INFORMATION ON ANTIQUE BOTTLES AND THEIR PARENT COMPANIES, HAVE QUESTIONS? PLEASE EMAIL ME AT { [email protected] }  I WILL GET BACK TO YOU RIGHT AWAY,THANKS

I ENJOY RESEARCHING OLD BOTTLES AND ANTIQUES IN GENERAL, A GREAT DEAL OF MY INFORMATION IS FOUND IN BOOKS AND AT THE LOCAL LIBRARY.

EARLY BREWIERS IN ALBANY NEW YORK, SEE BLOBS PAGE FOR MORE

Manufacture of Malt Liquor has long been a prominent pursuit in Albany. The oldest Brewer, now living, is Mr. Robert Boyd, who commenced the business in 1197. At that period there were two or three small Breweries?one belonging to Mr. Gansevoort, situated on Maiden Lane, below Broadway, where Stanwix Hall now stands. Another was owned by Mr. Van Schaick; and a Mr. Gill commenced about the same time as Mr. Boyd. Subsequent to this, one Lloyd, who was succeeded by LeBritton in 1805; Robert Dunlop in 1806; Boyd k McCulloch in 1808; then succeeded II. Burrill and L. Fiddler, who in connection with Mr. John Taylor founded the firm of Fiddler & Taylor in 1822.

At the present time the largest Brewery in the United States is that of John Taylor's Sons, of Albany. It is located in the square bounded by Broadway, Ferry and Arch Streets and the Hudson River, and covers about two acres of ground?the main building being 200 by 80 feet, and six stories high. Adjoining the main building on the river front is a fire-proof storehouse seventy by forty feet square, and seven stories high. In this building elevators are erected which convey the grain from boats on the river to the bins on the top floor of the brewery at the rate of one thousand bushels per hour. Between Ferry Street and the main building fronting on Broadway, is a two-story edifice 200 by 50 feet, a large portion of which is used for coopering, cleansing, and steaming casks and barrels. The steaming apparatus was imported from Europe, and is probably one of the most effective ever built. After placing a row of barrels in position, the steam is driven completely through the staves, an inch in thickness, in ten minutes after its application. On the main story the front of this building is occupied by the counting-house and private office of the proprietors. In the upper story is a fire-proof apartment, fifty feet square, which contains a most valuable library of over ten thousand volumes?a rare feature in business establishments of this description. On the Broadway front of the Brewery is a tower, the top of which is one hundred and thirty feet above the level of the street, and which contains a clock with glass dials six feet in diameter, that are illuminated nightly.

The apparatus and equipments of this Brewery are of the most perfect description, and it has the capacity to produce over two hundred thousand barrels per annum. Previous to its erection in 1850, the senior of this firm visited Europe and made drawings of the most important improvements which he saw in the London Breweries. The pontoon apparatus for cleansing and refining the ale, consisting of three hundred and sixty-five large cedar vessels, with floats so arranged as to open and shut the valves, the liquor being always at the same height, independent of the flow of yeast in the receiving troughs, is as yet a novelty in American breweries. Connected with this establishment are five large Malt houses, in which they malt all their own barley.

Within the year 1863 the senior partner and founder of this firm died, highly esteemed and regretted?and also another of the partners, Edmund B. Taylor, of the Boston branch?leaving the management to the two remaining sons, Joseph B. Taylor, of New York City, and William IT. Taylor, of Albany. They have a capital of nearly a half million of dollars invested in the business.

Previous to the erection of the Taylor Brewery, the largest in Albany was that of TJ. Burt & Co. The founder of this firm, Mr. Uri Bnrt, was engaged in the business of brewing since 1819, but the house of which lie was the head dates its existence from 1836, when he and his son Charles A. Burt commenced business. The present Brewery, which occupies the block bounded by Centre, Colonie, Montgomery and Lumber Streets, being a square of 325 feet by 209 feet, was erected in 1847, to which an addition was made in 1851, and a malt house built capable of malting 100,000 bushels of barley per annum. They brew annually over 50,000 barrels?in one year 1,860,825 gallons?but their capacity to manufacture is much greater than this.

This firm was the first we believe to test the question whether malt liquors could be sold for cash only. They invariably obtain payment on delivery, not only for the ale but for the cask, when it is sent beyond the city limits?the money being refunded when the cask is returned. Xo variation is made from this rule except in the case of wholesale dealers, who are drawn upon at the beginning of every month for the amount of their purchases during the preceding month. They claim that by thus escaping losses from bad debts, they can afford to use better stock and increase the quantity of malt; and as their sales are large notwithstanding the adoption of a strictly cash system, the presumption in favor of the claim seems to be well founded.

The founder of this firm has recently deceased, and the business is now conducted by his son, Charles A. Burt, surviving partner, who exercises in its management the same judgment aud skill that aided to build up the establishment to its present prosperous condition.

The "Arch Street Brewery," Boyd, Brothers & Co., proprietors, is another large establishment in Albany. Though the present firm commenced as recently as 1850, they may be fairly regarded as the successors of their father, Mr. Robert Boyd, who has been mentioned as the oldest brewer in Albany now living.

In 1796, Mr. Robert Boyd, the father of Robert, then living on an island below Albany, employed two Scotchmen, one of whom was a brewer, the other a maltster, to assist him in harvesting his grain. These men, who had emigrated to Canada to establish a Brewery, induced Mr. Boyd to build one. This was erected at the corner of Arch and Green Streets, and commenced brewing in 1797. It was but 24 by 30 feet, comprising a brewery and malt house. The two Scotchmen conducted the malting aud brewing, and were required to instruct Mr. Robert Boyd, while his father furnished the capital. Mr. R. Boyd gave up the business in a few years and removed to the country, but returned in 1808, aud was the senior partner of the firm of Boyd &

ALBANY DISTILLERIES. 629

McCalloch, who for many years conducted a heavy bnsiness. After various changes the Brewery was rented until 1850, when the present firm engaged in the bnsiness. The buildings, which had been added to from time to time, and now front on four streets, Green, Arch, Franklin and Perry, the length on Arch Street being 321 feet, are large and conveniently arranged, having the malt honse in the same building, which obviates the expense of carting, and there is abundance of room for receiving and storing empty casks.

The other principal Brewers in Albany are John McKnight & Son, Armsdell Brothers, Anthony McQuade, James Quin, and Becker k Cameron.

There are also several firms engaged extensively in Malting, the principal being John G. White & Son, John Tweddle, and A. A. Dunlop. John G. White, who is also the President of the Bank of the Capitol, and the oldest in the business, has two malt houses, and supplies largely the brewers in Philadelphia, where so much malt is used, besides those in other cities.

Mr. Tweddle commenced the manufacture of malt in West Chester, Pennsylvania, many years ago, and removed to Albany in 1838. While the brewers in the principal cities from Portsmouth to Baltimore, as well as those in the interior, obtain Malt from his extensive malt house, his sales are chiefly in New York City.

Mr. Dunlop is the son of Robert Dunlop, a well-known brewer fifty years since, and was himself a brewer. His extensive establishment is in the adjoining town of Watervliet, and here he supplies brewers in New York and other principal Atlantic cities. Mr. Dunlop is also extensively engaged in brewing at West Troy.

There are two large Distilleries in Albany, one of which, that of Edson & Co., distils from the grain; the other, that of John Trncey & Co., is devoted to rectifying liquors and making alcohol. Besides these there are a number of smaller rectifying establishments. The value of the yearly product varies with the price, but the average is nearly two million dollars.

The Distillery of Edson & Co., erected in 1849, consumed for a year or two but 450 bushels of grain per day. In 1851 a small column was erected for the manufacture of alcohol, capable of running 600 gallons per day. That small amount was then ample for the supply of the trade, indeed it required an effort to dispose of it. As the demand increased, another column was in 1853 added to the works, capable of running 800 gallons daily. In 1855 and 1856 the Distillery was enlarged so as to consume 900 bushels of grain per day. While superintending the start
ing of the Dew works, Mr. Cyrus Edson, the proprietor, was killed by the explosion of the steam-boiler, May 15th, 1836. Since that period the business has been conducted by the present proprietors, Franklin Edson and Daniel Orr, and the works have been further enlarged. They now employ 35 men, and turn out daily 4000 gallons of Highwines and 3200 gallons of Alcohol. Besides using all the product of their own Distillery, they purchase largely, all of which they make into alcohol.

The use of Alcohol has increased greatly during the past few years. Large quantities are now consumed in making Burning Fluid, which requires four gallons of alcohol to one of camphene; while druggists hare increased its use in their various preparations.

The other firm mentioned, that of John Tracey & Co., have a very large Rectifying establishment, and Alcohol and Camphene Distilleries. Their Alcohol and Rectifying establishments are perhaps not surpassed by any in the country. From the former they turn out daily upward of six thousand gallons highest proof alcohol, and from the latter they are able to furnish daily eight thousand gallons spirit and domestic liquors, which they sell principally in Boston and New York.

Mr. Tracey commenced Rectifying in a small way about 1842 and gradually extended his facilities. The manufacture of Alcohol he commenced in 1847, making six hundred gallons daily, which more than supplied the demand at that time. Now ten thousand gallons of alcohol are daily made in Albany, of which Messrs. Tracey & Co. make much the largest proportion.

UTICA, NEW YORK BREWERIES
by Jon Landers

(Revised February 2001)

The following is a list of Utica Breweries that I have researched during the last 20 years. All
breweries did not bottle beer. Some breweries bottled their beer some of the years they were in
business but some years did not. Many of them sold their beer only in kegs to saloons, taverns,
hotels and bottlers. Some breweries had agents bottle, sell and deliver their beer for them. Many
of these bottlers had their names embossed on the bottles instead of the breweries name. In
addition to bottlers, early Utica directories have people listed as “beer peddlers.” Some early
breweries may have used unembossed or unlabeled bottles. If a brewery never had their beer
bottled, of course no bottles would exist today.
During the Civil War the government levied a dollar a barrel tax on beer. To make it easier to
ensure that the tax was paid on every barrel, the law dictated that breweries could not bottle their
own beer. During this period, if a brewery wanted to have their beer sold in bottles they had to
have a separate bottler bottle the beer. Most breweries used glass bottles but Dr. Cronk
stoneware bottles have been dug in the Utica area. The bottles are debossed “Dr. Cronk” and do
not have Utica, N.Y. on them. Pint and quart stoneware beer bottles were manufactured by
Whites Pottery in Utica. After the Civil War ended, the government still kept the tax on the beer
and it was some years before breweries were allowed to bottle their own beer.
At the present time, bottles from only nine of the Utica breweries are known to exist by area
collectors. Hopefully more bottles from Utica breweries will be located in the future. The
following is a list of Utica breweries and does not include the names of the numerous Utica
bottlers who bought beer to bottle and sell:

1. Charles Bierbauer Brewery, 93 Third Street, his first brewery in Utica, 1850 - 1853, made the
first lager beer in Utica. No bottles are know to exist.

2. Charles Bierbauer Brewery, (West Utica Lager Beer Brewery) 5 Edward Street, 1853 - 1885.
This could have been where the West End Brewing Company got the idea for the name of
their brewery. No bottles are known to exist.

3. Edward Bright Brewery, Varick Street near Hamilton, Utica City Directory. No bottles are
known to exist.

4. Callahan Brewery, 96 - 106 Catherine Street, successor to Fort Schuyler Brewing Company,
in business only one year, 1901. No bottles are known to exist.

5. Columbia Brewing Company, successor to Charles Bierbauer Brewery, 5 Edward Street,
incorporated 12/17/1885 - 1887. No bottles are known to exist.

6. Columbia Street Brewery (G. Ralph & Sons, Proprietors), 57, 59, & 61 Columbia Street, 1865
Utica City Directory. G. Ralph was associated with the Oneida Brewery for 23 years and then
started his own brewery. No bottles are known to exist.

7. Consumers Brewing Company, 105 Third Avenue, corner of Mary and Third. Incorporated
10/9/1896 - 1900. Several bottles of one kind exist.

8. J. Crinan Brewery, Broad Street between Mohawk and Third, Historical Map of Utica, 1839.
No bottles are known to exist.

9. Eagle Brewing Company, NE corner of Third and Jay Streets, incorporated 9/18/1888. Many
embossed and labeled bottles exist.

10. Robert Edwards Brewery, Lansing Street, manufacturer of Dr. Cronk’s Beer, 1853 - 1854
Utica City Directory. Dr. Cronk’s stoneware bottles exist.

11. Empire Brewing Company Limited, east corner Blandina, incorporated, 6/28/1883, was only
in business one year. No bottles are known to exist.

 12. Fort Schuyler Brewing Company (Failey, Joyce & Co.), NW corner of Second and 98
Catherine Street, 1885 - 1900. No bottles are known to exist. Fort Schuyler Brewing
Company, after being the Callahan Brewery for one year (1901), was changed back to Fort
Schuyler in 1902 under new owners, John Boyle, president, Henry Moore, treasurer, Frank J.
Winslow, secretary. A few blob top bottles with a slug plate are known to exist.

13. Globe Brewing Company, successor to the Gulf Brewery, Jay and Third Street, 1933 - 1936,
Gulf and Globe combined in 1933. Labeled bottles exist.

14. Joseph Goodliff Brewery, corner Columbia and Varick, 1828 Utica City Directory through
1875. No bottles are known to exist.

15. Gulf Brewery, south side of Jay Street and Third, 1827 1933. One of the three Utica
breweries that were in business for more than one hundred years. No bottles are known to
exist.

16. Thomas Harden Brewery, Broadway, 1817 Utica City Directory, this was the first year the
directory was printed. No bottles are known to exist.

17. Holyoke Brewing Company, part of operation in Utica and part in Chicopee Mass. No
bottles are known to exist.

18. Charles Hutten or (Hutton) Brewery, NE corner of Third and Blandina Streets, successor to
Charles Bierbauer’s first Brewery, 1855, also called Hutten’s Lafayette Brewery, made
Lafayette Lager. 1891 - 1895, was known as Lafayette Brewery, Ernest J. Hutten prop. A
few Lafayette Bottling Works bottles exist but are very scarce.

