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Antique Glass Bottles

Feb 28th, 2009 by admin

As the world surrounding us keeps rapidly changing, there is something inside us all that is still attracted to elements of the past - the way things used to be. People still feel this connection very strongly and collecting antique glass bottles is one way we can transport ourselves back in time and once again experience those old things. In last few years, collecting antique glass bottles has become more and more popular and enabled us to experience the more simple and less busy times of the past.

There are many ways you can obtain antique glass bottles. The obvious choice would be to visit flea markets or auctions which are typical places to find antique glass bottles. However, you could come across antique bottles while cleaning out your attics, in an old shed in your backyard, sticking out of a construction site or just along the side of the road. Recently, there has been a new hobby created called “bottle digging” or “privy digging.” It is basically raveling down old roads or hiking and looking for antique glass bottles.The easiest way to determine the age of glass bottle which you found is to have a look at objects that surrounded it. If you find plastic bags or other similar objects right next to the bottle than it is probably just a replica and is not worth very much. The crucial thing before searching for antique glass bottles in any area is to find out who is owner of the land and ask for his permission.

There are many different shapes and sizes of antique glass bottles. Most of the bottles were handmade and therefore very few are identical. Each one is different, they have flaws that make them unique such as bubbles within the glass. It is these characteristics that often make the bottle more sought after and therefore can make it more valuable. However, there are many other factors to consider when determining value:

1) Age - in most cases there is a simple rule: the older the glass bottle is, more valuable it is, the easiest way to determine the age of the bottle is by close examination of the base of the bottle

2) Colour – some colours are more valuable than others. The colors with highest value are yellow and olive greens, cobalt and teal blues, yellow, purple, and green.

3) Design or Embossing – glass bottle is worth much more if it contains embossing that clearly identifies producer, where the bottle was made and when it was made.

4) Condition – chips or cracks usually reduce value of the bottle;

5) Category – there are many categories of antique glass bottles, for example medicine bottles, flasks, soda and alcohol bottles or druggist bottles.

So why should you spend the time looking for antique glass bottles? Well, first of all, these long-forgotten everyday objects can be very valuable and you can make very nice profit by finding and later selling them. Imagine the excitement if you found out that the old glass bottle which you found in your back garden is actually worth 100$ or more. However, there is also second, maybe even more important reason and that is the fun that you experience while treasure-hunting for old bottles. Antique glass bottles bring back memories of simpler, happy times when life seemed so much less complicated. For many of us, antique bottles also bring back memories of loved ones sipping on a a bottle of soda or using a certain product.

Collecting vintage glass bottles is exciting, self-fulfilling and increasingly popular hobby. Whether you are after old glass beverage bottles or antique medicine bottles there couldn’t be more entertaining hobby than collecting antique glass bottles.

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Antique Perfume Bottles

Oct 29th, 2009 by admin

Collecting antique perfume bottles is incredibly fun, exciting and challenging hobby. However, there are few decisions that you should make before starting to collect antique perfume bottles.

Decorative vs. Commercial Perfume Bottles
There are two kinds of perfume bottles that you might choose to collect. Decorative perfume bottles are sold empty and therefore they can hold any type of perfume which you choose and they can be even refilled. On the contrary, commercial bottles are sold containing a certain brand of perfume and can not be refilled.

Collecting Decorative Perfume Bottles
If you chose to collect decorative perfume bottles you might specialize even more and focus on specific collecting field. You might concentrate on glass bottles producers, such as Lalique or Steuben. Perhaps you might like atomizer bottles or figural bottles. I would especially recommend to you to have a look at fancy cut glass or perfume bottles made in former Czechoslovakia. If you have time and money to do really tough research you might focus on bottles made before 1800s which are extremely rare and valuable.

Examples of interesting decorative perfume bottles:

* “Myosotis #3” by Lalique with nude stopper, signed, 9” c.1928
* Nude figure dauber with blue jewels made in Czechoslovakia 5.7” c1920s
* Perfume lamp with dancing girls by Devilbiss, 7.5” c1930s

When collecting decorative perfume bottles, make sure that any metals on the bottles have not been damaged by corrosion.

Recently, new unique “one of a kind” perfume bottles are starting to be popular. You should consider getting your hands on few of these handmade bottles from new artists because their value might rise in the time and you can buy them very cheaply these days.

Collecting Commercial Perfume Bottles
The advantage of collecting commercial perfume bottles,instead of decorative perfume bottles is that you will probably start your collection spending a lot less money. However, this does not mean that commercial perfume bottles are not valuable or sought after. The truth is quite the opposite.

