On Sunday 18 April 2010 myself Rob Campbell and Kelly Gadzala, the Toronto Grunge Queen blogger journeyed up to Humber College to meet the folks at the 2010 Four Seasons Bottle Club Show and Sale. It was a beautiful day and the show was busy late into the afternoon. The Toronto Bottle Show (that’s what everyone calls it) is always a little different each year and this incarnation was filled with lots of great bottles at bargain prices. I met some terrific new people this year, and learned even more specialized information about antiques. And of course everyone in attendance gained a greater appreciation for all the other collectibles that exist on the periphery of the popular bottle collecting niche. After a few words with Glenn Moorhouse and a wave at Cliff Stunden, a nod to Abel DaSilva and … oh I cant remember who else I saw there as soon as I walked in the door .. Melissa Claire, Carl Parsons and Steve Redmon.
Tim Denton and war slogan milk bottles
 Tim Denton is someone that I’ve heard a lot of good things about and therefore someone I’ve wanted to meet for a long time. I’ve heard his name bandied about by other Ontario diggers and collectors for years. When I finally laid eyes on him it was an ‘aha’ moment.
 Tim Denton was standing behind about sixty painted labels, mostly silk screened milk bottles. Tim is especially proud of his war slogan milks and this specimen from Port Colborne Ontario really stands out crisp against the white Styrofoam pellets that now occupy the vessel. The bottle has the rather dynamic image of a boy and tank, refueling… love it! Tim was selling the vessel for $350
Fred Spoelstra and his 1874 ONeil & Banker soda bottle
Next in line was Fred Spoelstra standing behind a couple thousand soda bottles from all eras, but mostly silkscreen crown top 1 litre and 750 ml bottles. When I asked him if he had a favorite speciman he cocked his head and looked at me strangely and then reached down and selected ‘the one with the best story’. Or perhaps it was the best bargain.  Soon we're talking about a bottle that is indeed rare and special. O’Neil & Banker was only in business for one year. “Is that a dove on the embossing?’ I asked. “More likely a pigeon. The pigeons were a problem in St Catherines in the 1880s” Fred said, and I marveled at that little gem of history. It could be true of many towns in southern Ontario, if it’s true at all. The bottle is in mint condition and the aqua glass is just like new. What’s remarkable is that it’s perfectly datable in the St Catherines' business directories to one year – 1874. The embossing reads ONeil & Banker / St Catherines. The bottle is in such good condition, and so transparent that I could not photograph it properly. So I held it up – this is me, Rob Campbell at the 2010 Four Season Bottle Collectors Show and Sale – The bottle is loosely priced at $1000.
Pete Bechtel and his pre prohibition paper label beer bottles
 A new face at the bottle show this year – trust me I’d have remembered if he was there last year. Pete Bechtel specializes in collecting pre-prohibition breweriana especially paper labeled beer bottles and beer trays. 
Pete says he started collecting in 1986, while drinking beer. His card states that he collects embossed beers, soda & medicine bottles, beer & tip trays, paper labeled long neck & blop top beer bottles, paper labels – U.C. & C.W. Maps, brewery billheads & advertising – Etc. Pete is a funny guy and very charismatic. If you have anything to show or ask Peter Bechtel email him pwb69 AT operamail DOT com
Dwight Fryer and cobalt blue poison bottles
Dwight Fryer has lots and lots of the pretty little blue and green glass bottles that all the girls like... They look great in a bathroom window, and Dwight sells them cheap. He has 4000 poisons because he’s been collecting for 37 years. He has all shapes and sizes, colors and unique variations. Most of his bottles have the word ‘poison’ written on bumpy panels, and some have skulls and crossbones in the embossing. Dwight revealed that he is trying to sell out – he wants someone to buy his entire collection with one cheque. yet minutes later he revealed to me that sometimes he still buys poison bottles on eBay. This guy could have a very successful ebusiness - he just doesnt know it. In fact I would like to buy his entire collection and sell it online over the next twenty years on Dumpdiggers. I even bought a little blue bottle for $20 from him on Sunday. Who can resist them?
