Georgia - Top 25 Bottles

by Bill Baab, Augusta, Georgia
E-mail: riverswamper@comcast.net

A one-of-a-kind, black glass bottle with an applied seal is Georgia’s No. 1 bottle, according to a poll conducted among 11 of the state’s advanced collectors.

The circa 1797 bottle bearing the seal of Dr. G(eorge) Harral of Savannah was dug in a Savannah privy and casually tossed onto the back seat of a car by its owner, who thought it was just another of the common black glass cylinders dating to the turn of the 19th century.

The bottle is now the property of Bob Simmons of Atlanta, who participated in the poll.

Harral, who was a medical doctor as well as a pharmacist, practiced at various times in Savannah and in Augusta, according to Drugs and Pharmacy in the Life of Georgia 1733-1959 by Robert Cumming Wilson, Dean Emeritus of the University of Georgia School of Pharmacy in Athens (Foote & Davies, Atlanta, 1959).

His address is listed as "George Harral, M.D., Sign of the Mortar & Pestle, Market Square, Savannah, Georgia."

He published The Medicine Chest Book, which was advertised for sale to planters, ship owners or other persons who found themselves out of contact with medical help.

While Wilson’s book is out of print, copies are still available through booksellers who conduct title searches as a part of their business. The book is invaluable to collectors as well as historians. 

A facsimile of a Harral ad published in a Savannah newspaper on Sept. 22, 1797 appears in the book.
A glance through the sports sections of daily newspapers, especially during the fall and winter months, reveals Top 25 polls in college basketball and college football. Why not, the author asked himself, 
conduct such a poll to determine Georgia’s Top 25 antique bottles?

Names of the 11 participating collectors, including himself, may be found at the end of the poll.
The No. 2 bottle in the state is a one-of-a-kind amber Golden Eagle Bitters concocted by Dr. William H. Tutt of Augusta. This specimen is the only one of several Golden Eagle Bitters in existence that sports "Augusta, Ga." embossed on one of the side panels.

A yellow W.A. Carlton’s Antidyseptic & Tonic Bitters from Athens is No. 3, any variety of Savannah’s John Ryan sodas in red, strawberry or pink is No. 4 and the large size River Swamp Chill & Fever Cure with embossed alligator from Augusta rounds out the top 5.

The attic mint cobalt John Ryan / 1867 /Atlanta soda with intact wire bail, which was sold by the now deceased poll participant Peyton Youmans of Savannah for nearly $10,000, was voted No. 6. Atlanta’s amber Ponce de Leon Bitters is No. 7, the open pontiled green Thomas Maher soda from Savannah is No. 8 and there is a tie for No. 9.

Augusta’s aquamarine Dr. Dennis’s Georgia Sarsaparilla sporting an iron 
pontil and the iron-pontiled C. Ells & Son Mineral Water, a cobalt beauty from Macon, each garnered 85 votes.

The teal crown-topped Jones & Co., from Marietta is No. 11, while there was a deadlock for 12th place. The cobalt John Ryan/Columbus with a block R on the side and the cobalt, iron-pontiled E.D. (Ehlers Diterich) Meyer from Augusta each collected 76 points. The amber Barrett, Land & Co. (W.H. Barrett and R.H. Land) Georgia Bitters of which three are known sits in 14th place.

The clear Coca-Cola Hutchinson bearing no city name is 15th and the super-rare John Ryan amber round-bottomed ginger ale is 16th. Seventeenth is the iron-pontiled, cobalt L. Glinde soda from Savannah, while Columbus’ open-pontiled Woodruff’s Dysentery Cordial is 18th. One of the latter was dug during an excavation years ago in Old Williamsburg, Va.

Super-rare pottery pig bottles from Elberton and Macon, respectively, occupy 19th and 20th places, while an E.P.C. Fowler Hutchinson from Tallapoosa is 21st. Fowler was an officer in the Dixie Glass Works of Tallapoosa, which manufactured the bottle. It has DIXIE embossed on the base.

A one-of-a-kind, amber Sarsaparilla & Queen’s Delight produced by Dr. William H. Tutt in Augusta is 22nd, edging out a smooth-based cobalt, 1880 E. (for Edward) Sheehan from Augusta at 23rd. Twenty-fourth place is occupied by a one-of-a-kind dark green Dr. J. Dennis’s Georgia Sarsaparilla with iron pontil from Augusta.

Rounding out the poll is Atlanta’s aqua Life Everlasting Bitters. 

