Common Rhode Island Medicine Bottle, a list and notes

During my past 16 years of collecting bottles, I was able to see thousands of Rhode Island bottles, whether I dug or bought them, saw them at shows, online, or in collections.  Out of all those bottles, I would guess more than 50% of them could be classified as "common".  It can be hard for a beginning collector to determine if a bottle is common or not, so I am making this list as an effort to help new collectors know what some of the common RI bottles are.  For now I am only focusing on embossed bottles, and plan to go over ACL sodas and milk bottles at a later time.
I would also like to stress that this not a value guide.   Most of the bottles listed below don't have much value ($1-10 average), but bottles not listed here or variants I call uncommon or rare does not automatically mean they are valuable. 
This is not an exact science, but I hope you will find it helpful as you peruse antique shops, flea markets, or dig up bottles. 

If you want to use any of the information below, please quote your source as TaylorsRIBottleBlog.




Medicines:




Top 3 most common RI patent medicines:


Davis Vegetable Pain Killer- very common to rare
Perhaps the most famous quack medicines from Rhode Island.  I'll start from the beginning.


Pontiled examples:
The 4-3/4" and 5" sizes are very common as far as pontiled medicines go.  The larger sizes are rare.  All iron pontiled versions are rare.  The rolled lip version is rare.


Early smooth base examples:
Smaller sizes up to 7" are common.  Largest size is scarce.  Citron example is rare.


Smooth base examples:
The company moved to New York in 1890, so a lot of these bottles are technically NY bottles, but we still consider them RI bottles.  The 4-3/4" and 5" sizes are very common.  The midsizes are semicommon.  The 8" size is rare.


ABM examples:
All are very common






Dr. Seth Arnold's Balsam/ Cough Killer- very common to scarce
With origins in Woonsocket RI, this company became hugely successful, and sold out part of their business to the Gilman Bros. of Boston, Mass.

Pontiled examples:
8-sided Balsam is rare.  Rectangular balsam is common, Cough Killer is semicommon

Smooth base examples:
Earlier versions are semicommon for both products.  The balsam is a little more common than the cough killer.  Later versions are very common.  Large 8" size is uncommon.


Dr. Hayne's Arabian Balsam Providence, RI- very common to common
These cute 12-sided bottles are nice until you have dozens of them.  Out of all the RI medicines out there, I have dug more Arabian Balsam bottles than any other patent medicine.

The standard size is 4".  All examples embossed Millers Haynes Arabian Balsam are very common.  Examples embossed Dr. Hayne's Arabian Balsam are common.  A smaller size is semicommon.  An embossed "sample size" is scarce.  The two large sizes are uncommon.  An early version without "Dr." embossed is scarce.



Continued alphabetically:


Edwin P. Anthony/ E.P. Anthony Inc. Providence, RI- common to semicommon
Established in 1895, this pharmacy was still in business in 1976.  The Edwin bottles are semicommon, and the E.P. Anthony bottles are common, with the exception being the smallest and largest sizes. 


Barbour's Pharmacy Westerly, RI- common to uncommon
The most successful pharmacy in Westerly started in 1876 by Arthur L. Barbour, and his son Charles took over the business in 1888.  It is around this time when the bottles started to have the "Barbours Pharmacy" embossing.  There are quite a number of variants, including some interesting errors.  A typical non-error example is common.  The Westerly & Watch Hill versions are semicommon.  The Westerly, NY (error) versions are semicommon to uncommon.  The Nesterly, RI (error) versions are uncommon. 


J.A. Bernard Providence, RI- common
This successful "manufacturing chemist" was in business from 1901-1923.  All of his bottles are the same style, and all are common.


Wm. B. Blanding / Blanding & Blanding Providence, RI- very common to uncommon
William B. Blanding was one of the most successful pharmacists in the state.  Starting his practice in 1849, he continued to expand his empire by buying out other druggists.  He ran the company until his death in 1892.  His son joined him in 1890, and the company became Blanding & Blanding.  His son kept this name for the company even after his father died.  A typical Wm. B. Blanding square medicine is common, with the smallest and largest sizes being uncommon.  The rectangular bottles embossed "Blanding / Providence" on two sides are very common.  Square examples with fancy writing or monograms are uncommon.  Rectangular or oval examples are semicommon.  The early "Blanding Druggist Providence" example is scarce. 
The Blanding & Blanding squares are very common (except for the smallest and largest sizes).  The Blanding & Blanding cylinders (RI-85 and 86) are scarce.


Stephen J. Briggs Providence, RI- semicommon
In business from 1886-1932 (or later), this company had 3 locations in its heyday.  All bottles are semicommon.


Dr. Bullock's Nephrecticum Providence, RI- semicommon
This bizarrely named medicine for the kidneys first made its appearance around 1868, and was advertised into the late 1870s.  Originally a scarce bottle, I now own half a dozen of them, and have seen a crate of 24 freshly pulled from an attic.


Calder's Dentine- very common to scarce
One of the most successful non-quack medicine products from RI, dentine was the precursor to toothpaste.  Albert L. Calder began manufacturing his dentine by 1867, and by the 1885 it was so popular he quit the drug business to devote all of his efforts on manufacturing and selling his dentine.  The company went out of business in 1938.  The typical 3" Calders Dentine bottles is very common and can be found in dumps and antique shops across the US.  The larger 4" size is semicommon.  Machine made examples are semicommon.  The early example with no monogram is uncommon.  The earliest example with Calders (vertically) / Dentine (vertically) on two sizes is scarce.  There is also a sample size, which is rare.



E.A. Calder Providence, RI- common
I believe Edwin A. Calder was Albert's brother or son.  He ran a pharmacy from 1871-1892.  When he died his wife Virginia took over the company and began selling Calder's Tooth Powder.  This was a copycat of Calder's Dentine.  E.A. Calder bottles are common.  Calder's Tooth Powder bottles are uncommon to scarce.


Caswell Hazard & Co.- New York and Newport- common to rare
This company was an "empire" of sorts, stretching from NYC to Newport, RI.  They changed names a number of times, and produced a host of beautiful bottles in varying colors.