AB of RI - New Finds14

I originally started this New Finds page back in December and I planned on finishing it when we got back from our trip to Okinawa for the holidays. Why go to Japan to celebrate Christmas? Well, it was mainly to see our new granddaughter and make sure our son and daughter-in-law were taking care of the little peanut properly. Yes, it's our first grandkid and we plan on spoiling her rotten. Unfortunately (for Joanne and I anyway), my son is in the Air Force and stationed out there until 2004 so we wanted to see the baby before she went to her high school prom. And I'm happy to report that Mommy and Daddy are doing a terrific job with the little kid. I can't believe my son is a father. Heck, I can't believe I'm a grandfather...

My daughter, Jeanne, had been bugging me to go "antiqueing" with her for months and months but I was in a rut and not being very fun so I kept putting her off. Finally she convinced me it would be therapeutic for me to go out and spend money that I didn't have. Oh, now do I ever feel so much better. I found this first bottle in a group shop in New Bedford. As soon as I saw it I knew it wasn't listed in the book and couldn't recall ever seeing another one like it. Embossed INFANT SOOTHER / WILLIAM E. CLARKE on the front and PROPRIETOR / PROVIDENCE RI. on the reverse, I realised it was different from the Infant Soother already listed as that one didn't have William spelled out, just abbreviated Wm. Another interesting characteristic of this bottle is the way Clarke's name is embossed. All of the letters in his name are pretty much run together so it looks like all one word, WILLIAMECLARKE with a small period between the E and C. The bottle stands 5" tall and is cylindrical with a rather crude band type lip. The condition is no where near perfect as it was dug and has the scratches and dullness typical of a bottle that came from the ground but it's still a new find.

I have almost grown immune to the auctions on eBay for certain RI bottles, one example being the Everrett & Barron shoe polish bottles. If you've seen one, you've seen them all, right? Not really. Every bottle I had seen from this company was either clear (the majority) or aqua so I was very surprised to find an amber example offered.

Embossed vertically in three lines EVERETT & BARRON CO. / PROVIDENCE, R.I. / U.S.A. this bottle is a break from the usual examples seen. Without knowing what business the company was in, you'd assume this was a little medicine by it's shape. The bottle stands 3-5/16" tall, is square in shape and is blown in mold.

Like most of the other RI bottles I report on in this forum, this is nothing earth shattering nor will it turn the bottle collecting world on it's ear. It's just a neat little bottle from a pretty well known company and another reminder that there are always New Finds out there. You just have to be persistant and patient.

If you read the online Punty Rod, you might remember that I mentioned that Art Pawlowski found an unlisted RI mineral water at our show in January. I really don't think many people out there have even heard of this bottle let alone seen one nor do they realize the importance of it as is the case with a few other RI sodas, beers and mineral waters that have been found.

The bottle is embossed CENTREDALE MINERAL / WATER, CO. on the front in a slugplate. The base is embossed STEWART'S / PAT. STOPPER and as far as I know the ONLY Rhode Island bottle to use this closure. The bottle's shape is fairly unique in a RI mineral water with a long sloping neck and shoulders. The color is a light aqua and the bottle stands 7-1/2" high. There is no closure present but that's not really unusual as is common with a lot of bottles with uncommon closures.

Over the years, the RI hutch has been probably the most sought after hutch in the US. It is condsidered the hardest of the 50 states to acquire and always stirs up a lot of interest when one becomes available. However, and this is only my opinion and not the opinion of the networks or their sponsors, there are several other RI soda/beer/mineral water related bottles that are even rarer that any hutch from our state. One is the virtually unattainable HARVEY MINERAL WATER Codd, iRI-831, and another that I consider important and relatively hard to find is the McKENNA BROS.,THE THASMO / PAT. APPLD. FOR. There are other very rare bottles from RI but I'm just talking about this category of bottles with closures other than blob tops and crown tops.

Now I have to add this Centrdale Mineral Water to that very small group of rare soda type bottles with unusual closures or unusual shapes.

Just for fun, and I'm sure this may stir up some controversy, here's my Top Ten list of favorite RI soda/beer/mineral waters currently known:

iRI-830 - IRA HARVEY / PROVIDENCE R.I.: Tee-pee soda, very long neck, slow sloping shoulders, short body; open pontil; cobalt blue; 7-3/8"; My absolute favorite RI bottle in this category.

iRI-831 - HARVEY / MINERAL / WATER / WORKS all around outside edges of a diamond / TRADE MARK / JSH monogram / NEWPORT / R.I. (all within the diamond): REGISTERED (front heel); H. CODD PAT. 1872 & 73 (base); Codd soda; aqua; 7-3/4"; The only Codd type bottle from RI. Only seven of these are known to exist.

iRI-1159 - DR / WADSWORTH / PROVIDENCE / R.I.: ten pin shape with applied tapered lip, very heavy glass; open pontil; aqua; more information needed; Very rare. I've only seen one in a photo and that example was broken.

iRI-670 - WILLIAM E. CLARKE'S / MINERAL WATERS / PROVIDENCE, R.I.: blob top torpedo; aqua; More information needed.; Good luck finding one of these.

iRI-1200 - CHAS F. YOUNG / 38 S-MAIN ST / PROVIDENCE / R.I.: blob top, narrow body, long tapered neck, unusual ramp type closure; amber; 7-3/4"; This might bring a chuckle from some of you since it's not a super rare bottle or even one that commands a ton of money. But to me this is a great looking bottle that has a lot going for it when you combine the shape, color, and the closure which is awesome. The problem is finding one with the closure. Again, good luck.

iRI-933 - McKENNA BROS. / PROVIDENCE. R.I. (in slugplate): REGISTERED (reverse upper body); THE THASMO / PAT. APPLD. FOR (reverse heel); sealing ring inside of lip and marble ball stopper; aqua; 7-1/2"; This has always been a top favorite. Not worth a lot of money but a great example especially with the sealing ring and ball intact. Now, try to find one complete.

iRI-664 - CENTREDALE MINERAL / WATER, CO. (in slugplate): STEWART'S / PAT. STOPPER (base); long sloping neck and shoulders; aqua; 7-1/2"; The only Stewart's Patent bottle known from RI. The only example I've seen has no closure.

iRI-932 - S. E. McCREEDY / PROVIDENCE, R.I. (in slugplate): REGISTERED (front shoulder); Hutchinson soda, 'mug' base; clear, s.c.a.; 7-3/4"; Okay. I have to put at least one Hutch in here and out of the five or six different known RI hutches, this is my favorite. It's the mug base. Adds character that draws attention.

iRI-1044 - E. POSTENS & CO. / PROVIDENCE R.I. (front): GRAVITATING STOPPER MADE BY JOHN MATTHEWS PATD OCT 11 1864 NEW-YORK (base); long sloping shoulders, internal glass stopper; aqua; 7-3/8"; Another one that might bring a chuckle or two from some of you is this Postens. These can be found pretty easily and have been used in the past as the 50th Hutch in quite a few collections. But I think it's a bottle that draws deserving attention, especially when it has the closure. And, well, it's like a faithful mutt. There's no other RI bottle shaped quite like it.

iRI-823 - AMERICAN // GINGER ALE // GEO. P. HARVEY & CO. // NEWPORT. R.I.: blob top round bottom, 5 panels on body; aqua; 8-5/8"; This was the first round bottom RI soda I ever saw and thought it was the coolest thing going. It's still a favorite and fairly hard to come by. It was the only round bottom from our state until the discovery of an almost identical Boynton (iRI-604.1) round bottom appeared several years ago.

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.