• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Sandhenge Publications

Jim Potter, Author

  • About the Author
  • Author Blog
    • Sign Up for Jim’s Posts
  • Blog Podcasts
  • Contact the Author
  • Read the Behind the Books Blog
    • Listen to the Audio Blog
  • Check Book Reviews
  • Sign Up to Receive Blog Posts
  • All Books

Bottle Collector

July 24, 2019 by Jim Potter 15 Comments

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Bottle-Collector.mp3

· Bottle Collector: Mike McJunkin

Mike McJunkin with his Bryant’s Stomach Bitters bottle that was recovered from the ship Sea Lark off the coast of Brazil.

It was a joke. After seeing a lot of fascinating bottles in Mike McJunkin’s extensive collection, I asked him, “Do you have earthquake insurance?”

“No,” was his one-word reply.

When he hesitated a moment, I hoped I hadn’t created an unpleasant image for him of shards of glass on the floor. But a few seconds later he offered, “I had a good friend whose wife had been cleaning windows in the home one day when she accidentally knocked over and broke a bottle of his worth $2,000.”

It was obviously a serious, devastating event. But my inappropriate, odd sense-of-humor wouldn’t quit. “Did he get a divorce?” I asked.

“No, years later, but not over that,” replied Mike.

Mike McJunkin is a swell guy who enjoys collecting stuff, special stuff. It’s been in his blood since he was a kid, acquiring pocket knives and coins.

As an adult, he’s collected high wheel bicycles, bicycle license plates, motorcycles, postcards, and books. Recently, he bought a couple hundred bottle caps because the price was right. This led him to purchase a bottle because of his interest in the bottle cap.

T. J. Bixler’s Famous Carbonated Soda.

There’s a difference between having the bottle caps and collecting them. Currently it’s like an audition. Mike has them but he’s still undecided if he’ll collect them. They haven’t fully piqued his interest yet.

I understand. There needs to be a connection before I commit. So many things to collect, so little time.

McJunkin showed me some embossed bottles advertising “T. J. Bixler’s Famous Carbonated Soda, Hutchinson, Kansas.”

The bottle had a local history which is important to both of us. In this case, when McJunkin was in Junior high school, he lived across the street from T. J. Bixler!

Mike explained that the Bixler family used to have a grocery store on South Main Street prior to owning the bottling business. I checked later, at one time there were two Bixler grocery stores: 400 N. Main and 1009 S. Main.

McJunkin recalled that he acquired his first group of antique bottles—they were from the late 1800’s—from Steve Miller in a trade when the later wanted a Schwein Bicycle Company painting that Mike had taken to Tumbleweed Antiques, co-owned by Miller and Jack Mullen.

Turns out Jack Mullen and Jim Hovious were two people who became mentors to Mike in his quest to learn more about bottle collecting. Hovious was “an inspiration” who did a lot of research and shared it.

T. J. Bixler and his brother, John, gave flying exhibitions in Hutchinson and surrounding areas. When Thurman (T. J.) was on the ground, he ran his bottling business.

While interviewing McJunkin, he stood up and retrieved a notebook for me to examine. He opened it to a page showing two men next to a biplane and identified them as Thurman (T.J.) Bixler (1888-1970) and his brother, John Bixler (1885-1967). McJunkin explained that the Bixler brothers had taken flying lessons and participated in flying exhibitions. (John studied with the Wright Brothers of Dayton, Ohio, and earned an International pilot’s license!)

A moment later I saw another photo, this one a crashed plane at the Kansas State Fairgrounds in 1913. John had been the pilot. He survived and worked on repairing it all night in order to have it up and flying the next day.

McJunkin continued a tale about Thurman Bixler and his wife, Orleana Rabner (married April 3, 1907). They ran concessions at the State Fairgrounds. Thurman would “go up into the grandstands to sell his pop and beer.” There were times he’d return to the stand for refills and say to his wife: “Put more salt on the popcorn Mom; they’re not drinking enough.”

