# My local collection



## Wheelah23 (Jun 11, 2011)

I've seen a lot of posts like this, where people post a long list of all the bottles they have in a certain collecting category... I figured I might as well do the same. I collect bottles from Essex County, N.J., especially BIM sodas and beers, but meds too. I get new stuff every once in a while, so I guess I'll update the thread then. I've been collecting local bottles since February. Before that, unfortunately, I passed right over a bunch that I would've loved to have now. Here goes:

 This is the first local bottle I bought. It's a George Greason blob from Montclair.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 11, 2011)

I bought this one at the same time, without realizing the two were related. It's a tooled crown version of the George Greason family. I think this one is the newest of the set, because it has the fanciest monogram, and just looks newer to me. Still BIM, though.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 11, 2011)

I think this is an earlier version of the other Greason crown. This is probably a 7 oz. size. It's got a much simpler monogram, so I think it's earlier than the other. I dug a broken one in aqua, so I'll be looking for that.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 11, 2011)

Another tooled crown from Greason, this one is a quart size. It's probably contemporary with the 7 oz. size, as it has the same monogram. I dug a broken blob version with slightly different embossing. I like this one because it says "THIS BOTTLE IS REGISTERED". You usually see TBNTBS or the like.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 11, 2011)

This is a nice local druggist I dug. It says "BENHAM & JOHNSON/ 550 BLOOMFIELD AVE./ MONTCLAIR, N.J." It's got some lip chipping and a couple tiny flash cracks, but I still like it.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 11, 2011)

Another nice Montclair druggist. This one is from David H. Baldwin. I like the monogram on it. I dug a larger sized version of it, but it was (of course) broken. "D.H. BALDWIN/ DRUGGIST/ & CHEMIST/ MONTCLAIR/ N.J."


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

My aunt gave me two of the ubiquitous Edison Battery Oil bottles. I know they're ultra common, but they're still local. The West Orange one is the one I'm looking for.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

I've got a bunch of bottles from East Orange, too. This one is an early ABM cork top medicine. On one side panel, it says "ANNA ELIZABETH WADE", and on the other, "EAST ORANGE N.J.U.S.A."


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

This is an East Orange citrate bottle. It says "FRANK L. FIEGER/ MFG PHARMACIST/ EAST ORANGE/ N.J." This example is kind of rough. It's scratched up terribly, but the tumbling made it appear less bad. It's not over tumbled, but it's not great, either.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

The big mineral water/cider distributor in East Orange was J.W. Ransley. There's a whole bunch of information I pieced together in the Soda forum. I may post it here later.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

I am not sure if this is a hutch or not. It's got some lip chipping, but nothing horrendous.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

This is the "& Son" quart blob. My example is over-tumbled, though the picture doesn't show it. I'm hoping to find a mint, un-tumbled example eventually.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

A 7 oz. Baltimore Loop blob with only "J.W. RANSLEY/ EAST ORANGE/ N.J.".


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

A nice whittled tooled crown quart from Ransley. This one has the "& SON". Not tumbled, it just has weak embossing.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

This tooled crown quart is slightly different from the previous one. It has the "& SON" on the same line as "J.W. RANSLEY"


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

This is similar to the others, but it doesn't have the "& SON". I concluded that this crown has to be before 1895-1896, because that is when the "& SON" was added to the name of the firm. All of them with the "& SON" are after this date.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

I also collect bottles from Orange. This one is a great quart hutch given to me by Greg, or bottle34nut. Thanks! I think it might be a rare one, and it's in mint condition. "BARRY & KRAHN/ ORANGE, N.J."


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

This nice blob has to be related to the quart hutch. It says "HENRY KRAHN/ ORANGE, N.J."


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

I've dug a couple examples of a blob from West Orange as well. Confused yet? There's four Oranges. This one says "JAMES J. GIBLIN/ REGISTERED/ WEST ORANGE, N.J.". I dug the matching Hutter stopper, so eventually I'll get some wires to attach it correctly.






 And that concludes our program for today! Whenever I get any new locals, you can be sure to know about it.


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## Jim (Jun 12, 2011)

Good stuff, Wheel. Local sodas, beers and medicines are what I love. Don't feel too bad about your citrate, mine is cracked from top to bottom. At least it's on the back and doesn't affect the slug plate, but it would look much better on a worthless slicker than on my citrate. It's also the only known example of any citrate bottle from my town, nobody even knew we had one until I dug that one.

 I tried collecting local milks, but they don't hold my interest like the earlier bottles do. The embossing variations on sodas or beers from one particular bottler can be a small collection themselves. I have ten different bottles from one local bottler- hutches, blobs and BIM crowns in clear, aqua and amber, mug bases, lady's legs, you name it, they had it. Another thing I love about these bottles is how a prolific bottler can have a rare variant or two that most people have never seen.  ~Jim


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## soda bottle (Jun 12, 2011)

Great looking collection!  Lots of varients too.  I love the local collections and I will keep my eye out for stuff you may be interested in.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

Thanks you guys! There really are a lot of variants from these local companies, especially from Ransley, it seems.


