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 old bottles

No matter what we basically collect, most of us won't turn down a good jug when it comes along.

Earl y American stoneware was hard, nonporous, glazed with salt, and often decorated with cobalt blue. This imperviousness to water and durability made it very useful as a basic household item from the 17^th century to the early 20^th century. The technique of salt-glazing stoneware originated in the Rhineland during the 15^th century. Rhenish stoneware was made for exportation into continental Europe and England during the 16 and 1700s. From England, it was shipped to the American colonies until the Revolutionary War, when Native American potteries began to take over the market.

The industry was dependent on a fine white clay not readily available in all parts of the United States. Stoneware potteries had to import the clay from vast deposits in New Jersey and Long Island. The earliest potteries were located in New York, New Jersey, and coastal New England. Gradually the industry spread, following the waterways into the interior of New York, Pennsylvania, New England, Ohio, and the West. There was never a great many stoneware companies in the Southeastern United States.

American jugs are round, have a small mouth, and a single handle; some larger ones have two handles which made them easier to lift. A later variation was made with two circular projections to accommodate the ends of a wire handle. These jugs have two basic shapes, ovoid and cylindrical shape has either rounded shoulders that taper into the neck or a ridge at the shoulder with either a cone or a funnel forming the top. These latter are called shoulder jugs, and were the prevalent shape in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Jugs were made with capacities from 1/8 gallon to 6 gallons. However the majority of those known today are from 1/2 to 5

gallons. Frequently the capacity was either brushed on in cobalt on the upper portion along with some design, leaf, flower, etc., or impressed on. Maker's marks and wholesaler's or purchaser's marks were impressed on many. Stenciling became popular after the Civil War, and some were embossed.

I would like to illustrate this article with eight jugs from my collection. They are all various colors of tan.

The first is an ovoid jug, 15 1/2 inches tall and impressed only with a 3 on the shoulder, indicating a 3-gallon capacity.

Next is a less ovoid one, 13 inches tall, and brushed on in cobalt 3 with fancy lines below, again indicating the capacity of 3 gallons.

"True Fruit" Fountain Syrup. Slightly ovoid; Moffitt-West Drug Co., cylinder.

My slightly ovoid jug, 11 inches tall, is impressed “True Fruit” / Fountain Syrup / J. Hungerford Smith Co. / Rochester, N.Y. The company was incorporated in 1890, with Smith receiving 55% of the stock, so we know that the ovoid shape persisted into the 1890s.

Moffitt-West Drug Co. / Wholesale Druggists / St. Louis, U.S.A., is stenciled on the side of my 8 1/2 inches tall cylindrical jug. The upper portion has been coated with a dark brown glaze before firing. The company was incorporated in 1889.

The 10 1/4 inches tall cylindrical jug with Spurlock Neal Co. / Wholesale Druggists / Nashville, Tenn. Stenciled has the variation of a wire handle. This company began in the 1860s, but was called Spurlock Neal only between 1887 and 1892.


Conner's Blood Remedy, funnel shaped neck.	Southern Drug Co. shoulder jug.

My cylindrical jug, 11 inches tall, is a shoulder jug with a conical neck. Strong, Cobb & Company / Wholesale Druggists / Cleveland, is embossed above the shoulder. This company was established by Samuel M. Strong in 1833, but it was called Strong, Cobb and Co. in 1887.

Southern Drug Co. / Wholesale Druggists / Quality and Service / Houston, Tex. Is stenciled under a large 3 (for gallons) on my 14 3/4 inches tall cylindrical shoulder jug. It has a brown, cone shaped neck. The Southern Drug Co. was located at the corner of Franklin and Caroline in Houston, and first appeared in the city directory in 1907. About 1930, it became a part of McKesson and Robbins, but continued to operate through World War II.

The final jug is a cylindrical shoulder type with a funnel shaped neck, is 6 3/4 inches tall, and has Conner's Blood Remedy stenciled above the shoulder. This was a product of the Conner Medicine Company of Chattanooga, Tenn., which was listed in the city directories there from 1902 through 1915.

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Ovoid Jug	Less ovoid jug, brushed with cobalt