​My shard is from 1905+. I have not come across the trademark of Ridgways bow and quiver yet in beachcombing. 

The bow and quiver trade mark was first registered in 1880
> without any place mark c.1880-1885
> with "Stoke-on-Trent" c.1885-1890
> with "England" c.1891+
> with "England" "Vitrified" c.1905+
> With "England" "Royal Semi-Porcelain" c.1912+
(thepotteries.org)


Ridgway pottery has been made in the Staffordshire district in England since 1808 by a series of companies with the name Ridgway. The transfer-design dinner sets are the most widely known product. Ridgway became part of Royal Doulton in the 1960s. . Other pieces of Ridgway may be listed under Flow Blue. 
(kovels.com)

http://www.thepotteries.org/allpotters/854.htm Here you will find trademarks from Ridgways onset in 1880. If not a direct link, type in their website to your browser to view. 

At www.carnegie.lib.oh.us/homer you can read the history below, and much more. This is longer than most posts but it gives an extensive history. All shards were found on Eastport, Maine shorelines. Most date 1920's to 1930's based on names and wear.

Homer Laughlin China Company, 1877 - In 1872 the East Liverpool, Ohio City Council, foreseeing the demise in popularity of yellow ware offered $5,000 to anyone that would agree to build a four kiln pottery producing white ware. (What a clever way for any town or city to create a financial avenue for their area!!!)

Homer & Shakespeare Laughlin won that competition and built a pottery in East Liverpool. They were natives of the area being born on Beaver Creek near East Liverpool and the Ohio River. After the Civil War Homer and his brothers had worked in the pottery industry in production and sales but were not expert in technical aspects of making ware.

"They accepted the Council's offer on September 1, 1873, broke ground for the plant on October 1 and opened for production one year later on September 1, 1874. The plant with only two kilns struggled due to a lack of capital and lack of experience. White ware had not been produced in the area before this time. It is said that the first batch of ware out of the kilns was cups and that when the ware cooled all the handles fell off. (This made me laugh when I read this) Undaunted they persevered, calling themselves, "The Ohio Valley Pottery" and "Laughlin Bros. Pottery". By 1874 they had 100 employees. Their work finally paid off when in 1876 they were awarded a medal for best white ware at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They were now established as a quality producer in the market."

"In 1877 Homer bought his brothers share of the company and renamed the business "Homer Laughlin". In 1896 it was renamed "The Homer Laughlin China Company". At this time there was stiff competition with European and especially English China. The public perceived that the American ware, which was more expensive, was of lesser quality. Many potteries disguised their ware with marks reminiscent of English marks or named their ware "Royal" to give the connotation of English ware. Homer Laughlin however, designed a mark that showed the American Eagle on top of the British Lion. He wanted to show his confidence in the American ware."


"Homer Laughlin was aware of the conditions of his employees but safety standards were non-existent in industry at this time. The hazards of the job were many, mostly from the inhalation of the dusts associated with the production of the ware. In 1877 he was paying his employees more than their European or Asian counterparts. A skilled worker earned $2.33/day, an unskilled man $1.29/day, boys 0.82c/day and women and girls 0.75c/day. In 1880 he took 300 of his workers and their families by chartered train to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for an exposition in the afternoon and the opera in the evening. Laughlin was mindful of his workers and saw quality in them. In 1880 Homer hired W.E. Wells as bookkeeper. He would eventually become the general manager and today his descendants are still managing the company. He hired the first female secretary in 1888. Later in the companies history the plant would include a recreational park."

"Throughout the 1880's Homer Laughlin produced a variety of ware, mostly of a basic white which could be used in hotels and other public institutions. Today many former Homer Laughlin workers can still recognize the ware by style and quality wherever they may be in a hotel or restaurant throughout the country and even the world. In 1886 he had truly made what could be termed genuine American china. After a demonstration of its translucence and vitreous qualities Jere Simms editor of the local newspaper said, "It is no longer a question of doubt that the finest, thinnest and most translucent of china can be produced in America."

