Sad News - Robert Davidson "Bottle Bob" Passed Away

Just received the sad news that my friend, Bob Davidson, passed away last weekend. Known as Bottle Bob, he was always smiling, and passionately loved bottles. Bob will be missed by all who knew him.

Bob was with the West Michigan Bottle Club, and was just 62 years old. According to his eBay ME page, he had been collecting for 32 years. He was a welcome fixture at the Findlay Bottle Show, always in the back corner. It just won't ever be the same without him.

When I get details about Bob's funeral arrangements, I will post them here. His brother will be taking care of things. Our hearts go out to Bob's family and friends, and we will keep them in our thoughts.

________________________________________________

Obituary

Robert "Bottlebob" Davidson

 

DAVIDSON - Robert J. ("Bottlebob") born October 10, 1947 passed away unexpectedly at his residence on Friday, February 18, 2011. He was preceded in death by his parents, Richard H. and Elizabeth M. (Betty Rinkus) Davidson; brother, Shawn. Bob is survived by his brother, Rick. Bob graduated from West Catholic in 1965 and worked at Norandex as a truck driver until his retirement in 2009.

As he wished, cremation has taken place.

Friends may meet the family at Barto Funeral Home for a visitation on Friday, February 25 from 7 to 9 p.m.

Barto Funeral Home (616) 454-9284

View and sign the online guestbook here.

Sad News of Bill Dudley's Passing

We received the sad news that Bill Dudley passed away this last Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011. Our hearts go out to Bill's wife Wanda and their family. The bottle collecting hobby has lost a legend, and he will be missed and fondly remembered by many.

Bill has been a good friend and mentor to many collecors, sharing his knwledge freely, and helping to shape the fruit jar collecting hobby. He was at one time called "Mr. Wax Sealer." He is now and has been known for many years in the collecting community as "Mr. Hemingray".


Recently Bruce Schank profiled Bill in the Legends of the Jars article series. You can read it here.

Funeral details below.

• The viewing will be 5:00pm – 7:00pm on Wednesday, February 23rd at the McColaugh Funeral Home, 826 N. Detroit St., Xenia, Ohio.
• The funeral service will be 11:00am on Thursday, February 24th.
• http://www.mccolaughfuneralhome.com/
• In lieu of flowers, people may wish to make memorial donations to the Hospice of Dayton, Ohio.
• http://www.hospiceofdayton.org/

Bill's obituary from the Xenia Gazette newspaper:

William Albert Dudley


William Albert Dudley, age 87, of Xenia, passed away Sunday, February 20, 2011 at Hospice of Dayton. He was born June 9, 1923 in Dayton, OH. He was preceded in death by his father, Charles Albert Dudley; and mother, Ruby South Siefer.

He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Wanda; sons: Mike Dudley of Englewood and Bill (Amy) Dudley of Mason; daughters: April Gilmore of Vandalia and Jenny (David) Lindsey of Xenia; grandsons: Kyle (Abby) Dudley; Matthew and Curtis Lindsey; Lance Dudley; David (Ann Marie) Gilmore and Chris Gilmore; great-grandchildren: Aidan and Cianne Gilmore.

He was a 1941 Graduate of Roosevelt High School. He served in the U.S. Navy during WW II and was involved in the Battle at Guadalcanal on the USS Portland. He retired as Captain of the Wright Patterson AFB Fire Dept. in 1974.

Bill was a 50 year member of the Xenia Lodge #49 F&AM; and Life Member of the following organizations: Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors; Midwest Antique Fruit Jar & Bottle Club; and the Ohio Bottle Club.

• Funeral services will be held 11 am Thursday, February 24, 2011 at McColaugh Funeral Home, 826 N. Detroit St., Xenia, with Pastor Ken Day and his grandson, Curtis Lindsey officiating.

• Interment will follow the services at the Woodland Cemetery, Xenia.

• Friends may call Wednesday evening from 5-7 pm at the funeral home.

• Masonic services will be held 7 pm Wednesday evening at the funeral home.

• In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Hospice of Dayton.

• Online condolences may be made to the family at http://www.mccolaughfuneralhome.com/.

Videos and Some Info for Bottle Collectors

Recent notes from our Facebook stream:

1) Great to see other bottle collectors here.

West Virginia Collectible Bottles Page

share your collecting experience with us.

2)  to Findlay Bottle Club via West Virginia Collectible Bottles Page

Excellent info about collecting bottles.

DIGGER ODELL BOTTLE PRICE GUIDES

www.bottlebooks.com

Price guides information and stories about antique bottles. Digger Odell Publications specializing in price guides and books for the old bottle collectors

3)  via American Bottle Auctions

Another great video from American Bottle Auctions -- cobalt Fish's Hair Restorer from San Francisco Glass Works -- did I say COBALT -- wow!

YouTube - February Bottle of The Month!

www.youtube.com

4) via The Contour BottleTrue history of the Coca Cola bottle.

