Paradise Spring – Albert Crook

Albert Crook

Paradise Spring

Saratoga Co. N.Y.

Dark Olive Green – Quart

Provenance: Dave Merker Collection

The Albert Crook Paradise Spring bottle has always been somewhat of an enigma. A black mystery that absorbs your gaze and thought. Who was Albert Crook and what was the story of his Paradise Spring bottle? What we do know is that the spring was located in Saratoga County, New York as that is embossed on the bottle.

This writer’s involvement with a Paradise Spring bottle started in 2015 with an innocent enough email.

Good morning, I read your comments regarding the “Union Spring” that recently sold at auction for 6K and your thoughts about the original Saratoga “Wanted” List. Attached find Bernie Puckhaber’s Saratoga “Wanted” list dated 1973, and my “preferred” list for 2015. Enjoy and see you in Chattanooga.

Neil A. Moore

What Neil was speaking of was a post on Peachridge Glass about a Union Spring bottle that recently sold. He also said he would see me in Chattanooga which meant the FOHBC 2015 National Antique Bottle Show. You can read the Souvenir Program here.

“Little did I know at the time, but Neil would find me in Chattanooga and bring his “Saratoga Top 10” list and bottles to my table. He parked himself like a king and held court all day catching the admiration of show attendees with his great mineral water bottles the likes many had not seen before. His list included an aqua San Souci Spring, an olive green Saratoga Seltzer Spring, an aqua Aetna Spring, an aqua Hyperion Spring, an amber Round Lake Spring, an aqua Glacier Spring, an emerald green Union Spring, an aqua Triton Spring and an aqua Washington Spring. The last was an olive green Albert Crook Paradise Spring.”

Our museum bottle represents a quart in a deep dark olive green glass color. It is cylindrical in form, with round shoulders, a short tapered neck with an applied sloping collar mouth with a secondary ring. The bottle has a smooth base and was blown at the Mount Pleasant Glass Factory in Saratoga Springs, New York. The typography on the face of the bottle is arranged in a large circle. The top arch of the circle is embossed ‘ALBERT CROOK’. Bisecting the circle is ‘PARADISE SPRING’ in a horizontal line. The bottom arch of the circle reads ‘SARATOGA Co N.Y.’ The Albert Crook Paradise Spring can also be found in a pint bottle. Very few examples of either exist.

Albert Crook

Albert Crook was born about 1821 in Piermont, Grafton County, New Hampshire. His parents were Rufus and Cynthia Crook. Albert was one of five sons who were born and raised on a little farm. The family came to New York City in 1836, through the invitation of a brother of the New Hampshire farmer Samuel H. Crook, who owned a coffee and cake saloon in old Fulton Market, at South and Beekman Streets. It was here that the Crook family thrived, and the boys began to branch out as restauranteurs, all serving an apprenticeship with their Uncle Samuel. By all accounts, the boy’s restaurants were very successful.

Next, we see Albert applying to Excise Commissioners for a liquor license in New York City in 1857. He would go into partnership with one of his brothers. On his application, his occupation was noted as an innkeeper. By 1858, Albert was the proprietor of a Dining Saloon or Eating House at 195 Washington Street in New York City. One of his specialties was terrapin soup.

A splendid Green Turtle will be served up in soup and steaks on Friday and Saturday, June 4 and 5, 12 till 4:00 P. M. at Albert Crooks Dining Saloon, No. 195 Washington St.

The New York Times, Friday, June 4, 1858

It looks like Albert kept a watch on all the mineral spring activity in Saratoga County. Mineral water and the related spas and resorts had become very fashionable with the ailing and wealthy alike. We can place Albert Crook, according to an 1870 United States Federal Census, in Milton, Saratoga, New York. He was 41 years old at the time and was listed as a mineral spring proprietor. His personal estate value was listed as $2,500 and his real estate value was listed at $30,000.

This next bit of information is a bit more substantive and comes from an article from a 1950 Saratogian newspaper.

The Mineral Springs at Quaker Springs sold for the first time! “THE first sale of the property that seems to be recorded in Ballston is that of Sam Esmond and his wife, Amandy to Albert Crook of New York City, June 6, 1862. It is believed that Mr. Crook was a man of wealth of the metropolis who had the strong conviction that the mineral springs could be developed into a prosperous business and that there would be a large village instead of a few houses. He bought other parcels of land and built a very nice building near the springs for bottling the water. However, the water was not successfully bottled either in its natural yield or with gas added and Mr. Crook was much poorer for his experiences with the mineral springs. He probably moved to Quaker Springs, for, when in 1867 he deeded a parcel of land to the late Albert Crook Meader, his namesake, his residence was given as Quaker Springs. But other deeds gave his residence as Milton, New York.”

This somewhat short-lived enterprise probably explains the rarity of the Albert Crook bottles and Paradise Spring. We will continue the story with the Quaker Springs – I. W. Meader & Co. bottle on the same museum shelf.

Interestingly enough, we see that Albert Crook moved to Peach Springs, Arizona Territory. The place was first documented by Father Francisco Garces, a Spanish Franciscan missionary who camped here in June 1776. He called the natural springs in the area Pozos de San Basilio, meaning Saint Basil’s Wells. Euro-Americans became aware of the area springs during explorations in the 18th and 19th centuries. It seems more than coincidence that Albert Crook would move from Saratoga Springs to the town Peach Springs. Would he try to bottle the water? We do not know.

Crook would run the Atlantic and Pacific Saloon in 1883. In 1888, he built his own grand saloon that was announced proudly in local newspapers. Albert Crook would die in 1896 in Arizona. How extraordinary to have your name embossed on a bottle and be the keeper of a great Turtle Soup recipe. It was probably on the Atlantic & Pacific menu. Maybe served with a glass of refreshing mineral water.

Primary Image: The Paradise Spring bottle was imaged by the FOHBC Virtual Museum midwest studio by Alan DeMaison.

Support: Archival information and imagery for Neil A. Moore from the Peachridge Glass archives.

Join: The Saratoga type Bottle Collectors Society. Request information at jullman@nycap.rr.com