I have intended to do a post concerning these bottles for some time, but a recent comment reminded me that I had neglected to do so. I have previously written about the Warner’s Safe Remedies Co. bottles and have vented that some online sellers have referred to them as “rare.” In my opinion, only under very limited circumstances would a Safe Remedies Co. bottle be considered “rare.”
The first is if you have one of these bottles with full label and contents and it is one of the rare varieties such as the “Acute Rheumatic Compound ” or “Sedative,” then the appellation “rare” is appropriate. Examples with full labels or contents for “Compound: A Diuretic” would be desirable, but not rare.
The second is if you have the so-called “No Safe” Safe Remedies Co. bottle in either the 12 1/2 oz. or 6 oz. sizes. I would say that the 6 oz. is particularly rare. It is generally agreed that these bottles were mold errors and that the bottle manufacturer simply left the word “Safe” out of the mold so that they read “Warner’s Remedies Co.” I have seen only 4 examples or the 12 1/2 oz. and only 1 of the 6 oz. All of the examples I have seen are amber rather than the clear or aqua, which are the two other colors in which Warner’s Safe Remedies Co. bottles appear. This would seem to confirm the mold error theory, suggesting that the error was promptly corrected and leaving only a precious few of the error bottles available to collectors. The above photographs, moving from top to bottom, show two labelled Safe Remedies Co. bottles with labels for Rheumatic Remedy and Acute Rheumatic Compund; the “No Safe” Safe Remedies Co. bottles in the 12 1/2 and 6 oz sizes and the same two bottles with their labels for Safe Compund: A Diuretic. The bottles are from my personal collection.
In the event you have one of the amber Safe Remedies Co. bottles in your collection, do yourself a favor and look closely at the embossing. If the word “Safe” is missing, the value of your bottle may have increased substantially.
