Favorite Sewing Machine Oil

[robertk]

Bottle Vitals​

	Date	Color	Shape	Size (Height x Width x Depth)	Value*
Standard Oil Co (Favorite)	1880s	Clear	Rectangular	5.75" x 2" x 1"	$35.00

Bottle Views (click to enlarge):

Front	Back	Side	Side	Bottom

This bottle is from Standard Oil Company, the company founded by JD Rockefeller in 1870 in Cleveland. The company is well known as a pioneer in the petroleum industry. Here's one of their refineries in Cleveland in 1889 which would make today's environmentalists cringe.

They produced all kinds of petroleum products, from household lubricants to gasoline and oil for automobiles.

This bottle is embossed "Favorite" on one side, which leads me to believe it was the Favorite Sewing Machine Oil from the 1880s.

I found some references online to it being a general purpose oil or gun oil, but could not find any period documentation to back that up. To be fair, there is a lot of documentation on Standard Oil Company, so there is a lot of material to sift through, but the sewing machine oil seems the best match.

Finally, here's the before and after. Cleaners used are soap, water, vinegar, brushes, and a toothpick.



* Value is based on sold eBay listings at the time of posting. Value varies with condition and doesn't necessarily represent the value of this particular specimen.

 

[Limitool]

Another good job Robert. I'm surprised at the little bottles value but happy to hear it...! Again was there more of these in the collection or just look a likes..?

 

[robertk]

Again was there more of these in the collection or just look a likes..?

That was another loner. Lots of similar shapes, but that's the only one with that embossing.