Dingen’s Napolean Cocktail Bitters

Dingens Napolean Cocktail Bitters

Dingens Brothers

Buffalo, N.Y.

N 3

Frank L. Dingen & John C. Dingen

Amber Lady’s Leg Figural Banjo

Provenance: Ferdinand Meyer V Collection

One of the most interesting and visually exciting figural bitters bottles is Napolean Cocktail Bitters put out by the Dingens Brothers in Buffalo, New York. The banjo-lady’s leg form is unique for a bitters bottle and must have had a great shelf presence wherever it was sold be it in grocery stores or taverns. Bitters were being sold as medicines even though they were full of alcohol to avoid liquor taxes. These figural bottles further distanced the product from your typical whiskey bottle and made it more “acceptable” to buy with your weekly groceries.

John Dingens, a German immigrant, was born on May 10, 1810, and was married in 1835 in Buffalo, New York to Mary F. Friederich. She arrived in Buffalo from France in 1828. They had seven children; Joseph A., Mary F., Celestine, Frank L., Josephine, John C., and Matilda.

John Dingens was an established grocer well known to the community. An 1841 Buffalo newspaper advertisement said he was selling Rhenish Wine from his establishment at 332 Main Street opposite the Phoenix Hotel. The ad said, “reference can be made to some of the physicians of this city who have made use of the article and were highly pleased with it.”

Unfortunately, John Dingens died relatively young on December 26, 1848, and left his widow Mary to run the grocery business. Their oldest son Joseph was only 13 so he certainly wasn’t ready.

In 1854, Mary married Valentine Friederich who died in 1875 leaving three children, Eugenia, Eugene, and George. Valentine would take the helm with his wife Mary and run Dingens, as the grocery business was now called.

An 1860 newspaper advertisement was titled, ‘Dingen’s Giant Gift Establishment’ located at No. 356 Main Street in Buffalo. The ad continued to say, “Something New and yet old and known Truth.” A reference to Mary and Valentine taking over and carrying on with the established Dingens name. Their new business was the “Cheapest and Best Place to Buy Wines, Liquors, Cigars, and Whiskeys.” In a smaller typestyle beneath, they said they were also selling Meerschaur and other Pipes, Cigar Holders and Cases, Sardines, Prunes, Table Oils, French and German Mustards, Swiss and other Cheese and an endless variety of Jewelry. It was all being distributed in an “Entirely New Manner.”

By the mid-1860s we see Dingens Bros. listings in the Buffalo City Directory. They said they were manufacturers of syrups and cordials located at 499 and 501 Main Street. Frank L. and John C. Dingens were listed as the primary partner bothers. The younger Joseph A. Dingens was listed as a bookkeeper at the same. In 1866, they would first advertise their Napoleon Bitters. Napoleon Bonaparte was a French statesman and military leader who became notorious as an artillery commander during the French Revolution. Obviously, Mary influenced the Napoleon Bitter’s name. They used his likeness in all types of advertising. A surviving partial label was reported to contain the image of Napoleon, bats with spread wings, a devil stirring a cauldron of brew, and some glasses. It also said, “Dingens Hot Punches prepared by Dingen Bros., Buffalo.”

By 1872, Dingens Bros. was listed as wholesale liquor dealers and cigar manufacturers at 77, 79, and 447 Main. Perhaps one store was focused more on liquor and the other on groceries. Joseph, Frank, and John were now running the business. They had taken on a new partner, Eugene Bertrand who married one of the Dingen daughters.

By 1885, the Dingens Bros. were located at what they called the Mammoth Grocery Store at 333 Main Street, opposite the head of Niagara Street. They said they operated the most complete Grocery House in the city, carrying a variety of staple and fancy groceries, domestic and imported table delicacies. Coffees and teas were one of their specialties along with noted brands of Champagnes and Mineral Waters, pure wines and liquors for medicinal and family use was also their specialty. For smokers, they guaranteed the finest cigars in Buffalo. They said their stock was so complete in every detail, in fact so complete that “you can find anything from Nutmeg to a Pickle. Toilet soaps from a nickel to a dollar a cake” You could also order from their Catalogue and Cook Book.

