Bottle Collecting in Montana
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
62 Winter 2003 Bottles and Extras too great. It’s been too hot and dry and the [Fig. 2] water is too low. The trout aren’t much for BOTTLE COLLECTING eating these days. Too soft.” IN MONTANA L: “Oh! We’re not fishing, although my Ray Thompson husband likes to once in awhile. We are looking for old bottles around the mining For all of you out there who may read camps in the hills over there. We’ve been this, I want to set the record straight. Did here before and did pretty well. There are the Californians get all the good bottles lots of sun colored bottles out there, and from Montana’s gold camps before us some old ones too.” locals woke up, pulled up our suspenders, A: “I’ve seen lots of bottles around where stepped out on the front porch and the old timers used to live, but what’s a stimulated the locals into a bottle muttered, “I wonder what all the excite- sun colored bottle?” collecting frenzy by the early 1970s, and ment is about? That is the third set of L: “Son, those are the ones that are purple, when I arrived home from the Army I was California license plates I’ve seen go by all shades of purple up here.” in a different collector’s world. Everybody here this week. I think that there might A: “Are those worth anything?”, as his had some bottles and was finding them have been one from Oregon, too. I’m eyes lit up and the wheels began to turn in all over Montana. I didn’t need much gonna take a drive up the canyon and see his head. coaxing to getting a collection started my- what those folks are doing.” L: “Not much, but they are pretty and look self. When I traded some friends out of a We did wake up when the caterpillars nice in the windows at home. The dark- Warren Drug from Bozeman, and I dug a started rolling through the ash dumps and colored bitters bottles are worth a little Choteau Drug and a Kessler beer - I was ranchers were saying, “Sure you can go more but are harder to find. My specialty hooked on Montana bottles. That was up and pick up all that junk. I’ve been is collecting the old ink bottles.” thirty years ago and collecting has been trying to get that s#@* out of there for good since. twenty years.” I guess they figured that if The attendant’s work on the car was Collectors in many states have there were so many people from outside done, so he collected his $4.00 and wished experienced ownership of a Montana wanting all these bottles and other gar- them good luck as they headed north out bottle. I say this with some assurance that bage that they must be worth something. of town. So much for the introduction to the large number of folks accumulating An inquiry of a passing motorist at the bottle collecting. I guess they did get quite “state” collections of most bottle types had gas station where I worked in the 1960s a few before the rest of us woke up and at least one in their hands. Some of those kind of went like this: smelled the dumps. handled were undoubtedly rarities while There were seven years between the others were common. Nevertheless, the Attendant: “Morning Ma’am, nice day story above and my first look at a bottle many and varied types, sizes and emboss- isn’t it? What may I do for you?” collection by a Montana collector. It was ments made for a lucrative collectors’ Lady: “Good morning son. We need a tank now only 1967. My collection started that exchange. of gas and please check the oil and tires. year with an aqua Vaseline style bottle and Montana bottles and artifacts are We are going into the hills for a couple several black glass ales. The ales were days and don’t want any problems with the discards in a campground that I was car.” cleaning as part of a summer job. I later [Fig. 3] A: “Sure thing Ma’am, nice rig! What are thought that if they were throwing away you going to do? The fishing hasn’t been 1860s black glass ales and cracked Hostetters, what were they taking home? When I asked the question about where [Fig. 1] to go and what to look for to find some really old bottles, the answer stuck with me, “You won’t find much out there any- more since the Californians got them all.” My excursions to familiar old places were discouraging that summer, since all I found were the shards. I was a believer now, and sort of wore the California story on my sleeve for several years. That story later. Collectors from outside of Montana Bottles and Extras Winter 2003 63 items, and that is the case here. New H. J. ZAYAS in Helena (Fig 1). Was I [Fig. 4] whiskey, soda, beer and drugstore bottles excited or what? And guess how many have emerged in the last year. Going back unembossed shoofly whiskey bottles were for a moment to the statement I made about in that dump? Yup, 21! wearing the successes of the early bottle Many nice examples from nearly 60 diggers on my sleeve, all but two of these proprietors have survived in the larger discoveries were made out of state. dumps. Specie from Anaconda, Butte, Dunno, but I think we still have a few Great Falls, Helena, and Kalispell top the surprises in store. And to end the list for variety of collectible embossed California story, I do not hold you flasks. These examples from Butte responsible for anything except waking us (Fig. 2) and Anaconda (Fig. 3) are up in time to enjoy the fantastic hobby of extremely desirable. sought for a variety of reasons. Foremost bottle collecting. Montana businesses advertised across behind a collector’s urge might be the ro- Let’s move on and discuss some of what the state by stenciling names, businesses mance connected with a relic once part of we have that we are proud of and seek with and products on stone ware jugs (Fig. 4). the 1860s Gold Rush or early 1900 home- an intensity not measured in many states. Our jugs come in the “mini” size up to, steading era. Next might be a connection Since I started out above with a short list, and probably exceeding, 3 gallons. We to a place a family called home or where let’s start there. have cataloged close to 100 different jugs. they had a business venture. Almost all are rare, 1 to 5 known. A few Then there are those of us who have an WHISKEY proprietors have 20 - 25 known, usually affinity for bottle types and collect that In summary, we have several clear in several sizes. state or one specimen from a number of quart embossed cylinders, a shoulder A rarity would be the FIVE TAPS states. And how many of us can be called sealed cylinder in amber and olive green SALOON from Great Falls (Sorry that my casual collectors keeping what you dig, that comes as a quart and a “fifth”. At least photo didn’t turn out) and more common eventually trading for what sparks our 20 coffins and shooflies, that many more are those from the MONTANA LIQUOR interests? If you have dug in Montana, I straight sided flasks, around 10 silver over- COMPANY of Butte (Fig. 4,left). Another am sure you have discovered a few lay flasks, several leather covered flasks, from GOODKIND BROS./ WHOLE- Montana bottles and relics. gold printed with the proprietor’s name SALE WINES/ LIQUORS AND No matter how we all got started, the and business, make for a nice group of very CIGARS/ HELENA. MONT (Fig 4, right) bottom line is, “we like Montana bottles.” collectible bottles. represents the middle range of Montana entrepreneurs of the last There are also a few unique bottles, availability. century and back into the late 19th back bars and ceramics that contained Montana jugs are very collectible and century had their names and businesses liquor. We have evidence that the summer highly desired by both collectors of embossed on bottles representing their of “02” produced fragments of a true western whiskey jugs and those who stick businesses. These bottles came in a pumpkinseed embossed from Butte City. to Montana items. Recent bidding on variety of shapes, colors, and sizes that When this one surfaces for inspection, it available specimens has been phenomenal. match the commonly used styles of the day. will add another special bottle to pursue. Most of us, who have collected for a while, Glass that has been thrown to the four SODAS will recognize a shoofly whiskey flask, an seasons on a rocky hillside has not fared Blob top, Hutchinson, Baltimore loop, enameled back bar bottle, the Hutchinson well. We often find items with a variety of and crown top sodas grace many soda, a stoneware jug, the seltzer, blob top damage. You don’t have to stretch your collector’s shelves. The American soda- beer or soda, and the prescription drug- imagination to understand the fate of the water bottling industry was well on its way store bottle. We have all these bearing fragile shoofly and coffin bottles. when gold was discovered in Montana and Montana places and businesses. One time, during my collecting the great, mid-1860s rushes to Virginia I will portray some of these and adolescence, I asked a veteran collector City, Bannack, Last Chance (Helena) and characterize their uses and histories for how long it takes to find an embossed many smaller unnamed strikes were you.