Question about this ebay item

[Vange]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Teakettle-Old-Bourbon-S-F-Applied-Top-Picture-Whiskey_W0QQitemZ250034697812QQihZ015QQcategoryZ1351QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Why is this bottle going for so much $$?

[jbutler]

I have no idea, but I don't want any rumors flying around here that I'm selling empty bottles for $1.5K! :grin:

[ThomasH]

Sometimes these sellers trump up their listings in hopes of suckering someone in. Certainly makes some of the full, sought after bottles seem like a bargain!

Thomas

[Vange]

I think it's empty though!

[HighTower]

That's just crazy, it started at $9.99, 4 bids later......

And yeah.....she's empty!

[cowdery]

Bottle collecting is a different world than us here who care primarily about the contents (despite the eBay disclaimer), so I have no idea what a particularly fine and rare item might be worth.

Bottles of this era were not mass-produced. They were hand made and relatively expensive. Bottled whiskey was a luxury few could afford, not because the whiskey was so fine but because bottles were so expensive. This does, however, appear to be a bottle in which something was sold, as opposed to the blown glass bar decanters given to customers with a barrel purchase, so the product could be served in a bar from something that had brand identification. The neck is too narrow to be filled easily from a spigot. A funnel would have to be used, which suggests a bottling operation as opposed to a saloon. This bottle was probably individually blown into a mold.

[TimmyBoston]

I'm by no expert on antiques, but it still seems like a lot of money for a bottle with the stuff I like the most absent. But then again, maybe it's one of those items you see on "Antiques Roadshow" and it will be estimated at $20 K.

[cowdery]

The person who posted the item seems knowledgeable about the bottle-making techniques of the period. Bottle collecting is a pretty popular hobby and there are books published that give auction prices and likely values for various items, so it's very different from whiskey collecting in that respect. The thing is, within any community, even this community, some common understandings about values start to emerge. If I said here that a bottle of Very Very Old Fitzgerald had sold for $1,000, no one would find that too hard to believe. If I reported that one had sold for $20,000, most people here would be skeptical. That is the kind of information all but the most naive collectors possess, so if $1,500 is outrageous for this item, most prospective buyers will know that.

[gothbat]

I can’t wait to see what the closing bid will be. I’m not a collector of this sort of thing but I’ve seen old cone-top style beer cans go for a little over $3000 on ebay. I believe the cans were from the 1960’s and there were probably alot more of them produced than this bottle. I can definitely see the demand for something like this although it probably comes from a fortunate few. Being one who loves whiskey and one who likes to collect things I would probably snipe this if I were rich.

[WEG3]

Cowdery has it correct , I collected old bottles years ago as a hobby , in that I would get permission from the land owner of old houses (100 years or greater) and look for the old household dump and with an assortment of digging tools. In a quick over view any bottle made before 1900, or was of unusual, color , shape , or use had a value. Local history and rareity also play a part in the value. For example a common every day mason fruit jar used in canning here on the east coast may only be a couple of dollars but that same jar on the west coast would bring 10 or 20 dollars or more to a collector only because they are not as common on the west coast. History also plays a part in that many saloon owners would order bottle to be made for them to sell the house whiskey in they may only order a few cases or change locations and order a different type at the new location all this and other changes add to a bottle from a collectors standpoint. Again history, research, Type of use be it a whiskey bottle a medince,food etc each have their collectors and special interests and list of "what to look for's". All in all older, color and shape , local history bring $$$.

Bill G.