"In 1897 Homer retired from the business to pursue business interests in California. Wells, Louis, Marcus and Charles Aaron purchased interests in the company with Louis Aaron as president and Wells as secretary and general manager. They decided that they needed to expand. In 1899 they built a new plant east of the original pottery (plant # 2). Two years later they built plant # 3 beside plant # 2. They also traded the original plant for another in the East End. After this expansion there were 32 kilns. Still unsatisfied and prompted by the extreme growth in the demand for their wares they wanted to expand again. However, there was no available suitable land in the East End of East Liverpool; therefore they pursued the purchase of a 3 mile tract of land in a small community that would become known as Newell across the Ohio River in West Virginia. The location had access to fuel, railroad and river transportation. Forming the North American Manufacturing Company to develop the property into a usable industrial site, the Homer Laughlin Company set about developing what until this time was a relatively inaccessible area of the West Virginia panhandle. The only way to get to the property from Ohio was by ferry. By 1904 they had begun construction of a metal suspension bridge. Now called the Newell Bridge it is still in operation as a toll bridge across the river. The first traffic moved across on July 4, 1905. Newell grew rapidly from a small community of but a few homes to a prospering community with 130 additional homes by December 1907."

​"The plant, at that time the largest in the World, covered 10 acres, extended 700 feet along the riverbank. Standing five stories high it had a total floor space of 15 acres. Connected with the plant to the south was a 100 acre park with a spring-fed stream, lack, zoo, formal garden and outdoor theater. The park was the idea of George Washington Clarke, a great innovative salesman for the company. He spent much of his time and money on the park. He died in 1911 not long after the park was built. With the addition of the new plant, in January 1907, there were 62 kilns and 48 decorating kilns capable of producing 300,000 pieces of ware per day."

"In 1914 they added plant # 5, with 16 kilns, just to the north of plant # 4, the Newell plant. By 1919-1920 they were ready to expand again. The industry was changing greatly at this time. New technologies for better and more efficient production required the introduction of science and scientists into the business. The Homer Laughlin Company hired Albert Victor Bleininger, a scientist in ceramics. Bleininger would remain with the company until his death in 1946. His first task was to build plant # 6. This plant was built across the valley to the south of plants # 4 and was the largest pottery ever constructed in the world. It was to be a leader in the worldwide manufacturing of ceramics. The plant was state-of-the-art. A major innovation was the construction of tunnel kilns. The tunnel kilns unlike the bottle kilns were of continuous operation. The plant also had other technological advantages, streamlining the process of making the ware. The plant was 290 feet wide, 800 feet long with a basement 80 feet by 800 feet where the clay, flint and feldspar were mixed."

"In 1927 they built plant # 7 and replaced the bottle kilns in plants # 4 and # 5 with tunnel kilns. The three older plants in East Liverpool were soon obsolete and were abandoned in 1929. To replace them, in 1928, Laughlin's built plant # 8 just south of plant # 6. This new plant was 1,200 feet long and 300 feet wide and employed 900 people, equal to the combined numbers at plants # 6 and # 7. At peak employment The Homer Laughlin China Company employed 3,500 people."

"In 1927 they hired one of the world’s foremost ceramists, Frederick Hurten Rhead. Rhead would stay with the company until his death in 1942. Rhead's first job was to update the catalog, most of which had been in production for decades. The newest ware was called Yellowstone and was a cream, light-yellow. Introduced in 1926 it was advertised as, "possessing a warmth of tone that appeals to many persons of good taste more strongly than the dead white body that has ruled the market for so many years". He slowly changed the product over a space of several years. In 1935 he created Fiesta ware which would become the companies most popular and most collected line of Homer Laughlin China. Fiesta was discontinued in 1959, replaced with Fiesta Ironstone which was discontinued in 1973. Fiesta ware with new colors was reintroduced in 1986 to celebrate to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Rhea also created Harlequin which was the Woolworth Companies biggest seller. It was reintroduced into the line in 1979 to celebrate Homer Laughlin's Centennial."

