irregular Blue bottle

[mabel]

Hello. I'm looking to identify and date this 5" blue bottle. The seams stop above the shoulder. The glass is twice as thick in some areas, especially the bottom and the lip. The bottom says "Patent applied for" around the edge. In the center is a large X, flanked by "8Y", and with "ll" above the X. The front of the bottle says "Patented March 6, 83."
I am a novice and interested in how it was made, contents, etc. Thanks, Mabel
(Now I will see if I can attach the photos.)

Picture reduced in size - please see Help - Using the Forum ---> Uploading a Picture - Admin

 

[woody]

Do a search here for Bixby bottle.

 

[olddump]

That is a BIXBY [they are listed as ink and or shoe polish] I have always thought of them as inks because I have other BIXBY inks the bottles were being used in the 1880s and 90s. They are a nice bottle but pretty common. They also come in a few colors too. I hope this helps you.

 

[mabel]

Boy! You guys are good! Now that I squint at it I can see a faint "i" in front of the "x", but the "B" isn't there.
Why is the base so thick on one side and thin on the other if it was made in a mold? What sorts of lids did they use back then on these bottles? Thanks, Mabel

 

[woody]

It probably had a cork stopper, Mabel.
The reason it is thicker on one side and thinner on the other is the way the glass cooled after being fired.

 

[BRIAN S.]

Hi and welcome to the forum !
I'm not an expert in this category....But I always thought the Bixby Bottles were NOT inks. But rather a Shoe polish or mucilage. The Bixby's come in a variety of colors from Aqua to Olive green. And one could put a nice color variant grouping together . You've got your start with the Aqua. Go for it ! Brian

 

[diginit]

If you want to see a couple more Bixby's, check out the post "6' from the last test hole " in "Digging and Finding".Yours does look more aqua than blue, but different lighting does strange things to cameras. I understand aqua is the most common. great bottle!

 

[mabel]

Another photo.

 

[olddump]

Here is a picture of four Bixbys all diffrent three ARE inks and the one is probably thier shoe polish bottle. So you see they make them both. I allways thought of them as inks because of the books I have all list them as such, but I know they made other stuff.

Tom, Olddump

P.S. The one on the far right is poish

 

[mabel]

Thanks, everyone, for all the information. I believe I bought the bottle in a flurry of confusion, thinking it was one of the earliest Phillips Milk of Magnesia bottles (which I collect). It's good to have the bottle identified, even if it's not as exotic as I imagined.

I'm pleased to find this forum. I've been wondering what happened to Harry Pristis, whose postings I used to read on Worldwide Antique Bottle Collectors forum.
My best to you all. Mabel