CROWN DISTILLERIES / (crown above double shield with CDCo monogram inside) / COMPANY - That is all embossed within an oval on the body of this fifth sized liquor bottle from San Francisco.  It has inside threads and includes an original hard rubber stopper with essentially the same "embossing" on it.  Click HERE to see a close-up of the stopper which is in pretty good condition with a little bit chipped off one side.

These bottles like the Van Schuyver listed above likely contained a popular spirits product - Cyrus Noble Whiskey - and span a pretty wide time frame from at least the 1880s to National Prohibition at the end of 1919.  This  company was connected with the Lilienthal (San Francisco) and W. J. Van Schuyver (Portland, OR.) companies as briefly discussed above in regards to sharing the same stoppers in their inside threaded bottles.  Most of the bottles used by the three companies had essentially the same monogram of the crown over a shield with the initials inside the shield varying with the company.  This particular example likely dates from the 1900 to 1910 era.

As to the details of this bottle it is the same height and general conformation as the Van Schuyver above measuring about 11.25" tall without the stopper.  The color is a bright medium amber, has some scattered bubbles in the glass and a tooled inside threaded finish with the noted stopper.  Condition is essentially mint with no cracks, chips, dings or significant staining...maybe just a bit of dirt on the inside and a few minor and non-distracting scuff marks.  This example was found out in the woods of the Cascades near Klamath Falls many years ago and given to me since the person was not a collector.  Time to pass it on as I've too many bottles.  $30

W. J. VAN SCHUYVER / & Co (crown & double shield with V monogram) INC / PORTLAND, OR - That embossing is inside an embossed square and is probably the 6th oldest mold used by the company which used a total of 9 different mold varieties.  This example is what I call mold 6a as there are bottles made from the same front and back mold halves, but a different base plate; or the original base plate with the letters P.C.G.W. engraved part way through the molds life.  This indicates that the both variants were manufactured by the Pacific Coast Glass Works in San Francisco.  The examples with the base embossing I call mold 6b.  Like most of the Van Schuyver cylinder molds this is not a true plate mold but instead an embossed square. 

These bottles contained a pretty popular product - Cyrus Noble Whiskey - and span a pretty wide time frame from at least the late 1880s to Oregon's "early" statewide Prohibition at the end of 1915.  This Portland based company was connected with the Lilienthal & Crown Distillery Companies (San Francisco) since the Van Schuyver bottles with inside threads come with hard rubber stoppers that are embossed either with LILIENTHAL & CO (and their "L in a shield below a crown" monogram which this example has), or with (as this one is; click HERE to see the cap close-up) CROWN DISTILLERIES COMPANY (and the "CDCo. in a shield below a crown" monogram) or just a six pointed star with no name. 

STAR (asterisk?) BASE EMBOSSED, 4-PIECE MOLD, APPLIED LIP, WESTERN MADE CYLINDER SIXTH - Offered here is a relatively rare, Western blown cylinder sixth (6 to the gallon) that was found on private land near Klamath Falls, OR. a few decades ago.  Specifically, it was found on the Running Y Ranch back when it was an actual ranch owned by the Disney Corporation (it is now an upscale resort, vacation and housing area) by a timber "cruiser" cruising (marking trees for selective cutting) for a future timber sale.  Not being a bottle collector the owner gave it to me years ago and I used it as an example to illustrate the category of tall cylinder liquor bottles which were used widely by Western American liquor companies though the style was  also used throughout the US.  (See the write-up on it at the following link: https://sha.org/bottle/liquor.htm#Tall%20slender%20bodied%20straight%20neck%20spirits%20cylinders )

These bottles with the star or asterisk on the base are firmly attributed to the San Francisco and Pacific Glass Works (SF&PGW) or if they predate about 1876 (not likely in my opinion) to either of those companies prior to their merging in that year.  There are various body embossed liquor and some food bottles that have similar markings on the base which were virtually certain to have been made in the Bay Area, although the markings can vary.  For example the "curved R" examples of the Fleckenstein & Mayer  (a Portland, OR. liquor Co.) cylinder fifth and pint "knife edge" flask both have similar markings except it is a 4 pointed (instead of 8 pointed) version more like a + with pointed ends like this bottles marking.  In any event these are Western made and used bottles.

