Sunday, November 25, 2007

E.R. Durkee & Co.

45-10 94th Street, Elmhurst, NY 11373
I had been thinking of starting a blog for quite some time as a way of sharing some of the Elmhurst postcards I have been collecting over the years. Today as I was crossing the Hampton Hill bridge I noticed that the Durkee factory was being gutted, so I decided to walk over and take a few photos thinking the building was not long for this world. The sign pictured tells a different tale, but it was enough to finally get me in gear.

16 comments:

Molly Kate said...

My father was digging in the backyard of our Massachusetts home, when he found a perfectly intact bottle. it says "E.R. DURKEE&CO, NEW YORK" and on the bottom it says "BOTTLE PATENTED APRIL 17, 1877" isn't that cool?!

Unknown said...

WOAHHHH, about 15 minutes ago, ALSO my father found the same bottle under the floor of my garage, patented in the EXACT same date, but i googled it to find out what it is and i dont know where it came from. Do you think you can help me?

Anonymous said...

Holy CRAP! We found one 15 years ago on the shores of an old lake - about a foot under the sand. What are the ods!?

Anonymous said...

I found a bottle with the same markings this weekend at a Thirft Shop. Has anyone determined if the bottle has any value?

Jorge said...

When we were in Chihuahua on our vacation, we went to this indian place were peole thought there was gold, as we were walking we notice the bottle, at first we thought it was a whiskey bottle but we googled it and we found out it was an 1878 New York "E.R. Durkee&co" Whats even cool, the bottle is in perfect conditions.

Anonymous said...

We just unearthed one in our backyard in Marietta GA about 15 minutes ago!

Anonymous said...

During 2008, I found 5 of these Durkee bottles (along with a lot of other different bottles) at our building site on Vashon Island, Washington. There is some recollection in the community that our area of town was raised up with fill--could of been from the dump.

Unknown said...

Hi all, I also just found the same exact bottle on the beach in Monterey, CA. I work on a commercial fishing boat and my friend and I took her dog for a walk and there it was in the dunes. It turns out that it is a salad dressing bottle with about a value of about $20 or so.

Anonymous said...

My son was exloring our backyard today and also found a perfectly intact Er Durkee bottle Patented 1877. From what I can see they are worth about $20.00.

Anonymous said...

i just found the cap to one of the bottles...its a little banged up but its still pretty cool!...sadly i found no bottle to go with the cap.

Karen B said...

I found this bottle probably 5 or so years ago on our property while clearing an area. We live in California and have found quite a number of old bottles here.

Laurie said...

Laurie - I have finally decided to go through some of my grandparents depression era bottles, glass, etc. that was divided between my 3 sisters and myself over 20 years ago. I was in the process of cleaning them to put on display in a recently acquired glass cabinet. I’m completely surprises at the amount of people whom have found so many INTACT bottles. It’s just so hard to believe that the cost is only around $20 from what I have read on this blog. If anyone has any further information on this and or other antique bottles ( I have quit a few ) I would be extremely interested. I also live in southern California as well as my sisters and grandparents did. Thank you Laurie.Ruckel13@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I'm working construction at a site in downtown Denver, Colorado. The tractor today dug up a bottle. It stood out so I picked it up and rubbed off the soil. It read E R Durkee & CO New York on the neck and April 17, 1877 on the bottom."Awesome find".....:)

Patti D. said...

I have one as well. Have had it for years, found it here in FL, but unpacked it today, washed it up and discovered the April 17, 1877 date! Completely intact, no chips...perfect! Must have been a popular item, years ago!

Anonymous said...

The embossed "1877" does not necessarily mean that it is from that date; however, the bottles that are embossed on the bottom with a gauntlet in a diamond, are likely from prior to 1929. Visit the Society for Historical Archaeology's website, they have a good article posted there regarding the variations in E.R. Durkee & Co. bottles.

Unknown said...

I just found one marked Feb 17 1874. Hexagonal design. Very cool looking. Any ideas?