W.H. Ware Fish Bitters

[Native]

I am a new member. One of the reasons for joining is to find information on a fish shaped bottle which has been a novelty in our family for years. It belonged to my ggrandfather or possibly my gggrandmother. The Fish Bitters is indicated on one side of the approximately 12" long bottle. On the immediate opposite side is the name W.H. Ware Patented 1866.

Any information will be appreciated.

Native

 

[LC]

W.H. Ware

Hello, I found the following doing a search of the net.

Here in the United States, the first person to make wide-spread use of a fish shaped bottle was one W. H. Ware who patented a fish shaped bottle in 1866. He used the container for his Doctor Fischs Bitters. These much sought after bitters bottles are known in various shades of amber and clear. A second variant of the bottle embossed The Fish Bitters comes in amber, aqua, clear, yellow, shades of green, reddish puce and rarely cobalt blue. Supposedly the recipe for the fish bitters was obtained from a Dr. Gottlieb of Berlin, Prussia. The bitters was advertised throughout the 1870s and 1880s for dyspepsia, general debility, loss of appetite and as an antidote to alcoholic drink (which is strange since most bitters contained liberal amounts of alcohol.) Below states an amber Fish Bitters is valued at $150-$200, but there is one on eBay at the present that has a bid of $450.00, and the auction does not end till the 29th of this month. Hopes this helps you some, Lou[align=center]Fish Bitters in yellow like the one at the left are extremely rare and desireable. The bottle shown is valued between $2500-$3500. Amber examples are fairly common and bring between $150-200. [/align]

 

[Native]

LC

Thank you for the information. I'll watch the Ebay site.. I don't know much about bottles but I probably should since I have emptied a few. I may have contracted the bottle collecting bug since visiting this website. I don't know whether my lady can stand yet another collection.

Native

 

[LC]

No problem, if you want to track the Fish Bitters on eBay, the Item number is 190106006849 . Emptied a few in my wild days as well, but not one of these! Would sure love to have one of those on my shelf. You have what I consider to be a fantastic bottle, and a fantastic piece of history as well.