This example is a bit over 11.5" tall, 2.75" in  body diameter (fifths are more like 3"), has a crudely applied "brandy" finish with some slop below, and was blown in a four piece mold.  Click close-up of the shoulder to see the mold lines in that area reflecting its four piece mold production.  Click close-up of the shoulder, neck and finish/lip to view such.  The glass color is wonderful in that it is a light to moderate density yellow amber with a bit of a green tint thrown in for fun.  I've heard this called "old amber" though that isn't very informative.  The images show the color pretty well.  Following is also a link to the same bottle in a window with a couple of related "fifth" cylinders on each side which were likely blown at the same SF&PGW - window image.  (That linked image shows the bottle as more yellow with little green, though to my eye the images to the right here show the green hue more accurately.  The fifth on the left is a standard medium amber; to the right a more medium chocolate amber.)

Condition is just about perfect with no chips, cracks, dings, potstone bruises or other like issues.  It has no staining as it was found on top of the ground in some ponderosa pine duff. It does have a very faint, very narrow meandering scuff line on one side which may have just been from when it was made or possibly when filled and/or shipped?  It is barely visible and non-distracting and takes nothing away from the visual condition.  Some scattered bubbles, stretch marks in the neck and wavy - whittled in places - glass round out a very nice, Western made spirits bottle.  I've seen a couple of examples from the apparent same 4-piece mold sell (eBay) for $250 or more the past couple years including an essentially identical star/asterisk base (my offering has a much bolder star; see image to right), 4-piece mold example that sold for $485 in September 2023!  It did have a bit more crudeness and a bit sloppier top but was otherwise identical to this example in size and glass color.  This is also one of the oldest bottles (ca. 1880 give or take a few years) I know of found in Klamath County.  (More of less contemporary with this bottle would be a Fleckenstein & Mayer cylinder reportedly (by John Thomas) found 40-50 years ago near Fort Klamath.  I have an example of that rare bottle which also has a similar but not identical marking (as noted earlier) on the base and was certainly made by the SF&PGW also.  I'm sure there were a few older bottles found in the Klamath Basin long ago as Klamath Falls was founded in 1867 as Linkville.)  Great example with great provenience.  $275

JOHN KREMER / WALLA WALLA / WASH. - This is - as best I can determine - an unlisted Washington "saloon" flask from the "town so nice they named it twice" - Walla Walla, Washington.  John Thomas noted in his book "Whiskey Bottles and Liquor Containers From The State of Washington" (Thomas 1998) that "Even though I had reports that John Kremer was in Walla Walla in 1883 having the Schwartz Saloon up to 1905, my research shows him first listed in 1905 in business with a Mr. Hansen in 1905." He goes on with "By 1907 he was in business by himself. Research by Francis Christiano of Walla Walla shows him having the Schwartz Saloon up to Prohibition in 1915." 

Thomas also noted that "Bethman and Larson working on their flask book for the state of Washington turned up another Kremer flask showing him also in business with a fellow named Knox during 1907 and 1908." (Note: I wonder if that book was ever published as I've never heard of it and I have almost every bottle book published.)  That flask is embossed with KREMER & KNOX / BANK EXCHANGE /WALLA WALLA, WASH. and is a "clear glass half pint oval type flask that is similar to what Putnam in "Bottle Identification" calls a basket swirl type...(with)...a brandy type finish."  Putnam's (1965) book is simply a reprint of the Illinois Glass Company's (IGCo.) 1911 catalog and it simply calls the style a "basket flask" which was available at that time as a 6 oz. "half-pint" and 12 oz. "pint" (so called 'scant sizes').

Thomas further notes that "The only bottle known for John Kremer by himself is a clear glass, pint Washington flask."  This flask, however, is the "half pint" sized (actually a scant 6 oz. at most) "Olympia" style flask and not as described in his book.  Maybe the pint is a "Washington flask" but I suspect Thomas was misinformed?  The Olympia flask was a patented (August 9th, 1898) by the IGCo. - a fact which is also embossed on the base of this flask (click base image to the right to see a larger version).  See the following link to the page (left page) in the 1906 IGCo. showing an illustration of the flask an array of sizes including a 6 oz. "half pint" like this flask.  https://sha.org/bottle/Typing/IGCo1906/IGCo1906page172.jpg  That page also notes that at least 5 sizes - including the 6 oz. - were available as "plate moulds"...just like this flask.  The flask is shown in the 1903, 1906, 1908 and 1911 IGCo. catalogs which fits with Thomas's history based dating of Kremer in the saloon busines from 1905 to 1915 (Prohibition in Washington).

