Dr. McKinzies Wild Cherry Bitters Chicago Illinois

jgas

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Apr 23, 2008
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Dr. McKinzie's Wild Cherry Bitters Chicago Illinois

Sorry guys I have not posted in a bit. Been busy with too much work and no play. But I did get out and do a bit of digging a couple days ago. Don and I noticed a yard that had been overgrown for a couple of years and now just in the last few weeks the house that was there burned. It was a vacant house thanks God and no one was hurt. The home had been vacant for many years. Another dilapidated home that the city took over. So needless to say we got the permit to explore the grounds. So we found a pit and dug around 7 feet down. It was a wood liner and had some pieces that dated to the 1880's. Plenty old enough to find a keeper or two. :headbang: It was a wood lined pit and we saw that the liner was partially still there, at least the corner post areas were still there enough to make out the corners of the pit. :icon_thumleft: So at the very bottom and close to the corner post and right next to the wall this little baby was snuggled. :thumbsup: I pulled it out thinking it was just another blank whiskey and Lo and behold it was embossed. ??? What the heck was it.....A clear glass bottle and those aren't too collectible I thought. :BangHead: Man was I wrong. Pulled it out and saw what it was. A Dr. McKinzie Wild Cherry Bitters, Chicago Ill. Wow.. I thought it's gotta be pretty common even though it's the first one we have ever seen. Then I looked it up through Peachridge Glass and the Ring and Ham Bitters Book. It comes back as two different spellings. One being Dr. McKenzie and ours being Dr. McKinzie. Ours is listed as Extremely Rare!!! :headbang: What a great finish to the day. We also found a couple of meds as well. A Dr. Eliels Liver Regulator and a Fries and Rogers City Drug Store Kankakee Illinois pharmacy bottle. Not bad on a pit that just may well be our last of the season. Enjoy the pictures and sorry that they are kinda faint and hard to see. The closeups are decent though. Thanks for looking. Good Luck out there and as always be safe guys, dig with partners! jgas
 

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That's a great find jgas. I looked it up to see the value and I will say you've had a successful dig. [emoji106] so, were there more bottles in the pit besides those listed that maybe you didn't feel were worthy to list? Just trying to get a headcount on how many whole pcs came out, and slick vs embossed, etc. Great post and congratulations. Glad it came out intact.
 

Hey bass, Thanks for the reply. Just curious cause I couldn't find any values on it. Please let me know the good news. As far as the other bottles we saw quite a few slicks come out. A Saxleiner Bitterquille and a bunch of broken plates and tableware. I took a few pics on my cell phone too if I can upload those I will. The McKinzie was by far the best thing we found tho. Please let me know any values. Thanks jgas
 

The MacKenzie's are more sought after than the McKinzie's, nice find either way....

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Awesome finding any bitters :occasion14:
 

Dr. McKinzie's Wild Cherry Bitters Chicago Illinois

I went back and re-read the link jgas. That listing was for the MacKenzie bottle not McKinzie. Sorry about that. But in that Peachridge Glass article, they stated that the MacKenzie is rare and the McKinzie is extremely rare. Not sure why the MacKenzie would be the one more sought after? Dazed and confused
 

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Yeah strange Bass, all supply and demand. LOL...Either way it will most likely be the only one we ever find. But one will keep trying for more. jgas
 

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