The Rise and Fall of the Warner Empire: Politics (Part V)

It often seems that those who are successful in business decide that they should favor the world of politics with their wisdom. H. H. Warner was no exception. Having made his mark, first in the safe business and more recently in the patent medicine business, Warner decided on politics as his next area of endeavor. His involvement though was not as a candidate for elective office, but rather as an activist in the Republican Party.

Atwater reports that in 1884, Warner was chosen as a delegate to the Republican National Convention from the thirtieth New York district. In grand style, he rented two Pullman cars and transported fifty local Republicans and members of the press to the convention in Chicago. Based on the reports in the Rochester Union and Advertiser  and the Rochester Democrat and Chronical from May and June, 1884, the Warner party did not travel in complete sobriety. Quoting the reporter:

“The ride was dusty but not wholly dry” and by the time the convention opened, the Rochester boys “turned up cheerful and well preserved.”

Atwater at 180. At the Chicago convention, Senator James G. Blaine (above left) of Maine, a former Speaker of the House and Secretary of State was nominated over the incumbent President Chester A. Arthur. Warner repeatedly cast his votes for Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert, was not formally nominated as a candidate. Warner was unsuccessful as a candidate for vice-president of the convention. Blaine ultimately lost the election to Grover Cleveland (above right).

Warner returned to the Republican National Conventions in 1888 in Chicago and 1892 in Minneapolis. He supported favorite son candidate, Chauncey Depew and later the successful candidate, Benjamin Harrison in 1888 and Blaine again in 1892. The trips to these conventions were also aboard well-provisioned Pullman cars. After that, Warner faded from political life and moved on to other ventures that would ultimately bring the downfall of his patent medicine empire.

Warner’s Collector Profile: Interview of Jack Stecher

 

I first met Jack on March 6, 1999 at the Baltimore Antique Bottle Club Show. Although I had collected Warner’s Safe Cures since the mid-1970′s, I had not had occasion to get to know anyone that was a devoted Warner’s collector.  1999 was my first visit to the Baltimore Show (which, by the way, is a great show).  I was immediately drawn to Jack’s sales table, which had some great Warner’s for sale. I spent a good portion of that show talking to Jack about collecting Warner’s.

For those of you who don’t know Jack, he is a walking encyclopedia of Warner’s Safe Cure knowledge.  He started collecting them before Mike Seeliger published his book in 1974. Because he lived and worked in Rochester, he was at the center of the Warner universe and assembled a collection of bottles and advertising that was virtually unmatched. 

Because I want this blog to provide readers with more than just Warner history and pictures of bottles, I decided to put together a questionnaire to allow me to profile some well-known Warner’s collectors. Jack graciously agreed to be my guinea pig. Below are my questions and Jack’s answers:

1.    When did you first start collecting Warner’s Safe bottles?

       It’s almost too long ago to remember!  Would you believe the mid 60s?  My first purchase was a repro K & L Cure Warner’s from a flea market.  I didn’t know the difference  between an original or reproduction bottle back then. 

2.    Why?

   Shortly after our local bottle club formed, I had conversation  with Jacob DeMay’s granddaughter, Joy Kyper.  DeMay operated the Warner Safe Remedies Co. in Rochester and frequently traveled to London to assist in their operations.  The Kyper family stories fascinated me and I began the search for more information about the famous man, HH Warner and his company. 

  3.    What was the first Warner’s Safe bottle that you added to your collection?

   The Warner’s Safe Bitters.  I purchased the bottle at a Laconia, New Hampshire bottle show, probably about 1967   or so.  I spent $100. for it and thought my wife was going to kill me when I got home.  She thought it was great!  Go figure.

 

  4.    What is the last Warner’s Safe bottle that you added to your collection?

   Probably a Tippecanoe, with full contents and label.

