The 2024 Milwaukee Antique Bottle show will be help at the Waukesha Expo Center. Show chairman Sid Hatch expects we will sell out all of the 150 tables again next year, so get you contracts in early. 

Click here to view the flyer 2024 MABAC Bottle Show  

The well-known pontil marked bottles from druggist Henry Fess that are embossed “HENRY FESS FR. / JAUNDICE BITTERS / MILWAUKIE”. Fess came to Milwaukee in 1846 and started a druggist business that lasted into the 1890’s.

This article by Ferdinand Meyer V of Peachridge Glass provides a detailed look at the man, his business, and the bottles he used.

Click on the photo to read the article.

 

The well known aqua bitters bottles embossed "HENRY FESS JR. / JAUNDICE BITTERS / MILWAUKIE WIS." shown here are some of Wisconsin's first embossed glass bottles. Fess came to Milwaukee in 1846 and was in the druggist business for many years.

This article by Ferdinand Meyer V from Peachridge Glass provides a detailed history of the man, his druggist business and the bottles he used.

Click on the photo to see read the article.

One of the more unusual privy digging finds recently was this teal blue pressed glass object. It is embossed “COLLAR PAD NO. 3 PATD JAN. 31, 1888”. It is broken into two pieces and is missing a corner but is still an interesting and attractive piece of old glass. We assumed it was part of a neck brace for a human, but a review of the patent proved otherwise.

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The annual 2023 Milwaukee Antique Bottle Show was held at the Waukesha Expo Center again. Show Chairman Sid Hatch reported that there was record attendance and tables sold out, evidence of a vibrant and thriving interest in antique bottles and advertising in the area. This is despite the trend of online auctions and sales of antique. Face to face is still the most fun and best way to build a collection.

Many bottle collectors are aware of Edwin H. and C.J. Merrill and their 1847 U.S. Patent number 5,206 for a process for making pressed, molded stoneware bottles by machine. Less well known is the 1868 Merrill patent for improvements to the machine (Figure 1). The redesigned equipment improved quality and efficiency. It also enables today’s collectors to determine if a molded bottle was made before or after 1868 from markings on the bottoms, much like glass bottles can be dated based on the presence of a pontil mark. In the case of pressed clay bottles, however, the older ones have smooth bases while those with rough bottoms date from after 1868. 

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The opening Chase Valley Glass Company marked the beginning of a 30-year era of glass manufacturing in Milwaukee. Although the Chase Valley works operated only one brief season, four successive glassworks operated at the same location. The Chase Valley glassworks also left behind a rich legacy of bottles and flasks for collectors. Many are embossed with the glass company on the bottom or near the base on the side:

C.V.G. Co MILW
C.V. No 2 MILW (sometimes with mold number in the center)
C.V. No 1 MILW (sometimes with mold number in the center)

An early prototype Hobbleskirt Coca Cola bottle with large verticle embossing from Milwaukee came to light recently.

From time to time you come across bottles that are so unexpected, so amazing that you have to look twice. When this E. ANHEUSER CO came up I was so shocked I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.

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A newly discovered variety of a Wisconsin early 1860s smooth based medicine was dug mixed in with turn of the century bottles in Lacrosse - apparently a late throwaway. It is important because there are very few embossed medicines that are this early known from Lacrosse. The bottle was made for the Uriah Perry Jr.’s wholesale druggist business in Lacrosse, probably around 1859 or 1860.

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This quart earthenware bottle was discovered recently in Portage, Wisconsin. The bottle was made at a Portage City Pottery for Ben Atwell of Madison who put up Table Beer in the bottle. It is lead glazed and wheel turned. This is the first bottle found from Atwell who ran a retail grocery store on the corner of State and Johnson Streets who operated from 1856 to the 1860's. By 1870 he was a "Market Farmer" presumably selling produce from his farm. The bottle dates from 1859 to 1863 which are the years that the Portage City potteries operated.

When Bella Masterson went missing in the Spring of 1896 did anyone notice, or even care? Surely her family, friends or neighbors wondered. Sadly, they would never know because she simply vanished without a trace. Some seventy years later, diver Charlie Daniels found a sealed Hutchinson soda bottle neck down in a lake 35 feet under water containing a note that suggested the answer. But it would be another thirty years before another underwater discovery would confirm Bella’s fate.
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Although this unlisted quart stoneware bottle is unknown to most collectors it has been in the collection of the Kenosha Museum for many years. The stamp reads F. BUTTRFIELD MONROE and was probably made by the Charles Hermann & Co. stoneware factory in Milwaukee around 1880. Based on the bottle style it probably was used for Small Beer which was a type of non or low alchohol content brewed beverege such as Root Beer, Lemon Beer, Sarsaparilla, etc. Little is known about Mr. Butterfield. There is a Fred Butterfield listed in the 1880 Census for the City of Monroe but he lists his occupation as Dentist so he may or may not be the owner of this soda bottling operation. No other bottles, advertisements or other references have surfaced yet from F. Butterfield. More information is needed on this company.
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A well known amber medicine bottle from Milwaukee is embossed Sherman Primley Iron and Wahoo Tonic. Less well known is an aqua Sarsaparilla from the same company and an extremely rare bottle from the same firm embossed Primley's Speedy Cure for Coughs and Colds. Another rare variety is this gorgeous olive green variant from the Jones & Primley partnership in Elkhart, Indiana that sold in a Glassworks auction.

