# Dr. S.S. Fitch 714 Broadway N.Y.



## ronbonham3 (Sep 28, 2007)

Hello
 New member here. Curious, i have seen these bottles with a 707 address
 but not a 714 ? Any info on it. I dug it up over 20 yrs. ago and cleaned it up.
 Dedcided to ck. on any value. It is in perfect shape. No nicks, dings, scratches
 or chips whatsoever. Nice color and some air bubbles.

 Thank you,               Ron L.   Leominster, Ma.

 Email: bonham3@dialup.cc


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## GuntherHess (Sep 28, 2007)

hi,
 i think its only an "unanswered question" if it doesnt get answered.
 you know...I'm getting deja vu on this one...
 Did you sign up under a new user name and ask about the same bottle again?
https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-77956/mpage-1/key-fitch/tm.htm#78158


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## ronbonham3 (Sep 28, 2007)

Hi !
 Am i in the wrong forum ? I guess so, according to your answer (question)
 I found this site while doing a search. A long while back i sent a few emails
 out to people but never got back any replies about the bottle.
 Oh well, must be some big mystery. Just wanted to know the history about the bottle and if it had any real value. If not, then i'll just keep it out on the shelve
 where it has been for the past 2 or 3 decades.
 Thank's anyway.


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## appliedlips (Sep 29, 2007)

Nice bottle.It dates to the 1850's and is worth probably $60-$80 or a little more because of the great condition.It is not the most common mold but I have seen a few like it.Everthing is not always black and white in this hobby,but your right you didn't get much of an answer on your previous post.Doug


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## cowseatmaize (Sep 29, 2007)

Same picture so it's not Deja-vu, no matter though.

 Directories have Samual Sheldon Fitch  located at 707 Broadway from 1847-53 followed by 714. The firm became S.S. Fitch & Son in 1873.
 Paraphrased from Richard Fikes book.


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## ronbonham3 (Sep 29, 2007)

Well I'll be. I did join up here and post it about a yr. ago.
 Forgot all about it. I read the earlier replies. Thank's.
 Not too many sites on bottles to be found besides this one.
 I have many more i should post. My main collections are coins and i have some
 old shaving razors etc. Have to go dig out that box of bottles.
 Out of site out of mind. I got started collecting bottles when i was out hunting
 in the fall and accidently found one. Then starting digging. Not real deep or anything like that. Having lived in No. Mass. all my life there are lots of good sites to find
 old bottles and even indian grounds. Arrowheads etc. If you know the layout of the land and it's history. Many old fieldstone foundations from farm houses etc. that are overgrown now. I have even fallen into them as well as old wells. Ouch !!!
 Never know what you can find there.
 Anyway, the bottle is for sale. Would rather sell it to someone who appreciates it.


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## bottle.kid (Jul 4, 2008)

Hi,

 I have a Drs. S.S. Fitch & Son 714 Broadway New York with a fancy Logo that you may have not seen. It's in my personal collection & the only one i've ever seen like it. It's a smooth base. Perfect mint too.[] Has anyone else ever seen this example? 

 ~Tim


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## GuntherHess (Jul 4, 2008)

Yes, I think I have seen a couple of those. I have them listed in aqua and in clear. 
 The ones I have seen were smooth base.


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## bottle.kid (Jul 4, 2008)

Ok cool,
 I've wondered about that one and haven't run across it before. I'd like to know more about your medicine bottle price guide and possibly purchase one from you. I have Digger O'dells books but always looking for more good references. Thanks again,
 ~Tim


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## GuntherHess (Jul 4, 2008)

O'dell's books are very nice. I highly recommend his updated pontil medicine encyclopedia.  My medicine guide is basically a value list on CDROM, no photos yet.


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## poisons4me (Jul 5, 2008)

Ive had 1 of these pontiled with 707 address which is the older and struggled to get 50.00 out of it,they are not rare in N.Y. Hey Matt don't sell yourself short, I would take your CD over Diggers book ....and did !!!!!


