Wm Blanchfield Salem NY Antique Embossed Beverage Bottle. Registered, c 1895-1910

Antique embossed beverage bottle from William Blanchfield of Salem, New York, dating to approximately the turn of the 20th century.

The front is boldly embossed within an oval:
WM. BLANCHFIELD
REGISTERED
SALEM
N.Y.
REGISTERED
The base is marked S5.

This old bottle has wonderful characteristics of early glass manufacture. Numerous small bubbles can be seen throughout the glass, along with waviness and irregularities. One particularly noticeable elongated bubble is located on the front shoulder just above the embossed lettering. Although the bottle appears clear in the photographs, under certain lighting the glass shows a very faint pink to lavender cast. It is subtle and is not readily visible under all lighting conditions.

Condition:
The bottle shows surface scratching, haze and other wear consistent with its considerable age. No chips or cracks.

A printed history sheet about William Blanchfield and the bottle will be included.

William Blanchfield — Salem, New York

A Local Beverage Bottle from the Turn of the 20th Century

This embossed glass bottle was made for William Blanchfield of Salem, New York, a small Washington County community near the Vermont border. William Blanchfield was born January 25, 1864, and lived until November 13, 1935. He and his wife, Mary E. Darmody Blanchfield, are buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Salem. William was sufficiently established in the Salam community. Information on Blanchfield can be obtained from the Village of Salem historical archives.

Surviving bottles provide physical evidence of Blanchfield's beverage business. A specialist catalog of New York Hutchinson soda bottles records two different Wm. Blanchfield bottles from Salem. One is embossed “Wm BLANCHFIELD / REGISTERED / SALEM N.Y.” and another reads “Wm. BLANCHFIELD / SALEM / N.Y.” with “THIS BOTTLE / NOT TO / BE SOLD” on the reverse. The existence of different bottle styles suggests that Blanchfield ordered bottles from different suppliers during his business years.

The word REGISTERED indicated that the bottle was the property of the bottler and was intended to be returned and reused—a practical necessity when glass bottles represented a significant part of a bottler's operating expense.

This example likely dates from approximately 1895–1910. Its wavy glass, numerous trapped bubbles and other irregularities are characteristic of glassmaking during this period. One particularly interesting manufacturing feature is the elongated air bubble visible in the shoulder above the front embossing. The normally clear glass also develops a very faint pink-lavender appearance under certain lighting. Subtle color changes can occur in old glass containing manganese, which was commonly used as a decolorizing ingredient in glass production around the turn of the twentieth century.

More than a century after it was made, the bottle survives as a tangible reminder of the era when towns such as Salem supported their own bottlers and beverages traveled only a short distance from bottler to customer.

Wm. Blanchfield — Salem, N.Y.
Circa 1895–1910

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