surfaceone
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ORIGINAL: Dugout
Here are what the Chinese put their opium in, around my neck of the woods.
Hello Renee,
I gotta argue with you and Uncle Ernie about this. I don't know where the story started about these being opium bottles, but I suspect somewhere out West & years ago. I believe it to be a "collector myth," and one that has no basis in fact.
I know that these have been found in many historic Chinese sites throughout the land, but particularly in the West. These had no involvement with the smoking of opium. Perhaps they contained an opium tincture, or elixir, but I highly doubt it. I believe they held a Chinese medicine, and a very small amount of it.
Great photos, and a great bottle, just not an opium. If anyone has a labelled "Opium" example, boy would I like to see it.
Opium, of the smoking variety, was sold and traded in tins or cans, they are often debossed as such. Here's some opium smoking tools. Notice the absence of such a bottle:
Opium cans can be seen Right Here @ Opium Cans.
"Sheer top aqua glass medicine bottles of various sizes. These were all found in BC. They were often erroneously called "opium bottles" by bottle diggers. Bottles such as these were commonly available at bottle swap meets." See Here.
Opium of the smoking variety was not conducive to being bottled.