The Contour Bottle - A Tribute to Earl R. Dean

www.thecontourbottle.com

Find out about the hours leading up to the creation of Coca-Cola's iconic contour bottle.

And last but not least, our favorite kind of find, Bottle Collecting in the News

5) A video clip about bottle collecting that ran on Fox News 8 of North Carolina. It features David Jackson and Gary Jones, showing some nice rare bitters and whiskey bottles. 

Here is the Link: http://www.myfox8.com/videobeta/6238b9b8-72ae-41c4-b4e4-a841924bd59b/News/Join-The-Club-Bottles

 

Posted By Findlay Antique Bottle Club to Findlay Bottle Show - Findlay Bottle Club - Ohio at 2/16/2011 07:58:00 PM

Ink Bottle Collector Ron Smith Interview -- Bottle collecting in the news

Bottle collecting in the news: this from Arizona newspaper The Verde Independent Antique Inkbottles & Inkwells Ron Smith finds treasure in others' trash sites

COTTONWOOD - Ron Smith was already a collector when Henry, his supervisor, asked him to go along on a dig for old bottles. That was 45 years ago in Maryland, and Ron's hobby was collecting Civil War relics with a metal detector. But after that first trip digging through a historic dump near the remains of a fire-destroyed hotel, Ron was hooked on a new collecting interest. Read the entire article here.

 

VVN/Jon Pelletier

Ron Smith of Cottonwood has been collecting antique bottles for 45 years

and specializes in finding certain kinds of inkbottles and inkwells.

 

________________________________________

Findlay Antique Bottle Club "Like" Us on Facebook

How to Use Your SmartPhone to Accept Credit Cards at Bottle Shows

By Marianne Dow

EXCITING UPDATE 2/22/11 -- Square has eliminated the 15c transaction fee -- Woo-hoo! https://squareup.com/pricing

Now we can all take credit cards -- Without a bank/merchant account, and for less than Paypal.

Just sign up with Square, get your SQUARE widget in the mail. I did, and now I can't wait until the next time I set up at an antique show. Find me at the Columbus Bottle Show, and I'll show you my new toy.

You will need to have a smart phone. Mine's a DroidX and I love it. Being able to use it to research prices, email pix to buyers, blog from the phone, bid on ebay items, and so much more has made it pay for itself, and now even more so with this credit card swiper gadget.

What a boon for small business owners, especially those who sell on the road. Certainly less risky than taking out-of-state checks when you travel around the antique show circuit.

From their website:

 "  SQUARE is a cool service that enables anyone to accept credit cards anywhere. Square offers an easy to use, free credit card reader that plugs into a phone or iPad. It's simple to sign up. There is no extra equipment, complicated contracts, monthly fees or merchant account required.


Square's card processing fees are simply:

• 2.75% + 15¢ for swiped transactions
• 3.5% + 15¢ for keyed-in transactions

That's it! There are no activation, gateway, monthly, early termination, hidden fees or any additional costs to use Square. Every credit or debit card we accept (Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Discover) have the same flat rate. These fees are static and do not change depending on how much the transaction was for. As our fees are taken out of each transaction as they occur, there is no fee schedule.


Square also does not require a contract upon signup and since we only charge per transaction, it doesn't cost you anything if you don't use it! "

Bonus feature - You can even email a receipt to your customer, and include a photo of the item they bought too. Here's what it looks like.

The top small pic is my logo/icon, so that helps you to look professional. Then it will show a map of where the purchase was made. Columbus, Muncie, Mansfield, Findlay, etc.

The 2nd little pic of me is where the pic of the item will be (which you take with your phone's camera and attach from your phone's pic gallery - easy-peasy). The word testing would be replaced with the item description you enter.

You even have the customer sign on your phone's touch screen, which you shake like an Etch-A-Sketch to erase if they goof up (I said this was fun!).

The whole process is relatively simple.

First, download the app to your phone -- squareup.com/app --  then go to the website and finish setting up your account with your bank info, etc. Then they mail you your widget. And voila, you're in bizness!

The physical card sliding does take practice, and the little widget will buzz-buzz at you till you get it right, but once you get the hang of it, it's a breeze. If you have anyone who owes you money, practice on them!

You will be happy that you got this little do-hickey/widget. And it's FREE -- you know I love free stuff that helps my business!

Yes, I know there are fees on the actual payment, but you can factor that in to the selling price. Even if you only take one credit card payment, that's a sale you might have lost.

This video shows how Square works - (jump to the 4min:30second mark) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPuASFlUqWs

Read what Fortune mag has to say: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/01/31/a-twitter-guy-takes-on-big-banks/

PS -- Advice from the Square Blog:

"When you first receive your reader, you may feel the irresistible urge to swipe every card you come across in order to display your new power to your friends and family.