 

5.    Out of the Warner’s Safe bottles that you own or have owned, which was your favorite and why?

   That’s easy.  My favorite was always the labeled Animal Cure, with contents that featured both a horse and cow on the label.  It came to me after Mike Seeliger had offered it to  me originally, when he broke up his collection.  I didn’t have the money to buy it at the time, so Mike sold it to a gent in Michigan.  Later, I had seen an ad that a Warner collection  was up for sale.  I called and found out that he had the labeled Animal cure, along with a green London mammoth cure (they’re not called animal cures in England, just large  safe cures!), and I bought them both.

  

6.    Is there a Warner’s Safe bottle that you always wanted, but were never able to add to your collection?  If yes, which one?

   I could say a labeled London mammoth cure, but then I always wanted the aqua London Safe Cure with the medicine type top too.  I never owned either.

  

7.    Apart from Warner’s Safe bottles, is there another piece of Warner’s advertising or paper that is your favorite? If yes, what is it?

     I own and display in my family room nine Warner advertising posters from the 1880s era.  My favorite has always been a dated 1886 color litho of an old man, with a white beard, and cane, strolling along, arm in arm with a  buxom young woman, fan in hand.  The caption reads: ” Take Warner’s Safe Cure”.  The message conveys a theme, wouldn’t you say?

 

8.    What’s your best story (or stories if you have more than one) about getting a Warner’s Safe bottle?  The more details, the better.

       I refer to #5., but can add another. Back in the 1980s, while set up at a local flea market, a gentleman came by and told  me of having an original, unopened wooden case of Warner’s Log Cabin Extracts.  However, he collected the old 78 records and only wanted to trade.  I told him I didn’t have any 78s  but to call me if he ever changed his mind and wanted to  sell me the Warner’s.  Several years later his wife called me and asked if I were still interested, as she wanted to clear   out all his old “junk” after his passing that year. Needless to  say, I bought them but do not have any today, as I foolishly  sold them off one at a time to buy other bottles. Hey, having a case of a dozen log cabin extracts must make them to be too plentiful, right?  Don’t we all wish we could go back in time and change some our decisions?

 

9.    If H. H. Warner were still alive and you could interview him, what questions would be at the top of your list?

   Where did you put all the bottles that you didn’t use when you went out of business? 

    Why didn’t you make an aqua Tippecanoe bottle?  And, if you did, where is it?

   You had such a great thing going, why did you ever venture into promoting  stocks and bonds, or buying real estate in Mexico, or silver mining?   Did you get too greedy?

  What happened to you after you left Rochester, and moved to  NY City before moving on to Minneapolis, Mn. and starting the WS Renowned Remedies Co. with your Mexican partner, Christina Martinez?

 

10.  Other than Warner’s Safe bottles, what is your favorite bottle or bottles? Why?

   I have always had a strong interest in “bitters”.  My favorite bitters is the  blue-green barrel embossed Old Sachem Bitters and Wigwam Tonic.  I have     nine Old Sachems of  different color, but not an aqua one.  Another favorite is the  rare Dr. Hill’s Restorative and Strengthening Bitters-Farmer, NY.  Farmer, NY does NOT exist any longer.  The name was changed to Interlaken, NY.  And that’s another story!

  

11.  What’s the best way to encourage young bottle collectors to develop an interest in Warner’s Safe bottles?

   Get into the research on Warner history…it’s fascinating.     Buy the bottles you can afford, and don’t worry about the rare ones.  Go to bottle shows and ask questions, and then put out your want list.  Buy only the best condition, or color,  if available.  Pass on the damaged bottles, no matter how tempting, unless you know they’re extremely rare.

 

Beware of Fraud! (Part II)

As it turned out, Warner’s concern about imitators attempting to fraudulently steal his product were not without justification. In November, 1882, after having successfully beat back Dr. Charles Craig’s attempt to get back into the Kidney & Liver Cure business, Warner was contacted by a druggist in Chicago asking if his Cure ever soured. Given the alcohol content, the response was “no.”

