A walk in the woods, Morton and Richardson

[jerrypev]

Walking in the woods one day I noticed the bottom of this bottle sticking out of the leaves and dirt. I kicked what I expected to be a shard but to my surprise the shard was solidly embedded in the ground. I was soon removing a complete Morton and Richardson green bottle.
Morton and Richardson were the iconic early bottlers of Trenton, NJ. Morton was an Irish immigrant born in 1819, Richardson, born in New Hampshire 1806, had moved to Trenton between 1847 and 1849. Morton was a brewer and by the mid 1850s they were in business together. They dominated local bottling until 1864 when Richardson invested in the Lafayette Hotel with L. S. Sutphin, temporarily leaving bottling. By 1870 Morton was retired, the hotel business in a slump at the end of the Civil War and Richardson returned to bottling with his son Charles H as Richardson and Son.
Morton died in Trenton April 20, 1873. Richardson didn't last long after the death of his old friend dying Febuary 8, 1876. Records show they had become affluent local businessmen with considerable assets.

 

[jerrypev]

Advertisement from the Trenton City Directory 1854-55 for Morton and Richardson. They advertised being able to deliver with 20 miles of Trenton. Without adequate refrigeration and sterilization early bottlers remained very local due to the restrictions of transporting perishable products in wagons over rough dirt roads.

 

[jerrypev]

Stoneware mead, Morton and Richardson dated 1854.
Photo courtesy of the Trenton Historical Society and Museum

 

[epackage]

The Mortons are nice, I just wish there were more early colored sodas from Paterson.....frustrating for me...Jim

 

[RICKJJ59W]

ORIGINAL: jerrypev

Walking in the woods one day I noticed the bottom of this bottle sticking out of the leaves and dirt. I kicked what I expected to be a shard but to my surprise the shard was solidly embedded in the ground. I was soon removing a complete Morton and Richardson green bottle.
Morton and Richardson were the iconic early bottlers of Trenton, NJ. Morton was an Irish immigrant born in 1819, Richardson, born in New Hampshire 1806, had moved to Trenton between 1847 and 1849. Morton was a brewer and by the mid 1850s they were in business together. They dominated local bottling until 1864 when Richardson invested in the Lafayette Hotel with L. S. Sutphin, temporarily leaving bottling. By 1870 Morton was retired, the hotel business in a slump at the end of the Civil War and Richardson returned to bottling with his son Charles H as Richardson and Son.
Morton died in Trenton April 20, 1873. Richardson didn't last long after the death of his old friend dying Febuary 8, 1876. Records show they had become affluent local businessmen with considerable assets.

Looks like it dropped out of the sky right into a tumbler

 

[jerrypev]

The Morton and Richardson bottle like others at that site (The BP Reeder bottle in my other post for instance) didn't need cleaning. Bottles found near the surface in the woods around here can be really clean. It does have a lip chip on the other side but what can I do, anyway it was free.

 

[Wheelah23]

What kind of woods do you live near??? LOL The bottle gods have a thing for you! []

 

[Gromit0299]

ORIGINAL: Wheelah23

What kind of woods do you live near??? LOL The bottle gods have a thing for you! []

I was wondering the same thing, Connor. Magic woods. Apparently, I'm living in the wrong place. [>:]

 

[KBbottles]

Hi Jerry,

Stupid question as I haven't looked into it much. Are the Trenton Mortons related to the Newark Mortons at all? Both have pontil age bottles. I have a few from Newark and one very nice one from Trenton as well as the "thumbprint" pontil Richardson. Ill take some photos and add some time this weekend.

-KB

 

[jerrypev]

Morton was a common name. Wm Morton of Trenton had no relationship to the Newark bottler that I have found.