"Peak production for the company was in 1948 when they produced 10,129,449 dishes.  In 1959 plant # 6 was adapted to produce heavy vitreous ware for restaurants. Hundreds of restaurants across the country now use Laughlin restaurant ware, including the Marriott Hotel chain."

"In 1930 W.E. Wells retired from the company. His son, Joseph Wells succeeded him. In 1960 his son Joseph Wells Jr. became general manager and his son Joseph Wells III executive vice-president. In 1986 Joseph Wells III would become general manager. In 1911 Marcus Aaron took over as president of the board from his father, Louis Aaron. In 1940 Marcus Lester Aaron becomes president retiring in 1989 after 65 years of service. His son Marcus Aaron II would succeed him."

"The Homer Laughlin China Company is still, today, the U.S.A.'s largest producer of china. Some of the plants have been abandoned and closed but the company still operates at the Newell, West Virginia site."


Homer Laughlin Production Timeline
1872 White ware
1884 Victor
1896 Golden Gate & Shakespeare
1899 American Beauty
1901 Colonial, Seneca, Niagara
1903 King Charles
1907 Angelus, Empress
1912 Hudson, Genesee
1914 Majestic
1920 Republic, Kwaker
1926 Yellowstone
1929 Liberty
1930-1933 Wells, Century, Jade, Ravenna, Virginia Rose, Marigold, Nautilus (Regular) and Georgian/Craftsman
1935 Fiesta, Coronet
1936 Brittany, Harlequin
1937 Eggshell Nautilus, Eggshell Georgian
1938 Swing, Carnival, Riviera, Tango
1939 Theme, Kitchen Kraft, Serenade
1940 Picadilly
1948 Jubilee, Skytone, Suntone and Debutante, Kraft Blue, Kraft Pink
1949-1959 Rhythm, Cavalier, Triumph, Kenilworth, Epicure
1959 Hotel and Restaurant china introduced
1986 Fiesta reintroduced as a lead-free china product

For a complete history of Coca-cola got to www.coca-colacompany.com
*1886 - You could only buy coca-cola at a soda fountain at a cost of 5 cents.
*1894 - The first smooth-shape bottle of coke bottled in Mississippi.
*1909 - 400 bottling plants in the USA
*1916 - The first contour bottle, made to stand apart from other bottle types.
*1940 - In the 1940's there were 64 bottling plants world wide. Many to service soldiers during WWII.

At webpage qdy.starchive.com I found an article dated October 27, 1978. The Quoddy Tides newspaper archive.
"Last Saturday, October 21, cranes and bulldozer and trucks from DeCenzo contractors rapidly demolished the former bottling plant on the Eastport waterfront, located on Sea St. & Bank Square. The white clapboard building was used for many years by Sam Collins (?) as a bottling plant and he had the franchise on the popular 'Orange Crush.' Later it was bottled by Del Britton who bottled Coca-Cola in the building and then sold it to the Coca-Cola Bottling in Presque Isle...."  (This turn over seemed to take place by the 1950's according to the article)

Our bottle was found in a crevice that ran down to the seashore on Water Street. It was half-in, half-out of the muck and debris sliding down to the sea. I  could easily imagine some adult casting it down the hill. I doubt a kid did so, because the deposit was worth 2 cents! Eastport, as were most islands through out the world, used the sea as a place to deposit refuge of all sorts. 

All shards and bottles are found along the shores, and island of Eastport, Maine, unless otherwise noted.

This larger shard is from J & G Meakin. That is J & G for James and George, the sons of their father James Meakin. 

