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All Forums >> [Bottle Forums] >> New to the Collection >> Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams!

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Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/6/2011 9:58:00 PM    Jim Posts: 3630 Joined: 7/5/2005 From: Lewistown, PA Status: offline I have finally found my most sought-after bottle. This is the only known example of the Mrs. F. Bossinger Lewistown, PA beer bottle. This bottle was found in the river all the way back in the 1950s by one of our earliest collectors of local bottles. A collector friend of mine bought it around 1986 or 87 from his estate. I was surprised and extremely grateful when he offered me the chance to own it today. She wasn't cheap, and rightfully so. She has a few scars from her 60 years in the river, but none of that bothers me. This is simply the most significant and awesome bottle I have ever owned. It is legendary among local collectors and historians, and I am very pleased to have it.  ~Jim Attachment (1) _____________________________ Preserving our buried history, one pit at a time. http://www.freewebs.com/lewistownbottles/index.htm Post #: 1

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/6/2011 10:00:55 PM    Jim Posts: 3630 Joined: 7/5/2005 From: Lewistown, PA Status: offline Slug plate. I dug one of these in a thousand pieces back in 2007. I almost needed electroshock therapy and heavy medication after that  I saved the slug plate that I glued back from that one. It's nice to see that slug plate as part of an actual bottle now. Attachment (1) _____________________________ Preserving our buried history, one pit at a time. http://www.freewebs.com/lewistownbottles/index.htm (in reply to Jim) Post #: 2

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/6/2011 10:08:17 PM    Jim Posts: 3630 Joined: 7/5/2005 From: Lewistown, PA Status: offline The Mrs. F. Bossinger brewery is shown here on an 1885 map of Lewistown. Located at the mouth of Kishacoquillas Creek along the Juniata River, the brewery was started before 1863 by an unknown brewer, possibly named Walters or Walter. John Henry Bossinger, Sr. bought the operation in 1870. Upon his death in 1879, the brewery was continued by his wife, Mrs. Frederica Bossinger and their two sons, John Henry Bossinger, Jr. and Frederick Bossinger. The brewery was sold in 1895 to Charles Roper, who established the Lewistown Bottling Works there. Lewistown Bottling Works moved to another location around 1905-10. The brewery property was torn down in the 1950s for highway construction. My grandfather's grandparents were the last people to live there. They were not related to any of the bottlers, but there is still a family connection to the property for me. That makes owning this bottle even better.  ~Jim Attachment (1) _____________________________ Preserving our buried history, one pit at a time. http://www.freewebs.com/lewistownbottles/index.htm (in reply to Jim) Post #: 3

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/7/2011 1:49:01 AM    rockbot Posts: 3491 Joined: 6/17/2009 From: Hilo, Hawaii Status: offline Good for you Jim. Nothing like getting ones dream bottle. Congrats! _____________________________ " Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason" Samuel Clemens (in reply to Jim) Post #: 4

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/7/2011 2:37:13 PM    BillinMo Posts: 421 Joined: 7/28/2010 From: Missouri Status: offline I love these great historical pieces with an intriguing story behind them!  Glad to hear this bottle is in the hands of someone who will treasure it and share the history with others.  (in reply to rockbot) Post #: 5

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/7/2011 3:52:20 PM    Wheelah23 Posts: 4294 Joined: 8/9/2010 From: Glen Ridge, New Jersey Status: offline If they were in business under the Mrs. from 1879-1895, then why's the bottle so rare? It's definitely a nice bottle, women rarely ran businesses in the 1800's. _____________________________ Looking for bottles from Glen Ridge, Montclair, Bloomfield, Orange, East Orange, West Orange, South Orange, and if I like 'em, any other bottles from Essex County NJ! Also Manahawkin NJ! Message me if you want to find them a new home. (in reply to Jim) Post #: 6

