A few months back I randomly stumbled upon probably one of the biggest stand alone antique shops I’ve been in for quite a while, where I bought multiple glass pieces for Dala because she collects glass and they were all awesome as shit. One of these pieces happened to be this blue bottle that I’m sharing with today, which I didn’t much think about until yesterday, when I decided to give it a second look. Granted, I don’t know much about glass but the thing is a fucking mystery, with a capital “F” and “M.” So here’s me, shit posting on the internet with nothing but conjecture because there’s no way in hell I’m gonna pay someone to appraise a bottle that I paid less than $10 for (that and I don’t know any glass appraisers around here).
So we’ll start with what I do know.
The thing is absolutely beautiful as fuck and the photos don’t do it justice. It’s a beautiful shade of blue with an uneven coloring that fades you get towards the edges. Personally, I’m thinking the glass was colored sometime during or after the piece was being made, because the thickness of the walls are pretty uniform and I’m fairly confident that if it was made out of actual blue glass, the color would be uniform throughout.
If you fill it up just to the neck, it holds 16 fluid ounces (also known as a pint, unless you’re British, which then you have 20 fluid ounces to a pint and I’m pretty certain a Limey Fluid Ounce and a Freedom Fluid Ounce are two different amounts). Here’s the fucking thing. It says “Rosemary” on the bottle. Not “Rosemary Oil.” So was it actually filled with rosemary oil and if so, what would one do with a pint of rosemary oil? Well, according to the back of the bottle, quite a bit . . .
In case you’re having a hard time reading it, it says
- Rosemary
Uses
Astringent, Pungent Cooking Herb, Hair Lotion, Tonic, Perfume, and Toiletries
Maybe it’s legit? I dunno. People used all sorts of things way back when for all sorts of stuff and some of that continues today. I know tons of people who swear by cedar chips to protect their books from pests, eating raw onion and using garlic oil to keep their blood clean, using vinegar and water as a mild cleaning agent (which is how I cleaned this bottle by the way), and on and on. With that in mind, all of those uses for rosemary on the bottle make sense. I mean, all of that stuff sounds pretty mundane compared to something as crazy as using Lysol as a douche.
Still. 16 ounces of Rosemary Oil sounds like a lot. Plus, I’m not shitting you here, Dala has a few old medicine/extract/tonic/totally liquor bottles in her collection and they’re mundane and plain as shit. Not to mention, a whole lot smaller. If you ever go antiquing, check out a place that’s known for selling old everyday glass pieces. Everything from medicine to beer to cleaning supplies were kept in plain as shit bottles. Fancy glass was for fancy shit.
Moving on.
If you look down the side, you’ll see a line. This line says quite a bit about the glass because that means the piece was made in a press. This tells us that it’s not completely handmade and was made in much more modern times compared to something made in say, I don’t fucking know, 1776 (most important year in American history folks). It means that this isn’t a one off, but something relatively mass produced. That said, it can't be too modern as there is imperfections in the thickness of the glass, air bubbles in the walls, etc. Also, going back to the coloration, why the fuck is the color off? Can anyone tell me? Dala? You glass fanatic you?
Since we’re talking about production, let’s look at the bottom, because there’s all sorts of codes and shit on the bottom of glass pieces that can tell you quite a bit about them if you know how to decode them. Funny story. I don’t.
“C . . . B”
FUCK YOU! That’s all I get? Who the hell is supposed to figure out shit from that? Fucking shit.
Fuck it. I’m calling it now. It’s a vase. Alright? It’s a fucking vase. Have a good day everyone. Mysteries suck.
My best guess is this from the Clevenger Bros. Glass Works in Clayton, New Jersey sometime after 1966. The company did a lot of mold blown reproductions (would explain the seam), and started putting a "CB" mark on their glass in '66. So, maybe is this is a reproduction of an earlier design, done by that company. https://www.glassbottlemarks.com/bottlemarks-2/ http://clevenger.sjerseyglass.com/ Edit: by the way, rosemary oil is indeed one of those things that people like to use as a natural remedy. A right cure-all, if the exceedingly reliable internet is to be believed...
Pfft. Right or wrong, all I really care about is the discussions that evolve from these things. I mean, this thread is only six comments deep and you, me, and kleinbl00 have touched on folk medicine, glass making, gems, and swindling. That's a pretty eclectic mix for such a small number of comments.
True indeed. That website, by the way, has a big section on glass insulators. I went back to the antique threads linked at the bottom and you mentioned that you liked such things. Maybe you can ID the ones you have.
