Lake of Bays beverages huntsville ontario bottle

[RCO]

came across an online add for a bottle collection for sale this morning and guy was only 15 minutes away from where i live so i went and looked at it but didn't buy as he wanted way too much money . wanted $1000.00 and wouldn't negotiate the price at all and collection wasn't likely worth more than a couple hundred i offered him $250 for the collection but he wouldn't even consider the offer . his online add was for a bottle collection from 1900's however his earliest bottles except for one was 20's era .

however it was an interesting trip as he did have 1 rare local bottle i hadn't seen before and his property has on it a dump from an old hotel that was located on lake of bays ontario which was a top tourist destination back in the 19000's-60's and still is today a top lake to own a cottage on in ontario very pricely and many worth millions of dollars .

so i got a few pictures of the bottle and interested to know if anyone else has one or seen one i also tried to buy just this bottle from him but he wouldn't even consider any of my offers .
its from a company in huntsvile ontario called " huntsville beverages " and just a plain 7oz green bottle , front its called lake of bays beverages and back acl has a map of lake of bays and lists local towns

 

[RCO]

another picture of the bottle

 

[RCO]

a picture of back but might not be clear enough to see map , his basement was dark and pics not great

 

[RCO]

i also forgot to mention this company is not listed in the ontario pop bottlers list book for some reason it lists every bottler in ontario but seems to have missed this one as being an acl bottle it must of came out between 1930's-40's . i asked my parents about the bottle and they have lived here since 50's and they have never heard of the company before .

only thing i saw online was an acl collector has the bottle listed on his " want list " he describes as an having a scene of a lake and some clouds which was same acl i saw

 

[RCO]

his property supposedly contains the dump for the "britannia hotel " which operated on lake of bays , but i don't think he has dug deep enough into the dump to reach the good bottles , my guess is he has only scatched the surface and finding 20's-50's era stuff , anyways i found a picture online of the hotel . i asked for permission to dig there come spring but he was sort of cold to the idea and said he usually says no to people who ask .

 

[Bixel]

I have seen the bottle before. Not sure of how rare it is. In that condition, sadly, its overall value is severely hit.

 

[RCO]

yes i agree its value is limited thats why i didn't buy collection at that price , he wouldn't even consider a lower price or negotiate .
he did have a couple nice 6 oz bottles in really good condition , one for temagami dry and a couple for simcoe beverages of orillia ontario .
i honestly can't recall seeing the lake of bays bottle before , so not sure what one would go for in a local antique store if they were ever to have one in stock but his 2 were both in bad condition so likely not worth more than $20 unless someone with a cottage on the lake really wanted one and was willing to pay more

he also had an odd torpedo bottle , likely the only bottle in entire collection really from 1900's . he said his father had found it and not at this location , was for " chiswick fuller and co " a UK bottle and light greenish or blueish in colour i couldn't find anything on the internet about it and didn't get a picture of it

 

[MIssissaugadigger]

This article caught my eye immediately because I grew up going to a cottage in Baysville.
Was that hotel located on Bigwin island?
I still visit a friend 4 or 5 times a year who lives off hwy 117.
Cheers,
Ken...

 

[RIBottleguy]

You could always offer to pay him for any decent bottles you find. Also, you could demonstrate your passion of the hobby. Bring a few bottles from the area and tell him their history. If you can show him you're a decent guy the odds are he'll warm up to you and give you the ok to dig. Good luck!

 

[RCO]

there was a number of hotels on lake of bays , the one your thinking of is "bigwin island " its a very exlcusive and private resort . my guess is if you showed up there and tried to dig or dive for bottles they'd kick you out and not be very happy . but its not a very old hotel by muskoka standards as alot opened in 1900's and bigwin opened in the 20's

there was also a large hotel near 117 across from bigwin island called the" wawa hotel ", it burned down in the 1920's according to my research and site is now cottages . no idea if any dumps for the hotel have ever been found