lunch hour finds

[batfish]

All right, I'm becoming a little obsessed with this whole bottle thing. I can't imagine how bad it will get if I ever find anything that has value! I found these three in my usual spot during my lunch break, today.

So, what do I have here? Any ideas? Any information would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Batfish

BTW – Woody, where are you in NH? I’m in Litchfield.

 

[batfish]

oops... picture was > than 200kb. Hang on... picture forthcoming

 

[batfish]

ok - here they are...

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

 

[woody]

I'm in Gilmanton, Batfish.

 

[batfish]

The bottle on the far right has some graduated markings - like it was some sort of medical bottle. It has a very rusty screw top. Any way to dissolve the rust off?

I did a search on the web for my Foss' Liquid Fruit Flavoring bottle and it seems to be worth a couple of bucks! Woo Hoo! Still, I know nothing about the age.

Am I still in the 1940's, here?

 

[Harry Pristis]

Batfish . . .

Oxalic acid, available in your local paint store as "wood bleach," will remove the iron oxide adhering to your bottle. The nice part about oxalic acid is that it is not too dangerous and doesn't seem to produce the fumes that other common acids do.

The bottle with the graduations and the rust is a pharmacy bottle.

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

 

[deepwoods]

Bat- The two on the left appear to be teens to turn o the century to me.Cheers.

 

[Maine Digger]

Bat, the Foss's are pretty common around here, right up there with Baker's Extracts. Foss operated out of Portland, ME, and I probably find one of their bottles almost everytime I dig, unless it's a very old dump. I was at a flea mkt. in Westbrook a couple of weeks ago, and he had a case of Foss bottles that had never been filled. But with that all being said, they're not bad looking, and they do date back to early1900s

 

[batfish]

Early 1900's? That's great! I actually found the Foss bottle in a different area than the others (which were estimated to be from the 40's or so). I found it right on the surface, at the top of a ravine, next to an ancient, decommissioned trolley track. It was among a litter of rusty cans. It's amazing that it's been sitting there for almost a century!

Is there a book that will help me identify and learn something about these low value bottles I have been finding? I saw what looked to be a good book on Amazon, but one of the customer reviews claimed that the book was really geared towards the 'high end'.

 

[Gunsmoke47]

Hey Bat, "Bottle Pricing Guide" by Hugh Cleveland seems to be geared more to the lower end bottles. Happy Diggin, Kelley