Warner’s Safe Cure: Some Very Rare Safe Remedies

Warner's Safe Diabetes Remedy in Green

Recently, Michael Seeliger was in San Jose giving a presentation on Warner’s to their bottle club.  He had the opportunity to see the collection of Michael and Kathy Craig, which includes some very nice Warner’s and he was kind enough to share them with me. Thanks also to the Craigs for allowing me to post these.

The photo above is an exceptionally rare Diabetes Remedy in green. How about a  3-Cities Safe Cure in green?

Warner's Safe Cure 3- Cities in Green

By any standard, the Craigs have a nice collection of Warner’s, including some rare examples including an olive Kidney & Liver Remedy, a clear Diabetes Remedy and a clear Kidney & Liver Remedy for starters. And, appropriately enough, a nice collection of Craigs cures.

Warner’s Collection of Michael & Kathy Craig

Collecting Warner’s can be kind of addicting. Once you get into them, you always want that variant that you don’t have. As with most addictions, the problem is that you just can’t stop. Thanks again to Mike and to the Craigs for allowing a peek into their collection. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Warner’s Safe Cure: Collecting in the 1970′s

When I started collecting Warner’s Safe Cures in the mid-1970′s, bellbottoms were in and disco was on the turntable (the internet, ipods and satellite radio were the stuff of science fiction). I remember salivating when I saw show displays like the one above from Mike Seeliger. While I’m sure that I had a few Warner’s Safe variants, perhaps a Kidney & Liver Cure, Diabetes Cure and maybe even a half pint London Safe Cure, my collection was in its infancy. Mike, on the other hand,  along with folks like Jack Stecher, had taken Warner’s collecting to a new level.  I remember that I could not believe how many Warner’s there were and, more importantly to me, how was I ever going to get my hands on some of those rare Warner’s depicted in Mike’s book (parttime jobs as a teenager were not the source of great wealth).

Well,  flash forward 35 years and I have put together a pretty nice collection of Warner’s Safe Cures, including a few that are likely “one-of-a-kinds”.  Although, I have not displayed my collection, except for participating in the 2001 Warner’s Display at the Rochester Show, I still have the bug.  I am fortunate to call Jack and Mike friends and to be able to share the Warner’s Safe Cure bug with other friends worldwide via this blog. After two and a half years, we are coming up on 25,000 hits.

My advice to younger collectors is to decide on what type of bottles you like. Whether it is Warner’s Safe Cures, bitters, fruit jars or something else. Learn as much as you can about the bottles you like and their value. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have the money to run out and buy every bottle you like. Patience is a virtue. Stick with it and you will eventually meet your goals. Most of all, have fun

Special thanks for Mike Seeliger for allowing me to use copies of his photographs and slides from the 1970′s. They bring back great memories of my early days of collecting and remind me of how much fun I have had collecting bottles.

Warner’s Safe Cure in Black & White

One of the pioneers of Warner’s collection is Michael Seeliger.  Michael published the original Warner’s Safe catalog entitled  H. H. Warner: His Company and his Bottles. Michael has permitted me access to some of his original Warner’s photographs taken in the 1970′s. Over the next several weeks, I will be featuring Michael’s photographs so that everyone can enjoy them. Thanks Michael!