I've been busy doing my backyard bottlin and have finally started to see some punty shards coming out in addition to allot of 1900 and 1930's stuff
Down in the deepest layer (presumed 1850's) I found this shard that I'm having trouble identifying. The bottle was either square or rectangular with chamfered edges. I'm guessing that it was a bitters or gin
I don't know squat about bitters bottles, but since I enjoy a good search challenge, I went with what I could see of the name ... CK'S and came up with one that fits. Which is ...
Dr. C. W. Roback's Bitters
The only other thing that popped up was Horlick's Malted Milk, which is newer, round, and typically clear glass. Even the Roback's I found were round with amber glass. (See below). If I come up with anything else, or discover that Roback's made a square, green bottle, I'll let you know.
Thanks SBB, that's allot more than I was able to find
It's most certainly not a Horlick's, but cudo's for thinking of it. I have a Horlick's and it didn't even cross my mind.....
The Roback's Bitters is a good possibility, but like you, all I can find is the Barrell Bottle version
Hendrick's Gin looks like a new product, but they do mention that the "pot" dates back to 1860 (whatever that means)
A little more data in case you (or anyone else) would still like to solve this mystery:
The vertical line showing on the right in the picture looks like the very start of the base of the bottle. The chamferred corner is at the bottom of the picture held between my fingers. It appears that the word "******CK'S" was embossed vertically down the center of the panel with the "S" ending about half an inch above the base. The letters are just shy of 1/2" tall and the bottle would have been about 3" wide on the side shown.
I've done some research on Dr. C. W. Roback and found that he produced a few other products - in a few other interesting bottles. There is a small rectangular aqua medicine bottle with his name and the far more interesting bottle shown below.
However, I've yet to see anything that matches my shard.
How about it guys? Harry? Jgas?? Gleaner1 Have any of you ever seen a square (or rectangular) Roback's colored olive green?
I am stumped. My guess is the piece is not US glass. I bet our friends overseas know this piece well. On the other hand, it could be a super rare shard from an obscure local US company, with very few whole examples know. Somebody out there knows this piece.
Federal Bureau of Governmental Redundancy Reduction Agency
Is that the only piece of the bottle you recovered??
Could be a bitters, whiskey, schnapps, gin, or even a medicine. I don't recognize the bottle; but, maybe it's a shard of a BOOTH & SEDGWICK'S // LONDON // CORDIAL GIN bottle. That would make it a good, American bottle from 1855-1865. Does that fit?
“A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.”
--Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle) in "The Sign of Four"
Compare the two pictures below and notice how the K is done with the - (bar) across the center.
SBB
This Antique Bottle was recently sold at auction on eBay for $140.
The seller's description:
Booth & Sedgwick Pontil Gin Bottle Olive Green
"BOOTH & SEDGWICK'S - LONDON - CORDIAL GIN", forest/olive green, square, sand chip pontil scar, 7 7/16"H, applied sloping collar, dug and lightly cleaned retaining some light exterior dullness and minor ground wear. American, 1845-1855, very scarce. This crude, early pontiled gin bottle is blown from a particularly seedy batch of forest tinged olive green bottle glass.
I was curious about the history of Booth & Sedgwick and came across this 1888 tobacco trading card. The name Sedgwick goes clear back to Great Britian, but there are also American decendents. It appears there may be a family connection with this Civil War hero, John Sedgwick, and Booth & Sedgwick's Gin. The picture was too cool not to share. I also searched the name Booth, but I got fustrated with it because that bum who shot President Lincoln kept popping up.
SBB
In the late 1800's tobacco was packaged with Civil War hero trading cards, much like the baseball cards we used to buy with bubble gum. This card has been dated to 1888.
This crude, early pontiled gin bottle is blown from a particularly seedy batch of forest tinged olive green bottle glass.
I knew I could count on you guys - Harry nailed it!!!
I've only found a few peices of this gin and just the one with embossing, but I can say with certainty that it is indeed an extremely "seedy batch" of glass with hundreds of bubbles just in that one small peice!
I would also describe the color as "forest tinged olive green" although the eBay picture doesn't seem to capture the "forest" part as well as my picture - which coincidentally was taken in the forest
You guys have helped me tremendously in nailing down a good date range for the layer I'm digging. There hasn't been much coming out - especially from the lowest "Burn Layer", so dating has been difficult.
The top layer has produced many bottles, but unfortunately they are all ABM ranging from 1923 to 1942 (with a high concentration of 1934 specimens).
The next layer down - The Bone Layer - is producing a few bottles and allot of datable shards from the 1880's and 1890's.
The Burn Layer is a foot deeper and so far has only produced a few shards incuding a small open pontil base. The date range for the Sedgwick's is exactly what I was guessing for this layer.
I am by no means an expert on bottle finishes/closures/lips, and suspect that Harry could say with more certainty. But based on what I do know, I would describe the finish on the bottle in question as an "Oil Finish." Below is a little information and an illustration regarding it.
SBB
The oil finish was one of the most commonly used finishes on a wide array of different types of bottles from the 1830s until the 1920s (particularly between 1850 and 1920) when it was largely replaced by various external thread finishes. This finish was very commonly used on all types of proprietary and patent medicines (bitters, tonics, cures, balsams, etc.), some liquid/sauce type food bottles, large ("bulk") ink bottles, occasional liquor & figured flasks (commonly on gin bottles), and less frequently on just about any other class of liquid containing bottles. Larger examples were sometimes called a "wine finish" (Fairmount Glass Works 1910). It is rarely if ever seen on small ink or perfume/cologne bottles, wide mouth food bottles, beer bottles, and druggist and drugstore bottles.
[ Notice the misspelling of "Finish" in this illustration from an old bottle factory catalog ]
Now that I know the name of the bottle, I was able to find several examples of various ages - and finishes!
The first one is by far the best color match, but not the best picture. The other two show a different finish. It appears that this is a moderately rare bottle, but there are quite a few out there. I may have to find the base of this bottle to know the age for sure.....
I can't make out the first picture, but the K's on the other two bottles are slightly different with what appears to be a more 'slanted' center bar. I'm not sure if this will help date yours, but it might.
I can't make out the first picture, but the K's on the other two bottles are slightly different with what appears to be a more 'slanted' center bar. I'm not sure if this will help date yours, but it might.
SBB
Good observation!
The Hawaii collectors (which sort of includes me) spend a great deal of effort analyzing minute differences in embossing to determine which specific variety of Hawaiian BIMAL they have. The book Hawaiian Bottles of Long Ago assigns a different number to each unique variety and a simple thing like the angle of the bar in the letter K can mean the difference between a common $20 bottle and an uber-rare $1000 bottle!
The first eBay picture you posted indeed matches the shard better than the other examples. The one with the similar finish and better color match was posted on worthpoint.com. The picture appears to be from the side embossed CORDIAL GIN, so even a clearer shot wouldn't help much.
Based on the other stuff coming out of this layer - as well as what's above and below it - I'm liking the 1845 to 1855 date range. Hopefully I can find some intact bottles from that layer and then it'll be allot easier to estimate a date with both the base and finish available for review
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Originally Posted by SODABOTTLEBOB
Have any of you ever seen a square (or rectangular) Roback's colored olive green? 