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## epgorge (Jul 8, 2008)

Yeah Rick, I agree. 

 I haven't seen Diggers book. I like Matt's because it is quick and easy. 

 I also have the older book version which I carry with me in the car and reference on a daily basis. It isn't the final conclusive book on everything but it gives me a good idea of what I need to know on a spur of the moment. It never ceases to amaze me.

 I also have a pontiled Fitch. One of my nicest pontils. Really whittled which I love. It is under rated but so is this little beauty. 

 Dr. Porter NY.

 Joel


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## epgorge (Jul 8, 2008)

And a really nice Fitch


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## epgorge (Jul 8, 2008)

Funny, I was just fondlng it last night. 707 B-way, perfect flared lip and nice OP.

 Rick is right, I see these go for very little. If you want a nice whittled op rolled or flared lip bottle for your collection, Fitch is the way to go. Some of the Fitch bottle variants are abundant in NY and VT.


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## epgorge (Jul 8, 2008)

nice pontil too.

 I saw one go for about $32 bucks a month ago. Little money for a nice bottle.


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## epgorge (Jul 8, 2008)

Here is one more pontil, whittled Sands's Sarsp that you can still get reasonably inexpensive.


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## |MDB| (Dec 18, 2011)

Raising the dead on this thread but I have a smaller version of Dr. S.S. Fitch's bottle. I wonder how many sizes it came in. Here in Canada they likely are less common than in the states.


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## epgorge (Dec 18, 2011)

I would suggest we raise the dead on most all our items of interest. Yes, there were quite a few different sizes and varieties from both 714 and 707 broadway. http://www.antiquemedicines.com/MedicineNexus/F/F.htm the nexus has a few.

 That one has a nice applied prescription lip but probably not a pontiled bottle. They had squats and ovals and round and shouldered squared bottles throughout the years. I would suppose there is someone out there who has them all and knows of them all. They will eventually show up here. 

 Hello to all I haven't talked to in years and hello to you and welcome to the forum. 

 epgorge


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## JOETHECROW (Dec 18, 2011)

Joel...I was surprised to see your handle show up! Good to see you on here.
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Capsoda just stopped by yesterday too! Merry Christmas to you and yours. I dug the square op fitch in a pals dump up in Lockport NY a few years ago....Have an oval smooth base too...(Two diff. addresses)


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## epgorge (Dec 19, 2011)

Hey Joe, merry Christmas to you as well. Happy and healthy new year and may you find a bottle you never throught you would be able to find/own and may it fall into your lap with little expense or labor. 

 I still have the interest in bottles but find myself dealing with family and health issues. Not too sure what the Golden part of the Golden Years is but I am in it for the long haul and the good fight. 

 I have liquidated some glass in the past couple of years but I go right out and get some more when I see something I like. Lately, I have been building up my trade Mark Lightening and other Lightning (colored) glass. I don't dig anymore and the colored ones are real expensive so I keep it to a couple of acquisitions a year. Mostly from Spurgeon. You can't beat his auctions for honesty. 

 Just made it through another deer season. I can't hunt like I use too but I still glory in getting out there and sitting on a ridge way up in the back country. I tend to let them walk because I don't want to drag them back. Oh well, life is good.

 I will try to get out here more often. Please say hi to Capsoda and all the old diggers and collectors out here.  Godspeed!!
 Joel


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## |MDB| (Dec 19, 2011)

Hello, epgorge. Nice to make your acquaintance. You're right when you say it is not a pontilled bottle. And yep, it has a nice lip. Thanks for the feedback.


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## |MDB| (Dec 19, 2011)

Hello again, Joel. Your Private Message box is full.


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## epgorge (Dec 19, 2011)

It should be cleared now. Thanks for the heads up.

 Joel


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## JOETHECROW (Dec 19, 2011)

> ORIGINAL: epgorge
> 
> Hey Joe, merry Christmas to you as well. Happy and healthy new year and may you find a bottle you never throught you would be able to find/own and may it fall into your lap with little expense or labor.
> 
> ...


