Bitters question and a ' money' shot

[David Osborn]

Found two mysteries tonight. Ramsey' s Trinidad Bitters, 8 or 9 inches tall, olive green bottle. Not on the Kovel site or in their book, OR in the third edition of Polak book. Its my second bitters ! The first was an excellent Saxlehners from same dig. its my new fave ! This new Trinidad has that ' sick' look I' ve seen described, all pearly and icky unless the outside is wetted down. Any ideas on value and age ?? The second question is the broken bottle in my scan. What was it and its age ? The word MONEY many be the tail-end of some other word. Only other letters reads 16 Oz. -Dave.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Hello, David . . .
I can' t help you with your " money" bottle. I can tell you that your Bitterquelle bottle is NOT a bitters bottle -- it is a mineral water imported from Europe (Hungary, I believe).

It is a common misconception that these are bitters bottles -- I frequently see them at flea markets marked as " bitters" and priced outrageously-high. These days, I just chuckle and move along.

The history of this mineral water is well-known -- I remember an article about 10 years ago in OBX or ABGC with details of the water and the bottler/importer.

This misconception doesn' t rank with the equally-false notion of " whittle" resulting from a wooden bottle-mold. The latter persists among a few collectors. The majority of collectors soon become aware that " bitterquelle" is not the same as " bitters."
----------Harry Pristis

 

[David Osborn]

OK, that last letter seems to have stopped anyone else from answering my two questions. Any help ??? Dave