# Horsfords baking powder



## coreya (Nov 16, 2009)

This is one I got at a yard sale for .25, It was found on the lake bottom behind their house during our last dry spell according to the seller. I havn't found a great deal of information on it so I hope someone here can shed some light on this as to age and value.







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## surfaceone (Nov 16, 2009)

Hello Corey,

 There was a brief discussion here a while bact:https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-244883/mpage-1/key-/tm.htm#245163

 I found a few additional things.

 There's a great trade card here with the tag line "Put up in Bottles with wide mouths to admit a spoon."




The spoon.






 "Starting in the early 1900s, there was great competition among makers of baking products to get consumers to use their products. Rumford Chemical Works published Selected Recipes as a promotion for their brand, Horsford's Baking Powder. To help persuade women to use their product, Rumford compiled recipes from the "ladies of Virginia." Testimonials from satisfied customers were printed, including one from the Sisters of the Visitation at Monte Maria convent in Richmond. "We have used for some years Horsford's Self-Raising Bread Preparation in making bread, cakes, pastry, etc., and found it equal, if not superior to any." 
From here.

 Here is perhaps more than you want to know about George Francis Wilson of Rumford fame: "George Francis WILSON, founder of the Rumford Chemical Works, was a man whose life proved a blessing to the country in which he lived.  It was well for the greater prosperity of the country that he did live, and no greater eulogy than this can be passed upon any man.  He was a man of strong physique, tremendous energy, and inflexible purpose, and not more distinguished as a successful manufactuer than for general culture and energetic discharge of duty in business aand official life.  He was born in Uxbridge, Mass., December 7th, 1818, and was the oldest son of Benjamin and Mercy Wilson, and a lineal descendant of Roger Wilson of Scrooby, England, who in 1608 fled with the Puritans from religious persecution, and settled in Leyden.  Roger Wilson undoubtedly transmitted much of his sterling intelligence and force of character to his descendants, Mr. George F. Wilson bearing in his person the evidences of a robust and unconquerable stock. Roger Wilson was a silk and linen draper, a man of wealth, and was the bondsman of the only men among the Puritans who ever obtained the freedom of the city of Leyden -- Governor Bradford, Isaac Allerton, and Deggory Priest; and it is recorded that the fitting out of the "Mayflower" was greatly due to his liberality and enterprise.  He was one of the joint stock company which equipped and started for the new world that famous vessel, though he did not make the voyage in her as he intended.  His son John came to America in 1651, from whom George F. Wilson was descended.

 George lived upon a farm, attending district school winters, until at the age of 17, he injured his hip while at the plow so as to affect his gait for life, and was apprenticed to Welcome and Darius Farnum, of Waterford, Mass., to learn the trade of wool sorting.  The reason he gave for selecting this trade was characteristic of the man.  'That kind of work cannot be done in the night, and I shall have all my evenings for study.'  At the end of three years he had mastered his trade and also had made drawings of every machine in the mill, and fully understood the entire business.  Frederick M. Ballou and John W. Wheelock were apprentices with Mr. Wilson, and they fitted up a room, where they passed their evenings together in study.  He received flattering credentials from his employers and a valuable testimonial, but he wished for a better education before commencing in earnest the work of his life, and having added to previous savings by a year of bookkeeping for Squire Bezaleel Taft, of Uxbridge, he entered the academy, at Shelburne Falls, Mass., as a pupil, and afterward became a teacher there.

 In 1844 he went with his newly-married wife to Chicago, traveling by canal to Buffalo and by schooner through the lakes.  Here they opened the Chicago Adademy, in the Methodist Episcopal church, at the corner of Clark and Washington streets, commencing with three scholars, and ending in 1848, when they decided to return East, with 225 pupils, among whom were many who have largely contributed to the wonderful important discoveries in illumination, and concerning the effect of heat upon oils susceptible of use for that purpose, particularly as applied to the lighthouse illumination, and also patented apparatus in connection therewith, and a lens of refracting power much supoerior to those then in use by the government.  He was not unmindful of the probable future of Chicago, and did much by his collection of statistics, by his writings, and by personal effort toward securing the commencement of her first railroad.  Considering it time to engage in business pursuits he sold out his school and turned his face eastward to the field of manufacture.

