# New member-seeks wisdom.



## altajars41 (Dec 28, 2013)

Hi guys, I am a new member from Canada.  I was recently given a rather large collection of almost anything/everything by my father. His primary focus was on fruit jars of which there are more than 4500 different ones.  He also has large numbers of pop/whiskey bottles, apothecary/medicine jars, milk bottles, crock ware and tons of the paraphernalia associated with jars(rings, lids, re-sizers etc.)  It will be necessary to sell the bulk of the collection as I don't have the space to store or display it in its entirety.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thank-you.Grant


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## LC (Dec 28, 2013)

Darn thing somehow made a double post of the same post I made above  . Wish I could remove this . Sorry for the inconvenience .


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## LC (Dec 28, 2013)

Can't imagine a collection of over 4500 different jars , that I would love to see . How about some pictures ?? As well as some of the other bottles you have . Will look forward to future posts .


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## altajars41 (Dec 28, 2013)

Would love to however being the newbie I am I don't know how to post pics.  Step by step would be great.  I do have a number of pics on my phone I could upload.Thanks


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## LC (Dec 28, 2013)

Just click on *OPEN FULL VERSION* next to *QUICK REPLY* at top left corner of the post window .It will open the full version post . At the bottom of the post at left you will see a link that enables you to upload pics to your post from your computer . I am not sure how to upload picturesf from a phone . Hope this helps .


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## MNJars (Dec 28, 2013)

Yes, the pictures need to be below 200kb file size in order to upload.  We'd all love to see what you've got and help you out.


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## altajars41 (Dec 28, 2013)

I think with the help of my kid I may have a picture for you.  I will send another in a minute(hopefully).


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## altajars41 (Dec 28, 2013)

Next.


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## altajars41 (Dec 28, 2013)

No. 3


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## altajars41 (Dec 28, 2013)

4


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## altajars41 (Dec 28, 2013)

Apparently this one is pretty good.


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## altajars41 (Dec 29, 2013)

Here is some of the related paraphernalia as promised


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## altajars41 (Dec 29, 2013)

Apparently this one is good too.  That's it for tonight.


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## mctaggart67 (Dec 29, 2013)

Hi: Where in Canada are you located? I take it by your handle that you're in Alberta? I'm based in Calgary, so I may be able to help out personally. Let me know. Cheers, Glen


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## zecritr (Dec 29, 2013)

wow


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## coreya (Dec 29, 2013)

DOUBLE WOW! my advice to you is take your time and RESEARCH RESEARCH. with that number of jars there are bound to be some real gems in there (no pun intended). When you figure value anywhere from 1 dollar each up to 50++ ? (perhaps thousands for a rare one)(in a bulk sale) there is a lot of value there. Wish I was closer!!!


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## altajars41 (Dec 29, 2013)

Good advice.  Thanks.  Luckily the research has already been done.  He has them all marked off in the red book of jars.  The one amber i uploaded for instance is a Phoenix Medical Supplies Co. from Milwaukee with a label 80-90% intact, w/o label even I think it's worth something.  I understand he has a number that are not in the book as well(although I may be mixing that up with his tobacco tins).  Is that book still pretty accurate?


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## coreya (Dec 29, 2013)

The red book is a great GUIDE but it is still only that and changes with each edition (current one is 10). The prices can vary wildly depending on many factors such as location (whats common in one area may be way less so in another so commands more money) quanity made, and of course individuals collecting.It sounds that you have a good grasp of the situation now all you need is Time!! Good luck!


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## altajars41 (Dec 29, 2013)

Thanks for the reply.  I sure don't feel that I have a good grasp of the situation but I have been around dad and his jars for a long time.  What means of dispersal would realize the best return in your opinion.  Storage in the immediate future is not an issue, in a few years it will be.  I have considered auctions, pickers, ebay, antique dealers, sell the entire collection en masse, individually etc.  I assume the easiest is not the best way.  It's kind of a daunting prospect.


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## RED Matthews (Dec 29, 2013)

