FOHBC 2016 Hall of Fame submission for Jeff Wichmann

FOHBC HALL of FAME Nomination for

Jeff Wichmann Sacramento, California

FOHBC Hall of Fame Nomination for

Jeff Wichmann Sacramento, California

FOHBC Life Member 501 15 February 2016 Submitted by Ferdinand Meyer V

Jeff Wichmann

Sacramento, California

Jeff Wichmann’s interests growing up included golf, baseball and backpacking. His collecting interests have included marbles, baseball memorabilia, early German toys, bonsai, watches, and stamps, to name a few. However, it’s collecting antique bottles that have caught his greatest attention and from the age of 13 his passion for antique bottles has played a major role in his life.

With a four-year degree in journalism and a minor in photography, Jeff started Media Marketing.

After 10 years in the advertising and marketing business, his interest in marketing soon found its way into the world of antique bottles and even further into the auctioning of bottles. In addition, Jeff also owns a biological company in Davis, California called PHL, Inc. There they produce a number of vaccines for farm animals and together with UCD developed the first wholly viable vaccine for the treatment of coliform mastitis in dairy cattle. A considerable problem for dairy farmers, PHL now sells their J-5 vaccine in over 20 countries worldwide. Jeff’s love for animals along with the success he’s enjoyed with PHL has made him able to become a considerable benefactor to the SPCA, a cause he takes very seriously. Jeff also supports numerous other non-profits, mostly geared towards helping animals and under-privileged children.

But the bottles are his true love and over the years he has managed to juggle his vaccine business and his bottle business with aplomb. His love for the hobby is shown through his efforts to help bottle clubs and organizations, both financially and with his valuable time. His efforts to get bottles on the map include numerous articles published either by him or by other publishers. His background in marketing allows Jeff the experience to make the public more aware of the hobby. His movie, Diggin for Gold, illustrated the fascinating way new technology is helping uncover years and years of American history. Jeff has appeared on local television including a Discovery channel episode of Cash and Treasures. According to Jeff, in the quest to promote his love of antique bottles and glass.

His auction of the Alex Kerr family’s target ball collection drew considerable attention nationally as his auction set record prices across the board for the rarest and most beautiful target balls ever sold.

At a bottle show he noticed a dealer selling marbles and just three years later he amassed a world class collection, established a website expressly for marbles and had his first major marble auction.

Like everything Jeff finds interest in, he envelopes himself in it; eat, sleep and breath - is there any other way? But if Jeff had marbles for breakfast, his main course has always been antique bottles.

From the days of venturing into the Santa Cruz mountains and searching for bottles as a teenager to this very day putting up a bottle “for sale” page online and continuing to auction bottles, his advertising seen throughout numerous national antique publications says it all, “Discover the Beauty in Glass.”

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Jeff has been collecting antique bottles for over 45 years. He founded Pacific Glass Auctions in 1990. Pacific Glass Auctions changed its name to American Bottle Auctions in 2001. American Bottle Auctions specializes in appraisal, brokering, consigning and auctioning of antique bottles and glass. Over the past 26 years, Jeff has personally researched the history, evaluated the condition, and estimated the value of tens of thousands of items.

Aside from his auction-related duties, he is often called upon to appraise the value of antique bottles and glass for private individuals and businesses, insurance companies and law enforcement.

Collectible Insurance uses Jeff as their go-to guy when they have a question about a claim. Jeff’s signature on an appraisal is good enough for any insurance company or law agency.

In 1999, Mr. Wichmann published a 132-page; hardcover book entitled The Best of the West - Antique Western Bitters Bottles which has been handled by major literary distributors and book

stores, as well as public and private libraries. This book is now considered to be one of the top resources for researching the history and value of antique western bitters bottles.

Jeff has been a trailblazer in the antique bottle-collecting hobby.

His was the first bottle auction house to provide full-color, glossy catalogs without raising his buyer’s premium. This was a major benefit to collectors because the true color of an antique bottle is a key factor in accessing its value. Before this, auctioneers relied on black and white photos and tried to describe bottle colors in the text of their catalogs. He was soon sending out catalogs to over 5,000 potential bidders at no charge.

Next, he launched the first online antique bottle auction. This changed the face of bottle auctions forever. Again, the collectors benefited, because more complete descriptions, and larger photos, could be included online. This was not possible in print because of the tremendous expense involved. Also, even with the best monitoring, colors sometimes changed as the photos changed hands from publisher to printer to press. Now, competitors have followed his lead and offer their own online auctions. His auction now charges a 10% buyers and sellers fee, the lowest in the hobby.

Then, instead of continuing to use outside webmasters, he started publishing americanbottle.com in house. As a result of this hands-on, direct control, the website became a vital, interactive center for the world of bottle collectors and related organizations.

It is packed with features and news to inform and entertain all of those interested in the hobby. Furthermore, collectors are able to communicate and interact with each other through the site.

Maybe most importantly on the website is the research library of bottles. From that site, bottle enthusiasts can type in a name and search online for a particular bottle to see values, a more in-depth description and color photographs. Jeff’s website is the only one that retains the auction results going back over 10 years. He continues to appraise bottles for anyone that asks at no charge.

He generously offers his time in order to help others pursue the hobby so others can learn that which he has so passionately pursued for so many years.

Jeff’s accomplishments also include auctioning a “Bryant’s Stomach Bitters” for $67,500, the most ever paid for an antique bottle at auction at the time. This was big news and was carried by many networks, including CNN. He has also appeared on a number of television programs and been the guest speaker at many occasions. His sale of the Bryan Grapentine collection sold for a million and a half dollars, at the time one of the most profitable bottle auctions of all time. His sale of many bottles have set new records and introduced the hobby to fascinating new finds. His analysis of the hobby appearing through periodic articles on his website have been both insightful and argued by other experts and collectors. Lending an optimistic view to the hobby much of the time, Jeff believes if telling it how he sees it causes controversy, so be it.

Jeff’s bottle photography is considered by many to be the best in the business. His photographs have been published in many national publications, including Kovel’s Antique Bottle Price Guide and Michael Polak’s Bottles--Identification and Price Guide, Warmans Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide and are seen throughout the hobby. Through trial and error, Jeff’s inventive photographic techniques continue to produce what many believe to be the most beautiful and detailed images seen anywhere.

In addition, Mr. Wichmann has added a new feature to his online auctions: his new streaming video. Included with still photos of the bottles offered in his sale, this new technique allows bidders to view a video of each bottle while Jeff narrates additional information about the piece. It has opened up a whole new world to the collecting community and allowed them to view bottles like never before. Jeff’s series of instructional videos on YouTube discussed various aspects of bottles including pontils, bottle tops, how to determine an old bottle from a new one and other topics he thought could help clear up some of the mysteries of bottle collecting. Those close to him know his mantra through the years has been, “if it helps the hobby and the Federation, I’m in.”

Jeff Wichmann’s influence on the world of antique bottle collecting has been innovative, creative and constructive. One could continue on to list many more positive contributions that he has made but suffice it to say that the hobby is in a much better place because of his continued presence.

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American Bottle Auctions - 915 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95816 Jeff Wichmann Jeff’s door is always open at American Bottle Auctions at 915 28th Street in Sacramento, California. Jeff and his team consisting of Dennis Fox and Chinyere “Chi Chi” Anyanwu (both pictured at top), are usually on hand to make your visit comfortable and entertaining. The office is full of historical material, bottles and just about anything Jeff is interested in. This is Jeff’s operational nerve center for his creative interests. In an adjoining area of the studio, you will find Jeff’s well-equipped bottle photography lab.

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American Bottle Auctions - 915 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95816 Jeff Wichmann Two more pictures of Jeff’s office. The top picture is Chi Chi greeting you in the reception area. You already get a hint of what’s to come with glimpses of antique bottles. The bottom picture is a sitting display room with demijohns, soda water bottles, Indian collectibles and western advertising.

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Collecting Interests Jeff Wichmann Jeff Wichmann’s interests growing up included golf, baseball and backpacking. His collecting interests have included marbles, baseball memorabilia, early German toys, bonsai, watches, and stamps, to name a few. However, it’s collecting antique bottles that have caught his greatest attention and from the age of 13 his passion for antique bottles has played a major role in his life.

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Collecting Interests Jeff Wichmann Two more images from Jeff’s Sacramento office which is like a small museum. Four serving trays on top from beer, rye and bourbon companies with a decidedly western flavor. The bottom pictures captures some of Jeff’s wonderful labeled western brand bottles. All in great condition and available for viewing.

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Collecting Interests Jeff Wichmann Sitting in Jeff’s Sacramento office you will find this super display of some of Jeff’s favorite bottles. He has them sitting in a back-lit cabinet which makes any type of conversation just about impossible as you appreciate each bottle. These are all fantastic bottles with a story behind each. The top image is a spectacular stained glass piece from a historic Sacramento home.

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Collecting Interests Jeff Wichmann Here we see on the top picture some of Jeff’s baseball memorabilia such as a San Francisco Giants pennant, autographed Babe Ruth bat, a Babe Ruth autographed baseball card, a Babe Ruth autographed baseball and an autographed picture of the famous slugger. The bottom picture, from Jeff’s office in Sacramento, displays a wonderful assortment of early west material including the legendary Jule’s Bourbon (Julius Goldbaum, Tuscon, Arizona Territory) bar bottle, advertising tip trays, a Kelly’s Old Cabin Bitters, a Kerr target ball and Indian artifacts. Note that Jeff’s name badge from the Los Angeles Historical Bottle club is displayed where he is an honorary member.

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The Best of the West - Antique Western Bitters Bottles - March 1, 1999 Jeff Wichmann Antique Western Bitters Bottles is an in depth look at some of the top treasures in collecting today. Virtually every western bitters bottle is shown in full color, many in the different color variations they were blown in. For each listed bottle, a brief history is given along with the name, size, year made and type of top it has. It also includes a rundown on the current status of each bottle and points of interest. In addition, it includes the rarity and current value of each bottle.

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American Bottle Auctions - Web Site Jeff Wichmann Jeff Wichmann publishes americanbottle.com in house. As a result of this hands-on, direct control, the website has become a vital, interactive center for the world of bottle collectors and related organizations. It is packed with features and news to inform and entertain all of those interested in the hobby. Furthermore, collectors are able to communicate and interact with each other through the site. Most importantly on the website is the research library of bottles. Bottle enthusiasts can type in a name and search online for a particular bottle to see values, a more in-depth description and color photographs. Jeff’s website is the only one that retains the auction results going back over 10 years.

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Antique Bottle Photography Jeff Wichmann Jeff’s bottle photography is considered by many to be the best in the business. His photographs have been published in many national publications, including Kovel’s Antique Bottle Price Guide and Michael Polak’s Bottles - Identification and Price Guide, Warmans Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide and are seen throughout the hobby. Through trial and error, Jeff’s inventive photographic techniques continue to produce what many believe to be the most beautiful and detailed images seen anywhere.

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Antique Bottle Videos Jeff Wichmann Jeff Wichmann was the first antique bottle auctioneer to add streaming video. Included with still photos of the bottles offered in his auctions and sales, this new technique allows bidders to view a video of each bottle while Jeff narrates additional information about the piece. It has opened up a whole new world to the collecting community and allowed them to view bottles like never before. Jeff’s series of instructional videos on YouTube discussed various aspects of bottles including pontils, bottle tops, how to determine an old bottle from a new one and other topics he thought could help clear up some of the mysteries of bottle collecting.