 From 1848 to 1854, he was successively in the employ of the late Governor Jackson at Jackson, the elder Spragues at Quidnick, and the Atlantic Delaine Company at Olneyville.  In January, 1855, his studies having led him to a love for chemistry, he entered into a partnership with Professor E. N. Horsford, of Cambridge, Mass., who then held the Rumford professorship at Harvard, for a purpose which is best expressed, perhaps, in one clause of their agreement made at that time, somewhat quaint for these modern days, and well worthy of record. This clause declares their purpose to be that of 'building up a chemical manufacturing establishment of respectability and permanency, such as shall be an honor to ourselves and our children, and a credit to the community in which it is located, and which shall afford us a means of reasonable support.'

 How well their intentions were realized all know who are familiar with the manufacturing interests of this vicinity.  In 1856 or '57, the business was moved from Providence to what was then Seekonk, but which, by change of the state line, has since become East Providence, and the firm of George F. Wilson & Co. became, and has since continued to be, the Rumford Chemical Works, and the names of its productions are now household words in this country from one ocean to the other.  Of Professor Horsford's profound knowledge and research as a chemist, were born the preparations which bear his name, while to Mr. Wilson's genius and indomitable energy are due the credit of inventing the unique apparatus and machinery for their practical production, the creation of a demand for articles hitherto unknown, and the buiding up of a successful business in their manufacture.

 How much this means is comprehended by few.  The man who decides to enter upon the manufacture of cotton or woolen goods, iron or steel, or the countless articles into which they are wrought, leather goods, or any of the many staples with which our markets teem, finds ready to his hand the necessary tools and machinery, and has for his product a  market among a people already educated to its use.  With Mr. Wilson none of these conditions existed.  He started out to make an article hitherto unknown, and every piece of apparatus or machinery necessary for its production, from the furnaces that received the raw material, to the machines which filled the finished packages, including even the mill that ground the product, were the results of his marvelous ingenuity, his intelligent thought and patient experiment.  And while he struggled with and conquered these problems, hampered by insufficient capital, he had to find time to make known to the consumers a new article, and to create among them a demand for it that would warrant the dealer in adding it to his stock.  One has only to call to mind the countless names of articles and preparations, many, if not most, of them of undoubted merit, that have from time to time started from advertising pages and dead walls are are now seen no more, to begin to appreciate the effort and outlay necessary to establish public confidence in new goods. Mr. Wilson succeeded where many fail, and lived to see the works which he founded give support to more than 1,200 people, and the land in the vicinity to their location increase in market value twenty fold in consequence thereof.

 In the earlier days of his business career, Mr. Wilson manufactured a general line of chemicals for the use of calico printers and paper makers, in addition to the specialty for which the works have since become famous, but the production of these articles was discontinued after a few years, and the business of the works became the manufacture of pulverulent acid phosphate, commonly known as Horsford's Cream of Tartar.  This is sold under that name in bulk in large quantities, but the greater portion of this article which the works produce is put up by them in the form of Horsford's Baking Powder and Rumford Yeast Powder.   A little later they commenced the manufacture of the medicinal preparation known as Horsford's Acid Phosphate, one of the few proprietary preparations of which the formula is published, and which receive the endorsement of physicians, and today these articles are household necessities throughout this country, while the Acid Phosphate is sold all over the civilized world.

 Mr. Wilson's thorough knowledge of mechanical principles and appliances was well known, and was practically exemplified in his own business.  His opinion was constantly sought upon new inventions, and his advice by inventors struggling with mechanical difficulties in their road to success, many of whom left him with  substantial assistance in addition to advice. His own inventions both of processes and appliances were numerous, as the files of the patent office will show.  Outside of the business of the works, some of the most important are an improvement in the manufacture of steel, a revolving boiler for paper manufacturers, and important discoveries in illuminating apparatus for lighthouse use, before mentioned.  Mr. Wilson resided in Providence from 1852 to 1861, during which time he was for many years a very prominent member of the school committee, and for two terms served the city in the house of representatives, in 1860 and 1861.  In 1861 he removed to East Providence, where he resided until his death on the 19th of January, 1883.  He was four times elected a member of the school committee, and was also one of the town council of 1873.

 In 1872 the honorary degree of Master of Arts was conferred on him by Brown University.  He was a member of the R. I. Historical Society, the Franklin Lyceum, the Franklin Society and the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry, and for many years actively participated in the proceedings of all of them.  His interest in agricultural matters was always great, and the contributions of the works under his direction, to the fairs of the latter society, both of stock and farm products, were remarkable for excellence and quantity.  He was an extensive reader, a deep thinker, possessed of a mind and memory of no common order, and his universal and thorough acquaintance with all current and scientific subjects and with literature, astonished all who knew what a busy life he led.  Mr. Wilson was married in 1844 to Clarissa Bartlett, daughter of Prescott and Narcissa Bartlett of Conway, Mass., a lady of fine culture and intelligence and of lovely character.  To her is attributed a large measure of the success of the academy at Chicago, in which they were both teachers, and she was indeed a helpmeet to him in the days of his early struggles as a manufacturer.  Her memory is held in loving reverence by many of the employees of her husband, among whom she went with open hand, and to whose necessities in sickness and trouble she so often ministered.  Her death occurred in 1880.