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## cyberdigger (Jun 12, 2011)

hi


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## cyberdigger (Jun 12, 2011)

..cool patch job on the mold mark.. or whatever that's called..


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 12, 2011)

I will be posting better pictures of that soon... []


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## epackage (Jun 13, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  cyberdigger
> 
> hi


 

 As always very nice of you Charlie, do I see a saddle tool in the lower right hand corner of this pic??


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 16, 2011)

Got Charlie's bottle in the mail today... It's a beauty! Thanks a bunch, and I hope you enjoy your bottles too!

 This bottle is listed as "scarce" in the source I use for Montclair blob information... I dug a broken slug plate to a different one before, so there's definitely more variants to be found! Got a seltzer bottle coming in the mail, and there's a super blob from Orange on eBay now... expect some more posts in this thread soon!

 "HENRY G. ROLLPILLER/ (star)/ MONTCLAIR/ N.J."


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## epackage (Jun 16, 2011)

Love it Connor.....that Charlie isn't such a bad guy after all....LOL


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## Steve/sewell (Jun 17, 2011)

Nice collection Conner,blobs were my favorite when I was your age also.At one time I bet you I had at least 1500 different blob beers and sodas.I have kept the more ornate ones but I literaly ran out of room to properly display them and had to part with most of them.At the peak of my soda collection in 1977 you could go to the field accross the street from where the Whitney glass works were located and find 40 to 50 blob topped bottles without hardly breaking a digging sweat.What would be kind of neat would be to find a manufacturer to make tight fitting new. but old in outward appearance stoppers so you could bottle your own beer and soda,drink them up rinse em out and start all over again.My wife and I are now drinking our daily glass of red wine in 230 year old wine and dram glasses.You just have to be extra cautious.[8D]


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## epackage (Jun 17, 2011)

Steve you can use the old porcelain stoppers you just need new washers to make them air tight again....Jim


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 22, 2011)

Interesting thought... It would certainly be more economical than the dozens of plastic water bottles we each go through in a year... It could also get expensive, though.

 ANYWAY... I won this bottle off eBay the other day. I know it's not too old, but at least it adds some color to my collection. Before, the colors ranged from clear, to light aqua, and all the way to... dark aqua LOL! I don't know much about the age of seltzer bottles... Any ideas on how old this one is? I know the pedestal based ones are the oldest... mine isn't that. It's acid etched, not ACL, so I'm thinking it's between the 20's and the 40's. It also says "BOTTLE MADE IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA" on the base, so it's post WWI. I like the light cobalt color.

 "REGISTERED/ IDEAL BEVERAGE CO./ (eagle)/ MONTCLAIR, N.J./ CONTENTS 26 OZ."


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 22, 2011)

Metal spigot says "IDEAL BEVERAGE CO. 59", so I'm guessing this is the 59th seltzer bottle they had?


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 22, 2011)

Thing's got some dings and heavy base wear, but I like it... It's a change of pace in my collection.


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## Wheelah23 (Jun 24, 2011)

Got another nice one off eBay. I don't think this one's particularly rare, as I've seen a couple around, but I'm happy to add a mint one to my collection. This one was found in an attic, so it has no damage, stain, or scratching. However, some bozo thought it would be a good idea to paint the wire bail silver. The painted silver wire looks horrible, so I removed it, and will soak it in paint remover to eliminate the paint. I cleaned the bottle better, and I kind of like it better without the bail. It's embossed "GEORGE FRANCK/ (GF in diamonds trademark)/ ORANGE. N.J.", and has the usual TBNTBS on the back.

 As for dating this bottle, I think I've handled enough blob tops from my area to know the general dates just by looking at some body features. Many of these blobs  were obviously made at the same glass houses, with a different slug plate inserted. I can tell by the slight shape differences in some of them. I suspect this bottle was made around the early to mid 1880's, due to the fact that it has no air venting marks. That gives it the weaker embossing that is characteristic of pre-1890's bottles. It's also got some whittle, and an applied, not tooled top. I almost prefer the post 1890's bottles I have, to be honest, because of the strong embossing. I don't really like the look and feel of the rounded embossing. Oh well, I like all local bottles anyway.

 Before 'n afta





 Applied top





 This bottler's got some interesting history behind him. He was born on August 20, 1842 in Hegeney, France. Hegeney is in the Alsace region, which has a strong German influence- Franck is a German name, so I think his German background is why he entered the beer brewing industry. He was the son of Amand Franck and Catherine Moritz. He emigrated to the US in 1871, and settled in Orange. Credit for most of this information goes to an anonymous poster on this site. I'm not certain when he started in the bottling business, but I don't think it was too long after he emigrated to the U.S.

