This Monday the 24th of May, 2010 we will begin our 50th auction.  It scares me as much as it makes me surprised.  It’s like watching your child grow from a  screaming little munchkin to a college grad and then a father.  It’s scary because never in my wildest dreams did I think we would do this many auctions. So much time has passed, so much of my life.  It surprises me because along with the duration of time, there was the unknown; the feeling of getting into something that you weren’t quite sure you’d finish.  Anyone who has a business and has spent 15 years nurturing it knows what I’m talking about.

They say a business takes 15 years to be successful.  I’ve seen other businesses take off much quicker and of course I’ve seen others go down the tube in the same amount of time. Our business is a little different than many other businesses that sale a product like vacuum cleaners or clothes. We also differ from a service company, someone who fixes your computer or cleans your curtains. In a way we are both. We sell a product and provide a service.  Running an auction is much like real estate, you are only as good as your inventory. For bottles that means a continual search for more items to include in the next auction.  It never ends. Before, during and after an auction, we are always looking for inventory.

People also say that your twenties are for learning, college or self-experience, figuring out the ropes of something you know you want to do or just finding out what you want to do.  The thirties are for nurturing that knowledge, turning it into something tangible and working hard to make it successful.  Your forties are to streamline, excel and make good on the previous two decades work.  It’s that 15-year period where what you’ve started should be beginning to thrive.  Your forties should be good years, starting to enjoy the fruits of your labor.  When you get into your fifties you should be well on your way to a successful business, at the top of the heap, have an identifiable business that has grown into a driving force.  The second half of your fifties should also be for enjoying what you’ve accomplished, taking some time off, spending time with the family and looking back with pride at what you’ve done.  Your sixties?  Well, maybe by now you’ve sold your nest egg, thinking about retiring, having your son or daughter take over.  They should be the best years of your life.

I can’t say I’ve followed the basic concept but I can say I have done probably more than I set out to. We’ve taken an auction that began as one page black and white ads in a bottle magazine and now send out 3,000 color catalogs worldwide, authored a book, upped the customer base by the thousands and sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bottles a year.  We’ve made American Bottle Auctions a recognizable name to collectors across the country, established a useful and worthwhile website and most importantly, met and corresponded with hundreds of great people, many of whom I am lucky enough to call friends. Maybe that’s the important part of the whole thing, that and having fun.  Enjoying what you do.  Still getting excited about a particular bottle and negotiating a deal.  Just being a part of the hobby, enjoying my share of what’s going on in the antique bottle world. 

As we continue to present our auctions, I hope to continue to improve the way we sell bottles and present our product.  Innovation.  We do a streaming video of almost every bottle we sell and I don’t see anyone else doing that.  We’re told people like it.  When we began, color was black and white and that had to end.  After all bottles are all about color.  You can’t sell a puce inkwell in black and white.  While we still have our plunders, we continue to monitor ourselves and try and make the next auction better than the last.  We can only do that with the loyal customers we’ve met over the years and the people who trust us enough with their beautiful bottles to sell.  Trust is so important. It’s not something you make it’s something you earn. It’s also a strong reason that a business takes 15 years to become successful.  With all the competition out there, whether you’re a grocer or car dealer, there’s always someone that is going to compete. Competition is good.  When we started, there was maybe two or three other bottle auctions that I knew of.  Now there are probably at least ten.  That’s a good thing.  It’s good for the customers and good for us.  If a competitor can get someone interested in buying bottles, where do you think they’ll go when they are in between auctions and we’re having one?  Just spreading the word, sharing the beauty of old glass to others…it’s a joy to be able to do.

So after our 50th auction we’ll just keep plugging away.  I swear I’ll never retire, what for?  I can pretty much do whatever I want now and yet I turn down many excursions over putting together my next auction.  Oh I’ll go to places I’ve only read about but I like to work and enjoy talking to customers and waiting for the next email or phone call that brings us something special we can show the world. I’ve learned so much, met so many people and shared so many great moments with the people I’ve met in the bottle world, why would I give it up?  So it’s likely you’ll see us around.  We try and hit as many shows as we can.  Our name is out there in numerous trade publications and we will continue to write articles and spread bottle news like we have been and most importantly we’ll continue to improve on what we do. We’ll do our part, and for those that took the time to read this, I hope your enthusiasm for bottle collecting stays as strong and as fun as the first time you pulled a Lea & Perrins from the ground. Maybe in a nutshell, we’ll simply grow older together.  Happy collecting.

