Two-fer tonics!

[farmerdan]

I stopped in at my favorite antique shop yesterday and was greeted by Bud, the owner, who told me they had got a bunch of new bottles in! So I opened up the cabinet and began rifling through the typical array of semi-local and out of state pharms, slicks, coke bottles and junky '50s milks. It was only after a couple minutes when I looked up and noticed this nice clean pair of Sims tonics up on top - staring me in the face the whole time! To make a long story short, I walked out with 'em for the whopping grand total of $15! I even told Bud he was bein' too nice and to at least let me give him $15 each but he insisted. (I should add that I have known the owners since I was a kid, and every now and then I drop off a box of clean "non-keepers" from my digs) I still felt kinda guilty, so when I got home, I threw together a box of decent, mostly BIM embossed stuff and ran it back over to him.
Nice guy - and he didn't even know it was my birthday []

 

[rockbot]

cool! happy birthday.

 

[Dansalata]

wow those are nice..happy birthday!!!

 

[Road Dog]

Nice. Tonic and Elixir embossed on them. I like those!

 

[surfaceone]

Hey Dan,

Happy belated birthday. What a double header!

"Sims Tonic / Elixir Of / Pyrophosphate / Of Iron // Sims Tonic Co. // Antwerp, N.Y., amber, rectangular, 7 1/4 inches tall. E.B. Sims, a traveling salesman who developed poor health, hit upon a tonic that gave him “decided and permanent benefitâ€. Pyrophosphate of Iron was first proposed as a medicine by E.M. Robiquet to the “Academy of Medicine†at Paris in 1857. There is some question as to whether Sims Tonic was ever put on he market, but Sims gives testimonials dated as early as 1902 and as late as 1923 in his printed material." Thanks to Glassworks & Dr. Cannon.

I'd say that it's safe to say, that it certainly was on the market. Unless, that an unsold cache was found somewhere.

From.

This box is for sale # 344 over here. "1901 Sims Tonic Medicine Bottle Box Antwerp NY; Never Used; This box was never used so is as it came from the printers and has never been unfolded into a box; If it were unfolded into a box it would measure 3-5/8†X 2-1/4†X 7-78†tall; Colorful picture of one of the bottles (Which were amber) sporting its original label; The label has an anchor with anchor chain; The medicine was “SIMS TONIC ELIXIR OF HYPOPHOSPHATE OF IRONâ€; Says it was “Recommended for Chronic Dyspepsia, General Debility, Rheumatism, Constipation, Nervous Debility, Catarrh of the Stomach, Neuralgia, Sick Headache, all Scrofulous Affections, Eruptive and Cutaneous Diseases, such as Erysipelas, Salt Rheum, Pimples, Postules, Blotches, Boils and Soresâ€; It goes on to say “Also for Wasting Disease, Want of Tone to the System, and convalescence from almost all diseases. Especially Malarial Affections, LaGrippe and Influenzaâ€; Under the bottle is printed “Label Copyright by E. B. Sims, Antwerp, N. Y. 1901â€; Extremely near mint as shown in the photos. ---$8"

This boxed one sold last month for $12.99, while this other one, sold for $19.95 in March. Go figure.

The more I searched, the reported conditions of the ones for sale seemed awfully good. Makes me wonder if there was not a cache found somewhere... Yours seem to be in great shape, as well.

 

[farmerdan]

Thank you all for the birthday greetings! Yep, ripe old age of 37....[8D]
Yeah I kind of got excited because I found 'em on a recent price list at a much higher value.....(no, not Kovel's lol)
Still cool bottles for sure! I think one of 'em will make a nice gift for my brother-( his B-day is coming up...)
Surf, you are incredible! I could spend all day at my comp and still not come up with the wealth of info you pull up for all of us here. You are quite a valuable asset to this forum and I'm certain everyone else appreciates your efforts as much as I do. Many thanks! I think I will purchase a pair of boxes to go with, since they are available. There does seem to be a lot of minty Sims stuff around- probably from the basement of an old drugstore somewhere......

Farmer

 

[cobaltbot]

Those have a great look to them.

 

[JOETHECROW]

I always liked those bottles...Congrats on a nice pair of super clean ones...and Happy Birthday.

 

[Wangan]

Happy Birthday Dan.You are a generous person and Bud sounds like a nice guy too.Throw your bread upon the waters...

Those are sweet looking bottles.I like the ad "small doses-large results"!