W.S. WRIGHT

Here is a nice old Nevada soda that is worthy of a post.   As I was reading Warren Friedrich's new book  EARLY GLASSWORKS OF CALIFORNIA,   I was particularly interested in a reference to a soda water manufacturer in Virginia City, N.T.   

Several newspaper articles that Warren documents indicate a "heavy demand for California made bottles".   Quoting from an article appearing in a San Francisco paper on July 24, 1863, and used by Warren in his book -

"Pacific Glass Works Company have just received two very extensive orders.  One for 20,000 wine bottles from a large California wine firm in this city,  and the other for 24,000 soda water bottles for a firm in Virginia City, N.T., who have already received 600 dozen from the works".

Warren indicates that the first ad appearing for the Pacific Glass Works was on June 22, 1863.   So, in approx. the first four weeks,  the fledgling glass factory has delivered 7200 bottles to the soda water firm in V.C., Nevada,  and has an order for another 24000.   That's a lot of bottles!   Were they all embossed?     

We don't know if more orders for bottles followed up these first two groups,  or if 31000 bottles were enough to carry on a soda business in Virginia City.


I guess we might be able to conclude that the W.S. Wright soda bottles are some of the very first bottles blown at Pacific Glass Works.



Most of the examples I have seen of the W. S. Wright soda bottles are this rich "western aqua" in color.   Other colors exist but are very rare,  and usually damaged.   Many years ago I seem to remember a story of a privy or maybe just a big trash pit being dug in V.C. that was loaded with broken and severely damaged Wright sodas.   I heard many of these broken Wright bottles were in some extreme colors.   Anyone have the rest of that story? 

William Wright was doing business at the corner of Mill and B Streets in Virginia City.   His first two orders of  bottles in 1863 may have carried him through the 5 or 6 years he was in business. 

New Western Glass Works Book

I just wanted to let all of you fellow bottle collectors know that Warren Friedrich's new book on Western Glass Works is being published later this month and will be available at the Auburn California 49er Bottle Show on December 3rd & 4th.

This new book takes a factual look at the development of the Western Glass industry and the beautiful glass containers it produced. If you are interested in the development of Western Glass I highly recommend this new publication.......rs

More information on this new book on Western Glass Houses is listed below:
A Book on Early California Glass Works: 1859 through 1899

I have recently written and will publish a comprehensive book on the above subject matter. This book is 230 pages and will contain 290 illustrations. It will be printed on 80 lb or 100 lb gloss paper in color and have a sewn binding with hardcover. Unfortunately this will not be as reasonably priced as I had hoped for. The price will be $100 for each book and the publisher will have the books ready for me by December 3rd. I plan on bringing these books to the Auburn Bottle Show and will be sharing a table with Roger Terry for distribution of them.

These books will be published 1 time only, and I have a deadline of October 18th to let the publisher know exactly how many to order. For those that are interested in purchasing a book, please call me at (530) 265-5204 anytime to discuss anything further. Because of the cost I am requesting that these books be pre-sold.

Please send payment of $100 by check to:

Warren Friedrich
11422 Ridge Road
Nevada City, Ca. 95959

Bottle Making Mysteries

Here is an interesting website that contains some information about bottle moulds,  bottle manufacture, etc. 
Check out his posting on "mold cavity half-leaf repair marks".    We have all seen these on bottles,  there was an article on these marks in the "Antique Bottle and Glass Collector".    I have a Shriver's Oyster Ketchup  with that exact mark,   I just sold a Boley soda with similar mark.
Interesting stuff...     hat tip to Red Mathews

here's the link:
www.bottlemysteries.com/             



Half leaf "repair mark"~~  not so much.     Not a repair patch to the bottle.   Not a repair to the mould.  

    As reported by Warren F.,   most likely a mark or anomaly created by the pinching and then re-centering of a bottle during the early stage of bottle formation.

Another picture from Ray Klingensmith's Auction#62. 

Probably newer than the bottles we are talking about in this post.

That mould boy on the upper right looks like a bottle pincher to me.  

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury; have you reached a decision?

Yes, your honor~


On the charge of falsely impersonating a Glass Works, we find the defendant, Holt Glass... GUILTY!

Based on weeks of both my and Andrew K's research, aided by libraries, historical societies and online archives, the irrefutable truth is that the existence of Holt Glass Works has been disproved.


Dr. Julian Toulouse first mentioned the existence of Holt Glass Works in his 1971 work, entitled Bottle makers and Their Marks. One website " Glass Factory Marks on Bottles" quotes Toulouse as saying " H. Holt Glass Works, West Berkeley, CA (1893-1906) is the source of various bottles with an "H", found primarily in the Western states. Holt-made bottles will have a number (with one, two, or three digits) accompanying the "H". In most cases, the number is reportedly found ABOVE the "H", although in some cases is may appear either below, or positioned to the right of the letter. (fonts occasionally differ slightly but are similar based on my observations)

And that is what we have accepted as fact for the past four decades. A few weeks ago, in an effort to date a different variant of the Gold Dust tool top that surfaced (it has a 684 "H" base mark), I decided to dig deeper into the Holt Glass story. Turns out that Andrew was doing what amounted to identical research; neither of us being aware of what the other was doing. This amounted to a double blind test when the cards finally hit the table.