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American Bottle Auctions at FOHBC National Shows Jeff Wichmann Jeff Wichmann founded Pacific Glass Auctions in 1990. Pacific Glass Auctions changed its name to American Bottle Auctions in 2001. American Bottle Auctions specializes in appraisal, brokering, consigning and auctioning of antique bottles and glass. American Bottle Auctions is a supporter of the Federation’s national shows and traditionally anchors the show floor with their table presence. Mr. Wichmann has also generously financed raffles and prize drawings an FOHBC National Shows.

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American Bottle Auctions Advertising in BOTTLES and EXTRAS Jeff Wichmann Jeff Wichmann and American Bottle Auctions traditionally take a full page advertisement in BOTTLES and EXTRAS. Their advertisement is on the inside front cover and is immediately recognized by the spectacular bottle photography.

The advertisement most recently is rotated between ABA bottle auctions and ABA bottle sales.

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American Bottle Auctions - For Sale Page Jeff Wichmann Jeff Wichmann, within the past year or so, has implemented a new “For Sale� page on his American Bottle Auctions web site. The page is wildly successful and is eagerly anticipated when new bottles are added on a periodic basis. The prices are fair and the pictures are stellar. You had better make your offer quickly as the bottles sell fast.

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American Bottle Auctions - Direct Mail Advertising Jeff Wichmann American Bottle Auctions, using Jeff’s extensive marketing experience, uses well-photographed and arranged direct mail pieces to market their various auctions. With a four-year degree in journalism and a minor in photography, Jeff handles this work with ease. After 10 years in the advertising and marketing business, his interest in marketing soon found its way into the world of antique bottles and even further into the auctioning of bottles.

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American Bottle Auctions - Alex Kerr Collection Jeff Wichmann On behalf of the Alex Kerr Family, my thanks goes out to all of you for making these eight auctions of my father’s collection conducted by Jeff Wichmann of American Bottle Auctions a tremendous success. We’ve had opportunities to sell the entire collection to one party; however, by spacing the eight auctions out over a period of time we were able to give everyone interested a chance to share in a part of my dad’s collection. My next venture will be to finish my dad’s manuscript on the history of target balls. Sincerely, Carolyn Kerr Mulne

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American Bottle Auctions - The Bryan Grapentine Collection Jeff Wichmann The American Bottle Auctions sale of the Bryan Grapentine collection was a three-part auction that produced a million and a half dollars, at the time, one of the most profitable bottle auctions of all time. Jeff’s sale of many bottles have set new records. Jeff adds, “With Grapentine we decided that we would send out a catalog to every person on our mailing list, which numbered around 3,000. We continued to do that with every auction after, too. Now, people don’t really care about a catalog which is good for us. $14,000 less we spend on overhead which is why we can charge only a 10% commission and buyer’s premium. We have over 5,000 names now, it’s a valuable list, it took a lot of years to get there.”

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American Bottle Auctions - Bryant’s Stomach Bitters “Cone” Jeff Wichmann Jeff’s accomplishments also include auctioning a “Bryant’s Stomach Bitters” for $67,500, the most ever paid for an antique bottle at auction at the time. This was big news and was carried by many networks, including CNN. The example is pictured above and resides in a Texas collection.

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Philanthropy Jeff Wichmann Jeff’s love for animals along with the success he’s enjoyed has made him able to become a considerable benefactor to the SPCA, a cause he takes very seriously. Jeff also supports numerous other non-profits, mostly geared towards helping animals and under-privileged children. Jeff and American Bottle Auctions are also major sponsors of the FOHBC, National Bottle Museum and a number of regional antique bottle shows and clubs.

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The Current State of the Bottle Hobby

by Jeff Wichmann August 2010 As Stated in a speech given by Jeff Wichmann on August 7, 2010 at the FOHBC National Antique Bottle Show in Wilmington, Ohio.

Did you know that in the 1970s bottle collecting was one of the most popular hobbies in America? Yep. Right up there with stamps and coins. But of course bottle collecting started much earlier than that. Let’s take a look.

Did you know that Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford collected old bottles? As early as 1900, Edwin A. Barber wrote American Glassware. To our knowledge, it is the first reference that dealt solely with the subject of American glass.

By 1914, Frederick William Hunter wrote Stiegel Glass which also looked at the Wistars and their association with glass in America. In 1920, American Bottles Old & New by William S. Walbridge was published out of Toledo, Ohio. His book was interesting as Walbridge’s idea of new was the invention of the fifteen-arm bottle making machine. He points out it weighed 100,000 pounds and had an increased production capacity over the first commercial machine of 202%.

A picture of this new fangled equipment reminds one more of a Terminator movie than bottles. He also points out that in the year 1916, the production of the entire Owens owned plants for the year amounted to 613,959,696 bottles. A lofty number even by today’s standards.

Soon came Early American Bottles and Flasks by Stephen Van Rensselaer in 1921 and a revised version in 1926. Here was a book that set a new level for books on the subject for years to

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come. Van Rensselaer was the first to chronicle bottles by category. He had 26 groups, which were divided into definitive categories based on their embossed patterns. It was a boon to collectors of the day, and the fuel that would fire what was to come. Van Rensselaer was considered the leading expert on glass as his exhaustive efforts not only cataloged most of the known examples, but also showed pictures of each one. It was a Herculean effort that was to be the mainstay of the bottle-collecting world.

Another early contributor was a man named Harry Hall White who wrote a series of articles on Kentucky Glass Works and early Pittsburgh glasshouses in a magazine called Antiques in 1926. He was to write articles for Antiques over the next 15 years on everything from excavations at Mantua to Coventry Glass Works in Connecticut. When talking American glass, one must not forget a woman named Rhea Mansfield Knittle, who in 1924 wrote an article named Muskingham County Ohio Glass, which was two years before the contributions of White. She delivered another five articles for Antiques and then a very popular book called Early American Glass, published in 1927. Interestingly, another book written by a woman named Mary Harrod Northend entitled, American Glass, was published a year earlier. In it, she discussed everything from Sandwich to Wistarberg. It contained plates of some very rare pieces including what she calls “The Famous “Booz” Bottle,” in light green no less. Although her name is not mentioned in many of the books I’ve researched, surely she was a major contributor in her day. In her preface she writes, “The story of glass is in reality one that has never been fully told, but it has been my endeavor to keep close to the spirit of the times so that he who reads may learn of its evolution which finally ended in acknowledged success.” Boy, if she were around today. What Northend would ultimately find out is how plastic is now largely the future of glass.

Glass by the Metropolitan Museum of Art came out in 1936. It was a compilation of the history of glass making throughout the world. It starts in Egypt with the first recorded evidence of glass making in 3200 B.C. Meanwhile, Ruth Webb Lee’s Sandwich Glass Handbook, done in 1939, began her lifelong love affair with Sandwich Glass. The series of Barlow/Kaiser books on the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company in Massachusetts was to come later and although Lee’s efforts were groundbreaking, the new contributions of Barlow/Kaiser included beautiful photographs and an incredible source of information for those interested in Sandwich glass. Early American Glass - the Magnificent Collection Formed by the late William T.H. Howe of Cincinnati, Ohio was published in 1940 and was one of the first published auction catalogs of strictly bottles and glass. It included “socalled Stiegel and Ohio techniques in all of the available colors,” and “Blown Three-Mold technique in pressed glass are also to be found in a rich assortment of patterns and colors. Furthermore, the group of historical flasks contains many of the most highly prized specimens.” This collection came with much help from George S. McKearin, generally thought to be one of the founding fathers of the hobby. Today an offering such as the Howe collection would be considered an almost impossible task. Outside of the very top collectors in the world, few could offer such an amazing array of early bottles and flasks.

Early American Bottles and Flasks Collected by the Late Alfred

B. Maclay written in 1945 came next, offering an amazing display of bottles for auction. The catalog is hard bound and contains mostly historical flasks. Many are extremely rare and no doubt some are on collector’s shelves today. In 1947, a book about a specific area of collecting appeared in the form of Bitters Bottles by J.H. Thompson. He choose to concentrate on one area and even as early as the 1947, you could see a pattern evolving, the rare and valuable versus the more common examples we still differentiate today. American Glass by Valentine VanTassel appeared in 1950. His attempt at chronicling the history of glass in the United States was worthy of any research collection and as I’ve seen numerous copies of the book, it must have been fairly well received. It includes a number of black and white prints including a picture of the Harrison Hard Cider flask produced in 1840. American Historical Flasks by Helen McKearin was the first of her hobby changing efforts in 1953 with more, much more to come. Arlene Palmer’s Glass in Early America started using full-color along with black and white pictures which brought the photography of bottles and glass to a new level. The remarkable photographs are still right up there with some of the finest ever done. Palmer’s book is regarded as one of the most concise and well-written books ever published on early American glass and is still a mainstay in the collecting world.

A Treasury of American Bottles by William Ketchum in 1975 was again one of the first books to fully utilize full-color pictures and with the presentation of much of the Burt Spiller collection, is still considered a major addition to the hobby. In 1978, the bottle and glass world was soon to change forever with the publishing of the newest and most up to date version of American Bottles and Flasks and Their Ancestry

by Helen McKearin and Kenneth M. Wilson. Together, Wilson and McKearin produced not only the most thorough and con-

cise assemblage of information ever seen in one book; they also developed the classification system for flasks and bottles that is still in use today. The book originally appeared in 1948 and was reprinted again as late as 1989. By our estimations, it is the most reprinted book of it’s type ever written. So from Edwin Barber’s American Glassware to the bible of bottles and glass in the McKearin/Wilson effort, collectors had a much larger volume of information and form of reference than ever before. There are many other books out there we fail to mention here due to space, but it’s estimated by our count that there are over 500 books that have been written on the subject.

So if one were to look at the books printed up to this point, especially the early contributions, they all had one thing in common, the words “Early,” and “American.”

But one needed only to glance westward as the hobby had already gained a head of steam on the Pacific Coast. The first recognized bottle club was actually started in Sacramento, California

by John Tibbitts in 1959. It was called The Antique Bottle Collectors Association, which later became the Federation of Historic Bottle Collectors or FOHBC. Tibbits had been writing a newsletter he called Chips from the Pontil and eventually it turned into a book in 1967 called John Doe Bottle Collector. Chips from the Pontil was published from 1959 to 1968. Tibbits also wrote a book, How To Collect Antique Bottles in 1969. By the 1970s, the bottle fever had started out west in a big way. Collecting Bottles by Cecil Munsey came out in 1970.

This 308-page effort contained loads of great photographs and drawings with a well-constructed history of bottles and glass. The Muncie work was one of the firsts to lay out the history from beginning to end and it is still a terrific book for anyone interested in the hobby. Grace Kendrick had already written a book called The Antique Bottle Collector in 1963 out of Nevada. Bob and Pat Ferraro, also from Nevada wrote A Bottle Collectors Book in 1966 along with The Past in Glass soon thereafter. Both Kendrick and the Ferraro’s were from Nevada which was picking up a great deal of steam in it’s own right. Many, many bottles were shipped to Nevada from San Francisco and it became a breeding ground for collectors eager to find western glass.

