Images(3)

Bottle, Medicine

Object number2009.110.2

Retailer Koppers Company, Inc. (founded 1907)

Date1938

OriginPittsburgh, PA

MediumGlass; Paper; Cork; Liquid

Credit LineGift of Elizabeth L. Verterano and Phyllis A. Cooper

DescriptionVapo Cresolene glass sample bottle.Dimensions5.125 x 2 x 2 x 2 in. (13 x 5.1 x 5.1 x 5.1 cm)
Inscriptions

MarksPrinted on paper label, some parts handwritten: "FROM / KOPPERS COMPANY / TAR AND CHEMICAL DIVISION / Order # FL-177 Sample # 520 10-28-38 / This is a sample of Vapo Cresolene / 5 Pts. #10 Receiver / 1 Pt. #110 Receiver / POSTMASTER-THIS PACKAGE MAY BE OPENED FOR POSTAL INSPECTION IF NECCESSARY / [on left side, bottom of label] WATERPROOFING / ROOFING / TARMAC / [on right side, bottom of label] BITUMINOUS PAINTS / TAR ACIDS / CREOSOTE / [bottom edge of label] GENERAL OFFICES: KOPPERS BUILDING, PITTSBURGH, PA. / KP-7-10M 9-37".

Text embossed on underside: "H [inside triangle] / T".
Historical NotesKoppers Company, Inc. sample bottle of Vapo Cresolene. The donor's father worked for the tar and chemical division of Koppers. Object obtained to enhance collection on Koppers Company, Inc. Vapo Cresolene was used in lamps for resolving chest congestion ailments, much like a vaporizer. The Vapo-Cresolene Company began in 1879, in New York City, but the product's brand name became synonymous with every type of mixture made thereafter (much like calling all facial tissues "Kleenex"). The main ingredient for the mixture was cresolene, which was derived from coal tar; the rest was a chemical used in disinfectants--this product was obviously dangerous and toxic. The Koppers Company was founded by Dr. Heinrich Koppers, a young German engineer, who had developed a new type of coke oven that could economically recover the byproduct chemicals of the coking process. American steel producers brought Dr. Koppers to the U.S. to build his ovens. The first ovens were completed in 1907 in Joliet, Illinois, and the H. Koppers Company was incorporated in Chicago in March 1912. In 1914, these American investors purchased the majority interest in the company from Dr. Koppers and established the headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA, then the world capital of steel making. (Edited from source: www.Koppers.com) Bottle possibly made by J.T.& A. Hamilton, Pittsburgh, PA (1884-1943). Mark reportedly used approximately 1900-1943.

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