The fact that there are also similar bottles from Sherman Primley from Elkhart Lake Indiana leads you to surmise that Mr. Primley operated out of both cities or had a main office plus a branch. Questions about the company are well explained in this article we found on the Bottle Pickers web site. According to the article, Sherman Primley moved from Elkhart to Milwaukee in 1897 and later moved to Peoria, leaving a trail of clues in the form of embossed bottles from all three cities.

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This bottle was part of an old collection and recently came to light. Neither the brand nor this particular bottle was previously known to collectors. A. Breslauser was a large and successful Milwaukee whiskey dealer. Many bottles and advertising shot glasses are known, as well as quite a few brands that he promoted, including:

• Old Hickory
• Graham Club
• Cheddington
• Connet
• Henry Van Erden Gin
• Kilbourn
• La Belle
• Old Chessy
• Palm
• Standard Club
• Top Cliff Gin

Simon Jung was a wholesale liquor dealer in Milwaukee that operated from 1889 until prohibition in 1918. He partnered with his father-in-law Abraham Breslauser for his first year of business. A Breslauer was a large and well-known Milwaukee liquor dealership. Simon later also partnered with M. Wiener for a year. His business was initially located at 425 Chestnut St but later moved several times. From 1908 to 1918 his business was located at 244-246 E Water Street. That building still stands.
S. Jung brands include Mountain King Rye, Homer Club Whiskey, Ole Bull Bourbon and Underhill Whiskey. Some of the advertising items known today include several varieties of shot glasses and backbar bottles. There are probably many other S. Jung advertising items not yet known to collectors.
Jack Sullivan posted an article on his “Those Pre-Pro Whiskey Men!” blog entitled “Simon Jung Gave Milwaukee His Best Shots”. Click here to read the full article.

Thinking of selling a collection of antique bottles or advertising? You’ve come to the right place. The Milwaukee Bottle and Advertising Club is an association of many of the top collectors and dealers of these types of items in the Midwest. We have experts about many types of old bottles including beer, soda, medicine, whiskey, bitters, historical flasks, seltzer, pharmacy, pontil marked bottles and food containers. Also antique advertising – from tin signs, lithographs, trays, tins, paper to label under glass advertising signs we have expert who can help. To see our member profiles go to the Members tab on this page or click here.

If you would like to get an idea of the value of your item(s) check with one of our members. Member profiles include their contact information. They can make you a cash offer or give you estimated values of one items or a collection. Member profiles will give you an idea of the type of items they collect or are looking for. And if they’re not interested or don’t know about your item(s) they can refer you to someone who can help. Selling directly to collectors is faster and easier than selling by auction or consignment. You avoid the fees and time and for the right items can get the best price for your items.

Albert Albertson and John Matthews are best known in bottle collecting circles for the widely used Gravitating Stopper closure which Albertson patented Oct 11, 1864 and John Matthews manufactured and marketed. Less known is the fact that two years earlier on Aug 26, 1862 he patented another stopper that, while not widely adopted by soda bottlers, was used by at least two Wisconsin soda makers and several more eastern U.S. companies. It was a very impractical design. Unlike the Hutchinson closure, it required a key (or a dirty finger) to depress the spring while pouring. It immediately sealed itself when the spring was released, making it impossible to drink directly from the bottle and difficult to pour. The blob also was a natural trap for dirt, bugs bacteria and would be difficult to clean. It's easy to understand why it did not become popular.

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Otto Zwietusch was a prolific inventor and manufacturer of soda bottling apparatus and soda in Milwaukee from the 1860’s through the 1880’s in Milwaukee. His business sold bottling apparatus and equipment to soda bottlers throughout the US. Some of the interesting items used by his business include some great bottles, stoneware and bottling apparatus including these hand-hammered copper vessels which were probably used for bottling soda. The article tells the story of the man, his business and the artifacts he left behind.

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Even by national standards, the Blossoms Badger Ale bottle is simply a fantastic example of an early American ale. It was made by Lancaster Glass Company in New York around 1849 to 1851. This article tells the story of the discovery a new Blossom’s Badger Ale variety, how it was hunted for many years and finally acquired and restored by a club member. One intact variety, one restored and some shards prove that there were at least four varieties of embossed bottles used by this large and successful brewery. It seems likely that there are still others waiting to be discovered.