Peck and his wife Audie Markota wrote Western Blob Top Soda and Mineral Water Bottles in the 1970s. Still the definitive reference on western blob sodas. John Thomas wrote Whiskey Bottles of the Old West in 1969 and he also wrote a number of other related books in the years that followed. Thomas virtually created the

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demand for western whiskey fifths and flasks. His efforts started an excitement among collectors that still lives on today. His expertise in bottle hunting and ability to write and draw pictures of virtually every western whiskey bottle and flask was monumental in securing the future of whiskey collectors in the west. You could say he gave spirit to those who collected spirit bottles. Betty (Wilson) Zumwalt wrote Spirit Bottles of the Old West in 1968 along with Western Bitters in 1969 and 19th Century Medicine in Glass in 1971. Zumwalt was soon to write the definitive book on pickle and sauce bottles in an aptly named book, Ketchup, Pickles and Sauces 19th Century Food In Glass. Her work was along with Thomas and Markota, the foundation for the huge upsurge in collecting western bottles. Byron and Vicky Martin wrote Here’s to Beers, still the bible for beer bottle collectors despite the efforts of a number of other beer collectors writings, many of which are valuable contributions. The Martin book was primarily on western beer bottles. Doug Leybourne wrote The Red Book of Fruit Jars which is also considered the bible for fruit jar collectors. Bitters Bottles by Carlyn Ring and later in conjunction with Bill Ham would be considered the must have of bitters bottles books along with it’s supplement. Ring especially, developed the reference system used for bitters bottles today. A specific bitters book focusing on just western bitters bottles also appeared in the form of Antique Western Bitters Bottles written by this author in 1999. Like the Thomas whiskey book or the Zumwalt medicine book, here was a bitters book dealing with a particular geographical area of collecting a particular type of bottle. It was just one of the many books written for a specific type of western made or distributed bottles to come.

So at this point, we had almost as many books written for the western bottle scene as we did for the east. Granted, the works of Ferraro or Tibbits may not have been the masterpieces of Arlene Palmer or Helen McKearin, but there weren’t the number of bottles to discuss in a western book not to mention the glasshouses and overall history. The first glasshouse in the west didn’t occur until 1859, however in the east that would have been just a few years too late. It is believed the first glass made in America was by the Wistarburgh Glass Manufactory in 1738. Established

by Caspar Wistar in Southern New Jersey, it lasted for 40 years.

So you had quite a jump on western glass production in the east and you had a lot more people that needed bottles. So lots more production, earlier bottles and hence the classic “Early American” glass, collectors strive so hard to find.

That doesn’t mean that bottles made in the west or for the west can’t compete in their own right. When I say in the west or for the west, there are a couple schools of thought regarding this. If a bottle was made after 1859, out west specifically San Francisco, it was without question a western bottle. But some bottles were made in Ohio, New York and other eastern glasshouses that were made specifically for the west. They were only distributed in the west and are generally considered western.

Soda or mineral water bottles are a good example. The earliest and most prized examples were made in the east during the 1850s and 60s. Since many have the name San Francisco, Sacramento or even Shasta on them, they are collected by western collectors as western bottles. Even bottles that don’t have a town name but are only found in the west are considered western. Some of these

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include the Catawba Wine Bitters, the Wister’s Club House Gin, and the Bryant’s Bitters. Bottle collecting then is pretty much divided up into east and west, some collect western bottles and some collect eastern bottles. Sometime a collector will go after both. But generally we’ve found that western and eastern collectors are pretty much into the bottles made on which side of the country they live in. Bitters bottles could be the one exception.

So we now had a very well thought out, bevy of bottle books that were giving people new insight into the hobby in a way that hadn’t happened before.

For good reason, the 1970s ushered in a new era of bottle collecting.

It was a nationwide event when Charles Gardner, a well-known collector of his day sold his collection in 1975. Of course the popularity of bottles meant one more thing, just what were these bottles worth? Ferol Austen wrote a book in 1971 entitled Poor Man’s Guide to Bottle Collecting and on the cover he explains that this is “an illustrated guide to America’s newest hobby. Well it wasn’t the newest, but it was possibly the most up and coming.

In the late 1950s, early 60s, there was a guy named Bruce Scott who collected lunch boxes. He had a house full of them and decided to write a book about lunch boxes and he entitled it simply enough, The 50’s and 60’s Lunchbox. In it, he included prices based on the number of particular boxes he had seen and pretty much had his way creating a book which essentially was written about his own collection. How did it go? Well, once people discovered a lunch box was actually collectible, there was really only one place to turn to get more information. The Bruce Scott book took off and soon people were digging through their garages and basements looking for their hidden treasure. Lunch boxes began to become popular, his modest investment in lunch boxes was soon worth a fortune and he’s still selling books today. The point of the story is that here we have a guy who just happened to like collecting lunch boxes. He then went on to not only write a book, but also created a whole new area of collecting. He was the lunch box market and he could put any price he wanted on any lunch box. So he took what was essentially nothing and virtually created a new hobby.

So now we move on to the 1980s. In the 1960s, bottles were easier to get; their appeal was based mainly on their looks. As time went on, books came out and the hobby established prices. Rarity

became clearer, we were able to create a base on which to value bottles. I hear many stories of people trading a valuable bottle for a common one, not knowing the Tippecanoe they traded for a green Old Sachem’s Bitters would later turned out to be a disaster. Collectors in the early years were simply basing their decision on pure aesthetics. Minor chips, dings? They didn’t become a big deal until people started putting out big money for them. As a friend of mine, Ken Salazar recently said, “when I started digging for bottles I didn’t know they were even worth money.” In addition, we were soon to learn about the so-called 20-year cycle in collecting. So what happened in the 1980s? Well, although we had a load of collectors, they didn’t have a real means to talk to each other. Oh there were telephones, people bought and sold bottles through the mail. There were guys like Bob Barnett who wrote a price guide on whiskey bottles called Western Whiskey Bottles. He sent out a monthly list of bottles for sale. There were bottle shows but they were scattered and infrequent and in essence there wasn’t the ability to converse with other collectors in a national way. There was no real highway of information. No way in which collectors could easily share their finds and discuss bottles in general. Sure, bottles were still very popular, there was a bottle magazine, you could write letters and call people but it wasn’t like the burst of enthusiasm we saw in the 60’s and 70’s.

So we had the excitement, discovery and all-out interest from the 70’s waning in the 1980s. Was Bottle collecting beginning to suffer from the 20-year cycle?

It’s known that in collecting, there is a period where something will become very popular and then lose that popularity. Beanie Babies are a good example, but it happens with almost every area of collecting. A generation is considered 40 years but it takes time and experience to appreciate some collectibles. So let’s say you collected stamps at age 30 and you eagerly sought out better and better examples and went to stamp shows and basically immersed yourself in stamps for 20 years and now you’re 50. You decide that stamps are neat, but you just can’t devote the time you once did and decide to sell them. So Bill decides to sell his collection and another stamp collector named Fred does the same. They’ve gone up in value and it’s time to take a break, sell the collection and even possibly start collecting something else. When a number of people do this, you do two things, you lose a buyer and you make the availability of stamps more plentiful. If you have 10 collectors of something and five decide to sell, you are left with a huge influx of those items and less people to buy them. A number of factors begin to occur, more stamps, less interest, less buyers. This 20-year rule or cycle isn’t in stone, it can change in both time and duration, sometimes it’s 30 years or like the Beanie Babies craze in 1995 through 2000, just five years. But as you look through the history of collecting, lulls in the hobby happen in just about every area of collecting.

From experience, we know that people collect things that other people want. It’s rare that you find the lone lunch box collector but rather more often people who collect things that are more mainstream, allowing them to meet and share their collections.

In our auctions for instance, a piece may sit there for a week in a 10-day auction. Finally someone puts in a bid and next thing you know there are five people bidding on the item. It’s that, “if he wants it, I want it,” syndrome. Have you ever noticed that when maybe you’re at a bottle show and there’s a bottle you want and

you walk around thinking about it and you finally decide to go back and make an offer and it’s gone? Now you really want it and most likely so do a few other people that couldn’t pull the trigger. The “I want it if you want it” syndrome also works the other way. Sometimes we’ll have a person buy a bottle and return it or simply not pay for it. We will call the under bidder who just a week before had to have it but was outbid at the last minute. We explain to them that their bid is now the top bid and the item is theirs. “No thanks,” we hear more often than not. “I’ve purchased something else,” or “well, I think I’ve changed my mind,” is the general mindset. If they don’t want it why would I want it? It’s the “if he doesn’t want it, I don’t want it,” syndrome.

So as people were spreading the word about bottles in the 60’s and 70’s, towards the end of the 70’s and into the early 80’s we saw a bit of a lull. If you look around, you don’t see many books being published on bottles in the 80’s, there was that communication problem and interest slowed. It wasn’t earth shattering, it rarely is, but it’s a sign that there just wasn’t the interest that there was 10 years prior. Looking back, it was a great time to load up. Some collectors did and are smiling all the way to the bank.

Others sold off their collections, only to wish later they’d sat on their green Sachem’s or yellow Indian Queen. Bottles were still a fairly strong collectible, you just didn’t have the enthusiasm you saw earlier. Of course there are other factors that can affect certain areas of collecting. Economic unrest, a lack of items in that collecting circle, infighting among the leading collectors, there is a myriad of reasons for the checks and balance system in collecting.

For Beanie Babies it was over production, it was the same with baseball cards in the late 1980s and 90s. In addition, with Beanie Babies they were new, they had no real history to speak of, they were just a phenomena. Ty Warner, the company that gave birth to these babies knew the magic words in collecting, people want what others want. Their main strategy was to offer their products in very limited editions. People ate it up. Collectors wanted Beanie Babies and it was only because others did also. Once people looked around and came to their senses, they realized how ridiculous it was paying hundreds of dollars for a brand new toy just because it was one of only five hundred made. Try selling a dark blue Peanut the Elephant these days. A recent search on Ebay revealed hundreds of the Ty Warner Beanie Babies offered for as low as 25 cents apiece with no bids.

As the new decade arrived, so did the ability to spread the word about bottles. Web sites sprang up and there was the beginning of national auctions like Skinners and Glass Works Auctions. Out west we had Western Glass Auctions, these were auctions that were selling specifically antique bottles and glass. Also, people

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like Ralph and Terry Kovel had been publishing a newsletter and were now producing books on bottles along with other numerous books on antiques. They even had their own television show.

Terry Kovel still is an internationally known syndicated columnist with her Kovel’s Corner appearing in newspapers across the country and around the world. Terry and her late husband’s contribution to collecting in America has led the way in fulfilling generations of Americans thirst for collecting. The American version of The Antiques Roadshow, which began in 1996, generated a new interest in antiques. But maybe the most important event was Ebay, which started in 1995. Ebay was now a major player in the selling of everything from buttons to bottles. So out from the closets came the current collectors but in addition you had new people taking a look at bottles as a collectible. The beauty of antique bottles was again gaining momentum. Bottle had become more definitive. We now knew that particular bottles were rare and others weren’t. As time went on, we saw more books. The hobby was back on track and as we headed into the new century, bottle collecting was very strong. We had a way to convey our information. The computer was making the hobby more accessible to everyone. The hobby seemed secure and strong. But just how strong was it?

Today we have collectors from all over the world collecting bottles and glass. Collectors are learning more and more about bottles everyday. There are now hundreds of websites devoted to bottle collecting.

With self-publishing there are a number of books being written on very specific areas of collecting. I counted close to 30 books that I have on my shelf that have been written in the last few years alone. More auction houses have sprung up. Ironically, Ebay, who some could argue really got the thing started has now taken a back seat to live auctions. It would seem however, that by all accounts, bottle collecting is now thriving. But for every step forward the hobby makes, it seems to take a step back. We have a Federation, which meets on a regular basis, but just what they actually accomplish is more of a question mark than brick and mortar. A series of fakes appeared years ago and seem to pop up now and again. Bottle shows just aren’t what they used to be.