Kent Wrigley and his J.D. Tully druggist bottle from Peterborough
Kert Wrigley is a passionate young cod bottle collector from Eastern Ontario. He has a great many specimens of this hard to find closure. The 'cod stopper' was a glass bottle that usually contained siome flavour of effervescent soda pop and was sealed by the carbonated gas applying upwards pressure forcing a marble seal into the opening of the bottle. The consumer would depress the marble to let the gas escape. These bottles are relatively rare because they were often to broken apart by children that coveted the marbles. 
Grunge Queen found a small ‘doll bottle’ that was embossed RELIABLE DOLL
Kert Wrigley was the posterchild for the 2010 show – this collector’s youthful face was used on the printed promotions for this year’s annual event. Was it my photo? or a picture by Darren Spindler of Early Canadian Bottle Works? I dont even know for sure.
Kert is a friend of Jamie McDougall the past president, and they always set up right beside each other in the show. I believe they are both bonafide archeologists.  When I asked Kert for a bottle and a picture he held up this J.D. TULLY / DRUGGIST / PETERBOROUGH, ONT in clear glass approx 10 ounce. Kert likes all manner of bottles from Peterborough and Collingwood esp druggist bottles and this one is really rare.
Jamie McDougall and his World War 1 poster
 Jamie unveiled a World War One poster that he had just bought from another dealer at the show – the cost was prohibitive and now he hoped to sell something big on his table before the end of the show to pay for the recent acquistion. In my opinion this is a smart investment. There will always be a strong market for Canada's militant history.  Jamie McDougall's table is always a mixture of super rare bottles and diverse and often utilitarian pieces of glass. Quite often he has little bits and pieces of things that attract curious minds. This year he had native American hand tools on display - there were about a dozen flat rocks that clearly looked like they'd been used as handy implements at some time or another. Funny story, here's where Grunge Queen thought she saw a glass necklace – but what her ‘vintage fashion’ starved brain perceived as a necklace, was in fact the glass chain of a decorative plant hanger. She tried it on anyway.
Bill Ash and his Donald Duck soda pop bottle
 Bill Ash collects unopened soda bottles with the label, cap and original contents. He has a large collection of Crush bottles include some very rare Orange Crush variations, and lemon lime NEHI and many more. His Donald Duck soda pop bottle is still filled with cola and was purchased in a flea market near Atlanta Georgia. There was also a ginger ale and maybe a grape variety too– there were different flavours bottled under the Donald Duck brand during the 1950s. Walt Disney allowed a soda pop manufacturer named General Beverages to borrow their popular Donald Duck character in the 1950's. I have seen Donald Duck pop cans that are earlier, but Bill believe these ACL bottles, esp the 10 oz that he's holding, was only available in stores in 1958 and part of 59, and only in the south eastern United States ? I cant remember if that’s what Bill said exactly, but I do remember he was willing to let this bottle go for $65 dollars.
Terry Matz and stoneware Schweppes soda bottles
 Terry Matz collects torpedo bottles, and in the picture above he's holding his oldest specimen. The first soda water was bottled in the late 1700s by Joseph Schweppe who was, by many accounts, the inventor of soda water. Joseph was a Swiss jeweler who started selling mineral water in Geneva in 1783, and then moved to London in 1792. He used Hamilton's torpedo shaped bottles from 1809 until the turn of the century. His earliest bottle was made from pottery or stoneware. These stone bottles are really scarce. Less than a half dozen exist today. The small brown 'torpedo bottles' which are sometimes called 'Hamilton bottles' in reference to the inventor. I like to call them egg bottles because like an egg they won't stand up. The shape of the bottle meant the bottle had to be laid on its side, keeping the contents in contact with the cork. This kept the cork wet and swelled and prevented loss of carbonation. Any airspace was at the side (which was now the top) of the bottle. If the bottle's bottom was flat, there would be an airspace between the top of the soda and the bottom of the cork. The cork could dry out just a wee bit and the carbonation would escape. Plus, this shape of bottle was physically much stronger than a flat bottomed bottle.  Terry showed us a receipt from the Schweppes bottling plant for stoneware containers – the paper was dated 1831. Terry believes the piece in his hand dates from between 1810 to 1831 and if he had to get specific he’d wager on 1815. He bought the stoneware vessel from an archeologist in England for only $500 because it was incredibly dirty and perceived damaged, perhaps ruined. And that’s because of course it was underground and underwater for over 160 years. It was found in England, a colourful story recounts how it was recovered by a man rowing a boat in a pond in the spring flood. When I asked Terry how he cleaned it, he revealed to me that he soaked it in Saniflush, which is toilet bowl cleaner. You can ask Terry Matz even more intriguing questions yourself, or track down his latest purchase and adventures at TorpedoBottle.com
Richard St. Onge is a Canadian Coke collector
 Next I met Richard St Onge and Bill Cook who were just putting the final touches on a cash deal for some Coke collectibles including this pretty little tips tray. Richard says he always attends the Four Season’s Toronto bottle show every year, and he spends about four hundred dollars each visit. He’s a man who believes that certain antiques are great investments and Coke nostalgia is the best investment of all. Richard has always enjoyed Coke, as a collectible, and as a refreshing beverage - he won’t even drink Pepsi.  Our conversation led to various Coke products and then to straight sided coke bottles and there was some discussion about Brighton cokes in good condition from 1910-1915 and other small towns in Canada. Bill Cook told me that Nipigon and Port Arthur straight sided Coke bottles are the hardest Canadian variations to find.