Warner dispatched Harry Granger, his superintendent, to Chicago to investigate the specious Safe Cure. Granger discovered that the counterfeit cure was being sold in stores in both Chicago and Milwaukee. Warner warned his retailers by telegram to beware of the fraudulent product. Granger’s investigation led him a lithographer, one, Frank Roehr, who was found in possession of twenty-one cases of electroplates and dies for printing labels, pamphlets and circulars for Warner’s Safe Cure, as well as Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound, Hood’s Sarsaparilla, among others. Granger’s probe led to an outfit called the “Chicago Medicine Exchange.”  In addition to the counterfeit labels and advertising, Roehr was found in possession of various types of salacious literature and gambling cards.

As it turned out, Granger was precisely the agent Warner needed to root out the fraud. Before becoming Warner’s superintendent, he had worked for the United States Secret Service. The episode prompted Warner to expand his anti-counterfeiting forces and, as we have seen, to take his anti-fraud message directly to his customers in his almanacs and on his packaging. If there was a positive side to the whole thing for Warner, it no doubt convinced him (assuming he needed convincing), that his product had great market penetration after only three years in the public eye.

See Atwater drawing upon the reports of the Rochester Union and Advertiser of December 15, 1883.

The Warner Mansion (1879 – 1929)

1879 was a good year for H. H. Warner. It saw the launch of his patent medicine business as well as the completion of a stately house on Rochester’s posh East Avenue. According to Edward Atwater in his Perfect Pitch, the home did not want for opulence:

During its fifty years it had not been surpassed for flamboyance. The ebony and white holly woodwork, parquet floors, etched glass windows, fabulous staircase of carved black walnut, and the elevator – the first private elevator in Rochester – had once been the talk of the town.

Atwater at 189-190. The home was built by J. R. Thomas on the southwest corner of East and Goodman Avenues. The home was, no doubt, the scene of lavish social events as Warner’s medicine business prospered during the 1880′s and early 1890′s.

When Warner’s fortunes turned, he was forced to sell the home along with his other assests to satisfy his creditors. The home was purchased by Leon Grisheim in 1893 and his daughter resided there until is demolition. Despite its architectural uniqueness and appointments, the home ultimately met the wrecking ball in 1929. The home was levelled to make room for a parking lot. The site was donated to the Rochester Museum and Science Center in 1941.

The above photographs show the home in two distinct periods of its existence. The first, from the collection of the Rochester Public Library Local History Division was likely taken shortly after the completion of the home in 1879. The second shows the home in a considerable state of deterioration surrounded by overgrown trees and folliage and is from the Albert R. Stone Negative Collection of the Rochester Museum & Science Center.  A sign in front of the home reads “Seneca Club Property”.  I am not certain about the date that the second photograph, but given the growth of vegetation around the home, one would suspect it was taken in the early part of the 20th Century. Although I had seen the first photograph before, I had not seen the second until it was brought to my attention by Kevin Taft. Thanks Kevin!

Although the home survived its original owner by six years, its deterioration is symbolic of Warner’s rise and fall.

Warner’s Colors 3: Great Greens

I guess that everyone is partial to a certain color of bottle and I am no exception. As Warner’s go, I have to go with the greens. That’s not to say that I’m not fond of the ambers or clears, but the range of greens among Warner’s is truly amazing. They run from grass green to apple green to blue green to dark olive. What is more, no particular city seems to have a monopoly on the best greens. As you know if you have read my earlier posts, I am fond of the London colors, but there are great greens out of Frankfurt, Pressburg and Rochester as well. Even some 4-Cities can be accurately characterized as shades of green. Not to belabor the point, I have attached a few of the great greens.

Top left to right: Emerald Green London Safe Cure; Pale Green 4-Cities Labelled Safe Cure; Apple Green London Safe Cure.

Bottom: Grass Green Rochester Safe Kidney & Liver Remedy.

