Sunday, March 18 - Rumford Antique Bottles #rumford #antique #bottlecollectors

Two posts in one day - my my my it must be going to snow tomorrow. That was my grandmother's saying and she usually said it during the summer months so it basically meant something that's not going to happen.

So this bottle popped up on my sink today and if I put it up there, I'm really losing it because I don't remember. Although...I was cleaning out the downstairs bathroom cabinet and found another jar down there that I posted about Friday; maybe this was in there too Lord only knows.

Anyway...here's the jar:

It says Rumford across the top and is 4 3/4 inches tall and has a 12 on the bottom. According to what I'm finding out about it, it is a baking powder jar or something similar which is surprising as I would have thought it was an old medicine bottle? It is aqua in color and has a few bubbles on the inside. It was probably made in the late 1800s or early 1900s. What a find.

I found this on the Internet:

Looks just like my jar without the label. So we're talking Rumford Chemical Works from Providence, R.I.

The history behind the company was that an American by the name of Benjamin Thompson of Woburn, Massachusetts escaped from 'political complications' by moving to England in 1754. He joined the English army until 1784 and then entered the service of the Elector of Bavaria. For the next fourteen years, Benjamin was investigating ways of supplying nutritious foods for the state at the lowest costs possible. Because of his contributions, he was knighted 'Count Rumford.' Sometime after 1800, he founded the Rumford Professorship of Chemistry at Harvard University and this is where an Eben N. Horsford served as Rumford Professor from 1847 to 1863. Eben then met George Wilson in 1853 and the two started Rumford Chemical Works in 1856 and incorporated the company in 1859.

Wilson served at business manager and Horsford was in charge of producing the chemicals. Their most popular product was Horsfords Acid Phosphate of which the tonic was patented on March 10 1868, over a hundred years ago. This same product continued being produced well into the 1940s. You would add one teaspoon of product and mix it with a glass of water and some sugar and it would resemble lemon lime drink. This was used for mental and nervous exhaustion.

So in a way it could be a medicine bottle, huh?

The bottles started out a clear glass but when they found out that the content would become calcified when stored for long periods of time, they ended up changing the color of the glass to teal blue in a unique eight sided shape bottle (never seen one of them yet). The rarer of colors came in deep olive, green and aqua (I would say mine was aqua).

By the 1900s the teal blue bottles were eliminated and the machine made bottles were produced in a light green and a brilliant green color. Eventually the embossing disappeared and the company went to paper labels. If you find one that is embossed with the letter W, that would stand for George F. Wilson.

Other products they produced were Rumford's Baking Powder (seems to me I remember this from my grandmother's cabinet but this was in a tin), Rumford's Yeast Powder and Rumford's Phosa. These bottles were unembossed and was just registered on the heel of the bottle (like mine with the 12 on the bottom).

On eBay, they're selling for about $20 on down.

Sunday, March 18 2018 - Farmhouse Decorating! #farmhouse #farmhousefinds #hobby lobby #kirkland's

Good Sunday morning!

It's still cold on the island. Barometer reading 40 on the deck at 10:52 in the morning. Where is spring? Actually, I've been loving winter because I've been inside doing a little redoing. I'd like to show you my work in progress. It's one of the accent walls in the living room:

I got the Farmhouse sign at Hobby Lobby for about $15 I think and the two baskets at the same place for about the same each. The two shelf thingees and the chickens, etc., on the shelves all came from Dollar Genera. The shelves were $6 each and the chickens and pig were about a dollar. I believe the two what they call 'planters' in the middle was about $1.50. Now...the picture in the middle...here's a better pic:

There, that's a little better. This came from Kirkland's for about $39. The roof of the barn is basically 3D...really neat to look at in person.

Like I said, it's a work in progress. I'm going to eventually turn all the walls into accent walls with the farmhouse theme. Looking forward to getting more farmhouse items.

Yesterday, I slipped in Hobby Lobby. I knew I was on a limited budget and wanted to buy the whole store so it was frustrating! I did come away with these two items:

Cow picture! I think I paid about $15 for this at Hobby Lobby and I also got this:

This was about $10 I think. My whole purchase was about $25 so I did good!

I've got this last one on another accent wall all by its lonesome but plan on adding more things to the wall as I go along. The hunt is part of the fun!

Hope you have a nice Sunday!

Saturday, March 18 2018 - Antique Jar Find: Lustre Canning Jars by R.E. Tongue Bros.

I love finding out the history of anything old! I've just recently got into antiques. All my life I have loved them but never had the respect of these things until a few months ago. I am a busy beaver on the lookout for just the right kind of antiques and only looking for things in particular. I don't want to become the old lady with those dusty knick knacks that no one other than the owner loves.

While cleaning out my downstairs bathroom under the sink cabinet, I found an old jar I've had for years. I didn't see the top but I know I have it somewhere. I thought it was a Mason jar, but observing it closer, it's not. It says Lustre on the side of it and was made by R.E. Tongue & Bros. out of Philadelphia.

The company was located at Allegheny Ave. & Amber St. They were in business around circa 1910-1920s. They were known for "Lustre" products especially canning jars. The family was from England but eventually migrated to Pennsylvania. Eventually, the company was put up for sale and was bought by a Chicago firm. They only lasted one or two years and then went bankrupt.

Here is the jar I've had for years and don't really know where I got it but my suspicion is that I dug it up somewhere in the woods. This jar probably dates to the early 1900s.

What's interesting about these jars is that all ball or blue jars are not Mason jars.  Mason jars are not a brand but a type of glass container.1937 was the last year a blue Ball Mason jar was made. This means that any authentic blue Ball Mason jar is at least 77 years old. The blue color was partially caused by the minerals of the sand on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Also, according to the Internet, here are the details on these particular jars. My jar fits number 3.

1. Lustre (machine made, aqua, 3 sizes, glass lid/wire bail) (diagram/emboss on front looks rectangular) 15 - 20

2. Lustre (handmade, aqua, 3 sizes, zinc lid) (diagram/emboss looks like a keystone) 15 - 20

3. Lustre (machine made, aqua, clear, 3 sizes, sinc lid) (diagram/emboss is in a circle pattern 12 -15

Interesting, huh?

On a side note, you can find out more about antique bottles, glass, jars, etc at Antique-Bottles.net.