19. William Inman Brewery, corner of Broadway and Whitesboro Streets, said to be the first
Utica brewery, 1801, was also called The Utica Brewery. No bottles are known to exist.

20. Mohawk Valley Brewing Company, incorporated 6/6/1880 and failed in 1882. No bottles are
known to exist.

21. National Brewing Company, 193 - 203 South Street, 4/91890. No bottles are known to exist.

22. Oneida Brewery, SW corner of Court Street and State Street, 1832 - 1941. One of the three
Utica breweries that was in business for over 100 years. Many embossed and labeled bottles
exist.

23. People’s Brewing Company, NW corner of Second Street and Catherine Street. Started in
1889, incorporated 11/61890. A few bottles are known to exist.

24. Frank Schaub, 44 Varick Street, 1889 had Frank Schaub’s Hall, Saloon, Restaurant and Lager
Beer brewery. No bottles are known to exist.

25. South Street Brewery, SE corner of St. Vincent Street and South Street, 1896 Atlas of Utica.
No bottles are known to exist.

26. S. Thompson Brewery SW corner Bleeker and Third Street, 1839 Historical Map of Utica.
No bottles are known to exist.

27. Utica Brewery, (J. Myers & Co.), SW corner of Mohawk Street and Jay Street, 1874 - 1882.
No bottles are known to exist.

28. Utica Brewing Company, (Winslow, Moore & Co.), later Winslow & Co.) South corner of
St. Vincent, 1880 - 1891, later address 198 South Street. No bottles are known to exist.

29. Utica Brewing Company, 1933, John Lawlor president, located in Old Fort Schuyler
Brewery, corner of Catherine and Second Streets. Bottled Fort Schuyler Lager, combined
with Globe Brewery in 1836, moved to their location, former Gulf Brewery. In 1958 the
UBC consolidated into the West End Brewing Company and was called the Fort Schuyler
Division of the WEBC. Many Fort Schuyler labeled bottles exist both from their early
operation and from after the merge with the WEBC.

30. Utica National Brewing Company, 1898, 193 - 203 South Street, successor to the National
Brewing Company. No bottles are know to exist.

31. Utica Star Brewing Company, (J. Myers & Co.), successor to Utica Brewery, SW corner of
Mohawk and Jay Street, 1883. No bottles are known to exist.

32. West End Brewing Company, now called the F.X. Matt Brewing Company, was incorporated
3/15/1888, 811 Edward Street. It has been in business longer than any other Utica brewery.
It is one of the three Utica breweries that were in business more than one hundred years.
ONE OF THE TOP RATED BREWERIES IN THE UNITED STATES. Many embossed
West End Brewing Company and Utica Club bottles exist. Many labeled West End Brewing
Company and F.X. Matt Brewing Company bottles exist. F. X. Matt II, grandson of the
founder died on February 15, 2001.

RED DRAGON SELTZER WITH IT TRADEMARK RED DRAGON THAT WAS PATENTED IN 1905 WAS FOUND IN NEW YORK ,118 BATTERY STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, 706-14TH STREET N.W.,WASHINGTON D.C. WITH CORPORATE HEAD QUARTERS IN DELAWARE.THIS PRODUCT WAS FOUND IN VARIOUS CONTAINERS AS SEEN BELOW AND DISTIBUTED ACCROSS THE COUNTRY, THE CENTER BOTTLE IS A RARE FIND AND VERY RARE WITH STOPPER IN TACT. I HAVE SEEN THIS BOTTLE IN COBALT & TEAL GREEN. THE SHAPE OF THE GREEN & AQUA CYLINDERS WERE A TAKE OFF FROM THE VERY SUCCESSFUL BROMO SELTZER FROM BALTIMORE MD. LIKE ANY POPULAR PRODUCT IT HAD IT'S SHARE OF IMITATORS AS NOTED BELOW.

GREGG, JAMES G.
Lawyer; sec. and director Delaware Registration and Trust Co., Faulhaber Chemical Co., Faulhaber Stable Co., Red Dragon Seltzer Co., Robert Simmon & Co.; director Empress Mf'g Co. Residence: 119 W. 45th St. Address: 141 Broadway. N. Y. City.

The Red Dragon Seltzer Co, Delaware ~ capitol stock value 3,000,000 in 1903

Filed April 5,1905. Serial No. 435. PUBLISHED MAY 2, 1905. 44.3 6 5. MEDICAL EFFERVESCENT PREPARATION. William B. Hopkins, Washington, D. C, assignor to Red Dragon Seltzer Company, a Corporation of Delaware. The representation of a dragon associated with the words "red Dragon."

 Agriculture, filed in the Police Court of said District an information against George D. Asquith, Washington, D. C., alleging the sale by said defendant, at the District aforesaid, in violation of the Food and Drugs Act, on October 18, 1911, of a quantity of so.called Red Dragon seltzer which was misbranded. The product bore no label, but was sold as Red

Dragon seltzer.

Analysis of a sample of the product by the Bureau of Chemistry '

of this Department showed the following results: Caifein, 1.32 per cent, or 5.78 grains per avoirdupois ounce; acetanilid, 2.31 per cent, or 10.11 grains per avoirdupois ounce; sodium bromid, 2.23 per cent, or 9.76 grains per avoirdupois ounce; magnesium sulphate, absent. Misbranding of the product was alleged in the information for the reason that it was an imitation of Red Dragon seltzer, and offered for sale under the distinctive name of another article, and for the further reason that it did not bear a statement on the label of the quantity or proportion of the acetanilid contained therein.

On November 11, 1912, the defendant entered a plea of guilty to the information and the court imposed a fine of $10.

  AMERICAN STONEWARE

American stoneware refers to the predominant houseware of nineteenth century North America?stoneware pottery usually covered in a salt glaze and often decorated using cobalt oxide to produce bright blue decorations. The vernacular term "crocks" is often used to describe this type of pottery, though the term "crock" is not seen in period documents describing the ware. Additionally, while other types of stoneware were produced in America concurrently with it?for instance, ironstone, yellowware, and various types of china?in common usage of the term, "American Stoneware" refers to this specific type of pottery.Stoneware is pottery made out of clay of the stoneware category, fired to a high temperature (about 1200°C to 1315°C). The pottery becomes, essentially, stone. Salt-glazed pottery is a type of pottery produced by adding salt to a kiln to create a glass-like coating on the pottery. At just over 900°C, the salt (sodium chloride) vaporizes and bonds with the clay body. The sodium in the salt bonds with the silica in the clay, creating sodium silicate, or glass. A very commonly employed technique seen on American Stoneware is the use of cobalt decoration, where a dark gray mixture of clay, water and the expensive mineral cobalt oxide is painted onto the unfired vessels. In the firing process, the cobalt reacts to produce a vibrant blue decoration that has become the trademark of these wares.While this type of salt-glazed stoneware probably originated in the Rhineland area of Germany circa 1400's, it became the dominant houseware of the United States of America circa 1780-1890.Americans began producing salt-glazed stoneware circa 1720 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Yorktown, Virginia. By the 1770's, the art of salt-glazed stoneware production had spread to many centers throughout the United States, most notably Manhattan, New York. There the Crolius and Remmey families (two of the most important families in the history of American pottery production) would, by the turn of the nineteenth century, set the standard for expertly crafted and aesthetically pleasing American stoneware. By 1820, stoneware was being produced in virtually every American urban center, with potters from Baltimore, Maryland, in particular raising the craft to its pinnacle.While salt-glazing is the typical glaze technique seen on American Stoneware, other glaze methods were employed by the potters. For instance, vessels were often dunked in Albany Slip, a mixture made from a clay peculiar to the Upper Hudson Region of New York, and fired, producing a dark brown glaze. Albany Slip was also sometimes used as a glaze to coat the inside surface of salt-glazed ware.While decorated ware was usually adorned using cobalt oxide, American Stoneware potters used other decorative techniques. Incising, a method in which a design of flowering plants, birds, or some other decoration was cut into the leather-hard clay using a stylus, produced detailed, recessed images on the vessels; these were usually also highlighted in cobalt. Stamped or coggled designs were sometimes impressed into the leather-hard clay, as well. Potters occasionally substituted manganese or iron oxide for cobalt oxide to produce brown, instead of blue, decorations on the pottery.In the last half of the nineteenth century, potters in New England and New York state began producing stoneware with elaborate figural designs such as deer, dogs, birds, houses, people, historical scenes and other fanciful motifs including elephants and "bathing beauties."A significant percentage of American Stoneware was signed using maker's marks and, much more rarely, incised signatures. Many pieces can be attributed to particular makers based on the cobalt decoration, clay body, form, etc. The gallon capacity of the vessels was often denoted using numeral stamps or incised or cobalt oxide numbers or hash marks applied in freehand.American Stoneware was valued as not only a durable, decorative houseware but as a safer alternative to lead-glazed earthenware pottery produced in America before and during its production there. This earthenware, commonly referred to today as American Redware, was often produced by the same potters making American Stoneware. Stoneware was used for anything we might use glass jars or tupperware for today. It held everything from water, soda, and beer to meat, grain, jelly, and pickled vegetables, and was produced in a very wide variety of forms. These ranged from common jars and jugs to more specialized items like pitchers, water coolers, spittoons, and butter pots, to much rarer banks and poultry waterers and exceptionally unusual pieces like bird houses, animal figures, and grave markers.With the proliferation of mass production techniques and machinery throughout the century, in particular the breakthrough of John Landis Mason's glass jar (see Mason jar), the production of what had been one of America's most vital handcrafts gradually ground to a halt. By the turn of the twentieth century, some companies mass-produced stoneware with a white, non-salt glaze (commonly referred to as "bristol slip"), but these later wares lacked, for instance, the elaborate decorations common to the earlier, salt-glazed stoneware.Antique American Stoneware is now highly collectible

 WHITALL TATUM CO.

 In 1806, a man named James Lee opened a glassworks factory in Millville, New Jersey. This glassworks, located on Buck Street in the town of Millville, was later owned by the Whitall Tatum Company. Whitall Tatum would have fourteen owners over the first seventy-five years of its existence (Whitall, 2005). Lee originally named the factory ?Glasstown? (Industry, 2005). By 1827, the company had three owners: Dr. George Burgin, Richard L. Wood, and Joel Bodine. Bodine left in 1829 and the company name changed to Burgin & Wood. With the addition of a new partner in 1833, the company?s name changed once again to Burgin, Wood & Pearsall. At this time, the factory produced glass bottles using molds made out of clay (Whitall, 2005). Glasstown was purchased in 1836 by another company that changed the name to Scattergood, Booth, and Company. Following this transition of owners, Scattergood (one of the owners) married a woman named Sarah Whitall. Sarah was the sister of Captain John Whitall, a major investor in the Glasstown factory. When Captain Whitall moved to Philadelphia with his new wife, Mary Tatum, he left the factory under his brother?s management. For the next three years, Captain Whitall?s brother, Israel Franklin Whitall, served as manager of the company (Whitall, 2005). By 1845 Scattergood no longer worked at Glasstown and the name was changed to Whitall, Brother, and Company (Industry, 2005).  Israel Whitall ceased to work for the company after 1857 and a man named Edward Tatum became one of the owners. At this time, the company became Whitall Tatum and Company. The success of the business took off and additional space was needed. An office was opened in New York and managed by C.A. Tatum. The Whitall Tatum Company became the most flourishing business in Millville (Industry, 2005).  Whitall Tatum was one of the first glass factories to establish a laboratory. Here they tested different procedures and combinations of materials used in glass production (Industry, 2005). By 1899, business was booming and the Whitall Tatum Company had over four hundred employees at their Glasstown factory and over one thousand at their lower works division. As a result of their success, Millville, New Jersey became famous for glass working (Industry, 2005).

The Whitall Tatum Company, or Whitall Tatum, was the first glass factory in America. It operated from the early 1800s through 1938, located in Millville, New Jersey. The location was ideal for making glass because silica-based sand is plentiful in southern New Jersey, the Maurice River flowing through Millville provided a source of water, and plentiful forests provided energy for industrial processes. The Millville glass works was started in 1806 by James Lee and went through several changes of ownership. In 1838, John M Whitall became a partner in the business. He lived in Philadelphia and worked at the company's headquarters there. In 1845 after his brother Israel Franklin Whitall joined, the firm became Whitall, Brother & Company. Later, Edward Tatum also joined the partnership and in 1857 the name was again changed to Whitall Tatum & Company and later in 1900 to Whitall Tatum Company. I.F. Whitall and Edward Tatum headed the company after John M Whitall retired in 1865, and the ownership was passed to their descendents. Whitall Tatum produced bottles, jars, and vials throughout much of the 19th century. Antique bottle collectors prize the Whitall Tatum druggist, perfume, chemical and other types of bottles. The company developed several innovations in formulas used to make the glass, and in the manufacturing methods for bottles. At first bottles were cast in metal molds, which left a casting line, and later ceramic and wood casts were developed for flint glass which allowed the glass to be moulded without a casting line. Glass types included flint glass, blue and green glass, and artistic colored swirls, used for decoration and paperweights often made by the glass workers during their lunch hour. Whitall Tatum mass-produced special-order prescription bottles for hundreds of pharmacies, such as Smith & Hodgson in downtown Philadelphia, embossed with their names and addresses and also marked "W.T. & Co." on the base. These mostly date from 1875 up to 1900. In 1901 the company name was changed to Whitall Tatum Company and the base marking became "W.T.CO.", and for a decade from the 1920s on, the trademark became a "W" and "T" inside a triangle. Whitall Tatum entered the insulator manufacturing market in 1922, mass-producing them for use on power and communications lines across the country. Armstrong Cork Corporation purchased Whitall-Tatum in 1938, continuing insulator production under the Armstrong trademark. Production continued after a 1969 purchase by Kerr Glass Manufacturing Co. until about 1976. The former Whitall Tatum plant in Millville was purchased by a series of companies, including American National Can Company. Ball-Foster purchased the factory in 1995, and in 1999, after 193 years of nearly continuous glass production, the factory was shut down. The buildings where the WT glass furnaces sat have been demolished.