When utilizing Square's awesome potential of making you money (ie. swiping a card), keep in mind that money really does move. Even if you cancel a transaction, that charge will still be seen as pending on the cardholder's bank statement. These pending charges are a result of the bank guaranteeing that sufficient funds are available to cover the cost of the transaction. Depending on the speed of the bank, these pending charges will remain on their statement and hold funds anywhere from 1-5 business days."

Bottle Hobby Info-Bits from Our Facebook Page

Here are some interesting items we have posted to our FinBotClub Facebook page recently. Come visit, and be sure to "Like" us!

First, though -- a reminder:

Columbus Bottle Show -- Sat. Feb. 19th! Mark your calendars! The 1st Ohio bottle show of the year is less than 2 weeks away.

Dealers -- call now to get your tables.

Bottle collectors -- plan to get there early and spend the day -- there's a big antique show next door too!
...
Details here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Findlay-Bottle-Club/154172141299448?v=app_2344061033#!/event.php?eid=185039808185573&index=1See More

_________________________

And now here's the Facebook Posts Round-up: 

Christmas in January -- Jeff K. shares some jars he unwrapped last night that were boxed up since he first started collecting, almost 20 years ago! Some were his Grandmother's.

http://balljarcollectorscommunitycenter.yuku.com/reply/13134/A-Cold-Snowy-Day-In-BALL-Jar-Country#reply-13134

_________________________

Vintage photos of the Ball fruit jar factory -- http://balljarcollectorscommunitycenter.yuku.com/reply/13135/Ball-factory-photos-from-the-Teens#reply-13135

_________________________

American Digger Magazine would like to invite article submissions on bottles. Dating them, researching, cleaning, unusual or exceptionally old bottles, and especially dug bottles. Our writer's guidelines are on our web site. Or email for info: americandigger@att.net

www.americandigger....com

See More

American Digger the best historical, metal detecting and relic hunting magazine in print!

www.americandigger.com

American Digger Magazine covers metal detecting, relic hunting, treasure hunting, antiques... 

[Hey, all you bottle diggers, this is your chance to tell your stories to the perfect audience!]

________________________

Jan. 24 -- Did you know that on this day in 1935 the first canned beer was sold? "Krueger Cream Ale" by Krueger Brewing Co. of Richmond. An invention that changed bellies forever.

__________________________________

Be sure to bookmark the BOTTLES page on Collectors Weekly. They show you the ebay listings WITH BIDS, as well as MOST WATCHED, or, my fave, COMPLETED THAT SOLD, meaning the reserve was met, there were bids, so it actually sold.

They have bottle sub-category pages too -- awesome site!

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/bottl...es/auctionsSee More

_______________________

Antique glass insulator page on Collectors Weekly -- great info resource, and track ebay auctions - pix! http://www.collectorsweekly.com/insulators/overview

Insulators

www.collectorsweekly.com

Insulators were originally made to keep telegraph and telephone wires electrically insulated from wooden telephone poles (especially importa...

_____________________________

Another facebook page you should "Like" -- great bottles, and tons of educational info for collectors -- http://www.facebook.com/pages/American-Bottle-Auctions/168136783200640

American Bottle Auctions

American Bottle Auctions was founded in 1990 by Jeff Wichmann. It began as a part time project and grew over the years. A native Californian, Jeff himself has been collecting antique bottles for nearly 40 years. What first was called Pacific Glass Auctions in 1990, chan...ged to American Bottle Auctions in 2001. American Bottle Auctions specializes in appraisal, brokering, consigning and auctioning of antique bottles and glass. Over the past 19 years, Jeff has personally researched the history, evaluated the condition, and estimated the value of tens of thousands of items. Aside from his auction-related duties, he is often called upon to appraise the value of antique bottles and glass for private individuals and businesses. Jeff 's interests include baseball, golf and bonsai, marbles, sports cars, along with a host of other pursuits, but his long-time interest in antique bottles is what concerns us here. In 1999 Mr. Wichmann published a 132-page, hard cover book entitled The Best of the West - Antique Western Bitters Bottles which has been handled by major literary distributors and book stores, as well as public and private libraries. This book is now considered to be one of the top resources for researching the history, and value of, antique western bitters bottles. His numerous articles and his photographs are regularly seen in antique bottle books and in articles throughout the world.

Page:86 people like this.

Bottle collecting basics video - learn from the experts at American Bottle Auctions.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DZ_1VLN227Hk&h=8e3c8

Bottles 101: Bottle Bases

www.youtube.com

We'll be doing a series of informative videos detailing the elements that make up an antique bottle. First up, bottle bases and the differences between them. You'll learn about graphite, sticky ball, smooth bases, etc.

American Bottle Auctions video series pt2 -- I dentifying the types of bottle mouths/tops -- http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DKKpq7D-h6rk&h=8e3c8

Bottles 101: Bottle Tops

www.youtube.com

We'll be doing a series of informative videos detailing the elements that make up an antique bottle. Part two takes a look at bottle tops; applied tops, tooled tops, and even machine made tops.