Set of 4 Bromo Seltzer Embossed TORONTO, ONT

[Lbrewer42]

I have chronic migraines, so what better excuse to put more cobalt blue on the shelves and collect Bromo Seltzer stuff? I saw a Bromo Seltzer display online a few years ago and Had to have that huge chunk of cobalt glass but cheated the system a little b/c I bought mine a part at a time inexpensively and pieced it together rather than paying the 250.00 they were going for at the time. I had the bottle from a dig long ago. The pics included are from an eBay auction awhile ago, but mine is identical and in this good of a condition.

I thought all Bromo Seltzer bottles were embossed as being from Baltimore. In Canada one day at an insulator show I saw one, and missed buying it, embossed TORONTO, ONT! So started a quest to get one. TYping in Bromo Seltzer Toronto brings in very few its on a search engine. But I did find/buy the following set off of Etsy. And anyone can tell me I overpaid spending 32.00...but I had no idea they were even made in larger sizes and to find another such lineup would be a very hard thing to do.
IN the pic showing the bottle lineup you can see the smallest has a chipped lip, but you can also see my flawless one peeking out from behind.

 

[CanadianBottles]

That dispenser is so cool! The bottles are the standard ones we get here in Canada but the large one is fairly unusual. Not totally sure I remember seeing one in that size before. Bromo Seltzer doesn't seem to have caught on quite as much here in Canada as it did in the US until the 50s or so, so while they're not rare bottles by any means the fully-embossed ones aren't ubiquitous like they are in the US. $32 for the lineup isn't really overpaying by that much, especially considering the large one. While you could have probably gotten a cheaper deal from a Canadian digger in theory, these aren't bottles that show up in every dollar bin up here and when they do they're usually snatched up fast because they're so aesthetically pleasing. I usually see asking prices on the fully-embossed ones to be around $5-15, so pretty much in line with what you paid.

 

[Lbrewer42]

Thanks for this info. I have another Canadian friend who also told me he has only seen one of the larger bottles labeled Toronto. Funny thing is the Canadian Toronto bottle will not fit the top of the dispenser. It goes down over the rubber "cone" (hole in the center of the cone) that is on top of the unit, but it won't go down all the way. I am guessing that means they may not have used the units in Canada? The company gave them away according to the attached clip in the one pic above. So very little online about Bromo in Canada...except it is still available there in powder form (and reformulated).

 

[hemihampton]

what's the largest size made? quart size? I found the very bottom of a quart size before, at first I thought I found the bottom of a quart size cobalt blue hutch, was excited, but then took awhile to realize it was a bromo seltzer which at that time didn't figure that as not aware one that size existed? Leon.

 

[Lbrewer42]

A quart Bromo?! I just measured and my largest (both Balitmore and Toronto bottles) are 12 Oz. liquid capacity. The Balitmore bottle fits the top of the dispenser and looks , to the eye, the same size, but the Toronto one will not fit all the way down onto the unit.

 

[CanadianBottles]

I wonder if the quart could have been a display unit. I've never seen one remotely that large either. I would hate to have been the person that needed to buy Bromo Seltzer by the quart!

 

[Lbrewer42]

Do you remember much about the piece. Was it embossed right side up (I assume). Some of the ones for the displays are embossed upside down. I assume, if you could make it out, Baltimore? The guy to ask would be Ernie Dimler. His collection of Brom o seltzer bottles and anything having to do with the product is displayed in the famous Bromo Seltzer tower in Baltimore. But he is hard to get ahold of!

 

[hemihampton]

All I remember was it was about the bottom 1/4 of the bottle & big, looked quart size to me. It did say Baltimore M.D. near bottom. I thought a cobalt blue quart hutch from Baltimore, looked on Hutchbook.com & no such thing. Then I realized that Baltimore M.D. looked familiar as I must of dug 30 or 40, maybe more of those Bromo Seltzer's in much smaller sizes & then made the connection. Pretty sure I left that broken shard at the dump. this was about 10+ years ago. If I find it in a box here some day I'll post a pic. Leon.

 

[RCO]

i see the Toronto ones around here a fair bit but i live in canada , have the smallest sized one in the picture you posted but thats all i have

 

[Lbrewer42]

I know you said you have the smaller one, but do you see the larger ones? I wish I lived close to the border like I used to so I could go looking in antique shops etc. I would like to see if I could find cork tops of the larger ones.

I have to wonder who made these? Maryland Glass made all the ones in the States as well as most cobalt blue glass. It was expensive to produce and companies did not get enough orders. So Captain Emerson of Balitmore decided his glass company would be cobalt blue specialists.

I looked at the bottom of mine and could find only numbers except for the large one. It has a D in a triangle which I assume is Dominion Glass. I have glass insulators with this marking as well.