Picked up some rare Texas meds yesterday!

[texasdigger]

I went to see my best collector friend this weekend, and managed to get a couple really nice bottles from him. The Cherokee med from Galveston is the only undamaged example that any of us has seen to date. The only other example to ever come up was posted on this site, but it is badly broken. The IXL Sarsaparilla looks a lot like the Morley's sassy from St. Louis, but it is embossed "IXL Sarsaparilla & Potassium Iodide Dr. R. Cotter Houston TEX.". Dr. Richard Cannon owned one of these too, but this one came from Bill Agee's collection. There is one more that came across ebay a few years back. The amber Tobin's bottle is from Austin Texas. I have a small clear one, and there is a large clear one in the same mold as this one. Both of those are rare, but this is the only amber one I have come across to date.

It is was a nice day getting to see the Texas country side, old friends, great bottles and even got to bring a few home with me. Thanks for looking guys!

Brad

 

[AntiqueMeds]

great bottles , what are the heights on them?

 

[texasdigger]

Tobin is 8", the cherokee is 9" and the IXL is 9 1/2". The base on the IXL is 3 3/4" x 2 1/2". It is one big gutsy bottle. The thing wieghs enough to be a boarding weapon! lols

If you want some good daylight single pics of them let me know, and I will take them after they get my handy dandy cleaning.

Brad

 

[AntiqueMeds]

thanks,

I'm currently working on photos for my medicine book.
Would be great to include some of yours.
You can email me if you are interested.
mknapp@antiquemedicines.com

 

[texasdigger]

I just got a new camera, and I would be honored. I will take some pics of what I consider to be my best Texas meds. I just passed the sixty bottle mark in my med collection. It has been a long road, but I am starting to think that I will make it to 100 of them eventually.

 

[AntiqueMeds]

it seems like the stream of new discoveries never ends. Thats what really keeps the hobby interesting.

 

[texasdigger]

The bottles that loom large over my collection needs are the two Texas bitters that I want so badly. I know where both of them reside, but when he decides to sell them I just hope I can come up with the cash. One is the American Hepatitic Bitters, and the Other is the Blood Purifier tonic Bitters. I may have sell a kidney off, but it will be the only chance I ever have to own them.

 

[jays emporium]

Good finds Brad. I have had two of the IXL Sarsaparilla bottles over the years. The aqua one I dug in the downtown Houston dump in 1974 and the other one, which was clear, I got with a collection in 1984. I sold both of them to Dr Cannon. I have never seen that Galveston bottle before.
Jay

 

[texasdigger]

Thanks Jay for looking. I am willing to bet my best bottles that the Cherokee bottle held a bitters. Was the clear one the same size?

 

[Lordbud]

Both of those are rare, but this is the only amber one I have come across to date.

The amber color glass might well signify a different product in some way. Great local/state bottles. Texas would seem to have a whole different bottle situation because of the vast size of the state. In Texas 125 years ago cities were towns, and the distance between them offered far more isolation because of travel limitations consisting of rail, horse or unreliable early auto traffic. So embossed bottles from local firms weren't as widely distributed compared to California or the East Coast/Mid West.