Old Dr. Townsend's Sarsaparilla Glass Case Bottle

Multiple body fragments from an embossed case bottle. The embossed lettering reads "NSEN..."// "SARSA…IL…"// "NEW YOR…" The bottle is likely to be "Old Dr. Townsend's" SARSAPARILLA, which was a knock off of Dr. Townsend's, the latter produced in Albany. Sarsaparilla was a popular medicine in the 19th century, marketed to treat "diseases of the blood" such as typhus in the 1840s, scrofula, rheumatism, and tuberculosis in the 1850s. 

The 34 fragments of the Sarsaparilla bottle include twenty-three pieces from context 207 (SC 6D), eight from 204 (SC 6C), and four from 181 (SC 6D). 

• Object number

  GV-522: 181, 204, 207

• Date made

  1839 - 1870

• Decoration

  Embossed

• Color

  Aqua

• Animals/objects

  Bottle, Case

• Patterns

  Lettering

• Category

  Medical/Pharmaceutical

• Class

  Glass

• Material

  Glass, Non-Lead

• Context

  All Angels, SC 6D: Objects left by Wilson family below floorboards (9531.207)

• Forms

  Body

• Techniques

  Mold Blown