(The following notes
are based on an
article by
Robert J. Dalessandro and Mike Russell posted on this site
(www.medicalantiques.com) as well as other articles listed below and
accessed via Google books.)
Bottle authority Mike Russell,
has written widely on Civil War bottles (see references below).
Russell says his research indicates
that Hospital Department bottles were mainly manufactured at factories
in Pittsburgh, and Baltimore, the principal manufacturer was at Pittsburgh with the secondary
manufacturer at the Baltimore Glass Works.
Bottles blown at the
Pittsburgh factory exhibit concave, slightly recessed, bases with a star
design, initials, or a simple dot. Some bottles from this
firm are seen with an iron pontil scar (a result of an older glassmaking
technique that used a rod dipped in iron oxide to hold the bottle base
during the manufacturing process). Baltimore Glassworks examples are
flat based and exhibit weak embossing.
Civil War period
bottle embossing styles fall into several major types:
(1) Two Straight
Lines; the top line is “U.S.A.” printed in raised letters. The second
line reads, “Hosp. Dept.”
(2) “U.S.A Hosp. Dept.” embossed in an oval.
In this pattern, the “U.S.A” curves along the top of the oval and “Hosp.
Dept.” curves below.
(3) “United States Army Hospital Department” spelled
out in a straight line.
(4) “U.S.A” arching over “Med’l Dept.” (This is
the only style incorporating the abbreviation for USA Medical Department
dating from the Civil War era.)
Numerous bottle
colors exist. The most common color is clear followed by aqua. Rarer
colors include cobalt, emerald
green, apricot and dense purple or puce.
Hospital Department Bottles
range in size from a 2 ½ inches high oval shaped vial to a quart size 9 ¼
inch tall cylinder. Neck styles vary from narrow openings to a wide
mouth. Data on color and sizes below: The Collector's Guide to
Civil War Period Bottles and Jars, by Mike Russell, 1988.
Click on images to
enlarge
|
U.S.A. Hospital Department bottles embossed in an oval.
Dimensions:
Top: 7 1/2" tall, 2 3/4" wide at base, round shape
cobalt blue color.
Bottom: 5 3/4" tall oval shape cobalt blue color
|
 |
|
U.S.A. Hospital Department
in various colors. Dimensions: 9-1/4" tall., 3 5/8"
wide at base. The embossing reads "U.S.A. HOSP. DEPT."
The bottle has an applied double roll collar and has a
single line across the bottom. |
 |
|
U.S.A. Hospital
Department
bottles. Dimensions:
6 1/4" tall,
2 3/8" at the base.
The oval embossing reads
"U.S.A. HOSP. DEPT." |
 |
|
U. S. A. Med'l.
Dept. aqua bottle, marked for the Army Medical Department. |
 |
|
Wide-mouth
U.S.A. Hosp. Dept.
bottles in various colors, especially blue and green, but
any color including clear is wanted to purchase. |
 |
|
Examples of Civil War era metal tins which were painted
black (Japanned) and have paper labels.
The tins needed for
this collection have the cork
stoppers, or screw tops, (screw tops are later and were made
into the post-Civil War period).
The cork stoppered tin's
have paper labels, and are marked for 'Med. Dept' or the 'Purveyor's
Depot'.
Examples are
wanted with various medical and chemical names listed on the
front. Originally these containers had a 'paper' like
material covering the cork and were held in place with twine
around the neck of the container. |
|
|
E. R. Squibb bottles marked on the shoulder of the bottle
with "E.R. Squibb, with or without a ground glass stopper.
"E. R.
Squibb & Sons" is
a later company and not what is needed for this collection.
I only want " E. R. Squibb", which was the name during the
Civil War.
More
information on E. R.
Squibb |
 |
| Glazed ceramic (cream ware) medicine
jars with original label marked
for the U.S.A. Med. Dept.
and the U.S.A. Laboratory for Quinine.
These jars come with a large number of
labels for various chemicals and drugs. Here is a list
of the type of
drugs or chemicals that would be printed on the labels. |
 |
A
list of drugs
found on paper labels during the Civil War. See an
article for the Latin names |
acetate lead
alcohol
alcoholic extract of
belladonna
alum
aromatic spirit of
ammonia
aromatic sulphuric
acid
bicarbonate potassa
bicarbonate soda
blistering cerate
blue mass
calomel
camphor
carbonate ammonia
castor oil
cerate of
cantharides
chlorate of potassa
chlorate potassa
chlorinated solution
of soda
citrate iron and
quinia
citrine ointment
collodion
compound cathartic
pills
compound extract of
colocynth
copaiba
creosote
croton oil
Dover's powder
extract of
belladonna
fluid extract
cinchona (aromatic)
fluid extract ginger
fluid extract ipecac
fluid extract of
aconite root
fluid extract of
cinchona, aromatic
fluid extract of
colchicum seed
fluid extract of
ginger
fluid extract of
ipecac
fluid extract seneka
Fowler's solution,
fused nitrate silver
glycerin
ground cayenne
pepper
Hoffman's anodyne
iodide of iron
iodide of potassium
iodide polassium
ipecac
laudanum
mercurial ointment,
mercury with chalk
|
morphia
nitrate of silver
(crystals)
nutmegs
oil of turpentine
olive oil
paregoric
permanganate of
potassa
pills of camphor
pills of compound
extract of colocynth
pills of opium
pills of sulphate of
quinia
powdered compound
extract colcoynth.
powdered gum Arabic
powdered ipecac
powdered opium
powdered Rochelle
salt
powdered squill
powdered subsulphate
iron
powdered tartaric
acid
pure chloroform
pure glycerin
purified chloroform
resin cerate
Rochelle salt, 16
oz.
simple cerate
solution chloride
zinc
solution of ammonia
solution of chloride
of zinc
solution of
chlorinate of soda
solution of
persulphate of iron.
spirit of nitrous
ether
strong alcohol
stronger ether (for
anaesthesia)
stronger ether
subnitrate bismuth
sulphate cinchona
sulphate magnesia
sulphate of copper
sulphate of morphia
sulphate of quinine
sulphate zinc
sweet spirit of
nitre
syrup of squill
tannic acid
tartar emetic
tincture chloride of
iron
tincture of opium
whiskey
|
|
The Medical Staff and Materia Chirugica"
from the Med. & Surgical History |
Various
colors of U.S.A. Hosp. Dept. bottles
Archaeological finds confirm that
Hospital Department bottles were commonly used in the field after
1863 and that they remained in use on the frontier until the 1870's.
The Hospital Department bottle was slowly replaced by one of similar
design in the post-Civil War years. The more modern bottle employs
various abbreviations of U.S. Army Medical Department. Medical
Department bottles remained in issue until WWII and are easily
distinguished from their Civil War cousins by the quality of the
glass, more refined lip and a base often designating the bottle
capacity. The colors of post-war bottles are more standard with dark
brown/amber being the most frequently seen on the market
See the
following articles for detailed information, photos, and identification
data:
| The real thing: the bases of
these bottles exhibit no pontil mark and are flat to
slightly
concave. The star or SDS mark is also correct.
The bottles blown in Baltimore
have a flat base, while those blown in Pittsburgh have a
recessed concave base. This type of bottle design lasted
through 1870.
|
A
convincing repro of the USA HOSP DEPT bottle. The repro has a pontil base, while the original has a smooth base. And the repro has
no periods in "USA"; the original has "U.S.A.".
|
Hosp
Dept Bottles & Tins collection:
1
|
2
|
3 |
4 |
5 |
6
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