Label for T. J. Bixler’s soda water.

As I attempted to take photos of the Bixler bottles, the clear glass lettering was difficult to read. Mike handed me some beautiful, colorful labels that advertised T. J. Bixler’s famous Old Time Root Beer, Cherry and Cola, and Ginger Ale. They looked so new I thought they had just been printed, but they were original.

I reexamined one Bixler bottle and read these embossed words: “This bottle must not be sold.” That’s when McJunkin explained that due to the cost of bottle manufacturing, the companies reused the glass bottles. His comment reminded me of my childhood when I received two cents per returned bottle.

Bottle from the late 1700s.

McJunkin showed me his oldest bottle. It was from the late 1700s and had no advertising on it. We examined its base and observed a circular mark on the bottom. Called a pontil mark, it indicated the bottle was made of free-blown glass.  

Back then, a bottle’s contents might include anything, including molasses, medicinal spirits, or alcohol, but when the item ran low it was time to get to a store to have it refilled. Having your own container saved you money.

When I asked McJunkin if he had a favorite bottle, he looked like a man being forced to choose his favorite child. But he explained that on this particular day it was the “Lady Leg” bottles, so named because they resemble the calf of a woman’s long leg. Their design was popular in the 1870s to 1890s.

Indian Herb Bitters bottles, also called “Indian Queen”, patented by Neall N. Brown 1867-68, circulated 1870-1880s.

I also learned that antique bitters bottles held, you guessed it, bitters. But what are bitters? One article said that bitters amounted to herbs being added to alcohol. This allowed people to try and create the impression that they were only drinking the alcohol content for medicinal reasons. Often, in reality, the purpose was to skirt the laws, especially during the temperance movement in the US. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 effectively ended the business of products that were alcohol (or opiate) based.

Antique bitters bottles are those bottles that are embossed with the word “bitters” or the bottle has a label with the word bitters. Bottles come in a wide variety of shapes and colors. In the US the bitters trade was active from 1860 to 1906.

Bryant’s Stomach Bitters bottle.

McJunkin showed me a valuable bitters bottle, a deep olive green, with a neck in the Lady Leg style and with the body eight-sided. Its height was 12” with a pontil scarred base, and “applied double collar mouth.” Holding the bottle, I read the embossed words: “BRYANT’S STOMACH BITTERS.”

The bottle had been recovered from a sunken ship, the Sea Lark, off the coast of Brazil. When I checked online, I was able to see a photograph of the divers discovering a case of the bottles on an unknown date. Unfortunately, most of the eighteen bottles they located were damaged. But the one McJunkin eventually purchased at auction was in fine shape.

McJunkin got my collector’s blood heated up. He had exposed me to so much information that I wanted to learn more, especially about local history. I wasn’t ready to start collecting bottles but I felt the Bixler brothers needed more research.

When I returned home I found a postcard image in my email sent by a friend. It was an exaggeration postcard copyrighted 1909 by Hutchinson, Kansas, photographer M. W. Bailey.

On the reverse side of the photo postcard, below a 1913 Hutchinson postmark, was a note signed by Helen Bixler, a sister to Thurman and John!

Until next time, happy writing and reading!

***

If you’re interested in learning about collecting antique bottle, McJunkin recommends A Collector’s Guide to Kansas Bottles, 1854-1925 (1974), by Johnnie Fletcher.

The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, is an excellent organization that can be found online at https://fohbc.org/.

Mike McJunkin is a long-time member of the Kansas Territory Bottle and Postcard Club that meets monthly in Hutchinson. They are seeking new members. The club sponsors an annual free show at the Kansas State Fairgrounds each April during the first or second weekend. Call Mike at 620-728-8394 if you’re interested in visiting a club meeting or attending the show.

