A half a bits worth~

A half a bits worth~

My grand dad was born before 1900. He worked for the SP Railroad his entire life and, like most railroad men, enjoyed the insides of a saloon on occasion.

One of his expressions that as a kid I recall him saying was "about two bits worth". When asked what that meant, he went on to explain that two bits was a quarter, and one bit was 12 1/2 cents. 

One bit would get you a drink of decent whiskey in most saloons during the teens. In fact, a lot of saloon tokens have "Good for 12 1/2 cents" stamped on the reverse. 

Back then, most shots of whiskey were served in thin walled shot glasses; many etched with the brand name of the stuff you were drinkin'. They are what we've come to know as pre-pro shots.

About ten years ago I had a shot glass cross my path that we'd never seen before. It came back to roost here yesterday and it got me to thinking...

It is etched, "Cyrus Noble / Whiskey".  I jokingly called it "Mini Me", as it was half the size of the standard glass, the base is notably smaller in diameter, and it measured only 1 1/2" tall. And before someone calls fowl, no - it's not a ground down standard glass. The etching pattern is correct in proportions and placement, and there are tooling lines in the lip. Simply, it was made that way. 

The Cyrus Noble brand really took off after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, when Crown Distilleries began to push the brand hard in order to grab market share while most of their competitors were flat on their backs trying to avoid bankruptcy.

Cyrus Noble was good, reasonably priced whiskey; distilled, blended and rectified in San Francisco. It was sold in hogsheads to saloons with the brand burned into the barrel end, embossed fifths with a label and neck foil identifying the product, labeled only slick fifths, as well as embossed miniatures. The embossed minis were sold on the SP lines passenger trains, much like the airline cocktail single serving bottles of the 21st century.

Back in the late 1960's, my grand dad and I pawed through a railroad siding dump in the Santa Cruz mountains where his section gang bunk cars had been parked during a winter in the late teens. There had been a saloon near the depot and amongst the broken Jesse Moore's, J.F. Cutters, and others, were Crown Distilleries fifths with lead neck foil identifying their previous contents as Cyrus Noble. He found it amusing that we were digging through piles of garbage that he had, no doubt, been partially responsible for creating; albeit fifty years prior.

"Gramps" mentioned that times were lean and they had to make every penny count back then. Still, when a man needed a drink to warm the inner self~

One can't help but wonder - maybe a half bits worth of whiskey (in the "Mini Me" glass) would loosen a man up enough to spring for a "bit" more.

California Gold Discovered in Washington state.

California Gold Discovered in Washington!

Tom Bostwick (Sept 2015)

Every so often a rare and beautiful bottle surfaces, and causes ripples in the hobby. It happened to a friend of mine recently, and the story bears repeating.

It seems that "Ted" got a call recently from a lady who said "I read your ad in the newspaper about wanting old bottles. "I have some... are you interested?" After tracking down so many dead end leads, Ted's enthusiasm for following up had cooled considerably, but hesitantly he asked her to describe them. As soon as he heard her say "Catawba Wine Bitters, with a picture of a cabin", he knew the bottle immediately. By the next afternoon he had the bottle sitting at home, on his shelf. The owner said that she'd found the bottle years in some mine tailings near Eureka Nv. She and here husband used to live in the area, and she'd fished the bottle out of the dirt, and taken it home with her, "cause it was so pretty". The bottle that Ted had purchased was a rare 1872 Chalmers Catawba Wine Bitters / Spruance Stanley & CO. that pictures a log cabin with Old Sutter's Mill below.

These aqua cylinders are a true historical commemorative bottle for the West, and celebrates the California Gold Rush, which began at Coloma at Sutter's Mill in 1848, and is clearly depicted on the embossing. 

 

Blown in 1872/73, the majority of these were shipped to Nevada, and supposedly to Utah. From written and "word of mouth" information, 3 have been dug in Belmont. One well known example was unearthed behind the Cosmopolitan Saloon on Easter Sunday, 1980, and is reportedly the best of the three dug in Belmont between 1977 and 1984. No examples have been reported being dug in Utah, but a written history of the vineyard where Catawba Wine Bitters was produced, clearly shows the majority of this product was shipped to Nevada and Utah. Spruance Stanley & Co. were the proprietors of this bitters between 1872/73 when the vineyard discontinued growing Catawba grapes.

The bottles that held the Chalmers Catawba Wine Bitters are not only beautiful, but have brought record prices at auction over the past few years. There are 12 to15 known examples in any condition. 2 changed hands in Feb. 2010, one through the American Bottle Auction #49, and the second, privately for and undisclosed amount.

Since then, others have been to auction, and as recent as Sept. 2015, another was listed on eBay for $22,000~ by a New York collector.

Obviously. Ted's recent find will cause ripples with Western Bitters collectors, and proves to all in the hobby, that good bottles are "still out there" just waiting to be discovered.

Countdown to Canyonville

With just a couple of weeks to go 'till the doors open, we figured an update is in order.

Here's the weather forecast for the show~
 

As you can see, the weather has cooled off and we've actually had a day or two of light rain to soften the blow of this summers scorching heat. The air has cleared now that the fires are all but out, and we're enjoying crystal blue skies. The trees are starting to turn and the fall colors should be peaking the weekend of the show.