 A Short History of Glass

Obsidian, a black volcanic glass, is probably the best known of the naturally occurring glasses. It was used by early man to form cutting tools, arrowheads and spearheads and is now used by modern man to make the sharpest surgical blades.

Synthetic glass was originally prepared by heating a mixture of sodium oxide (or sodium carbonate), calcium oxide and silicon dioxide (sand). If calcium oxide was not added to the melt, soda glass was obtained. Pure soda glass is not usable because of its high solubility in water. Soda lime glass has a large coefficient of expansion when heated and a low resistance to the effects of acids and bases. It usually has a green color due to the presence of iron oxide in the sand. It was later discovered that this color could be removed by adding manganese oxide to the melt when a colorless glass was desired.

Manufactured glass is presumed to have been first used as a glaze for pottery. The earliest known glaze is on stone beads of the Badarian age of Egypt. These beads ranked in value with precious metals and stones at the time! The Egyptians first made vessels out of glass by the laborious process in which the glass was applied over a wooden or metal rod bit by bit. A cylinder of light blue glass made by this method dates back to the Akkad dynasty in 2600 B.C. Glass was first pressed into open molds in 1200 B.C. There is some evidence that Mesopotamia was the location where glass was first manufactured.

The art of glass blowing was first discovered in the Middle East along the Phoenician coast in 20 B.C. This new technique changed the use of glass from jewelry and ornaments to necessities. Glass containers and other items of high quality (even windowpanes) were found in the ruins of Pompeii.

Glass blowing of vases and art objects is still done in basically the same way as it was originally done. Glass blowers (gaffers) use a hollow iron pipe about four feet long. The gaffer dips the pipe in the melt and rolls a small amount of molten glass (gather) on the end. The gaffer then rolls the gather against a paddle or metal plate to give it an initial shape (marvering). The gaffer then blows into the pipe creating a bubble (parison).

The gaffer controls the shape and thickness by reheating the parison at the furnace and shaping and blowing to create the final form. Wooden paddles with holes and wet newspapers held in the hand are all used to shape the glass. Shears can be used to cut the softened glass. Additional gathers can be applied and shaped into stems, handles, and other decorative artwork. The hot piece of glassware can be dipped into molten glass of a contrasting color (flashed). The gather is attached opposite the blowpipe to a solid iron rod called a pontil. After the blowpipe is broken free, the gaffer can then shape and fire polish the open end. After the pontil is broken off, the rough spot that is left (pontil mark) is removed by grinding and polishing.

Constantinople became the center of glass working after the decline of Rome. The Byzantine glassworkers were skilled in the manufacture of colored glasses and mosaics.

Venice became the center of glass working after the Dark Ages and by the end of the seventeenth century there were over 300 factories located in that city. The Venetians developed a hard soda glass that was ductile, colorless and highly transparent. Venetian glass was known as cristallo because it resembled rock crystal. The growth of glass factories in Europe flourished after this time.

The first true modification of the physical properties of glass was made in 1603 by Ravencroft in England. He added lead oxide to the melt and obtained a new glass that had a higher refractive index than Venetian glass. It thus had better optical characteristics. Lead glass was softer and more durable than cristallo.

English lead glass was considered the finest glass of the 18th century.  Lead glass remains today as the glass of choice for artistic objects and crystal. Lead glass is typically cut in order to produce decorative facets in the glass.

Cutting glass is done by grinding and polishing. Glass can be etched by sandblasting or by the application of hydrofluoric acid. Gilding with gold leaf or gold paint involves a low temperature firing to permanently affix the metal to the glass.

There were few other advances in the chemistry of glass until late in the nineteenth century. At that time, German scientists made great strides in changing the composition of glass to improve its properties. Abbe was interested in improving the glass available for optics and, in 1884; he joined with Schott and Zeiss to form the Jena glassworks of Schott and Sons. Their formulas marked the beginning of modern glass making and the new glasses had much lower coefficients of expansion and better optical properties.

In 1903, Owens invented the first functional bottle-making machine. He is known as the father of mechanized glass working in honor of his many inventions.

In 1912, the Corning Glass Works of New York introduced borosilicate glasses. These borosilicate glasses incorporated boron oxide in the melt. They expand, when heated, only one-third as much as soda glasses and thus are more resistant to rapid temperature changes.

Hostetter said, "The imagination is really fired when one considers the many interesting and useful properties of glass. It is as brilliant as a diamond, as fiery as an opal, as colorful as the rainbow, light and delicate as a spider's web, or as huge and massive as a twenty-ton mirror, fragile as an egg shell or as strong as steel. Truly, it can be said that glass is the unusual material; without it, we would return to the Dark Ages. With it, science and civilization moves on."

The Structure of Glass

The definition of a glass is actually a matter of considerable debate. In a broad sense, solids can be considered to be either crystalline or amorphous. Crystals have symmetrical and repeating patterns for the constituent atoms, sharp melting points and cleave in preferred directions. Amorphous solids show none of these characteristics. The glass state is a category of the amorphous state and encompasses solids that may be softened by heating to viscous liquids, which revert to non-crystalline solids when cooled. At times, crystallization occurs both in the manufacture and working of glass and this results in a loss of the desirable properties of the glass. Glass may be defined simply as a supercooled liquid with a viscosity that makes it, for all practical purposes, a solid. Glass is rigid at ambient temperatures and soft or fluid-like at elevated temperatures.

Pure silicon dioxide, in the form of quartz, has some of the structural characteristics of diamond structure. Unlike diamond, which has only tetravalent carbon arranged in interconnected six-membered rings, quartz has six-membered rings of alternating silicon and oxygen atoms. The oxygen atoms preclude forming the same structure as found in diamond. The six-membered rings may be arranged in planes held together vertically with twelve-membered rings.

There is a helix formed from the layered six-membered rings which can be seen when looking at the structure perpendicular to the rings. This helix explains the optical activity of quartz. This twist also relieves some of the oxygen-oxygen electron pair repulsion's inherent in the twelve-membered rings. Quartz is characterized by a very long-range crystal order, unlike glasses, which have no regular internal structure.

Pure silicon dioxide has a very low coefficient of expansion. It is difficult to shape into useful objects because of a very high melting temperature (1723^oC) and a high viscosity when melted. The low coefficient of expansion is probably best explained by the tetrahedral arrangements of the silicon atoms and the cross-linked structure. When heated, the stretching vibrations do not change the relative positions of the silicon atoms very much since the overall vector of motion of the bridged oxygen atoms will be at mostly at right angles to the two silicon atoms that they connect.

If the cross-linked structure of silicon dioxide is disrupted by the inclusion of sodium or other atoms, the softening temperature and the viscosity will both decrease. This allows the glass to be worked at a much lower temperature.

The most common glass in use today remains the mixture of silicon dioxide, sodium oxide and calcium oxide called soda lime glass or just lime glass.

The Physical Properties of Glass

Soda lime glass is low in cost and can be easily worked at reasonable temperatures. Soda lime glass has the following approximate composition.

Soda lime glass is used for light bulbs, bottles, fiberglass, building blocks, windowpanes and other applications where cost is a factor.

Lead glass has good hot workability, high electrical resistance and a high refractive index. Dense lead glasses can be used as shields for X-rays and gamma radiation. Lead glass has the following approximate composition.

Lead glass is used for stems for the filaments for light bulbs, neon sign tubing, crystal tableware and some optical components.

Borosilicate glasses, such as Pyrex (Corning trademark), have high chemical stability, low coefficients of expansion, high heat shock resistance and excellent electrical resistance. They are the glasses of choice for most industrial and scientific applications. They have the following approximate composition.

High silica content glasses, such as Vycor (Corning trademark), withstand extreme thermal stress and have a very high chemical resistance. The reason for better chemical resistance of the borosilicate glasses is not known. These glasses have the following approximate composition.

Colored Glass

Glass of all types can be colored by the addition of metals, metal oxides or other compounds to the melt. The coloring agent will either be suspended or dissolved in the glass. Generally the physical properties of the glass are not changed unless a high concentration of the coloring agent is used.

Colored glass can be divided into two types. The type of color that is best for glass blowing is one that will not be altered when the glass is heated. This type of color is only dependent on chemical composition.

In general, these colors are in the purple-blue-green end of the spectrum. The other type of colored glass is dependent on temperature and in general, these colors are red, some yellows and all opals. Most of these will lose their color after being heated and thus have limited use in glass blowing. Some can be heated enough to work but care must be taking to avoid getting the glass too hot because then the color will be lost. The following table shows some colors that can be created by the addition of various compounds.

 No visit to Historic Jamestown is complete without a visit to the Glasshouse.  America's first English industrial manufacture began here with a "trial of glass".

Jamestown was established by the Virginia Company of London in May 1607. Their 1606 charter, granted by King James I, outlined the many purposes and goals of the Company. But like all good companies, its primary duty was to provide a profitable return to the investors.

One of the first English attempts at industrialization and manufacturing in America was glassblowing.The Company hoped glass production might provide the profit that it was looking for. The New World abounded with raw materials -wood for fuel and ash, and sand (silica) for the glass. All that was needed were artisans and various laborers to produce the glass.

Arriving with Captain Christopher Newport on the second resupply in early October 1608, the Virginia Company of London sent eight Dutchmen (Germans) and Poles to produce glass, pitch, tar, and soap ash. By early December, Newport departed for England with "trials of Pitch, Tarre, Glass, Frankincense, Sope ashes, with what Clapboard and Waynscot that could be provided." However, what type or form of glass and how much was actually produced is unknown. This first attempt at a full glass production facility in the New World would not be successful.

The glasshouse may still have been active in 1610 when William Strachey, secretary for the Virginia Company of London wrote from Jamestown that the glasshouse was "a goodly house ... with all offices and furnaces thereto belonging."

 Later, in 1622, the Company would again attempt a glass-manufacturing operation with the importation of Italian glassblowers. This attempt also failed.

Glasshouse furnace ruins At "glass point" near Jamestown, the glass furnaces were re-discovered and excavated in 1948. Today, in a reconstructed, interpretive facility, glassblowing is again performed at Jamestown. Modern artisans, in reproductive clothing, produce common glass objects very much as they must have done almost 400 years ago.

Glassblower forming the neck to a wine bottle Visitors can see the remains of the original furnaces used by those early glassblowers and watch as modern glassblowers produce wine bottles, pitchers, candleholders and various other glass objects.  Today's glass furnaces are heated by natural gas, rather than by wood as in 1608. Glassblowers, however, use tools and methods similar to those of the 17th century   CLICK BELOW TO CHECK OUT MORE.  JAMESTOWNE,COOL SITE     <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 The Larkin Soap Company was founded in Buffalo in 1875. Among the principals were John D. Larkin, Elbert Hubbard, and Darwin D. Martin. By the early years of the twentieth century, the company expanded beyond soap manufacturing into groceries, dry goods, china, and furniture. Larkin became a pioneering, national mail-order house with branch stores in Buffalo, New York City and Chicago. At the time it commissioned its headquarters, Larkin was prosperous and the high price for a well-designed, innovative building was not a barrier. The company, known for its generous corporate culture, also commissioned Wright to design row houses for its workers, which were never built.

 The Larkin Building was designed in 1904 by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1906 for the Larkin Soap Company of Buffalo, New York, at 680 Seneca Street. It was demolished in 1950. The five story dark red brick building used pink tinted mortar and utilized steel frame construction. It was noted for many innovations, including air conditioning, stained glass windows, built-in desk furniture, and suspended toilet bowls (hung from the walls, not supported by the floor). Sculptor Richard Bock provided ornamentation for the building.[1] Exterior details were executed in red sandstone; the entrance doors, windows, and skylights were of glass. Floors, desktops, and cabinet tops were covered with magnesite for sound absorption. For floors, magnesite was mixed with excelsior and poured, and troweled like cement, over a layer of felt to impart it's resiliency. Magnesite was also used for sculptural decoration on the piers surrounding the light court and for panels and beams around the executive offices at the south end of the main floor. Frank Lloyd Wright designed much of the furniture. The interior walls were made of semi-vitreous, hard, cream colored brick. The building's approximate dimensions were 200 feet long by 134 feet wide. The light court was located in the center of the building, and was 76 feet tall. It provided plenty of natural light to all of the floors. In the light court, between the piers on the sides of the court, there appeared fourteen sets of three inspiration words each, such as: GENEROSITY ALTRUISM SACRIFICE, INTEGRITY LOYALTY FIDELITY, IMAGINATION JUDGEMENT INITIATIVE, INTELLIGENCE ENTHUSIASM CONTROL, CO-OPERATION ECONOMY INDUSTRY.

Wright said of the building:   "It is interesting that I, an architect supposed to be concerned with the aesthetic sense of the building, should have invented the hung wall for the w.c. (easier to clean under), and adopted many other innovations like the glass door, steel furniture, air-conditioning and radiant or 'gravity heat.' Nearly every technological innovation used today was suggested in the Larkin Building in 1904." ? Frank Lloyd Wright as quoted by Kaufmann, Edgar, ed. An American Architecture,  .