This list was compiled just for the fun of it. As entries began to come in, it soon became evident that many bottles from different geographical sections of the state that deserved to be in the Top 25 wouldn’t make it.

One example is the rare Swamp Fox Fever & Ague Cure/Curry Arrington Co./Rome, Ga., and another is the machine-made cobalt Frog Pond Chill & Fever Tonic from Augusta, not to mention that city’s amber Frog Pond Chill & Fever Cure.

Other examples are the W.P. Renfroe/Big Injun Bar/Valdosta, Ga., flask, and a Blue Ridge Hutchinson from that north Georgia community.

So future projects may include conducting polls to determine the Top 25 antique bottles from the northwest, north-central, northeast, west, central and east, southwest, south-central and southeast Georgia, as well as the Top 25 from the state’s major cities of Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Macon and Savannah.

Other ideas are to name the Top 25 Georgia sodas, patent medicines, bitters, cures and drug store bottles.

All that is going to take awhile.

The Poll :
Here are Georgia's Top 25 antique bottles following voting from a panel of 11 experts from around the state. First-place votes are worth 25 points each, second-place votes 24 points, etc. First place votes are listed in parentheses, followed by the total number of points each bottle received: 

1. Black glass Dr. G./Harral/Druggist/Savannah, Ga. (7) 197.
2. Yellow-amber Dr. Wm. H. Tutt's/Golden Eagle Bitters/Augusta, Ga. 124.
3. Yellow W.A. Carlton's/Antidyseptic & Tonic Bitters/Athens, Ga. 121.
4. Strawberry (red, pink, etc.) John Ryan/XX Phila., Porter/Savannah, Ga. 112.
5. Amber large River Swamp Chill & Fever Cure, Augusta, Ga. 101.
6. Cobalt John Ryan/1867/Atlanta, Ga. (Attic mint, wire bail) (1) 112.
7. Amber Ponce de Leon Bitters/Atlanta, Ga. 87.
8. Green Thomas Maher/Savannah, Ga. (Open pontil) 86.
9. Aqua Dr. J. Dennis's/Georgia Sarsaparilla/Augusta, Ga. (Iron pontil) 85.
9. Cobalt C. Ells & Son/Mineral Water/Macon, Ga. 85.
11. Teal Jones & Company/Marietta, Ga. crown top. 84
12. Cobalt John Ryan/Columbus, Ga., with block R. 76.
12. Cobalt E.D. Meyer/Augusta, Ga.(Iron pontil) 76.
14. Amber Barrett, Land & Co/Georgia Bitters (1) 69.
15. Clear Coca-Cola Hutchison, no city name 61.
16. Amber John Ryan/Ginger Ale/Savannah, Ga. (Round-bottomed) 59.
17. Cobalt L. Glinde/Savannah, Ga. (Iron pontil) 52.
18.Aqua Woodruff's Dysentry Cordial/Columbus, Ga. (Open pontil) 47.
19. Pottery pig bottle, Elberton, Ga. 45.
20. Pottery pig bottle, Macon, Ga. 43.
21. Aqua E.P.C. Fowler/Tallapoosa, Ga., Hutchinson (1) 39.
22. Dark amber Dr. Wm. H. Tutt's/Sarsaparilla & Queen's Delight/Augusta, Ga. 36.
23. Deep cobalt E. Sheehan/1880/Augusta, Ga. 35.
24. Dr. J. Dennis's/Georgia Sarsaparilla/Augusta, Ga., green overtones (Iron pontil). 34.
25. Aqua Life Everlasting Bitters/Atlanta, Ga. 25.

Members of the panel of voters: Butch Alley, Lithia Springs; Bill Baab, Augusta; Russ Butler, Gavana, FL; Tom Hicks, Eatonton; Bob Jenkins, Carrollton; Jerry Mitchell, Bremen; Tommy Mitchiner, Gordon; Ken Nease, Claxton; Mike Newman, Augusta; Bob Simmons, Atlanta; and Peyton Youmans, Savannah.

-BB

Picture Captions
Top: Georgia’s No. 1 bottle is this circa 1790s cylinder with applied seal of Dr. George Harral.
Photo by Bob Simmons

Middle: Less than seven examples of the 1840s E. D. Meyer / Augusta, Geo soda are known. Six of the cobalt-blue iron-pontiled bottles are in Georgia collections.

Bottom:   The large River Swamp Chill & Fever Cure with embossed alligator is not only a favorite with cure collectors, but is No.5 on Georgia’s Top 25 bottle list.

Developed by: The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, All Rights Reserved