You can read further histories at a good site:  http://www.potteryhistories.com/

"Manufacturer of earthenware at the Eagle Pottery (1859-1970) and the Eastwood Works (1887-1958), Hanley. Brothers James and George Meakin took over the pottery manufacturing business of their father James Meakin in 1851, operating at Cannon St, Hanley. James Meakin junior died in 1885 and George Meakin in 1891, but the family business (incorporated as J. & G. Meakin Ltd in 1890) continued first under George Eliot Meakin (son of George Meakin), from 1891 to 1927 and then under Bernard Meakin (son of George’s brother James) from 1927 until his retirement in 1955."  From what I  have read the family sold the company but it continues.  Visit: www.potteryhistories 

Also look for free at pottery-marks at books.google.com.  Search for: Book of Pottery Marks by W. Percival Jervis, written in 1897. It is excellent should you come across a old shard. The book is digitized from the Harvard College Library. Many people online (at sites) do not give Mr. Jervis credit for a job well done in 1897.

At the website: www.geheugenvannederland.nl read about and see earthenware and china in whole. Societe Cermanique. Maastricht earthenware 1836 to 1969.We have found shards in many designs. 

If you look closely at the Willow shard in my photos you can see two layers of earthenware in the same shard. 

All shards found on the shorelines of Eastport, Maine. 

This is from the above website:
"Maastricht earthenware decorations, 1836-1969 Societe Ceramique The entrepreneurs Winand Nicolaas Clermont and Charles Chainaye in 1851 founded a pottery in the Maastricht neighbourhood Wijck. Their company was taken over in 1859 by the Belgian engineer Guillaume Lambert and transformed into a limited partnership. Four years later it became a limited liability company that became generally known as  'Société Céramique'.
Under the directorate of Victor Jaunez (1863-1913), engineer P.J. Lengersdorff (1902-1915) and Edgar Michel (1915-1954), Société Céramique flourished and became the main competitor of Petrus Regout's firm, which was renamed Sphinx in 1899. Around 1900 the products of Société Céramique vied with those of Sphinx in price as well as in quality.
In the twentieth century, Société Céramique started to focus more and more on the production of sanitary ware. In 1958, to the surprise of many, the company merged with its Maastricht competitor Sphinx.
The factory premises were demolished in the early 1990's to make room for a prestigious new housing estate, which was given the name Céramique."

Please visit this website for beautiful photos of earthenware and china from the Netherlands. 

Dr. Levi Minard, in the 1860's put a few ingredients together to help sooth the aching muscles of man and beast. It was composed of camphor (still used today by many companies); ammonia water, and medicinal turpentine. Turpentine was made from pine tar.

And how far has Dr. Minard's liniment gone done through the ages: it was bought by Stella Pharmaceuticals in 1998. Below is from their Stella associate website www.minards.com. I see they are still using camphor. In this case Camphor = $$$Money to this day. I think I'll buy a bottle the next trip over across the border! As the old Dr. Minard used to say, "Just Rub It In."

Today at www.minards.com: 
Dr. Minard's Rx 'Just Rub It In'What exactly is Minard's Liniment?Minard's Liniment is a pourable, white creamy rubbing lotion containing medicinal ingredients with a strong, penetrating odour. The potent smell dissipates quickly after application. The lotion is rubbed on liberally three or four times daily to the painful area. Minard's Liniment comes in an attractively shaped bottle true to its historic roots.
What makes MINARD'S work?The MINARD'S formula is potent, penetrating, and smells powerful too. But it works. Use it any time to ease muscles strained from your active day. The main ingredient, Camphor, is a natural pain reliever from an evergreen tree that has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years in Eastern and Western medicine. You'll find it in headache balms and chest rubs used to help break up congestion due to colds. Its vapors penetrate deeply, acting as a mild local anesthetic and stimulating circulation. (Good blood flow through muscles is essential to healing.) Camphor produces a feeling of warmth that rejuvenates tense muscles, and helps ease muscle aches, swellings, sprains and bruises.

Bottle collecting is an exciting hobby for many. Most are low cost at places like eBay. But the cost is even lower if you know of old dump sites in your area. Most folks of yesteryear used to toss their trash in their yards, down a hill, at the base of trees, in alleys, in their piles of coal and wood ash, down old outhouses, and along the shorelines, as horrible as that sounds. It is still being done today as we watch plastic trash destroy fish habitats. 

