Now here's a trio of small,clear glass jars that once held pomade and solid brilliantine--grooming essentials for the 1950s man. The brands include Cashmere Bouquet, an imported brand; Atomic Solid Brilliantine, and Waling-Waling, both local products. The 50 to 60 year old pomade bottles retain both their tin caps and labels with bold, colorful graphics. The more familiar brand--Cashmere Bouquet--actually has a talcum powder counterpart, while the two are largely unheard-of. More well-known pomade brands of the 50s include Glo-Co, X-7,  and Robin Hood, The small jars were easily disposed of after use, that is why it is amazing to find these 3 pomade jars still in great condition after all these years.

For quick pick-ups, pick up a couple of Cokes in a nifty 6-bottle aluminum carrier from the 50s. Found in an local online ad, the Coke bottle carrier has a stamped  "Drink Coca Cola" graphics on the body with a wooden handle.
This is a rarely-seen U.S. made version as the most common carriers available are all-aluminum with a wire handle. Vintage aqua Coke bottles are shown snuggly fitted into this portable midcentury Coca Cola relic-- a great memento of those times when all it took was a Coke to refresh you best!

 An interesting bottled whimsey that gives a fresh spin to the usual "ship-in-a-bottle" folk art. This crucifixion bottle, an ebay pick, dates from the early 20th century, and is quite an elaborate creation, featuring almost all the symbols of Christ's passion, all carved and cut from pine.
 The focal point of the bottle is a large serrated cross, and each facet shows allegorical and symbolic carvings such as a ladder, an anchor, a heart, a cross, and miniature crosses.
 This side of the bottle shows a rooster (associated with Peter's denial of Christ), a lance, a hammer, and a whip.
Turn the bottle around and you will see a pair of crossed swords, a shovel and a spear. The cross itself is trimmed with 3 criss-crossed serrated bars. Crucifixon bottles, as these are called in Europe and the U.S. were favorite folk art crafts done by local artisans and ordinary people during their spare time. There are also crucifixion bottles from the Philippines which were believed to have been made by Bilibid prisoners as part of their rehabilitation program. Regardless, all these bottles were made by deft and steady hands, requiring patience and many hours of perseverance to complete such folksy, collectible bottled art.

The first vintage items I collected were cobalt blue bottles, because not only were they cheap (Milk of Magnolia bottles cost Php40 for a set of 3 in the '80s) but their intense blue coloring had lots of visual appeal. They were colored like so because they held contents (oils, poisons, medicines)  that were sensitive and could be rendered ineffective when exposed to light.

Recently, a cache of old cobalt blue bottles surfaced in Manila and found their way in antique shops and online stores. These Polak and Schwarz's cobalt blue bottles were made to contain oil essences for the Philippine market.

Founded in 1889 by Leopold Schwarz. and his brother in law, Joseph Polak, the company produced-Fruit Flavors, Gift Free Dyes and Aether Oils. The factory moved in 1896 to Zaandam under the name NV Polak & Schwarz's Essence Factories.

In 1930 the essence factory of Polak and Schwarz was build on the Provinciale weg in Zaanstad and became the most important essence producer in Europe before the second World War.  After the war the company moved to Hilversum and then merged with an American company to become International Flavors and Fagrances (IFF).

My 10 inch tall example still has its original paper label intact. I have seen unopened bottles stoppered with cork holding their original content. There are other bigger bottles of amber color from the same firm, containing spirits and gin. Cobalt blue bottles are among the most desirable and most expensive in the bottle collecting world, so the prices of these bottles are expected to rise as the stocks dwindle.

James Buchanan, thought of the black and white terrier mascots for his Black & White Scotch Whisky product that he founded in London in the 1890s. Since then, the scotch whisky brand with the familiar label has figured prominently in our pop culture--it was featured being drunk in movies like James Bond, Dolores Claiborne, La Dolce Vita (with Marcello Mastroianni as the happy swigger), and is te favorite drink of Dean Martin and Cary Grant. The iconic terriers (actually a black Scottie and a white West Highland) have appeared in thousands of merchandising materials through the years.

