Prior Newsletters 2006 May 2004 November 2003 October September July May April February 2002 December November September May April March January 2001 December October September July June May April March February January 2000 December November October September July June May April February January 1999 November October September July June May

The iPunty Rod Internet Newsletter Of The Little Rhody Bottle Club February 2001 This page is updated around the 1st week of every month The next meeting of the LRBC will be held on February 13th at 7:30 p.m. at the Pontiac Library, Greenwich Ave., Warwick, RI   The program will be "Metal Detecting" presented by Bill Ladd. Bill will demonstrate all facets of the hobby and will display a number of his finds. This should prove to be an interesting program for bottle collectors and non bottle collectors alike so please try to attend! Club News LRBC Show 2001 Well, it's over and done with for another year and if you missed it you missed a good one. Dave Stamp and I pulled into the parking lot at the K of C hall and said "Holy S---!" The lot was packed with cars and trucks. Neither of us had ever seen it like this at our show before. Granted we were late, arriving at a few minutes after 10, but still. We were impressed. And the inside of the hall looked more like the opening bell at Keene. Wall to wall people and money literally flying through the air.   I overheard a couple of people talking and one said that he didn't know why people thought the show was small. His comments were along the lines that there were plenty of dealers and an excellent variety of bottles and jars ranging from the common to the rare. He was also impressed with the amount of room in the aisles and, while there were a lot of people in the hall, you didn't have to climb over anyone to move around. I don't know who this person was but it was nice to hear positive comments about the show.   I also heard a few complaints, too, one of the most common being the lack of confirmation and contact about table reservations. We will be discussing the possibility of forming a show committee to handle individual aspects of the show rather than loading all of the responsibilities onto one or two people. We all have busy lives and never seem to have much time for the extra things but these things nevertheless have to get done.   Overall the show went off pretty smoothly and we hope next year it will be even better. The end results? Although you never would have believed it looking around the hall, attendance was actually down substantially from last year. Records indicate there were 223 people through the door as compared to 314 last year but this didn't hurt dealer sales at all. I didn't hear one dealer complaining about poor sales, most saying they were having a fantastic day. A lot of bottles changed hands as well as a lot of money and it seems everyone went home VERY happy.   There were 138 raffle tickets sold for the amber Drakes Bitters which was won by Henry Hartley. The AB&GC People's Choice Ribbon for the best dealer table went to Leo Goudreau.   There was a table next to the admissions table where many hard working members promoted the club throughout the day. Three tee shirts and one book were sold, twenty two members renewed their membership, and eight new members joined. Thanks to the following people for their help: Chuck Richardson, Stanley Sorrentino, Bev and John Barone, Rob Fahey, Maureen Kelliher, Robert Ragonese, Eric Correia, Carl Pratt, Art Pawlowski, and Pam Sroka.   And next year's date? We're all set for January 13, 2002 so mark your calendars!   Bottles Found At Show Art Gueguen, one of the dealers at the show, found a couple of wrapped bottles under his table when he was packing up to go home and left them with Art and Pam. They wanted me to put out this notice that if you are the person who is missing a couple of bottles, please email Pam or Art at blobtops@aol.com or pjdiggs@aol.com and describe them. We want to get these items to their rightful owner as soon as possible.   Several "New Finds" Surface At Show For me, probably the most exciting thing about collecting RI bottles is finding an unknown example. Some people collect expensive or rare items, usually viewing it more as an investment than a hobby, but I like five dollar bottles just as much as five hundred dollar bottles and monetary worth is a lesser concern than aesthetic appeal. There were several impressive and rare high ticket RI items at the show but a couple of relatively inexpensive New Finds got me excited.   