***

The postcard of T. J. Bixler, aviator and bottler, is reproduced from The Fair City: Postcard Views, Hutchinson, Kansas, Volume I (1982) by Pat Mitchell.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: bitter bottles, Bixler bottles, bottle collecting, Bryant's Stomach Bitters, Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, Helen Bixler, Indian Herb Bitters, Indian Queen, Jack Mullen, Jim Hovious, Jim Potter, John Bixler, Kansas Territory Bottle & Postcard Club, Lady Leg bottles, Mike McJunkin, Orleana Rabner Bixler, Pat Mitchell, pontil mark, postcard collecting, Sea Lark, Steve Miller, T. J. Bixler, T. J. Bixler's Famous Carbonated Soda, The Fair City, Thurman Bixler, Tumbleweed Antiques

Sign Up for the Blog

You will never have to check this site for the latest blog post, and you’ll get the latest and the greatest first! You will receive a confirmation email that you must respond to in order to be officially subscribed.

IMPORTANT! Check your Junk and Spam folders as needed!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alex says

    July 24, 2019 at 9:03 am

    Fascinating!

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      July 24, 2019 at 10:49 am

      Thank you!

      Reply
  2. Lynn Ledeboer says

    July 24, 2019 at 10:36 am

    Nice! Love the bottles and the Bixler story is always so interesting. Mike McJunkin introduced me to glass target balls when we exhibited them in our Crazy Collection exhibit at the museum. Those are truly fascinating collectors’ items as well.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      July 24, 2019 at 10:57 am

      Thanks, Lynn! In one Hutchinson News article it was mentioned that John Bixler and brother Gould Bixler (not T.J.) were co-owners of the bi-plane the reporter was describing.
      Too bad that in those days the women were nearly invisible to today’s researchers. The women didn’t even get their first names in a directory. As you know, when married the best they could expect was “Mrs so and so.” I wonder what that did to a women’s self-worth and identity? I know, “them were the times.”

      Reply
  3. Rock says

    July 24, 2019 at 11:02 am

    I had a friend Barry in Denver who collected bottles. Where did he get great collections? Digging out abandoned homes outhouses. Turns out the composted potty was a great storage medium for all the old bottles people chucked down the hole. Preserved. Ha. Rock

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      July 24, 2019 at 11:12 am

      Rock, Thanks for the comment. I asked Mike if he had found bottles at the site of old outhouses. He said he hadn’t found any good ones. Mike said he had a friend who would find great bottles near forts–and do it legally on private property.
      I figured that when people went to the outhouse, sometimes it was just a place to privately have a drink or snort of whiskey. When the bottle was empty where else would you drop it but down the hole?

      Reply
  4. Jim Potter says

    July 24, 2019 at 11:03 am

    This was an especially charming essay. Thanks, Mary Anna

    Reply
  5. Letty says

    July 24, 2019 at 12:02 pm

    This is a colorful story about history and charming personalities who catch our attention.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      September 30, 2020 at 10:18 pm

      Thanks, Letty!

      Reply
  6. Anna Bertholf says

    July 24, 2019 at 1:39 pm

    Loved your blog referencing exaggerated postcards. Just this past week, we came across many postcards from the 40’s and 50’s while going through boxes of family photos. Some were quite bawdy for their day.
    Today’s posting is so interesting and fires up one’s imagination, speculating on who used the bottles and what they may have contained. Relics, such as bottles, are amazing. One wonders about its journey to Mr. MCJunkin.
    Thank you for both articles. I really appreciated learning about objects that are usually considered ephemeral items.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      July 24, 2019 at 4:17 pm

      Anna, thanks for commenting. Recently, as you know, I’ve been promoting using postcard images as writing prompts. Since you write poetry, have you considered using the family postcards as prompts or a resource for your creative energy? Jim

      Reply
  7. H.B. Berlow says

    July 24, 2019 at 7:45 pm

    It is collections like this (and postcards as you know) that allow us to relive pieces of history that are not taught in schools. The real stuff, everyday living that perhaps only a set designer for a period movie could appreciate.
    I, for one, am glad you’re spreading this story. I would hope younger folks would embrace their personal family histories. I think they would have a greater sense of who they are.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      July 24, 2019 at 8:07 pm

      H.B., Exactly! Rather than a dry history book, kids could study and report on their collections as part of a history unit. Maybe it’s already being done. I know for years students have been encouraged to interview older folks. But think of it, history, geography, finances, fads, art, etc.