People used to spend days preparing their displays in anticipation of winning a blue ribbon. These days it’s a much less eager effort accomplished by the few who still care to spend the time

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to present bottles in grand fashion. Why travel to a bottle show in Keene, New Hampshire when you could sit in your pajamas at home and purchase bottles online? In my mind, there is nothing that compares to attending a bottle show. You can’t replace the personal examination of a bottle and the excitement of meeting friends old and new at a bottle show with cruising the Internet.

You can’t go to all the shows but it’s really the best way to learn more. With the ammunition you’ve gleaned from books and the Internet, a bottle show is the final piece of the puzzle, a wonderland of glass, all there for your inspection. For more information on shows in your area, check out our website or the FOHBC site.

There are numerous online sites that will give you the information you need.

As in any hobby, once categories are defined, rarity established and collectors become knowledgeable about the hobby, the prices are going to escalate. The important word here is knowledge.

Like the lunch box phenomena, we now have a roadmap of what is what. With the present day bottle collector, what they are learning or have the capacity to learn has never been greater. So where is the hobby today in terms of popularity in comparison to other hobbies? Is this the beginning of the end or the beginning of the beginning? Are we heading into a new 20-year down or up cycle? The last 20 years haven’t been all butterflies and jelly beans. We’ve had some ups and downs but a somewhat steady progression in general. Certainly some areas of collecting has slowed, others hastened but it seems in just the last few years, or more specifically this year, we’ve seen some staggering prices paid for some bottles. Is this current year of 2010 the signal of the beginning? The start of the beginning of a new age in bottle collecting?

The year 2010 was and is a great year for the bottle collecting hobby. As I write this in September, I look back at some of the transactions that occurred and see a new perspective creeping in on the horizon. Consider these bargains; a blue Homestead Bitters sold privately for $200,000, a blue firecracker GI-14 flask set a new world’s auction record selling for $100,000 at a Norm Heckler sale. A purple Masonic GIV-1 brought $75,000 in a private sale. A Druids Bitters in green, $50,000. A GII-69 yellow and olive Eagle/Cornucopia, brought $44,850. These are just a few of the bottles that sold at never before seen prices. A recent article printed in Maine Antique Digest included some observations on the state of the bottle hobby from the Norman Heckler camp. It read, “In the end, it is not simply the record prices but the overall strength of the bottle and flask market that is most impressive.

While other categories have floundered in the so-called downturn, bottle and flask prices have never wavered, and with an ever-increasing crop of buyers, the future for the category is rosy.” When asked the reason for the resurgence, Heckler pointed out simply, “new blood.”When you think about bottles compared to art for instance, what is the difference? In many cases they’re both old, they are beautiful to look at and often both have historical significance. Neither of them will drive you to work or cook you dinner, but really, there’s not a lot of difference; except in price.

Not value, price. If an Andy Warhol self-portrait sells for $32.56 million dollars as it did in a recent Sotheby’s auction, what is so darn crazy about $200,000 for a one known Homestead Bitters in blue? A Jasper Johns painting of a flag entitled oddly enough “Flag” sold for $28.6 million recently at a Christie’s auction. And

$100,000 is too much for a blue GI-14 firecracker? A mechanical bank called “Breadwinnners,” just brought $94,000 in a RSL auction in Maryland. Baseball cards and memorabilia? A Mickey Mantle game used jersey just sold for $125,000 in a recent SCP auction in Southern California. One of a number of Mantle jerseys. To obtain the truly rare Honus Wagner T-206 baseball card in a grade 8, plan on paying around $2.8 million, if you can find one. A bargain for sure. But you can buy a much lesser grade example for around a million. As far as practical collecting, there’s some to be found. But people generally collect things that give them visceral entertainment or possibly memories of the past. Cars you can at least drive. A Boston and Sandwich candlestick can light your room with a candle in it. Guns you can target practice with or an old book you can read. Photography gives us insight into the past, memories again, with records you can listen to music. With furniture you can sit down and eat dinner at an old Stickley dining table. A collectible watch will tell you the time.

Many of these collectibles fit into the “memory” category. But most of the collectibles today that bring the highest dollar value have beauty, which lies in the eye of the collector. Art is the most expensive, stamps and jewelry can get up there, too. A Batman comic book just did $400,000 at auction. Coins, they can be made of gold but you will most likely be paying a lot more than the real gold value of the coin.

When you think about it, it’s the beauty of the world, those alluring, captivating images, textures and charmingly presented items that light up our eyes, that strike a nerve in the beauty center of our brain that captures our greatest attention. Whether it be a Monet painting or a green Fish Bitters. $75,000 for a purple Masonic GIV-1 might seem like a ton of money but it’s one of only a few known. Show me a stamp or coin that costs the same amount and there might be 50 known. So clearly the comparison to rare bottles and rare stamps or coins and many other collectibles just hasn’t caught up yet. And of course art has no bounds. As you’ve seen, art is in a category of it’s own.

So, the current state of the bottle hobby is in good shape from what I’ve seen. Average bottles sell for average prices, probably more than ten years ago. But they sell. Certain bottles have increased in price. Some areas of bottle collecting has slowed, but generally across the board it’s been pretty strong. It’s the rarest of the rare however that has taken a huge upswing over the past year or two. It’s difficult to ascertain the value of bottles; it’s almost a little depressing. What’s it worth I am constantly asked. I have friends that feel the hobby is becoming a money hobby, the innocence lost. Why does everything have to have a price tag? Well, I ask them, what’s the one question they ask you on the Antiques Roadshow when they’re through looking at the object? What’s it worth? Like it or not, there’s always going to be the price element in collecting, anything. From old cigar boxes to Rolex watches.

You can’t get away from it. Some bottles don’t cost a lot and that’s great. You can put together a wonderful, colorful collection for a relatively cheap amount. But like most collecting, as you continue to learn, knowledge and experience brings you to understand the finer examples and it becomes a lot about money.

Remember that it’s the knowledge and experience. That isn’t to say you can’t collect beautiful average valued bottles your whole life, but experience tells me as one grows, a Volkswagen bug just ain’t gonna cut it anymore when you see your friends moving up

to a new Subaru or Mercedes.

You can only hope to predict the future by learning from the past.

If we are nearing the end you’ll know it. The end starts with a decline in interest. For whatever reason, the number of people involved in the hobby declines, people start selling their collections and there is a flood of sellers and prices begin to decline.

Try selling even the rarest of the Beanie Babies today. Good luck.

It can also happen gradually like after the 1970s. Don’t forget the 20-year rule. You need that new influx of collectors to sustain a hobby. Most likely what’s going to happen isn’t any different than what happens with any area of collecting. Things will ebb and flow. Some bottles will go up and some will come down. But overall, it’s all up to us to keep the hobby growing. People don’t live forever and new blood is essential. So may your collection grow in leaps and bounds and make sure you share it with others.

Who knows? The next big bottle collector might just be your next door neighbor.

[Reprinted from AmericanBottle.com. For original article go to americanbottle.com].

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Collector Profiles: Sandor Fuss A New Breed of Collector?

by Jeff Wichmann March 2011

Even his name is different, Sandor Fuss, not your average Bill Smith or Bob Jones next door. “It’s German,” Sandor says proudly. Although relatively new to the bottle-collecting hobby, in the three or so years he’s collected antique bottles, Sandor Fuss has put together a collection that makes even the most ardent and longtime collector blush. “I learned through my other endeavors in the past that all paths lead to the same conclusion, buy the very best you can afford and you will never regret it,” he explains.

Bottles aren’t the only thing Sandor relishes in his life, although only 41 years of age, Sandor has spent many years honing his expertise in some pretty lofty areas of collecting and just plain learning. “I am a professional high end mineral dealer,” he points out. “I am also a life-long collector of all kinds of things.” Sandor goes on, “I found my first rock at age 5 and by the 7th grade I knew I wanted to be involved in minerals the rest of my life.” I was to find out that Sandor wasn’t just a mineral collector and dealer, he was considered one of the top experts in the world of high end mineral collecting. Sandor also owns a 3,000 square foot laboratory devoted to cleaning, trimming, repairing and restoring minerals.

It is one of the two largest cleaning labs in the world. “I am a natural born collector,” he likes to say, in addition to his vast knowledge and years of studying minerals and gems, Sandor has also spent a great deal of time in dealing and collecting 19th Century mineralogical scientific instruments, 19th Century porcelain and Himalayan Art.

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But antique bottles are the topic of our Collector Profile and that brings us to the collection of Sandor Fuss. No time in recent history has an individual acquired so many one-of-a-kind, drop dead and just plain gorgeous examples of antique bottles in the amount of time he’s collected.

I talked to the very candid and outspoken Fuss about his quest for the best and his experiences and how it all came about. As a young boy he discovered the beauty of minerals and gems. His earlier experiences in collecting these natural wonders has made him a legend in the rare mineral world but why now bottles? “I had been collecting and dealing with the minerals and rare scientific instruments, along with Buddhist Bronzes for so many years, I wanted to get into something that was although somewhat related, a new subject,” he says. “I looked at different areas of collecting and couldn’t help but notice bottles,” Sandor points out. So bottles were entirely new to you? I asked. “No, I had seen bottles at a younger age and they seemed like something that would be neat to own, but I wasn’t a collector or anything,” he explains.

“Here’s the deal,” Sandor begins, “I went to the internet and found and ultimately talked with Ed Gray regarding the hobby.

“He pointed out that the finest bottles as far as price and potential sustained value were in the bitters and historical flask categories, with the latter having a slight edge.”

Sandor continues, “so knowing I could never get the top flasks, I by default became a figural bitters collector but along the way I also collected historical flasks and other fine random glass.” I have some great flasks but they pale in comparison to some of my figural bitters,” he explains. “My collection is important because of the 14 or so figural bitters that I have. My collection is by volume, mostly historical flasks with a few wonderful miscellaneous bottles and I really love all of the different categories of glass collecting,” he points out. “I honestly went for

the super figural bitters because I think that they are wonderful and because Ed Gray said that I have an opportunity to amass a good group of the top figural bitters and so I decided to take Ed’s advice,” he continues. As far as the current market is it just bitters and flasks, I asked? “I was fortunate enough to be able to capitalize on a once in a generation opportunity with the figural bitters and I did,” he says. “However, I would also encourage people to buy historical flasks; the two categories are equally desirable in my mind, but with that being said, there is so much more to glass collecting than just figural bitters and flasks,” he continues.

“I’ve also discovered that things like pattern molded glass, figural whiskies, pontiled medicines, pickle jars, they all have great potential,” he continues. “There’s an opportunity for the collector today to put together the best of those areas,” Sandor says.

Of course a few extra bucks don’t hurt. While his keen eye for the finest has made him front page news in many of the top collecting circles, it has also allowed him to amass a fairly lenient bank account which over the last couple years has been replaced by some of the finest bottles every sold. “I’m broke,” he laughs, “not totally of course but I’ve definitely taken a hit. Who needs money when you’re surrounded by this kind of beauty,” he proudly smiles.

I asked Sandor about his narrow window of time collecting old bottles, in other words how did you learn so much so fast? “In my own professional opinion, to amass a collection of anything you have to find someone you can trust,” he begins. “They have to be the most knowledgeable and honest people you can find, in my case I was lucky to have found two, Jeff Noordsy and Ed Gray.” “You simply must find a mentor, it can be through an auction house or it can be a dealer and I went with Noordsy and Gray,” he says. “In the beginning I called them every day for a year and drove them crazy, I literally drove them out of their minds,” he admits. “I got every single back issue of the various auction catalogs I could find, and got all the books on the subject, went to as many bottle shows as I could get to and I have traveled extensively looking at private collections,” he points out. “The trick is you must find an expert in the field that you can put your faith in them,” he says, “this is the single most important thing that you can do if you want a world class collection,” he says. “An expert in the field or someone who can share the information you need to truly understand the hobby,” he concludes.