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/7/2011 6:27:44 PM    Jim Posts: 3630 Joined: 7/5/2005 From: Lewistown, PA Status: offline Thanks, guys. You would think that there should be more of these around, and I wish there were. Part of the brewery site is under a road now, but most of it is still accessible. The place has been scoured by diggers for decades, with no success in locating any of the bottles. I have a few theories on why these bottles are so rare. There may have only been a small quantity produced. Similar bottles with a blank slug plate, as well as plain stoneware beer bottles are found around here. Those may have been used by this brewery. Also, when the brewery was sold and the name changed, the existing stock of the old Bossinger bottles may have been destroyed. Lewistown Bottling Works bottles from the same site are not all that hard to find. A lot of dumping was done in the abandoned Pennsylvania Canal, and if that is where these bottles went (behind the brewery), they are now gone for good under the road. This is all conjecture, as nobody who is alive today was around in the 1890s, but there has to be a reason for the extreme rarity of these bottles. There have to be a few more in the river, in privies, in dumps or who knows where, but will any of them ever be found? I hope that a few more are, but it hasn't happened yet.  ~Jim _____________________________ Preserving our buried history, one pit at a time. http://www.freewebs.com/lewistownbottles/index.htm (in reply to Wheelah23) Post #: 7

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/7/2011 7:09:46 PM    Poison_Us Posts: 2954 Joined: 5/27/2009 From: Savannah, Ga. Status: offline Congratz, Jim.  I can only imagine the feeling of getting one of your dream bottles. _____________________________ Poison Us Member: APBCA ( www.poisonbottleclub.org ) Visit Us @: www.poisonousaddiction.com Looking for digging partners in/near Savannah. Be a friend. Give the "GIFT" of Poison. (in reply to Jim) Post #: 8

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/7/2011 7:50:45 PM    JOETHECROW Posts: 9804 Joined: 9/3/2005 From: Northwestern Pa. (Near scenic Lake Perfidy) Status: offline Cool bottle with cool history...Glad you got one Jim! _____________________________ Joe ``````````````````````````````````` In the woods we return to reason and faith. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooTyuRd9zSg&feature=related (in reply to Poison_Us) Post #: 9

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/7/2011 8:01:33 PM    treasurekidd   Posts: 551 Joined: 9/25/2005 From: Warwick, RI Status: offline Congrats on finding your "holy grail" bottle Jim, I know the feeling! _____________________________ Ebay Stuff: http://stores.ebay.com/JMacs-Vintage-Treasures?_rdc=1 Always looking for Rhode Island medicine, milk and blob top beers/sodas, and any bottle from Danielson and Killingly, CT. (in reply to JOETHECROW) Post #: 10

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/7/2011 10:42:02 PM    tigue710 Posts: 4142 Joined: 7/11/2007 From: connecticut - nor cal Status: offline That's awesome you were offered the bottle. Congrats... I had a similar bottle I sought for about 20 years. It was also a blob from the small town of Niantic ct and I had only ever seen a shard of one I dug as a kid. Also as a kid I was disappointed to findout from grandmother that a legendary local collector named Al Corey had asked permission and cleaned out a farm house her and my grandfather had bought in the 70's. It wasn't until I was older that I met Al Cory and learned that the only two whole examples known of the bottle came out of that very farm house! Al was not interested in selling his and was not sure where the other had ended up... Flash to a few years later, I get a call to buy a collection, and there on the shelf, the Niantic blob! It turned out to be the very one Al had found at my grandparents and sold years earlier! When I sold my collection a few years ago I gave it to my best bud and diging partner who lives in Niantic and also has searched for one... _____________________________ •={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•={•}=•= (in reply to treasurekidd) Post #: 11

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/7/2011 11:36:12 PM    Jim Posts: 3630 Joined: 7/5/2005 From: Lewistown, PA Status: offline Thanks again for all of the good words. Tigue, that is an awesome story. You're a helluva guy giving that bottle to your bud. Just like the Mrs. Bossinger, you have to wonder what ever happened to the rest of those Niantic blobs for only two to remain. I first saw this bottle and the Soult & Zerbe iron pontil soda in 2007. That same year, I dug an example of both, pulverized   I didn't know if I would ever get one of the two, let alone both. Now, I not only have both of them, but also discovered another unknown local pony soda. I love this hobby!  ~Jim _____________________________ Preserving our buried history, one pit at a time. http://www.freewebs.com/lewistownbottles/index.htm (in reply to tigue710) Post #: 12

