Welcome - Bienvenue

An Introduction by Joe St. Germain

From prehistoric man picking up volcanic glass, obsidian, and looking through the smokey substance with wonder. An Egyptian priest dips his finger into a highly colourful amphoriskos and delicately paints the symbol of Ra around his eyes. Then to Rome, as a General raises a beautiful cameo cup to his lips in celebration of victory. On to Persia where a woman upturns a beautiful cut perfume bottle and cry's as the fragrance is spilled on her lap. In Venice a merchant toasts with a enameled glass goblet at the discovery of the new world. Then, England, France, the Netherlands, and to all the countries who have contributed to the advancement of glassmaking.

It was not until the early 19th century that glass was no longer looked upon as a luxury item. With the advancements in industrial factories and glass formulas, the once coveted bottle became nothing more than a useful receptacle, and it was the ingredients in the bottle that became coveted, and the bottle was to our good fortune discarded. Glass. Where would we be without it. Of all the substances known, what has more magical properties. This is how we get our enthusiasm for beautiful glass bottles. And this magic is felt when digging or buying early 19th and 20th century bottles. Bottles in a vast array of colours, shapes, with interesting names and all the history that is attached to them.

The Four Seasons Bottle Collectors Club was founded in 1976 to provide a forum for collectors to meet one another and share their excitement for the hobby. The club has a number of regular activities including digs, museum tours, a Christmas party, summer BBQ and of course our regular monthly meetings.

Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the club was the start of the Toronto Bottle & Nostalgia Lovers Show & Sale in 1992. This show has grown to be one of the premier bottle shows in Canada with over 100 sales tables and an audience of 500 plus.

Photographs from our 2008 Bottle Show are now posted!

© Copyright all rights reserved. Contact: Four Seasons Bottle Collectors Club. None of the contents of this web site - whether it be text or graphic images - may be mirrored, reproduced, or displayed in whole or in part on another web page or web site or in any publication or collection of widespread circulation, without prior permission from the Four Seasons Bottle Collectors Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.