bottlekid76
Well-Known Member
Hello,
I just recently aquired a green John Ryan bottle that could possibly be one of the earliest and perhaps unique known examples of the soda. I was able to purchase this from a longtime collector that a friend of mine was telling me about. We went up to visit and see his great collection of early Missouri whiskeys and sodas. Along the way, he was mentioning to me about this green John Ryan that he had, and thought it was a really good one. I couldn't wait to see it because usually the most common Ryans you see are cobalt, and the green examples are very tough to find. Most are smooth based. Now mind you, i'm expecting to see the green John Ryan 1866 Excelsior Soda Works from Savannah, which is a great bottle and sought after. You can imagine the look on my face when I seen what he had! This beautiful early full graphite pontiled bold crude slugplate hammer whittled double collar tapered top John Ryan. I about fell over! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was spinning, trying to remember ever seeing an example like it. Nothing in my memory recalled ever seeing a Ryan that looked anything even close to it, and with so much going for it. I've seen some of the rare wild colors of Ryans in pink, strawberry, and a few others. Even those awesome examples had a totally different embossing tho. The slugplate just jumps out at you on this guy. Bold embossing and crude orange peel effect in the slugplate around the lettering. Even the slug is crude with uneven wavy edges. The whittle is heavy around the body and all the graphite remains, and it's never been cleaned. The only thing to call is an ice pick bruise on the inner side of the lip. I couldn't help but think, man i'd love to buy this bottle and would it be for sale?! The owner mentioned contacting some southern soda collectors to see if they have one or have ever seen one of these, but never got around to doing so. I know there are alot of John Ryan soda collectors, and some advanced southern soda collectors out there, and I would love to hear their input on this example. My pictures still don't do it justice as seeing it in person. I made the owner what I thought was a very nice offer on it, as I couldn't stand the thought of leaving and not having it at home! He looked at me and said he didn't really want to get rid of this bottle, but he'd sell it to me for the price I offered. I thanked him so much and was able to take this guy home and add it to my colored collection. Now I have to go work more overtime at work lol. I've taken several photos in indoor and outdoor lighting, and hope you can see some good clear pictures. I'd love to hear any comments you may have, and really would love to learn about this one from some of the advanced southern soda collectors. I searched all my books, websites, all around the web and couldn't come up with anything that even resembled it in a Ryan bottle. Another interesting note was that every Ryan i've ever seen had Augusta, Savannah, or Atlanta on the bottle. This has just the bold slugplate bearing his name, leading me to believe it could possibly be one of his earliest examples.
All the best,
~Tim
I just recently aquired a green John Ryan bottle that could possibly be one of the earliest and perhaps unique known examples of the soda. I was able to purchase this from a longtime collector that a friend of mine was telling me about. We went up to visit and see his great collection of early Missouri whiskeys and sodas. Along the way, he was mentioning to me about this green John Ryan that he had, and thought it was a really good one. I couldn't wait to see it because usually the most common Ryans you see are cobalt, and the green examples are very tough to find. Most are smooth based. Now mind you, i'm expecting to see the green John Ryan 1866 Excelsior Soda Works from Savannah, which is a great bottle and sought after. You can imagine the look on my face when I seen what he had! This beautiful early full graphite pontiled bold crude slugplate hammer whittled double collar tapered top John Ryan. I about fell over! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was spinning, trying to remember ever seeing an example like it. Nothing in my memory recalled ever seeing a Ryan that looked anything even close to it, and with so much going for it. I've seen some of the rare wild colors of Ryans in pink, strawberry, and a few others. Even those awesome examples had a totally different embossing tho. The slugplate just jumps out at you on this guy. Bold embossing and crude orange peel effect in the slugplate around the lettering. Even the slug is crude with uneven wavy edges. The whittle is heavy around the body and all the graphite remains, and it's never been cleaned. The only thing to call is an ice pick bruise on the inner side of the lip. I couldn't help but think, man i'd love to buy this bottle and would it be for sale?! The owner mentioned contacting some southern soda collectors to see if they have one or have ever seen one of these, but never got around to doing so. I know there are alot of John Ryan soda collectors, and some advanced southern soda collectors out there, and I would love to hear their input on this example. My pictures still don't do it justice as seeing it in person. I made the owner what I thought was a very nice offer on it, as I couldn't stand the thought of leaving and not having it at home! He looked at me and said he didn't really want to get rid of this bottle, but he'd sell it to me for the price I offered. I thanked him so much and was able to take this guy home and add it to my colored collection. Now I have to go work more overtime at work lol. I've taken several photos in indoor and outdoor lighting, and hope you can see some good clear pictures. I'd love to hear any comments you may have, and really would love to learn about this one from some of the advanced southern soda collectors. I searched all my books, websites, all around the web and couldn't come up with anything that even resembled it in a Ryan bottle. Another interesting note was that every Ryan i've ever seen had Augusta, Savannah, or Atlanta on the bottle. This has just the bold slugplate bearing his name, leading me to believe it could possibly be one of his earliest examples.
All the best,
~Tim