So is the bottle unique?  I don't know, but it is the first one I've ever seen.  The bottle is 7" tall, colorless/clear glass, and has a unique tooled finish that I've is only seen on some very late 19th into the very early 20th centuries. flasks though a finish that is common on this style flask though the IGCo illustration makes it look more like a "champagne" style banded finish.  I know of no particular name attached to this finish.  The reverse side of the flask is not embossed - click reverse view to see such.  The bottle is in quite good shape with a patch of light white-ish water staining in the inside front below and to the left of the circular plate outline which shows in the image to the left (click to enlarge).  Other than that inside staining the glass is sparkling and clean.  The one post production flaw is there is a shallow flake/rough spot about 8 mm wide and 3-4 mm tall on the back side of the lip/finish that is hard to photograph.  Click view of the lip flake to see the shallow chipped area circled.  For another view click another view of the chip which shows the location on the backside of the lip.  Probably a key flask to have for a Washington liquor bottle collector...so priced to reflect the rarity with a discount for the lip flaking.  $150

WARRANTED HALF PINT / FULL & HONEST MEASURE / ABSOLUTELY PURE / PURCHASED IN BOND / BOTTLED BY / FRANK WALKER / BUTTE, MONT. -  That is all embossed on 7 lines (likely a record for this size of bottle!) within a plate (plate mold bottle) on this 8 oz. druggist style bottle that was used for whiskey!  I procured this bottle to illustrate the cross-over of bottle types that is often seen in mouth blown bottles for my SHA/BLM Historic Glass Bottle Identification & Information Website (aka Historic Bottle Website or HBW).  This is a great example of one type of bottle (druggist) being used for a quite different product (liquor), i.e., a de facto liquor "flask" in the shape of a typical rectangular druggist style bottle.  Here is the write-up I did place on the HBW about this bottle and some of the interesting history behind it which includes just being from Butte, Montana during the hey day of the copper mining:

As with most types of bottles it was ultimately up to the purchaser/user of the bottle to determine what they wanted to put in the bottle.  In the case of the bottle to the right (click to enlarge) what was placed in the bottle was various Amercian whiskies including Old Crow, Black Thorn, Kentucky Turf, Woodland and others.  Like the Wm. D. Barry bottle above this rectangular bottle was used for liquor though is essentially a classic druggist bottle shape.  In addition this "whiskey" bottle is boldly embossed as follows:  WARRANTED HALF PINT / FULL & HONEST MEASURE / ABSOLUTELY PURE / PURCHASED IN BOND /BOTTLED BY / FRANK WALKER / BUTTE, MONT.  The bottle is about 7" tall, has a tooled "prescription" finish, mouth blown and embossed via a plate inserted into an accomodating plate mold and is rectangular with slightly rounded outward narrow sides.  Click base view to view a cross-section of the bottles shape. 

Some internet searching by a member of the Bottle Research Group (thanks Bob!) found that Frank Walker arrived in the Montana Territory in 1887 according to "A History Of Montana" (Sanders 1913).  He did various jobs (miner, retail liquor business, mining property developer, saloon bartender) but by 1901 was a retail liquor dealer at 12 Park St. in Butte, MT. doing $100,000 in business by 1913 and probably until 1920 when National Prohibition likely killed the business. Mr. Walker early on advertised in The Butte Miner that "The family trade will be solicited" by the wholesale business ( connected to his saloon!), "That the finest liquors for medicinal use will be kept in stock" and "Goods will be sold in quantities of full gallons, quarts, pints and half pints (emphasis mine)" (The Butte Miner Dec. 10, 1901).  The pictured bottle is one of several very similar variations of half pint "druggist" style bottles he used during those years.

