One of
the more intriguing areas of Civil War medical antiquities involves the
collecting of U.S. Army Hospital Department bottles. These bottles, simple
in shape, and often unappealing in color, have been popular with collectors
for decades. Their popularity springs from the fact that these bottles were
produced during a very narrow period of time (circa 1862-1865).
Additionally, they remained in use well into the post war years causing
their survival rate to be quite low. Much of the history of
bottles marked simply “U.S.A. Hosp Dept” is clouded in time. However, we do
know something of their origin. Following the Federal defeat at First
Manassas and the grim realization that the war may last years and not
months, the Army Medical Department, under the auspices of the Quartermaster
Department, (the agency responsible for procuring supplies) began purchasing
standard medicines for the army.
These medicines were normally packaged in several ways: in bottles,
tins, papers, and boxes. Army officers seemed to prefer packaging in tins
and bottles as these were more robust, holding up to the rigors of the field
better than packaging in fragile papers or boxes.
For example, E.R. Squibb, a New York contractor, provided a medical pannier
for field use to the Army with 52 standard medicines all packaged in
Japanned Tin containers at a cost of $100.00 per pannier. This item allowed
the field surgeon access to necessary medicines protected in a bound chest
and packaged in unbreakable tins.
Large numbers of surviving tins clearly illustrate the popularity of this
form of packaging. Bottles, however, remained a popular form of container
for medicines throughout the war. The Army used both plain civilian bottles
and the rarer Hospital Department bottle. According to Civil War
bottle authority Mike Russell, research indicates that Hospital Department
bottles were manufactured at factories in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and
Baltimore, Maryland, although archaeological evidence may point to a third
manufacturing plant at St. Louis, Missouri. Clearly, the principal
manufacturer was at Pittsburgh with the secondary manufacturer at the
Baltimore Glass Works. Examples blown at the Pittsburgh factory exhibit
concave, slightly recessed, bases with a star design, initials, or a simple
dot. Occasionally, some bottles from this firm are seen with an iron pontil
scar (a result of an older glassmaking technique that used a rod dipped in
iron oxide to hold the bottle base during the manufacturing process).
Baltimore Glassworks examples are flat based and exhibit weak embossing.
Civil War period bottle embossing styles fall into several major types: (1)
Two Straight Lines; the top line is “U.S.A.” printed in raised letters. The
second line reads, “Hosp. Dept.” (2) “U.S.A Hosp. Dept.” embossed in an
oval. In this pattern, the “U.S.A” curves along the top of the oval and
“Hosp. Dept.” curves below (3) “United States Army Hospital Department”
spelled out in a straight line (4) “U.S.A” arching over “Med’l Dept.” (This
is the only style incorporating the abbreviation for USA Medical Department
dating from the Civil War era.
Numerous bottle colors exist. The most common color is clear followed by
aqua. Rarer colors include cobalt (the most popular color with collectors),
emerald green, apricot and dense purple or puce. Hospital Department Bottles
range in size from a 2 ½ inch high oval shaped vial to a quart size 9 ¼ inch
tall cylinder. Neck styles vary from narrow openings to a wide mouth.
Whether the coloring or shape had any relation to contents is a matter of
conjecture, although bottles have surfaced with paper labels indicating
their original contents. Wide mouth bottles were probably used for pills.
Regardless of color, all original bottles contain flaws in the glass,
resultant of mid-nineteenth century manufacturing processes. Bottles often
contain numerous bubbles, sand and some examples even show a primitive
whittled look. Lips are often crude and appear hand tooled. Archaeological finds confirm that Hospital Department bottles were commonly
used in the field after 1863 and that they remained in use on the frontier
until the 1870’s. The Hospital Department bottle was slowly replaced by one
of similar design in the post-Civil War years.
The more modern bottle employs various abbreviations of U.S. Army Medical
Department. Medical Department bottles remained in issue until WWII and are
easily distinguished from their Civil War cousins by the quality of the
glass, more refined lip and a base often designating the bottle capacity.
The colors of post-war bottles are more standard with dark brown/amber being
the most frequently seen on the market.
