Wm S Merrell Chemical Company Pill Bottle

[robertk]

Bottle Vitals​

	Date	Color	Shape	Size (Height x Width x Depth)	Value*
William S Merrell Chemical Company	1880s	Brown	Rectangular	5.5" x 2" x 1.25"	$20.00

Bottle Views (click to enlarge):

Front	Back	Side	Side	Bottom
				W S M C Co 504

(Most of this info is the same as posted for the Wm S Merrell Fluid Extract Bottle, with a couple of minor additions).

​

In early part of the 1800s, William S Merrell opened a drug store in Cincinnati Ohio. Like many druggists in those days, it wasn't long before Mr Merrell got into the business of manufacturing his own pharmaceutical preparations. That business expanded and grew into the William S Merrell Chemical Company. Some sources say this company was established by Mr. Merrell's sons after his death in 1880, other sources say it was in the 1860's, and still others say it was in the 1840s. Here are some of the earlier advertisements for the company (click to enlarge):



And here is an article giving their establishment date as 1842. Click to enlarge.



And here is another advertisement I found where the company themselves claim it was founded in 1828 (click to enlarge).



It certainly had to have been in operation in the 1870's because they had two fires -- one in the fall of 1871, then another the following spring. Click to enlarge either article.



The company survived the fires, and survived some financial troubles in the early 1900s, and went on to become a prominent researcher in the 1900s, going through some mergers and name changes before eventually being acquired by Dow chemical and being renamed as Merrell-Dow, which was then eventually sold off to a multinational pharmaceutical company named Sanoli.

The company produced many different tinctures, extracts, and medicines in the 1800s at the time of this bottle, including medicines in pill form. Most of their products had paper labels attached to the bottles to identify the contents, but the paper label on this one has long since been lost to the elements. It might be that the "504" on the bottom of the bottle would identify the contents, but I could not find any reference that said so. The label apparently protected the bottle a bit during its stay in the ground, because the part of the glass where the label would have been seems to be a little clearer than the rest of it. Here is an example of one of their similar bottles with label that I found online.



And here is the before and after cleaning for the bottle in this post. Just soap and water and brushes were used. Click to enlarge.



* Value is an estimate based on sold examples of similar bottles from this company. Most examples I saw had intact labels, which increases the value.

 

[Limitool]

I'm way behind in your work Robert.... Good job and keep up the good work guy. Great info.