Andrew Rapoza
- 6 days ago
- 6 min
Hair-Raising Stories: the Bear, the Coconut & the Oil Well
Part 2 of 3: THE COCONUT I remember my mom taking me to the bear cage at Buttonwood Zoo when I was a little kid. I could smell the...
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Andrew Rapoza
- Sep 2
- 7 min
Hair-Raising Stories: the Bear, the Coconut, & the Oil Well
Part 1 of 3: THE BEAR I shave in the dark. I don’t need to turn the light on because I know where everything is on my face. My nose and...
34 views1 comment
Andrew Rapoza
- Aug 16
- 5 min
The Unforgettable Big Bottle Expo
The FOHBC put on an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime event at Houston24 An upcoming issue of the FOHBC (Federation of Historical Bottle...
33 views1 comment
Andrew Rapoza
- Jun 29
- 1 min
update to: "Blowing Smoke ..."
Please check out the interesting update (29 June 2024) with new photo at the boom of the 23 March 2024 blog post, "Blowing Smoke on the...
25 views0 comments
Andrew Rapoza
- May 4
- 5 min
Devils, Demons, & Disease
Long, long ago, when I was just a little tyke, my mom put a big weight on my shoulders: she told me I had a good angel sitting on my...
31 views1 comment
Andrew Rapoza
- Mar 23
- 6 min
Blowing Smoke on the Ideal Victorian Lady
NOTICE: This article has been updated as of 20 June 2024: additional image of a woman smoking in an ashtray - contributed by Sonny...
49 views2 comments
Andrew Rapoza
- Mar 17
- 7 min
Soule's Eradicator: the Flower or the Worm?
It's so easy for me to imagine the scene in 1885: a young woman of Lynn, Massachusetts, has put in another long, hard day at the dismal...
37 views1 comment
Andrew Rapoza
- Mar 3
- 7 min
A Tribute to Dreaming Under a Bridge
No one was more driven than Dan Pinkham, even when the world was crashing in on all sides. His once affluent family lost everything...
40 views1 comment
Andrew Rapoza
- Feb 25
- 5 min
Tips on Old Medicines
I am no expert on the collectible I'm going to share with you today, but I don't know anybody that is. So what I've learned in my...
44 views1 comment
Andrew Rapoza
- Feb 17
- 6 min
Dr. Kilmer's Unforgettable Organs
Personal Note from Andy: In most of these blog posts, I've tried to entertain you with great history, solid research, and engaging...
42 views2 comments
Andrew Rapoza
- Jan 27
- 5 min
A Cure for Monsters
Please gaze at the image above and ponder it for a few moments. What kind of animal do you see – perhaps a poisonous reptile, an angered...
42 views1 comment
Andrew Rapoza
- Jan 21
- 7 min
A Big Story from a Small Bottle
Several years ago, I went to the illustrious Baltimore Bottle Show. Traveling from Texas to Maryland for a long weekend cost me several...
43 views1 comment
Andrew Rapoza
- Jan 7
- 3 min
Cashing in on a Pain in the Neck
I own the little collection of mid-19th century ephemera posted here for a man who went by the name B. M. Kemp. The showcard below is...
32 views2 comments
Andrew Rapoza
- Dec 30, 2023
- 3 min
Trademarks: Playing Possum?
It was one of the earliest trademarks registered in the United States - Number 247 - and the very first for a business in Lynn,...
37 views0 comments
Andrew Rapoza
- Dec 6, 2023
- 2 min
Trademarks: Love in a Bottle
As America moved closer to the end of the 19th century, more and more products loaded store shelves and newspaper pages. Competition for...
21 views0 comments
Andrew Rapoza
- Nov 25, 2023
- 2 min
Their World Wasn't Sepia
We tend to get nostalgic when we look at old-time photographs. The world of our ancestors is almost always seen in sepia tones - faces,...
26 views1 comment
Andrew Rapoza
- Nov 24, 2023
- 2 min
Curing with Frost, Rain, and Dew
One thing you have to give to the patent medicine makers of the 19th century - they were definitely creative. Since each was positioning...
59 views6 comments