Lot
Number | Description | Final Bid |
|---|
| COTTLE POST & CO 1877-87. Here’s an Oregon soda that collectors like for it's beautiful teal coloration and embossed bird with wings spread. On closer look, it appears to be the Phoenix, rising from the ashes. At any rate, a solid example. Grade: Some typical wear and light scratches. Please remember soda water bottles generally grade much lower than other bottles. Grade 8.2. | $ 275 |
| C & K EAGLE WORKS SAC CITY. 1858-66. This Sacramento soda comes in various shades of blue, there is also a variant you might watch for, it’s the C&R variant, same bottle but much rarer. A fairly light to medium blue. Grade: Cleaned. Some remaining scratches and wear with pressure ding on lip. Grade 7.3. | $ 70 |
| P & B COLUSA CAL. 1887-88. A fairly rare bottle, this example has nice color and is in good condition. There is a star-like mark on the base. Deeper than usual green aqua. Grade: Very light stain with a few minor scratches and wear. Grade 8.7. | $ 325 |
| BAY CITY SODAWATER CO. S.F. with star on reverse. 1871-80. Another popular Bay Area soda, these come in a myriad of colors, mostly with some blue involved. A desirable, albeit fairly common bottle with lots of embossing and often very whittled and crude. Medium blue. Grade: Some highpoint wear and a couple tiny flakes off lettering. Usual tiny scratches. Grade 8.2. | $ 130 |
| CALIFORNIA NATURAL SELTZER WATER with embossed BEAR walking on grass and the initials H&G below the bear on reverse. 1875-80’s. Always a mainstay for collectors, great name, embossed bear, these aren’t terribly rare but this is a good one. Grade: Super condition, minor highpoint wear. Generally an 8.9. | $ 300 |
| LOS ANGELES SODA & MINERAL WATER FACTORY. On reverse H.W. STOLL. 1875. Henry W. Stoll began in the business around 1873 and lasted for quite some time. He was also associated with the Excelsior Soda Factory (see lot 30) and it is thought this bottle was made using the same mold as the Excelsior Soda according to the late, great Peck Markota. Both bottles were made in 1875 so it makes sense despite the lack of a slugplate mark on either bottle. These are considered rare. A bluish aqua. Grade: Typical light wear and scratching. An overall fine condition soda. Grade 8.4. | $ 425 |
| SAN RAFAEL SODA WORKS P&B PROPT’s. 1880’s. Here is a very rare soda from the Bay Area city of San Rafael. To our knowledge this is one of maybe only a couple we’ve ever handled. We have two San Rafael bottles in this auction, the other is a back bar whiskey (Lot 91). A tough one to find in good condition. Greenish aqua. Grade: Very minor wear. All around high condition example. Grade 8.9. | $ 2,400 |
| PEARSON BROS. BODIE (304) The Pearson Bros. started out in 1882 and lasted until 1890’s. These rare gravitating stopper type bottles are one of the first made for a California concern. The base has the Patent date of Oct. 11, 1864 although the bottle is certainly not nearly that old. Applied top hutch style sodas are tough to find anywhere but the fact that this was made in Bodie is quite something. Apparently the brothers were able to create a water system which delivered water from Rough Creek into their own stone reservoir. Nice greenish aqua, more green than aqua. Grade: Very light haze with almost no wear. Super condition. Grade 9.2. | $ 3,600 |
| NEW LIBERTY SW CO TRADE MARK S.F. with embossed head of woman. 1896-1902. Tooled top. Another bottle considered rare, Hermann Schmidt founded this company in the late 1890’s. Nice bluish aqua. Grade: Quite a bit of scratching and wear on this one. Grade 5. | $ 100 * |
| COLUMBIA SODA WORKS S.F with seated liberty CC DALL on reverse. 1879-81. These desirable western sodas come in a number of colors although they are mostly found in shades of green or aqua. They’ve also been seen in amber and are a semi-rare soda with a lot of overall appeal. This is a darker than usual bluish aqua and quite a nice one at that. Grade: No highpoint wear just a few minor scratches. High condition example. Grade 9.3. | $ 230 |
| PIONEER SODA WORKS TRADE MARK WITH EMBOSSED SHIELD. 1877-96. Here is a fairly common soda that comes in a number of various shapes and variants. This is a solid example in a nice bluish aqua with a large blob top and everything going for it. If you don’t have a Pioneer Soda in your collection yet, this might be a good one. Grade: Little or no wear. Another beauty. Grade 9.3. | $ 60 |
| OWEN CASEY EAGLE SODA WORKS. SAC CITY on reverse. 1867-71. This is another bottle you can find in a load of different colors, all the way from light blue to deep green. A fairly common bottle, here’s one that you can put a grouping of different colors together and really have a nice display. This is a medium brilliant blue. Grade: Typical light wear with minute radiating potstone on reverse—barely visible. Tiny pressure type ding on inside lip, also very hard to see. Grade 8.2 and displays higher. | $ 210 |
| C.A. REINERS & CO. SAN FRANCISCO. TRADE MARK WITH MOON AND STARS on reverse. Rare variant without the Turk St. address. 1873-75. Here’s an exceptional example of the popular Reiner’s soda bottle. Of all the examples we’ve seen this may be only the second one without the address. It’s possible Reiner had these made while in partnership with John Breig running the Eureka Soda Works and once he settled in on Turk St. he added the address. At any rate, this is a tough one to beat, lots of whittle, great deep aqua coloration and a super strike. Grade: Very light wear with a few scratches and no highpoint wear. Small scrape on lip. Grade 8.9. | $ 300 |
| CRYSTAL SODA Co. On reverse PATENTED NOV. 12-1872 TAYLOR’S U.S. PT. 1873-86. Footed base with distinctive applied top. These Crystal Sodas are an unusual bird to say the least. They come in shades of blue, aqua and green. They also are seen with the standard blob style top. Another variant is the unusual type top as seen here with a hole on each side which held a pin that secured the cork. If that’s not enough, they also have a variant that doesn’t have the “Taylor’s” embossed on the reverse. This example is a nice light to medium blue. Whichever color, variant or top you find on these interesting sodas, you can’t go wrong. Grade: A few scratches and some very light wear. Another high condition soda. Grade 9.0. | $ 275 |
| E.L. BILLINGS SAC CITY on reverse GEYSER SODA. 1872-1879. This is another soda made in a number of different colors. Most examples we see are aqua and move onto deeper shades in blues and finally show up in this brilliant green. For every 50 aqua variants we see out there we probably see one green example. A lot of the time they are a lesser pale green, not here. This is as green as we’ve seen and in addition it’s got some streaks of olive running through it and is loaded with overall whittle. Best one we’ve seen, how about you? Grade: Some minor wear but generally all around unblemished. Grade 9.3. | $ 3,200 |
