# N.E Suddaby Druggist bottle Fernie BC



## RCO (Nov 16, 2017)

found this at an antique store and though it was neat , I don't really know much about it but he didn't want much for it so figured I'd take it home . 


I'm not sure how long this druggist operated but saw a post online that seemed to indicate he was operating in 1910's era , I've never been to Fernie BC but online says its around 5000 people now and unsure how big it was when bottle used 

the label says " N.E Suddaby" druggist and stationer Fernie BC  and has a picture of an elk , first I though it was a deer but now say its an elk , someone wrote on the label but didn't write down a date so unsure exactly how old the label and bottle is 

the bottle itself is just a small plain clear bottle ( maybe 3 inches tall and 1 inch wide )  , no real markings other than a couple numbers on bottom


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## CanadianBottles (Nov 16, 2017)

Oh man, I'm so jealous haha!  I collect BC bottles and I've only found one BC druggist since I left, and it wasn't a labelled one from a small town like yours.  Labelled BC drug store bottles are not easy at all to find.

As for Fernie, I've never been there either but it was a boom town, as was almost everywhere in that area.  I think it has probably been more or less the same size it is today since the early 20th century.


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## RCO (Nov 17, 2017)

CanadianBottles said:


> Oh man, I'm so jealous haha!  I collect BC bottles and I've only found one BC druggist since I left, and it wasn't a labelled one from a small town like yours.  Labelled BC drug store bottles are not easy at all to find.
> 
> As for Fernie, I've never been there either but it was a boom town, as was almost everywhere in that area.  I think it has probably been more or less the same size it is today since the early 20th century.



I haven't really been looking for BC bottles specifically so not sure how many are out there 


any guesses as to when this bottle might of been used ?  I don't have any BC bottle books to look him up in or sure if any even exist 

it always surprises me how  some of these old paper label bottles managed to survive so long in such condition , someone either saved it for some reason or it was kept indoors in a medical cabinet for a long time


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## botlguy (Nov 17, 2017)

I live fairly close to Fernie, about 2 hours south in the USA. Fernie is in an absolutely beautiful location at the foot of the Canadian Rockies. It does seem to have a thriving economy, in winter it is a busy ski area. We were there last about 2 years ago. That's a great looking label and it appears to me they match as far as age goes, 1900 - 1915. One could write to the local library for help finding some history.
Jim S


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## CanadianBottles (Nov 17, 2017)

There are several BC bottle books, but they were written before pharmacy bottles really became collectible.  So there isn't any sort of reference for pharmacy bottles.  I don't often see Canadian pharmacy bottles from anywhere outside of Ontario and Quebec, especially not labeled ones.  

Yeah I'm always amazed that they survived too, I'm not sure where they usually were kept to have them last so long.  Some I know are found in walls and crawlspaces, but I don't think the majority were.


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## Robby Raccoon (Nov 17, 2017)

The bottle might be just a bit older than 1910. From what I've seen, most druggist bottles were putting graduations in around 1910 or so. Some earlier, some not putting them in at all, but in general. Nice graphic and great condition. 
Of course, this is a study from American-made and sold bottles. Though you're our neighbour, it may not apply as this stemmed from a certain law though I don't think it was mandatory for town druggists.
A nice antique bottle, nonetheless.


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## RCO (Nov 17, 2017)

CanadianBottles said:


> There are several BC bottle books, but they were written before pharmacy bottles really became collectible.  So there isn't any sort of reference for pharmacy bottles.  I don't often see Canadian pharmacy bottles from anywhere outside of Ontario and Quebec, especially not labeled ones.
> 
> Yeah I'm always amazed that they survived too, I'm not sure where they usually were kept to have them last so long.  Some I know are found in walls and crawlspaces, but I don't think the majority were.



I've never seen any of the BC books myself or aware they existed , I've seen druggist bottles from different provinces before , mostly there embossed though , saw a couple from the east coast on ebay the other day , one was from Cape Breton and other NB  


the label has 2 tiny dots of white paint , so perhaps it had been kept near a wall or something that needed painting ? seems odd to explain how they got on bottle .  it seems odd that someone bothered to keep it , as it would of been used quickly and then had no use and not considered collectable way back then


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## RCO (Nov 17, 2017)

Spirit Bear said:


> The bottle might be just a bit older than 1910. From what I've seen, most druggist bottles were putting graduations in around 1910 or so. Some earlier, some not putting them in at all, but in general. Nice graphic and great condition.
> Of course, this is a study from American-made and sold bottles. Though you're our neighbour, it may not apply as this stemmed from a certain law though I don't think it was mandatory for town druggists.
> A nice antique bottle, nonetheless.



really have no idea , the 1910 date was just a guess , I found some postcards online from same store and some were dated 1905 or 1907 , apparently that made postcards too not just a druggist 

a post on Wikipedia also says Fernie BC was entirely burnt down on 1908 , so if it could be proven the druggist  and this bottle was pre 1908 , it might make it even rarer as few bottles could of possibly survived if the entire town and druggist burnt down  .  

