Coggins McNally 1880's soda bottle question

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cowseatmaize

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According to THIS they basically never opened, yet had 9 breweries. LOL
"Coggins & McNally Brewery opened in 1890 and closed in 1890 it was open for 0 years. As a Pre-Prohibition Brewery, any advertising items or collectibles are likely to be valuable and desirable to collectors as they tend to be hard to find. Coggins & McNally Brewery was in an active brewing city. Pittston, PA was listed as having 9 breweries, which is quite a few. Sometimes a large number of breweries can lead to an active collecting community that will be willing to pay more for breweriana items than other collectors."

I think they could use your knowledge. Don't worry about the inking, it may be just water based and come off easily. If not, nail polish remover, mineral spirits or heck, got a BBQ. Lighter fluid will do it. I'd use an old toothbrush with any of those. If you absolutely have to, try some 000 steel wool with one.
 

XwafflesX

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Yep, that post was my husband. We have been looking for quite a while for one of these bottles! That Old Brewery link is quite interesting. I re-read the link and is says Pittston, PA was listed as having 9 breweries. [;)] They were definitely open for many years though. The timeline that we have pieced together so far is an advertisement from 1888 listing them as a bottler of "carbonated & beverage - bottlers of ale, lager and porter." They also furnished livery rigs as well according to the ad. We then have city directories listing my great grandfather as the owner of a saloon at the same address (49 S. Main) as the ad from 1888, from 1890-1896 along with directories listing the partner McNally as owning a saloon as well at the same address. I have had a hell of a time finding more information on the business though. Any other places I should be looking for information? We know the business was done by 1901 as my great grandfather moved the family to Montana to work in the copper mines. So I assume something must have happened to warrant that kind of life change! Plus we still don't understand why they split up and ran the business at the same time in PA and NE.
 

cowseatmaize

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Maybe the Pittston Brewery pushed them out. The were around still in the 40's so big time brewer I guess.Oral history and records of buyouts, foreclosure etc.may be the best bet for info.Did the partnership dissolve do to infighting?Maybe the panic of 1893 had a role?Did Pittston have a tough time at the turn of the century?I don't know where to look but those could be questions to ask.
 

NHkeith

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Very cool. I love am a history buff, and I love the historic aspect of the bottles. especially having a family tie!! awesome find!!
 

XwafflesX

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No! Someone was bidding against us and we didn't win it! I contacted the seller and asked if he would give my contact info to the buyer but heard nothing back. I offered to buy the bottle before any bids were placed explaining the reason I wanted it and would have paid much more than what it ended for but they didn't go for it.

I am not a bottle collector and honestly didn't think anyone else would want to pay that much for it unless they had a connection to the business and was surprised someone else was bidding. I can't find any way to see who the buyer was! Are there any sites where someone would catalog their collection?! We really wanted this bottle.
 

XwafflesX

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I also found a newspaper article from Pittston saying that John came back to Pa in 1893 and bought a building to begin the confectionary business. So I think the panic of 1893 had something to do with the partnership ending. Thanks for the tip as I had never heard of the panic.
 

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