posted on August 24, 2010 11:21:40 PM new
Someone has donated a bunch of very old bottles to our historical museum. This little 1.5"-high bottle was in that group. We've never seen anything like it before and are wondering if any of you can shed some light. The words on the bottle are "Tea" and "Dessert", each with a line.
Back in the early 1900s there was a sanatarium here in Idyllwild, very large, for TB patients, and we're wondering if this bottle might have been a dosage regulator of some sort.
posted on August 25, 2010 01:41:46 AM new
It doesn't really look like a bottle at all to me but more of a measuring cup (or a dosage regulator, as you said). Maybe it was used to put something in the patient's food or drink.
What does it say on the bottom?
posted on August 25, 2010 07:36:42 AM new
What you have is a dose glass. Dessert and Tea refer to spoon measures. Those glasses were sometimes a part of a medicine bottle. Used as a cover for the top of the bottle.
posted on August 25, 2010 11:10:54 AM new
Okay, here's more info on this glass thing. The bottom says "dose measure," so we were right, huh.
The back of the bottle: "W. R. Warner & Co., Phila Pa." Now to research the company name!
posted on August 25, 2010 11:18:34 AM new
And. . . W.R. Warner was represented at a NY convention of druggists in 1894.
Here's one almost identical, up for sale on the internet:
1 1/4" tall, base is 1 1/4", cobalt blue glass with a smooth base. Embossing on front reads : " W. R. Warner & Co. / Phila. P. A. " Back reads : " Heaping Teaspoon " Base reads in a circle : " Dose Measure ". A nice dose glass in near mint condition. Has some stain or haze towards the top of the glass. Please see pictures. No chips, cracks, dings or pings. A nice color! $30.00
posted on August 25, 2010 12:04:44 PM new
Warner was a major manufacturer of patent medicines. The one that I see most often is Warner's Safe Cure. Came in an attractive bottle with a picture of a safe on the front. I don't recollect a cobalt bottle by Warner. Could be a hard to find bottle.
posted on August 26, 2010 10:41:39 AM new
You fill it with tea to the bottom line, then top it with "Dessert" ( rye whiskey) to the top. At least that's what I'd do with it. Too bad we're outta tea, guess we'll have skip that part.