Michael Anders and Elastilite Imperial Varnish can
 Michael Anders is Sin and Tins AT Rogers Dot com. He deals in small keepsakes like pill cases, talcum and tooth powders, all sorts of well coloured tin cans bearing the names of strange ointments. There is a story behind each piece. Coffee and tea tins are hot this year he says, followed by ‘medical wonders’.
At first glance the Elastilite Imperial Varnish sign beside him appears to be an impossibly huge varnish can, but closer inspection reveals that is really a product display case that was filled with product on shelves for a dry goods store, or a perhaps a hardware store’s windows. Made in Canada the can has great graphics on label. Galvanized tin and has rear door for storage. Only light to moderate wear with a small amount of surface rust. Size 20" x 34" x 10". Its worth over $500 today, and was made in the 1920’s. It weighs about 25 lbs. Michael related that this year he only brought out really big cans, and really small cans to the show.
Tim Maitland and Maple Leaf Soda from Hamilton
  Tim Maitland held up a gorgeous black and yellow 1940’s silkscreen Maple Leaf Soda from Hamilton Ontario. This is a rare and special bottle, due to a legal battle with a competitor, the Maple Leaf soda plant didn’t last long, and this bottle is one of the only remaining artifacts. It was right around here that I met Jean Marc Helie of Old Quebec Medicine Bottles and Frederic Hartl who are collectors from Quebec. They were excited to see me, but anxious not to appear on camera this year. These Francophone collectors really value their privacy.
Marcus Johnson and his Jiffy Way egg scale
 On the other end of the spectrum is Marcus Johnson who went out of his way to thank me the kind words and photos of himself that appeared in last year's article, an account of the 2009 Toronto Bottle Show, which was also published here on Dumpdiggers.  When I asked Marcus how he would like to be remembered this year, he quickly unwrapped his Jiffy Way egg scale which I believe he had just purchased for $40.00. This 1950s-era Farm Master brand (manufactured the Sears, Roebuck, & Co.) 'Jiffy-Way' egg scale was used to separate Grade A large eggs from small and medium sized product. It has a tiny weight in the back and is in fair condition with some small rust in the corners. Bumped into Steve Redmon and marveled again at his youthful appearance – he doesn’t age. And noticed he was right in the middle of describing an elaborate repair to a one-of-a-kind stoneware specimen in front of several enthralled listeners so I didn’t interrupt, but I should have taken his picture! regret
Scott Wallace and Scott Jordan are Ottawa Ontario bottle collectors
 Here's the Ottawa contingent. Scott Wallace is one of my oldest bottle collecting club contacts. I first ran into him in 1995 when he lived in Toronto - he gave me a rare local medicine bottle. Scott is one of the co founders of Maple Leaf Auctions which thrives offering unique and specialized merchandise (mostly great Canadian antiques glass and pottery) and great customer service. Scott admitted that the specialized online auction model seems to be working, and there is a place for both eBay and Maple Leaf Auctions for Canadian collectors. Scott Jordan doesn’t hang around my camera very long - he's one of the founders of the Bytown Bottle Seekers club in Ottawa I believe, and quite camera shy. Getting this nice picture of them both together is a treat. The Ottawa collectors have a function one week after the Toronto show, and I usually don't post in time to help promote it - this year is no exception as their annual BBQ is today, April 25th 2010. 
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