Here is some reading{ Welcome - to this forum. This is a collection of material information for newbee's in the hobby of Historic Bottle Collecting.   There are several approaches to bottle collecting, and every one has a different interest, that keeps them going after bottles that represent their interest.   My interest in putting this together; is to look at the development of bottle making and the methods that were used when the bottles were *Hand-Made and Mouth-Blown.*  This is intended to mainly cover the bottles that were made in the development of the *American Glass Making Industry*, the first industry in our country..   New diggers and collectors, need to realize how to identify bottles that were made by Hand and Mouth-Blown vs the bottles that were made on an *AUTOMATIC  BOTTLE  MACHINE (ABM)*.  These glass items can be left for future collecting objectives; or recycled into the batch additive to today's glass production.  *If there are two vertical seams on the finish of the bottle, leave it or recycle it.  The logic is the value isn't going to be worth taking it home; unless it is an unusual figural or fancy bottle. *  There are a lot of interesting bottles made later, but ones interest has to become more specialized.  For example I have a bigcollection of large advertising bottles – that were never even filled.  Whiskeys, beers, perfume, Coca Cola  and many products. Multiple finish Wolfe bottles, and bottles that were made with special mold designs.  So you can’t leave justification for saving others also.The number one thing to learn is how to identify and know Mouth Blown Bottles.  One of the best things to learn is how to identify the pontil marks.            #1  When a bottle has a round ring of glass on the bottom, it is telling us that the ring was made by having an empontiling done with the previous blow pipe with neck glass left on the end of that blow pipe.  The diameters (inside and outside) will be about the same as the neck of the bottle under the finish.  So this is a Blow pipe or Open Tube Pontil, on the bottom of your bottle.  That previous blowpipe was laid on a rack by the glory hole to keep that glass tube end hot enough to stick to the next bottle. These are often referred to as: an open pontil but that is up to the collectors’ use of words. 
             #2  When the bottle has a contact mark on the bottom that illustrates that  what was used to empontil it, that mark will be a round form with different textures in the mark.  The mark is made by an iron punty rod and the diameter and style is different for: small to huge heavy glass bottles.  These heated punty rods were often soft coated with a sticking agent like: graphite, red lead or white lead .  The coated punty is then placed in; an open boxes with:  powdered iron, glass chips, glass dust, sand, to mention the main ones.  It is then stuck on the bottom of the new bottle to become a handle for the bottle-maker to apply glass to the neck of the empontilled bottle.   
 Some punties are even just coated with some hot glass from the melting crucible.  Identifying the exact method of empontiling is not as important as just realizing it has been on a punty rod.               #3  Now the last thing to look at is the finish on top of the bottle you are thinking of keeping.  If the finish was applied hot glass it will be just a ring of glass or it might have lines going around it and down on the neck of the bottle indicating that a pinch action tool had been inserted in the neck and the hot glass rotated to shape the hot glass, that was put on the neck.  In this looking at your bottle or jar – if you see two vertical mold lines on that finish – then it was made on an ABM (Automatic Bottle Machine) and left for a future collector.  The only exception is if the bottle is a unique figural or has some other indications of being a collectors item.  This will come after you have more experience. This is no doubt enough to get you on a good road.   Clarence RED MatthewsMy email:   <bottlemysteries@yahoo.com> 
            My homepage: http:www.bottlemysteries.com/welcome 
 Here is an extension to this material.  I tried to point out the features on bottles that will give you some idea of the markings on early glass?  The things that were made by mouth blown skills are the most collectable and valuable in my book.  If you haven't read that I can send it to you easily.  The principle of empontilling the hot glass product by putting a handle on it for finishing the blowpipe end of the product are also important to value.  The hand made glass is the best to get.  The different types of bottle finishes that were made by tooling and applied shaped glass are important to value.
 The things I look for are the marks that tell me about how they did different things to the glass and the molds used to make the product.  These all effect values.  Backwards lettering chiseled in the molds is also unique to the freehand letter cutting of mold making.  Embossing is also an art-form of hand chiseled value in early glass containers.  The characteristics of wooden molds, ceramic molds, iron molds, brass or bronze molds and mold seams all are part of the evolution of the industry.  Early American glass makers and glass shops that can be identified add value.  The picking types of pattern made in dip molds are of great value producing glass.   There are a ton of things to learn about when you get into the hobby.   In the case of OSUChE and his glass.  I want to tell you that if go through your bottles and look at the finish of each one to see if there are two seams on the finish and there is a ring of glass under the thread, called a transfer bead, you might as well put them into a recycle box – unless there is something special about them.   If you have time to go to my homepage and read about the half leaf mark on bottles – this would make them special in my objective collecting.  RED Matthews


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## coreya (Dec 29, 2013)

The best most financially beneficial method will also be the longest and most difficult one as selling individually will bring the most money but will be the most work, however there have been some auctions of very large collections that have done real well for the heirs. Depending on what jars are there (value wise) You might contact some of the larger glass auction houses such as greg spurgeon aka north American glass  http://www.gregspurgeon.com/auction/  or Heckler's http://www.hecklerauction.com/ or Glass Discoveries http://www.glassdiscoveries.com/ to explore having one large auction (this will give you less money but will be quicker and less painful in the long run. Again be careful of the people you do not know who try to feed you a line, get educated and listen to someone you trust! (most of the auction houses will try and get the most as that's what makes them the most). Good luck


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## zecritr (Dec 29, 2013)

Or there is the half and half way some en masse and some individually,also if you know someone whom you can consign some of them to is another option (say for E-bay and the like,they might be able to store them for you again someone you really can trust there) Best of Luck and Good Fortune for you


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## deenodean (Dec 29, 2013)

AWESOME COLLECTION ! ! Most of us collectors would never see over 4500 jars in a life time. I would love to see it in person but 3000 miles is a long Sunday pm drive. Thanks for sharing !!


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## NHkeith (Dec 30, 2013)

I would suggest contacting an auction house. they will take x% of total sales 20-30% (from what I hear). they have the client tell, they do the advertising. That is one AMAZING collection.  Take pride in the fact that your father has an amazing collection. Does he have any collector friends you know of? That might be fair in helping you? I personally have a few friends I collect with in the area. I hope my family could trust them enough to sell my collection (fairly) if I passed away.. I personally would sell them off on ebay. and do the work yourself (or have a family member help).


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## altajars41 (Dec 30, 2013)

Thank you to all the members who have taken the time to provide some much appreciated advice and information on the topic. I am proud and amazed at the extent of what he has collected over the years.  Through your site, in a very short time, I have acquired some valuable resources on the topic.  Ebay was certainly first on my radar as the means by which to disperse of the jars but I have since learned of many other options through this website.  I will take some better pictures of some of the more interesting jars to post when I next have an opportunity.  Thanks again, Happy New year.


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