Celluloid Letter Opnener
date: label: date made
content: after 1927
label: date made
content: 1928 or after
name: label: Associated Name
content: Emerson Drug Company
label: maker
content: Whitehead & Hoag Company
notes: label: Description
content: The handle of this celluloid letter opener is blue and shaped like a bottle of Emerson’s Bromo Seltzer. The inscriptions here read “MARYLAND GLASS CORPORATION / OWENS AUTOMATIC MACHINE MADE / BLUE GLASS BOTTLES / BALTIMORE” and “A PERFECT BOTTLE.” The inscriptions on the blade read “WE SOLICIT YOUR INQUIRIES” and “MARYLAND GLASS CORPORATION.”
label: Description
content: Isaac E. Emerson (1859-1931), a Baltimore pharmacist, developed a headache remedy, obtained a patent, named it Bromo Seltzer, established the Emerson Drug Company, and advertised widely. The Maryland Glass Corp. was organized in 1907, primarily to manufacture bottles for Bromo Seltzer; Emerson was the major stockholder. The first bottles were made by hand, but the firm soon boasted an Owens Automatic Machine, a device that did much to revolutionize the industry.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New Jersey, Newark
label: referenced
content: United States: Maryland, Baltimore
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Chemistry
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2006.0098.1229
label: accession number
content: 2006.0098
label: catalog number
content: 2006.0098.1229
objectType: label: Object Name
content: letter opener
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cellulose nitrate (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3.5 cm x 19.5 cm; x 1 3/8 in x 7 11/16 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1/8 in x 7 1/2 in x 1 5/16 in; .3175 cm x 19.05 cm x 3.33375 cm