"The California Wine House" Mystery Bottle.....

jchandler60

I found this bottle a few months back and i can not find any information about it anywhere. I would love to have any information to help me identify what this is and where it came from!!

The slug plate on the front reads:

                           "THE CALIFORNIA WINE HOUSE - 1150 PACIFIC AVE TACOMA, WASH - RETURN BOTTLE AND GET 10c"

the bottom says:

                            274 H

historic

Hi This is something of a "renegade" bottle because it does not fit neatly into a category. It is part wine, part blob soda (in form) and just an odd size. It does have something going for it and that is its Tacoma, WA origins. Western bottles are scarcer in general and there is a fairly good demand for them.

I can tell you it is late 19th century.

As for the business, you are on your own. Head over to the Tacoma library and start looking in city directories and newspapers of the era to see what you can find out about the business. Research is all about going back to original sources of info from the time period of the object.

good luck!

Rowland

Hi, I am the great granddaughter of the owner of the California Wine House. While I do not know a lot about it, they were also the NW distributors for Old Taylor Whiskey. My great grandfather was Chas. U.G. Rowland. I also have one bottle that lists the same address AND an additional address 1149 Commerce. Knowing Tacoma, the second address would be essentially access from "the back door". Fun to see this query.