I recently wrote an article entitled The Noble Collector that talked about some particular bottles that have sold for big dollars lately. These are extremely rare and desirable pieces that can take your breath away not only in the beauty of the piece but in the dollar amount paid for them. I received some emails and blogs that pointed out that not all bottles are selling for big bucks and that there is beauty in so many bottles, that a collector doesn’t have to mortgage their house to own them.  In other words, a bottle doesn’t have to be valuable to be strikingly beautiful and a delight to behold.  

I myself remember sitting in my room as a 14 year-old gazing at the beautiful albeit less valuable bottle collection that I had traded for or dug myself.  No, they weren’t a purple Masonic or a blue Homestead Bitters but rather simple bottles that had their own special appeal.  An unembossed whiskey with as much whittle as a bottle could hold, or a clear Owl Drug that was turning purple and delighted me in it’s intricate design and embossed wise old owl staring at me as it perched on my table.  No, it wasn’t George Washington in his infinite wisdom or the word bitters boldly embossed across a green cabin shaped form, but rather just an owl on a clear square bottle.  

As time went on and I ended up running a bottle auction, selling some pieces worth thousands of dollars and actually holding bottles I’d only seen in books. I still remember hiking into the Santa Cruz Mountains and screaming with delight at finding a green capers, a stunningly beautiful relic from the past. We’d look at every bubble, peer into the different shades of green that seemed to dance as we held it into the afternoon sunlight. In those days, we didn’t see these super valuable-one-of-a-kind sensations that catch the eye of the most advanced collector.  We liked western made bottles and whiskies were our favorites although just about anything would have us drooling. We’d read the John Thomas book, Whiskey Bottles of the Old West and Bill and Betty Wilson’s Spirit Bottles of the Old West, until we’d fall asleep and dream of the different whiskey bottles and the one in a million chance of finding one. In those days just to see a common whiskey that was listed in the Thomas book was a treat.  A bottle show was akin to being at the Academy Awards and our lives revolved around bottles.  We were learning, studying and doing as much research as a student working on their doctorate, we just didn’t know it.  To us, it was simply fun.  

There are so many great bottles out there that can be had for the price of a six pack of soda that bottle collecting is a perfect hobby for any budget.  I’ve shown some of the different bottles one can collect that can be had at a bottle show or Ebay or a yard sale for anywhere from a few bucks to a hundred.  The blue Owl bottle may be more but you can also find examples with some slight damage that normally might cost $500 but are easily obtainable for pennies on the dollar.  The Udolpho Wolfe’s Schnapps are a great example.  We have pictures of collections of these interesting bottles on our website and so many of these schnapps’ can be snapped up for $20 to $50 bucks.  Look at the Warner’s Safe Cure.  I’ve always said that if that bottle were rare, like the Tippecanoe made by the same company, it would be a multi-thousand-dollar bottle. Sodas are still very affordable even in the rainbow of colors they were made in. Mineral Waters, like the early Congress Springs, they are usually very crude and always very beautiful in shades of greens and teals and they can be had for under $50 a lot of the time. You are getting an early pontiled bottle with loads of character and beauty for a song.  

Unembossed bottles like early squares or fifths, my goodness, the combination of colors and different identities are limitless and affordable.  What about the common railroad and cornucopia flasks just to name a few? For a couple hundred dollars you can travel back in time to the 1840’s and pick up a bottle that was hand blown and still displays a marvel of limitless imagination and creativity.  To line a window sill with a myriad of different colored lesser-valued bottles is a wonder for the people who come and visit your home or office.  It’s only after you’ve completed your quest to search for the common, to the scarce and then onto the rare and extremely rare that you begin to understand the incredible variety and variants of the different antique bottles out there.  It’s a natural progression to eventually seek out the best. There’s nothing wrong with that, to be The Noble Collector, but collectors need to know what they can find with just a few hundred bucks and a keen eye for beauty.  

So ‘tis the season, the time to reach for the sky and grab that bottle worth more than it’s weight in gold, but it’s also time to reach for the beautiful and stunning in a $20 dollar bottle.  A good friend of mine who has one of the finest collections on the West Coast still treasures one of his bottles more than any.  What is it?  A Greer’s Washing Ammonia.  The color is astounding and although it’s common, it gets his heart racing as strongly as the day he picked up his first California Clubhouse.  Such is the nature of the antique bottle.  

A Nice Selection of Different Shapes and Colors

A Chalmers Catawba wine bitters bottle graded 9.8 for condition and considered one of the top five western bitters known, sold for $ 19,600 in an Internet and catalog auction that ended Jan. 18 by American Bottle Auctions (AmericanBottle.com).