Things are pretty much status quo with regards to the show. Table sales are close to last year at this time and, as always, there's a few procrastinators that will wait until the last few days to reserve a spot.

We are donating one table to the Federation (FOHBC) to help promote membership. Ferd Meyer, president of the Federation, has indicated that it will be manned for part of the day on Saturday.

I'm attaching a full page copy of the show flyer. Just click on it, and it will open in a new window where you can print it out. If you have time, and are so inclined, burn a few copies and hand them out to junk shops, antique malls, second hand stores and what have you. Every piece of advertising helps! We'll be going online today with a last minute push via Craigslist as well.

One area which is an ongoing challenge, involves the displays. I'm asking everyone to consider setting up a display. It doesn't need to be elaborate, and I'm doing away with display judging this year to take away the stigma of competition and "winners and losers". Plus, each displayer will receive a $20~ bill as a thank you for their efforts. Feel free to talk up displaying with your fellow collectors as well.

We're going to set up one open display space for Oregon bottles / insulators, and would ask that each collector / dealer bring an item that is either embossed Oregon, or was dug in Oregon, to be set up on a display table. It will be a secure location and each bottle will have an ID sticker affixed to the base identifying the owner.

We've got room for up to five additional displays and it sure would be nice to fill the spaces.

Thanks!

Bruce Silva

Show Chairman

C'ville 2015

Downieville Antique Bottle and Collectible Show and Sale

Entering Downieville California from Highway 49
 
Saturday September 12, 2015 brings the 24th annual Downieville Antique Bottle and Collectible Show and Sale. The Show opens at 8:00 am for early lookers with a modest $10 entry fee and open to the general public from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm with FREE admission. The show is located at the Downieville School Gym at the corner of Main and School Streets in the historic section of downtown.

 

This years show is another sellout with over 50 tables of antique bottles, early glass insulators gold rush artifacts, saloon collectibles, Yuba River Gold nuggets and jewelry to mention just a few of the unique items that will be offered during the show.

 

This years display will feature western manufactured glass bottles embossed with the unique curved R associated with the early glasshouses located in San Francisco during the mid to late 1800's.

 

 

 

Western curved R on medicine bottle



• Western curved R on whiskey bottle

•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•   
• The Downieville Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary will be serving breakfast, lunch, snacks and beverages with all the proceeds going to help supply the Fire Department with much needed supplies and equipment.
• 
  
• The Friday night dealers BBQ will include the popular wine tasting event and features a selection of craft beers too. The weather is predicted to be warm during the day and cooling off in the evenings so come prepared for the late summer Sierra temperature swings so common to this time of the year in the mountains.

North Fork of the Yuba River canyon with Saddleback Mountain in the background.

 



See you in Downieville!

Real? Repro? Fantasy? Fake?

Once again, eBay yields another opportunity to either acquire a great rarity, or to get hosed royally.

I'm no expert on Goldfield Nevada stuff, although I've been around the block enough times to pay attention when the hair on the back of my neck stands up. I do know that in the 1970's a myriad of "fantasy" pieces appeared en masse, supposedly from Goldfield. These included spittoons, brass oil lamps, "Good For" whorehouse tokens and door keys with fobs, hotel desk bells, and stoneware items.The sheer volume of these fakes are testimony to W. C. Fields statement about a sucker being born every minute.

 

Such may be the case with a Buy It Now item that briefly appeared for sale, and which was quickly snapped up.

It is / was, eBay item number: 252071601759, and was described as;

"WESTERN JUG/BOTTLE GOLDFIELD SALOON STONEWARE BOTTLE GOLDFIELD NEVADA"

I recently got chewed out for copying a photo from another listing on ebay, so it'll be up to you to view it online for yourself. Just paste the listing number in eBays search and you can take a peek,

That said, the fine print read;

 

"THIS IS ANOTHER STONEWARE BOTTLE ITS A DIFFERENT COLOR THAN THE CALIFORNIA ONE THAT JUST SOLD,, AND DIFFERENT SHAPE. ITS INCISED / stamped INTO THE CLAY ADVERTISING THE GOLDFIELD SALOON R. A. DUNN. MAIN STREET. GOLDFIELD NEVADA. IT HAS A CORK STUCK IN TOP AND WILL NOT COME OUT. I DONT WANT TO BREAK IT OFF.

LOOKS TO HAVE CAME WITH THE BOTTLE. THE BOTTLE STANDS 8 1/2 tall. On the money IT LOOKS TO BE SALT GLAZED WITH COBALT BLUE ON AND IN LETTERS. LOOK. I DONT KNOW HOW THE BOTTLE IS BUT THERE ARE NONE ON EBAY.. SO THERE NOT BEING MASS PRODUCED. THEY CAME FROM A BOTTLE COLLECTOR,, YOU MAKE YOU OWN MIND UP WHEN YOU BID ON IT ! I WONT REFUND. LOOKS TO BE A GREAT WESTERN STONEWARE SALOON ITEM. I JUST LISTED THE CALIFORNIA ONE AND IT SOLD FOR 299.99,, I THINK I LISTED IT TOO CHEAP THERE IS A PHOTO OF THE BOTH OF THEM TOGETHER,, THANKS FOR LOOKING"

 

What say you, fellow collectors?