As the base view linked earlier shows, this bottle is also embossed on the base in script lettering with ENGLISH which is almost certainly a glass maker proprietary name for that style druggist bottle.  Several very similar to almost identical Frank Walker embossed half pint liquor bottles have the Western Bottle Manufacturing Co. (W.M.B.Co.) makers marking on the base (although no ENGLISH embossed) so it is quite possible that this bottle was also made by that Chicago based company.  Another identically embossed Frank Walker bottle of the same 8 oz.  capacity actually has druggist type graduation markings down both sides of the embossing (also a plate mold) as well as the stylized "3" at the top of the shoulder which is typical of early 20th century druggist/prescription bottles.  Click Frank Walker bottle variation to view an image of a graduation markings version.  Graduation markings are discussed in the section of the Medicinal bottles page at the following link:  https://sha.org/bottle/medicinal.htm#Druggist%20Bottle%20Dating%20Summary/Notes 

Interesting, eh?!  Like an assortment of "Family Liquor Store" bottles from the same early 20th century era in Portland, OR. and elsewhere, this weak appeal about the family nature of liquor stores was a last stand reaction to the Temperance movement which consummated with the passage of National Prohibition.  That constitutional amendment took affect in early 1920 even though many states had already gone "dry" prior to that (Oregon & Washington in 1915).  This interesting bottle is as described in the excerpt above and in absolute perfect "mint" shape with sparkling clean glass and no chips, cracks, cracks or any post-production damage...looks like it did the day it was blown, i.e., first decade or so of the 20th century.  Click upper body, neck and finish to see such which shows the sparkling nature of this bottle.  It also has the tiniest tint of pink to the glass indicating that it was decolorized with manganese dioxide to achieve the essentially colorless glass.  Nice bottle from Butte, Montana and apparently fairly rare, especially in this pristine condition!  $95

Bitters & Medicinal
 

WORMSER BROS' / (indented "bung hole") / SAN FRANCISCO - Here is example of one of the classic Western (made) bottles - the famous Wormser barrel!  This is the only true Western barrel bitters (or maybe used for liquor also?) bottle (the Turner Brothers barrels are really Eastern items). 

These used to be virtually unobtainable and rarely seen, though due to a couple small caches of them being found some years back (Nevada & Oregon reportedly) there are a few around now...including this excellent example.  (If you are looking for one of these you likely know the stories better than I.) These bottles date from only 1869 according to Wichmann's great "Antique Western Bitters Bottles" book (and the Wilson's 1969 classic) who listed them as valued at "$3000 to $7000" in the various shades of amber (the unique light citron green example was unknown at that time). 

Since there were a few more of them around, economics dictated a falling of prices - which happened for a time.  Examples are more rarely seen at auctions today.  A similar colored example - though not as brilliant as my offering here - recently sold on eBay for over $2600! Another similar one at American Bottle Auctions (ABA) went for $2500+ with commission though the supply is still dwarfed by the demand and prices have been ticking up again.  I recently acquired one that I know came from a particular Nevada mining camp, so I'm selling this example even though it is superior in condition and color.  (This offering is actually an ex-ABA auction item from some years ago.)

Anyway, this offered example is 9.5" tall, has an applied, one-part "oil" type lip or finish, smooth shallowly domed base, and is in a very nice yellow color with an amber tone.  Call it light yellow amber if you will; a tad lighter than the average example but not quite as light as the lighter example pictured in Wichmann's book.  The images show the color accurately to my eye.  This example is perfectly mint with no chips, cracks, pings, dings or flea-bites.  It has been professionally cleaned I believe (like most of them) but without any diminishment of the glass surface or beauty; looks like it was never buried.  It has some bubbles in the glass and a vague touch of whittle making it a beautiful example of a classic bottle that every Western bottle collector should have.  $2250

CELRO-KOLA - CELRO-KOLA CO. / PORTLAND, ORE. - CELRO-KOLA - Here is a VERY rare Oregon bitters type bottle.  In fact, this is the only one I've ever seen or heard of though I've seen an assortment of the later Celro-Kola bottles which are machine-made without the sunken panels.  This example is embossed on two indented sides with CELRO-KOLA in script and on the in-between side with CELRO-KOLA CO. / PORTLAND, ORE.  The fourth unembossed label panel is not indented.

