June 2006 Newsletter

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Upcoming Meeting - Wednesday June 7 th , 2006,

Wantagh Public Library 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Directions - Southern State Parkway  EXIT 28 South, Wantagh Ave. go South approximately 1 ½ - 2 miles to intersection with PARK  AVENUE.  Make right (west). (If you get to the LIRR tracks, you went too far, turn around.)  WANTAGH LIBRARY immediately on RIGHT, on the corner of a side street which leads to PARKING IN REAR.  Alternatively, SUNRISE HWY west, passing over Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway, then 4 th traffic light, WANTAGH AVENUE, make right.  Very soon, go under LIRR, pass McDonald's on left, then immediately make left on PARK AVENUE, with LIBRARY immediately on right, as above. If you are taking Sunrise Highway East, make a left (North) after the WANTAGH PARKWAY on to Park Ave.

Program - Gary Hammond on Farmingdale Bottles

And now few words from the President (or chief bottle nut notes)

First in this issue, I want to thank everyone who attended the January meeting, at the Sayville Historical Society. Words do not do justice to the joy and happiness which I felt, as each and every one of you came through the door. I never, never expected to have such a turn out, the President of the Sayville Historical Society told me it was over 30 people, and with the mix of old and new collectors present, it was an afternoon that I will remember always. Unfortunately between Laura and I neither of us remembered to bring a camera.

The object of moving the meetings around was, and remains, to try and attract some new members into the club, to hopefully build our membership, which if we can do that, to bring back the bottle show. I do not know about everyone, but I do miss the show, it was always a memorable day!

As for members, many did pay their dues, and we did gain a new member! I do hope that every one will welcome Ed Derby of Ridge to the club. I have known Ed for several years, both via eBay and the outdoor antique show circuit, as he is an active collector of Long Island milk bottles. Welcome aboard!

Now, this meeting site has been arranged for the club by George Fisher, and I want to say "Thank you George for your hard work for the club." George has obtained the Wantagh Public Library for us. Here are the details. The meeting will be on Wednesday, June 7 th at the Wantagh Public Library. George told me that we have the space from 7pm to 10pm.

We have been in contact with Gary Hammond, and Gary has agreed to give a program for the club on Farmingdale Bottles. This should be a great program, as Gary does a real bang up job. I still remember the program which I saw on Huntington Pottery, presented by Gary some years ago. Incredible and amazing are the two words that come first to my mind.

For show and tell, how about bringing anything you may have from the Wantagh area and surrounding communities. I have a few Freeport whiskies that I will be packing up, so let's see what everyone has!

Also, to be accurate, here is the list of everyone who I have a record of having paid their dues. Edward Derby, Gary Hammond, Helen Brandt, George Becker, Sandra Radtke, Don Weinhardt, Mark & Laura Smith, David Fortuna, Charlie Clark, Frank Bennet, Mary Leto, Joe Timko, Tom & Helen Kaler, George Fisher.

Now, some have asked me about publishing a membership list. I have been approached by some who would like to get in contact with other members/collectors about doing this. How does everyone feel about this? Some background on the subject: For many years, the club would publish a membership list of all paid members, with phone numbers, and address, along with areas of collecting interest. This list was included as part of the newsletter, and as such was sent to all PAID members, and PAID members only. Now, I do understand how things have changed in the last 5 years, or even 10 years. The world is not the same place it used to be. While I have listed paid members names, I have not included address or phone numbers, as for some, having this information put into circulation may make them uncomfortable. I am open to your feedback on this question. Myself, it does not matter to me. I have put my name, address and email address out in so many places as a contact for the club and for the hobby, that I honestly can not even keep track of all of them! So let me know if doing this would cause you any problems, OK?

And, here is a thought to think about in the coming months: If a turtle loses its shell, is it naked, or is it homeless?

See you at the meeting,

Mark

Remember your membership's dues are due!

See back page for renewal form.

Spring Water Bottles of Long Island

by Mark Smith

Today bottled spring and mineral waters are quite popular, and it seems that new brands appear on a regular basis, at least judging by the shelves at the supermarket. Now, many of us might think that this is a new thing, however, far from it, as at around the turn of the century, there were 4 companies here on the Island, engaged in the business of bottling spring water who left bottles for us collectors! And, two of these companies were located right here in Suffolk County, and two next door in Nassau County.

In the course of my years of collecting, I have been very fortunate to have located 3 of the 5 known examples of bottles from these 4 firms, and will visit with them for you.

Currently, our knowledge of the history of these firms is at best limited, as none seem to have stayed in business for a very long period.

First up, I will share with you what I know or can find on the Sagamore Spring Water Company, located in Oyster Bay, Long Island. Some years ago, when the first of the known examples from this firm surfaced, I wrote to the office of the Historian of the Town of Oyster Bay, and while it took a while, I did receive a reply. The information was shared with George Fisher, and is contained in the Supplement to the clubs Directory of Beer, Soda and Mineral Water Bottles and Bottlers book. As I know not everyone has a Supplement, I will provide the information here for you.

The Sagamore Spring Water Company started operations in 1913, bottling water from a well which was driven in Oyster Bay Village. Stock in the Sagamore Spring Water Company was issued in November of 1913. The stockholders were mainly local businessmen; among them were Peter N. Layton, Daniel Kraft, James Brice, Samuel Bayles and Merrill Moyses. The President of the Company was B. Franklin Watkins and the Treasurer was Walter Paul.