 

 Thanks so much for the kind thoughts Joel!!! <Grinning> []  I'd like to see your collection of jars sometime....Back when I started digging, I used to dig lightning jars oftener than I realized I should be finding them...[8|] Did that make any sense? Anyhow I found quite a few,...(and I did spot the original aqua one the other day in the back room.) Glad I still have it. The years get by.  Keep fighting the good fight!


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## epgorge (Dec 19, 2011)

Finding lightnings in abundance wouldnâ€™t surprise me given the nature of  putting food by back in the early American days. Everyone had a bunch and would throw them out when something new and better came or if a chip or nick made the foods safety questionable. Dave Hinson has some good info on jars in generalo which can be found at:

 http://www.qnet.com/~glassman/info/jarfaq.htm

 â€¦â€¦Lightning jars represent an important advancement in the history of home canning and are still a part of American culture. Some historians suggest that the term "white lightning" may have been inspired not only from the effect of ingesting homemade corn whiskey but by the name of the jars the whiskey was frequently stored in. These familiar jars with their glass lids and wire bales are still found in novelty stores today.
 In 1882, Henry William Putnam of Bennington, Vermont, invented a new kind of fruit jar by adopting a bottle stopper patent by Charles de Quillfeldt. The Lightning jars became popular because the glass lids prevented food contact with metal, the metal clamps were cheap to produce and the lids themselves were much easier to seal and remove. The name Lightning suggested that the jars were quick and easy to use. Variations of the glass lid and wire-bale scheme of the Lightning jar were produced for home canning into the 1960s.
 The earliest advertisements for the Lightning jar date back to the year 1885. Mr. Putnam was the man behind the marketing of the Lightning jars and making them popular. Mr. Putnam also held exclusive ownership of the patents, and for many years, claimed the impressive profits from selling the jars.
 The Lightning jars were made by a number of glass companies in several states including Lyndeboro Glass, Lindboro, NH; Edward H. Everett of Newark, OH; Hazel Glass of Washington, PA; JP Smith of Pittsburgh, PA; Moore Brothers in Clayton, NJ; Mannington Glass of Mannington, WV; Wellsburgh Glass and Mfg. of Wellsburgh, WV; Poughkeepsie Glass Works of Poughkeepsie, NY; the Hawley Glass company of Hawley, PA; and two Canadian glass makers Sydenham Glass of Wallaceburgh, Ontario and Dominion Glass Co. of Toronto. There were also variations of the Lightning jar produced in Australia.
 A trademark patent was issued to H.W. Putnam in 1905 for the name Lightning. Interestingly, Putnam was living in San Diego at the time but it is not known if any California company made his jars glass.
 The Lightning jars come in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes and can be a collecting specialty in and of themselves. When first made these jars were often sold as commercial packing jars that homemakers later used for canning. Value of Lightning jars varies greatly. Price is usually determined by size, style and especially color.
 There were some reproduction amber Lightning jars from Taiwan produced in the 1980s. They are quart sized and have new and what I would say are sloppy looking wires. They have smooth lips, are dark amber in color and have Putnam 227 on the base. These jars are worth about $15. There could be legitimate Lightning jars with Putnam 227 on base, although I've never actually asked anyone if they have one in their collections. Once you've seen a few repros it's pretty easy to spot one on a table.
 More can be found at 
 http://www.qnet.com/~glassman/info/jarfaq.htm


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## JOETHECROW (Dec 19, 2011)

Thanks for weighing in with the cool info Joel....They've always been among my favorite jars. I makes sense, the theory about the name for "white lightning" and it's cool that they were put up commercially and then reused for home canning.


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## epgorge (Dec 20, 2011)

Here are a few of my bottles which I keep under glass. 
 Joel


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## epgorge (Dec 20, 2011)

Here a few of my SS Fitch (& Son), getting back on thread.