 Now, in late September of 1883, a girl named Phoebe Paullin was murdered near Eagle Rock in Orange. George Franck became the primary suspect in this murder investigation. Coincidentally, Franck tried to kill himself for unclear reasons at almost the same time. He didn't succeed, and was then arrested. His alibi was that he was delivering beer on his wagon at the time of the murder, but no one saw him, and his wagon would've been hard to miss. Public opinion seemed to sway about his innocence. I found five articles discussing this murder, and in some of them, Franck seems to be innocent, while in others, he is all but assumed to be guilty.  This December 9th, 1883 NY Times article explains it better than I can. The whole case is pretty interesting. I can't find whether or not they caught the killer. I've noticed old newspapers had a ton of typos and misspellings.


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## Wheelah23 (Jul 25, 2011)

I dug this one yesterday. It's practically as mint as the day it was born. It had a bit of the original contents left inside, which I cleaned out and smelled today. It smelled like old bread, which I take to mean George Greason was a beer bottler. I think this bottle is chronologically after the other blob top I posted earlier, because this one has the logo. It's a regular 9" tall size, the picture makes it look like a quart.


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## Wheelah23 (Jul 25, 2011)

This one was given to me by another digger. It's an extremely rare J. Henderson Grocer blob top from Montclair. It isn't damaged, but it's sick and has some scratching. I'm still very happy to add an example of this bottle to my collection.


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## epackage (Jul 25, 2011)

Great additions Connor, I like the seltzer and the Franck the best.... I have 3 bottles here for you from Ed(pikewaynebottles), and let me know if you want those Montclair Ink Out bottles....Jim


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## Wheelah23 (Jul 29, 2011)

The Koch got here today... It's absolutely perfect... Original stopper and everything. Two things surprised me about it. One, it has an applied, not tooled top. Usually for bottles around here, that means it's 1880's or earlier... But it also has mold vent marks, which usually means 1890's or later... Unusual to say the least.

 The other surprise is what I saw on the base. The manufacturer is one completely alien to me, it says "THE B & B S Co/ NEWARK, N.J.". I assume it stands for "The Bottle & Bottler Supply Co", or something along those lines... I can't find any record of a glass company like that existing... I'm extremely happy with this bottle, and I think it may be a rare one too.

 It's embossed on the front "REGISTERED/ H. KOCH, JR./ MAPLE ST./ WEST ORANGE, N.J./ THIS BOTTLE/ NOT TO BE SOLD". I found on a map that H. Koch owned a hotel in 1912, but it's not on Maple St. I'll email Tod von Mechow about this one, maybe he'll be able to shed some light on the manufacturer.


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## Wheelah23 (Jul 29, 2011)

Base


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## Sodasandbeers (Jul 30, 2011)

Another one to research!  I'll never get my web site update published! ;-)

 Is Brewers and Bottlers Supply Company.  Try googling "Brewers & Bottlers Supply" Newark.  Seems like a lot of hits with a Hoffamn running it.


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## Wheelah23 (Jul 30, 2011)

Thanks Tod! Glad I could be of help []



> ORIGINAL:  Sodasandbeers
> 
> Another one to research!  I'll never get my web site update published! ;-)


 
 Or is that hurting? []


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## madman (Jul 31, 2011)

wow great collection! nice!


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## Wheelah23 (Jul 31, 2011)

Thanks! That Orange med will look nice next to the other couple meds I have...


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## madman (Aug 19, 2011)

your very welcome! ill keep a look out!


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## madman (Aug 19, 2011)

are you the only collector of orange and montclaire nj?


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## madman (Aug 19, 2011)

maybe ill come up for a dig??? whatya think???


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## Wheelah23 (Aug 20, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  madman
> 
> are you the only collector of orange and montclaire nj?


 
 As far as I know, yeah... I've had some competition bidding on them a couple times, but nobody in the bottle club collects them, and I've never asked at shows... I think that could be good news for me, because eventually SOMEBODY else will start collecting them, hopefully more than one person! That'll drive up the prices on the rare ones, and... I'll be rich [][]



> ORIGINAL:  madman
> 
> maybe ill come up for a dig??? whatya think???


 
 I doubt it'd be worth it in terms of finding anything! Most days I don't get anything good in this dump. I'd say wait a while and see if I find a better dump. Once the foliage dies back, I've got a backyard to check out where the people have found 1880's shards! If that pans out, it might warrant the drive... [8D]


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## madman (Aug 20, 2011)

yeah but with 2 of us we could blow a giant hole in the place


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## Wheelah23 (Aug 20, 2011)

Well, much as I'd like to, the boss isn't even entertaining the thought... [>:] If you're ever up here on business, or visiting relatives or something, let me know, but otherwise my mom insists it isn't worth the trip... [8|]


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## madman (Aug 20, 2011)

ok no problem


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## willieboy (Aug 24, 2011)

You are fortunate to live in an area that has so much to offer in local bottles.  Great bottles, thanks for sharing.


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## Wheelah23 (Aug 24, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  willieboy
> 
> You are fortunate to live in an area that has so much to offer in local bottles.  Great bottles, thanks for sharing.


 
 Thanks! I haven't updated this in a while, I'll do that in a couple days when I got back.


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