Staunton Dan
Well-Known Member
ORIGINAL: jays emporium
Here is my collection of figural bitters. Holtzerman, Old Sachem, Tippecaone, National, Fish, Roback, Drakes.
I didn't dig any of these but some I have had for a long time. The one I've had the longest is the Fish. When I was in college I was making more money buying and selling bottles than I could by working for $2. per hour. On my trips home and back to school I always went different ways and stopped at antique shops and yard sales looking for bottles. One time in about 1976, I stopped at one shop and asked about bottles and they told me there was an estate sale going on that had some good bottles but too expensive for them.
I found that sale as quick as I could and sure enough they had old bottles, mostly common but there were two Fish Bitters marked at $100. each. They told me they found them under the house and I could tell that was true because they were stained on one side only from lying in the same spot for 100 years. Since it was the last day of the sale and I was a poor college boy I managed to get both for $50. I soon sold one of them for $125. and kept the other for 33 years.
Jay
Great bottles Jay and a great story about the Fish Bitters. Which one is your favorite or is that a no brainer?