| Vol. 23 - Issue No.5
Written By Allan C.
Holden
May 2025 |
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KALAMAZOO ANTIQUE BOTTLE CLUB NEWS |
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Member Club: of Federation Of Historic Bottle Collectors |
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WE ARE TAKING THE MAY MEETING ON THE ROAD! Coming Event!  Hi friends! We have a special meeting coming up this month, and you could easily miss the boat if you should show up at the wrong dock! Our Club President, Scott Hendrichsen, In another place, and in another time, had committed to giving a privy- digging presentation on our regular meeting night. This is the second newsletter that I have mentioned this in, and even so, I am asking for your help in spreading the word. I think this will be a fun event, but, the key is found in letting people know. There are people out there, like me, who are actively recruiting new members, both by word of mouth, or by sharing a newsletter. Well, those potential new members may not get to a meeting right away. Even with our regular meetings, and with our regular members, people still show up on the wrong night! The metal detecting club that was in Grand Rapids, would meet at different locations every other month. I warned them right up to the point where I finally stopped directing folks to them . . . HEY! I didn’t know where they would be! After 50 years, that group is now a distant memory! So, on Tuesday May 13th, on our regular meeting night, we are gathering at the . . . . .  Portage
District Library. The Library is located at: 300 Library Lane, Portage, MI 49002. And the time is different! Let’s go back to our ship which is still loading at the dock. When the Captain sounds one prolonged blast; that means the boat is leaving dock and you better be on-board! The May meeting starts 1 hour early! Starting at 6:00, so don’t stand waving from the dock shouting, “don’t leave!” You will hear a line from a movie!  “I don’t know how this thing works,” to quote the Wizard of Oz as he floats off. And those ruby slippers? They will not tread water. Of course at some point during the night, hopefully we will have our meeting. Vince tells us there will be some bottles from a older collection for sale. The Show Report At the last meeting we received a full report on the Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Show. The show was a success from all accounts. The show was only slightly smaller than last year in terms of dealers and tables. However, we did hear from some regular vendors who simply couldn’t make it if they wanted to. Here are the numbers Vincent shared with us at the meeting. The dealer count was ,41 who used 73 tables, The early bird admission was 9 and the general admission was 210. A total of 243 raffle tickets were sold. Gordy Hubenet won the Garrett metal detector. Dave Elfier won the number 6 Red Wing Stoneware Crock. John Nickerson won the Barber Bottle hard cover book, donated by the F.O.H.B.C. president Michael Seeliger. Another copy of this book was donated to start a club library. John Pastor won the silent auction for the rare Kalamazoo beer bottle. (That tells me that Mark McNee knew exactly what he was talking about!) Now I wonder what it was worth? As the now 'former' reluctant treasurer, I will say it was much easier with the old way of doing the bottle show business. And, we are finding the move to non-profit status has opened a whole new Pandora’s Box. After giving it a lot of thought, I think having the show, the club voted to continue It really should have a life of its own. Like always, hosted by the club, but a separate operation. The show should be self- supporting, with its own insurance, its own finances, its own bank account and its own funding. I suggest taking the money earned by the show, and use it to open a separate account to fund the next show. In many ways that was how it has been for years. Like I said at the meeting, the report card for the 2025 show will be the 2026 show. I have never set foot in a Casino, and I am proudly not a gambler, but I know some folks who are! These are folks who have felt the agony of defeat. They will tell you, like in that old song, “Know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, And know when to run.” In the vote to continue the show, I am pretty certain I was the only one to abstain. But frankly, I don’t ever want to stand in the way of tradition and the majority's wishes. The Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Show was around long before I came involved Maybe I am getting too tired, too old . . .or both. LAST MEETING Here is the list Vincent provided me with showing the April attendance. Imagine, if-you- will, all these smiling faces! Each one big fans of landfill refuse! You just need an eye for treasure, I guess! Lynn Kozik, Dave Wilkins, Terry Hopkins (New Member), Scott Hendrichsen, Susan Schewe (New Member) Sue Karbowski, Mary Gale, Brian Wages, Katie Wages, Rob Knolle, Kevin Seigfried, Al Holden, Tim Hayes, Kelly Bobbitt, Len Sheaffer and Vincent Grossi As I have always said, (with only one exception), we had a wonderful meeting! I will be the first to admit that; sometimes after a long day at work, and dealing with problems, I find my self thinking I wish I could go home and crash. But, I drag myself to the meeting, and I am always so glad to be with my friends. Thank you each one! As always, we did see some nice antique bottles! Not to mention there were also some really nice ones at the $5.00 table! Dave Wilkins had a beautiful little sample bottle of;  Dr. Harter’s Wild
Cherry Bitters, from Dayton, Ohio.
