# Tea at a garage sale



## Brandons Bottles (Oct 13, 2010)

Recently bought this bottle at a garge sale. I like Chicago bottles, so I couldn't help myself. It was priced $2 but I got it for $1.50. According to the web,this company moved from Chicago and started its bussiness somewhere else in 1930s. The only website that had this bottle claims it's worth $18, but that's hard to believe. Here's some pics.

https://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af335/4Taxidermy4/DSC03755.jpg
https://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af335/4Taxidermy4/DSC03762.jpg


----------



## jays emporium (Oct 13, 2010)

Not bad for $1.50.  Dates from the 1920's and I would guess maybe $5. not $18.


----------



## Brandons Bottles (Oct 13, 2010)

I knew it couldn't possibly be $18. Thanks for the info.


----------



## surfaceone (Oct 13, 2010)

Hello Brandon,

 Nice one, I like that logo. I got to looking around, and could not believe the amount of history written on the Jewel Tea Co. They were and are a Chicago institution. It really is a great American Story. The company was founded in 1899 by Frank Vernon Skiff with $700 that he had saved. He started as a door-to -door home delivery service of freshly roasted coffee, after seeing a need and judging that much ground coffee had gone stale before it's purchase.

 "Jewel Tea Company
 The Jewel Tea Company had its beginning in Chicago, Illinois in 1889 with $700, one man and his horse and wagon. This man was Frank V. Skiff, son of a Newton, Iowa grocer. There were many tea companies at that time, and they all sold door-to-door, giving premium coupons with grocery purchases. When enough coupons had been saved, the customer had a choice of premium items offered.

 In 1901, Frank Skiffâ€™s brother-in-law, Frank P. Ross, bought into the business as a partner. They took turns driving the delivery wagon and soliciting new business.

 One day Mr. Ross knocked on the kitchen door of a prospective customer and had hardly stated his business when she grabbed a broom. He returned later that same day and learned that the lady had saved coupons for six months buying coffee and tea from a â€œwagon manâ€ and had expected to get a rug with her coupons. However, the wagon man stopped coming around. Mr. Ross quickly offered her a premium to be left with her first order, to be paid out with a later trade.

 This story varies from a broom to hot water, but the fast thinking Mr. Ross with his idea of advancing the premium set the Jewel Tea Company apart from all other existing tea companies of the day.

 The new company was named Jewel because anything that was considered superior was referred to as a â€œjewel,â€ whether it was a horse or a tea company.

 The company was incorporated in Illinois in 1903. Early in 1904 expansion began in earnest with many new routes opened outside of the Chicago area. In 1906, The Jewel Tea Company entered the food-manufacturing field, starting with baking powder and two years later, roasting its own coffee.

 In 1916, the company was incorporated under the laws of New York State, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. By 1917 sales had reached $15 million with over 1700 routes in operation. World War I took its toll on the company, but by 1921, due to the efforts of John M. Hancock, the company was again operating in the black.

 In 1930, The Jewel Tea Company moved its operations from Chicago to Barrington, Illinois. The company sold household products through salesmen traveling the country until 1981. Jewel Tea supplied housewives with everything from baking powder and other grocery items to cleaning supplies, linens, cookware and china.The Jewel Home Shopping Service was phased out of the Jewel Companies in 1981." From.

 Their "premium" items have become very collectible, notably their "Autumn Leaf" items manufactured by Hall China Co. of East Liverpool, Ohio.






 "Jewel's connection with the Hall China Company of East Liverpool, Ohio dates from the early to mid-1920's with the introduction of teapots offered as premiums to customers. The most famous "Autumn Leaf" pattern china appeared in the 1930's and remains today as one of the most collectible Hall China patterns ever offered to the public." From.