Architectural historian Vincent Scully, Jr. wrote the following on the structure:   "Vertical brick piers and wall planes... made possible the splendid integration of space, structure, and massing which Wright achieved in the Larkin Company Office Building at Buffalo, of 1904. In space the building was conceived of as facing inward, with a glass-roofed central hall rising the entire height and with horizontal office floors woven around it. The pattern of piers and walls which makes these spaces is clearly unified in both plan and section. The vertical piers rise uninterruptedly inside, and the horizontal planes of the office floors are kept back from their edges, so that they seem, once more, to be woven through them. Stairways are grouped in vertical shells of wall at the four corners of the building, which then reveals all these articulations upon its exterior: the big piers, the smaller ones between them, the horizontal spandrels and the corner towers, expressed purely as free-standing space containers at the edges of the main, interwoven mass... Entrance was at the side, under a portal set back between the main mass and the thin, subsidiary office block, from the end of which a metallic sheet of water sprang. Here Wright achieved one of the first of his monumental spatial sequences. The exterior is challenging and rather forbidding, but it tells us that something is contained inside. Entrance to it must be sought. It is finally found in the dark place behind the fountain. The block is thus penetrated surreptitiously as it were, and essentially from below. The advance is from outer light toward interior dimness beyond which, to the left, somewhat more light could be perceived filtering down between the central piers. These then rise up toward their rich capitals in a climactic spatial expansion, lighted from above as in Roman buildings and creating, as those also did, an idealized interior space cut off from the world outside. At the same time, the stiff verticals of the interior of the Larkin Building continued to recall the challenge of the exterior, so that the occupant could not feel himself to be simply inside a shell. The sequence was an emotional one and a progress: challenge, bafflement, compression, search, and finally, surprise, release, transformation, and recall. It was almost a Baroque progression, but its methods were stiffer and harder, befitting the industrial program which they praised. Significantly enough, the building also recalled the Romantic-Classic projects of the first revolutionary architects of the later eighteenth century, particularly in the harshness of its forms but even in the rather underscaled world globes which were flaunted upon its exterior." in 1939 the firm made interior modifications and moved retail operations into the building. In 1943, the firm's fortunes were in decline and it sold this building and others. The Larkin Company, which never recovered from the Great Depression and changes in American retailing, eventually declared bankruptcy.  Wright's Administration building was foreclosed upon for back taxes in 1945 by the city of Buffalo. The city tried to sell the building over the next five years and considered other uses. In the meanwhile, it was vandalized. In 1949 the building was sold to the Western Trading Corporation, who announced plans to demolish it for a truck stop. It did so in 1950 despite protests from the architectural community. No truck stop ever materialized. A single brick pier along a railroad embankment is all that remains from Wright's original building. The remainder of the site is now a parking lot with a marker and an illustrated educational panel.  Other parts of the company's extensive manufacturing and distribution complex survive. The enormous former Larkin Warehouse, not designed by Wright, has been successfully converted into Class A office space. Another building, which is also a former Larkin Warehouse, nearby the Class A building. It is very old and run-down, but inside has thick walls.

Glass Ingredients

Pure silica (SiO₂) has a "glass melting point"? at a viscosity of 10 Pa·s (100 P)? of over 2300 °C (4200 °F). While pure silica can be made into glass for special applications (see fused quartz), other substances are added to common glass to simplify processing. One is sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃), which lowers the melting point to about 1500 °C (2700 °F) in soda-lime glass; "soda" refers to the original source of sodium carbonate in the soda ash obtained from certain plants. However, the soda makes the glass water soluble, which is usually undesirable, so lime (calcium oxide (CaO), generally obtained from limestone), some magnesium oxide (MgO) and aluminium oxide are added to provide for a better chemical durability. The resulting glass contains about 70 to 74 percent silica by weight and is called a soda-lime glass. Soda-lime glasses account for about 90 percent of manufactured glass.

As well as soda and lime, most common glass has other ingredients added to change its properties. Lead glass, such as lead crystal or flint glass, is more 'brilliant' because the increased refractive index causes noticeably more "sparkles", while boron may be added to change the thermal and electrical properties, as in Pyrex. Adding barium also increases the refractive index. Thorium oxide gives glass a high refractive index and low dispersion, and was formerly used in producing high-quality lenses, but due to its radioactivity has been replaced by lanthanum oxide in modern glasses. Large amounts of iron are used in glass that absorbs infrared energy, such as heat absorbing filters for movie projectors, while cerium(IV) oxide can be used for glass that absorbs UV wavelengths (biologically damaging ionizing radiation).

Besides the chemicals mentioned, in some furnaces recycled glass ("cullet") is added, originating from the same factory or other sources. Cullet leads to savings not only in the raw materials, but also in the energy consumption of the glass furnace. However, impurities in the cullet may lead to product and equipment failure. Fining agents such as sodium sulfate, sodium chloride, or antimony oxide are added to reduce the bubble content in the glass.

A further raw material used in the production of soda-lime and fiber glass is calumite, which is a glassy granular by-product of the iron making industry, containing mainly silica, calcium oxide, alumina, magnesium oxide (and traces of iron oxide).

For obtaining the desired glass composition, the correct raw material mixture (batch) must be determined by glass batch calculation.

Glass Working Terms

Annealing Oven ? The process of gradual cooling of the outside and the inside of  the molten glass to assure that the glass won?t cool to fast causing cracks or breaks.

Assistant ? The glassworker that works directly for the Gaffer.  In some situations, there may be several assistants depending on the size of the project.

Blank ? A molten glass object ready for the further creation of the Art Glass piece.

Block ? The forming tool used for the shaping of the molten glass.  The ?Block? is usually made of cherry wood and is ?wet? while used with the hot glass.

Blocker ? The glass worker that actually ?blows? the first bubble through the blowpipe and then subsequently transfers that blow-pipe to the Gaffer.

Blower ? The glass worker that blows the air through the blowpipe (within the mold or freehanded).  Upon occasion, the gaffer might do the blowing of the air themselves to have more control.

Blowpipe ? A steel pipe with a air passage way throughout it?s entire length.  One end has the mouthpiece and the other has the larger built up area for the molten glass to gather and blow the bubble on.

Bubbles?  Gases in the molten glass while melting in the ?pit? get trapped.  The hotter the molten glass along with the purity of the quality of the glass can greatly diminish this problem.  While gathering the molten glass those bubbles will be transmitted to the actual art piece itself.  Some artists do like the bubble effect and use them in their works by forcing a bubble.  Installing bubbles may me made with a sharp object being punctured into the molten glass or countless other methods.

Burner ? Runs the air and gas mixture control for lampworking.

Burn-mark  - The residue left from the usage of a newspaper ash in the assistance of shaping of the molten glass.

Button ? A small usually clear amount of molten glass placed on the ?working end? of the art piece project to assure proper connection of the glass to the pipe to avoid dropping damage.  A button may also be used as a part to the actual glass project to enhance a particular art piece.

Caliper ? Tongs that help create and control the molten glass piece.

Cane ? A cross section of glass made by pulling and stretching molten glass from both ends.  Several color pattern and designs can be created.  Whatever design is used along with the detail will continue to hold the precise shape, scale all the way down to an invisible dimension.

Carving ? Removing excess molten glass off of the working piece.

Casing ? Placing an additional layer of glass over and existing layer of another color.

Casting ? The process of pouring molten glass into a form designed to receive that glass.  After the glass has cooled, that mold or the removing of the sand will then reflect the filled image.

Chill-mark - Any time and instrument is used on hot glass there's a potential for it to leave a cooled surface that refracts light differently.

Chord - These are lines of clear glass that have a slightly different expansion coefficient enhance refract light at different rates.

Chunked ? A glass piece that has been badly damaged.

Cold Working - Any work, grinding, surfacing, and drilling that is done on the glass that has been finished after the annealing process is completed.  Working without heat. 

Collar ? A ring that is used to hold the cane glass into place on a working piece.

Color - 99% of the color used comes from Germany or Bulgaria. The transparent colors are nearly all black until blown out in a piece and come shaped like a small rolling pin. The opaque colors are most often the same color as they started before melting.

Contemporary Glass ? Artist designed glass exclusively for their own creative use.

Cord? Visible deficiencies in the glass quality product itself from streaking to slight color haziness.

Cullet ? Mixing slag, scrap or other extra glass materials into a  pit to assist in the melting process.  This also reduces the quality of the glass product itself.

Cutting ? Grinding any pattern into the glass by using a consistent speed rotating wheel coated with either cloth, diamond dust or an abrasive.

Cut-to-Clear ? Showing the under layers of the glass by cutting however many layers needed to complete the desired effect in the glass.

Double Overlay ? Coating a glass works twice.

Embossed ? Raised or lowered text or design on any surface of glass.

Etching Decoration ? Using acid to etch the glass.  Strengthen or get an chemical reaction or effect with the glass surface.

Finisher ? The glass worker (generally the Gaffer) that puts the finishing touches on the glass before it goes into the Annealing Oven.

Flashing ? Quickly placing the working glass into the Glory Hole to reheat the entire piece to assure that the glass will be pliable and keeping it safe from cracking.

Fluted ? The vertical lines, grooves or designs in the glass.

Founding ? Heating the glass to a proper usable temperature.

Fritt - Clear or opaque color that is crushed and graded to specific sizes.

Gaffer - The senior member of the blowing team in charge of the entire production of a project

Gather ? Placing molten glass on the end of the blowpipe or pipe for the further development of that glass project.

Gathering - obtaining a layer of clear glass over a subsequent layer of glass.

Gilding ? Using leaf (golf or silver), painting or effects to add interest to the surface of the glass.

Glory Hole ? The opening of the furnace used to keep the glass hot and workable.  Several different sizes may be attached to a large furnace or you might have only one size on a small one that rotate open and closed depending on were the glass project is at. The cylinder is usually heated up to 2300 degrees.

Hand Blown ? A glass project is handmade and was not assisted by machinery.

Iridescence ? Spraying a shiny metallic finish onto hot glass.

Jack - A tool shaped like huge tweezers used to manipulate hot glass.  Making a Jack line is often the line that will be used to separate the glass work from the blowpipe or pipe with the droplets of water.

Knurling ? A glass band or bead wrapped around a larger project.

Lear -  A gigantic oven that is computer-controlled to relieve stress during the annealing process.

Marver ? A flat steel plate that?s used for the picking up color chips or the shaping of molten glass on the end of a blowpipe or pipe with a rolling action.  A Marver can also help in the uneven cooling of the glass for a desired effect.

Mould Blown ? An open ended cylindrical designed to create effects or grooves in the molten glass by blowing into the blowpipe while in the mould vertically.

Murrini ? A cross cut piece of glass (with a design or color pattern) used in the creation of  a larger glass works.

Necking ? Reducing an end of a blown glass to form a bottle neck.

Overlay ? A thin layer of clear or colored glass is folded, formed or coated over another.

Overshot Glass ? Rolled molten glass is covered with splinters covering the surface as a final completed surface.

Parison ? The first small bubble at the end of a blowpipe.

Pattern Mould ? Pre-shaped patterned on the molten glass before the bubble is blown.

Pegging ? Placing a Parison (small air bubble) into a gathering pit.

Pick-up Decoration ? Picking up color from a Marver before blowing the glass out.

Polishing ? Buffing the glass cuts or grindings to a bright clear luster.

Pot ? A holding area for molten glass where the glass is continually kept at a designated heat for gathering.

Power ? Is the ground glass that is put into the Pot for melting the final molten glass that will be used by the hot glass workers.

Punty -  Is the hot glass or gathering that is placed on the receiving pipe for transferring the glass work that is currently connected to the blowpipe. The technique used to change the end of the glass that is being worked on.

Rag ? Tick layers of wet newspapers folded to provide a cool safe pad for the glassworker to shape the hot molten glass.

Ringer ? the glass worker that applies the ring for glass to the larger piece.

Rondelle ? A flat blown glass that was spun hot.

Sandblasting ? A method used to remove layers of glass.  A cloudy dull finish will result with every layer removed.  Some artist use the sandblasting process to remove enough glass to actually go through the glass for different effects.

Satin Glass ? A acid matt finish or frosting.

Sawing -  Cutting glass with a rotating wheel with a blade usually diamond tipped.

Scavo ? A process where a corrosive chemical is added to the surface of a hot glass while cooling to give the surface a rougher matt finish.

Sculpting ? Handmade free forming solid glass works designed while in molten glass form.

Shard ? Glass fragments usually colored of which would be rolled or melted into a working piece for the additions of colors of textures is not melted all of the way.  Different colors melt at different temperatures lending creative textures with variation.

Shears ? Glassmakers scissors that are used for the cutting, trimming and shaping of hot glass.  Usually very primitive in design with heavy gage steel.

Silesia ? The main ingredient of glass used for art glass.

Silveria ? Is a type of art glass with incased silver foil.

Slumped ? Flat glass that is melted to take the shape of the form designed to sink into taking the actual shape of that form.

Sodium Flare ? The bright light that is given off of the reaction of oxygen rich flame and the sodium of the glass in a kiln.   Didymium glass in the glasses to avoid serious damage to the vision of one?s eyes.  Usually, Flame-workers Lamp-workers are at the primary concern here.

Soliflore ? A French term for a vase with a bulbous body and a long drawn out neck for a single flower.

Spatter Glass ? The glass with flecks of contrasting color rolled into it.

Sputtering ? A metal coating process for the glasses surface.

Stretch Glass ? A cracked iridescence on the surface.

Strike ? The change in the color of the surface after the glass piece is reheated with intense heat on that surface.

Stringer - Like cane but applied from a molten glob of color over the surface of hot glass.

Teardrop ? A glass shape that is usually blown from above and allows a consistent growth of a glass blown into it.

Thermal Shock ? The cause by a sudden shift of temperature hot or cold causing the glass to break, crack or shatter.

Thermocouple ? Bimetal probe that measures the kiln?s temperature.

Tongs ? Glassmakers tool for picking up, transferring and applying water to the Punty to remove the glass piece from the pipe of blowpipe.  

Virtual Production Replications ?  is the remaking and replacement of an unattainable (non-art) original "production" glass piece with an as close as possible custom made glass piece for repair, recovery or restoration for historic purposes, etc.

Wetting Off ? The separation line for the glass work from the blowpipe or pipe uses cold water to fracture control the break and separation.

Wrap ? A term used for the heavy outside bead of glass that is used generally for creative style sometimes used as a contrasting color from a vessel.

Yoke ? The weight support for the glassworker while in the glory hole while being flashed. 

© 2009 Copyright Affordable Custom Contemporary Art Glass Blowing & Hot Glass Casting Fabrication Association?

