Friday, March 8, 2013

Not Quite Mine



I’d like to dedicate this entry to the unlisted RI bottles that I missed, got outbid on, or saw in a friend's collection.
A fairly recent member to join the club, Steve Plante has quickly become a prominent collector of Rhode Island ACL soda bottles.  His favorite way of “digging” for bottles is to go out kayaking and pull them out of rivers and ponds.  I had overlooked this particular method until about five years ago when I discovered how easy it was to find bottles in the water, especially on hot days.  One of his recent finds was a completely unlisted QuaKo Acme Bottling Co. Providence, RI.  While an embossed Acme Bottling Co. bottle exists, this brand is pretty significant.  Quako originated in Philadelphia, so why a small bottling company from Rhode Island started to bottle it is fascinating. 


A while ago I saw a nice looking unlisted Wright & Hay Pharmacists Newport, RI medicine on ebay.  The same seller had a pharmacy bottle from Woonsocket, RI listed as well.  This bottle had a decent lip chip and would normally sell for $5 on a good day.  However, two feuding Woonsocket collectors had “unfinished business”, and drove the price to an insane $406.  One of the bidders also went after the Newport bottle, so I had to back out.  Oh well!


Another beer bottle that really should be listed is the Eagle Brewing Co. (embossed eagle and shield) Providence, RI.  This is hands down the finest looking crown top beer bottle from RI.  I have an acid etched blob from this company, and there is an embossed example listed, but there is no mention of an eagle!


A few years back a good friend of mine bought a box of freshly dug bottles from northern RI.  For $10 it was a stellar buy, because he got a Sullivan Bros. Providence Hutchinson worth about $1,500.  Another bottle in the box was (believe it or not) even rarer than the Sullivan!  It was a J.S. Hazard & Co. Westerley (spelling error), RI gravitating stopper soda.  While not as sought after as RI hutchinsons, gravitating stopper (patented in 1867) sodas are tough to find, and there was only one known from RI.  Now there are two!  Note- Other J.S. Hazard squat sodas are fairly easy to come by.


A fairly unusual source of finding unlisted RI bottles is the Red Book of Fruit Jars.  This excellent reference book is the fruit jar bible.  The majority of jars don’t have a location on them, but a base embossed F.H. Perry & Co. Prov. RI fruit jar caught my eye.  The lid has an 1882 patent date on it.  Because it is base embossed, it doesn’t have tremendous value, but it is certainly something I am looking out for!

There is no picture of this jar yet!

One of my favorite local bottles is owned by my friend David.  A few years ago another friend of mine found a The Gladstone Spring Water Co. Narragansett Pier, RI demijohn.  This massive bottle is the only RI mineral water demijohn in this size.  I can only hope there is another one out there sitting in someone’s basement!