[h=2]Architectural heritage[edit][/h]After a disastrous fire leveled much of the downtown core in 1904, the fledgling municipal government passed an ordinance requiring all buildings in the area to be built of 'fireproof' materials like brick and stone. Consequently, a new city centre rose from the ashes sporting brick buildings along broad avenues that would have looked more at home in a sedate and refined Victorian city than a rough-and-tumble frontier coal town. They were short-lived, however, as a second, larger inferno swept through the city on August 1, 1908. Whipped up by sudden winds, a nearby forest fire burnt its way into a lumber yard on the edge of the community and sparked a Dresden-style firestorm that melted brick and mortar and essentially erased the entire city in an afternoon. There were few casualties, however, and for a second time a stately brick downtown core rose from the ashes. Today, these historic buildings, most of which still stand, are a treasured and distinctive feature of the community.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernie,_British_Columbia


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## RCO (Nov 17, 2017)

found photographic evidence that the druggist operated pre fire , this picture clearly shows a NE suddaby drug store sign , although its unclear if they rebuilt after the fire ?   




http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/g_02342.html


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## CanadianBottles (Nov 18, 2017)

RCO said:


> I've never seen any of the BC books myself or aware they existed , I've seen druggist bottles from different provinces before , mostly there embossed though , saw a couple from the east coast on ebay the other day , one was from Cape Breton and other NB
> 
> 
> the label has 2 tiny dots of white paint , so perhaps it had been kept near a wall or something that needed painting ? seems odd to explain how they got on bottle .  it seems odd that someone bothered to keep it , as it would of been used quickly and then had no use and not considered collectable way back then



Yeah the BC books are quite pricey and hard to find, and they are not super comprehensive either.  There's one soda book that was still in print ten years ago or so, not sure if it is now, which has most of the pre-1920 sodas from the province, but the other books are more just a group of collectors in the 70s trying to document as many bottles as they were aware of, and since it was the 70s there was a lot they were not aware of yet.

I see NS and NB druggist bottles sometimes, I just posted one from Halifax on another thread, but I can only remember finding one from the Western provinces the whole time I've lived in ON and QC.

If it's got a bit of paint on the label then I think it's got a decent chance of having been inside a wall or under a floor.  Sometimes the construction workers would finish a bottle of something and then just toss it inside the wall.  Not sure why they would have been using eye drops on the job though, so maybe not.


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## RCO (Nov 18, 2017)

( any of these books the ones you were thinking of ? found this old auction online , never sold but for 4 Canadian bottle books I haven't seen before   , all seem to be from the 70's )  



Lot of four: 1) "Western Canadian Bottle Collecting" by George Watson & Robert Skrill, 1971; 2) "Western Canadian Bottle Collecting, Volume 2"; 3) "Bottlers and Bottles, Canadian" by O. Urquhart, 1976; 4) Pioneer Breweries of B.C. by George & Ilene Watson, 1974, hardback.  State:   City:   Date:    ID# 47767

http://www.icollector.com/1369-Canadian-Bottle-Collecting-Books_i27257008


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## RCO (Nov 18, 2017)

the same auction site also had 2 druggist bottles from western Canada , never sold , one is from Saskatoon and other Lethbridge alberta .  oddly listed them as "foreign "  not Canadian 



http://www.icollector.com/1373-Foreign-Drug-Store-Bottles_i27257012


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## CanadianBottles (Nov 18, 2017)

Yep, those were the ones I was thinking of!  Or at least 1, 2, and 4 are.  There's also a soda bottle book not included there.

And I assume they meant "foreign" as in a lot of drug store bottles not from the US, since there was also that British one there.  The two prairie bottles are great, I don't think I've ever come across an embossed drug store bottle from the prairies, and that Lethbridge one doesn't look like any other Canadian drug store bottle I've seen.


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## mctaggart67 (Nov 18, 2017)

Norman E. Suddaby, of Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario, graduated from the Ontario College of Pharmacy in 1900. The earliest I have him listed as being in business at Fernie is 1905. He was still in Fernie in 1922. My cross-Canada research for the early 1900s is admittedly incomplete right now. In 1908 he bought out a local rival in Fernie, the Elk Drug Co., and this may explain the elk imagery on the label.


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## RCO (Nov 19, 2017)

mctaggart67 said:


> Norman E. Suddaby, of Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario, graduated from the Ontario College of Pharmacy in 1900. The earliest I have him listed as being in business at Fernie is 1905. He was still in Fernie in 1922. My cross-Canada research for the early 1900s is admittedly incomplete right now. In 1908 he bought out a local rival in Fernie, the Elk Drug Co., and this may explain the elk imagery on the label.



some interesting information , so it appears his business was destroyed in the fire but he rebuilt and operated into the 20's , which gives us a good idea when the bottle was likely used


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## mctaggart67 (Nov 19, 2017)

Please let me know if you ever want to part with it, as I collect cross-Canada medicines. Thanks.


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