Bitters Bottles

They called it bitters and it came in an interesting bottle.

It was said during the 19th century that such mixtures would cure an array of aliments but in fact they were mostly alcohol. They were eagerly consumed by the unwary and the intemperate.

Best Seller - For nearly a century, starting generally in the 1860s, booze disguised as bitters became a nationwide best seller.

Its manufacture and sale was "one of the most sucessful and lengthy frauds ever perpetrated on the American people," noted author Richard Watson in the 1965 book Bitters Bottles. "Its nostrums and preparations of herbs, roots and barks often equaled or surpassed whiskey, brandy or wine in alcohol content."

All that remains today of the reign of bitters are the rather unique bottles which once held those unusual contents.

"Bitters bottles are a most interesting memento of days gone by," added Watson. "They take one back to days when medical science was far from perfect. Life was fraught with the danger of serious disease and early death; people lived in constant fear of the apprehension of illness and epidemic."

Beginning - To begin at the beginning, bitters took the familiar mane from the bitter taste they offered. Initially the mixture of bark and herbs also offered an element known as cinchona. The ingredient itself contained quinine which was extremely bitter but effective in fighting malaria.

Certainly there would be many other ingredients in addition to the bitter cinchona. Other "bitters" might be angostura, cascarilla, gentian and wild cherry. Also consider a range of other ingredients extending from belladonna to strychnine.

Mostly Alcohol - However the fascinating bottles contained mostly alcohol, up to 120 proof at times.

"Beginning with small bottles containing medicine with flavoring properties, the size of bottles increased as proportions of alcohol increase," according to Watson. "And in most cases medicinal value became practically nonexistent."

Some historians credit 1700s England with the early bottling of what would become bitters. At some point manufacturers devised a way to avoid steadily increasing taxes on liquor by creating a mixture of herbs with liquor and calling it a form of medication.

Not surprisingly, bitters became similarly popular in early 1860s America following the enactment of US Revenue Act of 1862. That law kindly defined bitters as medicine and therefore not subject to the higher taxes of liquor.

All Sizes and Shapes - Earlier on, the bitters were sold at stores in a more or less standard size. But as the market expanded and retail sales exploded, all sizes and shapes of bitters bottles were pressed into service.

"Unique bottles were designed to catch the eye and launch effective bitters marketing," wrote Carlo and Dorothy Sellari in the book The Standard Old Bottle Price Guide. "In addition to the round, triangular and rectangular shapes, bitters bottles were also made in figural shapes of pigs, fish, cannons, drums, ears of corn, and cabins."

Also add to that horseshoe shapes, globes, lighthouses, soldiers, American Indiana, barrels and flask-shaped.

Hall's Bitters came in a barrel-shaped bottle, while Suffolk Bitters appeared in the market on a pig-shaped bottle. McKeever's Army Bitters came in a drum-shaped bottle and Dr. Fisch's came in a fish-shaped bottle as a pun on the good doctor's last name.

Colors Varied - Colors varied as well. Among them were amber, amethyst, aqua, blue green, cobalt, clear, purple, olive, milk glass and gold.

Further adding to the diversity of bitters marketing and distribution were the far-reaching extension of brands. They ranged from Abbott's Bitters in the aqua bottle to Zu Zu Bitters in the amber bottle.

Ultimately they were more than 1,000 different types of bitters manufactured from the 1860s through the 1890s.

Name Alone - In those days the name alone could be important and impressive.

Sales often favored bitters with a doctor's name attached to it or one offering the sage advice of an Indian who was believed to be adept at mixing medicinal roots and herbs.

One major producer of 19th century bitters was Dr. Jacob Hostetter and later his son David Hostetter. Even the Federal government issued a contract for Dr. J. Hostetter's Celebrated Stomach Bitters to be issued to soldiers during the Civil War.

Then there was Dr. Blake's Aromatic Bitters, Dr. Gruessie Alther's Krauter Bitters, Dr. Gilmore's Laxative-Kidney & Liver Bitters, Dr. Wister's Oxygenated Bitters for Dyspepsia and General Debilty and Dr. Wonster's US Indian Root Bitters.

Indian Theme - Given the appeal of the Indian theme, there was Brown's Celebrated Indian Herb Bitters and many similar Native American titles. A major seller was variations of the Old Sachem and Wigwam brand of bitters. The brand's bottles were often figural images of a wise-looking Indian.

"These brand names in many cases were the things which caught the eye and imagination and sold the bitters on the mysterious appeal of places or people rather than on the merit of the bitters themselves," explained Watson.

'Local' Production - Every place it seems had their own 'local' production or manufacture of bitters, thus adding even further to the already established diversity.

Constitution Bitters, for example, was produced in Buffalo, NY. Damina Bitters meanwhile was made in Baja, CA., and Eastman's Yellow Dock Bitters came from Lynn, MA.

Meanwhile, Uncle Tom's Bitters was made in Trevorton, PA. The majority of bitters bottles, regardless of the size, shape or location were marked with the word 'bitters' embossed on the glass bottle.

As a consequence, many surviving bottles can be identified nearly a century and a half later. To be sure some bitters bottles were marked only with paper labels but obviously their identity would be a challenge without the original label intact.

Prohibition Era - Federal laws passed early in the 20th century generally curtailed the sale of bitters products, however there was a brief resurgence of such concoctions during the Prohibition Era of the 1920s and very early 1930s.

Collector interest in bitters bottles and related items such as trade cards has ebbed and flowed over the decades.

In recent years leading auction houses such as Skinner Inc. has featured some classic bitters bottles.

Source: Robert Reed, Farm and Dairy, April 2, 2009

Photographs added by The Glass Cottage