 In his will Mr. Wilson bequeathed to Dartmouth College the sum of $50,000 for erection of a library building, and to Brown University the sum of $100,000 for the erection and equipment of the Physical Laboratory known as Wilson Hall.  He left two sons: Ellery Holbrook Wilson and George Francis Wilson; and three daughters: Clara Frances Penny, Mary Augusta Wilson and Alice Louise Wilson." From here.

 But what about Professor Horsford, you ask.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Here's his Wikipedia page.




From here. and for slightly more $$here.

 At the risk of overload, here's a bit more on Horsford bottles used for sand art. "A veritable epidemic of "sand art" went through the young fry in town like the measles, and, while unable to emulate Andrew's artistry, children could pack colored sand in attractive layers in glass bottles and sell them to transients for small sums. "I insisted that my mother and sisters buy Horsford's Baking Powder because it came in a small glass bottle with a large neck", writes Charles M. Leary of Gary, Indiana, whose boyhood days were spent in McGregor. "I made a lot of spare change in putting the sand in these bottles and selling them on the boats that often stayed two or three hours at the dock . . . Another source of revenue was from the trains that, in those days, stopped in McGregor for twenty minutes for lunch. Our price on the bottles was one dollar, but we never got off either train or boat without selling what we had even though we had to cut our price as low as ten cents." From here.


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## surfaceone (Nov 16, 2009)

Sorry to go so long... and forget the value component:
 "iRI-1318
 (RI-1036)
 HORSFORD'S BAKING POWDER (around shoulder)
 round
 aqua
 7 3/8"
 $146.50 (a) - Complete labels front and back and on cap, all in very good condition. Contents still sealed, never opened." From Little Rhody Bottle Club.


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## capsoda (Nov 16, 2009)

Very cool.


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## coreya (Nov 17, 2009)

Wow Surfaceone thats some great info Thanks, My bottle has the horsford's etc around the shoulder but is 5"tall not 7 3/8" as indicated in the little rhody bottle club site. Would love to be able to find some photos of a like bottle and hope its value is up there with the other one. LOL Thanks again


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## surfaceone (Nov 17, 2009)

> $146.50 (a) - Complete labels front and back and on cap, all in very good condition. Contents still sealed, never opened."


 
 Hey Corey,

 Sorry to have to point to the fine print, but that bottle had full contents & was completely labelled.

 There were 2 sizes: the 5-3/4" and the 7-3/8" as seen on the Little Rhody site.

 I'm a poor judge of value, as I do not follow the "market" much. Perhaps one of the members that does can point the way. I feel certain that you could, at least quadruple your money.[] Maybe significantly more...


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## coreya (Nov 17, 2009)

Thanks I didn't see the second listing and the first link you gave was the labeled one. Lets hope someone else has some more info on it. Thanks again


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## surfaceone (Nov 18, 2009)

Hello Corey,

 Someone else hasn't chimed in yet. Here's hoping one of the members will have some knowledge of this. Meanwhile, I upgraded Prof. Horsford's portrait:  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 found here.

 You wanted to see some photos. I had trouble finding any last time. Here's a few:








 Both found at the Maynard-Burgess House dig site. This is an Annapolis archeological dig site that might appeal to many of the Maryland folks and the shard afficionados.

 Here's another foto  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  found over here @ TaylorsRIbottles site. You might try and e-mail him for information.

 "Baking powder was the main output of the Rumford Chemical Works. By the mid-1860's "Horsford's Yeast Powder" was on the market as an already mixed leavening agent, distinct from separate packages of calcium acid phosphate and sodium bicarbonate. This was packaged in bottles, but Horsford was interested in using metal cans for packing; this meant the mixture had to be more moisture resistant. This was accomplished by the addition of corn starch, and in 1869 Rumford began the manufacture of what can truly considered baking powder."  This and a *whole* lot more is over here.

 Lastly, and leastly are a bunch of things yonder on ebay's Baking Powder Channel.


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## glass man (Nov 18, 2009)

> ORIGINAL:  surfaceone
> 
> Hello Corey,
> 
> ...


 


     WOW A REAL FUN LOOKING GUY! BET HE WAS THE DEATH OF THE PARTY! JAMIE


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