Bottles from California have long been a hot commodity in the bottle collecting world, especially those dating from the earlier years of settlement in the 19th century. You will find plenty of examples as their age gets closer to 1900 (and beyond) but there are plenty of rare examples throughout the 1850-1900 era. Stumble across the right one and it could be worth hundreds or many thousands.

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: 10 hours	VINTAGE J.E. TAYLOR & CO. PURE FOOD FRUIT JAR.. $ 22.99 Ends: Wednesday	1900 SONORA CA CALIFORNIA (TUOLUMNE, GOLD RUS.. $ 16.50 Ends: 16 hours	WESTERN, SCARCE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SODA, HE.. $ 34.95 Ends: 19 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

An seldom seen J.T. Wiggins Gentian Bitters recently closed on ebay for $3,831.94. This square amber bottle has unusual mold features which give the corners a classical column-like appearance. The bottle was in good shape but did have a small bruise/chip at the base.

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

A friend of mine sent me a photo of a brick building on Greenwood Ave. in Brooklyn, NY which

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.

A surprise ebay auction this past week served up a honey amber GI-94 flask which closed at a record price for this mold – $28,334.  The flask is marked with   BENJAMIN FRANKLIN and his bust on the front and T.W. DYOTT, M.D. along with WHERE LIBERTY DWELLS THERE IS MY COUNTRY / KENSINGTON GLASS WORKS PHILADELPHIA along with Thomas Dyott’s bust on the reverse.  This pint flask is not a rare mold but this color is not often encountered.  We believe this to be a record price for this mold by a very long margin.

See the auction of this flask here.

This emerald green C HEIMSTREET TROY NY / SODA WATER early tapered collar soda with iron pontil brought $3,419.69 recently at an ebay auction.  Most collectors will know the name from the popular sapphire blue hair bottle with the same embossing.  The auction description seemed to suggest that this is a fresh discovery and not from a collection.

I was not aware of the existence of this bottle.

A recent ebay auction of a WH Ware Fish Bitters brought a final hammer price of $9099.99 on September 39th. 42 bidders battled for the catch.

The seller, from Maryland, said he purchased it from a local estate sale where it had been in a long time bottle collection for decades.

The Fish Bitters bottle is found in 3 mold variants and are listed as F44 through F46 in the Ring / Ham reference book. The bottle is of course common in amber but darn scarce in aqua, clear, yellow green, yellow olive, lime green and reddish puce. The cobalt blue example, which sold privately in 2009 for an alleged 6-figure price, is thought to be unique.

The bottle was patented in December 1866 by WH Ware (Design Patent 2522). Ware and Schmitz and later W Harrison Ware were in the wholesale whiskey business from 1870 to 1884 in Philadelphia. See pre-pro.com for more info. This company also produced the
Van Dunck’s Genever figural bottle known as the “Coachman”

American Bottle Auctions sold a clear mint example in 2007 for $14,000.

New auctioneer ABCR Auctions, based out of Victoria, Australia, is kicking off their efforts with a first auction which closes August 1, 2010.

Amongst the 238 lots in the first auction, some items that may be of interest are:

Lot 107 – Miniature Pedestal Oil, a super rare piece in aqua (only one known to us in this miniature size)

Lot 107

Lot 113 – Abbey Mustard, an English item of worldwide appeal. These were exported around the world in the mid 1800′s, this example being found in Australia

Lot 140 – Rosebud Butter Jar, an unusual shaped butter jar which is an extremely rare piece for the discerning jar collector

Lot 175 – Green Warners Safe Cure, this four cities double collar type Safe Cure is distinctly green as compared to the normal amber variations, not the usual dark green of the London or Frankfurt varieties, it is somewhere in between.

Lot 197 – Jules Hauel Bears Grease, a classic piece from a famous perfumer who exported many goods right around the world. This is one of many quality potlids to be found in the sale.

Lot 197

Lot 216 – Boston Hop Bitters, an AUSTRALIAN bitters, this is one of many Australian bitters found that have US names associated with them. Thought to be so named to cater for the swelling American population at the time. A rare bottle, this has some damage but is a nice looking example.

Visit their web site or go directly to the online auction for viewing and bidding.

Two rare McKeevers Army Bitters turned up on ebay this week. Both were reported to be in mint, undamaged condition. The first, which closed on July 4th, brought $3301 and was auction # 190409345590. The seller was from the Atlanta, GA area.

The second example (auction # 320557162981), offered by a seller in Cleveland, OH, didn’t fare quite as well and brought just $2500 $3250. Although the bottle seemed just as fine as the other, sellers may have been scared off by a few negative marks on the seller’s feedback record. So goes the auction world.

For all you non-collectors out there, beware of a similar bottle marked McGiver’s American Army Bitters and is also marked Wheaton, NJ. These are found in amber as well as pale blue and green. Wheaton Glass Works produced these modern re-creations in the mid to late 20th century and they are fairly common. Their value is more in the range of $5-15

Search for McKeevers or McGivers Bitters bottles on ebay.