The actual bottling plant was located on Bay Avenue, in an area of the Village of Oyster Bay known at the time as The Battery. The company constructed eight water storage tanks, among them were one of 8000 gallon capacity, and two holding 5000 gallons each. All three of these tanks were made of wood, with zinc linings. There were also three glass lined steel tanks, of a smaller capacity. The company operated 4 local delivery wagons, and also maintained two barges for large shipments, with the barges named, what did you expect, the Sagamore 1 and the Sagamore 2.

The water was bottled in two quart, two and a half quart, and three quart bottles, and in boxed or crated demijohns.

I would like to mention here that recently while researching my whiskey flasks at the Library, I came across listings in the 1916 R. L. Polk Business Directory for NYC-Manhattan and the Bronx, listings for what appear to be Long Island mineral water companies, Setauket Spring Water Co, offices at 70 South St. Next I found a listing for the Great Neck Spring Water Company (this is a new one by me), with offices at 221 E. 111 th St.

And, that is not all I found! In the 1917 Directory, I found the following listings: Sagamore Spring Water Co., address is given at 704-710 E. 18 th St. and a listing for the Ronkonkoma Spring Water Co., offices at 51 E. 42 nd St. Phone is given as: R-3005. The Ronkonkoma company is a new name to me! Could this be from Ronkonkoma, Long Island? I wonder if they used embossed bottles???

Now, for the clincher, none of these are found in the 1915 Directory! So, now that I have had my little tangent, back to the article.

However, despite the apparent size of the business, by about 1920 everything was shut down, and the Sagamore Spring Water Company was dissolved.

This brings us to the two examples of bottles from this firm that we currently know of. The first example is aqua glass, hand blown with a tooled crown top finish. The bottle is embossed in a large, tombstone (arched top, straight sides and base) slug plate as follows: SAGAMORE/SPRING WATER/OYSTER BAY/LONG ISLAND/BOTTLED AT THE SPRING. The stock embossing on the bottle is: THIS BOTTLE IS LOANED/AND IS NEVER SOLD which is found on the front, directly below the slug plate. On the back, at the heel it is embossed: FIVE PINTS. On the base it is embossed with the mold number 101. The bottle features an unmarked ceramic stopper with wire bail as the closure. The closure appears to be original to the bottle.

The second bottle appears to be the same capacity as the first, which is five pints, but it is not embossed as such. This bottle is also aqua glass, hand blown with tooled crown top finish. The bottle is embossed in a large, tombstone slug plate as follows: SAGAMORE/SPRING WATER/Co. Inc./OYSTER BAY/LONG ISLAND/BOTTLED AT/THE SPRING. The stock embossing is located directly below the slug plate as on the first example, and is as follows: THIS BOTTLE IS LOANED/AND IS NEVER SOLD. What makes this bottle interesting is that the slug plate has been reworked, with some prior embossing removed, or peened out, and Oyster Bay/Long Island cut over top of it. Now that I have the Directory listing and address, it would appear that the address removed was the NYC address. Writing it out in the same size letters and placing it over the bottle, it does fit nicely.

One other interesting feature of both bottles would be the size of the mouth, which is ¾-7/8 inches in diameter on both examples.

The other Long Island spring water bottle I have at present is from Huntington. While it is also hand blown, in aqua glass, the bottle features a standard size blob top finish and ceramic stopper, which while being original to the bottle, none the less it does look a bit awkward on such a large bottle. This bottle is also embossed in a large, tombstone slug plate as follows: SPARKO CRYSTAL WATER/BOTTLED/AT THE/SPRING ONLY/HUNTINGTON,/L. I. The bottle is embossed on the heel, on the reverse, with F.G.W. A check of my books reveals that this mark, F.G.W., was reported to have been used by the Fairmount Glass Works, located in Fairmount, Indiana between 1898 and 1908. A second factory also operated in Indianapolis between 1905 and 1930.

Now this brings us to the Setauket Spring Water Company. This company is found in several locations, and may, or may not, be the same company, so please keep that in mind. While Directory listings for the Setauket Spring Water Company have been found in Brooklyn (610 Atlantic Ave. Brooklyn in 1910, and 609 DeGraw Ave in 1913) along with what I found, the 70 South St. NYC address. While I do not have any examples from this company, I would certainly enjoy adding one, so if you should have one available, please feel free to contact me. The bottle is listed in the clubs book, and the description sounds like the previous listing, the Sparko bottle. It is aqua glass, with blob top, same height and width, and embossed in a slug plate: SETAUKET/SPRING WATER/BOTTLED AT THE SPRINGS. The clubs book presents a listing dated 1909 for the Setauket Health Spring, West side of Van Brundt Manor Rd, Setauket. If my memory serves me right, I remember, possibly from George Fisher, of a post card which shows this bottling operation.

And lastly, we have the Garden City Spring Water Company. This is also a large, blown in mold, blob top bottle, in aqua glass. Bottle is embossed: GARDEN CITY/SPRING/WATER/GARDEN CITY, L. I. The clubs book also indicates that the bottle is marked on the reverse, heel with F.G.W., which as I reported in the Sparko Spring Water listing, is for the Fairmount Glass Works.

All of these bottles should be considered very hard to find, or even rare, as several are known to us today by only one or two examples, perhaps the most common one is the Sparko bottle, with at least 3 examples known, if you can call 3 examples common that is..

Along with go-withs and bottles from the surrounding towns.

Plus of course Whiskey Flasks from NYC, Brooklyn and Long Island.

The Smith's, 10 Homes Court, Sayville, NY 11782-2408 libottle@optonline.net