# Bromo Seltzer from Baltimore



## Bottles R Us (Jul 28, 2011)

Hi,
 I recently bought a small lot of bottles for $12. There were more bottles, and I got the best ones of the lot. It was mostly unembossed medicines and painted label Pepsis. This Bromo Seltzer was one of few embossed bottles that weren't beverages.
 The bottle is embossed "BROMO SELTZER/EMERSON/DRUG CO/BALTIMORE MD." Right on the M of BALTIMORE there's a big bubble. I think it has a pontil on the bottom, it's a rough circle with a B in the middle.
 How old is this bottle, and what's it worth?

 Bottles R Us


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## epackage (Jul 28, 2011)

no value and no pontil..1920-30's is my guess


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## cyberdigger (Jul 28, 2011)

Bromo seltzers are indeed very common, but people who don't know much about antique bottles like the color, so sometimes they actually sell for a few dollars. Most veteran bottle diggers throw them over their shoulder, busy searching for something worth taking home.


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## baltbottles (Jul 28, 2011)

I don't throw bromo's away I put them in my dollar box at shows. They always sell.

 Chris


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## Wheelah23 (Jul 28, 2011)

I think some Bromos can be worth money. Ones is nice colors (not cobalt) can be worth more, and I think ones in big sizes (I've heard of a gallon size) are worth more. A machine made one like yours is worthless to bottle collectors, unless you can dupe a noob into buying it [][]


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## swizzle (Jul 28, 2011)

I like bromo's. If I don't dig one then I consider it a bad day of digging. My digging buddy dug 40 of them in one day about a month ago. He said it was his person record for bromos. Here's 2 of mine. [8D]


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## cyberdigger (Jul 28, 2011)

You couldn't pry this one from my grip.. []


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## Rockhounder55 (Jul 29, 2011)

Hey Charlie, is that one of the "Don't be shy, show me your stri-ations?" []  ~Mike


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## cobaltbot (Jul 29, 2011)

Throwing away bromos!

 Sacrilege!

 Swiz, nice backward Z 4 inch!


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## cobaltbot (Jul 29, 2011)

Pretty sure there's no gallon size but never say never.  There is a gallon size Noxzema though, that I want.  The Bmore book lists the largest at 9 inches but I've never seen one above 8".


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## swizzle (Jul 29, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  cobaltbot
> Swiz, nice backward Z 4 inch!


 
 Good eye man. Hey is that the same "The Bromo co. that I have but with a paper label? [8D]


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## Bottles R Us (Jul 29, 2011)

Hey Swizzle,
 Is the bigger Bromo in your picture the same one as mine? It looks the same...
 Also, an antique store I visited had the tiny bromos selling for upwards of $10. Ones like mine went for $20+. But a lot of their stuff is VERY overpriced.


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## swizzle (Jul 29, 2011)

As far as I can tell it is. How big was your backwards Z? Mine is exactly 4" tall. I also have a backwards 4 on the base. All the other bromos I have the numbers are the right way. Not to sure how many different size variations there are with the bromo corkers. What's the biggest embossed bromo that they made? To the original poster of this thread, there is a lot of different variations of Bromo's including some speelin' errors. There Bomo Seltzer, the backwards Z like I posted above, Bromo Setlzer I think that last one is right. Bromo's as common as they are are still highly collectible. Not super valuable but someone always has shelf space for them. Even some of the most seasoned diggers on here will still bring them home. They make great gifts to people who are interested in old bottles but don't know much about them. Bromo's have been the gateway drug to many of the people here that are addicted to old glass. Swiz


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## Bottles R Us (Jul 29, 2011)

Never noticed the backwards Z, mine does not have that error. Would that add value to the bottle, like with error coins? Or is it just considered a different type?


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## cobaltbot (Jul 29, 2011)

Swiz, mine is the regular company but I added it to have one with a good label. Don't have one like yours yet and have not seen one with a label.  The backward Z is the most common spelling error to find, adds a little bit of value.


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## swizzle (Jul 29, 2011)

Bottles R Us, the only backwards Z I've ever seen on ebay sold a month or so ago for $31 so yes they can be more valuable. Some errors on various bottles were done on purpose so not every error you see is a true error. 

 Cobaltbot, any idea what the rarest bromo spelling error is? Swiz


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## towhead (Jul 29, 2011)

Look here: 

 https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/Colbolt-Blue-Backwards-Z/m-412630/tm.htm

 -Julie


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## swizzle (Jul 30, 2011)

Thanx Julie. That's got some nice info in it. I'm actually going to try to collect all of the different spelling errors. Swiz


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## VTdigger (Jul 30, 2011)

any one know if there's any spelling errors on other commons? For example, Listerine, Fletcher's castoria, Mellin's food etc.


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## cyberdigger (Jul 30, 2011)

Hostetter's has some, I believe..


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## downsouthdiggers (Jul 30, 2011)

My new repro ball and claw bitters says "ball amd claw". . .lol, don't know if that counts. Its made in taiwan


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## swizzle (Jul 30, 2011)

I'd like to see a sticky of all of the different errors on common bottles to look for. I think it adds a very cool new level to bottle collecting. Maybe expand it to include other errors as well. Bird swings, jumbo bubbles, bent necks, odd things in the glass and such. You just never know what a thread like that could produce over the years. It'd be like an oddity museum of fine glass. Swiz [8D]


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## Bottles R Us (Aug 1, 2011)

> bent necks


 Bent necks are errors? I dug one up at a friend's dump and she said it might have been under something heavy, so that over the years it would get kinda squashed.
 It's some kind of toilettry bottle, by the way.

 Bottles R Us


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## GuntherHess (Aug 1, 2011)

> it might have been under something heavy, so that over the years it would get kinda squashed


 
 interesting theory but not possible, glass doesnt deform over time

 an "error" would be something like a mispelling in embossing.
 a bent neck would be considered a manf flaw.


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## Bottles R Us (Aug 1, 2011)

I didn't think it was possible.

 Bottles R Us


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## VTdigger (Aug 1, 2011)

I've found some with bent necks but those are mostly from dump fires same with melted bottles though some can make interesting show pieces.
  I agree there should be a sticky for error bottles.


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## Bottles R Us (Aug 2, 2011)

I saw a french bottle once (teething serum or something) that was melted. It looked like a bit like a puddle with a spout. []

 Bottles R Us


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## cowseatmaize (Aug 2, 2011)

> an "error" would be something like a mispelling in embossing.


Like "misspelling" Matt?[][][]
 Just yanking your chain. I agree, the spelling mold error would be all I can think of. 
 I don't even call repairs errors. Hammering out and re-cutting to me is an adaptation, not an error like so many books report. 
 Same goes for worn molds that just don't show embossing.
 Jars are especially notorious for those kinds of things.


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