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All Forums >> [Bottle Forums] >> Digging and Finding >> London Mustard

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London Mustard - 3/15/2004 1:55:51 AM    Guest Prompted by baltbottles find here and Meech's previous comments on London Mustard here is my theory. It is on my list of subjects to research but hasn't got to the top yet so this may well be wrong but here goes....... I think that London Mustard was made by Nathan Burrowes in Lexington, KY. He is recorded as inventing a 'superior process of manufacturing mustard' and taking a prize at the World's Fair in London for it. My theory is that he called the mustard 'London' after taking this prestigious international prize. When I saw the W.B on baltbottles London Mustard I immediately thought that the B stands for Burrowes and that W must be a relative who took over the business in 1846 when Nathan Burrowes died. All this is conjecture on my part! Any thoughts anyone...... < Message edited by Roger -- 3/15/2004 3:24:03 AM >   Post #: 1

RE: London Mustard - 3/15/2004 1:45:50 PM    Harry Pristis   Posts: 495 Joined: 7/24/2003 From: Northcentral Florida Status: offline Roger, you didn't mention a date for the Burrowes' mustard invention in KY. McKearin-Wilson, in a nice two-page sketch of "mustard flour" and "mustard bottles" in the USA, have this to say: Though mustard had been imported in bottles at least by 1755, the term 'mustard bottle' did not appear until 1758. A year later Wagstaffe & Hunt...announced that, though it had been 'the Practice in England to pack it [mustard] in casks' (for shipping, presumably), those who 'pack it in Bottles, and put their own Names on them, in Cities and Towns, which saves Freight, Land Carriage &c. and . . . [who are] inclined to settle a correspondence' with their firm could be supplied with the bottles and 'instructions how to pack.' ...[S]quares with chamfered corners continued in use in the 19th century if bottles of these types inscribed 'LONDON' were mustard bottles, as is believed. That 'London' mustards were produced in American glassworks for what was apparently a popular brand of English mustard is evident from their appearance on Dyott's price list ca. 1825; in the 1839 account book of Marshall & Stanger, New Brooklyn glassworks; Solomon Stanger's 'Blowers' Book' of 1848/49 at Glasboro; and the price list of the Williamstown Glass Works...1835-56.... Dyott's London Mustards, by the way, were $3.50 a gross, whereas his plain mustards were $3.25 a gross. I don't know how this intercalates with your own research, Roger. Tell us more. ----------Harry Pristis < Message edited by Harry Pristis -- 3/15/2004 1:48:56 PM > _____________________________ ______________________________________________ Visit The Demijohn Page at: http://members.aol.com/pristis/index.html (in reply to Guest) Post #: 2

RE: London Mustard - 3/15/2004 4:49:55 PM    Guest Harry, thank you for the McKearin-Wilson quotes. I haven't actually done any research on this and just made a few notes with the intention of following them up at some suitable juncture. What I have is a quote from The History of Lexington by George W. Ranck 1872 as follows: In 1796 Nathan Burrowes, an ingenious citizen of Lexington, introduced the manufacture of hemp into Kentucky, and also invented a machine for cleaning hemp. Like many other inventors, he was betrayed , and derived no benefit from either. He afterward discovered a superior process of manufacturing mustard, and produced an article which took the premium at the World's Fair, in London, and which has no equal in quality in existence. The secret of its compounding has been sacredly transmitted unrevealed. It is now three-quarters of a century since "Burrowes' Mustard" was first made, and it is still manufactured in Lexington, and has a world-wide celebrity. Mr. Burrowes settled in Lexington in 1792, and died here in 1846. I wrote in my notes - "Hence London mustard". Prompted by your quotes I have thought a little more about this and now see that this cannot be the origin. The fair that Ranck calls the "World's Fair in London" was in 1851 (it was known as the very first world's fair) and of course London Mustard was around well before then. Back to the drawing board as they say I suppose that there is a slim chance that the B in W.B on baltbottles London Mustard is Burrowes but this now seems less likely. (in reply to Guest)   Post #: 3