This bottle is embossed YOUNG AMERICA / STOMACH BITTERS / P RINDSKOPF & BRO on three panels. Phillip Rindskopf and his brother Louis were wholesale wine and liquor dealers at 277 E Water St Milwaukee from 1862 to 1878, but Phillip died in 1867 so this bottle is probably from the Civil war period. It is listed in Carlyn Ring’s book For Bitters Only but was not attributed to a city. It has flown under the radar of Wisconsin collectors as it was not widely known to be a Wisconsin bitters bottle.

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When this bottle was dug in Kenosha there was some speculation that it could be a Wisconsin or Illinois bottle. It seemed improbable given the color and the fact that it has the look of an 1840’s bottle. When another example turned up in Ashippun Wisconsin northwest of Milwaukee research efforts intensified but still no hard evidence was found. An article in the May-June 2014 edition of Bottles & Extras by Tod von Mechow speculated that it could be Wisconsin. Definitive proof finally surfaced in an advertisement in an obscure all-German Milwaukee newspaper. The March 1850 ad identified it as Michael Kom’s Lemon Mineral Water which he bottled on Huron Street in Milwaukee. This just might be Wisconsin’s earliest embossed bottle. Others from about the same time period include the Taylor & Bothers’ cobalt sided soda and Blossom’s Badger black glass ale. Click on the photo to read the full article.

An eBay listing for a one-of-a-kind early aqua pony Weiss beer bottle from the Jacob Muth brewery in Burlington, Wisconsin. Jacob Muth was in business in Burlington from 1852 to 1872. This bottle appears to date from the 1860’s which is notable because it is the first glass beer bottle from that time period from Wisconsin known to collectors. It is also one of the few Wisconsin bottles that includes the “WEISS BEER” product name embossed on the bottle. Surprisingly, it is the first bottle to turn up from this long-lived and well known brewery. It was found by diggers in Pittsburgh and showed signs of heavy wear. It would not be surprising if other varieties show up from this brewery eventually. The embossing reads JACOB MUTH BREWING CO. BERLINER WEISS BEER and ALL PERSONS PROHIBITED FROM USING THIS BOTTLE on the back.

Member Tom Fredrick found this bottle while scuba diving with Bob Libbey for bottles. While several varieties of Fred Bock glass soda bottles are known to exist this is the first Fred Bock clay bottle and the only stoneware bottle from the city of Boscobel, Wisconsin. The bottle is stamped FRE-BOCK with the letter “I” turned sideways in place of a dash. It is probably one of the first bottles used by Fred Bock’s business which was thought to have started in 1882. There are many other similar Wisconsin stoneware bottles from other bottlers that were made by the same pottery maker, probably Charles Hermann & Co. from Milwaukee. Despite the missing top it is a wonderful and interesting find.

A recent Julie’s Antique Auction catalog featured a rare miniature salt-glazed stoneware canteen flask as the cover lot. The canteen measures about 3” tall and is marked “Compliments of G.M. PIERRON” on one side and “A HAPPY NEW YEAR 1894”. It has a heavy orange peel glaze one side. It was in mint condition with the original cork, chain attaching it to the handle and red white and blue ribbon. The unique features of this piece created the perfect storm of collector interest. It was made by Redwing, it is associated with the Pierron Stoneware Company, has a great glaze, is dated, rare and mint.

The flagship product for the Zien brothers Co. was their Berliner Magen Bitters brand which was marketed mainly in the Midwest.   They bottled the product in amber square bottles embossed BERLINER MAGAN BITTERS on one panel.  They also promoted the brand with advertising shot glasses with at least 9 varieties known.  There is an advertising meerschaum pipe with a detailed image of the bottle which is a very unusual advertising item.  They are quite rare and another Milwaukee whiskey bottler, Joseph Dudenhoefer also used this type of advertising pipe.

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The Wisconsin Glass Company began when the Chase Valley Glass Companies 1 and 2 reorganized into a single combined entity in September of 1881. The company made various types of bottles, jars and window glass until May of 1886. Typical base embossing found are:

WIS GLASS CO MILW (often with a mold number ranging from 1 to 40 or A to T)
WIS G CO MILW
WIS G CO
WIS GLASS CO MILW WIS

The Wisconsin Glass Company would later open as the Cream City Glass Company. This article takes an in-depth look at the company's history, its leaders and the products it produced.

 

Note: the article and gallery images were updated in 2022.

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There are over 150 different varieties of stoneware and earthenware bottles from Wisconsin - far more than any of the surrounding states. Why were they so popular here? Most have no maker's mark, so what potteries made them? None have survived with paper labels so it's unclear what products they were even used for. And why did many bottlers use both glass and stoneware bottles at the same time? The earliest marked stoneware bottles from Wisconsin are from the 1840's and 1850's and by the 1880's they began to fall out of favor. By the turn of the century, they had become obsolete. Why did that happen? This article explores these and other questions about this fascinating category of early Wisconsin bottles.

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