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August 9, 2011

Uncapped Landfill Bottle #6

DuraglossBottles

Number six in our uncapped landfill bottle series: two matching bottles: one chipped—one melted. More de-branded glass bottles from Dead Horse Bay, but in this case we have a patent number (110034) embossed on the bottom…

BottlePatent

A bottle designed by Edwin T. Reynolds. No mention of what the bottle was meant to contain, but the patent was assigned to “Lorr Laboratories” of Patterson, NJ.

A search for any additional patents assigned to “Lorr Laboratories” turns up this odd “container cap”—also designed by Edwin T. Reynolds. Again, no mention of the product…

CapPatent

Could this be the cap the went with these bottles? It was patented around the same time. What did Lorr Laboratories manufacture?

“We manufacture a polish called Dura-Gloss and only produce it to be sold in all stores for 10 cents. Our business is to furnish that, and we also furnish some brands of miscellaneous drugs.”

–from Lorr Laboratories’ testimony before on “H.R. 8367”—a bill to amend the Tariff Act of 1930 by reclassifying brushes or hair pencils for manicuring purposes. April 18, 1940

DuraGlossNailPolish

Nail polish. That art deco bottle cap design was meant to represent a fingernail! Logical to show the nail polish color on the cap, and a good way to demonstrate its effect as a fingernail color. But, for some reason, lethally sharp and claw-like in its execution.

(Dura-Gloss trademark, bottle label, additional advertising images, and competition with Cutex, after the fold…)


DuraglossTrademark
DuraGlossLabel

DuraGlossAdDetails-490

In the early 1950s Dura-Gloss changed their bottle design, but retained the fingernail cap concept:

1950sDuraGlossBottle

Dur-Gloss was not the only company to try this idea, although they may have been the first. Northam Warren’s Cutex also came out with a similar color-identifying fingernail cap.

Cutex
On left: detail from 1943 Cutex ad (via clotho98’s Flickr Photostream); on right: Cutex mmanicur kit (from Granny’s Thimble Etsy shop)

Which is interesting because during the 1940s hearings on “H.R. 8367”—(a bill to amend the Tariff Act of 1930 by reclassifying brushes or hair pencils for manicuring purposes)—Lorr Laboratories, in opposition to the bill testified that “reclassifying brushes or hair pencils for manicuring purposes” would hand Cutex a monopoly and force Dura-Gloss to import their brushes from Japan during WWII. “That source of supply of the brush is very, very doubtful.”

This testimony clearly indicates, although it does not conclusively prove, that the Cutex people, either directly or indirectly, own and control the United States Brush Co. and consequently own and control the sole source of supply in the United States of brushes satisfactory for use in applying manicuring polish.

Perhaps, however, the explanation is not so difficult if one considers that the Northam Warren Corporation, manufacturer of Cutex polish, is more interested in eliminating competition in the business of manicuring polish than it is in protecting the market for hair-pencil brushes. We therefore have the situation that if HR 8367 be enacted, Lorr Laboratories will be compelled to retire from the 10-cent in nail polishes because imported brushes would be prohibitively high and the United States Brush Co. is either unable or unwilling to sell its products to it. This situation would directly benefit Northam Warren Corporation and would give it a monopoly of the 10-cent nail-polish market. Lorr Laboratories employs 230 people and not only will the employees of this company lose their positions but the employees of practically every other company in the industry and in other industries using brushes of this type will be directly affected.

And who designed Cutex’s competing nail polish bottle & cap? Donald Deskey.

DeskeyCutex

(For more about Northam Warren and Donald Deskey, see: Donald Deskey’s Odorono Jar)

« Polyhedral Pineapple
Holding on by a Fingernail:
13 Nail Polish Package Design Patents »

Comments

  1. Ashley says

    January 14, 2012 at 2:02 pm

    Hello, I recently found a bottle matching your description in the bank of a river. Its outside is worn significantly to the point of “beach glass” but the bottom still reads patent number 110034. I was unable to find much information about this bottle until I stumbled upon your site. Thanks for the research and images!

    Reply
  2. Sue says

    March 24, 2015 at 3:37 am

    I found this bottle with the cap, very worn but still on the bottle last week in the old Dayton, NV. dump. That dump was used from 1906 until 1954. It is in very good condition for it’s age. It cleaned up well, with no chips or cracks.

    Reply
  3. Jane P. says

    March 28, 2015 at 4:15 am

    I just found the same bottle today, digging a hole to transplant a gardenia…sweet!

    Reply
  4. Gina D says

    May 28, 2015 at 5:34 am

    I have a nail polish bottle like this, same finger nail cap, the label is worn off, but I found this site with the patent #, as I was trying to date it. My bottle still has the lid with a brush and has some dried up clear brownish polish in the bottom. Thank you for the info!

