Thursday, November 28, 2013

Late Summer Finds #5



As fall starts to creep up on us, it seems to trigger the “sell” instinct in people.  Ebay listings increase, yard sales multiply, and bottles emerge from basements, barns, and attics.  LRBC member Art Palowski is one of the leading collectors of RI bottles.  He recently decided to start selling a few of his crown top sodas, and among them was a familiar Hope Club Beverages Providence, RI deco soda bottle.  You might recall I found one of these a few posts back during a river dig, minus most of the crown top.  This one is in much better shape, and to my surprise was a variation! 


About two years ago, I picked up an Eagle Bottling Co. Warren, RI crown top soda at one of the Little Rhody tailgate shows.  This company later moved to Bristol, and the Warren location is unlisted!  Of course I can’t find my picture of it…


I recently bought a nice collection from a former digger in Westerly.  Among them was a Caproni Bros. Spruce St. Providence, RI blob.  It was an earlier version, and unlisted!


Another satisfying find was a M. Lenahan & Co. Family Wine Store Providence whiskey.  The shoulder embossing was unlisted, which makes it my third variant.


Ebay provided another exciting find recently.  Hiding among a lot of common bottles was a John Bush 31 Washington St. Providence, Opposite City Hall.  This brand new whiskey bottle was exciting for a few reasons.  First, Mr. Bush has no known bottles (or had), second the city hall reference is downright cool, and third, this bottle is actually machine made!  I have come across a few machine made whiskeys of this style, but they were usually for more prolific companies.