Unknown BLUE sarsaparilla, please help!!

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abcreview

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A year or two back I managed to acquire a superb blue glass sarsaparilla. It is embossed Dr Gordons Homoepathic Compound Sarsaparilla. This was found in a country town in Australia, that is as much information as I can give you.
I have enquired in the US, the UK and all over Australia as to whether anything was known about this company or any other examples have been seen. Nothing!! I am thinking it is an Australian piece purely because it was found here, but would love to hear if anyone has other ideas. There is nothing worse than having a great bottle like this and not knowing a thing about it.



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GuntherHess

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I am not familiar with that bottle.
The only Gordon I can think of was Dr A D Gordan who sold a vegetable cathartic compound in Rochester in the late 1840s. Seems too early for your bottle. Can you show the base?
I would recommend checking John DeGrafft's American Sarsaparilla Bottles supplement which I think has many foreign bottles listed.
 

GuntherHess

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It could be foreign but it has some attributes you see on US bottles. The bottom may tell us more. The R with the two dots is something you see on 1870s Pittsburgh bottles quite a bit. The color would make me think foreign.
 

GuntherHess

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The term homeopathic seems odd as it wasnt used on American medicine bottles until the late 19th century and that bottle has an applied lip.
 

GuntherHess

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It seems to fit in with other Australian Sarparillias such as DR FOSTER’S JAMAICA SARSAPARILLA or DR WEILY’S SARSAPARILLA
 

Oldtimer

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ORIGINAL: GuntherHess

The term homeopathic seems odd as it wasnt used on American medicine bottles until the late 19th century and that bottle has an applied lip.
Exactly, that buzz-word seems a uniquely English thing. Also, the color looks English to me.
English or not (I'm an American bottle snob, I know..) I LOVE it.
 

abcreview

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Below is a picture of the base, which in itself is rather unusual. Sort of like an inverted pyramid if that makes sense? The only other bottles I have seen with this type of base mark are a series of bottles embossed Farmers Friend in Australia. These are Australian bottles and come in a range of colours. This is one other point which leads me to a possible Australian connection. Has anyone else seen a base finish like this one?
One of the closest matches to colour I have seen is in the following bottle:

This is a Dr Ralays Royal Digestive Bitters, which is definitely an Australian piece from one of the Sydney manufacturers.



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