"Joseph Ray Watkins founded Watkins Incorporated in 1868 from the kitchen of his home in Plainview, Minn. Made from camphor (extracted from evergreen trees) and capsicum (from red peppers), Original Liniment offered relief for tired, aching muscles. J.R. Watkins was so confident of his home-manufactured natural product that he introduced the now famous Watkins "Trial Mark" bottle, along with the first-ever money back guarantee." -- from JRWatkins.com -- read more there, and see the history timeline.
Still in business today, JR Watkins started by selling door-to-door, and his company became a huge success. - wikipedia
Interested in collecting vintage Watkins bottles and ephemera? Visit the JR Watkins Home museum in Plainview, MN.
Ron Manzow, volunteer curator at the J.R. Watkins home, says:
More info about the Watkins House museum:“I started collecting (Watkins memorabilia) in the spring of 2008, knowing absolutely nothing about them, but with the help of John Goplen, archivist at J.R. Watkins Naturals and the Watkins museum in Winona, and discovering the Watkins Collectors Club … I jumped into the arena of the 'Watkins collector.'"On display in the Watkins home are various bottles and tins that have been collected and donated, mostly by Manzow. When he is looking for items, he says he looks for “the oldest items that contain the markings 'The J.R. Watkins Medical Company.'"Those markings date the items prior to 1918, before the name was shortened to the J.R. Watkins Co. These items are more rare and command a higher price, but they are well worth the effort to uncover."
- Plainview Area History Center
- Sandy Erdman's Post Bulletin article "For Watkins, it All Began Here"
Click the collage-photo to enlarge.
Wow -- there are sure lots and lots of Watkins items to collect!
Some more Watkins links:
- http://www.glassbottlemarks.com/j-r-watkins-co-bottles/
- http://www.atticshoppe.com/watkins/vintage-watkins.htm
- http://www.winonadailynews.com/stories/news/article_c0cf9da8-a928-5086-8bf5-b168ebe01a44.html
- http://www.antiquetrader.com/antiques-news/fake-watkins-tooth-powder-bottles-discovered-during-collecting-clubs-annual-convention
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I'm going through my bottle collection I started 35 years ago. Some bottles are still boxed up and have never been cleaned from being dug out of the ground. I also have some that are clean and would be willing to to the J.R.WATKINS museum if you are interested.
ReplyDeleteBe willing to donate the J.R.WATKINS bottles
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