In March we got some great pics of rare PA sodas, including this deep teal blue blob top Gerling pony from Reading, sent in from Andrew Brinker (a nice Union Glass Works piece) and two rare Easton lagers from Doug Lodge, one in a porter shape. These entries, plus a few others have pushed the total count for the APS database up over 1700, but there are still many more to come:

The TAYLOR & BROTHERS pontiled beverage bottles have been found both in Wisconsin and in Chicago, but like the "TAYLOR'S BEST" (last December's FPS) the sided one is not marked with a city name.

I've recently learned that TAYLOR & BRO. was listed as being in business in 1850 and 1851 in Milwaukee (from the Wisconsin state archives) which pretty definitively establishes the sided example at right, one of 3 known examples, all dug in Wisconsin (# 1568 from Steven Libbey). So the porter below either indicates a Chicago branch or perhaps a different set of Taylor Brothers altogether. This is the only "Taylor & Bros" I've seen (# 1631 from Paul Welko) that is marked with a city name. It could be that the TAYLOR'S BEST (blown in the unusual J. DINETS form) comes from the same brothers as the porter below..

I thought it was quite fitting that Paul Welko sent in this "H. C. DOTY / PITSBURGH. ALE" a few weeks after our prior months big contributor, Don Bush, sent in a huge batch of nice Pittsburgh, pontiled soda pics.

When I heard that Don's son Jeff recently passed away, I was thinking that maybe this pic could be a sort of tribute to Don and Jeff, since it is a pretty rare CHICAGO ale, that is really patterned after a Pittsburgh porter  form and embossing, and especially the inverted tapered top, that is found on many Pittsburgh porters (and a few other Pennsylvania town pontiled porters).

Don, if you see this bottle here, I hope you'll know that a lot of collectors wish you and your family well, and by way of condolence for the passing of Jeff, accept this rare ale as a small tribute to your  passion for collecting, which would have been Jeff's legacy. We all wish you well . . .

Another killer soda sent in by Paul is a Chicago Sided Knickerbocker by S. Smith. Here again, we have a form and attribute or "slogan", associated with another large city, being "mimicked" in Chicago, perhaps by a prominent New York bottler's Chicago branch ?

That one will have to wait for April, but I think, unless you've already seen this one, it will be worth the wait. And yes, it's deep blue just like the New Yorker!

It would be a disservice to our site visitors NOT to post this absolutely fantastic soda from Paul Welko, embossed:

"L. RODEMEYER & CO. / PREMIUM / MINERAL WATER / CHICAGO ILL."

Paul states, "To my knowledge this one is the only pontiled one known. There might be several (2 or 3) smooth based ones known."

Anything in deep green in this form (normally Pittsburgh-blown aqua) is sweet, but this one was unlisted. Now #1633, thanks to Paul ! He sent in just as nice a pic of the green Keely which is another unique one--I may put that in a future update as well.

But if you think this Soda is nice, you won't want to miss the March FPS coming up from Paul. It's one of the absolute craziest sodas I've ever laid eyes on !

With all the great soda pics that Steven Libbey sent in January, one featured pontiled soda just couldn't do it. In fact, I think I added or confirmed 7 rare pontiled Wisconsin sodas with Steven's help.

While the February FPS was a straight letter Hopkins, here's yet another pontiled Hopkins from Wisconsin, with the old "Milwaukie" spelling in just an incredible, vivid blue--even retaining the original wire bail.

Looks like a Pittsburgh-blown soda from the lettering  style, especially the signature "S's", and when they come in colors other than aqua, it's definitely an eye-catcher

I also added a straight letter, blue Hopkins embossed (HOPKINS (BACKWARDS "N") / CELEBRATED / MINERAL WATERS (BACKWARDS "N") / MILWAUKIE" with a hat top in the exact same form as a well known Chicago soda.

Updated: from the American Pontiled Soda Archive

Though most torpedo's are smooth based, many--if not most--are EARLY pontil era (1840's) like the first one pictured at right. The next pair I believe to be mid 1850's. This first one is a J. ROTHER. Most collectors have never seen one. Though not marked as such, it's a DC bottler, and the torpedo was probably blown at the Federal Hill Baltimore Glassworks. Color is a deep puce with pink tone in thinner areas of glass.

The next example is a McKeon & McGrann, marked WASHINGTON DC on the reverse. Another RARE torpedo.

And for good measure, the third example here is the unique JVD STEWART from Chris Rowell's collection. Chris informed me that he did a bit of research on Stewart. He first found him to be listed in 1845 as a druggist, until 1852. In 1853 he was listed as an apothecary until 1854, and in 1855 he was listed as an analytical chemist. He continued to be listed as such after 1855. His address also changed that year. So it is very likely that the Stewart ten pin is pre-1854, which would fit in at the end of the era of the torpedo and ten pin popularity in Baltimore.

It seems that all the known companies in Baltimore that used a torpedo or ten pin form were in business sometime during the 1845-1854 era. More research could probably narrow those dates down a bit further. Chris states, "My current thinking is that all the Baltimore torpedoes and ten pins date to that 9 year period. And I believe most date to 1846-1852 with only one or two before and after these dates. I believe that the short span of time these were used helps explain their rarity." (Thanks to Chris for this submission)

An odd olive-amber colored F & L Schaum recently brought $3600 at Rod W's auction a few months back, but instead of showing that one, I like the pure green one in this picture from Chris Vaught, to the right of the unembossed yellow porter and the puce one. 

