• Forum server maintanace Friday night.(around 7PM Centeral time)
    Website will be off line for a short while.

    You may need to log out, log back in after we're back online.

Bottle - Ludlam’s Bird Tonic

jimther

Elite Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2015
Messages
2,583
Location
Eastern Massachusetts
Glasshopper… and other bottle guys out there.

I’ve had this bottle for a few years now, but have never been able to find another one mentioned when I Google search for its name.
It is a clear, painted label example, 6” tall. About 1/4 of the text is abraded away, but it was used for chickens and pigeons. Distributed by Ludlam’s Bird [Supply?]
69 Bromfield St [?] Boston.
I will be checking old Boston city directories at Ancestry.com, but I’m surprised I didn’t find another one with Google search.
Any thoughts?
 

Attachments

  • BDDAFEF0-F3F3-41E2-BCB2-CA020C2429A1.jpg
    BDDAFEF0-F3F3-41E2-BCB2-CA020C2429A1.jpg
    47 KB · Views: 306
The bottle itself looks to date from 1880-1910( blown in mold ) . As far as the bottle alone it has no real value to a bottle collector. With the label that makes the bottle more collectible and probably carry more value. What collectibility and what value ? Who knows. I like it. You won’t be able to retire if you sell it however . But I love the old patent medicines.
 
What Gaspipe said ^^.

Probably the reason you get no hits is because, being a label-only bottle, nobody has another one. label bottles only survive if they were not buried in dumps, and not many bottles this old are found intact above ground with labels. Plus it's an obscure small brand. Smaller companies found it cheaper to use generic bottles and paper labels as opposed to having embossed bottles made up. Yes researching Boston history or connecting with a reference library or museum there may uncover something about the company.
 
Last edited:
Boston, 1913... same person?
 

Attachments

  • The_Boston_Globe_Sun__Dec_14__1913_.jpg
    The_Boston_Globe_Sun__Dec_14__1913_.jpg
    65.4 KB · Views: 248
Boston, 1913... same person?

Thanks Iggyks... I just found a similar City Directory advertisement from the Salem, Mass directory of 1915. See below. Same Bromfield St address as on the bottle.

Jim

EDIT: At the New England Business Directory from 1918, I found the following page (see link) with "Animal and Bird Dealers". My guess is that Charles and William Ludlam were brothers, or Father and Son, operating similar shops at the same time.

https://www.google.com/books/editio...mfield"+++"bird"&pg=PA524&printsec=frontcover
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4467.JPG
    IMG_4467.JPG
    128.9 KB · Views: 186
Last edited:
The bottle itself looks to date from 1880-1910( blown in mold ) . As far as the bottle alone it has no real value to a bottle collector. With the label that makes the bottle more collectible and probably carry more value. What collectibility and what value ? Who knows. I like it. You won’t be able to retire if you sell it however . But I love the old patent medicines.

Hi Gaspipe. Thanks for replying. I wasn't so much interested in value, per se, but if anyone had seen or heard of this one before. Jim
 
What Gaspipe said ^^.

Probably the reason you get no hits is because, being a label-only bottle, nobody has another one. label bottles only survive if they were not buried in dumps, and not many bottles this old are found intact above ground with labels. Plus it's an obscure small brand. Smaller companies found it cheaper to use generic bottles and paper labels as opposed to having embossed bottles made up. Yes researching Boston history or connecting with a reference library or museum there may uncover something about the company.

Thanks for replying Glasshopper. I can see why this one may not have been that common or widely distributed, being in somewhat of a niche market (bird owners, versus medicinal, etc).

BTW, this one does not have a PAPER label. It's an ACL (Applied Color Label), aka Painted Label.

Jim
 
Thanks for replying Glasshopper. I can see why this one may not have been that common or widely distributed, being in somewhat of a niche market (bird owners, versus medicinal, etc).

BTW, this one does not have a PAPER label. It's an ACL (Applied Color Label), aka Painted Label.

Jim

ACL label is pretty rare that early. Pop bottles didn't get ACLs till the early/mid 30s. Great find!
 
Back
Top Bottom