It is only about 3 inches tall and in a warm-shade
of honey amber. On the base, the bottle is embossed “Design Patented” which is interesting. I located a listing for a Doctor Harter’s bottle, with the exact description and in the same size of Dave’s, on the F.O.H.B.C., Auction Price Report. They have popped up from time-to-time in auctions. They are shown, to have sold from $80.00 to $190.00! Dave's little bottle has a tooled, hand-finished top, and is dated by the experts to range from 1890 to 1910. There are two variants, which only differ by city. The Dayton OH embossed Harter’s are considerably harder to find then the identical bottles with the St. Louis embossing!  Honestly, you won’t believe this, but I try to leave myself out of the newsletter. But, when I see Dr Harter’s anything I get excited. My Great Grandmother’s maiden name (on my mother’s side) was Roxanna Harter. Her father was Charles Harter and Charle's father was Martin Harter. Martin Harter, a Civil War veteran had a Grandfather, also Martin Harter who was a Revolutionary War Veteran! And he served under George Washington. Are you still with me? This Martin Harter was paid, for his service, with land. This made him the largest land owner in Nescopeck Pa. Where he raised a boat-load of kids! One grandchild became a doctor! I have a informational flier he would have used promoting his practice. It has his picture and introduction.  DR. THEODORE C.
HARTER. We have the pleasure to present to
our readers one of Bloomsburg's foremost physicians and
surgeons, whose excellent reputation for
professional honor and skill has been acquired
through a general practice in Bloomsburg, extending from
1880 until the present time. He was born in
Nescopeck, Pa.,
November 10, 1850, and is a son of Jacob and Margaret
(Dietrich) Harter, and a grandson of Martin
Harter. Dr Theodore Harter’s father, Jacob, was my Great, Great grandfather, Martin’s brother. In 1862 Jacob Harter enlisted in Company A, Pa. Vol. Infantry. After serving nine months was wounded in the battle of Yorktown, which rendered him unfit for further duty and finally resulted in his discharge. My Great X3 grandfather, Martin, from Otsego, MI. enlisted in the 13th Michigan and was sent out of Kalamazoo. He was discharged in 1864 in Louisville, Ky. So, yes there really was a Dr. Harter! I still have cousins in the Otsego area who are Harters! Tim Hayes showed off a beautiful early flask in aqua color quart size. I love these old flasks, the  ones with a
sense of humor. It is embossed: “WILL YOU TAKE A
DRINK? (motif of a duck on water) / WILL A DUCK SWIM?”(GXIII-27),
Lockport Glass Works, Lockport, New York, ca. 1860 -
1880, aqua strap sided quart, smooth base, tooled
ringed mouth. How
sweet!These seem to range in price from $300, all the way up to one that went in 2021 for $750.00 What a great piece of history! The remaining bottles at the meeting were not well marked 'by me'. . . sorry. If anything could burn me out at a meeting, it is trying to do too many things. If you walked up to me with a paper, with your name on it, with a list and said, “Here Al, this is a list of the bottles I brought to the meeting tonight.” You would be my hero, or heroine however you identify. With the use of our pin-on name badges, it would help me to no end, by simply to tossing your badge down beside your bottles when I am taking pictures. And, if your bottles are crystal- clear, make a note for me about any embossing. Sometimes this information doesn’t show up at all in my pictures. I simply cannot sit down and take an inventory of all the bottles at each meeting . . . . I wish I could do better. . The remaining bottles I am fairly sure belong to our great President, “the human mole,” Scott Hendrichsen. Honestly, I am not known for much at all, and certainly not for dairy bottle bottles. But, I really love the 1-quart Kalamazoo milk bottle that Scott purchased from Lynn Kozik. It is embossed with a large slug plate: “A. Alford, BASS LAKE FARM, Kalamazoo, Mich. Another was an early medicine bottle of Scott’s, a aqua-green 7 ½ inch with applied double collar lip.  