 The observation that old windows are often thicker at the bottom than at the top is often offered as supporting evidence for the view that glass flows over a matter of centuries. It is then assumed that the glass was once uniform, but has flowed to its new shape, which is a property of liquid. The likely source of this unfounded belief is that when panes of glass were commonly made by glassblowers, the technique used was to spin molten glass so as to create a round, mostly flat and even plate (the Crown glass process, described above). This plate was then cut to fit a window. The pieces were not, however, absolutely flat; the edges of the disk would be thicker because of centripetal force relaxation. When actually installed in a window frame, the glass would be placed thicker side down for the sake of stability and visual sparkle. Occasionally such glass has been found thinner side down or on either side of the window's edge, as would be caused by carelessness at the time of installation

IRREGULAR HEX POISONS FROM THE USA

1- Bowman's Drug Stores
2- The Sun Drug Co.
3- Kuhlman's Cut Rate Drug Stores / Knoxville, Tenn.
4- Alther's (vertical Old English script)
5- The Paine Drug Co. / Rochester, N.Y.
6- Melvin & Badger Apothecaries / Boston, Mass.
7- Clough & Shackley / Boston, Mass.
8- J.G. Godding & Co. Apothecaries / Boston, Mass.
9- Chester A. Baker / Boston
10- Roman, Inc.
11- Billings & Stover Apothecaries / Cambridge, Mass.
12- Nauheim
13- F. & E. Bailey & Co. / Lowell, Mass.
14- Dykema's
15- Hetherington / 42nd St. N.Y.
16- Brecklein
17- Ortenberg and Flinn (some are also embossed New York)
18- Friedgen
19- Will Dunn Drug Co.
20- Economy
21- Goldner's Drug Store / 918 4th Ave Bklyn.
22- Fred Howard Druggist / Lowell, Mass.
23- Seltzer
24- Bacon
25- Hotel Astor Pharmacy
26- Columbian Pharmacy, Inc. / 461 State St. Perth Amboy, N.J.
27- Chawgo's Drugs (clear glass)
28- Geo. Whatmough Chemist / Brooklyn, N.Y

Hutchinson Stopper, circ: 1879-1915

American Patent: April 4, 1879 Number: 213,992

This was an improvement to Matthews gravitating stopper and worked on the same principle.  When the stopper was raised, the pressure of the carbonated contents sealed the rubber gasket against the base of the neck.  Unlike Matthews, it was cheaper and more efficient to use.  Also, the bottle did not have to be filled upside down.  To bottle, the stopper was put in the downward position, the contents were injected into the bottle with a nozzle.  This nozzle contained a hook that grabbed the top loop of the stopper and pulled it upward thus sealing the bottle. This stopper was deemed unsanitary because dust and dirt could settle above the stopper and contaminate the drink when the contents were dispensed. Its replacement was the crown cork

 SOME MORE STOPPER INFORMATION.

Lightning Stopper, circ: 1875-1910,

Invented by: Charles De Quillfeldt,

American Patent: January 5, 1875, Number: 158,406

This stopper revolutionized beer bottling and was an almost instant success for Karl Hutter who acquired the patent rights and popularized this stopper when it was reissued in 1877.  In 1878, Henry Putnam also acquired and interest in this stopper and in 1882 adapted it for use on fruit jars.  There were many imitators of this patent over the years, but they all worked on the same principle of leveraging a rubber disk into the lip of the bottle to make a seal.
 
 Hutter Stopper, circ: 1893-1920,

Invented by: Karl Hutter,

American Patent: February 7, 1893

This stopper was an improvement to the Lightning stopper and was extremely popular and eventually replaced the Lightning as the preferred beer bottle stopper.  A tapered porcelain plug was fitted with a rubber washer on the bottom and forced into the lip of the bottle to seal it.  This stopper was replaced with the crown cork.
 
Putnam Stopper, circ: 1859-1905,

Invented by: Henry William Putnam

American Patent: March 15, 1859, Number: 23, 263

This cork fastener was the standard used on corked soda and bottles during the 1870s and 1880s when it was replaced with the more popular Hutchinson internal stopper.  The bail was reusable and the bottler was not required to rewire the cork with every refilling of the bottle

Hutchinson Stopper, circ: 1879-1915,

Invented by: William H. Hutchinson,

American Patent: April 4, 1879 Number: 213,992

This was an improvement to Matthews gravitating stopper and worked on the same principle.  When the stopper was raised, the pressure of the carbonated contents sealed the rubber gasket against the base of the neck.  Unlike Matthews, it was cheaper and more efficient to use.  Also, the bottle did not have to be filled upside down.  To bottle, the stopper was put in the downward position, the contents were injected into the bottle with a nozzle.  This nozzle contained a hook that grabbed the top loop of the stopper and pulled it upward thus sealing the bottle. This stopper was deemed unsanitary because dust and dirt could settle above the stopper and contaminate the drink when the contents were dispensed. Its replacement was the crown cork.

Matthews Gravitating Stopper, circ: 1864-1885,
Patented by: John Matthews

Self-Closing Stopper, circ: 1889-1895,
Invented by: William L. Roorbach and George W. Tucker

Floating Ball Stopper, circ: 1885-1910,
Invented by: William L. Roorbach

Roobach Stopper, circ: 1883-1885,
Invented by: William L. Roorbach

 Codd Stopper, circ: 1872-1920,
Invented by: Hiram Codd in 1872, England

GOOGLE PATENTS-  CLICK HERE

GOOGLE PATENTS IS WHERE YOU CAN FIND ALL THE STOPPER INFORMATION LISTED AND MUCH MORE COOL STUFF.

Clyde Glass Works, Clyde, NY, ca. 1870-1882

Carr-Lowrey Glass Co., Baltimore, MD, ca. 1889-1920

Ball Bros. Glass Mfg. Co., Muncie, IN, and later Ball Corp., 1887-1973

Mason Fruit Jar Co., Philadelphia, PA, all ca. 1885-1900

E.R. Squibb, M.D., Brooklyn, NY, 1858-1895

Whitall-Tatum & Co., Millville, NJ, 1857-1935 

LIBBEY GLASS

Edward Drummond Libbey (1854-1925) is the father of the glass industry in Toledo, Ohio, where he opened the Libbey Glass Company in 1888.

Libbey High School in Toledo,Ohio was named after Edward Drummond.

Glass-maker and philanthropist, born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, USA. After attending Boston University, he worked for the New England Glass Co (1874), becoming president (1883–6). He opened the Libbey Glass Co in Toledo, OH (1888), sponsoring a demonstration plant at the Chicago exposition of 1893. His success depended heavily on the inventions of Michael Owens. Libbey later founded the Owens Bottle Machine Co (1903) with exclusive rights to manufacture glass bottles, and the Libbey-Owens Sheet Glass Co (1916), serving as president of both firms. He organized the Toledo Art Museum (1901), serving as its president (1901–25), funding building construction, and bequeathing to the museum his collection of Dutch and English art. He was also the founder of the Toledo Museum of Art in 1901 and was a large influence on the town of Ojai California.

  SMITHSONIAN LINK

I NEVER GET TIRED OF LOOKING THROUGH HERE. 

PRIVY AND DUMP DIGGING CONTROVERSIES  

There are ongoing controversies regarding who should be permitted to pursue historical digging, and what is actually being found on the average dig. Historical digging articles such as Into the Night Soil address this issue from a diggers point of view. From a conventional archaeological perspective it is commonly assumed that all properties contain vital and unique information which cannot be found elsewhere, and that only a professional archaeologist should be permitted to investigate them. Even on private property there are different schools of thought regarding how it should be practiced and who should be allowed to pursue it.

Many historical diggers emphasize that their efforts are frequently applied to areas being developed, locations where privies, dumps, landfills and residential backyards are in the process of being permanently altered or destroyed by major renovations and assorted excavations.

There is a prevalent misconception among some archaeologists, historians, and others that most potential historical dig sites are artifact goldmines, that each property contains otherwise unattainable information and objects which are vital in nature, and that a detailed forensic approach should be used in every instance. While privy diggers concur that perhaps 75% of the privies they have been involved with do not contain a "night soil" layer, or other in situ layers, and that food bones and related information and privy-artifact discoveries in general, are exceedingly repetitive for most purposes. The main cause for the large percentage of barren vaults today being that the suppliers of the booming waste-generated fertilizer business of the late 19th and early 20th century operated widely and diligently. In the pursuit of cheap and easy to acquire fertilizer material these “dippers” emptied millions of defunct vaults during the advent of modern plumbing. The early waste management workers routinely backfilled the subterranean chambers with sterile dirt, assorted rubble, debris and ashes, and occasionally random bottles and other later period garbage.

Historical diggers often remark that they are excavating on private properties with the owners’ permission, and reiterate that they are an integral part of the vast amount of information which already exists regarding excavated objects and their histories. They are bottle collectors, coin collectors and other kinds of collectors and enthusiasts and are involved with salvaging these things as the opportunities arise. They focus on the many areas which will be dug up by heavy machinery during major developments.

Those excavating privies, cisterns, dumps, landfills, and operating metal detectors and other ground penetrating equipment on private property, are frequently targeted as “looters”, by the professional archaeological community in general. An accusation of actual stealing the term looter has been in use for centuries. Moreover, it is applied loosely to define and condemn a wide range of both professional and amateur digging activities worldwide depending on the specific conditions. For example, when a rogue or pirate grade historical digger is observed excavating on national park lands or archaeological sites directly, from a legal perspective they are in fact looters. While engaged in these same activities legally, behind private residences and on construction sites for instance, historical diggers are routinely considered looters by the archaeological community in general. For altering and disturbing sacred sites, burial grounds, and doing other things within ongoing "sensitive" areas without the full consent of all those connected to the places involved, professional archaeologists pursuing their own projects have also been routinely categorized as looters.

U. S. Patent Office.  1855.  A. Stone, Forming screw-threads, etc., in the Necks of Glass Bottles and Similar Articles – Patent #13,402, August 7, 1855.  U. S. Patent Office, Washington, D. C.   This is the earliest known patent for a “modern” calipers type lipping tool used to form bottle finishes (and in this case telegraph insulator threads).  It was not a patent for an entire finishing tool - tools which were already in use and almost certainly not patentable - but instead for a specific variation in such tools.  This patent is available on this website at this link:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/lippingtool1855.pdf

U. S. Patent Office.  1856.  A. Stone, Tool for Making Glass Bottles – Patent #15,788, September 23, 1856.  U. S. Patent Office, Washington, D. C.   The second known patent for a modern caliper type lipping tool used to form bottle finishes, by the same person as the 1855 patent.  This patent is available on this website at this link:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/StonesGrooveRingPatent1856.pdf

U. S. Patent Office.  1860.  R. Hemingway Mold for Glass Jars – Patent #30, 063, September 18, 1860.  U. S. Patent Office, Washington, D. C.  This very interesting patent for the “Hemingway jar” describes not only the unique mold that formed these jars but also has a short description of the method of producing an applied finish and the way that a groove ring wax seal jar is used in canning.  This patent is available on this website at this link:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/hemingray1860.pdf

U. S. Patent Office. 1870.  W. M. Kirchner, Glass Tool – Patent #109,825, December 6, 1870.  Patent for a calipers type lipping tool that formed external threaded finishes on, presumably, applied glass.  This patent is available on this website at this link:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/lippingtool1870Kirchner.pdf

U. S. Patent Office. 1871.  W. M. Kirchner, Improvement in Glass-Jars – Patent #115,326, May 30, 1871.   This patent is apparently for a fruit jar finishing method that forms an external threaded finish from applied finishing glass via the above patented tool.  This patent is available on this website at this link: http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/appliedexthread1871.pdf

U. S. Patent Office. 1872.  H. Frank, Tool for Forming Mouths of Bottles, & c. – Patent #130,207, August 6, 1872.  Patent for a calipers type lipping tool that also formed internal screw threads within applied finishes.  This patent is available on this website at this link:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/frankpatenttool.pdf

U. S. Patent Office. 1875.  Thomas W. Synnott, of Wenonah, New Jersey, Improvement in Bottles – Patent #162,117, April 13, 1875.  This patent – issued to Thomas Synnott – outlines the formation of an inside-the-finish pouring spout formed with a lipping tool, aka “rounding- tool.”  Of more interest here, the patent also describes the tooling of an applied finish – the finish type most common in 1875 and observed on earlier L. H. Thomas bulk ink bottles with this patent date embossed on the base.  Specifically, the center plug of the tool remains stationary with the outside tongs or spring arms of the tool “…rotated to round the collar” to complete the finish conformation.

U. S. Patent Office. 1876a. J. Lamont, Glass Tools - Patent #183,267, October 17, 1876.  This is an interesting patent for a lipping tool used to form a type of applied blob finish with a “rim or groove” inside the bore for a particular closure suitable for carbonated beverages.  This patent is available on this website at this link: http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/Lamontpatent1876.pdf

U. S. Patent Office. 1876b.  Carlton Newman, of San Francisco, California, Improvement in Bottle and Cup Stoppers - Patent #183,322, October 17, 1876.  Patent for a flask for which the stopper cap was also a metal shot glass.  This patent is available on this website at this link:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/Newmanpatent1876.pdf

U. S. Patent Office. 1884a.  J. B. Wilson, Clamp for Holding Bottles - Patent #294,946, March 11, 1884.  This is a patent for a snap or snap-case tool.  This patent is available on this website at this link:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/snapclamppatent.pdf

U. S. Patent Office. 1884b.  J. B. Wilson, Tool for Forming Bottle Lips and Necks - Patent #295,848, March 25, 1884.  Another patent for a caliper type lipping tool.  This patent is available on this website at this link:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/lippingtoolpatent.pdf

U. S. Patent Office.  1885.  W. Painter.  Bottle Stopper - Patent #327,099, September 29, 1885.   This patent was issued to William Painter (who also invented the famous – and still used - crown cap) for the loop seal or Baltimore loop seal stopper and finish.  This patent is available on this website at:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/baltimoreseal1885.pdf

U. S. Patent Office.  1886.  Charles E. Thomas.  Machine for Finishing the Mouths of Glass Bottles - Patent #348,797, September 7, 1886.  This is a patent for a treadle operated (with either man-power or mechanical power) machine that finished the mouths – aka lip – of bottles.  Presumably this machine produced tooled finish bottles, though that is not clear.  This patent is available on this website at:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/thomas1886.pdf

U. S. Patent Office.  1887.  William F. Modes, of Streator, Illinois. Mold for Blowing Turned Bottles – Patent #364,840, June 14, 1887.  This patent includes useful information about a turn-mold with a revolving base plate and a variation on the “cracked-off” blowpipe removal method.  This patent is available on this website at this link:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/turnmoldpatent1887.pdf

U. S. Patent Office.  1890.  W. Painter.  Tool for Forming the Necks of Bottles - Patent #443,728, December 30, 1890. This patent was issued to William Painter (who also invented the famous – and still used - crown cap) for the tool that was used to form the distinct “blob” finish – with a groove inside the bore – for accommodating the loop seal closure.  This patent is available on this website at this link:   http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/Paintertool1890.pdf

U. S. Patent Office.  1891.  W. Painter. Bottle Stopper - Patent #449,822, April 7, 1891.   This patent was issued to William Painter for “…certain improvements in bottle stoppers or seals…” – improvements to the loop seal closure itself which was first patented in 1885.  This patent is available on this website at this link:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/Painterstopper1891.pdf

U. S. Patent Office.  1893.  T. K. Sheldon & M. N. Lynn, Finishing Tool for Glass Bottles – Patent #500,960, July 4, 1893.  Patent issued to Thomas Sheldon & Mirabeau Lynn for an adjustable “finishing-tool” that was of the caliper type most commonly used for forming tooled finishes, which had a rotating center rod that moved in tandem with the spring arms to “…form the corkage of the bottle.”  (corkage = finish)  Of particular note is the succinct description of the formation of a tooled finish at the time this finishing style was becoming dominant.  This patent is available on this website at this link: http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/finishingtoolpatent1893.pdf

U. S. Patent Office.  1904a.  F. Scheidt.  Machine for Forming the Necks of Glass bottles – Patent #760,258, May 17, 1904.  Patent for a bench mounted, hand operated machine that would complete bottle finishes.  This patent is available on this website at this link:  http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/lippingmachine1904.pdf

    GLASS ANNEALING

Annealing is a process of slowly cooling glass to relieve internal stresses after it was formed. The process may be carried out in a temperature-controlled kiln known as a Lehr.Glass which has not been annealed is liable to crack or shatter when subjected to a relatively small temperature change or mechanical shock. Annealing glass is critical to the durability of glass. If glass is not annealed, it will retain many of the thermal stresses caused by quenching and significantly decrease the overall strength of the glass.

