Opinions Please, Old Salt Glazed Beer(?) Bottle

[Atticus Finch]

I bought this on ebay. I'm not sure why. I generally only collect North Carolina pottery. Does anyone here have an opinion as to what this is?

AF

 

[HodgePodge]

I'm probably not telling you anything you haven't already searched for, but some googling only gets me that "Andrews, Johnston & Co." seem to have been beverage makers, most of the search results being for soda bottles in embossed glass. They are documented in a list of Philadelphia businesses c. 1857/1858.

An ebay auction in Spanish suggested that bottle was "Andrews, Johnston y Aguamiel Co." Aguamiel was a Pulque maker. I'm not too sure how plausible it would be for a beverage/bottling co. from Philadelphia to be marketing a central-american beverage, though.

 

[Atticus Finch]

I'm probably not telling you anything you haven't already searched for, but some googling only gets me that "Andrews, Johnston & Co." seem to have been beverage makers, most of the search results being for soda bottles in embossed glass. They are documented in a list of Philadelphia businesses c. 1857/1858.

An ebay auction in Spanish suggested that bottle was "Andrews, Johnston y Aguamiel Co." Aguamiel was a Pulque maker. I'm not too sure how plausible it would be for a beverage/bottling co. from Philadelphia to be marketing a central-american beverage, though.

Thank you! No, my google search came up with nothing. But I was searching in the context of brewers. But its a cool bottle and will look nice on my mantle.

Thanks, again!

AF

 

[Johnnysan]

HP's lead makes sense...I'm wondering if this was indeed a bottle containing Mead?

EDIT: I think that we've hit it on the head...see this link for some other examples from the Johnston Co of Philadelphia.

 

[Atticus Finch]

Wow! You gotta love the Lounge! In only two posts I have the answer. I am now confident that I have an old mead bottle from the 1850s or 1860s. I have it on the mantle with my great grandfather's shotgun and an old Milwaukee Waukesha beer bottle from the late 1800s...and three duck decoys from my collection. Thanks, HodgePodge and Johnnysan!

By the way, Jackie tells me she's tried mead and likes it. She became very interested in The Tutors on Showtime last year and bought a bottle of mead as part of her research into the King Henry VIII era. I'll spare you the story of her Christmas figgie puddin' experiment.

AF

 

[Johnnysan]

Glad to have helped, Atticus. Cool bottle!

The wife and I have a bottle of mead in the basement that we've been waiting for a long time to try. Given your recommendation, maybe this weekend will be the time!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

This is a very neat old bottle. I've got a similar one that was featured in a Blatz ad. It came from the Brewery and was advertised as their first beer bottle, in the mid 1800s. The bottle and one of the ads from 1947 are safe in our brewery collection.

Tell me, is the Milwaukee-Waukesha a stoneware or glass bottle?

 

[Tomasso]

By the way, Jackie tells me she's tried mead and likes it.

I can recommend this mead to be very tasty.

 

[Atticus Finch]

Hi Tom. Saw one like this at the Sprechers Brewery (in Whitefish Bay) two weeks ago. Had to go looking on ebay for one of my own.

AF

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I'm very familiar with that bottle you have. Milwaukee-Waukesha was very successful in the day, especially in Pre-Prohibition times. They had a successful post-pro run, too with Fox Head Beer. They had a variety of different embossed bottles, this being one of my favorites. I always liked how Waukesha looked on it.

 

[Atticus Finch]

I'm very familiar with that bottle you have. Milwaukee-Waukesha was very successful in the day, especially in Pre-Prohibition times. They had a successful post-pro run, too with Fox Head Beer. They had a variety of different embossed bottles, this being one of my favorites. I always liked how Waukesha looked on it.

I liked it, too. The guy who ownes Sprechers evidently likes beer making history. He had a display case full of old Milwaukee area beer bottles in the lobby. There were several Milwaukee Waukesha bottles there. And quite a few Blatz bottles.

God, I hope this is not the beginnings of a beer bottle collection. I don't need another expensive hobby. I already collect North Carolina pottery, boats, guitars, guns, Stetson Open Roads, flight jackets and duck decoys. One more collection and I'm in the poorhouse!

AF

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Well, if you ever decide to get into it, let me know. Dad and I have one of the largest collections around.

I liked it, too. The guy who ownes Sprechers evidently likes beer making history. He had a display case full of old Milwaukee area beer bottles in the lobby. There were several Milwaukee Waukesha bottles there. And quite a few Blatz bottles.

God, I hope this is not the beginnings of a beer bottle collection. I don't need another expensive hobby. I already collect North Carolina pottery, boats, guitars, guns, Stetson Open Roads, flight jackets and duck decoys. One more collection and I'm in the poorhouse!

AF