This particular display, found in a Pampanga shop, is one such example. To entice barhoppers, this usually was placed on the bar top, with a real B&W Scotch bottle set next to the cute canines. It is made from some kind of plastic and dates from the 50s. These bar displays may have been imported to the Philippines by the local distributor. On ebay, a flawless example (sans the vntage bottle) of this advertising collectible commands a starting bid of about $20. Got mine for about half of that price--considering its condition, but still a good buy for a rarely seen piece.

One American soft drink brand that reached the Philippines in the 40s was 7-UP, that fizzly bubbly drink created by Charles Leiper Grigg in 1929. Originally, 7-UP was named "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda", because it contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug used to cure hangovers. But it proved popular to the mainstream soda market, and soon, millions 7-UP in green bottles were staples ion picnics, parties and the homes, providing a refreshing aletrnative to cola drinks.

Its signature green bottles showing a woman in swimsuit with 8 bubbles in the front lable came out first in 1937. The design was kept the same till the 50s, although the bubbles were reduce to 7, in keeping with the 7-UP name. An interesting and rare Philippine 7-UP bottle is of amber and was used in the mid 50s and 60s. This bottle followed the 'non-swim' design produced until 1953. 7-UP's popularity has waned considerably with the introduction of Sprite, but there was a time when everyone was "'un for all, all for 'un, 7-UP the UnCola!".

Choco-Vim was my idea of chocolate heaven back when I was a kid in the 60s. Dairy giant Magnolia concocted the chocolate drinks, and came in straight-sided bottles such as this, and also in shorter, squatter bottles. When the family would go visit my aunt in Manila, she would welcome us with servings of Choco-Vim, picked out from her freezer (she ran Herran Kiosk). Choco-Vim would be reincarnated as Magnolia Chocolait in the 70s, and this time, it was made to appeal to the young go-go crowd. Remember that ad featuring young people cavorting on a beach as the jingle "Superdelicious Chocolait, Supernutritious Chocolait.." played on and on?

In the early 80s, Chocolait was assigned to ad agency Ace Compton and, in a twist of fate, I found myself writing the ads for it! I guess my love and affinity for the product showed as the Magnolia Chocolait Ad won creative awards! Anyway, Chocolait--now in tetra packs--is still being sold today, but even if I know it's the reincarnation of Choco-Vim, I still long for the day for the brand to return--original name, bottle, flavor and all. People from my generation still pine for the nourishing, revitalizing Choco-Vim--so much so that there's even a facebook group devoted to this bottled chocolate goodness!

A true Filipino icon brand--that's Rufina Patis, perhaps the most well-known name in the local seasoning industry-- a notch higher than Tentay, Dalisay and Lorenzana patis. This flavorful fish sauce was first concocted by Lucio Lucas and Rufina Salao in 1900, an enterprising couple from the fishing town of Malabon. By the 1930s, the product was so in demand, such that in 1935, the brand name "Rufina Patis" was patented. In 1935, the demand for this product had grown so high that its makers decided to patent its brand name. Rufina Patis went international in the 50s when it was exported to Filipino communities in Hawaii and Guam. I still remember the catchy jingle that played over and over again on the radio "Rufina Patis! Rufina Patis! Ang patis Rufina...ay malinamnam!". Rufina Patis was first packed in bottled with paper labels. This 1950s-60s bottle has an applied color label with the signature Rufina font on top of a green circle. Other kinds of bottles were used, but the logo remained the same.

Though not as high profile and as visible in the marketing scene, the Rufina Patis Factory is still in operations today in Malabon, still churning out the flavor that first captivated Pinoy taste over a century ago.

Now here's a Magnolia bottle that you rarely see -- a clear milk bottle with the raised logo of Magnolia, the country's leading manufacturer of milk and dairy products established over 80 years ago by San Miguel Corporation . Now who does not know of its Flavor of the Month... Choco-Vim... and fresh milk products? Before the advent of tetra packs, Magnolia Milk came in bottles such as this, which came in 3 sizes. The old Magnolia logo even has its slogan "Certified Pure" on the ribbon below the brand name, which dates this bottle to the 50s. More recent and common would be the straight-sided milk bottles (1970s) with printed blue logos. After all these years, wala pa ring tatalo sa Magnolia!