Several days ago, Valerie Patenaude posted concerning pharmaceutical display
bottles or Show Globes.
>I am looking for information on the apothecary display bottles that >used to
grace the counters of drug stores.
 
The best reference I have seen concerning these show globes can be found in
"The Pill Rollers".  This book devotes seven pages to the subject, including
six pictures.  I have the feeling that this book is lo longer in print, but I
am not sure.
 
Bibliographic info:
Richardson, Lillian C. and Charles G.
   1979   The Pill Rollers, Apothecary Antiques and Drug Store Collectibles.
 Old Fort Press, (P.O. Box 55500) Fort Washington, Maryland 20022.
 
A very short exerpt from the section of this book devoted to show globes
follows:
 
"The origin of show globes as a symbol of the apothecary is not documented in
historical records and there are many legends about its origin, however, it
is known that the show globes originated in the British Isles.  According to
one legend, the globes first appeared in apothecary shop windows along the
coastal regions ... where they were filled with red and green liquid, copying
running lights of ships to show sailors where to go when they needed medical
attention."
"Another belief about the origin of the show globes is that the apothecaries
used red and blue liquids  ... to represent the arterial and venous blood.
 Still another popular legend has the show globes originating during the Great
 Plague of London in 1665.  This account has the apothecaries placing the
globes filled with colored liquid in their windows to direct the sick to
their doors."
"Another account of the origina of the show globes, and the one that seems to
be accepted by most historians is that the globes actually originated with
teh alchemists in about 1550, and represented vessels used by that mysterious
group."
"The show globe remained as a symbol of pharmacy throughout the eighteenth
and ninteenth centuries both in England and in this country (e.g. the United
States).  The use of the show globe as a pharmacy symbol was adopted by some
other countries, notably France, but it remained an Anglo-Saxon symbol. "
 
I hope this helps with your exhibit.  We just recently completed work on a
turn of the century black pharmacy in Roanoke, Virginia and have been slowly
compiling a reference library on pharmaceutical and medicinal artifacts.  If
we can be of any help, let us know.
 
Michael F. Barber ([log in to unmask])
Preservation Technologies, Inc.
P. O. Box 921
Salem, Virginia 24153