This hand-blown (not machine-made) bottle dates from the very early 1900s as it has a tooled "brandy" style finish or lip and a smooth base (indented square).  It is near mint with just a bit of scuffing or light scratching on the label panel.  The color is a bright light to medium amber which is accurately shown in the images (click any to enlarge).  An interesting aspect is the neck which tapers from larger to smaller going up to the lower ring at the base of the lip or finish.  The only square "bitters" type bottles I've seen with this feature is one variation of the California Fig Bitters, which also date from the same early 1900s era.  I've had this bottle for decades, though I don't remember where I acquired it.  In any event, a great Oregon rarity!  $295

DR HENRY.S / WORLD'S TONIC - & / BLOOD PURFIFYER. - This is a very nice example of what is reported to be a Western blown tonic bottle and possibly related to the California Dr. Henry's products (e.g., Dr. Henry's Sarsaparilla).  It has the deep blue aqua color typical of the 1870s and 1880s products blown at the SF&PGW (or predecessors) and have been reported to be found in the West, though some seem to come from back east also.  The shape, size and embossing pattern was probably chosen to emulate the way more popular "Dr. McClean's Strenghtening Cordial & Blood Purifier" though the mold engraver (or Dr. Henry?) had a problem correctly spelling purifier choosing to spell it "Purifyer" to the delight of modern bottle collectors.  Unlike the McLean's product, this bottle has the noted embossing spread over both sides of the body...once again to the delight of collectors. 

In any event, this example is 9.2" tall, "flask" shaped body (over 4" wide and 2" thick), blown in a post-base mold, lacking evidence of body air venting although boldly embossed, and a crudely applied double ring lip or finish with an appearance and manufacturing signature dating it to the 1870s.  The glass is, as noted, a rich blue aqua with a nice assortment of bubbles in the glass and a bit of other crudeness to the body.  Condition is near mint with no issues besides one surface open bubble at the heel that has no depth at all; it appears to have been professionally cleaned to my eye.  Great example of a very rare tonic bottle that I've seen a couple examples sell for $500 or more in recent years.  This example is well priced at $225

DR. HENLEY'S / WILD GRAPE ROOT / IXL (in an oval) / BITTERS - These large (at least a quart in capacity) Western bitters bottles are quite popular with collectors since they are...large...have great embossing and found in a myriad of colors, though any color besides shades of aqua are very expensive.  A very popular product, these bottles are found all over the West from the mining camps of Utah, Nevada, and Montana to the big cities of the day - San Francisco, Portland, Sacramento.  In my experience visiting scores of the mining camps and ghost towns of the West, it is the rare location where one does NOT find fragments of an IXL - it was that popular. 

This example is just over 12" tall, a relatively rich "San Francisco & Pacific Glass Works" blue-aqua color (where it was made), the usual domed base, and an appropriately crude applied "champagne" style banded finish (click neck and lip image to see such).  This example probably dates from the late 1870s to early 1880s since it fairly crude (stretch marks, bubbles), not air vented, and from a mold that lacks the distinctive curved "R" of the earlier mold(s).  FYI...here is a copy of the original labeling that these bottles had:  Henley's IXL Bitters label

This offering is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, dings or repairs - only some light scattered haze inside and some minor scratching, scuffing/wear mostly on the back of the bottle.  It has lots of small seed bubble throughout as well as some decent whittle.  A nice example with a nice deep aqua coloration.  $250

H. KLAS OREGON - PEACH BITTERS - Offered here is one of the great rarities among Oregon bottles.  It is only one of two known embossed, mouth-blown bitters bottles from the State of Oregon.  (This is not counting the Henley's IXL Bitters which was really a California product with Henley first having roots in Portland, OR.  Also the Oregon Grape Root Bitters was a San Francisco product and not made in Oregon.)  Top of that small heap is the uber rare (one known!) square DR. G.W. BROWN - OREGON / CHITTUM BITTERS rated as the 8th most important (0f 25) 19th century Western bottles by a group of well known Western collectors and published in the 2016 FOHBC National Bottle Show held in Sacramento, CA.  Chittum is a shrub to small tree found along the cooler and wetter portions of the West Coast from northern California up well into British Columbia and as far east as western Montana.  It - Frangula purshiana - is also known as Cascara or Chittum by NW Native Americans who used it for its medicinal qualities.  No city is embossed on the bottle but the only known specimen was found in Portland, Oregon and Dr. George W. Brown has been documented as living there from the early 1860s until 1874 when he died.  The product was trade mark registered in 1871 and the formula patented in 1873.  Sorry...I just love the history of 19th century Western bottles as you'll see below...

