Whithall Tatum Co., of Millville, New Jersey, manufactured this bottle that may have been filled with medicines like Dr. Caldwell’s Syrup Pepsin (to cure indigestion, constipation, sick headache, or stomach trouble) or Dodds’ Cough Syrup (for coughs and colds). Both products were advertised for sale at Dodds’ Drug Store operated by Richard N. Dodds at Fifth and Monroe Streets in Springfield. You could also get Cuban cigars and fine perfumes. The bottle’s unique shape was patented in 1894 and was in use until about 1901.

Dodds lived from 1851-1921. In 1873, he went to work for H. H. Glidden, and in a few months the two men entered into a partnership to form Glidden & Dodds Drug Store. He worked with Glidden for only two years before going out on his own. Dodds purchased the former W.R. Beall Drug Store at Fifth and Monroe Streets, and the location would later come to be known as Dodd’s Corner.

Source: “Good For What Ailed You” in Springfield, Illinois: Embossed Pharmaceutical Bottles Used by Springfield Druggists from the Civil War Era to the Early Twentieth Century, by Frederick M. Brown [2015]