Neat little (smelling salts?) bottle (more pics)

[gleaner1]

Just dug this, it is ground for a stopper but I couldn't find the stopper. It's a miracle I even saw the thing in the tailings its so small. I guess its an early food color bottle but I'm not sure. McCormick & Co Balto.

 

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[vayank54]

Re: Miniature food color bottle?

Now that is cool. I've never seen one like that.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Re: Miniature food color bottle?

Just dug this, it is ground for a stopper but I couldn't find the stopper. It's a miracle I even saw the thing in the tailings its so small. I guess its an early food color bottle but I'm not sure. McCormick & Co Balto.

Now that is an attractive little bottle! McCormick's Bee Brand Extracts. A ground glass stopper? . . . that would be unusual for a little food bottle, no?

That particular bottle is not listed in Zumwalt's book. Nice find!

 

[Tylocidaris]

Re: Miniature food color bottle?

I like it, too! Any chance of more photos? Very cool.

 

[Tylocidaris]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

If I dug that bottle up, it would definitely be one of my favorites. It has multiple levels of interest...great find.

 

[DigginThePast]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

Sweet little find. Congrats.

 

[gleaner1]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

Notice the black spots, those are inside the glass. It's raining out tonight, maybe the stopper will show up by some miracle. It really burns my butt that the frikkin stopper is missing.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

Notice the black spots, those are inside the glass. It's raining out tonight, maybe the stopper will show up by some miracle. It really burns my butt that the frikkin stopper is missing.

It might be worthwhile to sift your backfill (after the rains pass).

I've been thinking about this little bottle . . . tiny, colorful, ground-glass stopper, and pocket/purse base (that is, no base) -- fits the description of a smelling salts bottle, doesn't it? McCormick, under his Bee Brand, bottled lots of stuff from "Iron Glue" to household drugs, according to Zumwalt.

Here's the Bee Brand bottle I dug years ago. It's a novelty in that is triangular in cross-section. I have assumed that it may have contained something poisonous because of the distinctive shape.

​

 

[gleaner1]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

Harry, I'm not smart enough to figure out how to quote (paste) excerpts of posts into replies. Concerning the use of my bottle, I propose that McCormick probably did not produce food colorings this early (1890's), so I readily rule that as a remote possibility. I agree that the bottle resembles (if slightly) a smelling salt. So I cannot rule that out. If McCormick pursued the smelling salts market in the 1890's then my bottle could be one. But early on, McCormick built his company producing spices, herbs and flavorings or extracts. Not to say he didn't dabble in chemical products of other types, but smelling salts? The round design cannot be ignored, but does not guarantee that it was meant for purse or pocket. Many smelling salts were square/rectangular, squat and infinitely more fancy. Perfume companies specialized in them for the most part. I cannot guess for the life of me what it is. I am sure of one thing, your cobalt bee bottle is off the Richter.

 

[Tylocidaris]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

gleaner1,

I'm fascinated by your little bottle, too. With it having a ground stopper and the round bottom, wouldn't that restrict it to a dry product? Also, being small meant that it had to be concentrated or potent; otherwise, why bottle it...and why the round bottom? I wonder what products McCormick offered that fit the clues....

 

[gleaner1]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

Tylocidaris, ground stoppers are superior to corks in many ways. Ground glass stoppers do not leak gas or liquids. Corks dry out. You would be surprised how tightly you can make a ground stopper stick into the bottle, it wont fall out if the bottle is knocked over. Ground stoppers are associated with expensive/exotic materials like saffron and perfumes and extracts. And strong chemicals like acid and smelling salts (ammonia compounds). I think it could be food related just as easily as smelling salts, but the research is hard to do, maybe look thru old newspaper or mag ads. I think I read somewhere that McCormick packaged samples as favors (freebies) long ago. Could this be a free-sample bottle? If so, for what? I will try to find more on this.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

According to Zumwalt, Willoughby McCormick began his enterprise on September 2, 1889: "His first products were flavoring extracts, fruit syrups and juices, sold under 'Bee Brand' and 'Silver Medal' trademarks.

" 'Iron Glue' (sticks everthing but the buyer), and 'Uncle Sam's Nerve and bone Liniment' (for man or beast), were additional products. By 1890 . . . the addition of food colors, household drugs and lubricating oils increased sales.

" . . . The addition of 'Clover Brand' for flavoring extracts in 1895 was followed the next year [1896] by the purchase of the F. G. Emmett Spice Co. of Philadelphia . . . and within one year McCormick entered fully into spice manufacturing.

"In 1900 an export office was opened in New York City shipping six tons of sewing machine oil."

This guy was a real go-getter! He was wiped out by the Baltimore fire of 1904, but he rebuilt the company.

 

[gleaner1]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

Harry, you got me leaning toward smelling salts. Fancy green color, smooth pocket design, ground stopper. If I had to bet, I'd go with smelling salts. But these factors are not 100% indicative. Will we ever know for sure?

 

[Mich. Wolverine]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

That's one cool bottle. You might be able to find an advertisement for that bottle in a state gazetteer. They started coming out with them in the 1840' or 1850's. and were a yearly publication. The ones from here I found under Michigan gazetteer and business directory. I haven't looked in a while but couldn't find many on-line. I had to go to different libraries to find them. They have every town in the state and list businesses like saloons, blacksmiths, doctors, bottlers ect. and some of the businesses have advertisements. I live in a very small town an found a bottle with a local name and the guy had a ad in one. This might be a way of getting an ad for a bottle that you have. Thought you guys might find this usefull.

Wolverine.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

We won't know with any confidence what the little green bottle contained . . . unless, you can find more information. Wolverine's suggestion is a good one. Your local reference librarians (or one in Baltimore) are very helpful with these questions -- you may be able to get the info via e-mail.