The only other embossed Oregon Bitters is this bottle which is embossed around the shoulder with H. KLAS'S  OREGON / PEACH BITTERS.  I first I heard about this bitters in Bill & Betty Wilson's 1969 book "Western Bitters" where it was listed with some history but no image of the bottle strangely enough.  That made it quite mysterious to me as well as never having run across anyone who had an example.  The Wilson's also listed it as being "clear" glass (it is aqua) and the name embossed Henry Klas, not H. Klas like this example; likely just the information they had acquired from someone who had not seen one either.  They did include an ad for the product - taken from either a newspaper or business directory - that you can see at this link:  Oregon Peach Bitters ad.   The Wilson's also noted that it was first made and bottled in label only bottles for "...many years before the embossed bottle was made.  Evidently only one order was made from the glass works, otherwise even if it was a poor seller, more specimens than are known should have been found."  They did not note how many specimens they knew about so it seems to just be a hearsay type listing with a bit of history.  The Wilson's did note that the bottle was "made circa 1893." The bottle IS listed and illustrated in Ring & Ham's 1998 updated "Bitters Bottles" book.  They noted it as "extremely rare" and that the name was trademarked in November 1886.  It is not mentioned at all in Jeff Wichmann's excellent 1999 book "Antique Western Bitters Bottles" which seems strange also.

Back in the mid to late 1970s I was doing some bottle related research in old Portland business directories at the Oregon Historical Society in downtown Portland.  I was helping the late John Thomas do research on liquor companies in Portland and Oregon in general since I lived in the area at the time.  Information that was eventually incorporated into his 1998 book on Oregon whiskey and liquor containers.  While going through the Portland business directories I found the same ad that was listed in the Wilson's book and linked above.  It was in an 1889 directory which also listed Henry Klas at a living/business address of 24 F street (now NW Flanders).  In 1890 and 1891 he was listed as Hilarius Klas at that same address with the same ad but under the category of "medicine manufacturers" and noted he was specifically a "bitters manufacturer."  (So I suspect he was named by his parents as Hilarius, but went by Henry? I would.)  There were no listings prior to 1889 nor any after after 1891.  I think that well brackets the era of this maker of bitters as having been made sometime between late 1886 (trademark registration) and 1891 after which he disappears from the directories.  Even though he lived in Portland his product ads note Aumsville as the location.  Apparently that is where the peaches came from for his bitters which the ad notes was the only "reliable blood purifier."  Not sure what it would do for the blood but would be great for the bowels in quantity...ha.  So this bottle was certainly made between 1886 to 1891, though may have been label only during those early years making it more an 1890 or so bottle if the "one order from the glass works" (as the Wilson's noted) is correct...and it probably is.

As to the bottle itself, it is 11" tall, probably a "sixth" in size, has a tooled "brandy" lip or finish, and was blown in a cup base mold.  The base has 4 evenly spaced (4 points of the compass spaced) air venting marks around the outside base edge but none on the body which fits well with the era this bottle was made which was the early years of mold air venting.  Click base view to see such.  The embossing is sharp and bold, the glass a nice blue aqua that indicates probable manufacture at the SF&PGW in San Francisco.  Click the following two links to see close-ups of the shoulder embossing:  H. KLAS'S OREGON side and PEACH BITTERS side.  This bottle is essentially perfectly mint with no staining, chips, cracks, dings or other post production flaws.  It has a few bubbles in the glass and a bit of crudity to the tooled lip.  Click close-up of the shoulder, neck and finish to see such.  It's doesn't have the visual impact and panache of a Dr. Wonser's USA Indian Root Bitters but is way rarer!  If you want a complete collection of all the Oregon embossed bitters bottles - excluding the Chittum Bitters which is untouchable - then here it is.   $450

