Saturday, October 3, 2009

Bottle Collection

As I have mentioned before, we moved my parents in with us at the beginning of 2009. I am so glad they are here, because Mother is now temporarily bedridden with some sacral fractures. The doctor says 2-3 months to heal. She is 8 weeks into it, and still in excruciating pain. I don't know what we would have done if they still lived across town. Daddy is limited in his mobility due to severe arthritis . They are going stir crazy, because they usually like to go out to eat lunch several times a week. I hope they can be back out and about soon.
When we built this house we built them a wing with a bedroom and sitting room, bathroom, and snack bar. They have been collectors all their lives, so we tried to incorporate their loves into the home, since it would be their home, too. Their 2 main collections were bottles and cookbooks. We built several built-ins to house these collections. We added extra depth to the transoms over the windows. Take a look at the beautiful color we enjoy daily as the sun streams in through these antique bottles.
These are the built-in cabinets in their bedroom, with their favorite bottles. These are mostly historical flasks, and pepper sauce bottles.
On the second row, you may notice two bottles made into trophies. They were members of the Memphis Bottle Collector's Club for many years. Every year they would enter a display, and several times they won best of show.

There are bitters bottles, barber's bottles, ink bottles...

whiskey bottles...


beer bottles, more barber's bottles, ...




old jars, fire extinguishers, ...





fish bottle, pretty , colorful bottles, ...







shampoo bottle, ...



cathedral bottles, lady's leg bottle, log cabin, ...




poison bottle, pineapple shaped, red globe, pickle jar, ...





etc...



etc...





etc...




In the kitchen a couple fish, and oil and vinegar bottle. Notice the stained glass rose made by my Daddy, another hobby he had.



I hope you enjoyed my show and tell tour of bottles.




22 comments:

Its So Very Cheri said...

Wow do you have a collection. The very first picture, top row of bottles, need to have cool halloween POTION tags tied on for the season.

Cheri

Miss Mustard Seed said...

I'm sorry to hear about your mom...hope she heals. What a fantastic bottle collection!

The Tablescaper said...

Sheila:

Your Mom and Dad are so lucky to have you to care for them. And you get to share their amazing bottle collection. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!

Thanks also for becoming a follower.

- The Tablescaper

Cara@HomespunKitchen said...

I love the bottle collection! I bought a box full of old bottles at a garage sale, still not sure what to do with them all...

Prayers for your Mother and Father for quick healing:)

Blessings,
Cara

Flat Creek Farm said...

What a beautiful bottle collection! I have a small collection. I love displaying them, although I'm terrible at keeping them "sparkling" like they should be!

Prayers for your parents and their healing! What a wonderful blessing for all that they are able to live with you. -Tammy

susan said...

Sheila-You are so sweet to want them to feel that they are at home and don't have to give up the things they love! That is an awesome collection! The cookbook is Vintage Vicksburg and is available on Amazon.

Pat@Back Porch Musings said...

Wow, what a beautiful bottle collection, Sheila! I love it!

You asked about my camera. My regular camera is a Canon Rebel Xti (a DSLR), with various lenses. It's been in for repair for about a month. I just had an e-mail, there is a delay.:-(
I love that camera and miss it! Since that one has been out of commission I've used my little kodak point and shoot easyshare. All the photos in the mosaic monday post, were taken with that little camera. I'm looking for another backup camera, that shoots sharper photos, than the kodak. Hopefully I'll have my rebel back soon!
Thanks for visiting the Back Porch!

RachelD said...

This is absolutely charming, and they must have a lifetime of memories stored up inside those wonderful bottles.

The way you've arranged them is stunning, and the over-the-window displays must be a highlight of your home.

Just lovely.

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Sure hope your Mother gets to feeling better soon. It is great that you can have them with you, yet they still have their privacy. What a great bottle collection. Thanks for sharing.

Pine Tree Home said...

It's so very nice to be able to take care of family. I am blessed to have some around me. I am very much in awe of the various colors shown in the bottle collection. Just stunning.