Warner’s Safe Cure – Bitters

Anyone who collects bottles is familiar with the term “bitters.”  Bitters refers generically to a group of bottles that packaged a concoction of roots and herbs with a distinct bitter flavor compounded with alcohol. Understandably there are bottle collectors that confine their collections strictly to bitters bottles, including figural bitters. Without a doubt, bitters bottles occupy a significant place in the hearts and minds of collectors. Although Warner did not have collectors in mind when he introduced his bitters, he was, no doubt, aware of the market for such a product.

Warner produced a bitters product from the time that he introduced his first line of products in 1879-1880 until about 1883. The half pint of the Tonic Bitters continued after 1883 for whatever reason. Warner produced three bottles that contained bitters: Safe Bitters (pint and half pint), Safe Tonic (pint and half pint) and Safe Tonic Bitters (pint and half pint). I have also seen a Safe Tonic bottle with a Safe Tonic Bitters label (pictured above), so there was some interchangability among the products.  In the 1879 Almanac, Warner described the Safe Tonic as follows:

Warner’s Safe Tonic does not differ from the Safe Bitters in effect, except that the Tonic contains less stimulant properties and is therefore preferable for use where in order to obtain the alternative and blood purifying effect of the medicine it is necessary to use it at short intervals and for a longer period.

All of these bottles in both the pint and half pint sizes are valued by Warner collectors ranging from the Safe Tonic as Scare to the Safe Bitters and Safe Tonic Bitters as Rare. As a rule, the half pints are much more difficult to acquire than the pints and the half pint Tonic may be considered Rare. Not many collectors can say they have all six varieties and those that do are not likely to part with them easily.

Warner is not known for figural bottles. The notable exception is his Tippecanoe Bitters that was introduced in 1883. Stay tuned for more on that wonderful bottle.

Warner’s Safe Cure: The Early Bottles

When Warner first began producing his Remedies, his available products were limited to his Safe Kidney & Liver Cure, Safe Pills, Safe Bitters and Safe Diabetes Cure. He picked up where Craig left off in more than one way. Not only did he purchase the right to produce Craig’s Cure, he adopted the amber bottle that had packaged his cures. Although the embossed Safe would become one of his trade marks (See Beware of Fraud!), one of his earliest bottles had no Safe embossed on it. Rather, Warner’s Safe Cure was embossed around the shoulders of the bottle. This shoulder embossed Warner’s Safe Cure (WRG 7) was thought by Seeliger to be the first Warner bottle used; however, based on the existence of a labelled version of the bottle owned by Jack Stecher, he and Ojea suggested the bottle may have been used as late as 1883 as a transition bottle before Warner released his 3 Cities bottles (Rochester, Toronto and London). This idea was based on the fact that the label listed not only the Rochester office, but also the Toronto (1882) and London (1883) offices. The shoulder embossed Safe Cure used to be a fairly common Warner’s bottle; however, as they have been taken off the market include personal collections, these bottles have become increasingly difficult to obtain and WRG now classifies them as “Scarce.”

The early Warner bottles are also characterized by the so-called “double collar”  or sometimes the “medicine collar,” both of which were later replaced by the blob collar, and by a full slug plate on the face of the bottle. If you look on the base of these early bottles, you will frequently, although not always, see the mark of the bottle maker “A&DHC”. This mark represents the product of Alexander & David H. Chambers or the Chambers Works of Pittsburgh (1843-1889). These early Warner’s bottles with the double or medicine collar, full slug plate and A&DHC mark are much more difficult to obtain by collectors and are rated as Scare to Rare by WRG.

Warner’s Reference Guide

Whether you are new to collecting Warner’s Safe Cures or a seasoned professional, having a comprehensive guide to help you know what’s available is essential. In an earlier posting, I talked about the guide published by Mike Seeliger in 1974. I still have my copy of Mike’s book (which he autographed) and value it, because it provides an appreciation of our knowledge about the universe of Warner’s Safe Cures that have surfaced in the last 30 years. More recently, Ed Ojea and Jack Stecher published the Warner’s Reference Guide, which picked up where Seeliger left off and added color photographs. The Guide has already been through several editions and really is a great resource.