 I really like the little one with the monogram. All the bottles are uniquely different, in my opinion. The Fitch's had class and style going for them. All but the little monogrammed are pontiled, as the lips can attest too.


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## epgorge (Dec 20, 2011)

Square with a perfect flared lip and nice whittle and and oval with droppy lip and broken pontil.

 Joel


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## epgorge (Dec 20, 2011)

.


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## epgorge (Dec 20, 2011)

Do note the monogram bottle being from a later date in the 1800's had now "& Son" on it. I will research more on the good doctor and share it with you here, after I check these archives, first. I had never seen this one before.
 Quack or Doctor?
 Joel


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## epgorge (Dec 20, 2011)

GuntherHess has more on the son "Samuel" at post https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-77956/mpage-1/key-fitch%252Cson/tm.htm#78017
 The monogrammed bottle is a living testiment to the later generation's business. Perhaps, GuntherHess can share what he knows about the life and times of Dr. Fitch.


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## epgorge (Dec 20, 2011)

It appears he was a real doctor. This from TomFolio.com which was discussing an authentic antique, signature from the good doctor or should we say dentist.

 American physican, founder of a patent medicine company, and author. Dr. Samuel Sheldon Fitch (1801-1876) received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia in 1828. The following year, he published his A System. of Dental Surgery wherein he defined himself as a "Surgeon Dentist." Considered the best text on dentistry at that time in America, it preceded the first dental college in the U. S. by eleven years. He later turned his attention to the lungs and authored a treatise titled Six Lectures on the Uses of the Lungs; and Causes, Prevention, and Cure of Pulmonary Consumption, Asthma, and Disease of the Heart; On the Laws of Longevity; and on the Mode of Preserving Male and Female Health to an Hundred Years in 1847. His Guide To Invalids; For Persons Using The Remedies Of Samuel Sheldon Fitch, A.M., M.D., With Remarks On The Cure Of Consumption, Head-Aches, Liver Complaint, Asthma, Dyspepsia, Diarrhea,... was published about 1848, and indicates he had entered the patent medicine business from an office located on lower Broadway in New York. Indeed, he began trading under the name "Dr. S. S. Fitch," and about 1851 he began issuing almanacs, Dr. S.S. Fitch's Almanac and Guide to Invalids, which promoted his patent medicines and medical devices, and prescribes health regimens and cures for consumption, asthma, heart diseases, bronchitis, head-aches, dyspepsia, ague and fever, liver complaint, diarrhoea, baldness and hair loss, and whatever else ailed you. An advertisement in the 1854 Boston Herald annouced that a local doctor was the "Agency for Dr. S.S. Fitch's Celebrated Medicines and Mechanical Remedies for cure of Consumption, Asthma, Female Diseases, etc.". His last book, The Family Physician, was a popular medical treatise published in 1876. 

 Joel


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## JOETHECROW (Dec 20, 2011)

Good research Joel...Interesting info for sure...Also I really like the monogramed example...Never saw that one yet. Here are my two,..I realized they are both the same adddress when I took the pics. The oval is smooth base hingemold, and the squared off one is only about 4 inches op...I dug both of these in separate dumps...my lip is chipped on the flared one.


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## JOETHECROW (Dec 20, 2011)

*


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## JOETHECROW (Dec 20, 2011)

> ORIGINAL: epgorge
> 
> Here are a few of my bottles which I keep under glass.
> Joel


 
 Some good color there.... Nice...


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## epgorge (Dec 21, 2011)

Joe,

 Your 707, oval is hinge molded yet I have that same bottle with an open pontil roughly broken off. That means that bottle style was being used at a certain time during which, the industry standard for bottle production was changing. Maybe, 1870-1880 give or take a decade. Thank you Bill Lindsey, who is my industrial or commercial glass morphology Guru!


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## JOETHECROW (Dec 21, 2011)

Here's a nice one with a crude applied lip....I found this pic surfing through google... Thanks for sharing your info Joel.


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