RE: London Mustard - 3/15/2004 9:58:37 PM    Harry Pristis   Posts: 495 Joined: 7/24/2003 From: Northcentral Florida Status: offline Roger . . . I checked Betty Zumwalt's book for "Burrowes" (and anything close), and there is no listing. That is not definitive, of course, because the company could have used paper labels exclusively (within the realm of possibility, at least). OTOH, you might expect one paper-label to survive from a company that was in business for a minimum of three-quarters of a century. Oh, well! I did not realize until recently that the "mustard" involved in this early commerce was a "mustard flour" or ground mustard (as in ground pepper). Do you suppose that it was sprinkled on food as was pepper? Perhaps it was sold dry, and the consumer added vinegar and spices to make a mustard "paste." Perhaps Burrowes compounded a dry mix (or a mustard paste that didn't spoil without refrigeration). So everyone knows what we are talking about, here are pix of two LONDON bottles from my shelf. One has MUSTARD on the reverse, the other does not. --------------Harry Pristis Attachment (1) _____________________________ ______________________________________________ Visit The Demijohn Page at: http://members.aol.com/pristis/index.html (in reply to Guest) Post #: 4

RE: London Mustard - 3/15/2004 10:40:50 PM    Harry Pristis   Posts: 495 Joined: 7/24/2003 From: Northcentral Florida Status: offline Historical Marker # 1437 Oldest House in Lexington Location: 317 S. Mill St., Lexington County: Fayette Description: Built in 1784 for Adam Rankin, minister of Lexington's pioneer Presbyterian Church. Samuel D. McCullough, born here in 1803, was a teacher, astronomer, antiquarian and maker of world-famous Burrowes mustard. In 1971, the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation moved this house from its original location, at 215 West High Street, to prevent its destruction. ____________________ How about the Kentucky bottle-diggers here -- what does a "Burrowes Mustard" bottle look like? --------------Harry Pristis _____________________________ ______________________________________________ Visit The Demijohn Page at: http://members.aol.com/pristis/index.html (in reply to Guest) Post #: 5

RE: London Mustard - 3/16/2004 1:22:26 AM    Guest I posted a picture of a London mustard, that was for sale on eBay and still had some of the contents, in this thread. I emailed the seller to ask what the contents looked like close up and he replied "It is my best guess that the contents are finely ground and that they would have been mixed with water (or porter) to produce a thin paste." There is also a picture of the one in my collection in the same thread. (in reply to Guest)   Post #: 6

RE: London Mustard - 3/16/2004 2:32:17 AM    baltbottles   Posts: 930 Joined: 11/25/2002 From: Baltimore Maryland Status: offline Here is a better picture of the london from my dig the question i have is do you think the smaller unembossed utility next to it also contained mustard its the same form just smaller in size it holds about half of what the embossed one dose. I have also dug these utilitys before but always broken this was the first one i ever found intact. Attachment (1) (in reply to Guest) Post #: 7

RE: London Mustard - 3/16/2004 1:16:37 PM    Harry Pristis   Posts: 495 Joined: 7/24/2003 From: Northcentral Florida Status: offline Thank you, Roger, for the link to your prior post. It was this prior post that made me realize that these early mustard bottles contained dry, ground mustard-seed (or "mustard flour" in early references). I should have acknowledged your earlier contribution. Two questions have arisen here: 1. What is the history and form of "London" mustard bottles? 2. What is the history and form of Burrowes Mustard bottles? We're learning more about the London bottles, but not enough about Burrowes Mustard to make a connection, so far. Chris . . . Cool little utility bottle. My inclination is to call it a "London mustard form." I am just not sure that all of these early London mustard bottles had "London" embossed on them. Using that reasoning, I guess I could call this little square bottle (below) a "London mustard form." This one has a smooth-base, an applied lip which is crudely tooled, and the bevelled (scolloped) corners you find on an earlier London mustard. I estimate the age of this one to be 1860-70s. This one came from a SC river. What do you think? ----------Harry Pristis Attachment (1) _____________________________ ______________________________________________ Visit The Demijohn Page at: http://members.aol.com/pristis/index.html (in reply to Guest) Post #: 8

RE: London Mustard - 3/19/2004 4:30:36 AM    baltbottles   Posts: 930 Joined: 11/25/2002 From: Baltimore Maryland Status: offline Hey Harry, Here is another bottle i've dug several of they usually come out of much later holes 1880-1890s i was told they were capers bottles but i guess they could also possably have contained mustard what do you think . Chris Attachment (1) (in reply to Guest) Post #: 9