This Chalmers Catawba bitters bottle sold for $19,600 in an online auction.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PR Log (Press Release) – Jan 22, 2010 – (SACRAMENTO, Calif.) – A Chalmers Catawba wine bitters bottle graded 9.8 for condition and considered one of the top five western bitters known, sold for $ 19,600 in an Internet and catalog auction that ended Jan. 18 by American Bottle Auctions (www.AmericanBottle.com). The bottle was the top lot in a sale that saw around 325 rare and vintage bottles sold and grossed more than $275,000.

The bottle — trademarked Sutters Old Mill, Spruance Stanley & Co., Proprietors — had an applied top and boasted loads of whittle, in a brilliant bluish aqua color. “This one had a solid strike and we can’t imagine a better example,” said Jeff Wichmann of American Bottle Auctions. “This very same bottle sold in one of our earlier auctions, and it set a record price. It’s the real deal, the very best.”

It was the 49th Internet and catalog auction for American Bottle Auctions, which specializes in rare and vintage bottles mostly made between 1850 and 1900, the period most desired by collectors, when superior embossing techniques were employed. Nearly 5,000 people registered to bid, but only a fraction of that total (around 300 people) actually submitted bids. Of those, 175 were winning bidders.

“The market right now is as strong as I’ve ever seen it,” remarked Mr. Wichmann. “Every sale we have seems to be better than the one before it. This auction was certainly one of our best ever. I attribute that to the tremendous variety of merchandise, and the response to that merchandise by our bidders. Historical flasks and bitters did especially well. They’re sitting atop the bottle market now.”

Following are additional highlights of the sale. All prices quoted include a 12 percent buyer’s premium.

A “For Our Country/Eagle” pint flask, over 150 years old, with sheared lip and pontil, in a color best described as tobacco green with striations of olive, soared to $14,560. The bottle was graded 9.8 and depicted a 20-star flag surrounded by six ribs. Also, a Baltimore Sunburst half-pint (circa 1840-50), graded 9.8, in a light to medium pinkish copper color and a superior high-quality example, hit $11,200.

A spectacular Bridgeton New Jersey-Washington bottle with sheared lip and jagged tubular pontil, graded 9.8 and with an outstanding medium to deep amber coloration near the base, climbed to $10,080. Also, a flawless Miller’s Extra E. Martin Old Bourbon trademark, probably the most desired of the Cutter fifths, with strong embossing and an overall beautiful patina to the glass, rose to $8,960.

A Washington/Baltimore Glassworks portrait pint flask showing the Baltimore Monument and a bust of George Washington (circa 1830-50), with rolled lip and pontil, graded 9.3, medium green and somewhat crude, with surface irregularities, breezed to $8,400; and a Corn For the World quart flask with embossed corn and the Baltimore Monument on the reverse, graded at 9.8, commanded $7,840.

A trademark Lightning quart jar, with Putnam 328 on the base and a replaced top and painted lid, boasting overall nice whittle and emerald green in color (one of only six such jars in this shade), graded 9.8, coasted to $7,280; and a J.H. Cutter Old Bourbon (E. Martin & Co., Sole Agents) banded pint flask, with a popular crown on the shoulder and a single roll top, graded 9.3, gaveled for $5,376.

A National Bitters (with Patent 1867 on the base) bottle, with an applied top and, remarkably, still with the original label, rare for its beautiful and brilliant ruby red coloration, graded 9.9, climbed to $5,152; and a Jesse Moore (Hunt & Co., Sole Agents) western whiskey fifth bottle with gorgeous pint banded flask, wonderfully embossed but with some condition issues, graded 9.7, topped out at $3,808.

A Pineapple bitters bottle, unembossed, with applied top and smooth base, green with some yellow and graded 9.8, hammered for $4,928; a Henley’s Wild Grape Root Bitters bottle with tooled top, in a highly whittled aqua-teal variant and filled with bubbles, demanded $4,256; and a Bryant’s Stomach Bitters bottle with applied top and sticky ball pontil, brilliant emerald in color, fetched $4,032.

A National Bitters (Patent 1867 on the base) bottle, with applied top and colored a brilliant yellow with a touch of green (almost transparent yellow toward the top, becoming a more vibrant hue near the base), graded 9.8, sold for $4,032; and a Harkness Fire Destroyer extinguisher (circa 1865-85), with ground lip, 6 ¼ inches, unusually colored in sapphire blue and pure oxblood puce, brought $4,032.

