Columbian Water
Columbian Water
Congress & Empire Spring Co.
Saratoga, N.Y.
Light Emerald Green Pint
Provenance: Dave Merker Collection
You may have noticed the Congress Water bottle sitting next to this Columbian Water bottle in our Spring & Mineral Water Gallery. Both bottles were products of the Congress & Empire Spring Company in Saratoga, New York. Columbian Spring is located in the heart of Saratoga Springs near Congress Street at Broadway Avenue. The spring was discovered in 1803 by Gideon Putnam while clearing land around Congress Park.
Gideon Putnam was born in Sutton, Massachusetts on April 17, 1763. Among his relatives were early settlers, clergymen, and revolutionary war heroes such as Rufus Putnam and Israel Putnam. Gideon arrived in Saratoga Springs with his wife Doanda (Risley) Putnam in the spring of 1789. Upon his arrival, Gideon wrote, “This is a healthy place; the mineral springs are valuable, and the timber is good and in great abundance, and I can build me a great house.”
This is a healthy place; the mineral springs are valuable, and the timber is good and in great abundance, and I can build me a great house.
Gideon Putnm
One of the springs that he was referring to was High Rock Spring which had long been known to the Mohawk and Oneida Indians for its healing properties. The native people called the area “Saraghtoga” meaning “place of swift water.” You can also see our High Rock Spring bottle in the Spring & Mineral Water Gallery on an adjacent shelf.
John Clarke was an early champion of Saratoga Springs who had a Grecian-style pavilion erected over the Columbian Spring in 1840 as part of his comprehensive improvements to Congress Park. See John Clarke New York bottle. In 1875, this pavilion was replaced with a Victorian-style pavilion. In 1984, a replica of the original pavilion was erected over the spring by the City of Saratoga Springs.
Our pint bottle is blown in a two-piece hinge mold with a hand-tooled finish. It is cylindrical with a short, tapered neck with rounded shoulders, and has an applied mouth and secondary ring. ‘CONGRESS & EMPIRE SPRING CO.’ is embossed and arched around a secondary arch and base reading ‘COLUMBIAN WATER’. The copy ‘SARATOGA N.Y.’ is embossed in a horizontal straight line beneath the lettering noted above. The bottle also comes in quarts. There is a base marked numeral on some examples. Our museum example represents a lighter coloration of green glass than what is normally seen.
To our knowledge, the Clarke’s (Eliza Clarke after John Clarke’s death in 1846), never mass-marketed or bottled the Columbian Spring water, only the Congress Spring water. Apparently, Columbian Spring water was never very popular and it gave people headaches. Because of this, it was never bottled until 1866 when Chauncey Kilmer and the Congress & Empire Spring Co. took over the Columbian Spring brand. This is when B. B. Hotchkiss oversaw sales and distribution. Hotchkiss advertised the Columbian Water as a “remedy for those diseases peculiar to the female sex.”
Hotchkiss also said that as the Columbian Spring becomes better known, it will be sought after as one of the more famous springs. “The proprietors anticipating the increased demand, have decided to bottle it in half pints, so it can be used without waste. The above quantity being sufficient for two doses as prescribed.”
Marketing booklets and advertising from the time period list Columbian Spring water being bottled in half-pint, pint, and quarts, although no quarts have been documented to date. Older advertising only lists half-pints and pints. Later, as seen in circa 1875 advertisements, quarts were noted.
To date, only the half-pints (Tucker S-14) and pints like the museum example (Tucker S-15) are known. We will have to wait and see if a quart Columbian Spring water bottle is out there.
The Columbian Spring Water was still bottled by the Congress Spring Co. after the Congress & Empire Spring Co. split in 1884 (Tucker S-16) but they must have discontinued bottling as this pint variant is very rare.
Support Image: Auction Lot 150: “Congress & Empire Spring Co. / Columbian / Water / Saratoga, N.Y.” Mineral Water Bottle, America, 1860-1880. Cylindrical, medium emerald green, applied sloping collared mouth with ring – smooth base, pint; (minor exterior wear). T #S-15B Good color. Fine condition. Rare. – Norman C. Heckler & Company
Support Image: Auction Lot 78: “CONGRESS & EMPIRE SPRING CO. / COLUMBIAN / WATER / SARATOGA, N.Y.”, (S-15-B), New York, ca. 1865 – 1875, emerald green pint, “5” smooth base, applied mouth, about perfect. A seldom offered spring water bottle. When passing through Saratoga Springs, New York, visit the Congress Park where you can still take a sip of the same water from the spring that this bottle was filled with. – Glass Works Auction #96
Support Images: From the Saratoga type Bottle Collectors Society archives. Three green Columbian Water (Tucker S-15) examples grouped together. Solo emerald green Columbian Water with painted copy (Tucker S-16).
Support: Reference to Collector’s Guide to the Saratoga Type Mineral Water Bottles, Donald Tucker, 1986
Support: Join the Saratoga Type Bottle Collectors Society. Request information at jullman@nycap.rr.com
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