Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID # |
2011.053.002 |
Object Name |
Bottle |
Title |
Wood Alcohol Poison Bottle (King Oval Bottle) |
Lexicon category |
5: T&E For Science & Technology |
Year Range from |
1913 |
Artist |
Dominion Glass Company |
Made |
Dominion Glass Co. |
Place of Origin |
Toronto, Ontario |
Description |
Colourless pressed glass pharmacy bottle. It has a dark blue and white-printed identification label, which reads: "WOOD ALCOHOL--POISON / H. E. Middlebro' Phm. B / Corner Pharmacy / 2ND AVE EAST AND 9TH ST. / OWEN SOUND, ONT." The bottle is uprightly rectangular, and has embossed graduations. The underside has a glass factory mark with a wide diamond shape, and "R WC T CO. KING OVAL". The King Oval line is set inside the diamond mark. The bottle has a slight push-up in the interior of the base. |
Makers mark |
The underside has a glass factory mark with a wide diamond shape and what looks like "R WC T CO. KING OVAL". The "KING OVAL" wording is inside the diamond. |
Provenance |
Made by Dominion Glass (established 1913), and distributed by the Richards Glass Co. of Toronto (a wholesale jobber to the pharmacy trade, that was incorporated on Oct. 24, 1912). Belonged to and labelled at the H. E. Middlebro' drugstore (also called the Corner Pharmacy) at 878, 2nd Avenue East, Owen Sound, Grey County. H. E. Middlebro' was in business there until 19__. It was found circa 1965, during renovations intended to modernize the former Presbyterian manse house in Dornoch, Grey County, which had been vacant for over thirty years. It was found laying in the rafters in the building's attic. Last owned by Gerald and Marilyn Southwood of Owen Sound. |
Collection |
Bottles & Equipment, 20th-c Collection |
Material |
Glass/Paper/Ink/Glue |
Dimensions |
H-16.3 W-5.8 L-3.5 cm |
Found |
Owen Sound, Grey County |
People |
Middlebro', H. E. |
Subjects |
Drug Stores Owen Sound Business Owen Sound Businesses Poisons |
Function |
A glassware bottle that was used by an Owen Sound druggist to hold a poisonous substance. It was cork-stoppered when it was filled. Harry E. Middlebro ordered these bottles from an American glass factory, and then applied his own printed labels to identify the contents, as Wood Alcohol was very flammable and extremely poisonous (could cause death). Drugstores just didn't dispense medicines, they also often served as chemists. |

