Bottle Maker's Bad Day

[Ye Olde Prospector]

Here is an interesting little 3 in. tall bottle I found. Notice every one of the "S"s is backwards. At least the maker was consistent. Guess he was having a bad day. Surprised it got out of the glassworks.
Cliff

 

[IRISH]

Thats a good one [] , the bloke who cut the mould must have been illitterate (sp [] ).
There is an Australian bitters bottle with the whole lot embossed the wrong way around, even the trade mark is backwards to the normal example, it's the Philadelphia hop bitters with negro waiter T.M.

 

[David E]

I found three if same
D.HARTSHORNS/MEDICINE
Cotained " Unadultered Paragoric". Edward Hahrtshorn Est.. his manufactury in Berlin MA. in 1850's and operated a Boston branch in 1867. Berlin office closed in 1895
Color and Dem ?

Dr HARTSHORN FAMILY MEDICINES (embosed bull's-eye center of vessel)
Aqua 7 1/4" x 2 3/4" x 1 3/8"
bottle manfactured Ca 1874

Same as above

Aqua 9 1/4"x ? x ?

Dave

 

[Dirranbandi]

G'day

Funny how many embossings were reversed in the moulds.

Here is the Reverse Philadelphia Hop Bitters.

Cheers,

Dirranbandi

 

[IRISH]

That's the one Dirranbandi [] , I thought I had a photo of one here somewhere but apparently not.
Is that one yours ?

 

[Ye Olde Prospector]

Hi Dirranbandi,
That bitters mold maker must have insisted on free samples of the product before he made the mold for them.[] Sure would like to dig one of those but can dream anyway.
That's quite a bitters bottle.
Cliff

 

[Ye Olde Prospector]

David E
Thanks for the info on E.Hartshorn&Sons bottle. Didn't realize paragoric went back that far, helps explain small bottle size. Remember taking it to get sleep if you had a real bad cough. Had to sign for stuff at drugstore contained opiates.
Here's a Dr. Hartshorns I dug too. Snap case mold,7 in.tall,applied lip whittled but needs cleaning. Fits 1870's manufacture date. Find them once in a while.
Cliff

 

[flasherr]

Is it possible that some of the companies might have done these things on purpose to catch your attention considering the bottles are embossed and not flashy? Could have been an early advertising gimmick.
Brian

 

[Dirranbandi]

G'day

Possibly an advertising gimmick, although I have seen a crown seal soft drink with different companies embossed on each side, so it may have been a case of the mould being left in the machine.

The Reverse Philadelphia was dug in Brisbane a few years ago by my digging partner - this is a photo of mine; the earlier post/photo was a sample from the web which shows the embossing a little clearer than mine. Mine still has a nuisance stain which won't budge - right on the front of course!

The"S" and "N" reversals on embossings seem to be the most common mould mistakes. Another mould mistake for Australian bottles were misspelled names (manufacturer or town), e.g. Dalbey for Dalby as well as Toogooloowah for Toogoolawah.

Cheers,

Dirranbandi

 

[Ye Olde Prospector]

I think most errors in the embossing were just that, they were corrected as soon as the customer noticed. Otherwise these bottles would be more common. Reversed "S"s seem to be the most common but I have found reversed "N"s and transposed initials and letters in names as well. I am sure the glass works had apprentices and people learning all aspects of the job as we do today. So mistakes will happen.
Cliff