# pharmacy/druggist size runs



## Lordbud (Mar 22, 2016)

I happen to collect local pharmacy/druggist bottles. If I see different sizes of the same bottle I will usually pick them up -- if they are affordable. I kind of like winning a bottle still in need of cleaning. No, not tumbling but just soaking and brushing out. Here is one I managed to win very recently. I love the embossing font on this one. Eastern blown and very attractive. For a druggist bottle. Oakland is right across the bridge from San Francisco.


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## nhpharm (Mar 23, 2016)

Very nice!  I have several runs...pretty hard to put together, but I consider a run to be: 1/2 OZ, 1 OZ, 2 OZ, 3 OZ, 4 OZ, 6 OZ, 8 OZ, 16 OZ, and 32 OZ (if you are lucky).  I managed to put together some runs of the 1/2 through the 16, but never the full 1/2 to 32...and it really seems like many pharmacies did not have some sizes (like the 16 OZ, the 1/2 OZ, and the 6 OZ).


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## botlguy (Mar 23, 2016)

I also have long been a fan of local Pharmacy / Drug Store size and variant runs. I have found, through my search for 48 state 1/2 ounce & certain 1 ounce bottles, that to have a complete run of certain ones you must have a 1/4 ounce. A long time back I asked this forum if anyone had any or knew of them. Eventually I got one off eBay.

Today I am continuing my quest for the 48 state 1/2 ounce run and to get every size and variant from Santa Ana, Calif and Coeur d' Alene, Idaho.


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## nhpharm (Mar 23, 2016)

Jim,

You are right...though I don't think I have located any 1/4 ounce examples from my main focus (New Hampshire).  I just listed an amber 1/2 ounce from New Hampshire on eBay...the only colored 1/2 ounce from New Hampshire that I am aware of.  I love the little ones...dug a very nice 1870's 1/2 ounce druggist bottle from Galveston, Texas a few weeks ago.


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## sandchip (Mar 24, 2016)

Those are nice.  I'm always looking for different size druggists from Montezuma, Ga. if y'all come across any.  Or Americus.


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## antlerman23 (Mar 25, 2016)

I have a couple 12oz driggists from my local area, is that an uncommon size? I have seen maybe 5 other 12oz druggists from Minnesota too


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## botlguy (Mar 25, 2016)

12 ounce is not uncommon depending on the manufacturer and the requirements if the druggist. Most runs are from 1/2 ounce to 32 ounce by 2s then 4s. To say it better: 1/2, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 32. Some companies had graduations between these.       Jim


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## mctaggart67 (Mar 30, 2016)

In Canadian druggists, the standard run, according to glassworks' catalogues and my 35 years' experience collecting, is: 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 16 ounce. 12 ouncers are harder to find, but I wouldn't say they fall into the rare category, since they tend to show up for certain druggists. Makes me think that this size was a special requested up here. 32 ouncers are rare. I've only seen a few and only found a broken one beneath the floor board of an old shack.


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## nhpharm (Mar 30, 2016)

Now you folks have my interest piqued...I don't recall any 12 ouncers from New Hampshire but maybe there are.  I'll have to poke through my collection.  I know I don't have any as part of runs but I may have some one-offs.  I wonder if the 12 ounce ones are more common from prolific large-city druggists or from certain glass houses?


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## botlguy (Mar 31, 2016)

Just for the record, I have a copy of David Bethman's "THE PIONEER DRUG STORE" Copyright 1991 which chronicles Pharmacies and Drug Stores in Washington state. It has a plethora of information about the business, arguably the most complete, thorough work of its type. In it, David, a friend of mine, includes copies of ads from various bottle manufacturers that show listings for 12 ounce bottles. Granted most ads are from W.T. Co. that show different styles and sizes. As others have mentioned, it would be up to the individual druggist / pharmacist to order what they needed and it does seem, from fewer found today, that 12 ounce bottles were not used as much as other sizes.        Jim


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## mctaggart67 (Apr 1, 2016)

As I say, 12 ouncers are available here in Canada, but it's the hardest size to find, other than 32 ounce, even though all major Canadian glassworks offered the size. Must have been a pharmacy trade quirk not to favour 12 ouncers.


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## Lordbud (Apr 9, 2016)

Wow some good information posted on this thread. I will admit nearly all of my pharmacy "size runs" are works in progress. From my own limited experience, the larger the size - the rarer it is. The smaller the bottle (1/2 oz. 1 oz., etc.) the more likely it was to survive being dumped/dropped/buried. With certain local pharmacy bottles I find many only seem to have been made in one size. Try adding a citrate or dose glass to a "size run" and you will likely be in for some serious expenditures! Here is one of my better size runs pictured.


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## mctaggart67 (Apr 10, 2016)

Just checked the glassworks catalogues I have (well copies of them), and Canadian glass companies regularly list a 1/4 ounce size for many styles of prescription ware. Yet I've never seen an embossed example in 35+ years of collecting.


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## botlguy (Apr 10, 2016)

I'm assuming you are talking about exclusively Canadian Pharmacy / Drug Store bottles. I have 2 USA made / used bottles that I believe actually fit the description of 1/4 ounce empty bottles that were purchased by local pharmacies  to be filled by them with specific ingredients for specific individual customers. 1/4 ounce are advertised and available in the USA but are scarce to rare. I desire and covet any available, even Canadian, although my focus is the USA. 
Jim


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## mctaggart67 (Apr 12, 2016)

Embossed quarter ouncers?


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## botlguy (Apr 13, 2016)

mctaggart67 said:


> Embossed quarter ouncers?



Yep! I've got 2, not much embossing, just names. One has to do some research to find out if they are actually Pharmacy / Drug Store bottles or put up with a product of some sort. Whitall-Tatum catalogs list 1/4 ounce bottles in a lot of different styles.


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