OREGON / (elaborate baby's face and wreath trade mark) / OMNES WP PROSINT / COPYRIGHT SECURED / BLOOD / PURIFIER / WM. PFUNDER & CO / PORTLKAND, OR - These Oregon Blood Purifier (OBP) bottles are a favorite with Oregon and western bottle collectors since they are somewhat uniquely shaped, differently finished (for a medicine bottle) and richly embossed as well as being part of a large array of interesting medicine bottles that often had his (William Pfunder's) trademark babies face on them making them "picture" medicine bottles.  Omnes Prosint is Latin roughly translating to "everyone or all people" (Omnes) and "of use or doing good" (Prosint) - I guess the medicine was good for everyone was the point. 

According to Bill & Betty Wilson's book "19th Century Medicine in Glass" William Pfunder came West in 1869 from New York ending up in Portland where he tried various trades and eventually ended up working for C. H. Woodard a local and successful druggist there.  The C. H. Woodard & Co. drugstore operated under that name from 1871 to 1880 (according to Portland business directories) when it became Woodard, Clark & Co. (The company continued to thrive well into the 20th century under that name or Woodard, Clarke & Co.; see the Cooper's Sarsaparilla listed above).  The Wilson's note that Pfunder worked at Woodard's "about a year and a half" leaving to open his own drugstore in about 1873.  There he fiddled with various "botanicals" thought to have medicinal qualities coming up with a formula for the Oregon Blood Purifier by 1879.

I've owned an assortment of the OBP's over the years allowing me to make some observations about the progression of the slightly different OBP bottles.  The first container used by Pfunder (which I've never owned) was almost certainly a large, amber "Philadelphia Oval" style prescription druggist bottle which was vertically embossed in a plate - like druggist bottles of that time period - with OREGON BLOOD PURIFIER / Wm. PFUNDER & CO / PORTLAND, OREGON.  It had the typical "prescription" style finish such bottles had also.  I have only ever heard of one example of that style which likely dates right about 1878 to early 1879.  (That example was offered on eBay in 2022 and sold for $500-600 even though quite stained.)  The trade-marked baby face dominated design was copyrighted/registered (not sure what the difference is?) March 25th, 1879 - a date that is actually embossed on the later two variants of the OBP's (discussed below).

In my observations there were only four different engraved plates on the amber glass baby face OBP's of this style of bottle from its origin in 1879 until the early 1900s...maybe 1910 to 1912?  (Note: In my experience all of the OBP's are plate molded bottles.)  I'm not sure when the product ceased to be sold but would guess sometime in the years just following passage of the 1906 Pure Food & Drugs Act.  The earliest OBP's marked bottles - plate #1 - are embossed like this offered example with COPYRIGHT SECURED below the elaborate trademark.  In fact, upon close inspection this example uses the same engraved plate as the earliest baby face examples.  This can be determined only with a close inspection of the embossing.  The short cut to ID is that the "B" in BLOOD just touches the base of the very small "P" in COPYRIGHT.  Click close-up of the embossing to see such. 

There were four subtle variations of the bottle using the same plate #1 in each of the 4 molds.  These are estimated to all date from 1879 to about 1890.  The first baby face OBP mold (variant #1) was almost certainly the relatively rare examples that have a tooled one part "prescription" style finish/lip which took a cork, a rounded back instead of a flattened back like this offering (which is variant #3 or 4) and W. T. Co. embossed on one line across the base indicating manufacture (like probably all the OBP's) by Whitall, Tatum & Co. (NJ).  Variant #1 probably dates from 1879 into theearly 1880s but were also made with the "club sauce" type finish which was used for all the remaining variants yet to be described.  Since it is otherwise identical to #1 except for the finish style, I call this club sauce type finish example #1a.  (Note: The "club sauce" finish has a ridge inside the bore which took a Lea & Perrins type stopper with a shank that was covered by a shell cork which allowed the product to seal against the ledge or ridge in the bore of the bottle.  If unfamiliar with this type closure, see my Historic Bottle Website section on the subject at this link:  https://sha.org/bottle/closures.htm#Glass%20&%20Cork%20closure  For an image of one of the original  stoppers in the neck of a different OBP bottle, click on the following link:  https://sha.org/bottle/Finishes/obpfinish.jpg This is a quite unusual finish style/closure for a medicine bottle but ones see such now and then.

