Beautiful barber bottles

Collecting bottles is a hugely popular hobby. There are hundreds of clubs and shows dedicated to this hobby and many different categories to choose from. I recently ran across of a picture of some beautiful blown glass containers and found out that they were barber bottles.

In the late 1800s through 1906, a gentleman that went to visit the barber would see a collection of colorful glass bottles of all shapes and sizes on the barbers’ shelves that contained the special concoctions of shampoos, colognes and tonics that he used on his customers. These containers also contained witch hazel, rosewater and other formulas made by the barber.

Each and every bottle was a work of art, not just a utilitarian vessel. Many were blown glass in cranberry, embossed with gold or enameled paintings or labeled with beautiful lithographed labels.

Barber bottles were made here in the United States but many were imported from Europe as well. Barbers would also carry personalized bottles for loyal customers that featured the customer’s name. Some bottles were hand blown but there were also pressed and cut glass models.

Many bottle collectors specialize in barber bottles. Fenton was just one of the popular bottle makers, and artists, such as Mary Gregory, were famous for decorating the bottles with a combination of white enamel paint that contained ground glass and produced a beautiful frosted white embossing design on the bottle. There are so many colors and styles to choose from and these bottles truly are beautiful works of art.

Most of the contents of the bottles were totally unregulated and often contained alcohol, not only for topical application but also might have contained rum and “other” spirits for the customers’ enjoyment since going to the barber was not only necessary but also an lady might enjoy going to a spa for pampering.

The demise of these beautiful bottles came in 1906 when the Pure Food and Drug Act disallowed the act of refilling unlabeled and refillable bottles with alcohol based substances. The bottles were pretty much no longer seen in the barbershops by the 1920s. Go to your favorite search engine and look up barber bottles, and you will be amazed to see the variety of beautiful vessels. Happy Collecting!

Jillinda Falen has been buying and selling antiques for over 30 years and is a licensed REALTOR® and estate liquidation specialist. You can contact her through the Houston Home Journal or via email at jcfalen@gmail.com.

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