What was your mindset going into the bottle hobby, I asked Sandor? “To build a mind blowing assemblage of bitters along

with other incredible pieces of glass,” he responded. “I set a bunch of world records for crazy prices and after I did, I noticed that others started doing the same thing,” he points out. “The old guard began doing the same thing. I wasn’t even involved in some of those amazing prices being realized at auction lately,” Sandor says.

Who other than Ed and Jeff were responsible for your collecting tirade?

“Ferdinand Meyer was the one person who pushed me off the cliff in collecting bitters,” he says. “I was kind of at the edge of the cliff and he was the one who really pushed me over. It wasn’t really supposed to happen. I had original intentions of just putting together a dozen or so bottles but then Ferdinand came along,” he laughs. “When I saw the picture of him standing there with his wife holding that blue Fish Bitters, it just hit me.”

Any other collectors you’ve met or talked with since you’ve begun? “As a general rule I am delighted with the different collectors, dealers and auction houses out there today,” he says.

“The generosity of different collectors like Ferdinand Meyer, Mark Vuono, John Feldman, Richard Tucker, Norm Heckler, Eric Schmetterling, Terry Gillis and Bob Ferraro and many others has been overwhelming. They invited me to look at their collections and I learned a great deal about collecting bottles.”

So what’s in the future for Sandor Fuss, I asked? “Well, I’m buying new bottles but not at the feverish pace I was,” he says. I wanted to know if his passion for antique bottles was partly fueled as an investment venture.

“Absolutely not, look, this whole process has been about the joy of collecting, period,” he emphasizes. “Yes, I am certainly concerned about the money I have spent, but my life long collecting experience has led me to the position as follows;

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buy quality and the best that you can afford and over time your collection will become more valuable,” he explains.

“The investment takes care of itself. I’m blessed and consider myself lucky to be a curator of such beautiful objects for however long it may be,” he says. I wanted to know what he thinks of the hobby in the future, where are we going, I asked? “I believe the hobby is in its infancy,” he says. “We haven’t even begun to see prices go up for the best of the best, that’s exactly where the mineral market was years ago.

I can’t even touch some of the pieces I owned in minerals now,” he admits.

For Sandor Fuss it’s the love of collecting, collecting the best of the best. Start at the top and work your way down. For him it’s not the money, obviously it doesn’t hurt if his collectibles go up in value but he collects for the love of collecting. Sandor isn’t your everyday type collector but his interests are so varied it’s refreshing to see new blood in the hobby of bottle collecting. Sandor Fuss, not your average name and not your average person, truly a new breed of collector.

[Reprinted from AmericanBottle.com. For original article go to americanbottle.com].

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The Noble Collector

by Jeff Wichmann March 2010 Tis’ the season, tis’ the time, the changing of the guard, the beginning of the stampede. That is to say, bottles, these fragile creatures, looming, lurking, hiding and appearing, like ships passing in the night. Now as dawn breaks we see the glimmer of a pontil, the sparkle of General George Washington’s face. We see the beginning of a new day, one that brings hope and change, a new dimension to the bottle world.

In case you’ve missed it, I’m talking about the unusual number of deals, auction purchases and sales of some bottles with price tags more at home at a Tiffany’s jewelry store or your local Rolls Royce dealership. Sales of bottles that are not just setting new records but breaking old ones.

Like a steaming locomotive whistling through a midwestern plain of tumbleweed and dust. New prices breaking new prices, eyes wide shut in a momentary lapse while dollars are passed and bank accounts rise and fall.

Bitters and historical flasks mostly, higher and higher they go.

Many are familiar with the Old Homestead that sold for $200,000, that’s old news, along with it a blue Fish Bitters a blue Sazerac Bitters, and a Bryant’s Bitters cone, rare and beautiful indeed and well into the five figures. But the sale of the Bryant’s and the “blue bottles” is just a part of what’s happening in the bottle world. Let’s take a look at some other examples. A purple Masonic GIV-1, $75,000, a Druids Bitters in green, $50,000 a GII-69 yellow and olive Eagle/Cornucopia, $44,850.

How about a National Bitters C. C. Jerome & Co. Detroit, A.C.-S.W. 1865 in a rich amethyst? It sold for around $13,000 in 1990 out of the Cris Batdorff collection; 20 years later? How about $150,000. It is the only known example. Want more? A GI-73 General Taylor/ Washington Monument flask in pink, $28,750. There’s more. A Russ’ Stomach Bitters $29,900. Let’s not forget a GI-18 Washington Monument portrait flask in bright green with yellow selling for $27,600. Hey, this hobby is getting noticed.

A recent article in Maine Antique Digest entitled, New Collector Blood in the Antique Bottle Market Set Auction Records, written by the Norman C. Heckler & Company located in Woodstock Valley, Connecticut puts it very succinctly. It goes on to say, “Recent trends… indicate resurgent interest in bottles and flasks

among savvy Americana collectors with an eye for beauty, and the result has been a veritable pricing explosion, with records shattering at a dizzying rate.” Dizzying rate to be sure. How about a Stoddard Flag flask, GX-27 in yellow olive for $24,150.

In their last sale in October 2009, many of the bottles showed just what the savvy Americana collectors are up to. With a new Heckler auction slated for March 31, 2010, there will again be a bevy of rare and beautiful pieces coming up and there’s little doubt that history will repeat itself.

Why the resurgence in prices for these rare flasks and bitters? They are the clear-cut leaders of the movement but by no means the only area of growth. A Pitkin-type inkwell in light yellow olive saw $6,325 in the sale along with a price tag of $4,887 for a colorless historical drinking glass with an etched American Flag and Log Cabin with the words Hard Cider decorating the piece. A reference to William Henry Harrison, our 9th President in 1841 who ran on the “log cabin and hard cider campaign,” a reference to his layman’s background.

In addition, a Dennis’s Georgia Sarsaparilla bottle in aqua with amber striations brought $4,600, a new record by anyone’s estimate.

As the Heckler article proclaimed, “In the end, it is not simply the record prices but the overall strength of the bottle and flask market that is most impressive. While other categories have floundered in the so-called downturn, bottle and flask prices have never wavered, and with an ever-increasing crop of buyers, the future for the category is rosy.”

So looking beyond the present day standards of buying a rare and possibly one-of-a-kind bottle at never before-seen prices, what is driving it and where will it go? As Heckler points out; new blood. And of course the ever present veteran collectors. I’ve talked to some of the big time

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players and asked them what they thought about the continued resurgence in these rare handmade masterpieces. One anonymous collector pointed out that after surveying the landscape of collectibles, rare bottles appealed to him most. And why is that I wanted to know? He said that after looking at different categories, when you consider the rarity of some of the highest selling items, bottles are still comparably cheap.

Take coins for instance. A 1969-S Lincoln cent with a doubled die obverse can sell for $35,000, a penny much like all the other thousands of pennies we see every year. Just much rarer. Want to collect rare stamps? How about an 1867 U.S. Franklin Z-Grill? You’ll have to fork over $930,000 for one of those as a collector did in 1988. Baseball cards? To get the truly rare Honus Wagner T-206 in a grade 8, plan on paying around 2.8 million. A bargain for sure. But you can buy a much lesser grade example for around a million. It makes a blue Fisch’s Bitters seem like a bargain. A blue Homestead Bitters a mere bag of shells. When you have a bottle that is only one or two of that variant in the entire world, $50,000 seems like a bargain. Also, with coins, stamps and other high end collectibles, it’s hard to match the charm and elegance of a hand blown bottle knowing it’s maybe the only one out there. It is there on your shelf, a dazzling beacon of colored artistry, amazing all that grace its presence. Not to mention, as collector Jack Pelletier points out, a bottle has a lot better chance of not surviving over time. With a coin or stamp or baseball card, it’s probably in a drawer or even worse, a safety deposit box. No, it’s hard to beat the inherent beauty of a bottle, even a common example, made by a skilled craftsman, colorful and historical, a testament to the ingenuity and insightful spirit of the glasshouse that produced them.

Since the value of the rarest of the rare has remained fairly consistent, especially in the aforementioned categories, it’s possible to believe there is no end in sight. Surely when compared with an Ansel Adams print of Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941 at $75,000, one of a number in existence, it would seem a rare flask can still be had for a bargain. Don’t get me wrong, the Adams print is arguably his most recognized work and for sheer black and white beauty it doesn’t get much better. But there are a number of them out there. For the privileged collector, those people who are lucky enough to obtain the best of the best, we say bully. These are exciting and wondrous times. What will the next blue Columbia flask sell for? Who will draw it from it’s darkened lair to shine again on the next shelf of the buyer of the best, the noble collector. Yes, we are all just borrowing these hand blown diamonds of the ages, while they wait patiently to move on to the next lucky buyer.

Where will they fit into the collecting world twenty, fifty, one hundred years from now? No one truly knows but what one

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does know is that the antique bottle stands as strong and brilliant as any collectible there is today. You can almost see it in the embossed faces on the flasks, staring out in their eternal wisdom. One revels in the glory of a one-of-a-kind bitters bottle, perfect and unmoving, a color-filled monument to the past. As Heckler’s final words proclaim, “In following the lead of both pioneer Americana collectors and modern-day trendsetters then, perhaps there really is no better time for those of us with a love of antiques and hope for the future to grab for that bottle!” For the noble collector, grab that bottle indeed.

[Reprinted from AmericanBottle.com. For original article go to americanbottle.com].

An Interview with Ferdinand Meyer - The New Face of the Hobby

by Jeff Wichmann November 2012 As the hobby changes over the course of months, years and decades, it’s inevitable that new faces arrive on the scene. One such new face is that of Ferdinand Meyer V, and as most people will agree, has come onto the scene like a hurricane. Not only maintaining a world class collection of bottles, Ferdinand has taken the reins in many areas of the hobby.

I wanted to know more about this interesting man and thought it was time to do an interview.

The following is some background information and his responses to some pointed questions. I think you’ll agree, if anyone is going to make their mark on the antique bottle hobby in today’s world, it’s Ferd as his friends call him.

Ferdinand Meyer V, President, Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and has a BFA in Fine Art and Graphic Design from the Kansas City Art Institute and School of Design. He is also the founding principal of FMG Design, a nationally recognized design consultation firm. Ferdinand is a passionate collector of American historical glass specializing in bitters bottles; color runs and related classic figural

bottles. Ferdinand is married to Elizabeth Jane Meyer and lives in Houston, Texas with their daughter and three wonderful grandchildren. The Meyers are also very involved in Quarter Horses, antiques and early United States postage stamps.

JW. Although you are becoming the new face of antique bottle collecting in this country and for all I know the world, you’ve really been most prominent leading the charge in the last four years or so, what happened?

Jeff, I guess it really has been kind of crazy now that I sit down and think a moment about where I am, where I’ve been and where I hope to go with antique bottles and glass. This all started in early 2002, so the first years I was the newcomer, the new kid on the block.

One guy up north used to always squeeze in the word ‘neophyte’ when we were talking. I thought that was pretty amusing. Just because I was ‘starting out’ did not mean I was new to collecting something great. I thank my grandparents for getting me into stamp collecting as a young child for this. I also immediately joined the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (FOHBC). This was a no-brainer as I had always been a member of something or another.

Membership gives you a sense of belonging and a feeling of having your sail full of wind.

I was so excited when my card arrived. I was a ‘card carrying member of the FOHBC’.