    Reply
  5. Carol K says

    June 12, 2015 at 9:46 pm

    Just found this bottles in an old burn site in Hauula Hawaii and googled the patent info. No label or top but bottle is in good shape. Thanks for all the info.

    Reply
  6. Ray B says

    January 18, 2016 at 10:02 am

    me and my son Josh found a bottle with the same pat’D number 110034 it is good condition on cracks but no top thanks for the information

    Reply
  7. Annette Callan says

    June 4, 2016 at 10:33 pm

    value of the uncapped bottle? There’s a little french pink nail polish inside.

    Reply
  8. Star says

    March 20, 2017 at 7:57 pm

    I found this buried in our back yard in really good shape

    Reply
  9. Jon says

    March 28, 2017 at 3:02 am

    How much is the bottle worth?

    Reply
  10. germain gauthier says

    May 24, 2017 at 6:50 pm

    jai une bouteille a vendre 50.00 $

    Reply
  11. Bee says

    November 17, 2017 at 1:33 pm

    I have a bottle of the dura gloss in perfect condition. It is the color blackberry. Even the label is perfect. It was in my great aunts home. Is it worth hanging onto?

    Reply
  12. Seaglassandstuff says

    May 22, 2018 at 9:14 pm

    I found a bottle like this at Dead Horse Bay in New York.

    Reply
  13. Stephanie Moore says

    June 19, 2018 at 7:18 am

    I found this bottle in a dump in Franklin, PA along with a variety of bottles from the 40s. We love collecting antiques and this site was very useful. I loved reading about the cutex takeover. What a Swindell.

    Reply
  14. Annie says

    January 7, 2019 at 12:48 am

    Thank you so much for all of this information! We found this bottle buried in our backyard in Phoenix, AZ 4 years ago and have been looking for information ever since. Your research is very much appreciated.

    Reply
  15. Jojo says

    April 17, 2019 at 3:28 pm

    I just found this bottle today in the woods by my house in Stillwater nj. :)

    Reply
  16. Gabrielle says

    June 5, 2019 at 12:52 am

    Thank you for the info! I just found one in the back yard of our apartment along with a Vaseline bottle from Chesebrough, NY this morning!

    Reply
  17. cyndi says

    June 18, 2019 at 7:49 pm

    My son found the Dura gloss bottle in great condition, no polish inside, the cap is next to perfect but missing the inner brush, the bottle matches the design for the 1938 patent,
    BUT the bottom of the bottle markings are not the same.. the markings are embossed but the only number is 2 & there is a symbol above it that looks like a castle..
    WHY is it different when the bottle looks to be the same at patent 110,034
    WHY does it not have a patent number?

    Reply
  18. cyndi says

    June 18, 2019 at 8:43 pm

    This message goes with the post I just sent.. I just realized that the bottle he found is a Nail Polish REMOVER, because under the lid it is round, yet the lower body is the same except for the embossed bottom. The lid is in good shape, it has a longer embossed side( like a pointed nail) & a bit shorter embossed area on the opposite side leading to the tip.

    Reply
  19. Deborah says

    June 23, 2019 at 3:03 pm

    Today, I found one of the bottles but with no lid and it is chipped at the top. It has dried up polish/makeup in it. Very cool.

    Reply
  20. Peter says

    December 24, 2019 at 12:47 am

    Dec 23 2019. I found this bottle in very good condition along the banks of Cypress creek in Northwest Houston while i was searching for arrowheads. I cleaned it up and noticed the bottom patent # 110034 2-8. From nail polish bottle to bud vase it will be repurposed and a nice conversation piece.

    Reply
  21. Anchovy says

    April 17, 2020 at 5:55 pm

    April 17. 2020

    I found two of these bottles along Wingra creek in an area that was used for a dump probably in the 1930′ – 40’s in Madison, WI.
    -Thank you so much for your information. So fun to see so many others finding them in the same manner.

    Reply
  22. patrick stanley says

    April 26, 2020 at 5:17 pm

    I dug this bottle up in backyard close to mississipi river ,glad to find out what it is still had the metal polish handle packed in the mud it’s in good shape too thank you..

    Reply
  23. Kayley says

    October 14, 2020 at 6:23 pm

    I just dug up one of these bottles in my backyard and curiosity drove me here. So excited, I hope I find more like this as it is so neat!

