Collecting Miniature Glass Bottles
Glass bottles can always be an interesting item to collect and miniature glass bottles can be colorful, cute, and have historical value to them. Many times bottle collectors will have a small collection of miniatures on the side. Miniature bottles can actually be much easier to display than a large collection of regular sized bottles, even if there is a wide variety in color and shape in the collection. Red, blue, green, and brown tend to be the dominant colors for bottles that once held alcoholic drinks although some come in purple or oyster color. Clear bottles are of course the easiest to find but some collectors look for uniqueness of shape in addition to those that are colored.
With miniature bottles, finding small sample versions of the larger bottles are quite easy. Jim Beam, Martell, and other companies produce small sample sized bottles containing drinks that are perfect for dinner and informal parties. A package of these sample bottles can be purchased and once emptied, they can be rinsed out and saved to be part of a collection. Empty bottles with cork stoppers can also be found at flea markets and antique shops, in numerous shapes and colors. Some common miniature bottles of this type are: a blue fish, a green liberty bell shape, a yellow horseshoe, a brown barrel, purple horseshoe, and a pink diamond cut shape on the front. Even presidents would appear on miniature bottles, such as Ben Franklin, James Madison, Zachary Taylor, or Andrew Jackson. Just like any other collectible items, replicas of these were also made, making it affordable for collectors who prefer miniature bottles to full scale bottles.
Some miniature bottle collectors prefer to collect old medicine bottles, which were usually a deep cobalt blue in color. Lovers of blue glass appreciate these types of bottles, which have been displayed many a time on window ledges so the sun would shine on them. For example, a Bromo Selzer bottle or lotion bottles mixed in with red and clear bottles that also once carried medicines from the early twentieth century can make an interesting bottle collection for those not familiar with these glass antiques. Miniature bottle always look nice in any room of the house, whether it is a dining room, the bedroom, or on a bathroom shelf.
Image Credit: Auckland Museum, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
