little bottle

[charlie6395]

Thanks for your help with the pics does anyone have any Ideal of a value?? thanks Charlie

 

[surfaceone]

Hey Charlie,

No clues as to value, but I do like that flask. In form, it's a plate moulded liquor flask, rather than a water from a springs resort. What'd the locals say about this whiskey making?

Have you found any water bottles? How'd you find this one? Are you digging? Further palaver please.

 

[charlie6395]

Hello the locals said the resort made their own whiskey and bottles? They said that the old resort outhouses where built over the creek ''which is where I found this one'' and I guess this is where all the gents at the time would finish off their last nip and just toss the empty in the creek? But anyway they said they have only heard of one guy that had three of them but they thought none of them where a 12 pint whiskey bottle. I had about 50 people come to see the bottle some of them half jokeingly said $100 or $200 and that the best they had ever found was a piece of one. I am a small collector of bottles and marbles and I also do some relic hunting also. but am glad I found this site this is cool stuff thanks for your help.

 

[rockbot]

Definitely a unique flask. Sometimes its hard to put a value on a bottle. If its very desirable then it could sell quite well. I've seen very rare bottles sell for cheap and common but desirable ones sell at ridiculous prices.

What I like is its local history. I would buy one just for that reason.[]

 

[cowseatmaize]

Hello the locals said the resort made their own whiskey and bottles?

I'd have to guess they are mistaken on that, the bottles at least. The reason for the slug it to use the same mold but ID them to many companies etc.
I'd would also say the water may have been used in the distilling but made by a major distillery for them.
Just food for thought, nothing based on documentation from the springs.

 

[Jim]

That's a great find, Charlie. It is a great-looking flask, and a killer piece of local history.

I know that the value of local-interest bottles is very subjective and can vary based on a lot of factors, but your bottle could be the find of a lifetime. To give you an idea, I live in an area that has only a few hard-core bottle collectors and local artifact collectors. When a local bottle of great rarity or importance comes up, the competition for it is intense, even with a fairly small base of serious collectors. If a bottle like yours appeared from this area, and was unique or close to it, it would very likely command seven hundred to a thousand dollars, if not more.

There are two local bottles in my collection that I waited years to find and paid $770 and 1,000 for. I would not sell either one for double or even triple what I paid, they are just too hard to locate and owning them means more to me than the money ever could. The one I paid 770 for even has about eight known examples. They are not unique, but there are guys who want one, don't have one and can't find one.

Hopefully, the 100-200 dollar guys were not seriously trying to buy your bottle. If they were, I would tell them to keep dreaming. Most collectors are good guys, but everyone likes a good deal when they can get one. A few others just blatantly try to steal bottles like this for a quick profit. We have one such joker around here, but everyone knows him and nobody will even talk to him.

Again, congratulations on a killer find. I know I would love to discover something like that from my area. ~Jim

 

[Wheelah23]

I second what Jim said, and think I can add a bit from the other side of the fence. 'Round here, I'm the only one I know collecting bottles from Montclair, East Orange, West Orange, Glen Ridge, etc. Sure, the dozen local collectors I know all have a couple in their collections, but even the rarest bottles don't bring more than $100, as far as I know. They all collect either location-unspecific bottles, or bottles from the neighboring large cities, Paterson and Newark. That may be good news for me, as I'm the only one that collects the smaller town bottles around here, and I can get them for cheap prices. Small town bottles' prices can only go up, as more people will start collecting them, and the supply cannot increase.

As for your flask, I wouldn't let it go for less than $100, or maybe even more. I don't know the rarity of that particular flask, but I'm sure to someone, it's worth quite a lot. It's a once in a lifetime find, for sure. As Jim said, I'd be ecstatic if I found a bottle from a small-time operation like that.

 

[cyberdigger]

I'd keep it until a truly irresistible offer comes along.. that is a very cool bottle, if I found it I'd soil me trousers..[&:]

 

[charlie6395]

Thanks Jim and everyone else for you help and kind commets.I have been doing alot of research and compliling some facts and photos and even a small book I found about the area to display with the bottle.As for selling it I would agree with everyone it would have to be something I could not turn down. So far according to the locals its the only one known of its size to exsit.Does any one have a ideal of the age? And what is a slug? The symbol on the bottle is raised does that mean it had a specific mold? Thanks Charlie

 

[cowseatmaize]

And what is a slug?

That's the use of a front, swappable plate (the circular ring you see one your bottle). Drugstore and many other bottles had them in different shapes etc..
http://www.sha.org/bottle/glossary.htm#Plate%20Mold