Great piece of glassblowing history/science I got recently

[Plumbata]

Hey folks, I picked this up for cheap recently, and its appeal keeps growing on me day by day. For those of you who like antique blown glass, as well as the science and chemistry behind it (like me), then you will probably agree that it is a fascinating piece on several levels.

It is a BIM apothecary jar with a ground stopper (it's stuck but whatever), with original label and contents. What makes it so interesting should be quite clear.

The label reads:​

GLASS BATCH

The ingredients of of which this bottle is made: Sand SiO2,
Soda Ash Na2CO3, lime CaCO3, and sodium nitrate NaNO3.
In addition an oxide of manganese, nickel, or zinc is
commonly used as a color corrective

THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM

How cool is that! An antique bottle which contains its own exact and proportional mix of chemical ingredients. I haven't seen one before, and don't know if it was sold as a souvenir, a teaching aid to technical schools, or if it was part of a display.

 

[Bottleworm]

That is cool! Too bad it didn't say Peoria instead![] How have you been? Been picking anything up lately? Been digging your dump?

 

[nhpharm]

It was part of one of the many displays at the "The Commercial Museum" in Philadelphia. I believe most of the holdings of that museum were sold in 2010 and the stuff has been surfacing extensively. Really some neat stuff...I had a few items from there in those glass-topped "Simplex" canning jars. You can google "The Commercial Museum" and you will find a lot of information about the place including photos of some of the displays. Everything was labeled with that style of label.

Very neat!

 

[Plumbata]

No real excitement lately Dylan, I've been trying to make/save money and compile research to roll out some new lucrative business projects soon.

Thanks for the explanation Brandon, I bet some great stuff got sold in that auction.

 

[Bottleworm]

Bummer bud. I have been working on an old dump here in town and have been pulling some stuff out lately but not very old like your dump. We are only about 2 feet down and got some cool sodas, marbles, toys, couple o bottles, bunch of scrap metal and etc.. stuff going back tomorrow to dig hopefully.

 

[epackage]

That's as cool as it gets Plumb, I've seen alot of their stuff on auction sites and the like over the last few years, they had some amazingly cool display pieces. You got one of the best in my opinion...

 

[Plumbata]

Good to hear that you're out digging Dylan, do you think that the dump goes deeper? I have no idea what the dump situation is like but some of the milks from your town dating even after WWII are tough and worth good money. Find any locals in there yet? Hopefully you can get deeper and obtain some older material. Considering the marbles and toys I wouldn't be surprised if coins are lurking in there. A sifter might be worthwhile for getting them and the marbles and smalls? One 50s dump I came across in Ohio was nothing but incinerated stuff and broken glass, but right off the surface I plucked a half dozen wheaties. Very strange. Wish they were dimes instead, heh. Please feel free to post pics or specifics about your finds, and remember to dig to the bottom!

Thanks for the input Jim, I was not aware of the 2010 auction or any of the items that came out, so if you say it is one of the best I won't disagree, nor am I inclined to search for evidence indicating otherwise! [] For 5 bucks I figured it would go quite well with my iron slugplate molds and other apothecary jars. I found it interesting that Zinc and Nickel oxides were used as "correctives" as well as that of Manganese. Most people only seem to reference the latter.

 

[RICKJJ59W]

Isn't that called "Cocaine" these days [] cool stuff

 

[epackage]

ORIGINAL: Plumbata
Thanks for the input Jim, I was not aware of the 2010 auction or any of the items that came out, so if you say it is one of the best I won't disagree, nor am I inclined to search for evidence indicating otherwise! [] For 5 bucks I figured it would go quite well with my iron slugplate molds and other apothecary jars. I found it interesting that Zinc and Nickel oxides were used as "correctives" as well as that of Manganese. Most people only seem to reference the latter.

They had a ton of jars like this and other apothecary jars with every kind of plant, mineral and chemical listed, I assume the reason that nickel and zinc don't get mentioned is because they may actually not have any effect on a bottle turning SCA when exposed to UV rays...