toledomuseum.org.
Speaking of museum’s, The National Bottle Museum in Ballston Spa, New York has installed a new exhibit titled “The Malcolm Jones Exhibit.” Malcolm Jones, a second generation glass mold shop worker, worked in the mold shop at Anchor-Hocking’s Salem, New Jersey, plant from 1944 to 1983. Malcolm also work for the Clevenger Brothers Glass Works in nearby Clayton. The exhibit, on loan from NBM member Gerard Dauphinais, includes an array of tools used for hand carving molds which featured pieces made for long-time retiring employees, some bottles blown in those molds, and ceramic test casts. This exhibit is a great example depicting a bridge between the hand-blown and machine-made eras of the bottle industry.
Some of you collectors may have heard about the recent reproductions of Bitter bottles now being produced. The current reproductions are flowing into the market place from China and India. One is the Drake’s Plantation Bitters, another is the Old Sachem Bitter, and the last are Wigwam Tonic Bottles. The Drake’s comes with a reproduction label, but some sellers are removing the labels to make the bottle look more authentic. Also, the tooled tops appear to look more like tooled tops you’d find on early 1900 bottles.
The original Drake’s has an applied top or tooled top to look like the top as applied. On the Old Sachem the embossing is a bad attempt to look good. It is smaller and does not stand out. The base is also a good indicator with the mold seam running across the bottom while the reproduction doesn’t. Reproductions will always be made and the collectors needs to always be on the alert. Remember, if you not sure and it doesn’t look right, then walk away.
Auctions Companies – Bottle Collecting News
Glass Works Auctions – PO Box 180, East Greenville, PA 18041
Information: Jim Hagenbuch, 215-679-5849
Consignments being accepted for 2016 Auctions
American Bottle Auctions- 915 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95816
Information: Jeff Wichmann 800-806-7722
Norman C. Heckler & Company – 79 Bradford Corner Road, Woodstock Valley, CT
Information: Norm Heckler 860-974-1634
McMurray Antiques Auctions: Terry McMurray
PO Box 393, Kirkwood, N.Y.
Information: 607-775-2321
American Glass Gallery – John Pastor
PO Box 227
New Hudson, MI 48165
Information- 248-486-0530
American Pottery Auction – PO Box 434, 10931 Main Street, Clarence, NY 14031
Information: Vicki & Bruce Waasdorp 716-759-2361
Glass Discoveries – Ray Klingensmith, PO Box 628, Parkman, OH 44080,740-432-4302
Holabird’s Western Americana Collections 3555 Airway Drive, Suite #308 Reno, NV 89511Information: Fred Holabird 775-851-1859 Morphy Auctions 2000 N. Reading Road Denver, PA 17517 Information: 877-968-8880/info@morphyauctions.com/www.morphyauctions.com Rich Penn Auctions PO Box 1355 Waterloo, IA 50704 Information: 319-291-6688/rich@richpennauctions.com Showtime Auction Service 22619 Monterey Dr. Woodhaven, MI 48183 Information: 734-676-9705/mikeckles@aol.com/www.showtimeauctions.com