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/7/2011 11:46:00 PM    Bixel   Posts: 731 Joined: 8/30/2004 From: Strathroy, Ontario, Canada Status: offline Jim, glad to see you got that bottle, I know the feeling of really wanting a bottle, and I too have been able to get a couple rare local elusive bottles. It is odd, but there are at least 2 bottles from my small hometown that there have never been a whole example of. One is a blue seltzer, and one is a quart soda(possibly an early crown...late 1890s-early 1900s). We have found shards of both of these, only ever in one location. I have also heard rumours of a clear seltzer, same maker as the blue one. For a town that today only has 14,000, my hometown had ALOT of bottles, and there seems to be rarity in a bunch, and some are known, but still have not shown up whole. _____________________________ Formerly : Insulators Rule! Kyle Collector of Insulators, Ontario marked bottles, railway memorabilia and signs of all sorts (in reply to Jim) Post #: 13

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/8/2011 5:00:14 PM    Jim Posts: 3630 Joined: 7/5/2005 From: Lewistown, PA Status: offline Thanks, Kyle. It is always great when you get to acquire a bottle that you have wanted for years. It doesn't happen often, and the search can drive you nuts, especially after you dig shards of one. That just shows that they are out there, and makes you want a whole one even more. I just paid a lot of $$$ for this bottle because it is the only one known, but it would not make me a bit unhappy if 20 of them were dug up on a construction site tomorrow. It's an important piece of local history, and I would love to see more of them surface. Too many collectors and antique guys around here don't even know that this bottle exists.  ~Jim _____________________________ Preserving our buried history, one pit at a time. http://www.freewebs.com/lewistownbottles/index.htm (in reply to Bixel) Post #: 14

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/8/2011 5:39:07 PM    Tony14 Posts: 2757 Joined: 2/15/2005 From: Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Status: offline Congrats Jim!! Its always great to add a rare one to the collection..theres a bitters from fond du lac that i've been chasing forever too _____________________________ Looking for any Fond du Lac bottle. Also looking for any embossed wisconsin medicines. And any Carters cone inks (in reply to Jim) Post #: 15

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/8/2011 7:59:49 PM    madman Posts: 10364 Joined: 2/5/2005 Status: offline hey jim, congrats on your find! _____________________________ always looking for, Toledo Ohio, Knoxville Tn. milks pharms and sodas, (in reply to Tony14) Post #: 16

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/8/2011 8:01:50 PM    RICKJJ59W Posts: 11898 Joined: 3/8/2007 From: Lehigh Valley US of A Status: offline cool Jim im glad you found your dream women,just dont drop her  _____________________________ My web site. Lots of privy and dump dig pictures. Also dig story's I had published in Antique Bottle & Glass Collector magazine and Western & Eastern Treasure's www.19thcenturybottlediggers.com (in reply to madman) Post #: 17

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/9/2011 12:57:53 PM    waskey   Posts: 1530 Joined: 12/6/2008 From: ellicott city,md Status: offline Nice bottle. I'm sure atleast one or two more will pop up eventually over the years. My hometown has 4 milks that are currently known by only one example. My friend has 2 of those 4. He dug both in different local dumps. We havent seen even a shard of either one, but one of them has the top busted off and the other is mint. _____________________________ Looking to purchase any bottles from Ellicott City, Maryland that I don't have!! Also milks from these following MD towns:Woodlawn, Catonsville, Elkridge. (in reply to RICKJJ59W) Post #: 18

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/9/2011 1:12:53 PM    cobaltbot Posts: 3878 Joined: 4/7/2006 From: Delta, PA Status: offline Wow Jim, that's great. One of the great things about this hobby is the link to history and the past, another is that there's still some potential one of a kinds for everyone to find! _____________________________ My tombstone will read: He went out for a walk and never came back.... (in reply to waskey) Post #: 19

RE: Found the Glass Lady of My Dreams! - 6/9/2011 2:09:31 PM    David Fertig   Posts: 693 Joined: 3/26/2010 Status: offline Is there a Mr. Bossinger bottle known? And are they semi-common? My thought is that she would have continued to use Mr's bottles, but for one or more reasons, placed an order for hers. I'm not sure what the min. order would have been, but perhaps as few as 144? 288? Dave (in reply to Jim) Post #: 20

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