Civil War Cathedral bottle, recovered at Petersburg, as recovered from the USS Monitor

This is another nice item being offered, it is an excavated Cathedral Pickle bottle. The bottle stands 7” high and is 3” wide. It is aqua-colored and has a rolled lip. The cathedral-patterned bottle was an American invention. By selling their products in elaborate bottles, American merchants hoped to convince the consumer that their preserved goods were superior to imported English brands in plainer bottles.

Pickles were not the only fare preserved in such bottles, but pickled vegetables were a key staple in the 1800s and a favorite of the Civil War soldier, the equivalent to our modern salad. Over 150 of these utilitarian bottles were recovered from the shipwreck site of the “SS Republic”. There is also one displayed in the Mariners Museum in Virginia, that was recovered from the Ironclad USS Monitor (see pictures)

This bottle was recovered many years ago from a Union campsite in Petersburg, Virginia. There are no chips on this bottle but from being under ground for over 125 years, the finish has a haze. Overall it shows the typical early glass manufacturing with its shape and air bubbles.