RE: London Mustard - 3/19/2004 2:18:48 PM    Harry Pristis   Posts: 495 Joined: 7/24/2003 From: Northcentral Florida Status: offline I suspect, Chris, that labels for these turn-of-the-century green bottles are known. But, it is easy to imagine that some of them might have contained mustard flour. Do they have some resemblance to a London mustard form, sure. Would I refer to them as mustard bottles, no. But, your point is taken. Judging from the bottles used by French, Gulden, and others using the early "union" mustard bottle, Mustard "paste" was not available until the late 1850s in the USA. What surprises me is that no one has identified a Burrowes Mustard bottle here for us. This mustard apparently was produced both before and after mustard paste was commercially feasible. Perhaps it was not packaged in bottles. Until the late 1850s, mustard would have been ground and packed dry. We know that the London mustard bottles were still on the price list of the Williamstown Glass Works...1835-56. The dry mustard "flour" would have been mixed with some liquid (Roger's correspondent guessed porter, the French's in my refrigerator uses vinegar and white wine) for immediate use. Once mixed, the paste has to be refrigerated or it will spoil. Separately, the mustard flour and the vinegar would keep indefinitely without refrigeration Perhaps the late 1850s is when ice became available year-round for "ice boxes" -- I just don't know. Pasteurization allowed more sorts of foodstuffs to be safely canned about this time (canned milk and instant coffee with cream and sugar were available to Union troops in the Civil War). Still, the opened containers had to be chilled or the left-overs would spoil. Dry mustard would have been useful long after mustard paste was available in a jar. Pioneers settling the Western USA would have found the mustard flour useful. In fact, mustard flour is useful today as a cooking spice, the sine qua non of a good chili! ----------Harry Pristis _____________________________ ______________________________________________ Visit The Demijohn Page at: http://members.aol.com/pristis/index.html (in reply to Guest) Post #: 10

RE: London Mustard - 4/1/2004 1:05:50 PM    nirvine   Posts: 14 Joined: 3/31/2004 Status: offline All this talk of London Mustards is great! I am a new member and all this information made me want to contribute, especially the Kentucky stuff! I have in my collection two bottles that are most likely mustard containers. Atleast I think so! One is shaped just like the common Londons only it's embossed Kentucky. The other has some of the charecteristics associated with the Londons, only it's twice as wide on center panel with a plant embossed on it , I assume a mustard plant???? The side panel is embossed Baltimore in a style that is reminscent, if not the same as the style London is embossed on some of the earlier bottles....The lip is rolled in the same fashion mustard bottles are, with chamfered corners, as is typical with this group......Thanks Nervine (in reply to Guest) Post #: 11

RE: London Mustard - 4/1/2004 3:22:59 PM    Harry Pristis   Posts: 495 Joined: 7/24/2003 From: Northcentral Florida Status: offline Welcome, Nervine . . . It would be great to see pics of the mustard bottles you describe! ----------Harry Pristis _____________________________ ______________________________________________ Visit The Demijohn Page at: http://members.aol.com/pristis/index.html (in reply to Guest) Post #: 12

RE: London Mustard - 4/1/2004 9:22:56 PM    baltbottles   Posts: 930 Joined: 11/25/2002 From: Baltimore Maryland Status: offline Hi Nirvine, That Baltimore bottle you have there is a pretty rare bottle I’ve only seen a few of them. They come out of 1830-40 era holes. I have not been able to find any information on the company that used them. I am also familiar with the Kentucky pontil that you have and i think your right about it being a mustard bottle. But I never thought about the Baltimore one containing mustard. Well now I have a new angle to research on this bottle if I find out anything I will let you know. Thanks Chris Attachment (1) (in reply to Guest) Post #: 13

RE: London Mustard - 4/2/2004 9:40:14 AM    nirvine   Posts: 14 Joined: 3/31/2004 Status: offline Thanks for posting that BB.....Not an April Fools JokeIt may or may not be a mustard but it is certainly a botanical preperation. I am a Horticulturist of sorts and work with Botanists, I have shown the bottle to many of them and we've come to the consensus that the embossing on the bottle resembles no medicinal plants we know of, Rosemary leaves look similar, more likely that it is a fantasy plant....It does look like a plant! Mustard is a plant ! In my exploits I've heard that these London bottles contained medicinal mustard by 1846 people probably started eating it!!!! (in reply to Guest) Post #: 14

