AB of RI - New Finds 12

Well, aren't you shocked? Yup, four months in a row now that we've had new New Finds pages, so that should shut you chronic complainers up for a while. Don't mess with me. I've been dealing with some severe family problems and am in a foul mood. You can see it all in next week's exciting adventure on the Fox Network's new primetime soap, Blood On The Pontil, at 8:00 pm Eastern. Check your local cable guide.

Back in the late 1980's when I was assembling the information for Antique Bottles Of Rhode Island, Archie Calise had given me some information on Hilton Brothers & Co., Providence, RI which manufactured HILTON'S INSOLUBLE CEMENT. At that time no one could give me any definate specifics regarding the bottle itself and I could not verify shape, size, method of manufacture, etc., nor could I verify whether the bottle was embossed or label only. In other words, no one I talked to had an example. Therefore I did not include it in the book but did include the information on the company in the Research section.

Well, here it is six years after the book was printed and don't you know I was going through some boxes of bottles I haven't looked at in over ten years and what do I find? Yup, a Hilton's.

This aqua example is embossed HILTON'S / INSOLUBLE / CEMENT. It is round, widemouth, and has a smooth base and stands 3-1/4" tall. It is a crude little guy and from reading what I put in the research section of the book, should be pontilled. The information given to me at that time stated, "Examples of the cement bottles are not very common and are cylindrical, have a widemouth consistant with a blacking or shoe polish bottle, and are pontilled." It is a possibility that my example was indeed pontilled and the base was refired to eliminate the pontil scar as there are indications of that. This is speculation on my part and this bottle may just be a very crude smooth base example.

I do not believe that all of the Hilton's are pontilled as the company was in business for eight years from 1863 through 1871. More than likely the bottles would have been pontilled at the beginning and smooth base at the time the company went out of business but that too is speculation on my part.

This bottle is just another example of one which most RI collectors would pass over because it is not embossed with our state name. Luckily, research proves it to be a RI bottle and a pretty rare one at that. The Hilton's now takes it's place in the online Antique Bottles Of Rhode Island as iRI-1318.1

For all you soda and beer collectors out there, here's a pair of bottles that weren't known at the time the book was published.

The bottle on the left is listed online as iRI-988. It is embossed PROPERTY OF / J. MOSKOL / PROVIDENCE / R.I. in a slugplate and REGISTERED on the front shoulder. This was reported a while back and I had forgotten about it so it never made it to the New Finds page. However, when I was over to Pam and Art's house a couple of months ago, Art pulled out the example on the right. This one is embossed J. MOSKOL / 514-518 / CHALKSTONE / AVE. / PROVIDENCE, R.I. in a slugplate and REGISTERED / 8 OZ on the front shoulder. This bottle went into the book as iRI-988.1 Both are clear in color, are applied crown tops and have finally taken their place in New Finds.

I am still trying to get my cellar in order and am slowly pulling out boxes of stuff to add to future New Finds pages. I have those sodas I told you about, the ones Dave Stamp and I found out in New Bedford but you'd probably be bored with those so I'd suggest you take your vacation next month when I put them on. Hey, life ain't all pontilled bitters, you know, so suck it up, bucko!

Time for my Prozac.

Oh, and by the way. YOU could contribute to this page, too! If you find something not listed in the book, please email the information to me at dandrews@littlerhodybottleclub.com so I can add it.