# usona medicinal bottle



## janiam (Oct 5, 2006)

My daughter found a bottle out in the country in an abandoned barn that looks to be for medicinal purposes.  There are measurements on each side, one for ounces the other cc's.  It is incised with a strange symbol and the Roman numerals XXXii.  The base is incised 'USONA'.  I have tried to research this with no luck.  Any tips?  Thx - Jan


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## Jim (Oct 8, 2006)

Hi Jan, These bottles were used by pharmacists and drug stores. The strange symbol that resembles a 3 stands for "ounces". The Roman numeral denotes the ounce size. The half-ounce bottles use standard Arabic numerals, but the 1 through 32 ounce bottles all used Roman numerals. Although I have never seen one marked Usona, I have seen them with various names embossed on the base, including Knoxall, Lyric and Blue Ribbon. I believe that these were trade names that were used by the bottle manufacturer. ~Jim


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## janiam (Oct 8, 2006)

Hi Jim,  Thank you so much for the info.  I do not come across too many bottles, I collect other stuff!  My daughter has the bug and she thanks you also.  We are continuing our research on the USONA, so if anyone else has any info, it would be appreciated.


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## #1twin (Oct 13, 2006)

Jan,  I have dug a lot of medicines with different maker's mark on the base. It just so happens, I dug my first one like the one you have mentioned here, just the other day. I was hoping you would get some good info here so we could both learn about it. I know that the ones with Victor on them are a little more than just a common bottle. Hopefully someone will jump in here and help us out. Best of luck!

 Marvin


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## janiam (Oct 14, 2006)

Hi Marvin,  Thx for the info.  Hopefully someone out there will have better luck than I have had.  I will be sure & post as soon as I track down any info - Jan


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## Bernie19 (Apr 17, 2020)

janiam said:


> My daughter found a bottle out in the country in an abandoned barn that looks to be for medicinal purposes.  There are measurements on each side, one for ounces the other cc's.  It is incised with a strange symbol and the Roman numerals XXXii.  The base is incised 'USONA'.  I have tried to research this with no luck.  Any tips?  Thx - Jan


I know old thread, my 2 cents though.  I found one of those bottles today in south Texas.  Have not found any info on it, I'll keep looking.


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## treasurekidd (Apr 17, 2020)

Bernie19, here is some info on druggist bottles with the embossed USONA on the bottom. Scroll about half way down the article, or search the article for USONA. I posted a little of the info, lots more info and some example pics in the article:



			https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/Obear-Nester.pdf
		


_Griffenhagen and Bogard (1999:44, 103, 129) attributed the usona mark to the Obear-Nester Glass Co. Henry Forest applied for a patent for a “Design for a Prescription Bottle” on May 10, 1902, and received Design Patent No. 36,001 for the Usona Oval on August 12, 1902, assigning his invention to Obear-Nester (Figure 22). Obear-Nester registered the trademark on August 5, 1902, and claimed a usage since May of the same year. Griffenhagen and Bogard set a use range from 1902 to 1920. This range is in keeping with other data known._


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