Examples of commercial perfume bottles:

* “It’s You” by Elizabeth Arden. Baccarat figural hand. 6.5”. Mint in box. c1938.
* “Diorissimo” by Dior. Urn that has gilt flowers stopper. 9” With box. c1956.
* Ambre Antique by Coty. Gray stained maidens by R Lalique. 6”. c1913.
* Unnamed perfume by Elizabeth Arden. Blue bottle with blue horse figurine inside. 2.2”. With box. c1934.

You might decide to concentrate on a certain manufacturer such as Avon or look for miniatures. You could find antique perfume bottles produced during a certain time frame or year. A good way of starting your collection would be asking for empty perfume bottles from your friends and family. This way you can start building your collection of antique perfume bottles virtually for free.

When collecting commercial bottles, it is important to try to keep as much of the original packaging as possible. That includes any tags tokens that might have hung on the bottle. The condition of the bottle is also important factor in determining the value. The bottle should be clean or cleanable without corrosion on any metal parts. The bottle will probably be less valuable if it doesn’t have a stopper.

Finally, an interesting fact. 1963 is a crucial date for many antique perfume bottles collectors. Before 1963, stoppers were ground to fit inside of the perfume bottles. In 1963, manufacturers switched to plastic to use it on the end of stoppers instead. That means that commercial perfume bottle produced before 1963 is usually more valuable than those made after 1963.

I hope that this article gave you some interesting information about antique perfume bottles and that you found it informative. Collecting antique perfume bottles is a great hobby and I definitely recommend you to give it a try. I wish you a lot of luck with it.

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Antique Wine Bottles

Oct 26th, 2009 by admin

Maybe you are asking the question “What is the point of collecting antique wine bottles?” If so, you have come to the right place as this whole article is trying to give a convincing answer to that question.

Virtually everyone can understand the beauty of collecting liquor bottles as they are very interesting visually, like Jim Beam bottles are. It’s harder with collecting wine bottles. Despite that, collecting of antique wine bottles is very popular hobby with many passionate fans, some of them prepared to pay huge sums of money for the most valuable bottles. The reason they do it is the great pleasure for looking at such a beautiful object and having it in your home collection. You can admire beautiful bottles dating centuries back in the comfort of your living room. You might show your collection to your friends. These are just few reasons why collecting of antique wine bottles is such a wonderful hobby

Interesting facts from history of antique wine bottles
Wine has not always been carried in glass bottles. Wine used to be kept in small, round, green bottles. It wasn’t until 1640s that glass was used to store wine.

vintage wine bottles

The appearance of wine bottles has changed over time. During the 18th century bodies of wine bottles became thinner and more cylindrical in shape which was made their storage easier. Wine bottles could be made by machine for the first time in 1820. Until then they were all hand made and that’s why they have such a huge value.

Many of the early bottles were unmarked which makes it hard for researchers today to determine their exact origins. Fortunately, some of the vintage bottles had labels which included name of the owner or a town and the date bottle was made. These details are incredibly important for treasure-hunters, researchers, historian and collectors today in figuring out who was the author of the bottle, whom was the bottle made from, when was it produced and what it’s value and price should be today.

Collecting antique wine bottles might be the most demanding type of wine collecting. Collectors and experts who advise them value these bottles according to 2 most important factors: scarcity of this particular model or piece of bottle and it’s age. Generally, there is a simple rule, more unique and older the antique bottle is, the more precious and expansive it is. These bottles can often evoke colorful and emotional pictures in the minds of collectors, such as the image of a long dead connoisseur savoring a glass of wine poured 250 years ago.

Rare wines and their bottle

There are many people who enjoy collecting rare wines, but antique wine bottle collectors are more interested in the wine bottles than the wines themselves. The main reason for that might be that empty wine bottles are more affordable than those filled with expansive fine wines. For example, a bottle of 1945 Lafite Rothschild can cost you $1,400 or more. However, you might be able to pick up an empty 1945 Lafite Rothschild with a slightly tattered label for about $30. The other reason might be that empty antique wine bottles are easier to store than the ones filled wit wine. The conclusion is clear, if you’re interested in the bottle itself, don’t waste your resources by buying it with the antique wine in it. It’s too old to drink anyway!

Labeled Antique Wine Bottles
While some people choose to remove wine labels from bottles, it is always better if you decide to keep the bottles and labels in their original condition. You have a wide range of choices if you decide to collect labeled wine bottles. You may just keep bottles from your favorite brands or go for bottles produced in foreign, maybe even exotic countries. Some people like to collect labeled wine bottles produced in places where wine is harder to produce. Others like to focus on the artwork of the labels themselves or collect only painted wine bottles. You may concentrate only on wine bottles produced in particular country, region or time. If your favorite wines are generally pinot noirs, you may end up with a collection of a variety of pinot noir bottles.