The glass is heated until the temperature reaches a stress-relief point, that is, the annealing temperature (also called annealing point)  at which the glass is still too hard to deform, but is soft enough for the stresses to relax. The piece is then allowed to heat-soak until its temperature is even throughout. The time necessary for this step varies depending on the type of glass and its maximum thickness. The glass is then slowly cooled at a predetermined rate until its temperature is below the strain point . Following this, the temperature can safely be dropped to room temperature at a rate limited by the heat capacity, thickness, thermal conductivity, and thermal expansion coefficient of the glass. After the annealing process the material can be cut to size, drilled or polished.

At the annealing point stresses relax within several minutes, while at the strain point stresses relax within several hours. Stresses that are still present below the strain point are permanent

 © DIGGER ODELL

MERCURYS MANY USES:

HISTORICAL USES

   SOME NEW YORK  BREWERIES AS THEY SWITCHED NAMES THROUGH THE YEARS.

THE LIST BELOW WAS FOUND AT  /www.trayman.net/Brewery.htm http:/ PLEASE CHECK IT OUT,IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON U.S. BREWERIES,TRAYS,CANS,ECT. YOU'LL FIND IT HERE, REALLY  WELL DONE,GREAT SITE.!!

1-John F. Hedrick Albany, NY 1852 - 1891
Hedrick Brewing Co. Albany, NY 1891 - 1920
Hedrick Brewing Co., Inc., aka Regional Brewing Co. Albany, NY 1933 - 1965

 2-Schinnerer & Hinckel Albany, NY 1852 - 1867
Fred Hinckel Albany, NY 1868 - 1884
Hinckel Brewing Co., Cataract Brewery Albany, NY 1884 - 1903
Hinckel Brewery Co., Cataract Brewery Albany, NY 1903 - 1920

 3-Jacob Roos Buffalo, NY 1830 -
George Roos Buffalo, NY 1874 - 1887
Roos Co-operative Brewing Co. Buffalo, NY 1887 - 1892
Iroquois Brewing Co. Buffalo, NY 1892 - 1920
Iroquois Beverage Corp. Buffalo, NY 1933 - 1955
International Breweries, Inc. Buffalo, NY 1955 - 1967
Iroquois Brewing Co. Buffalo, NY 1967 - 1971

 4-Leo Kirchner Troy, NY 1859 - 1877
Andrew & Adam Quandt Troy, NY 1877 - 1884
Quandt Brewing Co. Troy, NY 1884 - 1920
Quandt Brewing Co., Inc. Troy, NY 1933 - 1942

 5-Abraham Nash Troy, NY 1817 - 1824
Nash & Adams Troy, NY 1824 - 1831
Abraham Nash Troy, NY 1831 - 1836
A. Nash & Son Troy, NY 1836 - 1839
Nash, Beadleston & Co. Troy, NY 1839 - 1856
A.B. Nash & Co. Troy, NY 1856 - 1865
Daley & Stanton Troy, NY 1865 - 1800
John Stanton Troy, NY 1800 - 1895
John Stanton Brewing & Malting Co. Troy, NY 1895 - 1920
The Stanton Brewery, Inc. Troy, NY 1933 - 1950

  6-Xavier Zett Syracuse, NY 1858 - 1877
Xavier Zett & Son Syracuse, NY 1879 - 1882
George Zett Syracuse, NY 1882 - 1898
George Zett Brewing Co. Syracuse, NY 1898 - 1902
George Zett Brewery Syracuse, NY 1902 - 1920
George Zett Brewery, Inc. Syracuse, NY 1933 - 1934
Syracuse Brewery, Inc. (affiliated w/ Genesee) Syracuse, NY 1934 -1937

 7-Brown, Failey & Co. Utica, NY 1884 - 1886
Failey, Joyce & Co. Utica, NY 1886 - 1891
Fort Schuyler Brewing Co. Utica, NY 1891 - 1901
Callahan Brewery Utica, NY 1901 - 1903
Fort Schuyler Brewing Co. Utica, NY 1903 - 1920
Utica Brewing Co. Utica, NY 1933 - 1934
Utica Brewing Co., Inc. of Utica, NY Utica, NY 1935 - 1937
Utica Brewing Co., Inc. of Utica, NY (formerly Gulf & Globe location) Utica, NY 1937 - 1959

 8-Charles Bierbauer Utica, NY 1853 - 1855
Columbia Brewing Co. Utica, NY 1855 - 1887
West End Brewing Co. Utica, NY 1888 - 1920
Seneca Food Products Corp. Utica, NY Prohibition
West End Brewing Co., Inc. Utica, NY 1933 - 1981
West End Brewing Co. Utica, NY 1981 - 1982
F.X. Matt Brewing Co. Utica, NY 1982 - 1990
Matt Brewing Co. Utica, NY 1990 - Present

 9-Watertown Brewing Co. Watertown, NY 1893 - 1901
Watertown Consumers Brewing Co. Watertown, NY 1901 - 1920
The Northern Brewing Co., Inc. Watertown, NY 1933 - 1943

 10-Moore, Quinn & Co. Syracuse, NY 1881 - 1901
Moore & Quinn Syracuse, NY 1901 - 1920
Moore & Quinn, Inc. Syracuse, NY 1933 - 1955

11-Speyers Brothers, Lion Brewery New York, NY 1852 - 1860
Speyers & Bernheimer, Lion Brewery New York, NY 1860 - 1862
Bernheimer & Schmid, Lion Brewery New York, NY 1862 - 1890
Bernheimer & Schmid New York, NY 1890 - 1903
Lion Brewery of New York City New York, NY 1903 - 1920
Lion Brewery of New York City New York, NY 1933 - 1941
The Greater New York Brewery, Inc. New York, NY 1941 - 1942

 12-Christian Isengart Troy, NY 1865 - 1870
Isengart & Voigt Troy, NY 1870 - 1887
Donohue, Tierney & Gross Troy, NY 1887 - 1888
Donohue-Tierne-Isengart Brewing Co. Troy, NY 1888 - 1901
Isengart Brewing Co. Troy, NY 1901 - 1915

 13-Benedict Haberle Syracuse, NY 1865 - 1875
B. Haberle & Sons Syracuse, NY 1875 - 1881
Haberle Brewing Co. Syracuse, NY 1881 - 1892
Haberle- Crystal Spring Brewing Co. Syracuse, NY 1892 - 1920
Haberle Beverage & Products Co. Syracuse, NY 1920 - 1933
Haberle Congress Brewing Co. Syracuse, NY 1933 - 1962

 14-Jacob Rau Rochester, NY 1855 - 1856
Charles Rau Rochester, NY 1857 - 1868
Rauber & Meyers Rochester, NY 1868 - 1872
Jacob Rauber Rochester, NY 1873 - 1873
Rau & Reisky Rochester, NY 1874 - 1874
Reisky & Spies Rochester, NY 1874 - 1883
Genesee Brewing Co. Rochester, NY 1883 - 1889
Bartholomay Brewing Co., Genesee Brewery Rochester, NY 1889 - 1896
Bartholomay Brewing Co., Genesee Brewing Co. Rochester, NY 1896 - 1911
Bartholomay Brewing Co., Genesee Brewery Rochester, NY 1911 - 1915
Genesee Brewing Co. Rochester, NY 1915 - 1920
Genesee Brewing Co. Rochester, NY 1933 - Present

 15-James Lundy Troy, NY 1852 - 1853
Lundy & Ingram Troy, NY 1853 - 1855
Lundy & Kennedy Troy, NY 1855 - 1857
Lundy, Dunn & Co. Troy, NY 1857 - 1859
Dunn & Kennedy Troy, NY 1859 - 1866
Fitzgerald Bros. Troy, NY 1866 - 1899
Fitzgerald Bros. Brewing Co. Troy, NY 1899 - 1920
Fitzgerald Bros. Brewing Co. Troy, NY 1933 - 1962

 16-Gregory & Harmon New York, NY 1844 - 1850
Harmon & Co. New York, NY 1852 - 1862
Hermann Koehler New York, NY 1862 - 1865
Koehler Bros. New York, NY 1865 - 1870
Herman Koehler New York, NY 1871 - 1886
Herman Koehler & Co. New York, NY 1886 - 1902
H. Koehler & Co., Inc. New York, NY 1902 - 1917
Fidelio Brewing Co. New York, NY 1917 - 1920
Fidelio Brewery (aka The Greater New York Brewery, Inc.) New York, NY Prohibition
Fidelio Brewery, Inc. New York, NY 1933 - 1940
The Greater New York Brewery, Inc. New York, NY 1940 - 1942
Metropolis Brewery, Inc. New York, NY 1945 - 1950

 17-Charles Dotterweich Olean, NY 1854 - 1884
Estate of Charles Dotterweich Olean, NY 1884 - 1891
Dotterweich Brewing Co. Olean, NY 1891 - 1920
Dotterwyck Brewing co., aka Dotterweich Beverage Co. Olean, NY 1920 - 1933
Empire State Brewery Corp. Olean, NY 1933 - 1940

 18-Eagle Brewing Co. Utica, NY 1888 - 1913
Eagle Brewing Co. Utica, NY 1913 - 1920
The Eagle Brewing Co. Utica, NY 1933 - 1943

 19-Darius S. Wood Albany, NY 1865 - 1868
John Dobler Albany, NY 1868 - 1885
A. F. Dobler Albany, NY 1885 - 1891
Theo. M. Amsdell Albany, NY 1891 - 1893
Dobler Brewing Co., Amsdell & Hawley Albany, NY 1893 -908
Dobler Brewing Co. Albany, NY 1908 - 1920
Dobler Brewing Co., owned by C. Feigenspan Albany, NY 1933 - 1943
Dobler Brewing Co., Inc Albany, NY 1943 - 1959

 20-Buffalo Brewing Co. Sacramento, CA 1890 - 1897
Buffalo Brewery Sacramento, CA 1897 - 1920
Buffalo Brewing Co. Sacramento, CA 1934 - 1942
Buffalo Brewery Sacramento, CA 1942 - 1949

 21-Buffalo Co-operative Brewing Co. Buffalo, NY 1880 - 1920
Mokwak Products Co., Inc. Buffalo, NY 1933 - 1934
Iroquois Beverage Corp. Buffalo, NY 1934 - 1937

 22-Beverwyck Brewing Co. Albany, NY 1878 - 1919
Beverwyck Co., Inc. Albany, NY 1920 - 1932
Beverwyck Breweries, Inc. Albany, NY 1933 - 1950
The F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Co. Albany, NY 1950 - 1972

 23-Frederick Miller Rochester, NY 1851 - 1881
Miller Brewing Co. Rochester, NY 1881 - 1902
Flower City Brewing Co. Rochester, NY 1902 - 1920
Standard Brewing Co., Inc. Rochester, NY 1933 - 1956
Standard Rochester Brewing Co., Inc. Rochester, NY 1956 - 1970

 24-Henry & Co., Edward Underhill Sr. Yonkers, NY 1857 -
E. Underhill & Co. Yonkers, NY ?? - 1874
E. Underhill & Son Yonkers, NY 1874 - 1877
E. Underhill & Sons Yonkers, NY 1877 - 1880
Underhilll, Jackson & Co. Yonkers, NY 1880 - 1891
Jackson & Co. Yonkers, NY 1891 - 1897
Yonkers Brewery Yonkers, NY 1897 - 1920
StateCereal Beverage Co. Yonkers, NY 1920 - 1930
The Penar Corp. Yonkers, NY 1930 - 1934
Yonkers Colonial Corp. Yonkers, NY 1935 - 1938

25-Myers & Loebs Rochester, NY 1855 - 1859

Frederick Loebs Rochester, NY 1859 - 1861
Meyers & Loebs & Co. Rochester, NY 1861 - 1879
Meyers, Loebs & Co. Rochester, NY 1879 - 1885
Loebs Bros., Lion Brewery Rochester, NY 1885 - 1889
 

26-American Brewing Co., Inc. Rochester, NY 1889 - 1920
Rochester Food Products Co. Rochester, NY Prohibition
American Brewing Co. of Rochester N.Y., Inc. Rochester, NY 1933 - 1950

