I love old pharmacy bottles and would like to start collecting them one day when we have more room. I found this great one below at the Salvation Army a few weeks ago. It's a citrate magnesia bottle with the text embossed and a great cork style closure on a hinge. I found an incredible amount of information about apothecary bottles here on the Society of Historical Archaeology's web site, including specific information on citrate magnesia bottles (scroll almost all the way down the page here to read that info). The site doesn't give any information on the possible value of the bottles, but I wonder what the value of mine might be, if it has any. I really just think it would be fun for holding bath salts or something like that, but I do wonder if it's valuable.
The image below is small, but you can see it larger when you click on it--from the Society of Historical Archaeology.
In the last issue of Country Living (June p.53), there was an article on vintage pharmacy bottles. Some of the most valuable ones are the ones with colored glass or painted labels, but the article doesn't mention anything about bottles like the one I found.
The two pictured below with painted labels are from ebay. The bidding for these ended, and it looks like someone snatched them up for $40. By Country Living's estimates, they're probably worth $150 - $200. Ebay has quite a few others listed as well. It's really fun looking at them, but I think I'd rather hunt for them at the flea market!
The top image is a painting by Holly Farrell. I love her paintings.
1 comment:
i really love these too, and i have a small collection, sadly living in a box in my basement!
Post a Comment