RE: London Mustard - 5/1/2004 5:12:54 PM    Harry Pristis   Posts: 495 Joined: 7/24/2003 From: Northcentral Florida Status: offline Browsing through Helen McKearin's BOTTLES, FLASKS AND DR. DYOTT, I found this reproduction of a 1758 advertisement of Benjamin Jackson, mustard and chocolate maker. The ad features a rectangular bottle with chamfered corners. The text and illustration are reproduced here: BENJAMIN JACKSON, Mustard and Chocolate maker, from London, now of Laetitia- Court, in Market-Street, Philadelphia, Prepares the genuine Flour of Mustard-seed, of all Degrees of Fineness, in a Manner that renders it preferable to the European, or any other, which is easily demonstrated by Proof. It excels all other for Exportation, and it will keep perfectly good any reasonable Time, even in the hottest Climates, and is not bitter when fresh made, as other Mustard is, but when mixed only with cold Water, well seasoned with Salt, is fit for immediate Use. Several of our earlier questions are answered here. Early mustard bottles could be rectangular, as with Chris' "Baltimore" bottle. Mustard flour was a condiment, not merely a medication. Mustard flour was mixed with water and salt for consumption as a condiment. Further on in her book, McKearin says this about later mustard bottles: MUSTARD BOTTLES were advertised 1816-1823; "London" mustards, 1819-1820. It is probable that the former were like or closely similar to that shown [below], rectangular with cut corners, a form used as early as 1758 and not only for mustard. The latter apparently were square, and "LONDON" was inscribed on the mold. So, McKearin believed that "London" mustard bottles had the embossing. So much for my speculation about "London mustard forms." I still wonder about the significance of "London" embossed on American-made bottles of American-grown mustard seed flour. I can't bring myself to believe that it was a large-scale rip-off of a popular English brand. I now suspect that "London" represents a particular "fineness," perhaps a fine-grind that was favored in London society. ----------------Harry Pristis Attachment (1) < Message edited by Harry Pristis -- 5/1/2004 5:15:49 PM > _____________________________ ______________________________________________ Visit The Demijohn Page at: http://members.aol.com/pristis/index.html (in reply to Guest) Post #: 15

RE: London Mustard - 5/2/2004 3:49:20 AM    Guest Interesting Harry. Olive Jones wrote about London Mustards too but I am not having much luck tracking down a copy of the journal it was in. Everyone who might have a copy either doesn't or fails to respond. Here is the reference if anyone would like to take up the task... Society for Historical Archaeology VOLUME 17(1), 1983 69-84 London Mustard Bottles 1800-1900 by Olive R. Jones. (in reply to Guest)   Post #: 16

RE: London Mustard - 5/2/2004 11:09:12 AM    maineahh62   Posts: 108 Joined: 3/13/2004 From: Maine Status: offline hello roger, here is a site i found, not sure if it help's your quest but i hope it does. London Mustard Bottles - ca. 1800-1900 Olive R. Jones Society for Historical Archaeology < Message edited by maineahh62 -- 5/2/2004 11:09:41 AM > _____________________________ Timothy McKinnon (in reply to Guest) Post #: 17

RE: London Mustard - 5/2/2004 12:06:59 PM    baltbottles   Posts: 930 Joined: 11/25/2002 From: Baltimore Maryland Status: offline Harry, I enjoyed your 1758 advertisement from the McKearin book but to me the illustration looks more like the form of an early snuff bottle then the later london mustards. Chris (in reply to Guest) Post #: 18

RE: London Mustard - 5/2/2004 3:37:02 PM    Harry Pristis   Posts: 495 Joined: 7/24/2003 From: Northcentral Florida Status: offline I think we are in a not-well-understood area of wide-mouth utility bottles. McKearin does distinguish between the rectangular mustard bottles and the square "London" bottles. Powdered mustard, powdered chocolate, powdered tobacco, all in similar bottles -- it is not such an alien concept. We may have to adjust our thinking about the contents those early "snuff bottles." This is probably academic, because there are probably few of these 1758 bottles (which were in "dark glass" BTW) that survived. It's even less likely that any survived with an intact label. We do have these advertisements. Here is what McKearin says about the "snuff" bottles likely made by Dr. Dyott: The dark glass rectangular bottle...and the square on ...were classic forms for packaging snuff, both medicated and pure, and commonly called snuff bottles though [they were] used for other dry substances. The 1817 rectangular bottle here [is] advertised "Aromatic Snuff"; The 1824 square one, "J. P. Whitwell's Aromatic Snuff." -----------------Harry Pristis Attachment (1) _____________________________ ______________________________________________ Visit The Demijohn Page at: http://members.aol.com/pristis/index.html (in reply to Guest) Post #: 19

RE: London Mustard - 5/2/2004 3:40:36 PM    Harry Pristis   Posts: 495 Joined: 7/24/2003 From: Northcentral Florida Status: offline From McKearin again: The 1824 square one, "J. P. Whitwell's Aromatic Snuff." Attachment (1) _____________________________ ______________________________________________ Visit The Demijohn Page at: http://members.aol.com/pristis/index.html (in reply to Guest) Post #: 20

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