During two years as a volunteer curator/cataloguer for the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum in Alexandria, Virginia, I was able to see and handle some of the museum’s large collection of “label under glass” apothecary bottles, similar to one shown here. Labels under glass (LuG) were most common from the mid- 1800s to the early 1900s. The bottles feature a label or colorful image covered by a thin layer of glass to prevent damage. Then the glass-covered label was pasted to a bottle created with an appropriate indentation to permit a smooth front.
An interesting artifact of a bygone era, LuG are found on whiskey and bitters bottles. A review indicates, with a few exceptions, they fall into two categories, patriotic and pretty women. One of the exceptions is the “Kit Carson Whiskey” shown below. It is a back-of-the bar bottle, featuring the American explorer and Indian fighter with his horse. This bottle was issued by Wood, Pollard & Co. of Boston. Founded in 1881, the company was supplied with whiskey drawn from the warehouses of the Mayfield Distillery in Kentucky. Kit Carson Whiskey was one among more than a dozen Wood, Pollard brands. They included “Very Old Cabinet 1873,” “Oxford Rye,” “Snowdrop Gin” and “White Wheat Whiskey.”
Many whiskey LuGs revolved around the Spanish-American War. Although just labeled as “Whiskey,” this quart container featured Admiral George Dewey. On April 27, 1898, Dewey boarded the USS Olympia with orders to attack the Spanish at Manila Bay. He stopped at the mouth of the bay late on the night of April 30, and gave the order to attack at first light, issuing the historic command "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." Dewey defeated the Spanish in a battle lasting just six hours, becoming an instant national hero.
A lesser known Spanish-American War figure was Lt. Richmond B. Hobson, shown here on a LuG flask. Hobson was famous for leading eight volunteers trying to sink a large ship to block the Spanish fleet moored inside the harbor of Santiago, Cuba. While braving fierce enemy fire, the sailors failed when the ship sank prematurely and all were captured. Released after the war, Hobson later was awarded the Medal of Honor, elected to the Alabama House of Representatives, and upon retirement, raised to the rank of Rear Admiral. This five-inch high bottle was issued by Hanlen Brothers, a liquor house in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. Given the structure of the bottle, the company is identified only by a small sticker on Hobson’s picture.
Another LuG flask honored veterans of the Spanish American War. The label depicts a soldier and a sailor in the full combat gear of the times. The motif suggests a friendship between the services that often failed to exist in reality. The bottle gives no evidence of where or by whom it originated.
National Encampments of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), the Union Civil War veterans’ organization, were enormous and important national events. Any number of souvenirs were generated as the former combatants gathered in large tent cities to relive the glory of the North’s victory. In 1895 I.W. Harper, a brand distilled by the Bernheim Bros., issued a special LuG flask to mark the encampment held in Louisville, Kentucky, home town of the whiskey makers.
This LuG bottle recently sold at auction for $1,700. This value on a quart that sold pre-Prohibition for several dollars may reflect not just an interest in the bottle but what may be the original contents. My guess is that the whiskey contained likely was not of superior quality but for 21st Century collectors it seems to make no difference. Unless somehow contaminated it still may be drinkable. Moreover, despite an excess of hair, the young woman is pleasant to look at.
Chris Sandheger, originator of this bottle, emigrated from Germany to the United States about 1853 when he was 21 and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. After serving as an accountant in a liquor store, in 1857 Sandheger established his own liquor business. Under his management the firm grew steadily and his alcoholic brands found a wide local and regional trade. His “Peach and Honey” shown here was a cordial. He gave its bar bottle not only a distinctive LuG, but also wrapped it in wicker.
The glass-fronted label here displays a young woman in an abbreviated costume and high heels who is striking a provocative pose. The flask was issued by C. M. Emrich, a hotel owner in Washington D.C. In addition to his hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Pennsylvania Railroad station, Emerich also operated a hotel across from the B&O depot on New Jersey Avenue.
Three winsome lasses are here advertising Galaxy Whiskey. They appear on a back of the bar bottle, a finely lithographed image covered in clear glass. This whiskey was the product of the Peter McQuade liquor house of Brooklyn. The company registered the brand name with the government in 1905. McQuade also merchandised another alcohol-laced beverage under the name “Amazon Bitters.”
The final three alcoholic LuG bottles all were generated by a gent named J.C. Tilton who called his nostrum “Tilton’s Dandelion Bitters.” Ferdinand Weber, guru of bitters, on his Peach Ridge website (Feb. 27, 2015) has done yeoman research on Tilton. He writes: “As it turns out, Joseph C. Tilton, born in Ohio around 1825, was quite a salesman and placed hundreds if not thousands of small advertisements looking for people to make a few dollars and sell things for him. Throughout his career he was listed in a number of professions including, Dealer in Oil Lands (1865-1866), Real Estate Agent (1868-1877), Dealer in Patent Rights and Solicitation (1867-1878) and Making Whacks, (huh?) in 1879 and Carpet Cleaning (1884).”
Ferd also records Tilton selling Indian Balm Pills, Indian Balm Soap, D. Karsner’s Cattarrh Remedy, Tilton’s Lady Detail, Tilton’s Gardner Sticker and other items. The three bottles below, featuring reverse glass pictures of comely lasses all have bodies wrapped in wicker with a wicker handle. According to Ring & Ham’s book, Tilton’s Dandelion Bitters bottles were made by the Dyotttville Glassworks of Philadelphia.
The 14 glass containers displayed here are just a few examples in which LuG artistry may be found. My guess is that the $1,700 bottle shown above is only one of many hefty sales to come.
Note: Longer posts on four of the whiskey men referenced here may be found on this website: Wood, Pollard, April 23, 2013; Halen Bros., August 9, 2012; Bernheim Bros, December 10, 2014, and Chris Sandheger, November 6, 2013.
