Need help dating bottles...

staticx32

Hello everyone. I started collecting bottles a few months back and over the past few months I have come across some great local finds. I found several antique bottles today at an antique shop. Bottle 1 is this six inch tall clear bottle. It has a weird top with a small hole for a cork. On one side of the bottle it says "J.R. WATKINS MEDICAL CO. WINONA, MINN. USA" and the other side says "WATKINS DANDRUFF REMOVER AND SCALP TONIC." When I looked the bottle up and the company up, all I could find was that the company was started around the 1860s-1870s and was sold off in around 1907. I figured that once the company had been sold the name would have changed or bottle design. I am just looking for the approximate age give or take. Thank you.

staticx32

Bottle 2 is 6 1/2 inches tall and is clear. On the front reads "CALIFORNIA FIG SYRUP CO." and the side says "WHEELING, W.VA." The bottle would also require a cork. I couldn't find much on this bottle at all. I am just looking for a specific time frame. Thank you.

staticx32

Bottle 3 is brown and 2 1/2 inches tall. The sides read "BELL AND CO. INC. ORANGEBURG, NEW YORK U.S.A." and the other side reads "BELL-ANS." The research I found turned up these bottles from right around 1900 but every single bottle I was able to find had "BELL-ANS FOR INDIGESTION." ANY DATES WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED AND ONCE AGAIN THANKS!<img src="/vanilla2/uploads/FileUpload/5/25.jpg" />

staticx32

I purchased this last bottle only for the design yet I think it may be older than i think. It is approximately 5 inches tall and clear. It has a screw top. The front of the bottle reads "A.S. HINDS PORTLAND, MAINE U.S.A." In the middle of the bottle is a company logo. Thank you.<img src="/vanilla2/uploads/FileUpload/6/26.jpg" />

jgas443

Hey StaticX, The California Fig Syrup is a neat bottle but they are very common. I have found several just this year. They are all over the place. I would say yours dates to pre-1900 due to the applied lip. Maybe as far back as 1880 or so.
http://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/California-Fig-Syrup%3F/m-228943/tm.htm


The little brown bottle is post 1910 or so with the seam going all the way over the top of the lip. The other ones date around the same time period I believe. Nice stuff though. jgas

staticx32

http://www.bottlebooks.com/basics.htm


This website shows a picture of an applied square band. Is this the same type as found on the hair tonic/dandruff bottle? Would this make it date in the 1870s or 1880s?