A trademark Lightning half-gallon jar, showing Putnam 368 on the base and with the original closure, in a stunning olive color and graded a respectable 9.8, went to a determined bidder for $3,808; and a Dr. A.W. Coleman’s Anti-Dyspeptic and Tonic Bitters bottle, 9 ¼ inches, made in Mobile, Ala., and in a beautiful green hue, graded 9.3, an example of one of the earliest bitters made, brought $3,808.

American Bottle Auctions was founded in 1990 by Jeff Wichmann, a native Californian who has been collecting antique bottles for nearly 40 years. Over time, the firm grew and underwent a name change, but the focus has remained the same: American Bottle Auctions specializes in appraising, brokering, consigning and auctioning antique bottles and glass. Bottle collecting is a burgeoning genre.

Mr. Wichmann has personally researched, appraised and estimated the values of thousands of antique bottles and related items. He is often called on to appraise antique bottles and glass for private individuals and businesses. In 1999, he wrote and published The Best of the West – Antique Western Bitters Bottles, a top research guide. He has also written many articles on the subject of antique bottles.

American Bottle Auctions is always accepting quality consignments for future sales. To consign a single bottle or an entire collection, you may call them toll-free, at 1-800-806-7722; or, you can e-mail them, at info@americanbottle. The next auction is tentatively slated for late April or early May. Already, fresh groupings of bitters and historical flasks have been consigned, and marbles may be sold.

Ken Hall writes pre-sale and post-sale press releases for auction houses, for a fee. He writes, submits and tracks stories for clients. Submissions are published in trade magazines, posted on industry websites and appear in local newspapers.

One of bottle collecting’s most prominent and well-liked members died October 3 from heart and kidney complications, Stephen “Peck” Markota was a mainstay of the hobby and good friend to everyone.  He was 76.

Peck, as we all called him, was a man who not only loved collecting bottles and other assorted things, he also was a man who spent much of his adult life spreading the word and working to further his fascination and love for antique bottles.  He and his wonderful wife, Audie, wrote the definitive book on western soda bottles and then another on California Hutchinson bottles.  He started the first bottle show in the Sacramento area in Folsom on June 14, 1969.  This set the stage for others who would follow and begin setting up their own shows throughout the state.   Among his many achievements, he was elected the Federation of Historic Bottle Collectors second vice chairman of the first FOHBC board of directors at the 1969 meeting in Berkeley.  He was also elected 1st vice chairman of FOHBC at the convention in Denver in 1969.  A member of 11 different bottle clubs, a tireless bottle exhibitor and author, his enthusiasm for the hobby never waned.  As well known bottle guru Bill Baab wrote in 2006, “In nearly every club, there is a nucleus of a few members who do all the work needed to keep it going, while the rest of the membership are content to do nothing.  Meet Peck Markota, one of the workhorses of the Federation.”  Peck was eventually elected to the FOHBC Hall of Fame in 1993 and was the Federation’s first Honorary Director.  As many have said, it was Peck who was the true spark behind the Federation being founded.

Most of all, it was Peck the nice guy.  Peck, who would talk about his kids, grandchildren and great grandchildren as if they were angels, sent to earth.  He never had a bad word to say about anyone and that’s the truth.  When someone passes on, we hear the most wonderful things about them regardless of whom they were.  I can assure you that everything people will say about Peck from here on is the truth.   When I started my antique bottle auctions, I wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms.  The first National show I went to I felt quite awkward and a little out of place.  Who came up to me and introduced me to the mainstays of the hobby?  You guessed it.  Peck judged people by who they were not what he’d heard.  If somebody had something bad to say about someone else, Peck would just as soon walk away and start a discussion with another friend. He was opinionated but his wonderful smile and generous demeanor were only stoking a friendly fire. He wanted so badly to share his passion and love of the hobby, he literally spent much of his life doing just that.

Goodbye, old friend, I still say your name almost every day as I write my bottle descriptions and talk about sodas.  A day before he died I was doing the soda section of our upcoming auction and like every auction, without Peck and Audie’s book, I’d be lost.  Markota this, Markota that, his quest for knowledge never stopped, thank goodness.  His legacy will live on; it’s in so many of us who were lucky enough to know him.  He never stopped giving and now we’ll never stop remembering him.  Peck Markota, a great man and bottle pioneer. The hobby wouldn’t be the same without you and that my friend will be true forever.  Goodbye.

Sincerely,
Jeff Wichmann