Just another anecdote to add to the cumulative knowledge of the cobalt blue  
Vick's jars and, if I might expand this discussion, milk glass mentholatum 
jars.  Within a fairly tightly dated burned building feature (1916-1922), broken 
cobalt  blue and milk glass jar fragments abounded. Many of the milk glass 
jars were  embossed with "Mentholatum," but none of the paper labels or lids 
survived the  fire and the cobalt jar bases lacked embossing. Elsewhere in the 
U.S. Army, Fort  Rosecrans layers at CA-SDI-12,000 the milk glass Mentholatum 
jars out numbered  the cobalt jars. I interpret this to mean that ointment served 
some medical  need. Since the 1918 Influenza epidemic hit Fort Rosecrans, I 
hypothesize the  soldiers used the Mentholatum in an attempt to prevent getting 
the illness or to  treat chapped lips and runny noses.
 
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.



Lee, I am familiar with both of these products through my research on a
rural South Georgia Drug Store Museum.  (The museum houses over 5000
artifacts from a single drugstore that operated from the late 1870s to
1957.)  Our museum sample of Musterole was also made of milk glass and has
a threaded top with a silver-colored cap.  The jar is smaller than yours
containing only 0.88 oz. and the manufacturer's suggested retail price for
this size was 50 cents.  The manufacturer was the Musterole Company of
Cleveland, Ohio.  I've estimated the date of our Musterole as about 1942
and the product's origin as approximately 1890 based on a paper insert that
came with the product.  The insert showed a picture of the famous Dionne
quintuplets at about age 8.  They were born in 1934 suggesting the 1942
date.  The insert also stated that the product had been used for over 50
years suggesting the circa 1890 date for its beginning.  Fike (The Bottle
Book, 1987) states that the Musterole Company was established in 1906.  It
is likely that the product was marketed as Musterole before the company was
incorporated.  Musterole was sold in three different strengths- mild,
regular, and extra strength.  For information on its composition, medical
claims, and low ratings from the government and Good Housekeeping, contact
me offline.
Dr. Hatchett's Drug Store Museum also has 22 cobalt blue Vicks Vapo-rub
jars of a smaller size than yours (1.5 oz.) and of two types: The regular
Vapo-rub and a "stainless" variety.  The manufacturer's recommended retail
price was $.35. They had a larger size described as 3.75 oz. with a
recommended price of $.75.   These products had a red screw-on cap and were
sold in a blue cardboard container.  The manufacturer was the Vick Chemical
Co. of Greensboro, North Carolina with offices in New York and
Philadelphia. Greensboro has a display of the original Vick Co. open to the
public and I have been there. Lunsford Richardson, a registered pharmacist
and chemist, created this product in a Greensboro drug store owned by a Dr.
Porter. About that time, Dr. Porter's nephew, Sidney Porter was also
working there.  You may know Sidney Porter as the short story writer, O.
Henry.   For additional information (composition and advertised usage),
contact me offline.  These write-ups of the drug store collection and many
others are available on a CD-Rom.

Allen Vegotsky
[log in to unmask]

> [Original Message]
> From: Cranmer, Leon <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 4/19/2006 3:55:11 PM
> Subject: Re: two jars
>
>  
> Greetings All,
>
> I could use some help in determining the manufacture dates for two small
> common jars that everyone probably has seen. I'm about to go crazy trying
to
> get info on these.  One is the 4 oz. cobalt blue vicks Vapo-rub jar.  The
> bottom has a triangle within a triangle and an "A1." I know Vapo-rub was
> introduced in 1890 and the Vicks Co. formed in 1905, but nothing on the
> jars.  The second jar is also 4 oz. milk glass and has "MUSTEROLE' and
> "CLEVELAND" on the bottom.  I've seen a 1913 add for Musterole, but
nothing
> more to speak of.  Both jars had threaded tops.  The Musterole jar had a
> nice embossed tin top.  Both jars can be found on Ebay.  The farmstead
these
> jars are from was taken down in 1941, and I'm sure they date beyond that.
I
> would just like to know when they were first manufactured, where, and by
> whom. Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Lee Cranmer
> Historical Archaeologist
> Maine Historic Preservation Commission
>