# dr. j.hostetter's stomach bitters



## mamafurr (Aug 10, 2008)

hi all. i am new...however somewhat old.  i am researching this bottle. i looked on ebay and see about 10. my camera just ran out of battery! the bottom says J. C. Co L. the glass dark amber,  is foggy, lots of bubbles, and "rainbowy". 
 it has seams going up 2 corner sides. there is a circle around the "spout" about 2 1/2" down. is this where they stuck the top on? you can tell i am not educated with the proper bottle part descriptions!!! 
 also, i have a marble stuck in the top of the bottle about 1/2" down (my daughter 25 yrs. ago). any suggestions? should i just leave it.


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## NCdigger5 (Aug 10, 2008)

Hostetters are very common. Its one of the most common bottles known. Its not worth the effort to get the marble out.


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## appliedlips (Aug 10, 2008)

Welcome to the forum.As Ryan said Hostetter's are fairly common but not all variants and they are an attractive bottle.I really like the crude early ones.As far as the marble I think I would just leave it because I would end up breaking the bottle trying to get it out.


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## glass man (Aug 11, 2008)

GREEN HOSTETTERS ARE NOT SO COMMON. YEAH THE AMBER ONES ARE,BUT NOT ONE OF THE MOST COMMON BOTTLES,CALDWELLS,CALIFONIA FIG SYRUP,BROMO SELZER ,COME TO MIND. NOT TRYING TO BE A SMART AS... NC!


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## NCdigger5 (Aug 11, 2008)

I might of exaggerated, but it still one of the most common bitters.


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## glass man (Aug 11, 2008)

I AGREE ALONG WITH ATWOODS,LASHES,etc.


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## NCdigger5 (Aug 11, 2008)

They are common, but I still have one in my collection!!!


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## E (Aug 11, 2008)

I gotta figure that Hostetter's was some tasty/potent stuff as it seems whenever I have found a dump with one, several are soon to follow.  I dug one particular dump in Suffolk years ago that must of had 100 of 'em in it.  I only kept a couple but my wiser brother carted off dozens.  He has since used them as give-aways for friends and relatives = really makes their day to get such nice-looking shelf bottle.

 Around Richmond "Chelf's Celery Caffiene Compound" seems to be to most ubiquitous bottles to me.  Again, must have been highly addictive stuff as some family dumps have yielded hundreds of them, kinda sad when you think about it.


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## zanes_antiques (Aug 11, 2008)

The marble if old may be worth more than the bottle so get a photo up of it please! It may be worth breaking the bottle to get the marble out.


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## RICKJJ59W (Aug 11, 2008)

I only found a small piece of a Hostetters in a dump never a whole one,or a half of one for that matter.So they are not common here.


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## jays emporium (Aug 15, 2008)

In my digging experience in South Texas about 80% if the bitters are Hostetters.  I've probably found about 50 whole ones.  Once in awhile I find a Columbo Peptic or Lash's that somebody probably bought by mistake thinking it was Hostetters.  One time I dug a Yochim Bros Stomach Bitters and threw it aside with the Hostetters until I looked at it closer.  They sell pretty good at flea markets for $10. to anyone who just wants an original Bitters bottle.  Of course the real early ones are better but the ones here date from 1890-1920.


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## bottlediger (Aug 15, 2008)

Im with you Rick, Over the 16 years of digging I have yet to find a piece of one. I have found maybe just a dozen or so bitters whole over the years (not counting atwoods) and each was differnt some rare some not so rare. I wouldnt really want to find one unless it was super crude or a werid color anyway. I just sold two hostetter's at the local bottle show last week, they were my buddies. One for 5 bucks and one for 3 bucks lol...

 Digger Ry


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## glass man (Aug 15, 2008)

> ORIGINAL: E
> 
> I gotta figure that Hostetter's was some tasty/potent stuff as it seems whenever I have found a dump with one, several are soon to follow.  I dug one particular dump in Suffolk years ago that must of had 100 of 'em in it.  I only kept a couple but my wiser brother carted off dozens.  He has since used them as give-aways for friends and relatives = really makes their day to get such nice-looking shelf bottle.
> 
> Around Richmond "Chelf's Celery Caffiene Compound" seems to be to most ubiquitous bottles to me.  Again, must have been highly addictive stuff as some family dumps have yielded hundreds of them, kinda sad when you think about it. I THINK IT WAS 80 PROOF ALCOHOL! AS TEMPERENCE MOVEMENT GOT BIGGER MORE PEOPLE HAD TO "TAKE MEDICINE" ALOT MORE!


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