pharmacy/druggist size runs

[Lordbud]

I happen to collect local pharmacy/druggist bottles. If I see different sizes of the same bottle I will usually pick them up -- if they are affordable. I kind of like winning a bottle still in need of cleaning. No, not tumbling but just soaking and brushing out. Here is one I managed to win very recently. I love the embossing font on this one. Eastern blown and very attractive. For a druggist bottle. Oakland is right across the bridge from San Francisco.

 

[nhpharm]

Very nice! I have several runs...pretty hard to put together, but I consider a run to be: 1/2 OZ, 1 OZ, 2 OZ, 3 OZ, 4 OZ, 6 OZ, 8 OZ, 16 OZ, and 32 OZ (if you are lucky). I managed to put together some runs of the 1/2 through the 16, but never the full 1/2 to 32...and it really seems like many pharmacies did not have some sizes (like the 16 OZ, the 1/2 OZ, and the 6 OZ).

 

[botlguy]

I also have long been a fan of local Pharmacy / Drug Store size and variant runs. I have found, through my search for 48 state 1/2 ounce & certain 1 ounce bottles, that to have a complete run of certain ones you must have a 1/4 ounce. A long time back I asked this forum if anyone had any or knew of them. Eventually I got one off eBay.

Today I am continuing my quest for the 48 state 1/2 ounce run and to get every size and variant from Santa Ana, Calif and Coeur d' Alene, Idaho.

 

[nhpharm]

Jim,

You are right...though I don't think I have located any 1/4 ounce examples from my main focus (New Hampshire). I just listed an amber 1/2 ounce from New Hampshire on eBay...the only colored 1/2 ounce from New Hampshire that I am aware of. I love the little ones...dug a very nice 1870's 1/2 ounce druggist bottle from Galveston, Texas a few weeks ago.

 

[sandchip]

Those are nice. I'm always looking for different size druggists from Montezuma, Ga. if y'all come across any. Or Americus.

 

[antlerman23]

I have a couple 12oz driggists from my local area, is that an uncommon size? I have seen maybe 5 other 12oz druggists from Minnesota too

 

[botlguy]

12 ounce is not uncommon depending on the manufacturer and the requirements if the druggist. Most runs are from 1/2 ounce to 32 ounce by 2s then 4s. To say it better: 1/2, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 32. Some companies had graduations between these. Jim

 

[mctaggart67]

In Canadian druggists, the standard run, according to glassworks' catalogues and my 35 years' experience collecting, is: 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 16 ounce. 12 ouncers are harder to find, but I wouldn't say they fall into the rare category, since they tend to show up for certain druggists. Makes me think that this size was a special requested up here. 32 ouncers are rare. I've only seen a few and only found a broken one beneath the floor board of an old shack.

 

[nhpharm]

Now you folks have my interest piqued...I don't recall any 12 ouncers from New Hampshire but maybe there are. I'll have to poke through my collection. I know I don't have any as part of runs but I may have some one-offs. I wonder if the 12 ounce ones are more common from prolific large-city druggists or from certain glass houses?

 

[botlguy]

Just for the record, I have a copy of David Bethman's "THE PIONEER DRUG STORE" Copyright 1991 which chronicles Pharmacies and Drug Stores in Washington state. It has a plethora of information about the business, arguably the most complete, thorough work of its type. In it, David, a friend of mine, includes copies of ads from various bottle manufacturers that show listings for 12 ounce bottles. Granted most ads are from W.T. Co. that show different styles and sizes. As others have mentioned, it would be up to the individual druggist / pharmacist to order what they needed and it does seem, from fewer found today, that 12 ounce bottles were not used as much as other sizes. Jim