Being new really worked to my advantage as it allowed me to fly under the radar the first few years and build the foundation of my bitters collection. I was also buying great bottles at a rapid speed almost immediately, so the word gets around. My first big moves were with Pacific Glass Auctions and this character I only spoke to named Jeff Wichmann. I was so intimidated back then by you, Norm Heckler and Jim Hagenbuch. It was kind of embarrassing, as I always felt like I might say something stupid to expose my

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newness to bottle collecting when I was on the phone participating in an auction. Seeing you guys in person at shows back than was off the charts intimidating. I think the ice broke, at least for me, back in November 2002 when I purchased the Doy McCall, Judge MacKenzie green Indian Queen from your shop. This gave me the confidence that I could move up a level and play with the players. Having the name Ferdinand Meyer V also helped,

as many in the east coast knew my father Ferdinand Meyer IV who was very connected with the great Baltimore Antique Bottle Club. I also remember you or persons from your shop treating me special after we had done our first dealings. This also gave me confidence. Though I am not a gambler, I guess I thought I was getting the red carpet and high roller treatment.

I suspect becoming president of the FOHBC was the catalyst for you suggesting this interview. Since I have been president of my own company for three decades or so, I have had all the responsibilities, trappings and the rest of the stuff that goes with this position for almost my entire working life. It has been one wild ride that continues today. My point is, this is no power trip for me now with bottles. Been there, done it. When I go home on the weekends, my dogs, grandkids and my wife are the bosses, although not always in that order. I can accept that. I am putty in their hands and paws. Monday, I know, is just around the corner. I also realize that being president of the FOHBC is big responsibility. I am humbled and honored to now have this role. Having an ‘all star’ supporting cast is also exciting. We really have a great group of board members that all seem to be stepping up and not just relying on their name, which in most cases are legendary.

Gene Bradberry is also sitting to my right and Hall of Famer Bob Ferraro to my left, so I feel secure. Gene has been the president of the FOHBC and the Memphis club like ten times so talk about experience! If this guy does not get the coveted Hall of Fame award during my term I will eat my hat.

I have always let my passion for life, art and living take the lead

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with unbridled control only to have to chase it down and steer it from time to time. Heart and brain working together. I move between the right and creative side of my brain to the left and controlling side with relative and surprising ease. I think that this jockeying back and forth has always been my strength, come to think of it.

I was tempted here to start telling my ‘bottle story’ again but I do not want to waste space.

I have written a 2-part article on this topic for the FOHBC in Bottles and Extras back in 2009. Let’s just link the stories and move on if you don’t mind. Read: Glass Passion and Color Part I: Life Transformation and Glass Passion and Color Part II: Exploration and Color.

OK, back to the question you asked, what happened? In hindsight, I saw an avenue to give something back and to be part of a great movement of rediscovery with antique bottles and glass. I was quite frankly, amazed, concerned and startled by the talk I was hearing about the stagnation of our hobby. I was also noticing a lack of direction, cohesiveness and observing very little ‘new blood’ to carry the torch. I was also concerned with what I saw when I would sit in the audience at FOHBC Board meetings. I wondered, how could you have all these great people, our legends, be somewhat disconnected with the bottle and glass world around them? How in the world could this all be?

Well, we are a sleeping giant about to wake. It is already happening. History is hot, we all want to look back to our roots and ancestry, we want to remember, we want to find, we want to learn, we want to cherish, adore and celebrate early American glass.

Look at all the television shows alone that deal with antiques!

Quite amazing actually. In the most simplistic terms, I am just a tool. I have given myself back to the hobby and the FOHBC because I can hammer and I can also paint. For selfish reasons, I also thought this would be a great adventure. My swan song.

As a side note, my mother, with her Masters in Psychology, thinks this is all about me reconnecting with my father who passed away in 2005. We never really got along after my parents’ divorce and we lost our connection when I was a teenager.

Bottles and glass has joined us spiritually in another dimension once again. My stepmother Jeane always says with amazement, “if your father could only see you now”. As I sit on a plane typing this out I want to cry. My mother is probably right.

JW. Did you ever think you’d be where you are now? The face of the hobby if you will? Is this what you wanted?

No, I just started down a path and doors started opening, the sun shined in different ways and I was given an opportunity to grow and learn which are my Wheaties and my fuel. I never really had too many friends in life because I was so dedicated to my business, so meeting new people, listening and being accepted in the bottle and glass community is exciting and rewarding to me.

I really have met some great people at every level that I admire.

Sometimes I feel so small. Though I am not a digger, I have been digging, scratching and clawing my way along trying to get as much knowledge about antique glass as I can. Some of the folks I know have been doing this for their entire life. Once I start something, I kind of really jump into it. This glass thing really bit me late in life though I am now thinking that it was always there, beneath the surface, waiting.

JW. Regarding your personal collection, your bio says you collect bitters bottles, color runs and related classic figural bottles, what other favorite areas do you have of collecting in this amazing hobby and what are some of your own favorite bottles? Is there one bottle that you either have or don’t that you’d consider the bottle of all bottles?

I suspect I may have one of the most comprehensive bitters collections out there. Picking an area to specialize in and excel, certainly allows me to be competitive, which I am by nature.

The romantic and witty side of me wants to say my latest bottle conquest, or some other Zen-like answer is my favorite bottle. I won’t do that. I will use a morbid game Sandor Fuss and I play with surprising effect with our collection and other collections.

We say to each other sometimes, “if there is a fire, which bottle would you carry out first?” My answer is “the blue fish.” This bottle is magic. It comes alive in your hand or wherever it is displayed. It blows away Sandor’s blue Old Homestead. Sandor and I are also very competitive together and use any opportunity to make a statement to the other whether it is direct or indirect. Oh, your last question. I am looking for a cobalt blue, Drakes Plantation Bitters. Ya’ never know!

JW. As a kid, were you aware of the hobby, did your father play a large part in that?

I knew nothing about bottles as a kid. I was a stamp collector.

I was not aware of this hobby until my father got into it pretty heavily. We were disconnected by then though I did hear about it when we talked or visited. It’s funny; I have always liked antiques and glass.

Even at art school in Kansas City, Missouri I would buy cheap bottles at antique shops just to put in windows or put pennies in.

Also, I have always been designing and sculpting in glass since art school in Kansas City so my fascination with glass has been with me and contributed to my career and passion all along.

JW. I believe most people see you as a fierce promoter of antique bottles and the hobby in general but what is it that you see about yourself that others may not?

My fear of failure or rejection keeps moving me along. We will have to ask Sigmund about that. I push hard, but I am always thinking that Indians are circling or I have more work to do. I like to excel and as I said previously, I am very competitive. However, I am getting worried of late that some people are saying that I am distant or pre-occupied when we talk. I especially hear this at shows or when I am at dinner with friends. I guess I have too many things on my mind. I apologize to all I have offended. I really do care. I am working on fixing these wires.

JW. Your family obviously means a lot to you, your wonderful wife, Elizabeth, travels with you it seems to major if not all the bottle shows you attend, can we assume family is not only important to you but the most important part of your life?

My wife, daughter and grandkids mean the most to me. I do all of this for them. But I do hear from my wife and grandkids under various guises, “You care more about your bottles than me.”

Elizabeth is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Without her, I shudder to think where or what I could be doing. She is my greatest fan and my biggest critic and boy does she know how to work it. I actually really feel guilty because she usually goes to the big bottle shows and events with me and I rarely go to her multi-day horse events. That is where we draw the line.

JW. Your efforts in promoting the hobby are unequaled in the hobby today. How do you find the time to deal with the Peachridge Glass website, the FOHBC web site, the new FOHBC Presidents position, editorial head of Bottles and Extras, the FOHBC magazine, the Virtual Museum project (I’m sure I’m leaving something out) and all the other things you do just within the framework of the bottle hobby?

Yes. Some of my days are busy. I usually wake at 3 or 4 a.m. every day out of habit. I actually enjoy this. I am very careful not to multitask and allow myself time to work in each area if thinking and/or creative work is required. I am an expert at taking short power naps and squeezing in working at an airport, between meetings or on a plane. I am also a problem solver. That is the core of my position with my company, FMG. Exercising is also part of my daily regimen as I started in

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1975. I solve many problems while I run or are on the stairmaster.

JW. In a recent poll done by Terry Kovel and her staff, based on the results of hundreds of thousands of items searched for on their website during April 2012, bottles were number two with dolls being first. Where do you think the hobby is in relationship to collecting in the US today?

We are in the epicenter of something big. The moon and stars are aligned for the biggest movement our hobby has ever seen. I hear so many of the older collectors saying that the hobby is dying and that we do not have younger folks joining our ranks. This is so far from being correct. I assure you, there is a new breed of younger bottle collectors and historic glass enthusiasts that is internet savvy in that they post bottle news on all of the great antique bottle and glass forum sites such as AntiqueBottles.net, facebook and the other web sites such as my Peachridge Glass web site, the Federation web site and so many others. Many are also diggers.

We need to embrace this community and welcome them into the waiting arms of the Federation, which unfortunately, in the past, seemed a little exclusive and out-of-touch to the next generation and the antique bottle and glass community as a whole.

I also feel that the ‘Americana and Folk Art’ collectors will discover ‘bottle collecting’ in the very near future. This is already beginning to happen and when this does, we will go mainstream.

I want this to happen on our terms, Federation terms. We are a union of great people, friends, collectors, glass authorities, auctioneers, dealers, diggers, pickers, finders, historians, authors and bloggers in every possible area of historic bottles and glass.

All I can say is, buckle your seat belts. No more moving at a snail’s pace. Let’s all work together and make this happen. Let’s pave the road to the future of our hobby. This is so exciting! It is happening in just about every other area of antique collecting.

Now, finally, it is our turn. I just need to figure out a way to join all these groups. We are also seeing the uniting of the foreign collectors with the US collectors. This is pretty exciting too. Glass did not start here!

JW. Early on, it seemed whenever I called you, you seemed to be either at an airport or headed for one, is that still a major part of your schedule, lot of travel meeting with clients? Or are you spending more time dealing with the hobby?

It is late Friday afternoon and I am in transit between Virginia and Houston now. Going to recharge my batteries this weekend.

Have to cut grass and fill some gravel that has washed out of our driveway at Peach Ridge. Monday I fly back to the east coast. It is more challenging when I have a bottle show on the weekend.

Combining business, bottle shows and visits with collectors makes for some interesting trips! The Heckler /Keene, Baltimore and Auburn shows are typically bookended with business and collection reviews.

JW. When I first heard about a virtual museum I was flabbergasted. Having my own web page and knowing what it takes to just maintain that, isn’t a virtual museum almost a virtual dream?

How’s it coming along?

I wrote an editorial on this recently about getting this project

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back on track. (see: http://www.peachridgeglass.com/FOHBC Virtual Museum of American Historical Bottles and Glass). After a two-year delay with the last presidency of the FOHBC, it is moving forward again. This isn’t going to happen overnight.

This will take years of work, like any museum, so do not look for completion any time soon. I do hope to have the first gallery open next year though. The heavyweights like Vuono, Fuss, Ham, Siri, Grapentine etc. are very supportive and are waiting in the wings too to help. This will be great. Remember, all of the great pieces need to be photographed professionally and written up.

JW. Where do you think the hobby is headed over the next five years and what is in store for all the collectors out there?

