About three weeks ago, I proposed putting together a list of the Top 10 Warner’s and solicited the thoughts of collectors. (See The Rarest Warner’s posted April 10, 2008). Although no one went on record with comments, I got a few back channel lists, which gave me some pause to wonder if it is possible to come up with a fair Top 10.
The lists I got suggested that there is general agreement on the rarity of a number of Warner’s bottles based, not surprisingly, on the difficulty in acquiring them. However, the lists don’t completely coincide with each other or with my own list. Consequently, I think the best way for me to approach this is to highlight the rarest Warner’s without assigning them a numerical value. In the end, it is the independent judgment of each collector that counts. Here, in no particular order, are what I consider to be the “hardest gets” among Warner’s. The first list is bottles, then labelled bottles, and finally mold errors or non-bottles:
Bottles:
London Safe Cure Pint and Half Pint in Aqua
Frankfurt Nervine Pint in Amber
Pressburg Diabetes Cure Pint in Amber
London Safe Compound (5 1/2″ strap sided) in Amber
Tippecanoe in Green only
Four Cities Rheumatic Cure Pint
Frankfurt Safe Cure Half Pint in Aqua or Amber
Three Cities Nervine Half Pint
Pressburg Safe Cure in Aqua
London Safe Cure Sample in Green
Rochester Rheumatic Remedy in Aqua only
London Rheumatic Cure in Green only
London Safe Nervine Half Pint in Aqua
Melbourne Safe Remedies Pint in Amber
Frankfurt Diabetes Cure Pint in Amber
Rochester Kidney & Liver Remedy in green only
Melbourne Safe Nervine Half Pint in Green
(Yeah I know, that’s more than 10)
Labelled Bottles:
Labelled Three Cities Animal Cure
Labelled “Diabetic Cure” Pressburg Safe Cure Pint in Amber
Labelled Diabetes Cure London Pint in Olive Green
Labelled Pressburg Safe Cure Pint in Amber
Labelled Frankfurt Nervine Half Pint in Green
Labelled London Safe Compound (5 1/2″ strap sided) in Amber
Labelled French Safe Cure on London Safe Cure Pint in Amber
Labelled Rochester Warner’s (No Safe) Remedies Co. in 12 1/2 and 6 oz. sizes in Amber
Labelled Rochester Diabetes Remedy Free Sample in Amber
Labelled Rochester Safe Cure Free Sample in Amber
Labelled Log Cabin Scalpine
Labelled Warner’s Compound Screw Top (3 3/4″ and 2 3/4″)
Mold Errors/Non-Bottles:
Rochester Warner’s (No Safe) Remedies Co. in 12 1/2 and 6 oz. sizes in Amber (considered to be a mold error)
Three Cities Safe Cure w/ Reversed “N’s” in the city names
London Big Print Safe Cure in Light Amber
Rochester “8 0z” Safe Nervine in Amber
Asthma Cure Tin
Safe Yeast Container
Honorable Mentions:
Frankfurt Safe Cure Pint in ABM only in Amber
London Animal Cure in Olive Green
Frankfurt Nervine Half Pint in Amber and Green
Three Cities Safe Cure Pint w/ Abbreviated Countries (e.g “LONDON, ENG.”) Sometimes called the English Three Cities
Rochester Diabetes Remedy in clear only
Rochester Safe Cure (not K&L Cure)
I am sure that I have left something off these lists and welcome corrections and suggestions. I think it is “safe” to say that if you include any of the above bottles in your collection, you are playing in the big leagues. However, there are plenty of great Warner’s bottles that aren’t on any of the above lists. Best of luck!
Photos from left to right: London Compound (5 1/2″) strap sided; (No Safe) Remedies Company in 12 1/2 oz and 6 oz sizes; Pressburg Safe Cure in aqua; 4-Cities Rheumatic Cure and Melbourne Safe Remedies Pint.