      Reply
  8. Hal Ottaway says

    July 25, 2019 at 1:11 pm

    Great fun reading and thinking about old bottles, postcards, and aeroplanes, and
    how neat to know there are folks around who save and research these materials. Thanks for sharing all of this…Jim Potter and Mike McJunkin.

    Reply
  9. Jim Potter says

    July 25, 2019 at 7:06 pm

    Hal, thanks! Because of you so much history has been saved. Thanks for all your teaching and helpfulness. Jim

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Jim Potter, Author

author

Recent Blog Posts

  • Book Marketing “Deputy Jennings Meets the Amish” June 23, 2022
  • Medical Support of the Fifth Division in World War II-Part 4 May 17, 2022
  • Medical Support of the Fifth Division in World War II-Part 3 May 8, 2022
  • Medical Support of the Fifth Division in World War II-Part 2 May 3, 2022
  • Medical Support of the Fifth Division in World War II-Part 1 April 29, 2022

If you prefer to listen . . .

If you prefer to listen to my blog posts, you can do so … List of podcasts about Podcasts

Follow Jim on Facebook

Follow Jim on Facebook

Post Archives

  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017

What People Are Saying

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.

Dennis Perrin, educator

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters and the settings in which they live and work. It makes a story more realistic if you can say, I am familiar with the area; I know where that town is or I have traveled that street. It was easy to relate to the characters. In one way or another, I have met them all somewhere in my journeys.

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller that the reader quickly becomes immersed and has a ‘bonding experience’ with each of the characters, feeling their joy, fear, passion and pain. Jim’s novel speaks to the empowerment of persistence with the characters as they work through their trials. As a therapist, I appreciated the heartfelt struggles from each of the characters and their diversity. I also found value in the novel’s understanding of society’s misunderstanding of both mental health and other conditions in which people struggle. The novel contains rich exposure to various realities that many of us do not know about . . . but should. When I finished this captivating novel, I was wanting to read the sequel! It was an honor and a wonderful, mesmerizing experience reading this book. Congratulations, Jim!

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centres on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to give enough detail to bring the characters to life, yet not too much so as to slow down the pace of the developing story. A climactic event affects the main characters and it is at this point Potter’s deep knowledge of people and police procedures really hits home; page by page we read how a seemingly simple, though terrible occurrence, can have huge consequences. To Potter’s credit the story does not have a completely conclusive or simplistic ending. Instead it leaves the reader thinking about how the events of a single minute can affect lives forever. I would whole heartedly recommend this book not as a crime novel or even as a novel about crime but as a beautiful and positive affirmation about what it is to be human and how ultimately it is relationships which matter more than events.

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental illness. One of my favorite quotes from Taking Back the Bullet is “We’re all just a critical moment from being disabled or mentally ill, and we don’t want to think about it.” The novel also provides the reader an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts the individuals, their family, friends, and society. Taking Back the Bullet is a story of forgiveness and overcoming life’s struggles and tragedies.

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.

Larry Kruckman, anthropologist

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a jail, art fair, powwow, rehab center, courtroom, albinos, and even someone in the throes of postpartum depression. So detailed are the descriptions that they must be drawn from the author’s personal experience. Besides the artfully created characters such as the struggling jailer and husband Tom Jennings, local artist Jesse Thomas, and Native American Joe Morningcloud, there is a tight story line that grabs your attention and won’t let go. Human tensions, love, conflict, joys and sorrows are all there. Magically, all the many pieces come together in a final crescendo, giving hope that even when we find ourselves in big trouble we can survive. This is a novel I highly recommend!

Larry Kruckman
Anthropologist
Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.

Karleen Wilson-Moon

Copyright © 2022 Sandhenge Publications · Website by Rosemary Miller