Rosemary essential oil is one of the basics. I've probably got an ounce or two within a dozen feet of me. It's got a nice smell. 16oz of pure rosemary essential oil would last someone a very long time. It wouldn't be marketed in a bottle like that. On the other hand, rosemary-infused olive oil is very much a thing for cooking. I've made it myself and given it out at Christmas. Great for putting on bread with herbs and balsamic or you can cook chicken or pork in it. So while I agree with Trombone that there's all sorts of health effects rosemary oil is accused of, the size of the bottle leads me to believe it probably had olive oil and a sprig of rosemary in it. It probably made a lovely gift. As to the color, it's a post-infused bottle. One way to make cobalt glass is to mix cobalt in with your molten glass. On the other hand, it's cheaper to sprinkle your mold with a little cobalt oxide. If you want color all the way through, you infuse all the glass. If you want color on some of it, you infuse it. FUN FACT: Both rubies and sapphires are a mineral called corundum, which is chemically identical to rubies and sapphires except it's water-clear. Rubies and sapphires are obviously worth a lot of money while corundum is worth fuckall. However, you can take your corundum, facet it, polish it, then bake it at 4,000 degrees in a bunch of cobalt oxide and it'll come out rough but pretty, pretty blue. The blue layer is a couple mm thick, tops, but your worthless corundum just became a $200 sapphire. Dope it with chromium instead and suddenly it's a ruby. And while jewelers can usually tell, and while the GIA will tell you that the stone is worth barely more than a corundum, something like ninety percent of all rubies and sapphires sold on the retail gem market are doped. A lot of 'em have fuckin' glass in 'em these days.
One of Dala and mine's favorite rare treats is to get a fresh loaf of french bread and dip it in a mix of olive oil, cut up rosemary, and a bit of garlic powder. A bottle of rosemary infused olive oil would be an awesome gift. Thanks for filling me in on the origin behind inconsistent coloring. It makes me wonder if the manufacturer did it that way not only to save money, but also as an artistic touch, because it does give the glass another dimension of character. I know a smidgen about how glass is made, partially from what Dala has told me and partially from a friend of mine who blows glass as a hobby (which apparently is a ton of work and I keep hoping they find a way to make a career of it). Next time I'm at one of the niche bookstores, I'll have to see if they have any books on glass making. Similar to the fake rubies and sapphires, people have been known to take mundane glass pieces and expose them to radiation and various gases (like lead gas) to change their colors and then try and resell them as super rare pieces. It's crooked as shit, but if people are willing to pay literally hundreds of dollars for something like a glass insulator cap, it makes sense that people will try and take advantage of that (kind of goes back to that whole fake trilobyte fossil discussion). However, sometimes you get some really cool, non-crooked shit by creative guys, such as photographic glass.
Your rare treat needs to be a lot more common. That there is pauper's tea. Also, the way you collect glass and the way you like being frugal and crafty, infused oil is an awesome gift. You can totally make it. Get your groovy bottles, get 'em clean, fill 'em with Bertolli, a sprig of rosemary, some mixed peppercorns and a couple dried chilis and then close 'em up with sealing wax. You can make a presentation-grade gift for like $3. Really, if you started 'em before September you'd have stuff perfectly infused and ready to go for Christmas. (also, french bread is one of the easier bakes - and fresh french bread with a decent olive and balsamic dip and a cheap bottle of wine? mangia) No shade on the infusion. light blue presents better than cobalt would in this instance and the inconsistency is lovely. And yes. it's something the slumpers do. Trick to glass is if you aren't just making stained glass windows or whatever is you end up with some pretty negative heavy metals in your environment. You wanna use adequate ventilation. My wife's wedding ring is an alexandrite. It shifts from blood red to turquoise green depending on the light. I love it 'cuz you have to be a jeweler to know what I spent on it. And yes. Photographic glass is lovely. Me? I love dichroic. 
I love alexandrites! My engagement ring is a London blue topaz because who doesn't want an irradiated rock on their hand? Alexandrite was going to be my second choice. My explaining this to rd95 also just led us on a tour of my jewelry box (I showed him my Alexandrite ring and he thought it was really neat) and then my rock collection. He liked my fluorite octahedrons, smoky quartzes, and labradorites best. Dichroic glass is a lot of fun.
kleinbl00, she pulled out a random red/brown circular thing and said "Do you know what this is?" Of course the answer is no. Know what it was? A MUTHAFUCKING AMMONITE. What kind of cool ass coincidence is that? She showed me all sorts of cool stuff, including various types of quartzes that had their colors changed by radiation and gas. Also, whoever said inclusions are a negative point for gems are fucking idiots. It's so cool seeing pieces of rocks inside other rocks.
Wheels are turning on that gift idea. I'm seriously gonna look into it. I just wanna make sure that if we do that for christmas gifts this year, we do it safely. The last thing I'd want is to get someone sick, which might not be such a big deal for infused olive oil? I know for canning it is.