Lot
Number | Description | Final Bid |
|---|
| WESTERN BOTTLING COMPANY S.F. CAL. With embossed bear. Crown top. As far as we can tell, this bottle is unlisted and although the embossing pattern seems familiar, we don't have a handle on it. We're open to speculation, hearsay and innuendo. There is a scratch on the left front--easily removable and a few other minor scratches. Extememly rare. Almost Mint. | $ 80 |
| PIONEER SODAWATER CO. S.F. with embossed bear. "T" on base. Markota 103. T.C. (Turn of the Century). These also come with a blob top. Another extremely rare soda, it has entirely different style bear (more hairy). A neat bottle with great embossing. Ex Rare. Almost Mint. | $ 80 |
| EUREKA-CALIFORNIA SODA WATER CO. S.F. with embossed eagle. T.C. Markota 45. Another hard to find crown top. We're including crown tops in this auction as it seems as bottles in general get rarer, the later turn of the century examples become increasingly harder to find, especially the rarer examples with embossed animals. Almost Mint with a few scratches. Scarce. | $ 30 |
| STANDARD SODA WORKS S.F. with cross on front and base. Tooled top. Markota 130. Comes without S.F. A fairly common soda in a fairly deep aqua. Almost Mint with a few scratches. | $ 30 |
| PIONEER SODA WORKS with W in shield. T.C. A fairly common soda, these come with a blob top. An almost Near Mint example with a tiny ping on the reverse shoulder and some roughness on a seam. | $ 20 |
| CAIFORNIA SODA WORKS with embossed eagle. 1884-98. A fairly common soda in a deeper than usual aqua. Green streak through shoulder, has an easily removed scratch on front right and would otherwise grade Almost Mint. | $ 30 * |
| AMERICAN SODA WORKS S.F. T.C. Another highly embossed San Francisco soda. This is pretty rare. A good example, too. Has some scratches and a little high-point wear. Good strike. A patriotic soda that grades Almost Mint. | $ 30 |
| PHILLIP'S SODA WATER CO. S.F. 1891-1901. An extremely rare soda, this is a nice example with loads of whittle. There are a couple small pings on the very bottom near the base but otherwise is Almost Mint. First one we've seen. | $ 120 |
| CAIFORNIA BOTTLING WORKS T. BLAUTH 407 K STREET SACRAMANTO. T.C. A normally common soda, this has the word Sacramento misspelled. First one we've had. This was dug in West Sacramento. Almost Mint with loads of tiny bubbles. | $ 30 |
| T & H SONOMA CAL. 1876-78. Gravitating stopper soda. An extremely rare soda, this is the earliest of the aqua hutch type examples we're offering. Made for less than two years, Thomas & Haskins were located at 2nd and Eilson Streets in Sonoma. The first and maybe the last one we'll offer. A little wear but Almost Mint. | $ 500 |
| BREIG & SCHAFER S.F. with embossed fish. A fairly scarce soda, this example has a pressure ding on the inside lip (no glass missing) and still has some interior dirt. Grades Near Mint with ding. | $ 40 |
| PIONEER SODA WORKS TRADE MARK with shield. 1877-96. A common soda, this is one of the better examples we've seen with a deep aqua coloration and lots of whittle. Grades Almost Mint. | $ 70 |
| CHAMPAGNE MEAD 1871-72. A scarce San Francisco eight-sided soda. Nice bright sapphire type aqua with a good amount of whittle. Probably professionally cleaned. A great example that grades Almost Mint. | $ 100 |
| VIRGINIA BEAR SPRING WATER FROM SHENANDOAH VALLEY VIRGINIA with embossed bear. BEAR SPRINGS WATER is written on bear. Applied top. An unusual and striking five-gallon water bottle. We see these all the time but nothing like this. There is a 3" crack on the reverse base (top). What a terrific embossing pattern! We'll bet this is the largest bear ever embossed on a bottle. Pictures are a little rough, a tough one to fit on the photography studio table. You get the idea. If this were in our office, we would use it, seriously. Almost Mint beside crack. Doesn't affect it holding water. | $ 100 |
| B.R. LIPPINCOTT STOCKTON SUPERIOR MINERAL WATER UNION GLASS WORKS. Markota 57. Iron pontil. 10-sided mug base. 1852-58. A popular Stockton soda, these are getting harder to find. A great example, the entire body leans to the right. Has a few scratches and a tiny ping on the "A" in GLASS. Nice bubbles, has a piece of glass stuck in the side which was left in the mold. We encounter these oddball mold flaws and they're always the same shape. An overall super example. Almost Mint. | $ 850 |
| CLASSEN & CO. SPARKLING with crossed anchors. Applied top. 1864-68. An early San Francisco soda, these come in a myriad of colors. This is an example from the 1999 San Francisco dig. Pretty good strike, which is most often real weak. Has a flake off the top of lip, which looks like a small natural flaw after cleaning. A good aqua example which is ironically the rarer of the colors. Almost Mint. | $ 400 |