You can find Dingens Bros. newspaper advertisements all the way up to the early 1900s. By that time they were addressed at 375 and 377 Washington Street in Buffalo. The ads said they were grocers and importers.

In 1903, ads were placed in newspapers saying they were going out of business. Last calls were placed for food items and their store fixtures were being sold at half price. The great Dingens grocery business was no more.

The Dingens Cocktail Bitters bottle actually comes in two molds, one with a pedestal and one without. Our museum example is with a pedestal. It stands to reason that the addition of the pedestal would have assisted in keeping the bottle upright and was less prone to tipping over. You can find examples of Dingens Napoleon Cocktail Bitters in shades of amber, clear, green, and amethyst glass.

The Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham listing in Bitters Bottles is as follows:

N 3 DINGENS ( au ) / NAPOLEON COCKTAIL BITTERS ( ad ) // c // DINGENS BROTHERS ( au ) / BUFFALO, N. Y. ( ad ) // c //
10 ½ x 4 x 2 ½ (5 ¾) with pedestal, maximum width 5 ½
Banjo lady’s leg, Yellow amber, Olive amber, Yellowish olive green, smoky clear, and Aqua, LTC, Applied mouth, Metallic pontil mark, Very rare
Label: On Napoleon Cocktail side – a picture of Napoleon, bats with spread wings, a devil stirring a cauldron of brew, and some glasses. Dingens Hot Punches prepared by Dingen Bros., Buffalo.

N 4 DINGENS’ ( au ) / NAPOLEON COCKTAIL BITTERS ( ad ) // c // DINGENS BROTHERS ( au ) / BUFFALO, N. Y. ( ad ) // c //
9 ½ x 3 ¼ x 2 ¼ (5 1/8) without pedestal, maximum width 5 ½
Banjo lady’s leg, Amber and Olive amber, LTC, Applied mouth, With and without Metallic pontil mark, Very rare
Label: same as preceding

Interestingly enough, there is also a square and rectangular Napoleon Bitters listed as N 2 and N 2.5 in Bitters Bottles. This simpler bottle mold would have cost much less to produce, pack, and ship.

N 2 / f / NAPOLEON / BITTERS // sp // DINGENS BROTHERS / BUFFALO N.Y. // // u // f // 1866 // f // 1866 //
10 x 2 ¾ x 2 ½ (7 1/8) ¼
Square, Yellow olive, Puce and Amber, LTCR, Applied mouth, Extremely rare.

Support: Reference to Bitters Bottles by Carlyn Ring and W. C. Ham. Use of Dingens Napoleon Cocktail Bitters illustrations courtesy Bill Ham

Primary Image: Dingens Napoleon Cocktail Bitters bottle imaged by the FOHBC Virtual Museum midwest studio by Alan DeMaison.

Support Images: N 4, Dingen’s Napoleon Cocktail Bitters – Dingens Brothers Buffalo, N.Y., amber, smooth base, nice crude applied top, perfect condition, America circa 1860 to 1870 – greatamericanbottles.com, the web site of Ed & Kathy Gray

Support Images: N 3, Dingens / Napoleon Cocktail Bitters bottle (“Dingens Brothers / Buffalo, N.Y.”), circa 1860-1870, yellowish grass green in color, and 10 inches tall. – Jim Hagenbuch, Glass Works Auctions

Support Images: N 3, Smoky clear Dingen’s Napolean Cocktail Bitters example from Norman C. Heckler Auctions

Support Images: N 3, Lilac Amesthystine Dingen’s Napolean Cocktail Bitters – Jack Stecher Collection

Support Images: N 3, Clear Dingen’s Napolean Cocktail Bitters example from the Ferdinand Meyer V collection. Amber N 2.5 Napoleon Bitters from same.

Support Image: Napoleon Cocktail Bitters postal cover from the Ben Swanson collection. Same for Napoleon Cocktail Bitters facsimile currency and Napoleon Bitters token.

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