 "In 1903, the company was incorporated in Illinois and in 1904, teas, coffees and spices were sold under the name of "Jewel Tea Co." at 641 E. 43rd Street, Chicago. Within two years the company outgrew their old buildings and acquired a three-story building for the roasting of the own brand of coffee.
 When coffee sales surged, Jewel customers paid the 8-cents a pound more than the stores were charging.
 Primarily as a home delivery service that offered an assortment of coffee, tea, spices and premiums, the company had a few stores setup to show and sell their product lines. These stores were more of an advertising showcases and were only available in certain areas.
 The company sold groceries directly to a million homes with the inducement of sharing profits through premiums distributed in advance. As the company continued to grow, larger facilities were required, new manufacturing equipment was acquired and by 1906 the Jewel Tea Company was producing essentials to the American housewives under their own label. By 1908 the company listed operations at 426 W. Washington Blvd.
 Jewel reached the million-dollar mark in annual sales in 1910 and had established 400 routes. By 1915 more than $8 million in annual sales were recorded and they had a route division of 850 routes. In 1916, with a capitalization of $16 million reported, the owners incorporated the company under the laws of the State of New York and expanded into new territory and near the end of 1916 were operating 1,645 routes with major operations out of Chicago and New York city.
 By the end of 1917 the government commandeered the Jewel plant in Hoboken, New Jersey for war material production and Jewel curtailed the operations of 1,714 of their own routes.
 By 1919, Skiff and Ross were forced out of the operation of the company they founded and so dearly loved because of inadequate accounting controls and expansion. Raymond E. Durham was elected interim president in 1919, followed by J.M. Hancock in 1922 who pulled the company out of the red. Maurice Karker succeeded Hancock in 1924 as president and is remembered as one of the most powerful presidents in Jewel's history." Also from.






 1954 Tonka Truck from. 

 'In 1934, Jewel Food Stores merged with Jewel Tea Company. In the 1960s and 1970s, Eisner Food Stores, located in downstate Illinois and west central Indiana (Lafayette, West Lafayette, Indiana), were part of the Jewel company; some time in the early 1980s, those store were converted to the Jewel name. Jewel sold its home shopping service in 1981. Before 1970, Jewel stores were typically located on main arteries of city streets. Between 1970 and 1990, Jewel moved or expanded most of their stores to be freestanding buildings with ample parking. After its 1961 acquisition of Osco, Jewel built and operated many side-by-side stores during the 1960s and 1970s, but most construction after 1983 consolidated Jewel and Osco stores together as one large store under one roof.

 Jewel Food Stores was taken over by American Stores in 1984.

 To consolidate the names of some of its subsidiaries under one title with nationwide recognition, American Stores renamed some of its Skaggs Alpha Beta stores to Jewel Osco in mid-September 1991. American replaced the Skaggs Alpha Beta name with that of Jewel Osco on all 76 stores in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas. Within months, the renamed stores in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas would be sold to Albertsons.

 Jewel became part of Albertsons holdings in 1999 when American Stores was taken over." From Wiki-Jewel.








From.

 Histories have been written: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	





From. Doctoral Theses too.



From. Rather than a "label" as they have identified, I believe this to be a "trade Stamp" issued by the company to count towards a premium or catalog purchase. Remember "Tuesday's are double stamp days..."






 "The company decided to move its headquarters to Barrington in 1929-1930 where architects Holabird & Root built a new office, warehouse and coffee roasting facility...After a long preservation battle between 2002-2004 (where demolition work actually stopped at one point and the building was added to the National Register), the Jewel Tea aka the "Gray Lady" was finally razed by the Barrington Park District.

 If you happen to be driving (or walking) down Northwest Highway, turn at Lake Zurich Road. You will see a 55-acre park. That's where the Jewel Tea Building used to be." From. Back in their salad days " 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


From.






 From Jewel Tea Foundation.


----------



## Brandons Bottles (Oct 14, 2010)

Why can't I ever find this much information?!?![][][] That is really interesting. And the only reason I bought it was because it said Chicago. Never knew it was such a big company. I'm guessing it's a very common bottle then but thanks so much for all that information. It was like a trip back into the past!


----------



## cyberdigger (Oct 14, 2010)

Yep, Surf is an unsurpassed master at digging up the details.. I think he uses 6 computers simultaneously [] His ratio of pertinent info to baloney is way up there.. my PI/BS ratio is ..different.. [>:]


----------



## surfaceone (Oct 16, 2010)

[8D][8D]


----------



## PrivyCheese (Oct 17, 2010)

Surfaceone, GREAT JOB!!!!! I have some Jewel Tea stuff. Never knew the history. You did fantastic work!


----------

