USA Med'l Dept.

[Pontiled]

I have never heard of any U.S.A. Hosp. Dept. bottles that were used after the Civil War, except for some surplus bottles that went out west right after the Civil War. Nor has anyone presented me with any documents to show that they were used well afyter the Civil War. I've been digging, collecting, and writing for more than 35 years, and the Civil War was my primary interest.

Mike, I hate to say it, but your bottle looks like a later fake. I have no idea who made that one, but some years ago, a fellow sent me a modern fake and was marketing them as that, fakes, for sale in the west. His bottle was graphite pontiled, had identical embossing as the real one, and the color ewas right. The only difference was that it was finished with an odd lip that was never used in the production of authentic ones from the Civil War. The real problem with his was that someone only had to break off the modern looking lip and claim it was authentic! The mold for his repro was made from an authentic piece!

Hope this helps you, and others, from accepting a modern fake.

 

[RICKJJ59W]

Nice H.O.S.P Dept bottles heres mine dug a few years ago its one of my favorite bottles...

 

[quarrylizard]

Hate to say your wrong....

 

[quarrylizard]

Nice one there,check out these others....guess they are fake too....somebody must have thought of faking bottles back in the 1890's just to fool us in 2007....[]

 

[Pontiled]

My mistake! For some reason, I thought you were talking about U.S.A. Hosp. Dept. bottles, not Medical Department. There's a big history behind them, but I'm not familiar with the duration of their use.

Now you can get on with your conversation.

 

[GuntherHess]

There are definately some repro USA Hospital bottles out there that look pretty good. I wont post the sources , everyone probably already knows about them.

My feeling on the 1000 cc bottle is its probably made after the turn of the century. The other ones look earlier. Its a neat bottle and I hope you try to research them. There seems to be significant info out there about the history of the army medical dept and the task shouldnt be impossible.

 

[Pontiled]

I agree that there is lots of information out there, but I won't be able to contribute toward the knowledge about the Medical Department bottles. As some of you know, I had 2 strokes about 3 years ago and that stopped my bottle digging fun and writing about them. Hopefully, someone out there will pick up his or her pen and begin making notes on these areas of interest to so many bottle people out there. It's a lot easier for most anyone, if they just put their minds to it.

 

[epgorge]

Hopefully, someone out there will pick up his or her pen and begin making notes on these areas of interest to so many bottle people out there

Mike,
Sorry about your health. Thanks for your dedication and interest. I nominate Mike (caldgr) as he has a collection that would make Dr. Richard Cannon proud.
I too am a writer and presently working on what seems the impossible task of listing Small Vermont Milk dairies. The prices recently are skyrocketing! My list started in just my home town and has expanded to the valley, not even the full county, and when I think about the state and then the whole country, it gets mind boggling. Then there are the ones I don't know about and will hear about only after I release the information.
Sign me, A Vermont regular,
Joel

 

[quarrylizard]

I have been looking at all the sources i can find and have seen any,all i can find is a sentence or two about the old ones being used for some period of time after the civil war and then slowly replaced with better quality......what is puzzling is the 1000 cc one is more crudly made than the earlyer ones when you look closely.....if anyone finds any more info please let me know.

thanks mike

 

[RICKJJ59W]

I know mine is not fake I found it on the bottom of a 20 foot privy [][]