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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

These nineteenth century embossed sarsaparilla bottles are the usual rectangular, aqua types, but have a certain character due to the additional embossing of "Queen's Delight" on the Dr. Tutt's, Morley's over Jarman's and St. Louis over New York on the Dr. Morley's, and a slope of the sides to the base giving a "coffin" shape plus more shoulder embossing on the Wetherell's.

My Dr. Tutt's // Sarsaparilla / & / Queen's Delight // New York is extremely rare according to John DeGrafft in American Sarsaparilla Bottles. It measures 7^1/2 inches in height, as do the two known also extremely rare variants, one in aqua and one in amber, embossed Augusta, Ga., in place of New York. Dr. William H. Tutt was born in 1823, Augusta, Ga. He became a prominent physician in the South, and later became involved in patent medicines in both Augusta and New York City. He began his drug business at 264 Broad St. in Augusta, and remained in it until 1850 when he moved to New York, according to Carlyn Ring in For Bitters Only. Phyllis Shinko in Sarsaparilla Bottle Encyclopedia indicates that the Georgia company was in business at least from 1879 through 1896, and the New York business was from at least 1869 through 1918. In 1879, Tutt and a Mr. Remsen were druggists at 264 Broad in Augusta, but Tutt lived in Elizabeth, New Jersey. They continued to be listed from 1880 through 1882, but continued his business in New York until he sold it in the mid-1890s. He retired soon and died and died March 15, 1898. The obituary indicates that he left a wife and 5 married children. Wm. H. Tutt, Jr., was listed in 1895-96 with Remsen and Tutt at 325 Broad in Augusta. The New York business address was 35 Murray St. in 1879, 44 Murray in 1886, and the Dr. Tutt Mfg. Co. was listed at 84 Reade St. in 1918. In 1879, Dr. Tutt put out a Manual Of Valuable Information And Useful Recipes.


Dr. Tutt's Sarsaparilla & Queen's Delight, New York	Dr. Jarman's Sarsaparilla and Iod Potass., New York

This publication advertises his sarsaparilla as well as Tutt's Liver Pills. Hair Dye, and Expectorant, sold also in "Canada, Europe, South America, Mexico, and Australia". I don't know why the sarsaparilla bottle should be so scarce. They also had a bitters which came in this rare bottle: amber, square, 9^1/2 inches tall, and embossed // Dr. Wm. H. Tutt's // // Golden Eagle / Bitters //.

Where did "Queen's Delight" on the sarsaparilla come from? I had assumed that it was from King Tut (Tutankhamen) of Egypt, 1348-1339 B.C. He became king at 9 years of age, soon took the third daughter of Akhenaton to be his queen, and died before age twenty. He probably needed a good pediatrician. He was buried in a lavish tomb with all sorts of gold treasures including a pure gold inner coffin in his likeness. Some of these have been shown in the United States, and most are in a museum in Cairo. However, this tomb was not excavated until 1923, and it must have been quite a dig, but it was a little late for Dr. Tutu. The word tut in an interjection and defined as an exclamation used to check or rebuke or to express impatience or contempt. John Bartlett in Familiar Quotations gives this: "Tut, tut child" said the Duches, "Everything's got a moral if only you can find it", from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 8, written by Lewis Carrol in 1865, A duchess in not a queen, but there is a Queen of Hearts in this popular story which came along about the time Dr. Tutt was naming his sarsaparilla. Perhaps this is the source.


Dr. Morley's Sarsaparilla and Iod. Potass., St. Louis.	Wetherell's Sarsaparilla, Exeter, N.H.

Dr. Jarman's // Sarsaparilla / And / Iod. Potass // New York, 9^1/2 inches tall bottles are considered to be rare by John DeGrafft. Their companion bottles are extremely rare and embossed Dr. Morley's // Sarsaparilla / And / Iod. Potass // St. Louis. Mine measures 9^3/8 inches in height. Jarman's has been blocked out underneath St. Louis, but both words are quite legible. Shimko illustrates a Dr. Wm. Jarman's Sarsaparilla with Iodides of Potassium and Iron ad. It sold for $1.00 per bottle and the lower portion reads, "Insist on having Dr. Jarman's Sarsaparilla and don't let the dealer fool you into taking some cheap mixture of flavored molasses and water that he may claim to be just as good". A label on the Morley bottle gives, "Morley's Formerly M. (not Wm.) Jarman's Sarsaparilla with the Iodides of Potash & Iron---". Apparently this was W.J. Morley who advertised his sarsaparilla in 1899, 1902 and 1908-09 in Churchill Drug Catalogs. Morley established the Morley Drug Company in 1874, at 207 Pecan Street. His brother S.K. Morley joined him in 1876. In a few years they moved to a three story brick building at 209 Sixth Street. The company name remains on the facade, but the Grove Drug occupied the building in the 1970s. Morley also put out Barber's Hair Dye, Improved Hair Dye No. 1, T.X.S. (sounds like an abbreviation for Texas) Hair Tonic, Aromatic Elixir Ginger, Blackberry Balsam, Honey Pectoral, Liver and Kidney Cordial, and Tasteless Chill Tonic. Chris Morley of Victoria, B.C. and Charles E. Morley of Oakland, Cal. also had unrelated sarsaparilla products.

Wetherell's // Sarsaparilla // Exeter, N.H. bottles with A.S.W on the right shoulder and 1881 on the left, and with lower sides that slope deeply toward the base to give a coffin shape, measure 9^3/8 inches in height, and are considered to be scarce by DeGrafft. Albert S. Wetherell was born in Norridgwock, Maine, in 1851. He established a drug store in Exeter, N.H., in the 1870s which continued into the 1900s. He opened a new store on Water St. in 1896. Wetherell served as president of New Hampshire Pharmaceutical Association in 1892, and in 1893 and 1895 was a member of the N.H. State Legislature.

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