DR. KENNEDY’S RHEUMATIC DISSOLVENT, ROXBURY, MASS. A favorite of Scott’s was a clear whiskey fifth with strong embossing. F.G. Tullidges & Co., "PURE POP-CORN WHISKEY," Cincinnati, Oh. I had fun tracking this one down. The Auction Price Report turns up F.G. Tullidges & Co. a few times. But, there was no mention of Pop Corn Whiskey. Otherwise, it seems like if anything would hold-still long-enough F.G. Tullidges would bottle it!  I did find a listing for a Kentucky Moonshiner named Popcorn Sutton who appears to be distilling XXX to this day. His motto is; "Jesus turned water into wine, I turned water into Likker!" Yes that was his spelling. SUMMER BREAK After, as long as I can remember, the Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Club has taken a summer break. It served as a chance to go digging, vacation time and travel. We took always; June, July and August off and we started meeting again in September. More recently it was decided by vote to continue with monthly meetings year around in some fashion. These meetings will be events which club members can take part in. I am afraid I am taking the summer off. During the June and July August months I don’t plan and mailing out a newsletter, but any special news may be sent by e-mail and perhaps a post card. Regular newsletters will resume in September. If in the future you would like to share a digging adventure in an upcoming newsletter, that would be great! You can write it, or tell me and I will get it rolling. I have completely re-manufactured my 460 Ford motor- home engine. It is now a 466 Ford engine, and it is now resting on the motor mounts waiting for linkage and wiring to be hooked up. I would be finished by now had it not been so cold and rainy. Here are some 2025 upcoming events. Patti Taylor from Portage, Michigan, will be at the May club meeting with a bottle collection she is selling. This will be at Scott's Privy Digging Presentation. May 13, 2025 at the Portage District Library, 300 Library Lane, Portage, MI 49002. Time: 6PM. Downstairs Meeting Rooms. Kalamazoo Kitty 2025 Outdoor Market Schedule. (Portage MI): Sunday, May 11th (Mother's Day) Noon-4PM, Saturday's June 14th, July 19th, August 16th, and September 20th, Time: 10AM- 6PM. Rain or Shine. Free Admission. Vincent & Janet and I will be setting up again this May 11th(Mother's Day) with a few tables of bottles, books, etc. Lots of fun and a good way to show off bottle collecting. Please come out and join us with Mom too! Indiana Marble Club's Show: In-Room Trading Thursday and Friday, August 7th and 8th, Saturday, August 9th Show Time: 10AM- 1PM. Location: Wyndham Garden, 5750 Challenger Parkway, Fort Wayne, IN 46818. 260-999-6040(Mention Marble Show). Special Room rates:$109.00 plus tax (Deadline July 23rd) Breakfast Included. Vincent & Janet will be going down for the three days. Lots of fun and a good way to learn about marble collecting. We will be setting up a table of bottles at the show to promote bottle collecting and club. SUMMER CLUB PICNIC!  There is a joint club picnic planned for Sunday, August 17th time 11am to 3pm at Hager Park, In the Maples Picnic Shelter, 8212 28th Ave. Jenison, MI 49428 They are requesting RSVP by August 10th Kazoo Club call or text Vince at 269-220-1873 West MI club call or text Elmer Ogg at 231-557-7526 The Kalamazoo Antique
Bottle Club
"Meets this Month" at the Portage Library, Meeting date is May 13th at 6:00 Located at 300 Library Lane, Portage MI 49002  
Phone
269-685-1776
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