Several weeks ago, this bottle popped up on ebay, which I am sure was a surprise to many collectors. It is quite rare; only a single damaged example has turned up on the antique bottle auction circuit in the past 15+ years which speaks for itself. You’ll find it listed as G52 in Ring / Ham’s Bitters Bottles.

Over 30 bids ended with a closing price of $4100. My congratulations to the buyer; it was a steal.

It was ebay auction #190597109823 if you want to check it out.

Yep, that is the story behind this recently discovered gem. You see the KELLYS OLD CABIN BITTERS around in amber often enough, but not olive green. Darn…wish I had been watching ebay that week, because I would have bid!

Kelly's Bitters, recently liberated from storage

And here is the color:

Woosh! olive green

The Warner empire did eventually spread world-wide so you will find examples of the Warner bottles from Australia, Germany and Canada. Back on June 17, a rare Warner’s Save Cure Frankfurt A/M sold on ebay, closing at $2753. I doubt it is a record price for a Warner bottle but it ranks up there in the auction records. It is thought to be one of three examples known to exist. Yes, indeed, true rarity does impact value and is not diluted by all the claims to rarity so frequently found on ebay! (I just ebay’s Antique-Before-1900 category and found over 13% of the listings included the word rare)

This is a perfect bottle in great condition and bold embossing. The “A/M” embossing stands for “Am Main” or to Frankfurt’s location on the Main River.

Incidentally, there is a truly great web site devoted to H.H. Warner and his bottles. Be sure to check out Steve Jackson’s The Warner’s Safe Blog I always enjoy reading Steve’s postings.

The bottle is no doubt unique in the antique soda bottle world with its diagonal ribbing. What lends to the design also makes it fragile; all that ribbing is easily bruised.

This past week I noticed a nice clean example of this bottle turn up on ebay. The auction is still running today but closes soon. Current bidding is at $2100. Catch it while you can – this is a scarce bottle.

UPDATE, December 2011.

Glassworks Auctions just sold an example in remarkably mint condition for $4250. This price does not include the 15% buyers premium; apply some quick math and you get a total price of $4887.50. Here is a direct link to the auction result, although this link will probably not be valid for more than a few weeks. Lot 189, Glassworks Auction #93

Believe it or not, this is not a record price for this bottle. Chuck Moore auctioned one in the 80s or 90s which was thought to be the darkest example known and was exceptionally mint. I believe it brought around $5500. That bottle has since resold for considerably less – some believe the lip was buffed to hide a chip.

Bottles marked with “USA Hosp. Dept” or “USA Med’l Dept” are believed to have been produced during the Civil War for carrying medical liquids. Research by bottle collector and Civil War researcher Mike Russell suggests that these bottles were made at Baltimore, MD; Pittsburgh, PA and possibly St. Louis, MO glass houses.

These bottles are often found in clear and aqua but are scarce and highly prized by collectors in the many other colors in which they were made, especially cobalt blue, shades of amber, yellow, olive and other greens. The puce colored example is a rarity indeed; while it may not be unique, we do not recall seeing such an example in several major collections which have sold in the past 20 years.

In the bitters department, there is the famous Dr. Henley’s California IXL Bitters which is found in a number of colors right on down to more common square-bodied amber examples such as the STAR KIDNEY & LIVER BITTERS bottle.

California bottles fall into the larger category of “western bottles” as collectors like to call them.

You will find hutch sodas, druggist bottles, medicine bottles, bitters and of course plenty of whiskey fifths and quarts. Here are some currently at auction on ebay:

1800s California Fig Syrup San Francisco and .. $ 2.99 Ends: 9 hours	VINTAGE J.E. TAYLOR & CO. PURE FOOD FRUIT JAR.. $ 22.99 Ends: Wednesday	1900 SONORA CA CALIFORNIA (TUOLUMNE, GOLD RUS.. $ 16.50 Ends: 15 hours	WESTERN, SCARCE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SODA, HE.. $ 34.95 Ends: 18 hours
PAUL RIEGER’S JAMAICA GINGER WESTERN SPICE ME.. $ 1.99 Ends: Tuesday	Los Angeles California Druggist Bottle Dr. T… $ 9.99 Ends: Tuesday	J Gundlach & Co California Wines & Brandies .. $ 67.78 Ends: Tuesday	Old Cobalt Blue Boradent Co./Creme de Camelia.. $ 24.00 Ends: Wednesday
Western hutchinson soda. “CALIFORNIA SODA WO.. $ 9.99 Ends: Tuesday	Lejon California Brandy.. $ 99.99 Ends: Wednesday	GROUPING OF 4 LINIMENT BOTTLES! CALIFORNIA EL.. $ 5.99 Ends: Wednesday	California ~Mother Load area~Sanborn Map© sh.. $ 15.00 Ends: Thursday

You can see this auction on ebay via this link. 110605888371

reminded me a of an old garbage dump that a friend of mine and I dug back when we were teenagers – it must have contained dozens of these bottles.  We wrapped them all up in boxes and toted them home on our bikes only to discover that they were not worth much of anything.  Such was bottle collecting for us in the 1970s! One thing for sure: these California Fig Syrup bottles are darn common and must have been produced in abundance.

I always remember the house however. It was a very early 18th century small gambrel roof building of perhaps 1200 sf which, unlike most places where we lived in Connecticut, had avoided the wrath of home renovation (read: McMansionification) until very recently. Thankfully, the original house was spared but a huge trophy mansion of 10,000 sf was “added on” to the original. So much for that little time capsule from a day of greater wisdom and sensibility.

Here are a collection of photos of California Fig Syrup bottles and related advertising.  Stop by ebay to see the current offerings of these bottles and ephemera – you will find a number of items at very affordable prices, ie most under $10.00.

See the auction of this flask here.

I was not aware of the existence of this bottle.