The first is one that I missed because I got to the show late but happily was scooped up by Art Pawlowski. When he first showed it to me I said, "Oooh. Nice bottle, good find." I wasn't too jealous because I already had one, or so I thought. Then I took a closer look and realized it was NOT what I thought it was. Art pulled out what appeared to be an AMERICAN // GINGER ALE // GEO. P. HARVEY & CO. // NEWPORT. R.I. which is listed in the Soda, Beer, & Mineral Water category as iRI-823 online and RI-639 in the printed book. These sodas are relatively rare but do show up once in a great while. The one Art had was embossed AMERICAN // GINGER ALE // W. W. BOYNTON & CO. // PROVIDENCE, R.I. Now I AM jealous. Until now there has never been an example reported and I believe you would be hard pressed to find another. This Boynton soda may have been a reworked mold of the Harvey as the design and form of the bottle is almost identical between the two examples. The only real difference between my Harvey and Art's Boynton is mine is perfectly round and his is slightly oval. A great find.   Another unexpected find was a CPC (Cross Pen Company) desk or personal ink. This bottle is listed in the Miscellaneous category as iRI-1309 online and RI-1030 in the printed book. Now these are as common as potholes around here and normally I wouldn't have given this example a second look but thanks to Dave Stamp's keen eye, I now have a previously unknown larger size desk ink. All of the other examples I've seen are 2 7/8" tall but this one measured in at 4 1/2" in height. The diameter is also 1/4" wider than previous examples and the weight of the bottle is considerably heavier. There were only three different CPC inks listed, two different masters and the one desk style, but now there is another to add.   I already had heard about the next RI bottle but had never seen it. Steve Anderson brought in an awesome O.H.P. ROSE bitters in a beautiful olive green with dark amber streaks. These bottles were known only in amber and Steve's is the first to vary from the norm. He found this in a river several years ago and ended up selling it to a fellow collector. Recently he managed to get it back and plans to hold on to it. You have to see this bitters in person to really appreciate the color. Steve emailed me some photos and they have been added to the listing. To see this great bottle, click on the following hyperlink: O.H.P.Rose. It will take you directly to the photo page. Clicking the BACK button in your browser will return you here, but if you click on the image it will bring you to the listing in the online book. Upcoming Events February 4 - South River, NJ New Jersey ABC 5th Annual Show & Sale 9 AM to 2 PM K of C Hall, 88 Jackson Street Info: Joe Butewicz; joseph.butwewicz@bms.com or 732-238-3238, or Ernest Bower; 732-868-0510   February 25 - Enfield, CT Somers ABC Annual Show & Sale 9 AM to 3 PM St. Bernard School-West, Pearl Street Info: Rose Sokol; 860-745-7688   April 1 - Portland, ME New England Antique Bottle Club's 35th Annual Show & Sale 9:30 AM &endash; 2:30 PM Italian Heritage Center, 40 Westland Ave. INFO: Herb Boothby, 267 Day Rd., Lyman, ME 94992, PH: (207) 499-2263 or Jack Pelletier, PH: (207) 839-4389.   April 22 - Rochester, NY Genessee Valley Bottle Collectors Association's 32nd Annual Show & Sale 9 AM &endash; 3 PM Monroe County Fairgrounds Minett Hall, Route 15A & Calkins Road INFO: Terry Woodhams, PH: (716) 436-5893 or Mike Nolan, PH: (716) 352-5519   May 20 - Sturbridge, MA Sturbridge Bottle Show & Sale 10 AM &endash; 2 PM, early buyers $10.00 from 9 AM until 10 AM Hamilton Rod & Gun Club, Hamilton Rd. INFO: David Graci, PH: (413) 594-8655 or email at stonebotle@aol.com Classified Ads Wanted: RI Bottles of all types. Contact Dave at 401-942-6634 or email at: oaklawn@earthlink.net Do you have RI bottles which are not listed in Antique Bottles Of Rhode Island? Or maybe you have a bottle in a color or size that is not listed in the book? If so, please send the information to me for inclusion in the bottle book. Proper credit will be given and all information is greatly appreciated. Send by email to: oaklawn@earthlink.net or write to: David Andrews, 192 Wilbur Ave., Cranston, RI 02921 Toy marbles. Will pay cash. Call Jerry Biern: 401-826-3933 Bitters, Peppersauce, and Demi-Johns. Call Jan Boyer: 401-539-2051 1/2 gallon spring water bottles with arched slugplate. Preferably with bail and closure. Please call Art: 401-647-3585 or email: blobtops@aol.com Seltzer water bottles. Wanted in various colors such as red, cobalt, pink, and yellow. Please call Angelo: 401-421-3782 Woonsocket milk bottle - Carl Hendrickson Dairy. Wanted by his granddaughter Donna. Please email her at: dhendrickson@wallace.com. Pontil Providence bottles. Looking for quality pontilled bottles from RI especially from Providence. Also looking for nice squat sodas i.e. Harvey, Marlor, etc. Please call Gary: 401-862-4200 or email at VMAXwarior@aol.com Please direct comments or corrections to: dandrews@littlerhodybottleclub.com Back To Top