The Radium Radia company was a short lived patent medicine business founded in the early years of the 20th century. Little did they know that the Pure Food and Drug Act was coming in 1906, and it would mark the end of an era for most medicine merchants.
The bottle on its own is a plain jane clear bottle with a little embossing, and one that you would give little notice. However, the wise marketers at this company chose to add some super graphics. It is undoubtedly one of the most visually appealing labels that you will see.
Apparently, a collector in Texas recently sold a couple of these bottles and a friend alerted me to the second auction. Most collectors of antique bottles don’t think of labeled clear bottles as bringing high prices and they would be right. However, in this auction, the closing price was $901. It’s not a record price by a long margin but considering that this is a 20th century bottle, it ranks in overall auction results.
I have spoken with someone who confirms that the bottle did not actually contain radioactive matter. They have, like the ebay seller, tested it with a Geiger counter.
Hello! I just had the fortune of picking one of these up at a show & sale. The label really is the best antique medicine bottle label I’ve seen!
Mine, like the others you are writing about, is nearly perfect & never opened. The wax seal is still completely intact. I’d love to keep this gem, but finances dictate that I sell it.
It is listed on eBay:
Item number: 250624333284.
Thanks for the article!
Wonder how many of these Radium Radia bottles are around? Back in the day collectors would source entire cases of old labeled/contents medicines and oftentimes dole them out one or two at a time. I still see good old Langenbach’s Dysentery Cure bottles come up on ebay, however instead of still-sealed label with contents — these will be empty labeled examples. Co-Co-Na Balm, Dr. Plouf’s Rheumatism Cure…I’m sure there are other case lots still being doled out although most collectors entered the hobby well-after these discoveries were made.
Well, it is true that there are known examples of quantities of bottles which have been discovered in case lots, and since bottle molds were meant to mass-produce a uniform product, many bottles have the potential to be very common. I do remember some from the 1970s – one that comes to mind is the Dr. Townsend’s Asthma Cure with label and box. They guy offered a huge number of these in the Old Bottle Magazine yet I have seen very few for sale in many years.
Consider the Dr. McMunn’s Elixir of Opium bottle. There were two caches of these that were found in the walls of houses, each with thousands of bottles in it. However, the price has not dropped on these; if anything it has gone up thanks to their popularity.
For the Radium Radia bottle specifically, I don’t think there are many examples around. Advertisements for the company appear in 1905 and the Pure Food and Drug Act likely put this company out of business within a year.
A neighbor of mine has a case of this stuff and he would like to know more about possibly selling off some or all of it.
What do you want to know?
Condition is of utmost importance to value. Flooding the market with the entire case at once will hurt the selling price.
What I want to know is how to go about selling it. I understand your point and would appreciate your help in formulating a strategy. Ebay, what ? We are not in a hurry…the box itself is a little water marked, but the bottles are completely in tact and amazing. You can contact me directly at joegag@yahoo.com. Sorry for the delay in responding to your response which is greatly appreciated.
Hello! I know I’m ten years late, but I was wondering if you still had any?
Some tears ago I had a group of bottles lacelled RADITHOR. This company was producing radioactive water and the bootles did have a little radioactivity. It was probably in the label. A geiger counter would not pick it up it requires a scintillation counter. The Medical University of NJ discovered the radioactivity and informed me. I had it checked at Albert Einstein and while radioactive it was not dangerous.
Barry, thanks for your comments.
I am not surprised to hear that your RADITHOR product contained a bit of radioactivity. I seem to remember that Radam’s Microbe Killer was a concoction of water with a few drops of radioactive material, which is probably not enough to be hazardous. Consider that the glaze used on Fiestaware plates is hot enough to be detected with a geiger counter, antique watches may have radium to illuminate their dials, and canary yellow glass has uranium in it to produce the yellow color.
There are plenty of low-level radiation sources out there in antique items!
Hello Folks! I am seeking to buy bottles that include the word “Radium” — whether embossed on the glass or printed on the label, and whether they actually contained radium or not. Some products did contain radium, such as Radithor, while most did not (because it cost 10 thousand times more than gold at the time). This is for an exhibit entitled “When Radium Was the Rage” so all such bottles will date between 1898 and about 1935. Please send me your thoughts, suggestions, and offers to me, Lowell, at LowellCarhart@yahoo.com. Thank you!
I collect x-ray and radioactivity related antique items. If you have bottles, advertising, or other items related to radium or other similar products, feel free to contact me. Thanks! Chris