The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-01-20

Susie's fresh cheeks forty years ago-when |
she was sixteen or thereabouts. In this
pretty old white spiral bottle you see Rob-
ert the druggists grandmother's perfume
bottle; and this long WASTED diamond
marked bottle. with faded pink ribbon bow
on it, belonged to Mrs. Arnold's second hus-
bands first wife, and has been long treas
ured solely on that account. Across seas.
no doubt. this opal bubble. an inch long.
has journeyed. to be cherished long years
in Sarah Emeline Codman.s New England
work box, and then delivered over to be
boarded in jewelers. cotton in Hoosier
bottle collection.
When the bottle mania develops, the bot
tie fancier discovers that he or she has
always boarded bottles; this amber
"crackled'' bottle was picked UP years ago
in "choice for 10 cents" basket in
Chicago shop; that clear glass cracked
bottle Is a~beauty, too; and so Is that clear
bottle with 'sun-bursts'' all through the
glass. In colored bottles, there is no stop
ping place. All shades in amber bottles
are things of beauty; ruby bottles are
scarce; blue bottles are numerous. but rare
ly found in the artistic tones of blue; while
green bottles are plentiful, from the fresh
green of the imported peas" bottle to the
olive greens and darker bottle green tints.
The stained glass possibilities OF colored
bottles suggest themselves when the bot
ties are arranged or grouped on shelves or
tables near a sun-lit window. Beautiful in
tint, many of them are also beautiful in
outline, or interesting at least; witness this
dark green high shouldered bottle, that
deep amber, fat, squat bottle from Holland.
that bright red Bohemian glass steamboat
bar bottle, this irridescent French water
bottle, that barrel-shaped light amber bot
tie, this olive green three-cornered bottle.
that fiat paunched glowing ruby jug, with
a crooked handle; they all catch the sun
light and reflect it in a melody of color.
Among curio bottles, the end is never at
hand
In an Indiana collection the old-fashioned
brown-amber log-cabin bottle is prize
of the first magnitude, and next to it stands
the "Tippecanoe'' bottle, also brown am
Der, representing log Of wood with rough
bark. A birch-bark canoe and the word
'Tippecanoe are blown in the glass, and
the neck and mouth represent a mushroom
growing out of a log. This is New York
bottle, but the manufacturers circular
states that ''as old General Harrison ('Tip-
pecanoe) broke up the great Indian con-
federation against the whites, so the Tip
pecanoe remedies" etc., etc. Surely this
bottle is tribute to Indiana not to be over
looked. Also prominent among the curio
bottles is this mk-whte representation of
Bunker Hill monument; this clear glass
tower, five stories high, with shingled
roof and chimney; this Kentucky flask in
basket pattern, and an enormous fat flask
bearing Kentucky's heraldic device-clasped
hands on a shield surrounded by olive
branches and stars. A long amber ear of
corn in glass is another old Kentucky tro-
ply, as is also this diamond-decOrated bot
tie bearing 4 sheaf of rye rampant.
Italian oil or wine bottles, shorn of their
wicker netting are a graceful lot, "bubbly''
to strange degree and the siphons, green
or blue are interesting hung against Win
| dow. Local drug bottles open another by
| path, and will tell the history of local drug
| shops by names in the glass some years
| hence. A graceful double bottle, pouJing
| oil from one mouth, vinegar from the other,
| is also a genuine foreign curio and this
| American pop bottle is not to be 1espised
| as sample of achievement in weight, hi
| larity and thick green glass In this squat.
! brown stone bottle the touch of humorist
potter is in evidence; it is stamped Bitter
| wasser," and bears a crown and legend.
After it had been rounded by the potters
skillful hand he slapped two sides of it
| fat-for no reason other than purely joe
ular one, it seems-then grained the soft
| clay of the bottom with his broad-fibered
| thumb, leaving deep dent of the same
q
| ished fat stone bottle to the shelf over his
| head.
But the riddle of this deep blue Dutch
bottle no man can read; 1t is far, high
shouldered. with strange fins doubled over
on its breast. 1t has queer curlycues down
it's margins, and a tree of three unbotani-
cal blooms fiourishes on its front; scallops
curvet here and there. and budding wings
are detected. 1t slants on its base so it
| cannot stand upright, and it would have
passed out into the world long ago but that
the druggist who discovered IL in MS cellar
| couldn't make turpentine label stick on
| it, The Buddha of bottledom verify, to be
| cherished for its color, its usefulness and
it's inscrutability. Last and best, perhaps,
lin point of suggestive interest and value
comes a small rough green bottle, terraced
| as to its sides and bearing on its two fat
| faces these words: by the Kings royal
patent granted to Robt. T. burlington for
his invented balsam of life, London. Jan.
~, 1770." Robert burlington and George
the Fourth are dust, long years ago Che
inventor of a balsam of life should precede
a King these days.. but the little red-green
bottle, with careful Eandling. may see many
other centuries yet. 1t was found in New
Albany drug shop, once the property of DR..
Thomas Ralph Austin, much respected
English gentleman. who lived many years
in this city, served through our civil war,
i and died here in 1884, an honored clergyman
of the Episcopal Church. In-Mr. Meredith
Nicholson's "Hoosiers' DR.. Austin is men,
toned He was the Federal surgeon who
told Byron Forcythe Wilson the story wo-
ven by him into his famous poem, 1.-THE
Old Sergeant" EMMA CARLETON.
| Nam Alhapv Tan