Antique Medicine Bottles Dr Cannon's Medicine Chest

ANOTHER "PATENT MEDICINE ARTICLE" FROM THE PAGES OF

ANTIQUE BOTTLE AND GLASS COLLECTOR MAGAZINE

THE MAGAZINE OF THE ANTIQUE BOTTLE COLLECTING HOBBY

Bottles of opaque white or milk glass were used in the 19^th century for cosmetics, drugs, and bitters. It is found also in a variety of figural bottles and

occasionally in liquor and other containers.

Milk glass was first made in Venice before 1500 and in Florence between 1575 and 1587, where it was intended to simulate porcelain. There were rare examples coming from Germany or Bohemia in the 17^th century. More milk glass as a substitute for Chinese porcelain was produced in England, Germany and Venice in the 18^th century.

The basic recipe for glass has remained unchanged since the time of Christ, sand, soda (originally from wood ashes), and lime (crushed limestone). The resulting aqua color from iron oxides in the sand can be altered by adding various metallic oxides. Usually tins, zincs or fluorides are used to produce milk glass. Porcelain is made from pulverized clay (kaolin) and stone (petuntse) which has been washed and filtered before mixing for working or casting.

The only pontiled milk glass bottle I have seen was in the Sam Greer collection, a round bottle 7 inches tall, embossed Burger's Hair Restorative, New York. I find eleven milk glass bottles on my shelves:

Armour and Company was founded in 1867 by Philip D. Armour and has continued to the present. Though primarily a meat packing business, certain medicinal by products such as insulin are put out.

There is also an 8 1/2 inch tall variant of this bottle.

Charles W. Beggs, Elk Point, Dakota Territory, was in partnership with Eldin C. DeWitt of Sioux City, Iowa, from about 1884-1886. Beggs established a separate business in Chicago in 1886. Other products included Blood Purifier, Dandelion Bitters, Cherry Cough Syrup, Diarrhea Balsam, Eye Water, IXL Bitters, Knoxit, and Soothing Syrup.

Hagan Magnolia Balm was marketed in the 1850's by Demas Barnes. He patented it in Brooklyn in 1871. P.H. Drake, J.F. Henry, and Wm. E. Everson were among the later distributors of this product.

Prof. I. Hubert's Malvina Lotion was introduced in Toledo, Ohio in 1874. By 1935, the company was Hubert Malvina Inc., New York, N.Y.

Litthauer Stomach Bitters was patented in May, 1880, by Mayer Brothers and Company, New York, N.Y. The labels on the Hartwig Kantorowicz, Posen, Hamburg, Germany bottle and related variants read: Litthauer Stomach Bitters; Invented by Joseph Loewenthal; Manufactured by Hartwig Kantorowicz; Taken over by S. Loewenthal, son of sole inventor. Berlin, New York, Paris, and Nachflig are also embossed on the variants. One label reads: The S. Loewenthal Co. Sole Manufacturer, Cleveland, Ohio. All of this would indicate that the bottle embossed Litthauer Stomach Bitters, Invented 1864 by Joseph Loewenthal Berlin, is an earlier variant of the same product. However this label appear on some of these bottles: Litthauer Stomach Bitters; Invented 1864 by Joseph Loewenthal; Bottled under supervision of S. Loewenthal, son of sole inventor and former proprietor; Made in Cleveland, O., U.S.A.; Metals awarded, 1879, 1891, Berlin; 1880, Melbourne; Guaranteed under the Federal Food and Drugs Act, June 30^th, 1906. At any rate one may conclude that this was a widely distributed and successful product.

The Owl Drug Company put out several products in milk glass bottles put out several products in milk glass bottles and jars. Richard E. Miller established the company in 1892, at 1128 Market St. in San Francisco. It was at 80 and 82 Geary St. after the 1906 earthquake, and also in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Oakland. Eventually the company went nationwide, and in 1919, affiliated with Rexal. The Owl Drug Co. went out of business in the early 1930's

In the 1830's Sewell T. Taylor imported Sazerac de Forge in Limoges, France. Tom H. Handy invented Sazerac Bitters in 1865, from a secret formula based on boiled herbs. The addresses were in New Orleans, La., 14 and 16 Royal St., 11 and 13 Exchange Place, and 9 and 11 St., Charles St. The meaning of the PHD & Co. monogram is not certain. There was also a Drake's Sazerac Bitters, and Patrick Henry Drake may have produced this product.

There are several listings for the 5 inch tall John Sullivan bottle, but no other information is given about this pharmacist from Boston.

Henry Tetlow and Brother were in Philadelphia in 1866, and Daniel Tetlow was there in 1883. By 1899 it was Tetlow Mfg. Co., Ltd. They developed the first satisfactory powder base, and were the first producers of Talcum Powder.

Velvetina Skin Beautifier was advertised in 1908 by the Goodrich Drug Company of Omaha, Neb. My label refers to the 1906 Food and Drugs Act. In 1941, it was put out by the Velvetina Co., Inc., also of Omaha.

Grace Kendrick's book The Antique Bottle Collector, 1963, did a lot to stimulate my interest in old bottles. I like the feminine touch in this quote: "As with the flavor of a cake, the color of glass depends upon the ingredients that go into the batch".

Did you enjoy this article? Every month Antique Bottle and Glass Collector magazine gives you neat articles like this one.