And so, using different tools, we attempted to put the pieces of the puzzle back together. Problem was, the harder we researched, and the deeper we dug, the more Holt's mere existence seemed to slip from our grasp. To heck with tightening up the time frame and narrowing down the "* H" to "*** H" base mark. We couldn't even find written documentation of a Holt factory.

Andrew uncovered the following chronology;


March 23 1885 - Campbell Glass Works of Berkeley about to begin producing glass by May 1st.
May 22 1885 - J. Campbell & Co. (proprietors of Campbell Glass Works) dissolved and J.H. Campbell to continue business in his own name.
January 15 1887 - O'Neil Flint Glass Works of West Berkeley burned and planned to be rebuilt.
November 7 1895 - Vacant glass works in Berkeley.
March 26 1896 - Glass works in West Berkeley to be re-opened or re-built.
1902 - Vacant glass works in West Berkeley on 2nd and Addison Street.


Later, we found a link to a Wm. Holt in conjunction with glass making in Berkeley. The reference was gleaned from a book written in 1952 entitled The Glass Industry; Volume 33‎ - Page 256 (Technology & Engineering - 1952).

In the meantime, weeks worth of corresponding finally started to pay off and I began to receive information from research librarians and historical societies in the East Bay. I also spent the better part of a day digitally screening all copies of the S.F. Call, and other Bay Area newspapers for news articles and or advertisements. I ran Holt Glass, Berkley glass factories, Berkley glass works, etc. etc. from 1890 - 1906. The search was absolutely void, nada, nuthin'~.

Finally documentation arrived in the form of an email from a senior research librarian in West Berkley. Unfortunately, instead of proving Holt Glass Works presence it seemed to reinforce the looming doubt that it never existed. It stated;


I found many references to industrial and manufacturing businesses in West Berkeley during the era you mention, including multiple references to a glassworks called O'Neill Glass Company located at the foot of University Avenue. However, there was no mention of a Holt Glass Works or Factory.


There were also references to two substantial fires in the area. The first, in 1893, is described in The History of West Berkeley as "BIG FIRE at Sixth and Delaware destroyed four buildings including a shoe store, a saloon, a butcher shop and adjoining dwellings." The second, in 1901 is described as "A disastrous fire destroyed the Niehaus Brothers & Company Planning Mill." Neither mentions a glassworks.


I found entries for a Wm. Holt in the Berkeley City Directories from that era. The first entry I was able to find is from the 1899 Directory and the last from 1904. They read as folows:


1899 - Holt, Wm, lab, r 4th cor Holyoke
1900 - Holt, Wm, glass S F, r Anthony nr 5th
1902 - Holt, Wm, glass dlr S F, r Anthony nr 5th
1903 - Holt, Wm, glasswkr S F, r 829 Anthony
1904 - Holt, Wm, glass dlr S F, r Murray bet 7th and 8th\


Finally this morning the final pieces of the puzzle arrived from the California Historical Society;


Oakland-Alameda-Berkeley city directories produced these results:


1892, 1897 – no listing in Berkeley for Holt; no listing in the classified directory under glass for Holt
1899 (Berkeley) – Holt, Wm lab. R. 4th cor Holyoke [translation: William Holt, occupation: laborer, residing on 4th Street at the corner of Holyoke]
1900, 1902 (Berkeley) – Holt, Wm glass dlr SF r. Anthony nr. 5th [translation: William Holt, San Francisco-based glass dealer, residing on Anthony near 5th]
1905 (Berkeley) – Holt, Wm glass dlr r 629 Murray
1908 (Berkeley) – Holt, Wm glass r. 905 Murray


San Francisco city directory produced these results:


1905 – Holt, William. Prism Glass, plate and window glass, 280 Stevenson nr. 4th, tel John 4171, r. Berkeley – he is also listed in the classified ads in this directory under Glass-Plate
1906 Business Directory [post-fire-quake] – under Glass-Plate, is Holt & Habenicht, 269 Fell [St.]
1907 – Holt, William (Holt, Habenicht & Howlett) r. Berkeley [translation: he is with HH&H] – under Glass-Plate in the classified ads is Holt, Habenicht & Howlett at 269 Fell


The California State Archives failed to produce any dates of incorporation for a Holt Glass Factory located anywhere within the confines of the State of California.

And to further muddy the water, I was compiling the Late Winter mailing list this AM, looking over bottles with a fine tooth comb, when I happened upon a disturbing discovery. In one hand I had an E.A. Fargo and in the other, a Taussig / 26 & 28 Main; both toolies and both with nearly identical 29 basemarks. The difference? One had the "H" beneath the 29, but the other a C...

In conclusion, it appears that the base mark theory has been debunked. Yes, there are number over letter combinations but they can not be definitively linked to the non-existent Holt Glass works, or any other glass works for that matter. It also appears that Wm. Holt simply resided in Berkeley. He was indeed involved in glassmaking to a certain degree. However, his involvement was strictly limited to flat glasswares, as opposed to mold blown bottles, which were produced in San Francisco and not Berkeley. Had he either owned, or been involved in managing a glass factory that produced mold blown bottles, something would have shown up somewhere in the way of advertising or trade related news. The fact is, nothing exists.