Leigh of Tales from Bloggeritaville said...

Sheila,
Those bottle are beautiful. I love how they literally color the room with life! Just thought I would stop by and say Thank you for being a follower of Tales from Bloggeritaville.Have a wonderful weekend!
Leigh
Tales from Bloggeritaville
www.lbratina.blogspot.com

Alicia said...

Wow, what a collection! I have two bottles I've recently collected and debating on whether I should continue, maybe this is a sign that I should :-)

I too recently had my mother move in. She fortunately is in good health. I hope your parents recover soon so they can get out and about to lunch with their friends and each other. Bless you!

Allyson said...

Sheila - Thanks for the prayers and precious comments. It just means so much to me!

Okay, wow, I LOVE your bottle collection. Just one question...How do they stay clean. Surely you don't dust them all. And I hope you never move, because I can't imagine packing all those up! But they are so pretty and don't you wish you knew the story behind all of them. That's why I love antiques.

Thanks you again for the gift of prayer!
Allyson

P.S. The Canon Rebel XSi that we have -- I forgot to tell you that all those photos of Charlie have been taken in low light with NO flash...on AV Mode...and I think they've turned out great. I don't know if Nikon does that or not, but that has been a huge thing for us since we can't have a flash in the NICU!

Allyson said...

Sheila - Thanks for the prayers and precious comments. It just means so much to me!

Okay, wow, I LOVE your bottle collection. Just one question...How do they stay clean. Surely you don't dust them all. And I hope you never move, because I can't imagine packing all those up! But they are so pretty and don't you wish you knew the story behind all of them. That's why I love antiques.

Thanks you again for the gift of prayer!
Allyson

P.S. The Canon Rebel XSi that we have -- I forgot to tell you that all those photos of Charlie have been taken in low light with NO flash...on AV Mode...and I think they've turned out great. I don't know if Nikon does that or not, but that has been a huge thing for us since we can't have a flash in the NICU!

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Now that is a collection! How beautiful the colors are with the sunlight behind them, and how wonderful that you made a place for them to display their collection. I'll say a prayer for both of them. (Do you live in Memphis? If so, we aren't very far apart). laurie

Mid-Atlantic Martha said...

Sheila -- come on over to my post and see what you've won! I'll need your address so I can send it merrily on it's way!

alice said...

Your bottles are so wonderful! I have a very small (compared to you)and young collection. Last year at Christmas I made snow folks. My are just old and not such swell bottles. Enjoyed your post!
smiles, alice

KimMalk said...

You have done a nice job arranging your collection. I have seen some- ahem - not so nicely displayed collections.

@cheapchichome.blogspot.com

Miss Laura Lu/RMS4291960 said...

Hi Sheila! I'm so glad you came by to visit and introduce yourself! Both my parents were disabled early in their lives. My father is gone now but my mother is living happily at Waverly Gardens here in town. I love the bottle collection! All the colors and shapes! What fun! And how sweet of you and your husband! I look forward to getting to know you! You might have noticed I haven't blogged much lately! I'm working on getting back into the groove! Miss all my buds! God Bless! Lauralu :) (I'm gonna go check out your other posts now!)

Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...

Hi Sheila, Wow...amazing collection! So pretty to see them all displayed and your are wonderful to work so hard to incorporate them in. Hope you Mom is healing and doing better!

jen said...

Hi Sheila~ thanks for stopping by and entering the give away! I luv this~ your home is gorgeous and the thoughtfulness for your parents is so nice to see. That bottle collection is stunning. have a great day :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Sheila I love bottles too and dig with a group out of Memphis call the memphis diggers. We have a site that your dad might want to look at that contains many pictures of the bottles we have dug from Memphis. Feel free to join the site and ask any questions if you have them. We like your father's collection and we are proud that you have paved the way for people like us associated with the bottle community.

Buddy Kuhstoss thememphisdiggers.com