Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Bottle Recovered from City Centre Plaza |
Object Name |
Bottle, Medicine |
Description |
Medicine Bottle recovered from City Centre Plaza, c. 1870-1920. This bottle is square shaped in cross section and it has narrowed slightly from shoulder to base. The rim has prescription finish which is narrow (vertically) and the outside surface distinctly tapers in frFom the top surface of the finish to bottom. A .75 inch short and narrow neck flares out .75 inches shoulders to a 2.875 inch body. The base is shaped like square with a concave circle. The bottle is clear and shows evidence of glass machine manufacture. |
Date |
c. 1870-1920 |
Creator |
Unknown |
Role |
Manufacturer |
Catalog Number |
1999.048.358 |
Dimensions |
H-4.25 W-1.375 D-1.375 inches |
Collection |
3D - Medical & Psychological Tools & Equipment |
Inscription Text |
none |
Provenance |
20 boxes of archaeological material excavated from the City Centre Plaza site at 950 Main at Middlefield in Redwood City. Excavation for development, done by Basin Research Associates. |
Notes |
Square druggist bottles (in cross section), with and without proprietary embossing, were a relatively commonly used shape ordered and used by many local druggists and drug stores during the mid 19th century until well into the 20th century. Like with the round druggist bottles, the square types seemed to have been less popular than the other general shapes covered next (rectangular and oval). Square bottles were used no more than maybe 5% of the time during the heyday of the mouth-blown prescription bottle which began in earnest in the 1870s and lasted until well into the 1920s (Preble 2002; empirical observations). The most common type of square prescription bottle was widely known as the "French square" (Whitall Tatum 1880, 1924; Illinois Glass Co. 1903; Obear-Nester 1922). [http://www.sha.org/bottle/medicinal.htm#Rectangular Druggists] |
Search Terms |
Apothecary Archaeolgy Bottles City Center Plaza Privy Redwood City |
Subjects |
Archaeology Bottle industry Bottles Medicine |
Credit line |
Courtesy of the City of Redwood City |