Variant #2 is just the like #1 except it has no embossing on the base though this mold also has the rounded back, always the club sauce finish and utilizing plate #1. This is the likely last of the rounded back examples. Variant #3 - again utilizing plate #1 - has a flattened back and is embossed on the base with W. T. & CO. / A - straight first line with the A centered below that line.  Variant #4 (still plate #1!) is the example offered here which also has the flattened back but is embossed on the base on two straight lines with W. T. & CO / 1   U.S.A.  Click base view to see an image of the offered bottle base showing the embossing.  I can't say for sure which came first but it is likely that variants #2, #3 and #4 of these first OPB with the baby face bottles were made during the span of the 1880s (possibly very early 1890s) as none of the four have mold air venting marking. 

Plate #2 is almost identical in details to plate #1 but can be easily differentiated from plate #1 by there being a distinct gap between the "B" in blood and the word COPYRIGHT above.  Interestingly enough this OBP variant (variant #5) was also blown in the same mold as variant #4 as the base embossing is identical - W. T. & CO / 1   U.S.A. and there are no mold air venting marks visible.  So the mold used for variant #4 is the same as for #5.   I've yet to find another mold version using this plate; all I've seen are identical.  I suspect this bottle dates from the very late 1880s to very early 1890s. 

(Plates #3 and #4 both have different embossing from the first two plates but are similar to each other in that they are embossed as follows from top to bottom:  Wm PFUNDER'S / OREGON / No 7138 / (baby face inside wreath, etc. trade mark) / REGISTERED / MARCH 25th 1879 / BLOOD /PURIFIER / Wm PFUNDER & CO / PORTLAND, ORE  Plates #3 and #4 both come in almost identical bottles to the example offered here but all seem to have the mold number 320 on the base.  Describing these two plate variations further is not necessary since neither are being offered and to spare readers more verbiage.  Yes, a long story but I wanted to fix in my mind the likely progression of different molds used for this regionally popular nostrum.)

The offered bottle - Plate #1, Variant #4 -  is 7.5" tall, is a rounded edge rectangle in cross section (3" wide x 1.75" deep), and probably holds 10-12 oz.  It has the previously described tooled "club sauce" finish (no stopper), embossed on the base with W. T. & CO / 1   U.S.A.  (click base view to see such)  and a nice medium amber color.  Embossing is bold (see images of such) and the glass shiny and blemish free.  It may have been professionally cleaned though I don't believe so.  Condition is essentially perfect with no cracks, chips, scratches, pot stones, etc.  Nice example of a scarce, heavily embossed "picture" medicine bottle from the Northwest.  $150

DR COOPER'S / SARSAPARILLA / WOODARD, CLARKE & CO / PORTLAND, ORE. - One of the more exciting finds when I was a teenager (late 1960s) digging in the urban renewal areas of Portland, OR. was finding one of these rare Portland bottles - the only embossed sarsaparilla bottle from Oregon (or NW) I believe.  Unfortunately, that original find got away though I've had this one - which I purchased later - for many years.  They just don't come along often but it is time to move this one on also...just not enough room for everything. 

This big medicine bottle is of a bluish aqua glass, 10" tall, indented body panels on all four sides (just the front embossed), smooth base with indented circular center (post base mold conformation), and dating from around 1895 to 1905 I would guess.  Woodard, Clarke & Co. was a major NW druggist and medical supply firm which must have been somehow connected to the Clarke-Woodward Drug Co. which was also in Portland; the "w" in Woodward being a misspelling of Woodard?  I don't know the history of this company though I do know there were C. H. WOODARD embossed drug bottles that dated back at least into the 1870s.  The condition of this bottle is very good - near mint I would call it - with no chips, cracks, dings or significant staining.  There are some wisps of very, very faint haze here and there though largely the back panel on the outside and the shoulders on the inside; probably a scuff or two somewhere though I can't find any of note.  Hard to find Oregon medicine bottle of good size.  $225