I am really curious about the stopper for your little bottle, 'gleaner1'. I hope you'll be able to find it.

Here is an image of the only other McCormick bottle on my shelf. It is not a Bee Brand bottle. I think these little flasks are not rare.

​

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

I found this information on a Digger O'Dell forum from October, 1999.

I realize it's not your exact bottle, but may shed some light on the subject and let you know that you are not alone in you quest to identify a McCormic bottle. I hope it helps. And, yes, I realize this is similar to the bottle previously pictured by Harry Pristis! However, this one has a reference to the date of 1902 not previously mentioned, which "may" help date your particular find. Plus it again ties in the "Bee" as possibly being connected to "poisons."

P.S. Now that my brain is functioning properly, and after re-reading Digger O'Dell's reply for the hundreth time, I now stand corrected that the 1902 date refers to the "screw cap" version when the patient was finally "granted", and that the "applied for" date is still a mystery ... (At least to me!). I may have stuck my foot in my mouth here, but I hope you can see that I'm just trying to help. If nothing else, perhaps this info may be of interest to Harry Pristis.

Great bottle! Thanks for sharing!

SODABOTTLEBOB


DIGGER O'DELL 1999

Tony's question :

"I have found a triangular shaped bottle that is purple/blue in color with a picture of a Bee impressed on the front of it and McCormick 1902 stamped on the bottom. I can find no one who can tell me anything about this bottle such as its history or value. I would greatly welcome any information you may have on it. Thank You, Tony Compton"


Digger O'Dell's Reply :

"You did not mention your bottle had a screw top mouth but I believe it probably does. The later bottle of this style has the "Patented / July 8th 1902" in place of "Patent Applied For" as shown in the picture at the right. The bottle is common, less so with the 'patent applied for' embossing. The bottle is sometimes referred to as the "bee poison" and is considered a poison bottle by most collectors. The screw top variant would be worth $3-5."

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

In this humble attempt to extract my foot from my mouth, which I apologise for, I would like to add one final note. Although I am by no means an expert on poison and similar type bottles, I have been collecting soda bottles for about thirty years, which has exposed me to a wide variety of different bottles. And in all of my years of digging, hunting and collecting, I can think of no examples of "HOUSEHOLD" type bottles that didn't have a flat bottom on them for standing up and storing. Which leads me to believe that your bottle definitely falls into the "FLASK" catagory.

As we all know, most flask contained products like smelling salts, alcohol, or other "personal use" extracts. Which leads me to the bottom line opinion that your find will eventually be identified as a "SMELLING SALTS BOTTLE."

I feel confident that a positive Identification is only a stones throw away ... especially with a bottle that has a manufacturer's name embossed on it! And with the ID will also come a date it was made.

P.S. It appears to have been thoroughly cleaned, but if not, are there any crystals present or an ammonia odor? If so, this would indicate the smelling salts theory.

Take care,

SODA"JERK"BOB

 

[Harry Pristis]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

Thank you for the research, Bob . . . that was interesting.

Anyone else have a McCormick's bottle to show us?

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

I sometimes get off on tangents ... like this one with the green smelling salts bottles. The only reason I'm even posting it is because of the text that accompanies it with a reference to smelling salt bottles almost always being green. Many of the one's I've been looking at are also green. Not that this is an ID for your bottle, but rather just to add a little more "salt" to the receipe as this investigation unfolds. Again, I believe the McCormic name will be your main clue in eventually making a positive identification.

This is from a site I stumbled across. The attached photo was with it.

Smelling Salts were popular during Victorian times for reviving ladies subject to fainting spells or who needed to recover from a shock. Almost always in green these bottles are highly collectable, very attractive and come with a wide range of different stoppers.
From left to Right An unknown smelling salt, Dr. Mackenzies smelling bottle, The Crown / Perfumery / Company / London, Unmarked but with crown emblem on base, The Crown / Perfumery / Company / London larger size and a bottle bearing the incription Rd No 417253 made in England

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Miniature food color bottle (more pics)

It's fun watching football and fooling around on the computer at the same time. My computer desk is in my bedroom and my TV sits on a stand behind me. So I took a mirror and mounted it on the wall in front of me so I can watch TV while being on the computer at the same time.. Crazy, I know, but it works! (By the way, my home team the San Diego Chargers are winning against the Cleveland Browns.)

Anyway, this particular post is for gleaner1 or anyone else who is not all that familar with the process of "Copy" and "Paste" as gleaner mentioned earlier.

1. Go to the page of whatever text or quote you wish to use.

2. Place your cursor at the top-left of the paragraph(s)

3. LEFT click (and hold down on it) until the sentences are highlighted in blue.

4. While continually holding down on the click button, "DRAG" it down across the entire paragraph(s) until the entire thing is highlighted in blue. (It takes a little practice, but keep playing with it until you get the hang of it.)

5. Once the entire area is highlighted, let up on the LEFT click button. This should allow it to stay blue.

6. Now RIGHT click, and when the little box pops up, LEFT click where it says "COPY." I call this my mouse trap, which captures the info until you're ready to "PASTE."

Note: Don't touch you right button again until later. The "captured" info will stay there until you're ready to paste it.

7. Now open a Tnet reply or any other place you intend to type, including Emails.

8. After you've typed your message as you normally would, find an appropiate place where you want to place the "trapped" quote.

9. Where your cursor is blinking, RIGHT click on your mouse and the same little box will pop us as it did earlier. Only this time select the "PASTE" option and LEFT click on it, and this will automatically "release" the quote exactly as it appeared when you first "trapped" it.

I realize this sounds a little complicated, but with practice you will have it down pat in no time!

Good luck ...

SODA"MOUSETRAP"BOB