Good Bottle Books

[gvmoughan]

Hi folks,

I'm new here--both to collecting and to the website--and I'm hoping someone can recommend a good set of books on bottle collecting for the beginner. I guess what I'm looking for is not so much a price guide as something that gives copious amounts of information on cleaning and identifying bottles.

Thanks.

Gerry

 

[Harry Pristis]

I recommend Cecil Munsey's THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO COLLECTING BOTTLES. I believe it is long out of print, but you may be able to find one used on the WWW.

--------------Harry Pristis

 

[gvmoughan]

Thanks, Harry. I found a quite reasonably priced copy of the book on a used book site and ordered it.

Gerry

 

[woody]

I try to pick up as many reference books on bottles that I can find.
I have Cecil's book, good recomendation Harry, as well as most of the Kovel's bottle price guides.
Covill's book for inks.
The Red Book of Fruit Jars #9 for mason jars.
Digger O'Dell also has a good series of bottle books out.

The more the merrier, for me.
I also have every issue of Antique Bottle and Glass collector magazine from the last 10 years.

 

[Pontiled]

You didn't mention a specific time frame, but, if you are interested in bottles from the Civil War period, you might find mine to be of interest. It's the Collector's Guide to Civil War Period Bottles and Jars -- With Prices, THIRD Edition. It has chapters on the manufacturers, excavating the bottles, manufacturing techniques, etc., so it's not just "another" price guide. It's buried in another post (Swapping). You might want to check there as I have a special running for the Forum.

Good luck collecting. You've found a great group of people who will share their experiences, knowledge, and opinions.

 

[gvmoughan]

Wow...thanks much Woody and Mike for adding to Harry's advice. This is a great website--helpful people and incredibly well-organized.

Like you, Woody, I believe in the "more the merrier" approach to reference books. In fact (and, yes, I am blushing in embarrassment) I currently own more bottle reference books than I own bottles (two bottles, three books).

And thanks, Mike, for the recommendation of your book on Civil War era bottles. Would that be helpful in the area where I live (Northern California)?

Gerry

 

[Pontiled]

Hi Gerry,

I have only 1 soda listed from California, but the others are, for the most part, ones that can be found there. The book does help. I wish I had more western pieces listed, but most of the information comes from Eastern sites, so most of the bottles are from the Eastern areas of the United States. There are some that were imported from England at the time and found at sites here.