'Time in a bottle' can mean a real find for collectors at Auburn show

Ninety-nine bottles of pop on the wall, 99 bottles of pop; if one of those bottles should happen to fall - you'd see a crying collector.Rare historical bottles of every shape and size were on display along with insulators Saturday at the 29th annual 49er Historical Bottle Association's show at the Gold Country Fairgrounds in Auburn.Mike Henness, of Sutter Creek, offered collectors an array of antique bottles ranging from the pricey to the "window sill" variety.He said that some people purchase small cobalt bottles, which don't come with a hefty price tag, mainly for the visual appeal. For the true collector, it's all about rarity.Henness said he does have a favorite in his collection, but he didn't bring it to the show."It's not going to be on the table," Henness said.He did show off a recent purchase - a green Dr. Henley's IXL Bitters bottle from San Francisco. Judging from a passerby's response, the bottle was rather rare, based on its green hue. Henness declined to discuss dollars when it came to his find."It's hard to put a price on bottles," he said. Max Bell, a local collector, said he's seen bottles at East Coast auctions go for as much as $45,000"One in a million has that value," Bell said.Ninety percent of bottles will cost below $50, the other 10 percent are more desirable.It wasn't just bottles that were on display at the show. Several vendors also offered glass insulators for sale.Glass insulators were first produced in the 1850s for use with telegraph lines. As technology developed, insulators were needed for telephone lines, electric power lines and other applications. A light blue insulator, displayed by Bud Haltman, had an asking price of $12,800."Color, shape and the rarity on this one, make it worth more," he said.Haltman has been a collector for decades."Being a big-time collector, you are forced to be a dealer to feed your habit," he said.The show wasn't all about buying and selling collectibles, said Mike McKillop, vice president of the association."It's about keeping the history alive," McKillop said. "The bottles and collectibles all have a history and it's important to get new members to keep that alive.The Journal's Penne Usher can be reached at penneu@goldcountrymedia.com.