Once a bottle hits big, they seem to come out of the woodwork, just like the olive green one that hit a record $2000 plus a month before at American Bottle Auctions

Frederick and Lewis Schaum were German glassblowers who immigrated to Baltimore and worked their way up to the top in 1851. That is the only year they were listed as proprietors of the Federal Hill Glass Works. Perhaps management didn't set too well with them. On the back of my puce one is the faintest trace of a plate mold, ready to accept the name of a bottler. Good Glass !

As if the ten pin isn't rare enough, now a Borgman porter has surfaced. Pontiled Cumberland, Maryland sodas are tough. I need a good pic of the Flurshutz from Rod Walck, actually.

There's been a run on Borgman ten pins in the last few months, in killer colors. I've seen about 5 now.

The "Korts & Wickard" Cumberland poeter is probably the only one that can be had for less than $500 these days.

 I feel that this Borgman porter was blown at a Baltimore Glass House, due to it's similarity to the C.A. Cole (one I'm kind of sorry I sold, as I haven't seen another in deep aqua since).

Rare, unlisted and "gutsy" !

I thought it would be a good idea to feature this rare soda in order to make a point. That is . . . there are sodas out there (like the F & L Schaum) which are only thought to be a "Glass House" soda.

In other words, the bottle has the glass house marking on one side and the other side is blank. Now we all know that there are "Glass House" sodas that have that same exact Glass House marking (Dyottville, for example) on one side, and a plate mold or private mold on the other side that spells out a bottler and city, state, etc....

The "J. Bodine and Sons" has always been thought of as the former.

I can't recall ever seeing one with a bottlers name on the other side, let alone in cobalt blue (they are usually in aqua).

So I'm hoping that Chris Rowell will dig a puce F& L Schaum sometime this week that has C. A. COLE / 101 N. HOWARD ST. slugged into the back, and just give it to me (please) !

This amber G A KOHL is about an 1838 - 1840 piece. Iron pontiled, but EARLY like the amber Roussel. It features the PATENT mold on the obverse (also like the Roussel) and though listed in this color, it is very desirable. If you can get one for less than $1500 in decent shape, it would be a wise investment.
This was a former Featured Soda, which expired a few months ago.

The pic of the Roussel on the other hand was just submitted by Doug Lodge, so I thought I'd post it here for comparison . . . . .

UPDATE, 10-4-05:
Here is an example that I formerly had another image of displayed at the right, showing the reverse side embossing only. An example just surfaced and sold on ebay in October 2005, and it is now pictured here with both sides shown.

I had thought that the obverse was embossed "I. COVERT" but alas this pic only shows the word "COVERT" and in the ebay listing, the seller simply says it has the word "COVERT" above the city.  But at least we see the Morristown NJ Provenance.
It was an unlisted, pontiled mug based soda, that will now be updated in the database with this new info. If you cannot open the link above, because the listing has expired, I will mention that the bottle sold for $1900 plus with some damage to the lip and base. 

An unusual thing about this bottle is that the words "SUPERIOR / MINERAL / WATER" are embossed in three straight lines, as opposed to the majority of these which include the "Union Glass Works Phil.a" embossing, in an arch. His business must have truly been a "covert" operation, as I have only seen these two examples and don't know anything else about the bottle.

I love this bottle !

It is a in rough shape, but pontiled, dark olive squat porters don't come around that often, especially from Cleveland.

The embossing can be read in the expanded image, but ut says simply "CITY BOTTLING WORKS (^) / CLEVELAND / OHIO".

You see city works sodas throughout the midwest, mostly aqua to medium blue green and mostly smooth based.

I didn't bid high enough to get it, because I was afraid it wouldn't clean up as well as I like them, but if it did . . . .

Like the Yost, the Scott is listed.

And he is listed as having a soda marked "Downingtown", but not in this slug plated porter form and with this particular embossing.

So we have another unlisted Pa. soda here in great shape !

Here is a beautiful soda that should be in my collection. I do not know where it is from, and it is unlisted. It appears to be in great shape and I fell asleep on this one at Ebay.

The new owner should be quite happy with it for the price paid.

It has the early top, and of course the "Richardson" name is well known and common (the NJ bottler from this period) but FRISBY ?

Obviously this bottle predates the plastic flying disc that we are all familiar with, by about 100 years.

Saving the best for last . . . .I had a mild coronary event when I saw this bottle on Ebay (which is where most of these pictures have been taken). 

The mug based Blue Lick appears rarely in a deep olive or olive amber mug based black glass pint form, similar to the Louisville "Dupont" mineral. It commands $1500 in the iron pontiled black glass variation, which typically sports the "Saratoga" style top (sloping collar with applied lower bevel). You can imagine my surprise to find a single taper top, deep aqua open pontiled example. My check book was not fat enough at the time to acquire this RARE open pontiled Kentucky mineral, which screams of earliness. It is certainly an early 1840's piece and must have been the very first form and styling of this mineral. The expanded pics are o.k., and the embossing is fairly clear. Probably unique  . . .