The key is the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors. We are stronger as a whole. We can do more as a group such as promote our Code of Ethics, have great National shows, promote regional and local shows thus increasing attendance, document our history, have a virtual museum, a bricks and mortar museum, develop collector and auction house standards for grading and colors, have interactive forums and web sites, a great magazine, newsletter, influence legislature and understanding of our hobby and digging, culture the next generation, and have special events like our banquet, seminars, shootouts etc. that rarely happen elsewhere. The sum of the parts is much greater than any one of us so increasing membership is critical. We are up dramatically in FOHBC membership this past year and I attribute this to the machinery being oiled and moving at a faster and regular pace than it has been in years past. I frequently hear that Bottles and Extras, our bi-monthly, 72-page color magazine is what you get when you join the FOHBC. Well true, you do. The magazine is just the icing on the cake to me. I tell people that you get to be meet and belong to a group of the greatest and most passionate group of people on earth, who love antique bottles and glass.

Thank you Ferdinand [Reprinted from AmericanBottle.com. For original article go to americanbottle.com].

From Bottle Collector to Auctioneer - This Hobby Has Changed

by Jeff Wichmann September 2014

sodas, etc. Most bottles come in one color like amber or aqua, when a blue one pops up the price can escalate quickly. They can also come in a combination color shade like greenish amber. That adds value. The three most important factors are color, condition and rarity. Rarity can be in both the bottle itself e.g. how many are known, and by having a rare color. Age is also a factor, but it doesn’t mean it’s more valuable. Rarity, although very important with some bottles, doesn’t mean nearly as much for others. Bottom line is collectors are looking for the best looking, rarest and best condition bottle as possible, in the category they collect.

As a teenager I lived in Aptos at the center of the Monterey Bay between Monterey and Santa Cruz. We had the best of both worlds with the bay and the Santa Cruz Mountains within walking distance. My friends and I would venture up the “old mill, “searching for spots we thought may have bottles. Today this is strictly forbidden as it is a national park and even now the thought of going up and taking something gives me goose bumps.

So as I got older and went to college, I still occasionally thought about old bottles. Back then it was a hobby where if a person used their heads they could find them on their own. Unlike stamps or rare coins where you have to go to shows and search others inventory or attend auctions, finding bottles was basically free for the taking for savvy searchers. It was harmless fun and people from all over the country scoured the earth for bottles.

Having been a collector of antique bottles since the 1970s, I have watched as the hobby has gone from a national past time to a whimper and back again. Like any hobby that involves assembling various objects for display or simply for the astute collector to sit and admire, the collecting of antique bottles (mainly bottles made in America from 1840 to 1900) has been a most rewarding one for me.

Before we go too far, you may be asking what and why old bottles? Well, that’s a good question and the answer is as complex as it is a simple one. Antique bottles have an inherent beauty and history that few other collectibles can match. Not convinced? Well first off, you can display bottles unlike coins, stamps or baseball cards. They beautify your home. They teach you history. Bottles are divided into east and west coasts. Since the east was more populated the bottles they made are more diverse and, well fancy.

Bryant’s Stomach Bitters “Cone”

Collectors usually collect from the part of the country they live in. Some, like me, collect anything that attracts them. Collectors go for form, type or category like medicine or whiskey bottles. Most collectors stick with one category, inkwells,

In the eastern United States collectors had more bottles to choose from and a diversity we never dreamed of out west. Although the first bottle clubs had begun in the west, the eastern folks had taken bottle collecting to a new level. As a young man I was not privy to such salient tastes but preferred western made bottles anyway. I could get them by digging them or going to antique malls. My original collection was long gone by the time I finished college and began working for a living. I had a few dollars in my pocket and now thought about bottles in a new way, where did people get antique bottles I wondered?

I soon thereafter saw an ad in the local paper for a bottle show in Auburn, CA and I went. To my Harvey’s Prairie Bitters astonishment I met one of my old time friends from my teens there who happened to have some whiskeys for sale. He viewed our meeting as a sign from somewhere and we put together a deal that yielded me a great many nice old whiskey bottles and him some cash. I didn’t know it at the time but everyone at the show was trying to get him to sell his whiskeys to them. Being a newcomer I had no idea I was now the center of attention and I went home with my new collection and beamed ear to ear. I was once again hooked on old bottles.

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What I didn’t fully know at the time was that the bottles I collected as a kid weren’t even close to what I had picked up. I was in a new league now; some of my bottles were worth

of any hobby but when bottles started becoming valuable you saw a different group of characters entering into it. In the 70’s it was reported that bottle collecting was the second most popular hobby in the country. It had everything. You could search for bottles with family and friends, you studied history, found old garbage and you did it without the notion of value preceding each conquest.

thousands of dollars. I had swindled this old friend and I didn’t even know it.

Apparently he wasn’t aware of the “new” prices either and the deal was made with friendship and personal history in mind and while I thought I was being fair just as he was I was in fact buying for pennies on the dollar. We rectified things down the road.

What has changed most over the last 40 years is the collector base, the way bottles are sold and the prices. In the 70’s bottles didn’t have a clear definition. In other words, today we know that there are three known of a certain bottle, and we even know what color they are and even who owns them. Back then we had no idea because they hadn’t been found yet. Most of what is to be found has been now and only the real die-hards find something fresh occasionally. In a way that’s good, but finding your own treasure in a vacant lot is all but gone.

I soon thereafter created Pacific Glass Auctions at first and changed the name to American Bottle AucTurquoise St. Drake’s Bitters tions as we went more and more on a national level. I wrote a book, joined in the national bottle fray and enjoyed almost every minute of it.

It’s been over 20 years now and we’ve sold some of the greatest bottles I never knew existed.

I look at the hobby now and see how much it has changed.

I remember sitting in my room wondering if I would ever get more bottles and realized I had in a way created a monster. In the beginning we had just our common embossed whiskey bottles or an occasional embossed fruit jar and it made us happy. Now I was auctioning bottles in the many thousands of dollars and it felt a lot different.

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Kelly’s Old Cabin Bitters in green

The people in the hobby, well of course they’ve changed.

Bottle collecting used to be an innocent hobby, of course you had your sharks typical

In addition the outlet for buying bottles has grown enormously.

Going online you’ll see hundreds of different antique bottle sites.

Auctions like ours and for sale sites, very specialized areas of collecting and numerous educational websites have also been created. The number of books that have been written is tenfold.

So the learning curve of collecting has grown by leaps and bounds and that’s a great thing. The hobby has become educated.

The collectors are more knowledgeable today. And let’s face it, computers changed the way we do everything and antique bottles are a good example of that.

Prices are another part of the change in the hobby. We sold one rare bottle in 1999, the Bryant’s Stomach Bitters for $68,750 which was a new world’s record at the time. It was a big deal and even aired on CNN but today bottles sell for that on a semi-regular basis.

Of course I’m talking about very special bottles with very special pedigree. Generally most of the $10 bottles from the 70’s are still in that price range, some more, some less. As mentioned earlier, bottles have different categories and they include bitters, whiskeys, historical flasks, inkwells, fruit jars, sodas, medicines and some other sub-categories. Each of these categories fluctuates in their own right. For instance bitters and historical flasks never seem to skip a beat. Sodas are a whole other ballgame. From year to year they change in demand as do western whiskeys for instance. Some cateDr. Wonser’s Indian Root Bitters gories that went down as collectors from a certain era either lost interest or exited the hobby. But generally you’ve done well holding onto your glass treasures and a lot of it depends on what kind of collector you were from the beginning.

Some collectors, many in fact, just enjoyed the idea of owning an\ old bottle. They weren’t picky and a chip or two didn’t hurt. Today condition is everything. Back then you might trade what today is a $200 bottle for a $20 bottle because you liked it more. Today collectors can refer to numerous books and internet sites to find out values.

Condition is everything in bottles today unlike years ago. A $50,000 bitters bottle can drop by half or more with a chip out of the lip.

are thousands of terrific bottles to be had in the $20 range. As time goes by everything fluctuates. Every collectible has its day.

For bottles it might be now–or is it? Who’s to say that a green Kelly’s Bitters at $45,000 is a lot when a very average Monet painting can bring millions? Coins, stamps, baseball memorabilia, they all tug at the heart strings of the past and for the collector of the rarest of the rare, money is no object.

Bitters and historical flasks generally bring in the highest dollars and only a handful of those command the big money. In the bitters bottles category we sold a turquoise St. Drake’s Plantation Bitters in an auction last year for $37,000. It was one of a half-dozen known. We also sold a Kelly’s Log Cabin Bitters for over Clear Indian Queen Bitters $45,000 in an earlier auction, one of two we’ve sold in the same price range and in very rare colors.

We sold a clear Brown’s Indian Herb Bitters for almost $30,000, an aqua Wonser’s Indian Root Bitter for $31,000 and $26,000 for the same bottle in yellow. A Harvey’s Prairie Bitters brought $21,000. A gallon sized cobalt blue Columbian Master Ink, the only non-bitters, realized $31,000 in a sale, a bargain as an earlier auction realized $50,000. These are just a handful of wonderful bottles we’ve sold in the last half-dozen years or so. We sold one collection at auction for a million and a half dollars. This list goes on and we haven’t even talked about prices on some of the top historical flasks and other categories of rare bottles. Not to mention pieces that are currently in collections and aren’t for sale.

A successful sale for us is 150-200 bottles totaling $250,000.

But great bottles can be had for less than $100 dollars today. Much of what buyers are paying for is rarity and color on the high dollar pieces.

The bottles mentioned selling are an exception and certainly not the Dr. Wonser’s Indian Root Bitters norm. The clear Indian Herb Bitters we sold for nearly $30,000 can be had in amber for around a grand today. An amber Kelly’s Cabin Bitters in its usual amber sells for around $2,000, not ten times that. Not to mention there

Gallon Columbian Master Ink

[Reprinted from AmericanBottle.com. For original article go to americanbottle.com].

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The Heineman Collection

Siri, Don Mullaly, Bob Barnett, Tom Quinn and plenty of others.

by Jeff Wichmann October 2015

As the years march on and we look back 50 years or so at antique bottle collecting, there were a lot of people that began the hobby with wonder and astonishment at the time, the Heineman father and son team were certainly part of that era. Darrell and his son Bret were two characters who reacted so strongly to the outpouring of love for the hobby, it not only made them appreciate the bottles they collected and dug, but it also created a bond between them that lasts up until today.

American Bottle Auctions will be auctioning part of their collection of western fifths and flasks on November 6th. Some of the bottles offered they dug, others they traded or purchased outright.

If you went to a bottle show in the 1970s through the 1990s, you probably saw the two firmly etched into the bottle scene of the time, attending shows that no longer even exist. Starting to dig in the 1970s, their first show was in San Mateo in 1978. Bret explains, “it was the same weekend as the Las Vegas show and nobody really checked to see that it was the same weekend,” he explains. The San Mateo show may not still exist anymore but at one time it was one of the must-shows to hit. The father and son teams dealt with all the major players of the time, John Thomas, Richard

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Bret was in his early 20’s when his father encouraged him to join him and it didn’t take a lot of coercing to get Bret to hit the trail after antique bottles. “We dug a lot in the area where we lived,” Atascadero, California, “and we found a lot of bottles from that area. Together and sometimes with their cousin Lloyd, they ventured into Arizona and even further east, but their part of the Golden State was where they most often dug. “We found a Cerribelli soda I remember,” Bret says, a lot of items from the Santa Barbara area. One of their biggest find if not the biggest was finding a Gold Tree Bros. western fifth from San Luis Obispo. Even today, there are probably less than six known and it’s commonly known as one of the top slug plate western fifths. Bret remembers John Thomas coming up with one, “John went into a antique store in the area and bought one, we knew about hearing about it and others knew about it but John was the one who got it,” Bret says with some tidings of fondness for who is now considered the father of western whiskey collecting.

