Augusta 2019 FOHBC National

[sandchip]

I hope to goodness that some of you were able to make it to this show, Thursday through Saturday, and I apologize for not taking more pictures. Thursday alone would have been enough with everyone being invited into the home of Mike Newman. In addition to the many bottles already on display in his home, he unboxed hundreds more great bottles and placed them in practically every room in the house for all to enjoy, a veritable show in itself. He and his wife had an unbelievable spread of great food and beverages for everyone as well. After that, we went to the Augusta Museum of History. Great, great place with even more refreshments. That evening was the bottle competition which has become a staple at the national shows. This year's categories were Best Pottery, Best Georgia Bottle, and Best Southern Soda. People were so selfless in allowing their entries, many great rarities, to be entrusted to several people to be catalogued, taken to the judges, then taken to the photographer, then to the display table or shelves for all to view and photograph before being taken back to the cataloguers for return to the owners. I helped to judge the Georgia bottles and served as a "runner", taking bottles and pottery from the judges to the photographer, then back to the displays in the other two categories. What an honor to be trusted in handling these pieces, some of which would be valued well into the 5 figures. I was so busy that I wasn't able to take pictures of many of the winning pieces, but I did make the time to elbow my way through the mob to take a picture of not only the best Georgia bottle known, but what I consider to be the greatest and earliest colored, pontiled medicine in the nation. I realize that many might argue with the best part, but I doubt that they could argue with the earliest part, this bottle dating into the late 1700s. The seal reads, "Dr. / G. HARRAL / DRUGGIST / SAVANNAH / GA.."



Here are few of the entries in to the soda category, from left to right: An oddball colored Charles Clark from Charleston, not one but two(!) C. Alfs, also from Charleston (1830s), and a pink John Ryan from Savannah.



And here's a view of the show from above, an ocean of great glass and great folks.



Wanted badly to buy several pieces, but didn't. A retired GSP trooper who rode with me and my son to the show walked up to me and handed me a bottle that he knew that I had wanted for years, a crown top soda embossed, "Mize & Daniel / Bottling Works / Americus, Ga." Didn't leave empty handed after all! Thanks, Mr. Eddie!

 

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[NJKLAGT]

Wow, no pressure sandchip! What an honor. Looks like an awesome show. Those sodas are beautiful, and that medicine is something else - do you know where that one was found? how big/small is it?

Now I have to ask: got any stories about someone ever dropping a bottle at one of these shows? Like an only-known example or something? I could never do your job, sandchip, that's for sure. haha

 

[sandchip]

I've handled the Harral twice, the first time being about 25 years ago. The owner kept it in one of those aluminum briefcases lined with foam. He asked me to sit down on the carpeted floor and take off my wedding band, not easy to do with my knotty knuckles and something I'd previously done only for surgery! Never measured it but I'm guessing around 9" h. x 3" d. Not sure, but I think it was found many years ago in a house in Savannah. I'll see if I can find out for sure.

I didn't hear anything at this show, but yes, I've heard that chilling sound of glass crashing on concrete at shows before. One instance that stands out in my memory was somebody dropping a mint, yellow amber Wharton's like this one (not mine, just an online pic) at a St. Petersburg, Fla. show years ago. Bad sound that seems to freeze everybody in the room for a few seconds. It does tend to do a reset on any complacency that may've creeped in and makes you really pay attention to every move that you make in this fragile hobby we enjoy.



Thanks for your response, brother.

 

[NJKLAGT]

Ugh, that's too bad, that sound must have reverberated for an eternity. But you're right, I bet that one break jostled everyone from their drooling slumber and made them more careful. Hey, maybe every year you guys should have a staged break, where at some point during the beginning of the show, a disguised guest fumbles and drops a reproduction historical flask or a modern piece that looks old, just to get everyone cautious. Haha, it's kind of sick, but it might work.

 

[sandchip]

LOL, that is sick indeed!

 

[Bass]

Thanks for the post Sandchip. Those are very nice examples of early glass.

 

[A2coins]

I would have loved to see his collection