Druggist bottles

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Screwtop

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I got these four bottles the other day because I wanted to branch out into the world of druggist bottles. Besides, they're cool. :)

The R.R. Harting bottles are both BIM, and date to around 1895-1910. I found R.R. Harting mentioned in pharmaceutical publications in 1890, 1899, and 1900.


C.J. Peters of Sacramento was a bit harder to find. I only found mention of his business in 1905 and 1922, when he argued against prohibition in a druggist publication. This bottle is BIM as well.


The Cassells Drug Store bottle had me scratching my head for a bit. The lip seems crude, almost wavy and misshapen. I thought it was older, but research pointed out that Cassells Drug Store opened in Lexington Kentucky in 1904. The family had a druggist business before this, so it might be from an earlier business than the one listed. The Cassells were a unique family, having fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, and getting involved in escapades after the war.



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This is a local bottle for me, only a few miles away in fact. The address on the bottle lists 9th and Chillicothe St. as the place of business. I cannot find anything about Service Drug Co. but there is a pharmacy on the site of the address listed today called Stakers Service Drugs. Stakers was founded in the 1940s, and the date on this bottle is 1925. I believe Staker bought the original business back then and added his name to the front. Its a pretty cool bottle, and I like the slogan: "Fast and Furious Delivery". Excuse me? What was fast in 1925!?
 

UncleBruce

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I have felt that the collecting of Drug Store bottles is a wide open field. Most collectors are only looking for their local examples, colored glass, pictorial bottles, etc. etc. Many super examples can be found for less than $20. While I don't really collect them when I find them cheap I usually buy them. You can literally amass a collection in the thousands if you pursue it with no limits. Message me your address and I will send you a couple.
 

Wildcat wrangler

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I have felt that the collecting of Drug Store bottles is a wide open field. Most collectors are only looking for their local examples, colored glass, pictorial bottles, etc. etc. Many super examples can be found for less than $20. While I don't really collect them when I find them cheap I usually buy them. You can literally amass a collection in the thousands if you pursue it with no limits. Message me your address and I will send you a couple.

Hey, that sounds painfully like a lot of my collection! And no label, no embossing-no frills- other than some dirt in a lot of them. Hard to be excited about them- and just think in 1982 I was sure happy to find my first one under a road, sticking out the side? Well compacted and Redding summer baked dirt. I think it took me 1.5 hrs to get it loose…. All Scratched up! But I found it in the middle of town. Want some bottles? (That’s like around here- everyone’s like “want some squash?” You don’t dare leave your car unlocked….)


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UncleBruce

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Hey, that sounds painfully like a lot of my collection! And no label, no embossing-no frills- other than some dirt in a lot of them. Hard to be excited about them- and just think in 1982 I was sure happy to find my first one under a road, sticking out the side? Well compacted and Redding summer baked dirt. I think it took me 1.5 hrs to get it loose…. All Scratched up! But I found it in the middle of town. Want some bottles? (That’s like around here- everyone’s like “want some squash?” You don’t dare leave your car unlocked….)
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I'm not saying this to discourage anyone, but collecting slick bottles (no embossing on its side) is the wrong way to collect bottles. Unless they are being repurposed for some other use like a vase, a replacement lip for another bottle or something else they are very boring and unattractive. Stick to collecting embossed examples, which are vastly more interesting in appearance/history and recycle the slicks.
 

RCO

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I have felt that the collecting of Drug Store bottles is a wide open field. Most collectors are only looking for their local examples, colored glass, pictorial bottles, etc. etc. Many super examples can be found for less than $20. While I don't really collect them when I find them cheap I usually buy them. You can literally amass a collection in the thousands if you pursue it with no limits. Message me your address and I will send you a couple.

I don't find druggist bottles are that easy to find here , you see the odd one in some of the antique malls , we've yet to have any bottles shows this year due to covid restrictions so not a lot of new stuff is coming up for sale yet

most of the druggist bottles I find in the wild are clear no embossing versions they seemed to be widely used here , would of had a paper label which is now long gone
 

UncleBruce

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I don't find druggist bottles are that easy to find here , you see the odd one in some of the antique malls , we've yet to have any bottles shows this year due to covid restrictions so not a lot of new stuff is coming up for sale yet most of the druggist bottles I find in the wild are clear no embossing versions they seemed to be widely used here , would of had a paper label which is now long gone
Agreed about the malls. These are usually the best source for the bargains. Shows are going to produce the most, the prices are usually higher, but the quality is there. Forget about FeeBay there is rarely anything worth the asking prices.
 

RCO

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Agreed about the malls. These are usually the best source for the bargains. Shows are going to produce the most, the prices are usually higher, but the quality is there. Forget about FeeBay there is rarely anything worth the asking prices.


I've seen some neat druggist bottles on ebay but don't think I've ever bought one , combination of asking price plus shipping usually way too high unless they had something incredible but I don't really know enough about druggist bottles to know which ones are rare
 

CanadianBottles

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I don't find druggist bottles are that easy to find here , you see the odd one in some of the antique malls , we've yet to have any bottles shows this year due to covid restrictions so not a lot of new stuff is coming up for sale yet

most of the druggist bottles I find in the wild are clear no embossing versions they seemed to be widely used here , would of had a paper label which is now long gone
It changes a lot when you get into more rural areas like yours, since there wouldn't have been many embossed druggist bottles used out there in the first place and it wasn't common for them to end up far from their home city (although it did happen of course, especially in towns along major passenger railway routes). If you head down to the Ottawa Valley and presumably Southern Ontario as well you're going to encounter far more of them.
 

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