    Reply
  24. Scott Brouhle says

    April 19, 2021 at 11:50 am

    We found this same neat little bottle while digging in a old backyard burn pile in central NC that I date to the early 40’s and I’m thankful for the coroborating information that I found here.
    Thanks Scott 4/17/21

    Reply
  25. Tiffany N Myers says

    April 29, 2021 at 8:55 pm

    Was smoothing out mole holes so I could now and found it here in Vancouver, Washington.

    Reply
  26. Aubrei says

    May 8, 2021 at 11:37 pm

    I just found one today while cutting down a dead tree in our backyard. The one I found still has pink/red nail polish dried inside. So cool!

    Reply
  27. Stephen Makowan says

    August 20, 2021 at 11:36 pm

    I found one in Franklin county Illinois with my 5 year old. The reason I’m researching this bottle is it has something inside it which after reading what the bottle was designed for I’m guessing the object inside my bottle is a fingernail maybe. Not sure but definitely weird. Thanks

    Reply
  28. Tabitha Brown says

    August 25, 2021 at 12:31 am

    I found one today on the bank of the Mullica River in New Jersey! An exciting find to discover, it was in perfect condition minus the cap, still had dried up pink nail polish inside! Thank you for this publication otherwise i would be left wondering.

    Reply
  29. François Gaudreault says

    August 29, 2021 at 12:21 pm

    Found this exact bottle with the patent number in the sand, while walking on the beach in Pointe-aux-Outardes, Québec, Canada. Very interesting!

    2021-08-29

    Reply
  30. Mary Cook says

    September 8, 2021 at 3:09 pm

    While putting in a new septic system my hubby found the bottle but no cap. I collect unusual bottles. Maybe some day I will come across a intact bottle to add to my collection. A lot of awesome information on here!

    Reply
  31. lanelle says

    May 2, 2022 at 7:54 pm

    I just found a bottle as well. It was in Connecticut.
    Good shape, no cap.

    I’d love a good story about this!

    Reply
  32. Erin says

    June 17, 2022 at 8:13 pm

    We found a bottle today in an Illinois River, cap intact and nail polish, with brush attached to cap.
    Pretty cool find!

    Reply
  33. Melinda MacLeod says

    July 18, 2022 at 5:40 am

    My husband found this bottle on the bank of Mobile Bay, Alabama. No cap but in decent condition. Almost looks frosted. I finally read the patent number right and found this information. Way too excited. Thank you.

    Reply
  34. Nelson says

    July 21, 2022 at 1:26 am

    The one I found was a salt shaker had a salt shaker cap on top

    Reply
    • Rich says

      July 27, 2022 at 1:45 pm

      It’s funny u said that as this one I found I immediately thought of as a samt shaker. Wonder if repurposed or was sold also for salt as there’s no cap or sign of color inside .

      Reply
  35. Patty O says

    July 24, 2022 at 4:39 pm

    While walking down the alley behind my house (after mowing), found the bottle, no cap. Ironically, I really need to paint my toe nails.

    Reply
  36. Rich says

    July 27, 2022 at 2:08 pm

    I found one of these bottles without a cap ,label,or indication of color inside. I noticed in above pics that some bottles are conical and see just straight up and down. Another person who’d found one mentioned he thought maybe a salt shaker which ironically was my first thought when found. Also mine has as the last line of print on the bottom 5-26-4 or some variation of it and I thought that the -4 ar the end might have meant 1904 as it’s date of patent but it seems not from what I’ve read here and that they were just empty bottles sold to a number of companies to package various products thus I doubt mine to have been for mail polish as it’s a pain to remove and mines as clean as a babies arse prior to diapering that is
    . If I can find a cap to fit I think I’ll turn it to being that salt shaker I first believed it to be and a great dinner time conversation piece and now I need to find a matching pepper.lol

    Reply
  37. Karen Powell says

    September 11, 2022 at 1:34 pm

    One found without top with a little pink polish in the the bottom in Palestine, West Virginia

    Reply
  38. Suzanna Strehl says

    October 9, 2022 at 6:44 pm

    We found the same bottle, capless while digging in the garden. In Fair Oaks, Ca.
    Amazing that these bottles have been found in so many places. Is it worth less without the cap? And where do I collect my $50. Just kidding

    Reply
  39. This Constant Gardener says

    October 18, 2022 at 4:06 pm

    I found my bottle today, while digging a hole for my new garden art installation, due to Hurricane Ian’s remodel of my side yard.
    My bottle with no cap was definitely a Dura-Gloss brand and Tropical (pink) residue inside of said bottle. pat# 110034 3 with a flourish mark just left of the last 3. My bottle appears to be a bit longer from the advertisement shown above, hence the 3.
    This is perhaps my fifth artifact that I found in my yard, with a house built in 1927. No telling what else I may find, without looking.
    Thank you for this info, that was easy to find.

    Reply

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