Question about poison bottles

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ACLbottles

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I really don't know a whole lot about poison bottles, and I would like to know more, so I have a few questions. First, what colors of poison bottles are rare? Is it rare to find a poison bottle that does not have any embossing whatsoever, but it has a label that says it's poison? I know poison bottles were made with some embossing on them to tell it's poisonous just by feeling it, but were there many made without any embossing? Finally, what makes a poison bottle desirable? I would like to start collecting more poison bottles, but I think I need some more information before I start. Thanks in advance for your replies.
 

Poison_Us

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Here is clip from our website on poison identification:

"First, lets cover the characteristics of most poison bottles.

1) It’s embossed with words like: Poison, Poisonous, Not To Be Taken, For External Use Only...etc
2) It’s embossed with a skull and crossbones.
3) The bottle is of an odd shape (Coffin, Triangular, Diamond, 5 to 8 sided or Figural).
4) It’s textured (Ribs, Flutes, Hobnails, Diamonds, Stars, Lattice, Bumps or Scallops) on the face and/or edges.

Poisons can have only 1 or any combination of the above. Item 3 is where some bottles can be mis-IDed if it’s the only characteristic it has. Then the proof would have to come from the deciding factor of:

5) It has a label stating it’s a poison in some manner.

This is where some bottles fall short. They have the shape, but no label. Also, color has nothing to do with the contents. Just because it’s Cobalt or Amber, does not make it a poison by any means."



The fact is, there is no rare color for a poison in general, just rare color issues of a particular bottle. And no embossing on a bottle just means it's a general purpose bottle and has no real value. Paper labels can be rare on poisons. But they are most desired by those who love the history of it all. The label tells more of the story. Who bottled it last, it's contents and so forth.

If you want to learn more, there are plenty of links on our website and of course there are books available. The 2 Rudy Kuhn's book was just merged into one volume. The new book from the APBCA was just re-done, but I see has sold out. Hope they make another run of those.
 

ACLbottles

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Thanks for the explanation, Poison_Us. I haven't really been too interested in collecting poison bottles in the past, but recently I've thought about it, and I decided it would be an enjoyable type of bottle to collect.
 

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