27-B. Schwalbach Kingston, NY 1852 -
Eluzabeth Schwalbach Kingston, NY 1874 - 1878
Peter Barmann Kingston, NY 1879 - 1908
Peter Barmann Estate Kingston, NY 1908 - 1920
Peter Barmann Brewing Co. Kingston, NY 1920 - 1934
Peter Barmann Brewery, Inc. Kingston, NY 1936 - 1939
Peter Barmann Brewery Inc. (Owned by Jacob Ruppert) Kingston, NY 1939 - 1941

28-John Greenway Syracuse, NY 1878 - 1884
Mantel & Haas Syracuse, NY 1884 - 1886
Germania Brewing Co. Syracuse, NY 1886 - 1893
Bartels Brewing Co. Syracuse, NY 1893 - 1920
Bartels Brewing Co. Syracuse, NY 1933 - 1942

29-Will & Bartholomay Rochester, NY 1852 - 1857
Henry Bartholomay Rochester, NY 1857 - 1874
Bartholomay Brewing Co. Rochester, NY 1874 - 1889
Bartholomay Brewing Co., Bartholomay Brewery Rochester, NY 1889 - 1933
Bartholomay Brewing Co. Rochester, NY 1934 - 1934

30-Joseph Friedmann Buffalo, NY 1840 - 1855
Back & Baumgartner Buffalo, NY 1855 - 1860
Magnus Beck Buffalo, NY 1860 - 1883
Magnus Beck's Estate Buffalo, NY 1883 - 1886
Magnus Beck Brewing Co. Buffalo, NY 1886 - 1920
Magnus Beck Brewing Co., Inc. Buffalo, NY 1933 - 1955

31-Samuel Bolton Troy, NY 1865 - 1877
Samuel Bolton & Sons Troy, NY 1877 - 1888
S. Bolton's Sons Troy, NY 1888 - 1920

32-  Standard Brewing Co. Rochester, NY 1889 - 1927
Cataract Brewing Co., Inc. of Rochester, N.Y. Rochester, NY 1928 - 1940

33-Central Brewing Co. New York, NY 1899 - 1920

34-Jacob Marquardt New York, NY 1865 - 1870
Marquardt Bros. New York, NY 1870 - 1879
G. Marquardt New York, NY 1879 - 1888
Fiegenspan Brewing Co. New York, NY 1888 - 1892
William H. Frank Brewing Co. New York, NY 1892 - 1898
The Frank Brewery New York, NY 1898 - 1916
Enterprise Brewery, Inc. New York, NY 1916 - 1920
City Brewing Corp., aka City Brewery New York, NY 1933 - 1941
The Greater New York Brewery, Inc. New York, NY 1941 - 1945
The Greater New York Industries, Inc. New York, NY 1945 - 1946 The Greater New York Brewery, Inc. New York, NY 1946 - 1950

35-Consumer's Brewing Co. New York, NY 1889 - 1893
Consumers' Brewing Co. of N.Y., Ltd. New York, NY 1893 - 1928 Consumers Park Brewing Co. Brooklyn, NY 1897 - 1913
Interboro Brewing Co. Brooklyn, NY 1913 - 1920

36-Deer Park Brew. Co. Port Jervis, NY 1899 - 1922
Deer Park Breweries, Inc. Port Jervis, NY 1933 - 1935
Deer Park Beverages, Inc. Port Jervis, NY 1936 - 1942

37-Peter Doelger New York, NY 1859 - 1863
Peter Doelger, New York Brewery New York, NY 1863 - 1912 
Peter Doelger Brewing Co. New York, NY 1912 - 1928
Peter Doelger Brewing Co. New York, NY 1928 - 1937

38-Philip Ebling & Bro. New York, NY 1868 - 1874
Philip & William Ebling New York, NY 1874 - 1889
Ph. & Wm. Ebling Brewing Co. New York, NY 1889 - 1901
Ebling Brewing Co. New York, NY 1901 - 1920
The Ebling Brewing Co., Inc. New York, NY 1933 - 1950

39-George Ehret, Hell Gate Brewery New York, NY 1866 - 1927
Estate of George Ehret New York, NY 1927 - 1934

40-Kolb's Brewery New York, NY 1862 - 1865
John Eichler New York, NY 1865 - 1888
John Eichler Brewing Co. New York, NY 1888 - 1920
The John Eichler Brewing Co. of New York New York, NY 1933 - 1938
The John Eichler Brewing Co. New York, NY 1938 - 1947
Liebmann Breweries, Inc. New York, NY 1947 - 1961

THE ABOVE LIST WAS FOUND AT  /www.trayman.net/Brewery.htm http:/  PLEASE CHECK IT OUT,IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON U.S. BREWERIES,TRAYS,CANS,ECT. YOU'LL FIND IT HERE, REALLY  WELL DONE,GREAT SITE.!!

NY BREWERS LIST 1900

Albany Brewing Co., 60 South Ferry Street Albany

Beverwyck Brewing Co., 30 North Ferry Street "

Dobler Brewing Co., Myrtle Avenue and Swan Street "

DR. KILMER'S SWAMP-ROOT THE GREAT

Kidney, Liver and Bladder Remedy  THE REQULAR JOBBING DISCOUNT TO THE RETAIL TRADE IS;

  3 per cent, off on $24.00 quantity.   5 per" cent, off on   $48.00 quantity. 8 per cent, off on $96.00 quantity.

The Wholesaler is also at liberty to give his usual cash discount. ' Ask us to send

you nice printed matter for store distribution?all free?charges prepaid.   DR. KILMER & CO., Bingimton, N. Y.  SWAMP-ROOT MAKES FRIENDS

American bottles old & new:  story of the industry in the United States

American bottles old & new: a story of the industry in the United States 

By William Spooner Walbridge

by historicbottlewebsite

One of the easier to identify and most consistently accurate indicators that a bottle was manufactured during or prior to the American Civil War (i.e., the 1860s or before) is the pontil scar present on the base.

A pontil mark is a variably sized and type of scar left on the base of a bottle by a pontil rod. A typical pontil rod or “punte” was a long (4-6 feet) iron rod which was securely attached to the base of the just blown hot bottle. This attachment process was called “empontilling.” The rod had to be long enough so that the heat transference from the extremely hot (2000°+ F.) bottle did not reach the hands of the pontil rod holder. A pontil rod held the bottle during the steps in the bottle blowing process where the blowpipe is removed (“cracked-off”) from the bottle and that break-off point is “finished”, i.e. the lip or “finish” is completed in some fashion, with or without additional glass. (The process of “finishing” a bottle will be the subject of a future article.)

Once the bottle is “finished,” the pontil rod itself is sharply tapped which breaks it free of the bottle. The base of a bottle which was held with a pontil rod will almost always retain some evidence of the pontil rod attachment. (For more information on the production processes of making bottles, please see my “Historic Glass Bottle Identification & Information Website” (HBW for short) at www.sha.org/bottle/index.htm . In particular see the “Glassmaking & Glassmakers” page at www.sha.org/bottle/glassmaking.htm )

Four types of pontil scars

There were four main types of empontilling methods – all of which leave more or less distinctively different base markings. These are briefly discussed below:

1. Glass-tipped pontil scar (image #1) – This type pontil scar was formed by the use of a solid iron bar as the pontil rod. One slightly widened end of the bar was tipped with molten glass then applied and fused to the base of the bottle. A glass tipped pontil rod made contact with most – or all – of the bottle base within the confines of the diameter of the pontil rod tip. When the rod was broken free of the bottle, a generally round but fragmented scar was left behind on the base.

This is usually manifested primarily by an assortment of glass fragments protruding above the base of the bottle. See image #1 which is a mid-19th century sauce bottle. In addition, the rod would usually take with it some small glass fragments from the base of the bottle leaving a scar which is a round scattering of “bumps and gouges” without a distinctly unmarred scar center – like the blowpipe pontil scar described next.

2. Blowpipe or “open” pontil scar (image #2) – This type of pontil mark – which was also called the “ring pontil” or “open pontil” – was formed when a hollow blowpipe was used as the pontil rod. It is at least as common on American made bottles as the glass tipped pontil mark (Boow 1991). Using a blowpipe for empontilling was likely done to both save on the number of tools used by the glass blower and to save time.

When a blowpipe was used as a pontil, it left behind a distinctive ring shaped scar that is usually sharp edged, hollow in the middle, and round to slightly oval with an overall diameter that is roughly the size of the bottles upper neck. This is circumstantial proof that one blowpipe was usually used for both blowing and empontilling. Image #2 shows a very large and distinct blowpipe pontil on the base of a “Jenny Lind calabash” bottle that dates from about 1850.

3. Sand pontil scar (image #3) – The sand pontil scar was also a common method of empontilling a bottle to hold it for finishing, though less common on American made bottles than the other three primary methods described here. This mark was formed when the hot glass on the flared or ball shaped tip of a solid iron pontil rod was dipped in sand (or small glass chips) prior to application to the bottle base. The sand/glass chips were apparently intended to keep the pontil rod from adhering too closely to the bottle, facilitating easier removal.

A larger connecting surface at the end of the pontil rod was necessary with this method in order to ensure an adequate adherence to the bottle base and was of particular use with the ever increasing numbers of molded bottles during the first half of the 19th century. The sand pontil apparently conformed better than other pontil types to molded base shapes without distorting it (Jones 1971; McDougall 1990).

This type of pontil can be very subtle and hard to identify at times (it is also hard to photograph). It often must be confirmed by running ones finger over the base and feeling for the presence of a finger grabbing “sandpaper effect.” It feels and visually appears to be a generally round, sparse scattering of very fine sand, glass, or quartz grains imbedded onto and into the surface glass of the base. Some have described this as an “orange peel” effect (McDougall 1990). See image #3 which shows the base of an 1830s to 1840s patent medicine (“Health Restorative”) bottle from New York.

The sand pontil will usually (though lightly) cover a much larger diameter area on the base than typically affected by the other three empontilling methods covered here (although iron pontil marks can be wide also; see the next section). The base of a sand pontiled bottle will often show some distortion made by the red hot pontil rod ball tip/head application to the bottle base which often more or less outlines the sand pontil area. The noted image shows a sand pontil with the distortion (indented slightly) made by the pontil ball tip in evidence.

4. Iron or” improved” pontil scar (image #4) – This fascinating type of pontil mark is also referred to as simply an “iron pontil” or “improved pontil.” It is also commonly referred to as a “graphite pontil.” This is erroneous as there is no graphite (carbon) associated with any improved or iron pontil mark. Apparently the term originated from the fact that the substance often looks like a graphite smear. In actuality, the residual red, reddish black, gray, or black deposits are iron, typically oxidized iron – ferric (red) and ferrous (gray, black) oxides (Toulouse 1968; McKearin & Wilson 1978).

The iron pontil scar is the result of using a bare iron pontil rod with an appropriate shaped tip or head which was heated red hot and directly applied and fused to the base of the bottle to be held. There was no glass added (like the glass-tipped pontil rod) or remaining (like using the blowpipe for a pontil) on the iron tip of this type pontil rod.

Like the other pontil rod types, this one was probably removed by sharply tapping the rod near the attachment point. The iron deposits which form the iron pontil mark are very small fragments or residue from the tip of the bare iron pontil rod itself. Image #4 is of a “gothic peppersauce” bottle from the 1850s with a classic dark gray iron pontil mark.

For more detailed information on the fascinating world of pontil marks or scars – including many more images and illustrations – check out the “Pontil Scars” page of my Historic Bottle Website at www.sha.org/bottle/pontil_scars.htm

Dating bottles with pontil scars

Pontil rods and the resultant pontil scars go back to antiquity, having been used for bottle making as early as Roman times (McKearin 1941). All of the different pontil scars noted can be found on American made utilitarian bottles that date to or before the American Civil War (mid-1860s). Pontil scars on all types of “utilitarian bottles” (discussed below) became ever increasingly unusual as the 1860s progressed and largely disappeared by the late 1860s or early 1870s as various “snap” or snap case tools dominated the task of grasping the hot bottle for finishing.

However, the transition time for conversion from the pontil rod to the snap case was lengthy. The first use of the grasping snap tool in the United States may have been in the 1840s, but its use was definitely evident by at least the early 1850s. Thus, utilitarian bottles without a pontil scar can date as early as the late 1840s to early 1850s (though rarely earlier) and pontil scars can be found – though very infrequently – on utilitarian bottles made in the late 1860s and even early 1870s

More specifically, glass tipped, blowpipe, and sand pontil marks may all be found on most all bottles dating well before bottles were even made in any quantity in the New World, i.e. before the late 18th century, and continued to be common on a large majority of bottles up until the American Civil War. Some utilitarian bottles (though a relatively small percentage) were still being produced with these pontil marks as late as the early 1870s. After that time, those types of pontil scars are very unusual and related mostly to the production of low volume “specialty” bottles (e.g., fancy liquor decanters, barber bottles).

The bare iron pontil apparently had a fairly narrow lifespan as the majority of these bottles date between about 1845 and the mid-1860s, though they can be as early as 1830s and possibly as late as the early 1870s. They are particularly common on mid-19th century soda/mineral water bottles but can be found on a wide variety of bottle types (Toulouse 1968; Watson & Skrill 1971; McKearin & Wilson 1978; Cannon 1990; Boow 1991; Van den Bossche 2001).

Pontil scars and bottle values

It is very simple to summarize the impact of pontil scars on historic bottles: pontil scars of all types enhance the value of a bottle almost without exception (and I can’t think of any exceptions). The attraction of pontil scars/marks to collectors is largely connected with the fact that the mark proves a Civil War (or earlier) heritage and is a visual, physical connection of that bottle with the primitive, craft based bottle manufacturing methods of old.

As an example of how a pontil mark affects value, consider a “Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters” bottle – one of the most common bitters bottles made during the last half of the 19th century — which may be worth $10 to $500 depending on color (plain ambers at the lower end; various shades of green – like image #5 – or black glass at the upper end of the scale). However, if that same Hostetter’s bottle has a distinct iron pontil scar the value increases at least 10-fold! (Pontiled Hostetter’s bottles are extremely rare, but do exist.) Although the spread in value usually isn’t that great, most bottles are worth significantly more if the base exhibits a pontil scar than if it does not and is “smooth” to use collector jargon.