| B&G SAN FRANCISCO SUPERIOR MINERAL WATER. 10-SIDED MUG BASE. Iron pontil. 1852-56. A cleaned example, it would be hard to imagine a better one. Virtually high-point wear free, the mug base is uneven and the bottle is overall very crude. Almost Mint. A nice one. | $ 425 |
| J. TWEDDLES JR'S. CELEBRATED SODA OR MINERAL WATERS BARCLAY STREET 41 NEW YORK. Applied top, iron pontil. There are a number of variants of this bottle. This one is a teal blue and was just professionally cleaned. Still has some wear and some small scratches. Found in Sacramento. A Near Mint soda. | $ 140 |
| BAY CITY SODA WATER CO. S.F. With star on reverse. 1871-80. A well-known and always desirable soda, the Bay City bottles come in a variety of different shades, as you can see here. As are all the examples shown, this first deep blue example is Almost Mint with maybe a tiny scratch here and there. Good crudity--just a great example reaching that electric blue color near the base. | $ 220 |
| BAY CITY SODA WATER CO. S.F. With star on reverse. 1871-80. The crudest of the five offered here, this is a great example in a brilliant blue with just a touch of green. Almost Mint. | $ 190 |
| BAY CITY SODA WATER CO. S.F. With star on reverse. 1871-80. A fabulous brilliant sapphire with good whittle and very close to being Mint. A super example, impossible to improve in this vibrant blue. | $ 240 |
| BAY CITY SODA WATER CO. S.F. With star on reverse. 1871-80. Another beauty, never cleaned it has a little light wear but nothing that detracts. Good crudity, a solid Almost Mint. | $ 300 |
| BAY CITY SODA WATER CO. S.F. With star on reverse. 1871-80. Here is the rarest color of the Bay City sodas and another very crude example. In fact, from the bottom it's almost oblong. Good bubbles, a tough color to find and in super condition. Almost Mint. | $ 375 |
| CLASSEN & CO. SPARKLING with crossed anchors. Applied top. 1864-68. We see these bottles in this color most often. An amazing electric blue, these bottles never seem to appear sparkling despite their name. This one was cleaned and still has a few scratches and wear. Loads of crudity and a great big bubble on the front, we've seen better strikes. Another San Francisco "big dig" bottle. Near Mint. | $ 130 |
| CASSIN'S ENGLISH AERATED WATERS. 9 1/2". The Cassin's English Aerated Water round bottom soda water bottle is a strange western piece indeed. Although these were known to exist, this is the first example we've seen in medium to deep green. A product of the well-known Cassin brothers, after obtaining this bottle, all you need is the Cassin's Grape Brandy Bitters and the Cassin's Golden Plantation Whiskey to complete the set! Of course you'll need around $50,000 to do it. This example was found in the San Francisco dig of 1999. Interestingly enough, the base is not hollow like virtually all other round bottom soda bottles. This is a solid base and it's pretty evident they made a flat bottom soda and then applied the insulator- like round bottom. They were obviously after a discriminating customer base. Loaded with whittle, alas it has a 1/2" crack, albeit hard to see, in the applied top. A classic western bottle, if you can live with some damage, you're bidding on a superb western piece with the color, crudity and rarity that would command big bucks in perfect condition. Other than the lip damage, it's Almost Mint. For more information go to http://www.americanbottle.com/cassein's_recent_finds.htm and read more about this unusual bottle's past. | $ 550 |
| JOHN GRAF MILWAUKEE, WIS. COR 17TH & GREENFIELD AVE. THE BEST WHAT GIVES. Tooled top. Eight-sided. A scarce root beer, this is the first we've handled. A nice example in Almost Mint condition. | $ 60 |
| H. NASH & CO. ROOT BEER CINCINNATI. 9". Applied top, iron pontil. Occasionally we find a bottle that has it all and here it is. The Nash root beers are highly sought after by collectors for obvious reasons, the least of which is their size and crudity. An 1850's bottle, this example was found in a basement in Missouri after sitting in a box for the previous 35 years. We've taken a photograph of the bottle before and after a simple soap and water cleaning. It shows there was a small amount of residue and once cleaned it rendered it as bright and sparkling as a diamond in the wind. With just a tiny flake on the lip (which seriously looks way worse in the photo than in person) and a few scratches, collectors of these bottles know how rare it is to find one with virtually no high-point wear or really any wear at all. Incredibly crude with a great big applied square collar, this behemoth has all of its original graphite. It's unlikely anyone will find a better example of this rare and desirable root beer. The pictures don't do it justice. Grades Almost Mint. | $ 1,800 |
