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

antique bottles THE MEDICINE CHEST --- BY DR. RICHARD CANNON

HONDURAS SARSAPARILLA

Patent and proprietary medicine vendors were often quite imaginative when naming their products. Some chose to insert a far away place like Scandinavia or Himalaya or West India to arouse consumer interest. However, when Honduras was made part of the name of a sarsaparilla product, it likely was because the sarsaparilla root had been grown in Honduras. The Dispensatory of the United States of America, 1894, tells us that “The commercial sarsaparillas are conveniently divided into the mealy and non-mealy sarsaparillas. The first class comprises especially the Honduras, Guatemala, and Brazilian varieties; the second, the Jamaican, Mexican, and Guayaquil sarsaparilla.” Apparently the major difference was that non-mealy sarsaparilla yielded a larger proportion of extract and contained less starch. Most commercial sarsaparilla was derived from the two species Smilax medica and Smilax officinalis; either might be mealy or non-mealy depending on the growing conditions.

I know of four sarsaparilla bottles with Honduras embossed in the glass. Three of these I own and will tell about. The fourth is a 9 5/8 inch tall, aqua, rectangular bottle, embossed on one panel The Honduras Co's, on the next Compound Extract, on the next Sarsaparilla, and on the next Abrams & Carroll/Sole Agents/S.F. Richard Fike includes this in The Bottle Book. Phyllis Shinko also refers to Hobart's Hondurasparilla with a trademark issued Feb. 25, 1896, to Frank Hobart, Topeka, Kansas; this may have been a labeled only one.

Wynkoop's Sarsaparilla bottles are very desirable due to their cobalt color, age, and rarity. The ones embossed Dr. Wynkoop's/Katharismic Honduras/Sarsaparilla on the front panel and New York on the side panel vary in height from 9 7/8 to 10 1/4 inches. These rectangular bottles are crude and often embossed lightly. Some have a double strike effect. One that I've seen rocked back and forth when placed upright. These bottles occur with an open pontil, iron pontil, and a smooth base. A broken one has been found with Katharismic spelled Kathmerithic.

A recently discovered variant is a 9 1/2 inch tall, rectangular, cobalt, open pontiled bottle with a double ring collar rather than the usual single band tapered collar, embossed Dr. Wynkoop's/Balsamic Honduras/Sarsaparilla on the front, and New York, on the side.

The variant embossed Wynkoop's/Katharismic/Sarsaparilla/New York on the front is 9 5/8 inches tall, rectangular, cobalt, and has an iron pontil. The one pictured is from Dr. Sam Greer's collection. There is a sapphire blue variant the same height, with an iron pontil, embossed Wynkoop's/Katharismic/Sarsaparilla on the front and New York on the side.

The “giant variant” is a most impressive bottle! It's 12 3/4 inches tall, rectangular, cobalt with an open pontil and embossed Wynkoop's/Sarsaparilla/For The Blood/1/2 Gallon New York, all on the front panel. Dr. Greer's is pictured. He says two other are now known to exist.

Robert D. Wynkoop received his training as a physician with his father in Albany. He established a medicinal laboratory and sales outlet in New York City in the 1840s. Wynkoop copyrighted the words “Dr. Wynkoop's Katharismic Honduras Sarsaparilla” on November 16, 1847. Sometime in the 1850s, the firm was billed as Health, Wynkoop & Co. located at 63 Liberty Street, New York. Katharismic was probably derived from the Greek word “Kathra” or “Kathario” meaning to cleanse, purify, or restore. Other products included Wynkoop's Fever and Ague Cure, another great cobalt pontiled bottle, Wynkoop's Iceland Pectral, and Lyon's Kathairon, probably from the same Greek word. Wynkoop sold his products to Demas Barnes and John Park about 1858. However, even in 1896, someone was putting out a Wynkoop's Sarsaparilla according to the Peter Van Schaak Price Current & Illustrated Catalogue.

Ira S. Baker was a well-known physician from the mid-West who went into semi-retirement after he moved to a ranch near San Bernardino, California. Richard E. Miller, founder of the Owl Drug Co. of San Francisco in 1892, me Dr. Baker on a trip to Southern California and persuaded him to formulate several medicines during the late 1890s. These were subsequently bottled under the Owl Drug label. His sarsaparilla, put out in a 10 1/2 inch tall, aqua, rectangular bottle embossed on the front panel Dr. Ira Baker's/Honduras/Sarsaparilla, was among them. There was also a Cough Balsam and a Tar and Wild Cherry preparation.

(Giant varient) - Wynkoop's / Sarsaparilla /

For The Blood / 1/2 Gallon New York, 12 3/4"

tall, open pontil, cobalt-blue.

(Sam Greer collection).

Wynkoop's / Katharismic / Sarsaparilla /

New York, 9 5/8" tall, iron pontil,

cobalt-blue.

(Sam Greer collection)

Honduras Sarsaparilla/D. H. Joel/Fitchburg, Mass., embossed on the front panel of a bimal, 8 3/4 inches tall, aqua, rectangular bottle with a smooth base is unlisted. The Fitchgurg Public Library provided this information. David Henry Joel was born at Springfield, Mass., on April 12, 1861, and at four years of age moved to Fitchburg with his parents the Joel Joels. He attended the local public schools, and became a clerk at John Choate' Drug Store in 1879. Joel and W.C. Wing purchased the Choate store at 207 Main in 1885. In a year or so Joel became the sole owner and was described as a popular and honorable businessman. He served as president of the Fitchburg Druggists Association and director of the local merchant's association. In 1903 he developed diabetes and by 1906, his health was so poor he had to sell his business to Roscoe Howe. Joel died February 9, 1907, leaving his wife, Florence David Joel and sons Carl and Ira. Insulin was not discovered until 1921, and Warner's Safe Diabetes Cure was around until 1907. I wonder how many bottles the poor fellow must have taken?

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antique bottles THE MEDICINE CHEST --- BY DR. RICHARD CANNON

HONDURAS SARSAPARILLA