Piedmont Ginger Ale – ACL soda @ $305
Recently, this ACL soda (that’s Applied Color Label for those new to bottle collecting) from the 1940s or 1950s brought a generous $305. When I say generous, my bias is showing: I have a hard time accepting bottles of this era as ANTIQUE. It’s not just that they do not fit the dictionary definition of antique, but perhaps just because they join most bottles of the 20th century as machine manufactured. Long live the Luddite, and praise the men who hand crafted glass in earlier days.
Back to 2010. While most ACL soda bottles will cross the $30 mark, occasionally they bring a good bit more. Of course, as always, condition is of utmost importance, and this one is all clean, sheen and pristine. But that is about it – otherwise it is fairly plain jane, so look twice before you recycle them.
Perhaps someone can fill me in on the record price for an ACL soda?
Look to the SODA FIZZ web site for more information on the ACL soda craze.
Piedmont Pale Dry Ginger Ale bottle auction
Search for ACL soda bottles on ebay
Daguerreotype with Bottle, circa 1840
When was the last time you saw a photograph of a (now) antique bottle taken in the 1840s? I can’t imagine there are many such images in existence.
Right now on ebay is a “dag” of a man holding a bottle of WARE’S LOTION. The bottle appears to be an oval aqua bottle with flared lip and a wrap-around label. You cannot tell if it is embossed or not. Surely it would be pontiled if from this time period. I made a quick check in the Greer catalog of pontiled medicines and find another bottle (Lot 1720) which is embossed WARE’S LOTION OR PAIN EXTRACTOR. The bottle is rectangular and has a tapered lip and is 6-1/2″ tall. It’s listed in the catalog as extremely rare. It brought $170 in the auction in 1989.
It’s an incredibly cool historical piece for the antique bottle collector. I’m tempted to bid on it myself. We’ll see.
With 3 days to go in the auction, the bidding is currently at $320 and the auction has not yet made reserve.
View this Daguerreotype auction
Rare green EHVB pickle jar
Hard to imagine someone dug this great bottle up – talk about lucky. As the ebay listing says, it was found in 2009 in Champaign, Illinois
From the book, Ketchup, Pickles, Sauces by Betty Zumwalt (p. 411):
E.H.V.B. stands for Elias H. Van Benschoten. He operated a dry goods store in New York at 68 Spring Street about 1842. He changed his line and began the Pickle manufacture in 1849 at 252 Front Street. After 1854 there is no mention of him. The bottle comes in two sizes and is extremely rare.
Most are indeed aqua – this green color would be easily called a rare bird.
You can buy it now on ebay for $5199 $4149 $3549.
Radium Radia – a bottle with a “radioactive” price
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.
Find the Value of Your Antique Bottles Using Ebay’s Completed Auction Results
I was recently talking to a friend who has used ebay for over 10 years but had no idea how to look at completed auction results. This was a big surprise to me since I thought everyone used this feature. Perhaps some of you are unaware of it.
Yes, there are millions of active listings out there, but many close without a sale so they are not a good barometer of what your antique bottle is worth. Instead, look at completed auctions that have actually received a bid. This gives you an idea of what people are actually paying.
Remember that a single auction does not “make” the value of any item. Some auctions close high, others low. By piecing together the details of a group of auction results for similar old bottles, you can get a sense for your bottle’s market value. Remember also that condition and quality pay a big role in the value of bottles. If the process leaves doubts in your mind, get an appraisal from an experienced collector/dealer.
Here is how to research antique bottles values on ebay:
1. First, you need an ebay account. Ebay requires this to browse their completed auction results. There is no way around it, so sign up for an account now.
2. Perform your search as you normally would:
3. Now scroll down on the page looking at the left column. Tick off the checkbox option for “Completed listings”
The checkbox will stay selected as you continue to search.
Get started now.
Stoddard Flag Flask on ebay
You do not expect to see one of these on ebay very often since they are fairly scarce. This one has damage in the neck but is in otherwise great shape. Not everyone can afford to buy a perfect one for $25 grand!
Bromo Seltzer Bottles
Many bottle collectors get started with bottles such as the lovely cobalt blue Bromo Seltzer. Who doesn’t like cobalt blue?
Yes, they are common but there are hard to beat for beautiful blue glowing in your window. Get a plain cobalt one for just a few dollars. There are teal blue and Prussian blue colors around but they are more scarce. You will need to pay more for them. Occasionally, you will see a very pale blue example that borders on a blue aqua color.
This set of 3 Bromo Seltzers shows the different colors. See them at ebay.com
A few Bromo Seltzer bottles at auction on ebay
You will see a wide variety of prices and conditions. Be picky. These bottles are fairly common, so hold out for a decent price and look for examples in clean, undamaged condition.
Age of Bromo Seltzer bottles
First, cork top examples are always older than screw top. Figure that screw top glass bottles could be as new as the 1960s. For cork top, many will have a mold seam that goes all the way to the top of the lip which indicates they are made by machine (known to bottle collectors as ABM which stands for automatic bottle machine) A smaller number will have a mold seam which stops somewhere on the neck. These would be the earliest of all and date most likely before 1920.
Value
Cork top examples in perfect condition bring from $1 to $5 at online auction. Expect to pay more for unusual colors – perhaps as much as $20 to $30. As of the writing of this article, groups of Bromo Seltzer bottles had also sold on ebay. I found one listing for a group of 14 that sold for $33. Note that these prices do not include the cost of shipping. Screw top examples are generally worth about the same or less. Labels always add value if they are in good condition, especially to the oldest cork top variants.
Photos of Bromo Seltzer bottles, advertising and related items
American Glass Gallery #4
We’ve heard that American Glass Galleries is currently putting together its Spring 2010 auction. This will be auction #4. It is tentatively scheduled to close in early May.
Preview photos will be available soon. Check back here for further details or visit their web site at http://americanglassgallery.com.
Hunter’s Corn Witch
Here is an absolutely amazing bottle: great color, intriguing embossing and an unusually wide mouth. It stands only 2-7/8″ tall and would be worth a bit more if it were larger. The bottle is not for me but I think it is fairly priced…retail but fair at $299. Ever seen another?
I doubt it has anything to do with Salem or witches but rather to the product’s magical powers.
The base is marked W. T. & CO. / C / U.S.A. which of course stands for Whitall Tatum Company of Millville, NJ
Go to the listing on ebay to see this bottle for sale.
Rare Patent Model Poison Bottle Surfaces
A rare patent model poison bottle turned up on ebay this week. It’s a small clear bottle with an embossed skull and crossbones. Anna and Clara Moss of Collingswood, NJ received Design Patent # 46,407 on September 15, 1914. I searched around quite a bit on Google Patents but could not find the patent record listed there.
With one day to go, 29 bids have run the price up over $1000. Bidding may have a ways to go yet.
Here is a direct link to the poison bottle auction on ebay
Update!
Over 40 bids ran this bottle up over $5,600!