If you put the Guide up against Seeliger’s book, you are struck by the fact that new Warner’s have surfaced that were unknown to Mike in 1974. For example, a half-pint 3 Cities Nervine, a pint Frankfurt Diabetes, a half-pint Frankfurt Nervine, Pressburg Safe Cures in green and aqua, 4 Cities Nervine and Rheumatic pints to name a few. I don’t say this to question Mike’s research, which was groundbreaking, but rather to point up the fact that Warner’s Safe Cures are a dynamic group of bottles. There may still be other varients that are, as yet, undiscovered.  I think you will find that the information along contained in the Warner’s Reference Guide is worth the price of admission. The research and time devoted to assembling this Guide was substantial and Ed and Jack are to be commended.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the Reference Guide, please contact Ed directly by email at edojea@charter.net or edojea@aol.com.  

Warner’s Safe Cure Native Gatherer

Most collectors correctly assume that the trade mark for Warner’s Safe Cure was the “Iron Safe,” as Warner characterized it. In today’s world of mass marketing, this practice is referred to as “branding.” Product manufacturers want the public to associate a certain symbol with their product; preferably a symbol that is easy to recall. For example, if you saw a running shoe with a swoosh, you would know instantly that it was Nike, without having to ask who made it. That practice was undoubtedly at work among those who marketed patent medicines in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. For Warner, his brand was symbolized by the Safe; however, he had other elements to what Atwater calls his “perfect pitch.”

Warner cultivated the notion that his cures were a secret blend of rare herbs gathered from three continents. The more exotic, the better. Early on, in addition to the Safe, Warner chose the image of a black man with a basket on his back in a tropical setting gathering the ingredients for Safe Cure. The image was set inside the outline of a Safe. This image appeared in the 1882 Prize Enigmas pamphlet and as late as 1891 in the Names Book. It was also engraved on the private proprietary tax stamps that sealed Warner Remedies. Mention of it is also made on the labels of early Kidney & Liver Cure bottles as follows:

THIS MEDICINE IS NOT GENUINE IF THE PRIVATE SIX CENT REVENUE STAMP OVER CORK REPRESENTING SAFE & NEGRO GATHERING HERBS BE BROKEN TAMPERED WITH OR MISSING.

While understandably repugnant today, this image of the native gatherer became second only to the Safe as Warner branding. it was an important part of the illusion created by Warner to attract those keen on restoring their health for $1.25 a bottle.

The Rarest Warner’s

Even before I started this blog, I thought it would be interesting to put together a list of the Top 10 Rarest Warner’s.  I know what you’re thinking – not another list. For those of you who are not “list” people, I get it and appreciate the argument that lists are inherently subjective and therefore misleading. I concede the point, but I still want to put together a list and would welcome input for all the Warner’s collectors out there.

So, if you were putting your own Top 10 list together, what would you include?  How do you judge rarity?  For starters, rarity among Warner’s and for that matter any category of bottle is based on market availability. Undoubtedly, the low end of that scale is solidly anchored by the unbiquitous Kidney & Liver Cure from Rochester. You cannot go to a bottle show anywhere (at least not in the United States) that one of these wonderful, but basic Warner’s staples is not gracing a dealer table. It is the seed from which any Warner’s collection springs. However, which bottles occupy the other end of that same spectrum? A Pressburg Diabetes Cure? Perhaps a Frankfurt Nervine or a 4-Cities Rheumatic Cure?

Rarity is not only based upon the scarcity of a particular Warner’s bottle, but may also be based on the fact that a bottle is labelled or is a mold error.  All of these things factor into the decision of which are the rarests and most prized among Warner’s collectors. Let me know what you think are the Top 10 and why. Although everyone’s list may not match up exactly, I suspect that there will be considerable overlap among lists. Let me hear from you!

The photo of the labelled Pressburgs is courtesy of Dave Kyle and the aqua London Safe Cure pint is courtesy of Ed Ojea.