Mystery yard sale bottle

annabelle1979 · Jul 28, 2006

Hi everyone,
I picked up this one bottle at a yard sale last weekend for 50 cents and I cannot find any information on it. The paper labels are still intact. The one around the neck says "Williams Bros and Charbonneau", and the main label on the front says "English Spiced Sweet Mixed". Also on the front label is "unexcelled" and "quality" and it says "Detriot Michigan USA" and in tiny letters it says "Calvert Lith Co". Obviously, it's some kind of pickle/relish/condiment jar, but I pull up very little information about the company, and the design of the jar is leaving me confused. It almost looks like there is a smoothed pontil mark on the bottom, but it's probably just part of the design of the mold. Even though the bottle appears to be three-sided, there is actually 6 sides to it, and it looks like 3 seams run up the bottle. The seams do not run through the lip. Oh, and there was once a small label over the main label but it's long gone. Probably a store price or something.
If anyone can give me any information on this item I'll be thrilled.
Thanks in advance. I'll attempt to attach some pictures.
Anne

annabelle1979 · Jul 28, 2006

Here is the front of the bottle.
-Anne

annabelle1979 · Jul 28, 2006

Here is the bottom.

madpaddla · Jul 28, 2006

Annabelle:

Well done. Welcome to the forum. Tons of great people here to help ya. And sometimes, in this case, you brought up a ?? I had. First about your bottle: For the price, a good purchase. Doubtful that it is a pontil mark but a pic would answer that. The label looks real nice. I have also dug these same bottles and others like ketchups...but Williams is embossed on it. Is there any embossing on yours? Welcome to the forum. Keep cheaking those yard sales, backyards, antique shops, you've done real well so far. That base is a bit different than I thought it would look like. Some others here will be most helpful. Madpaddla

annabelle1979 · Jul 28, 2006

Thanks for the welcome, MadPaddla. At the same yard sale I got a Horlick's Malted Milk and a Kendall's Spavin Cure for Human Flesh. Not huge finds, but great for 50 cents.
There is no embossing. I was really torn between posting this in the post 1900 or pre 1900 section. I'm starting to think that it is probably early 1900's-1910's when paper labels started becoming more popular.
Anne

madpaddla · Jul 28, 2006

Is there any embossing on the relish? That horlicks...is it aqua or clear. That is another great buy for 50 cents. Don't worry much about the sections you post in. Most folks check out each section anyway but it does help. I'm digging a 1890 - 1910 dump so I'm in the same position as you. When you get a few bottles like this time.....3 or 4 bottles....post em in the digging/finding. Well done on the finds there anna and keep your eyes out. The old sodas are becoming my favorites. This hobby is fun huh. Take care. Madpaddla

capsoda · Jul 28, 2006

Great finds Anne. Like Ben said it's not pontled but for 50 cents it is a great find. Sweet English Spiced Sweet Mixed was probable chow chow. Thats a combination of mixed vegetables that was very popular from the 1870s to WW1. I know a guy that makes his own.

It dates to the 1880s just before bottle machines were put into use and without a lable it's a common bottle.

I'd clean off the sticky stuff from the tape or price sticker.

annabelle1979 · Jul 28, 2006

Ben, the Horlick's bottle is clear, and I think it's probably worth about 3 or 4 bucks. It's so funny how fate works. I just stopped at this yard sale on a whim and bought a few bottles. That was a couple weeks ago and now I'm HOOKED on bottle collecting. I don't know how I managed to make it to 27 without discovering this addicting hobby!
Warren, thanks for the information. It makes sense that this was once a bottle of "chow chow" (which I think my Italian in-laws call something like giardino) because it's "mixed". I thought the presense of a label made it fairly uncommon as well.
I've got this website bookmarked. I think I'm going to make some excellent friends here. [

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Anne

WhiteLighting · Jul 29, 2006

The glass Addiction is a strange one!....I went from 3 or 4 bottles to over 150 in a month,now Im over loaded and have to get rid of some of my favorites...

Lynette · Jul 29, 2006

I got introduced to digging less than 5 months ago and I have well over 300 bottles ....some bought but at least 75% dug....
It is definitely a healthy addiction [

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