AB of RI - New Finds 5

Okay, so it's been a few months since my last update. I originally had a page almost ready to go but never quite finish it. Then we had our club's bottle show and I decided to do a new page revolving around some of the bottles I acquired at the show. The other page will get finished as soon as I photograph and scan the pictures (no digital camera yet) and I will share those new finds with you.

The first acquisition of the day was a label only mini whiskey flask. Printed on the label is DODGE & CAMFIELD / OLD RYE WHISKEY / 56 TO 59 / EXCHANGE PLACE / PROVIDENCE, R.I. The clear, blown in mold bottle has a tooled and threaded lip which accepts a screw cap. Standing at 3 5/8" high, this oval flask has a slightly footed base. The label is approximately 90% intact and although slightly darkened with age, is still very readable (but difficult to scan). The bottle itself is in excellent condition but does have some inside dried content residue.

Although labelled only bottles are not included in the book, I thought this one was unique enough to add to my collection.

I found this next bottle after several trips around the room and managed to grab it just as it hit the table. Quite a few years ago I had a P. Faerber soda bottle with the embossed stone mill on it. I wasn't collecting RI bottles at the time and ended up selling it somewhere along the line. After I decided to focus strictly on RI bottles, I began the search for certain ones, the Faerber being in that group. I have several different Faerber bottles but none with the stone mill. I didn't realise how hard they were to come by until I began looking in earnest. Needless to say I was thrilled to find this one at the show. The problem came when I got home and logged it into my database. This bottle wasn't coming up with this particular embossing and in this size. While the bottle listed as RI-577 in Antique Bottles Of Rhode Island is also a clear, blown in mold crown top, this new one measures 9" tall compared to the 8" one in the book. To make matters worse (or better, depending how you look at it), the embossing is placed differently. The new variant is embossed P. FAERBER / picture of a stone mill / NEWPORT, R.I. on the front body. It also has REGISTERED on the front shoulder, something which the listed bottle does not. (If you don't have a copy of the book, RI-577 is embossed as follows: P. FAERBER / NEWPORT, R.I. / picture of a stone mill. It does not say REGISTERED anywhere.)

While I had no idea what the value of this bottle was, the $20.00 price tag seemed well worth it for a bottle this scarce. It was even better when I got it for $15.00 but I probably would have paid more if I had to. There aren't that many picture sodas from RI and out of that group I feel this is one of the best ones.