Antique William H Quinn Druggist Ballston Spa NY Prescription Bottle, Whitall Tatum, c1890-1901

Antique clear glass prescription bottle embossed for William H. Quinn, Druggist, Ballston Spa, New York.

The front is embossed:
WILLIAM H. QUINN
DRUGGIST
BALLSTON SPA, N.Y.

The rectangular bottle has rounded shoulders, a narrow neck and hand-finished lip. The mold seams stop below the top rather than continuing through the lip.

The recessed base is faintly embossed:
W. T. & Co.
M
U.S.A.

W. T. & Co. identifies the manufacturer as Whitall, Tatum & Co., a major American glassmaker known for producing personalized prescription bottles for individual druggists and pharmacies.
The bottle shows the irregularities expected in glass of this age, including bubbles, waviness and variations within the glass. There is interior cloudiness and surface wear from age and use.

Condition:
There is a chip on the lip, shown in the photographs. The bottle has surface scratching, wear and interior cloudiness consistent with its age and original use. Please review the photographs closely for condition.

Approximately 5½ inches tall.

This bottle was found locally in the dirt basement of an old Ballston Spa, New York home.

A historical information card about W. Sawens & Co. will be included with the bottle:
William H. Quinn – Druggist
Ballston Spa, New York
c. 1890–1901
This prescription bottle was made for William H. Quinn, a druggist in Ballston Spa, New York.

The bottle was manufactured by Whitall, Tatum & Co., one of America's major producers of pharmaceutical and prescription glass. The company supplied druggists throughout the country with bottles individually embossed with the name and location of their businesses.

The base is marked W. T. & Co. / M / U.S.A. Research into Whitall Tatum bottle marks dates this particular style of marking to approximately 1890–1901. The ampersand in “W. T. & Co.” was used before the company's incorporation in 1901, while “U.S.A.” became commonly included in its marks during the 1890s. The bottle's construction is also consistent with this period. It was mouth-blown in a mold with the lip finished separately, rather than being produced by the later fully automatic bottle-making process. Whitall Tatum research identifies bottles bearing the W. T. & Co. and W. T. Co. marks as mouth-blown examples.
More than a century later, the embossed lettering still records the business for which it was originally made:
William H. Quinn
Druggist
Ballston Spa, N.Y.

This bottle was found in the dirt basement of an old home in Ballston Spa, giving it a direct connection to the community where it was originally used.

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