To view the references noted in this article view the HBW “References” page at www.sha.org/bottle/References.htm
For viewers unfamiliar with some of the terminology used in the descriptions, please see the HBW “Bottle Glossary” page at www.sha.org/bottle/glossary.htm

The Kilmers of Binghamton, New York
~ By  John E. Golley 1997, Email:   ByGolley@email.msn.com

 This is the history of a family, a "patent medicine" company and ultimately, of a city. The Kilmer family started out in the small village of Cobleskill, New York and through several generations, influenced the health and politics of the city of Binghamton and made their mark upon the world.....this is their story.

Dr. Sylvester Andral Kilmer, MD was born in Cobleskill, New York on December 19, 1840, one of eleven children of Daniel and Maria Shaver Kilmer. He attended the log school in Cobleskill, the Schoharie Academy and then the Warnerville and Richmondville Seminaries. At the age of eighteen, he entered the office of Dr. Scott, a prominent Allopathic physician in Schoharie County. Wishing to get away from the "one school" idea, he then studied with Dr. Downing who had been called the successful pioneer of Homeopathy in the Schoharie region of New York State. Dr. S. Andral Kilmer started his own practice of medicine as county physician at Barnerville, Schoharie County. Following through with the idea of a broad acquaintance with medicine and surgery, he studied Eclectic and Botanic Practice with Dr. Patrick of Wisconsin. He attended the preliminary and regular course of the Bellevue Hospital and Medical College in New York City, where he had instruction at the Eye and Ear Infirmary on Blackwell's Island and other hospitals. He also received a special practical course at the Philadelphia Lying-In-Charity Hospital, where he received instruction in Practical Obstetrics and Diseases of Women; he also received similar instruction at the Central Dispensary of Chicago. He received further instruction at the Philadelphia School of Operative Surgery under the special tutelage of the noted physician Dr. D. Hayes Agnew and he also had a diploma from the Bennett Medical College of Chicago. After a successful tour of medical lectures and practice in the West, he settled in Binghamton, New York.   In Binghamton, he was first employed in visiting Binghamton and the surrounding cities on advertised days, in which practice Dr. Kilmer was so famous and successful that he was soon enabled to begin erection of his Laboratory buildings for the preparation of his remedies, which became necessary to supply the ever increasing demand. In 1878 his brother, Jonas Kilmer, moved to Binghamton to run the business end of the proprietary medicine business, and in 1892, Jonas bought out Dr. S. Andral Kilmer's share of the business. Their first major laboratory and manufacturing plant was located at the corners of Chenango and Virgil Streets in Binghamton. Dr. Kilmer prepared many different medicines, some of which were Dr. Kilmer's Ocean Weed Heart Remedy, Female Remedy, Indian Cough and Consumption Cure, Autumn Leaf Extract, U & O Ointment and Prompt Parilla Pills, but the most well known remedy was Dr. Kilmer's Swamp Root Kidney Liver and Bladder Cure. Swamp Root contained Buchu leaves, Oil of Juniper, Oil of Birch, Colombo Root, Swamp-Sassafras, Balsam Copaiba, Balsam Tolu, Skullcap leaves, Venice Turpentine, Valerian Root, Rhubarb Root, Mandrake Root, Peppermint herb, Aloes, Cinnamon and sugar and contained approximately 9 to 10-1/2% alcohol.  In the years prior to Dr. Kilmer's sale of his interest in the proprietary medicine business, during its growth and increasing professional services, Dr. Kilmer kept looking for a place which included the peculiar properties required and known only to him. He located such a place in Osborne Hollow, situated approximately ten miles east of Binghamton, where there was a sulpho-phosphate spring. He induced the townspeople to rename the area Sanitaria Springs and at a cost of $100,000 he built a Sanitarium and Hydrotherapium in 1892. The outside grounds were a well-arranged system of natural parks and the buildings contained every modern convenience of their time including electric lights, steam heaters and elevators. In addition to the sulpho-phosphate spring, there were ten others including the Blue Lithia, Red Iron, Black Magnetic and Ferro-Manganese. All types of baths were in use summer and winter, including Sulphur, Turkish, Russian and Electric. Dr. Kilmer's son Ulysses was employed as Associate Superintendent and a daughter, Edith, was the Librarian. Another of Dr. S. Andral's brothers, Andrew G. Kilmer, gave up his life work as a teacher ( He had been Associate Principal of the Schoharie Academy, Vice-President of the Franklin Institute, Principal of the grade school in Cobleskill and Principle of the Academy in Bainbridge, New York. He also organized the academy in Schenevus, with much success.) and entered the business office of Dr. Kilmer and Company and later, was the Assistant Superintendent of the Sanitarium. Andrew Kilmer was my maternal grandmother, Alice Cooper Kisselburgh's great-grandfather. She and her sister used to visit him and Uncle Sylvester at the sanitarium in the summer when they were young. It was also around this time that Dr. S. Andral Kilmer began formally treating patients for cancer, both at the Sanitarium and also at his Cancertorium at 254 Conklin Avenue in Binghamton. He advertised his cancer cure nationally and would pay train fare to the Sanitarium upon commitment of a stay of three to six months to effect the cure. He advocated a homeopathic approach to the treatment of this disease , which involved a controlled diet, treatment with the different springs as well as a secret medicine which, after a time, would cause the cancer to be expelled from the body; they would literally fall off. My grandmother and her sister had both been witness to these treatments and witnessed the results first-hand, and swore that they had seen the eradications occur. Dr. Kilmer was decidedly against plasters, radium, x-rays and surgery on these cancers as he felt that not only did they injure the patient, but they caused the cancers to be harder to treat and might even cause them to spread. At this period of time in Binghamton, there was a very heated clash between the traditional medical doctors and the homeopathic doctors; they wouldn't even work in the same hospitals together. Dr. Kilmer had been trained in both practices, but leaned more toward the homeopathic and allopathic teachings. This fact, as well as his ties to the proprietary medicine business, keep him under constant scrutiny by the "old school" doctors of his time. His assertions of having a cure for cancer, which they felt was impossible given his methods, made him the brunt of ridicule by his colleagues. He offered to share his knowledge in the non-surgical treatment of cancer with them, according to conversations his daughter Hattie Marguerite had with my grandmother, but was his help was refused and rebuffed, and he was so professionally ridiculed by his colleagues, that he took the secrets of his "cure" to his grave. The patients who were treated by Dr. Kilmer held him in high esteem, and he was treating patients three days before his death of a cerebral hemorrhage. He died in his home at 44 Beethoven Street in Binghamton on January 14, 1924. Whether or not he had a cure for cancer is open to conjecture - my grandmother and her sister would both state a resolute yes, however, testimonials and the like, especially of that era, quite often are at best questionable; my only thought is...what if?  Dr. S. Andral Kilmer and Jonas M. Kilmer had two other brothers who were also in business for themselves. Augustus Kilmer established the Kilmer Manufacturing Company in Newburgh, New York which manufactured baling ties and wire fencing. Another brother, Thomas J. Kilmer, was a physician in Schoharie, New York and several old bottles embossed with his name are known to exist.  Jonas M. Kilmer was also born in Cobleskill, New York on April 11, 1843. He was a graduate of the Bryant and Stratton Business College in Albany, after which he worked for a year in the general store of Joseph Taylor of Schoharie Court House, and then worked the next eighteen years in the mercantile business in New York City with several different firms, rising to important positions. His brother convinced him to move to Binghamton in 1881 where he ran the business end of the "patent medicine" business as an equal partner. In 1892 he bought out Dr. S. Andral Kilmer's interest in the company, though some would say he "swindled" his brother in the deal; the purchase price is unknown. Jonas' son, Willis Sharpe Kilmer became the Head of Advertising for the company, and business began to increase rapidly. The company was incorporated in 1909 as Dr. Kilmer & Company and had branch offices in New York, Chicago, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. In 1899, Jonas Kilmer was elected Director of The People's Bank of Binghamton, in which capacity he served from October 2, 1899 until February 9, 1907, at which time he was elected President; he served in this capacity until his death. On December 4, 1907 he was chosen as a trustee of Binghamton Savings Bank and also served as President of the Binghamton Press from 1904 until his death. People's Bank merged with Broome County Trust Company on April 20, 1914 and became People's Trust Company. From 1893 to 1908, Jonas Kilmer also served as a member of the Board of Police Commissioners. Jonas Kilmer died in Binghamton in 1912, but not without first giving all the credit of the success of the family business to his son, Willis Sharpe Kilmer.  Willis Sharpe Kilmer was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 18, 1869. He graduated from Cornell University in 1880 and went to work in the family business. Willis was put in charge of the advertising department of Dr. Kilmer and Company, which lead to a swift increase in business. Advertising in the late 1800's was not the "science" that it is today and Willis Sharpe Kilmer was one of advertising's earliest pioneers. His first wife was Beatrice Richardson who's socially prominent father was one of the brightest executives in a fledgling newspaper advertising agency in New York City. Willis Kilmer had a more metropolitan upbringing than many of his peers and his relationship with Mr. Richardson and his family connections all helped benefit Willis and his new ideas. Dr. Kilmer and Company utilized all the forms of advertising of the day including painted wooden signs, posters and printed circulars, but with the entrance of Willis' leadership, began purchasing ad space in newspapers expounding the virtues of their numerous cures and they were amongst the fore-runners in printing Almanacs, which not only would list the normal items such as moon phases, best planting times and the like, but at every turn of the page, listed one or more of the products, printed testimonials for the same and helped diagnose "ailments" of which one of their products would "cure". The packaging of their products was also easily noticed on the shelf. For ease of finding the correct cure, their Heart Remedy had an embossed heart on it, Swamp Root Kidney Cure had a kidney embossed on it and so forth, and their packaging was bright orange with the likeness of a whiskered Dr. S. Andral Kilmer printed boldly on the front. The package also invited customers to write to Dr. Kilmer for advise and prescription, which, long after Dr. S. Andral Kilmer had sold his share of the business, caused Dr. Kilmer to initiate a lawsuit against his brother and nephew in which he accused Dr. Kilmer and Company of representing him as the physician in charge of their medical department and also, that they pretended to give medical advice and prescribe medicines for diseases which they pretended to diagnose. When a lower court ruled against Dr. Kilmer and Company, Willis pursued the suit in The Appellate Court, and in 1917, the decision against the company was reversed. It was Willis Sharpe Kilmer's advertising prowess as well as his "muscle" via political and professional contacts that made Swamp Root a household word. When other patent medicines were losing popularity due to The Pure Food and Drug Act as well as an increased respect for medical science, Swamp Root was still filling the Kilmer coffers. When asked what Swamp Root was good for, Willis Kilmer once replied, "About a million dollars a year!". Patent medicine wasn't the only thing Willis Sharp Kilmer was involved in. On April 11, 1904, Mr. Kilmer founded The Binghamton Press, which became a very well-respected newspaper in the country. It has been alleged, although never proven, that he started the newspaper for the purpose of putting The Binghamton Evening Herald out of business and he could also control the advertising of various patent medicines and any articles condemning the same. There were several people such as Samuel Hopkins Adams, who were very much against patent medicines and were lobbying very hard for the passage of The Pure Food and Drug Act. Mr. Kilmer was very successful in "squashing" their stories and did eventually put The Evening Herald, run by his long-time personal and political enemy Guy Beardsley, out of business. Mr. Beardsley later sued Willis Sharpe Kilmer charging conspiracy to put him out of business; Beardsley lost the suit.  Willis Sharpe Kilmer was also a very fine judge of horses. The family mansion is still located on Riverside Drive in Binghamton, and on the surrounding grounds, Mr. Kilmer built Sun Briar Court, which had a 1/5 mile indoor track, an outdoor track connected to a half-mile circular track, 100 fire-proof stalls and the main stable included offices, quarters and a clubhouse. The Kilmer racing colors were brown, green and orange and he owned many fine horses; Genie- the son of Man O' War, Sun Briar, Sun Beau and Exterminator, which won the 1918 Kentucky Derby and was the leading money winner for four straight seasons. Sun Beau held the American record for money won until Sea Biscuit broke the record in 1939. Mr. Kilmer owned a large estate on the Rappahannock River in Virginia known as Remlik (Kilmer spelled backwards) as well as a game preserve near Binghamton called Sky Lake and he was a pioneer in forest and game preservation in New York as well as Virginia. He established the Kilmer Pathological Laboratory in Binghamton and started Binghamton's first nine hole golf course, which later became the Binghamton Country Club. Willis Sharpe Kilmer died of pneumonia on July 12, 1940 leaving an estate estimated at $10 to $15 million dollars, and is interred in the family mausoleum in Floral Park Cemetery in Binghamton, New York. After World War II, his second wife, Sarah Jane Wells, sold the rights to make and manufacture Swamp Root to Medtech Laboratories of Cody, Wyoming. The eight story Kilmer Building, built in 1902 after the original building was damaged by fire, still stands at 141 Chenango Street and Swamp Root was still on the shelves of the E. C. McKallor Drug Company in Binghamton in 1983 - it can still be ordered today, more than almost 120 years after it was first produced, a testament to the advertising skill of Willis Sharpe Kilmer and the strength of the Kilmer name and reputation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Binghamton and Broome County, New York, Volumes I, II and III, The Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1924  Broome County Historical Society Newsletter, Spring 1982  The Binghamton Press, June 30, 1983  The Sunday Press, July 24, 1983  The Binghamton Press, July 13, 1940  The Binghamton Press, January 14, 1924  The History of the Kilmer Family In America, Rev. C. H. Kilmer, 1897  Lost Landmarks of Broome County, New York, Marjory Barnum Hinman, 1983  One For A Man, Two For A Horse, Gerald Carson, 1961  Willis Sharpe Kilmer's Use of Advertising in the Promotion of Swamp Root, Annette Bakic, 1981  Dr. Kilmer's Swamp Root Almanac, 1930  Dr. Kilmer's Swamp Root Almanac, 1941  Dr. Kilmer's Red Book of Hope  Valley of Opportunity