There is no denying that a great label can make for a first rate antique bottle. Whether plain or super rare and valuable, a antique bottle with an intact label will greatly increase the value. How much? Ten percent, 100 percent, or even more.
I received an ebay Saved Search email in my inbox the other day with a tiny thumbnail of a labeled bottle. The photo jumped right out at me: first of all, the photo was brilliantly clear and captivating, but the bottle just sold itself with its full color graphical label. You can see that bottle on ebay – it is auction #250869094366
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One might point out that this bottle is offered as a Buy It Now for a flat rate and is discussed here on a web site supposedly about auctions. If you have been paying close attention on ebay in recent years, the trend is very much away from auctions and has shifted to fixed pricing for many items. Some say the era of the online auction has peaked. I do not believe that entirely, but I can tell you in my spot check this week, the antique bottle pre-1900 category on ebay has just 30 percent as auctions. The remaining 70 percent are fixed price listings.
But I digress. When looking at labeled bottles, look for those in great condition. Damaged or worn labels are simply not as visually appealing and are never going to be worth what their crisp, clean counterpart will. Also consider the believable factor when looking at a label-only bottle. There are plenty of antique bottles out there which have been enhanced or augmented with labels. Some fit the bottle, others simply leave big questions as to their authenticity. One great example is the Hollis labels from a Boston, Massachusetts area company. A big cache of labels from this company were discovered in the past 20 years and have dispersed across the US. Many of these labels now reside attached to antique glass. While it can be argued that such labels do not detract from the value of the bottle itself, they do not necessarily increase value either.
Beware also of fraudulent or outright reproduction labels. I am aware of at least one person who is making high quality replica labels (the ebay seller goes by various names on ebay along the lines of “Granny Fark,” “BaxterCo” and others) and is attaching them to bottles of all different ages. The labels are also methodically yellowed and worn to look old. The seller does state that the labels are new, but you know as well as I do that such items find their way into the collecting world and their original story is lost. Sooner or later, they will be back on the market and pitched as authentically old.
Thank you for the informative article about the Tom & Jerry bottle I have listed on eBay. I happened across it while researching the bottle further. Tom & Jerry is an archaic name for eggnog, whose original moniker (which was originally coined in 1821) got lost in obscurity when prohibition destroyed this important piece of U.S. heritage. For example, many dozens of brands of bitters were available in the United States before prohibition, maybe even hundreds and they all succumbed to the ravages of Prohibition as well…except maybe for Angostura Bitters which is basically as appealing as rubbing alcohol.
I was rummaging through my coffee mugs this morning and I came across a half-sized yellow-ware handled mug bearing the names of the duo “Tom & Jerry”. The words are in Gothic lettering on the front in gold and there is gold treatment around the rim and on the handle. The mug was purchased many years ago & forgotten, thinking it was a cartoon collectible of little value. Ironically, I rediscovered it at the exact same time I had the Tom & Jerry bottle listed, so I took additional pictures of the bottle with the mug & listed the pair at no extra cost to spice-up the deal.
Take a peek at the revised listing & maybe you can become the proud owner of a piece of obscure American history.