This bottle is Foss 2 oz. Liquid Fruit Flavor. Full Strength, Standard Quality, c1890s. The company was based out of Portland Maine. This antique bottle is 4 3/4" by 1 3/4" and is one of several we have found in our area, half in and half out of the ground.  

Vegetables, fruit and fish canning were an important part of Portland, Maine's economy in the 1890's. Below is a note of interest from www.mainememory.net. Note Foss in an earlier business with Schlotterbeck. 

Schlotterbeck & Foss bottle, Portland, ca. 1900Item 100193 info 
Maine Historical SocietyBottles that survive from Portland's industrial past reflect the variety of manufacturing in the city in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The square, brown glass bottle is embossed, "Schlotterbeck & Foss Co., Manufacturing Chemists, Portland, Maine."
(See bottle at their website: www.mainememory.net)
Augustus G. Schlotterbeck and Charles S. Foss founded Schlotterbeck & Foss Company in Portland in 1866.

The company began as a prescription apothecary shop, moving to patent medicines and flavoring extracts.
 

USE DILLS FAMILY EXTRACTS. (Paper labels were on the front of this bottle, embossing on the side.) This bottle 1890-1900.

We may all, at one time or another, have a moment or two of being upset with government regulating foods and drugs via the FDA but when I read some of the ingredients pedaled to the common people in yesteryear, you can see where there had to be some form of oversight. 

Professor Dill, (He was 21 when the Civil War ended) and he then started calling himself Professor Dill . I have no idea if he went to any college or taught. It doesn't appear so. He started his business right after the war ended in 1865.
WW DILL'S cough syrup had a claim (patent since 1907) to use his signature WW DILL on his label. You can see the actual paper label online at www.antiquemedicines.com or on Ebay or in my slideshow.

The label reads:
Dill's, Cough Syrup, WW Dill, 2 1/2 M. Chloroform in 1 OZ. Fluid of Alcohol 1%. A useful preparation for colds, coughs, hoarseness. Directions: Doses for adults 3/4 to 1/2 teaspoon every 1 to 2 hours. Doses for infants 5 to 10 drops. 5 to 10 years old 10 to 20 drops. SHAKE WELL BEFORE USING, Prepared by The Dill CO. Norristown, PA. 

Gee, honey, the kids are sleeping like logs!  (CHLOROFORM! & Alcohol!)

Noted online at www.werelate.org for WW DILL. (born 1844, died 1923)
During the Civil War, W. W. enlisted as a private with the 28th New Jersey Infantry for a nine month term. It was mustered in at Freehold, New Jersey and spent some time in the defense of Washington D.C.
W. W. fell ill there and was treated in "Lee House Hospital" for four months. On April 16, 1863 W. W. received a disability discharge for severe rheumatism from exposure. (I note he was only 19 years old in 1863)
After the war he became a patent medicine man, and marketed himself as "Professor W.W. Dill." Later he started the "Dill Medicine Company" of Norristown, Pennsylvania, and sold products like Dill's Pills, Healing Salve, Balm of Life, and Royal Cough Cure from which he built a fortune.

The Professor is mentioned in Appendix 2 of Bean's 1884 History of Montgomery Co, PA. The Chief Marshal listed the order of the parade for the honor of the centennial of Montgomery county on Thursday, September 11th, 1884. At the very end of the parade was Prof. Dill's Balm of Life wagon with red tent and blue banner.
He also advertised in a Montgomery County Directory as a "Patent Medicine Manufacturer" at Marshall and Stanbridge
.
Prof. W. W. Dill was involved with a splinter Mennonite group called Evangelical Mennonites (later renamed to the Bible Fellowship Church).

On a personal note: I have to mention, in having researched numerous bottles, I come across these deeper types of religious affiliations that several of the bottlers of 'cures' had... ever so tightly religious connections as they accumulated massive wealth.