Much as I hate to admit it, I think that we can agree with all certainty, that both the numbering system that we've attributed to the Holt Glass Works, as well as Holt Glass Works itself, have always been nothing but a myth.

Holt Glass; the jury sentences you to anonymity for life!

PS: One on hand Dr. Toulouse (and Bill Wilson for that matter), made more than their fair share of mistakes. And yet, they made do with what little they had to work with "way back" in 1971. Research into bottles and the companies that made them was all but non-existent. Archives were often located hundreds or even thousands of miles away from where these authors sat at their desks, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle back together. The internet was decades off and what research being done at that time was often accomplished via phone or US mail and often relied on librarians who may or may not have transcribed the available facts to the letter.

That being said, both authors did the best they could with what tools that they had available at the time, and yes mistakes were made. But without their efforts, odds are, we wouldn't be sitting here today, having a cup of coffee some forty years later, reassembling the pieces of the puzzle that they left for us.

Did Holt Glass Works even exist ??

I'm pretty sure it did, but who founded it and how long it existed needs to be more clearly defined. A while back I tried to research Holt Glass Works and came up with rather inconclusive findings. I started my research by reviewing the Berkeley 1892,1894, and 1897 city directories and did not find ANY glass works in the business section, and furthermore I could not find anyone with the last name of "Holt" living in or doing business in Berkeley during those years. Next, I investigated the 1900 census and found a William Holt (born in England) living in Berkeley with an occupation of "glass dealer". After reviewing city directories and census records, I decided to investigate the 1901 Sanborn Map of West Berkeley to see if I could find any clues and located a vacant glass works on the corner of 2nd and Addison Street. Could that be Holt Glass works ??????? Unknown.

I then turned my attention to 19th century Bay Area newspapers and found the following:

March 23 1885 - Campbell Glass Works of Berkeley about to begin producing glass by May 1st.

May 22 1885 - J. Campbell & Co. (proprietors of Campbell Glass Works) dissolved and J.H. Campbell to continue business in his own name.

January 15 1887 - O'Neil Flint Glass Works of West Berkeley burned and planned to be rebuilt.

November 7 1895 - Vacant glass works in Berkeley.

March 26 1896 - Glass works in West Berkeley to be re-opened or re-built.

1902 - Vacant glass works in West Berkeley on 2nd and Addison Street.


My theory is that the English emigrant William Holt re-opened one of the above vacant glass works between 1896 and 1901. I'm even open to the possibility of Holt Glass Works never existing or being named something else since the phrase "Holt Glass Works" or even "Holt Glass" did now show up in ANY documentation (newspapers, municipal reports, books. ect) published between 1885 and 1922.

Maybe a much more thorough investigation of Campbell and O'Neil glass works could shed light on the true history of Holt Glass Works.

Has anyone researched the years of all the western companies that put out bottles with that base embossed H ?



??????

If it looks like a duck~

You've heard the saying, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a ... duck.

And so if a glop top has a star on the base and those funky little curved legged "R"s it must be a San Francisco blown bottle, right? So, how come this whittled to death glop top Spruance with the star and the R is a blood red bottle that is now commonly referred to as a "German connection fifth"?

I don't profess to know, but have compared this one that just came in, along with two others in my collection and all bear identical anomalies. All have the star base and identical "R"s. The "hitch"  in the R isn't as overstated as say, a globby J.F. star shield, but it's there just the same. There is a substantial difference in height in one of them (one is an inch shorter than the other two, and no - it's not been chopped and re-glopped) and there's also a radical difference in color between all three (ranging from a dense oxblood red to a bloody orange depending on the bottle) but therein ends the dis-similarities.

It's obvious that they all came out of the same mold, although different glassblowers blew and finished them using noticably different batches of cullet.


German or S.F.? Comments? Quack, quack?

I've just omitted the lousiest photo from this post and I will post comparative photos tomorrow, showing smooth based and star based straight amber embossing comparisons. I'm not trying to prove or disprove anything, but do want to give everyone an opportunity to weigh in on this issue.

________________________________________________________________________

Comparative Photos:
As promised last evening, note the "R"s in the following photos.

Early Smooth Base glop - straight amber      

                                                            Livingston Gaines - glop

                                                                                           Star Base glop - straight amber

I highlighted the curved "R"s with the red arrow. But, if you look elsewhere in the embossing on the straight amber Spruance glop tops, you'll notice a totally different style of R as mentioned last night. This plot really is getting thick!

The Many Stars of The Pacific Glass Works

For quite some time now I have been collecting the EARLY unembossed cylinder of the San Francisco glass houses made in the 1860s. These earlier 5ths and 6ths differ slightly than your average 1870s or 80s examples and often have crude large tops, flat bases, and swirled glass. Below are fifteen Pacific Glass Works, then later SFPGW, stars that show up on some of the cylinders from the early 60's to the mid 80's (although there are likely more than these). Below are photos of the stars ranging from oldest first and newest last (in my opinion).