RENO, Nev. – A two-session auction featuring a premier selection of rare and vintage bottles – headlined by the Ralph Van Brocklin collection of Western whiskey flasks and the Rod Stock Hutchinson bottle  collection – will be held June 16th and 17th, as part of the 53rd annual Reno Bottle Show & Auction, at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center (4590 So. Virginia St.) in Reno.

The event, sponsored by the Reno Antique Bottle & Collectibles Club, will showcase bottles and small antiques, pre-1940 collectibles, advertising and memorabilia. The auction (both sessions) will be conducted by Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC, based in Reno. Session 1, on Friday, June 16th will start at 6 pm Pacific time. Session 2, on June 17th, will begin at 4 pm.

The Ralph Van Brocklin collection is an outstanding assemblage of bottles, featuring 40 different embossed whiskey flasks out of Colorado alone. And the five or more amber California whiskey flasks are all rare. Mining camp and Wyoming flasks are highlights of the Rod Stock collection. Other star lots will include a very rare Elko, Nevada Coke bottle and rare Western whiskey jugs.

Individual bottles of interest will included the following:

• Lot 1073: a Kohl & Denhard Nonpareil whiskey bottle in deep red amber (Thomas flask No. 35), a spectacular pictorial flask and one of the great embossed California whiskeys.
• Lot 1022: a Ramona Bar (at 307 South Spring Street in Los Angeles, Calif.) clear whiskey flask from J.K. McGinnis (also in Los Angeles), in remarkable condition.
• Lot 1134: a Thos. R. Hiebler (Montrose & Ouray, Colorado) whiskey flask (“Pure Old Sourmash”), one of fewer than five examples known, clear in color and near mint.
• Lot 1088: a Pike’s Mineral Water Co. (Cold City, Colo.) bottle, one of many rare and incredible Colorado bottles in the auction and a worthy addition to any collection.
• Lot 1197: an El Dorado Bottling Co. (Dawson City) bottle in a nice soft blue color.
• Lot 1190: a T. Shone Hutch soda, formerly used in the Winnemucca and Bishop area.
• Lot 1019: a Fink & Mugler hutch (Keswick, Calif.), a scarce California soda bottle.

“The world of antique bottle collecting has taken a full turn from collecting pretty old purple and blue bottles in the desert to investment-quality pieces envious of any art museum,” said Fred Holabird of Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC. “With key rarities often trading in tens of thousands of dollars, a new breed of collector has emerged, seeking beauty and rarity.”

“While many new collectors jump in for the beauty of the product, others head straight for the investment angle, and it’s taking its toll on prices,” Holabird said. Ferdinand Meyer V, president of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (formed for historical education about antique bottles) added, “The spectacular shapes and colors of these bottles rival anything I can imagine.”

Other collectors love the history, and who can resist the aura of collecting bottles from Wyatt Earp’s saloon? “The bottles found behind Earp’s old Northern Saloon in Tonopah have added value and, if nothing else, brought home incredible history to the bottle field as a whole,” said Mike Polak, author of Antique Bottle Bible, published by Krause Publications (Iola, Wisconsin).

Fred Holabird’s book Ghost Towns and Medicines highlights the Nevada bottle collecting genre. He will be signing copies of the book at the Reno show.

The auction is the first of three major events in Holabird Western Americana, LLC’s summer 2017 auction series. Also planned is a mining, Western, general Americana and numismatics sale in July, and a Cowboys, Indians and firearms auction in August, to be held in conjunction with Cowboy-Con, a major new Cowboy and Western trade show. Dates and times have not been set.

The show portion of the weekend will be a one-day affair, on Saturday, June 17th, from 9-3, at the Convention Center’s north entrance. Admission is free. Dealer set-up is on Friday, June 16th, from 9-5. The show chairman is Marty Hall. He can be reached by phone, at 713-335-9467, or e-mail, at rosemuley@att.net. For show reservations and info call Helene Walker at 775-345-0171.

For those unable to attend the auction in person, internet bidding will be available via the platforms iCollector.com, Invaluable.com, Auctionzip.com, eBay Live and AuctionMobility.com (specifically for iPhone users). Phone and absentee bids will also be accepted. Color catalogs are available on request, free of charge, by calling now, toll-free, 1-844-492-2766, or 775-851-1859.

Also, anyone owning a collection that might fit into an upcoming Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC auction is encouraged to get in touch. The firm travels extensively throughout the country to pick up collections. It will be in Boston and New York later on, sometime in 2017.

Holabird Western Americana is always seeking quality bottle, advertising, Americana and coin consignments for future auctions. To consign a single piece or a collection, you may call Fred Holabird at 775-851-1859 or 844-492-2766; or, you can e-mail him at fredholabird@gmail.com. To learn more about Holabird Western Americana's June 16-17 auction, visit www.fhwac.com.

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