What was it used for??

[Halfempty]

I have looked and I can not seem to find out what this small bottle was used for.
I use to collect bottles when I was a kid and this is one of many that has been in storage for at least 40 years.
Anyway,
I found it many years ago by a creek that was being dredged in Chesapeake Virginia.
It's 2 2/8" tall and 1 1/2" wide at base.
I could be totally wrong, but I think it was made by, Whitall Tatum & Company, Millville, New Jersey between 1857 and 1901.
I was thinking Ink bottle or maybe a medicine bottle??? I'm probably way off so I was wondering if anyone has seen one of these and knows what it was used for.
Thanks,
Jim

 

[hemihampton]

Not 1857 but 1901 might be closer. not sure what was in it but very common, I've left hundreds behind. LEON.

 

[Halfempty]

Not 1857 but 1901 might be closer. not sure what was in it but very common, I've left hundreds behind. LEON.

Great info, thanks.

 

[CanadianBottles]

Generic bottles like this could have held all sorts of things. Really anything that was the right size and consistency to put into a bottle like that. This sort of bottle was just one of many sizes that someone could order from Whitall Tatum for whatever they wanted to use it for. Most likely it was some sort of medicine. Almost certainly wasn't ink, those usually had much shorter necks and I've never seen a labeled ink that looked anything like yours. Paint is a possibility though, I've seen paint in similar bottles.

 

[Len]

It might be a glue/"mucilage". Perhaps for a dentist.

 

[J.R. Collector]

Glue

 

[Halfempty]

Generic bottles like this could have held all sorts of things. Really anything that was the right size and consistency to put into a bottle like that. This sort of bottle was just one of many sizes that someone could order from Whitall Tatum for whatever they wanted to use it for. Most likely it was some sort of medicine. Almost certainly wasn't ink, those usually had much shorter necks and I've never seen a labeled ink that looked anything like yours. Paint is a possibility though, I've seen paint in similar bottles.

Thanks for the look.
I'm just getting into this so I really appreciate the info.

 

[BF109]

Maybe a shoe polish bottle?

 

[DavidW]

That's a nice example of a generic bottle, but I love the aqua color, a bit of crudity and bubbles. Lots of that same basic shape were made by different glass factories but that is an extra bonus to have the clear bold glassmaker mark "W T & CO" on the bottom. Yes, Whitall Tatum & Company of Millville, New Jersey. It might have held any of a number of different products - pills, shoe polish, stove blacking, glue, etc. (If we were able to go back in time and browse the shelves of an old general store, dry goods store, druggist or whatever, we'd probably see those kinds of bottles with all kinds of products and labels on them). Although that Whitall Tatum mark is supposed to range from 1857 to 1901, my guess is it dates from around the very late 1880s or early thru mid- 1890s. Nice!

 

[Halfempty]

That's a nice example of a generic bottle, but I love the aqua color, a bit of crudity and bubbles. Lots of that same basic shape were made by different glass factories but that is an extra bonus to have the clear bold glassmaker mark "W T & CO" on the bottom. Yes, Whitall Tatum & Company of Millville, New Jersey. It might have held any of a number of different products - pills, shoe polish, stove blacking, glue, etc. (If we were able to go back in time and browse the shelves of an old general store, dry goods store, druggist or whatever, we'd probably see those kinds of bottles with all kinds of products and labels on them). Although that Whitall Tatum mark is supposed to range from 1857 to 1901, my guess is it dates from around the very late 1880s or early thru mid- 1890s. Nice!

Hello DavidW,

Thank you very much for the reply.
I think you answered every question that I had, and then some.
I probably have 100+ bottles that I collected when I was growing up. It looks like it's going to be very interesting going through the rest of them.
Awesome info.

THANKS