Of course the example they still own is one of the best examples ever found and it resides safely in their home, along with other bottles the father and son team found together. They include a Bennett’s Wild Cherry Stomach Bitters, a blue Trade Mark Lightning, Old Judge glob, Thomas Taylor glob, Pioneer Bear, Bear Grass Whiskey and a bluish San Jose soda which ABA will include in their auction.

The Heineman’s tried metal detectors back in the mid-70’s, “but we seemed to have better luck with the bottle,” Bret says. “I’m not

sure if this was just luck or the technology of the metal deters at the time or both,” he says. “Of course the bicentennial celebration in 1976 was all part of that and encouraged more historical thoughts,” Bret remembers. The Heineman’s together dug pretty steadily beginning in the mid 70’s for the next thirty years.

Bret’s mother, Jeraldine was also a collector of different things, as Bret remembers. “My father and I were strongly attracted to whiskey bottles, and we found some but as Thomas says, a digger is lucky to find even one in their entire life.” So Bret and Darrell did what most others did back then and that was horse trading.

In the 1970’s bottles weren’t as valuable as they as they are today so collectors got what they get find, by digging, trading or buying.

So American Bottle Auctions will be excited to be able to offer much of what the Heineman father and son team were able to amass over the years. The flasks are as much a part of the collection as the fifths. uction 62 starts November 6th and ends on November 15th. Simply send us an email to make sure you get updates and go on our website to register for the auction if you haven’t already. Many of these bottles have not been seen by other collectors for a number of decades. It’s what we call fresh to the market.

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In Support of Jeff Wichmann 08 February 2016 Ferdinand:

phy and offerings of great collector’s items. His consistency and caring has followed him throughout the years to the betterment of the collecting hobby. I feel that Jeff encourages people to invest now and keep investing in the future of the old-glass hobby.

Ever since I got back into bottle collecting, Jeff has been a great source of information and ideas. I have purchased some of my best bitters through his American Bottle Auctions.

He has also attended many FOHBC board meetings to indicate his interest in participating in important issues concerning the hobby. I see Jeff as part of the positive history of this hobby. I believe Jeff will continue to be consistent in his appreciation and support of the hobby and of the FOHBC.

Jeff has been instrumental in moving bottle auctions forward by eliminating call-backs. He has initiated a “For Sale Bottles” site, separate from his auctions. He authored the book Antique Western Bitters Bottles. In addition, Jeff has been a major financial contributor to the national shows to help market and support the auctions and special events.

I have learned that Jeff has been a collector of antique bottles for more than 40 years and has turned his passion into what we witness today. He has proven his serious interest throughout the years with his American Bottle Auctions and other favorable aspects of collecting and selling. Please consider elevating Jeff Wichmann to the 2016 FOHBC Hall of Fame.

Jeff’s auctions feature his great photography and his is the only auction house to offer videos of key bottles. He has a wealth of knowledge about the antique bottle world and is always willing to share it.

Sincerely, Darlene J. Furda FOHBC Member Secretary of the Los Angeles Historical Bottle Club Contributing Editor of the club’s newsletter, The Whittlemark

Bill Taylor McMinnville, Oregon

02 February 2016

30 January 2016

Dear Ferdinand,

To the Board of Directors of the FOHBC:

I don’t consider myself a prominent collector, but I do know Jeff Wichmann very well. My deceased husband, Tom and I met Jeff years ago at one of the many bottles shows we used to attend throughout the States on a frequent basis. Jeff was instrumental in educating us and always available to answer questions, which helped us grow in bottle collecting, a passion Tom and I had. Jeff is very well known and respected in the bottle collecting population. We are a unique group and have great people, like Jeff trail blazing!!

I recommend that Jeff Wichmann be moved up from the Honor Roll to the Hall of Fame. This recommendation is based on Jeff’s continued support to the FOHBC and to local shows in California and his pioneering of the online auction format, ie. ten minute closing and numerous articles on his info website.

Richard Siri (California) Past President, FOHBC 30 January 2016

In my humble opinion, Jeff is very deserving of the 2016 FOHBC Hall of Fame distinction.

Ferdinand:

Respectfully,

My letter of recommendation to elevate Jeff Wichmann from the 2010 FOHBC Honor Roll to the 2016 FOHBC Hall of Fame is based on my observations at various bottle shows where I have witnessed Jeff behind a sales table offering bottles at reasonable prices. I believe, that in part, this is a way of indicating his belief in enlightening people to get them interested in the collecting hobby. Jeff always has appeared to me to be addicted to trying to grow the hobby with his offerings at reasonable prices and giving some history on the various bottles.

Alicia Booth Houston, Texas

Further, his name is usually mentioned at various bottle shows as a contributor of substantial donation amounts of raffle money to encourage participation of show attendees to purchase raffle tickets. His donations invariably increase raffle sales and indicate his continual support of various clubs and national shows.

Jeff’s American Bottle Auctions have shown precise photogra-

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03 February 2016 Dear FOHBC Board of Directors, I understand that a movement is afoot to nominate Jeff Wichmann for the FOHBC Hall of Fame. I can’t think of a more deserving person. Jeff has probably done more for the bottle collecting hobby than anyone in the West.

When he first came to Sacramento, as an unknown to most of us and started his bottle auction, there was really no other source for selling bottles other than shows. Jeff soon began publishing a black and white auction catalog, which soon morphed into a beautiful color catalog and website. His on-line auctions, over

sixty now, have made bottle collecting in the West a year round hobby rather than a hobby which centered on a few shows a year.

Those Western collectors who had amassed huge collections now had a way to disperse their collections when the time came. And those who were just beginning to collect had a means to see in color what the books only showed in black and white.

While some see on-line auctions as a detraction from bottle shows, Jeff demonstrated that both can survive side by side.

He has made many contributions of money and merchandise to support bottles shows. One only has to look around a bottle show for a large crowd of collectors elbowing each other to see what reasonably priced merchandise he has brought. And Jeff has also sold some of the most desirable bottles ever sold. He has given many bottles to the 49er Historical Bottle Association for its monthly meeting raffles, and is its only honorary life member.

Jeff maintains meticulous records of bottle information, which he willing shares with anyone interested. Perhaps his best contribution lies in the area of personal relationships. He has helped many collectors, beginners and established ones, add to their collections through private negotiations. And while he runs his hobby as a business, he has kept his buyer and seller fees modest while the percentages of some others in the antique realm have been rising.

Ferdinand Meyer, V President Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors This letter is written to support the nomination of Jeff Wichmann’s induction into the FOHBC Hall of Fame. I first met Jeff about 10 years ago at one of the Federation’s national shows.

Since that time, Jeff has always taken the time to talk when we meet periodically, usually at bottle shows.

Jeff is well known in the bottle world - he has done extensive research on bottles and written many articles and a book titled, The Best of the West – Antique Western Bitters Bottles. He is a great resource for bottle collectors looking for information through his website or facebook page. Jeff’s website is excellent and covers many aspects of the bottle collecting hobby including general information, photos, videos, appraisals and his American Bottle Auction business.

Jeff has been a supporter of the hobby for over 45 years and the Federation as well by making generous donations to support the FOHBC in many different ways. Overall, Jeff in an asset to the wonderful hobby of bottle collecting and I firmly support the nomination of Jeff to the FOHBC Hall of Fame.

My endorsement comes from a long acquaintance with Jeff. I have been the president of the 49er Historical Bottles Association, chairperson of its annual show for five years, author of several articles related to bottles, an FOHBC member for many years, and a recipient of Jeff’s advice and kindness. I don’t think you can do better than to include him in the FOHBC Hall of Fame .

Sincerely,

Sincerely,

Dear Fellow Board Members,

Steve Abbott Gold River, California

I write this letter in support of Jeff Wichmann being advanced from FOHBC Honor Roll to Hall of Fame.

14 February 2016

I have only personally met Jeff a few times. This mainly is because we live on opposite sides of the country. Both of those times, as well as the times I have spoken to him on the phone, he has always impressed me as a person who wants the hobby to be the best it can be for all collectors.

Ferdinand: I first met Jeff over the phone about eight years ago. I was a new bottle collector reaching out to the various American glass collecting auction houses and dealers. He took the time to answer my initial questions about glass collecting and over the next year or two he was instrumental in my glass collecting education. I called him more times than I can count and each phone call lasted probably an hour or more. He was always very patient with me, never tiring from my barrage of non stop questions. Eventually I visited him in Sacramento and he was a gracious host. We have done business over the years with fantastic results. I feel very fortunate to have met him and I am a better collector because of it.

Regards, Sandor P. Fuss Denver, Colorado 14 February 2016

James Berry St. Johnsville, New York 15 February 2016

When I was trying to learn the best way to photograph bottles, which we all know is very hard, I went to Jeff’s web site and followed his complete detailed instructions. I even bought the Sony camera he recommended. I still use it today for all my photos. I use it in the articles I write. Jeff was also very helpful in answering all the questions I had at the time.

Not only has Jeff always backed the FOHBC with its national shows, he has also always backed the National Bottle Museum here in upstate New York. I have been told many times, of things he has done to help out the Museum and each of those times he has asked to do it behind the scenes with no publicity for himself.

Looking at the hobby in general, Jeff has taken steps to bring it to a higher level. He was the first auction house to offer full color catalogs. He still is the first and only auction house to offer online videos of bottles being sold. Jeff has tried to keep the hobby in

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the 21st century.

I have been told by countless dealers and collectors on the West Coast how he makes the hobby better.

Just because the people on the East Coast don’t have many opportunities to interact with Jeff, doesn’t mean we don’t support his efforts. Please conceder his advancement to the Hall of Fame.

Jim Bender FOHBC Historian 40 Plus Year Veteran of the Hobby 17 February 2016 Jeff is a well established bottle collector who has widely contributed to our organization for many years. He has given freely of his time in assisting all ages of collectors with questions and concerns relating to bottles and other glass objects. Many glass collectors have similar feelings about the contributions Jeff has made to our hobby.

Bob Ferraro Boulder City, Nevada 17 February 2016 I would like to take this opportunity to say that I support Jeff Wichmann be moved into the FOHBC Hall of Fame.

Jeff has been instrumental to the growth of our hobby. As long as I can remember, Jeff has been a strong supporter to fellow bottle collectors. I know on occasion, when asked for help or contribution, Jeff does so without any hesitation and asks that he not be mentioned as a contributor. Jeff gives and supports out of the love for the hobby. He is always willing to share his vast knowledge to anyone asking. He’s a great friend but most of all, Jeff is a invaluable asset to the bottle community. His generous support at FOHBC national shows has offered many people opportunity to participate in purchasing bottles and has added a new thrill and excitement to the shows.

Elizabeth Meyer FOHBC Business Manager Houston, Texas 08 February 2016 Jeff Wichman - The “Bottleneckers” of San Diego wish to thank you personally for the generosity and support you’ve shown our club over the years. When any of our club members visit your auction house, they’re always treated with genuine hospitality and respect. You and your staff’s professionalism shines throughout which serves to perpetuate our great hobby and puts you and your American Bottle Auctions house in the highest of regards.

Your auction catalogs are a real work of art and have become an important part of our club library for all our members to use as research and educational tools. Your willingness to bring box loads of discounted bottles to the western shows and offer them

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to the hordes of willing buyers is a sight to behold. Many happy customers’ smiles can be seen after such an exchange. A Big thumbs up to you Jeff.

Jim Walker President San Diego Antique Bottle & Collectibles Club