I hope I’ve convinced you in this article that collecting antique wine bottles is a great hobby and that you will at least give it a try. I can guarantee you that you are starting a very enjoyable journey. Once you make a decision about the direction that your wine bottle collection will take, you will be able to scour the world and perhaps sip your way into a beautiful display of bottles.

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Antique Medicine Bottles

Aug 17th, 2009 by admin

Antique medicine bottles are very important for our culture and they deserve our appreciation and attention, because they form significant part of our history. All types of antique bottles tell a story about a particular industry, way of life or historical period. However, antique medicine bottles have some characteristics that make them uniquely important for our culture and history. They offer best examples of rapid development of industry in the Western Europe and the USA. In addition to that, they perfectly demonstrate how our lives have changed in the last 100 years and how much have society and the way we live our lives been transformed by the products of science and technology. Medicine bottles and pharmaceutical industry seem to be the perfect example of that. When you look at the antique medicine bottles you can see the rapid changes in technology.

For example, antique medicine bottles tell us how far the medical industry has come in the last century. The most obvious change is that in the past medicine was stored in glass bottles. Nowadays, many elements are stored in plastic bags. Having a look at an old glass IV bottle can take you decades back. There are antique medicine bottles from the pharmaceutical industry that have the name of the chemical and even poison warnings worked right into the bottle’s design. This is so much different from today when everything is printed on adhesive labels and later attached to the bottle itself.

Antique medicine bottles have undertaken huge changes in the last century and their look and shape has completely changed. They have been transformed by unstoppable development of science and technology and therefore they are perfect example of the way our everyday lives have changed.

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Vintage Glass Bottles

Aug 4th, 2009 by admin

For many people, vintage glass bottles are just items that take up valuable space, usually in kitchen. To others, they are spectacularly valuable and beautiful objects that are worth admiring. Only these people can appreciate the effort and craftsmanship that is needed to produce these truly beautiful things. I consider myself to be one of those people, I just can’t not to admire stylishness and beauty of vintage glass bottles. The astonishingly beautiful shapes and colors of vintage glass bottles have always fascinated me. However, there are many other reasons to collect vintage glass bottles, apart from their georgous look.

Vintage glass bottles are really a part of history. Various types of vintage bottles tell us a lot about particular period of history and the way of life at that time or about development of particular industry. For example, antique medical bottles demonstrate how far the medical industry has progressed and how much has changed. Medical items used to be stored in bottles, these days they are kept in plastic bags. Taking a look at antique glass bottle can take you decades back in history. There are many antique bottles from the pharmaceutical industry that have the name of the chemical and even poison warnings worked right into the bottle’s design.That is so different from bottles today where all the signs are printed on adhesive labels and subsequently put on the bottles that are pure and simple, with no signs on them..

You could very well say that antique bottles are a part of true American culture. Old Coca-Cola or Pepsi-Cola bottles can remind us of the time when they were sold in glass bottles and were enjoyed at a real soda counter. Other sorts or vintage bottles that are extremely valuable to collectors include whiskey bottles, vinegar bottles,torpedo bottles, cosmetic bottles, and especially beer bottles. Exploring vintage glass bottles is a great way to study American history and development of American culture.

One can find antique bottles all across the United States. Good places are ghost towns, old dumps, old houses, old homesteads, antique stores and the campsites on the trails that the early pioneers used to cross the United States. I recommend you to visit the National Bottle Museum before you start treasure hunting for vintage glass bottles. It’s address is 76 Milton Avenue, Ballston Spa, NY and it is a truly wonderful museum. Total heaven for everyone who is interested in vintage bottles. Staff in the museum is very well informed and helpful, they can give you lots of useful advice.

vintage glass bottles are appreciated for their various colours as well as their shapes. You just can’t see so much detail and effort put into bottles today. Bottles today are extremely simple and pure, they include no decorations or signs. They just perform their function with very few estetical value. Just imagine a bottle of Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup and you will have an idea of what antique bottles looked like. The most valuable antique bottles are the ones in good, but also unusual shape. Colour is also very important determinant of value, some colours are more valuable than others. Colors with highest value are yellow and olive greens, cobalt and teal blues, yellow, purple, and green. Some old bottles can have extremely high value, they can be sold for literally tens of thousands of dollars. Therefore buying and selling vintage glass bottles can be very lucrative and profitable business. However, you can make wonderful profit just by looking for vintage bottles in your back garden or in an old house. Who knows, maybe you’ll be lucky and you’ll find some antique bottle worth thousands of dollars.

I hope I helped to fire up your passion for collecting vintage glass bottles and that you will make a start on your treasure-hunting journey. I wish you best luck with it.

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