Antique Bottle Collector - Interview with Bottle Bill

Bottle Bill, 53, is a technical author and a lifetime collector of bottles and pottery. In the following interview, we talk about the era when the packaging also sold the product.

ephemera: I've recently become interested in antique bottles after finding a few in a secret location in the hills near Asheville. When did you become interested in antique bottles?

Bill: I became interested in antique bottles nearly 30 years ago. A friend of mine was learning to drive and asked me to "sit in " so that he could drive to a bottle collectors club meeting, in Blackpool ( approximately 20 miles from Preston ). I asked him why he had bought the bottles instead of going out and digging up his own. His reply was that he considered it impossible to trace Victorian rubbish tips. I went out that weekend, spade in hand, and tracked down a Victorian rubbish tip. The tip was on a farm a couple of miles out of town. By the end of the day, I had dug approximately 50 beers, codd bottles, ginger beers, inks etc. Not bad for a first day outing!

ephemera: Did you begin consciously, knowing what you would collect, or did you just one day discover what you were doing?

Bill: There is obviously a certain amount of luck involved with digging for bottles. You firstly have to be lucky enough to track down the Victorian rubbish tip which was long ago capped with soil. The tip is now part of a farmer's field, and in most cases indistinguishable from the rest of the surrounding farmland. Once you have found your tip, and gained permission to dig, there are no guarantees as to the contents of the tip. A rubbish tip belonging to a family that was poor at the turn of the 20th century, would yield poor results. A farming family who were better off / well off would be able to afford more luxuries in life, and the containers they were bought in were thrown into the tip.

In the beginning of my bottle collecting days I collected anything and everything I dug up. As time went by, and my collection grew, I concentrated on Preston (my home town) ginger beers. Again, as time went by and my collection grew, I changed track and now collect mainly whiskey / pub jugs and Preston Guild pottery.

ephemera: What challenges or obstacles do you encounter as a collector? How do you overcome these challenges?

Bill: The biggest challenge nowadays is the prices realized for the better items. In my digging days, I would sell off the items I had dug to pay for the items I wanted. I called a stop to digging approx 15 years ago due to a health problem, so now I have my website, and buy the bottles for my collection. A couple of times a year I have a nice day out to the bottle collectors fairs and treat myself to a new item. The Preston Guild items I collect come from eBay, of course.

ephemera: What are your favorite items in the collection?

Bill: My favorite items are as follows: Peter Kellett slab sealed ginger beer - Preston circa 1880. I dug a few of these in my digging days. They are rare and valuable items Winders ginger beer - Preston circa 1900. The only one I ever dug and extremely rare and valuable. My Queen whiskey sold to celebrate the Queens jubilee 1887 - you can just smell the history on this item. Whitbread's pub water jug. I have always liked this item due to its unusual colors - resembles a salmon pink. Preston town hall cup - this was issued to commemorate the opening of Preston's "new" town hall--October 3rd 1867. Now long since gone after a fire. I like the effective blue cobble stone effect of the Victorian pottery.

ephemera: What resources do you recommend for would-be bottle collectors?

Bill: My greatest source of historical information is my friend Mike. If I want an answer to a question, I ask him. I am fortunate enough to live in a cottage built 1751, which looks the part with my collections scattered around the walls. I tend to put shelves around the walls close to the low ceilings, and just line them up. I have a few walls to go at yet. I also have plenty of chimney alcoves which I can put display shelving without trying to take over the rooms.

ephemera: Thanks, Bill. Next time you'll have to give us Mike's phone number in case anyone needs to know something about antique bottles that they didn't learn from this interview. I really appreciate your insights and thoughtful responses. It has been a pleasure to feature your collection on the ephemera blog.