UNIQUE embossed SANTAL DE MIDY antique VENEREAL SYPHILIS GONORRHEA cure bottle

Description

A
4 3/8 inch tall
ten-sided-cylinder-shaped
beautiful DEEP AMETHYST color
antique
PATENT (quack) MEDICINE
bottle.  Some light research shows this to be a
VENEREAL DISEASE, SYPHILIS, GONORRHEA CURE
.  This is an ORIGINAL ANTIQUE hand
B
lown
I
nto
M
old bottle (
BIM
) with a tooled top, dating it back to the 1800's.
Bottle Embossed
: "
SANTAL
DE
MIDY
"
.
Condition
:   This bottle is in excellent clean condition. It has just some traces of stain and wear, NO cracks, chips, dings, damage, etc.   PLEASE see pictures for general idea of bottle's appearance / condition
.
Age
: An early hand-blown bottle (Blown-In-Mold = BIM) with a tooled-top, ca.
late
1800's
.
Shipping
:
FREE
domestic shipping,
includes
insurance.   We do NOT insure International orders unless buyer specifically requests this and we are able to provide an insurance estimate.  If an international shipping charge is much more than the actual shipping cost, we will refund the excess so what YOU pay for shipping/insurance is very close to, if not exactly, the ACTUAL shipping costs! This is important for foreign buyers to know as most of our foreign shipping charges are estimates.  We do not falsify information on the Customs Form, such as a price other than what the actual purchase price is, so please do not request us to do so. We ship several times a week and your prompt payment will hasten the turn-around time.
An extraordinary looking little antique bottle with an extraordinary background.   This bottle originally contained 60 small capsules of a sandalwood-oil and narcotic based mixture which was used to treat VENEREAL disease, SYPHILIS, GONORRHEA and other sexually transmitted diseases.  Santal de Midy was imported from Paris, and some of the bottles are also embossed 'PARIS'.   The internet is loaded with information about this cure and there are some great stories about these bottles being found in discreet places.  Not a commonly seen bottle,
almost unseen in this beautiful purple color.   You hear about old bottles turning purple from the sun?   Here's how it works;  ... the purple color is the result of this bottle having manganese in the glass.  Manganese is a mineral, a rock, that was mined, crushed, and pulverized into a powder, then added to vats of molten liquid glass, and acted as a decolorizing agent to turn the natural aqua-tinted glass into a pure crystal clear colorless glass.   Then it was blown into a mold to create a bottle.  But when exposed to the ultraviolet rays of the sun or other sources of UV rays, it triggers a chemical reaction and the manganese starts to oxidize and slowly turns a lavender or amethyst color.   The end result is what collectors refer to as SCA (Sun Colored Amethyst) glass.   The longer it is in the sun the purpler it becomes.   This little bottle has been exposed to a high heat/light source to enrich the purple color that would naturally occur if exposed to sun light for a prolonged period of time.  It has not been colored, stained, or altered.    No matter how a TRUE antique bottle has turned purple (direct sunlight or UV rays in controlled environment) they all turn the same purple color as it is the same chemical reaction taking place.   The only difference is the time it took to turn purple.  What is important is that an item is old enough to turn purple as with few exceptions, only clear glass from before 1915 have manganese in them and will turn SCA.
After this, with the start of WWI, manganese was no longer available as foreign imports decreased and domestic resources turned towards the war effort.   Selenium sulphate then replaced manganese as a glass de-colorizer and when exposed to UV rays, it turns a yellow / straw color, and a dark burnt amber color.
Not only does this deep purple/amethyst color make it a great looking bottle, but it also authenticates it as being truly antique
,
check it out!
Terms of Sale
:   Our goal is 100% customer satisfaction. We put our 30+ years of experience in antiques to use in describing every item we list. Items are sold in a store front format and your purchase is a binding contract, so please don't be hasty when looking over the listing. We find that communication is the key to successful transactions so PLEASE completely read the item description AND ask questions before purchasing,
thank you
!
409-414x
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