"Bottle Typing/Diagnostic Shapes: Miscellaneous & Foreign Bottles" Page
Organization & Structure

This page is

Each of the pictured bottles has a relatively short description and explanation including estimated dates or date ranges for that type bottle and links to other view pictures of the bottle.  Additional links to images of similar bottles are also frequently included. 

The array of references used to support the conclusions and estimates found here - including the listed dating ranges - are noted.  Additional information and estimates are based on the empirical observations of the author over 40 years of experience; this is often but not always noted.

Various terminology is used in the descriptions that may be unfamiliar if you have not studied other pages on this site.  If a term is unfamiliar, first check the Bottle Glossary page for an explanation or definition.  As an alternative, one can do a search of this website.  To do a word/phrase search one must use the "Search SHA" boxes found on many of the main SHA web pages, including the Research Resources page (upper right side of that page) which links to this site.  The Historic Bottle Website (HBW) has no internal search mechanism so be aware that when running a search one will also get non-HBW response links to other portions of the SHA site.

The dots on the base of 20th century snuff bottles are thought to be indicators of the strength of the snuff contained, though it appears that the marks are instead glass maker marks intended to track quality control of bottles produced by different machines (Munsey 1971; Gloria Thomas, Conwood Sales Co. LLC pers. comm. 2007).

Barber bottles

Reproductions?

WARNER'S SAFE KIDNEY & LIVER CURE - (Left image.)  This bottle is embossed WARNER'S / SAFE / KIDNEY & LIVER / CURE (large embossed safe) / ROCHESTER, N.Y.  This large distinctive bottle is oval in cross-section and 9.4"/24 cm tall.  This is another bottle style that is strongly associated with the genre of medicine bottles.  It is also closely (but not totally - there were imitators) associated with the products of the H. H. Warner Co. who was a prolific advertiser and producer of different patent medicines, most of which are shaped like the pictured bottle (Ojea & Stecher 1998).  NOTE:  These bottles were accurately reproduced by the Crownford China Co. during the 1970s (possibly a bit earlier and/or later) and sold with reproductions of the original label.  However, they exhibit machine-made characteristics and distinctive base embossing.  Click on the following images to view pictures of one of these reproductions which are quite well done:  view of the embossing; view of the label; side view; view of the base showing the telltale embossing CROWNFORD / (C in a circle) / CHINA CO. INC.

For additional images of various labeled miscellaneous bottles click the following link to view the pertinent section of the Labeled Bottles page.