Dr. Renz’s Herb Bitters

Dr. Renz’s Herb Bitters

R 36

John Renz, Sacramento and San Francisco, California

Emerald Green Square

Provenance: Richard T. Siri Collection

John Renz was an early pioneer proprietor from Sacramento, California. He is associated with a wonderful bitters bottle that can be found in three variants in spectacular glass colors like our museum example. The bottles are square in form and are embossed on one panel with ‘DR. RENZ’S HERB BITTERS’ in two lines. The other three panels are blank and would be where a label would have gone.

These bitters were initially introduced to the California market by Dr. C. M. Renz and his son John on August 31st, 1867. John Renz would start advertising the bitters to the public during the fall of that same year stating that it was a recipe used by his father for 30 years.

Advertising used a facsimile of an award from the California State Agriculture Society for Dr. Renz’s Herb Bitters winning First Premium. Copy stated that “the bitters have supplemented all others wherever introduced. They are the great specific for all diseases arising from an impure state of the blood, or disordered stomach, and as an appetizer, they stand without rival, their own merits sell them everywhere.”

John would eventually operate out of San Francisco as noted in the advertisement below that says, “J. Renz, Wholesale Dealer in Fine Wines and Liquors. Wholesale Depot of Dr. Renz’s Herb Bitters and Renz’s Blackberry Brandy. 219 Commercial Street, San Francisco.” While his bottles are illustrated in the advertisement below there is also a marked barrel of Bonanza Bourbon Whiskey.

As noted, John Renz advertised that he was the depot for Renz’s Blackberry Brandy and Bonanza Bourbon Whiskey. You can see the Blackberry Brandy bottle in the Spirits Gallery in the Virtual Museum.

There are three variants of the Dr. Renz’s Herb Bitters bottle.

The “small letter variant” is considered by most western collectors as the earliest example of the Renz bottle. It is not known if this bottle was manufactured at the San Francisco or Pacific Glass Works. These early examples of Renz’s bitters bottles are seen in several different colors with three different style tops and most likely date from 1868 to 1869.

The second variant of the Renz bottle has large letters and “straight-legged” R’s. This bottle exhibits the same exact lettering style and apostrophe font as Dr. Wonser’s U.S.A.Indian Root Bitters. The Wonser’s started marketing in December of 1870 and the bottle is attributed to the San Francisco Glass Works. An original label found on an example of the second variant shows that John Renz was still marketing the product from the Sacramento location and probably dates from 1870.

The third and last variant of this bottle has large letters and the distinctive western “curved R’s” associated with the San Francisco glass houses. This variant uses an apostrophe that is seen on several different whiskeys of the early and mid-1870s and has the same font style as the E. Martin crown shoulder and mid crown whiskey fifths. This last variant has been found with an original label confirming that John Renz was marketing the “curved R” bottle from the San Francisco location during 1871 and until he discontinued the embossed bottle.

Many western bottle collectors consider Dr. Renz’s Herb Bitters a highly collectible bottle and the small letter variant is the most coveted of the three variants. Any western bitters collector worth his salt has completed the Renz hat trick, that is, having all three variants of the bottle in their collection.

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

R 36 DR. RENZ’S / HERB BITTERS // f // f // f //
Dr. J. Renz Proprietor Sacramento, California
9 7/8 x 2 ¾ (7 ¼) 3/8
Square, LTC & LTCR, Applied mouth, Amber – Very rare; Green – Rare,
Small letter variant

R 37 DR. RENZ’S / HERB BITTERS // f // f // f //
9 7/8 x 2 ¾ (7 ¼) 3/8
Square, LTCR, Applied mouth, Green – Very rare, Amber – Rare
‘R’ of Dr. underlined, Large letter straight ‘R’ variant

R 38 DR. RENZ’S / HERB BITTERS // f // f // f //
9 7/8 x 2 ¾ (7 ¼) 3/8
Square, LTCR, Applied mouth, Amber – Rare, Green – Very rare;
‘R’ of Dr. underlined, all R’s have curved legs, Large letter variant

The yellow-olive Dr. Renz’s Herb Bitters example pictured below is also in the Virtual Museum Bitters Gallery and is from the Steven Hubbell collection. See Rotational Images.

Primary Image: Both primary Dr. Renz’s Herb Bitters bottles imaged on location by the FOHBC Virtual Museum midwest studio led by Alan DeMaison.

Support: Reference to Warren B. Friedrich for variant descriptions. Warren is the author of Early Glassworks of California.

Support: Reference to Bitters Bottles by Carlyn Ring and W. C. Ham. Use of Dr. Renz’s Herb Bitters illustration courtesy Bill Ham.

Support Images: Color run images from the Max Bell collection.

Support Image: Red label image from the Eric McGuire collection.

Support Images: Amber example from the Ferdinand Meyer V collection.

Support Image: Auction Lot #11: DR. RENZ’S HERB BITTERS with applied top in amber. 1868-81. Don had a definite love affair with western squares, which became very apparent when we saw the number of Renz & Rothenberg bottles. Here is the large-lettered variant in an old amber, with a good deal of crudity. It’s amazing that Renz’s are seen in green as often as they are. With most old western bitters, the opposite is true. Here is a fine example that grades a solid 8.5. – Jeff Wichmann, American Bottle Auctions, Auction 70, Part 1 of the Don Dwyer Collection

Support Image: Auction Lot #12: DR. RENZ’S HERB BITTERS with applied top in yellow-green. 1868-81. Here is another example with the large lettering in a mellow yellow-green. It has some crudity and would look very nice on any shelf. An easy 8.5+ grade. – Jeff Wichmann, American Bottle Auctions, Auction 70, Part 1 of the Don Dwyer Collection

Support Image: Auction Lot #13: DR. RENZ’S HERB BITTERS with applied top in green. Ex. MacKenzie, Siri collection. 1868-81. As we go through the Renz’s, we have here a beautiful brilliant green example with the large lettering. This one has a large drip running down the neck and aside from a couple scratches is about perfect. This bottle was purchased from Richard Siri and previously sold from the Judge MacKenzie collection through Norm Heckler. This one deserves a lot of attention. Grades a 9. – Jeff Wichmann, American Bottle Auctions, Auction 70, Part 1 of the Don Dwyer Collection

Support Image: Auction Lot #14: DR. RENZ’S HERB BITTERS with applied top, variant 1 in amber. 1868-81. Here is the early version of this bottle with the smaller lettering, these were made as early as 1868 under the direction of John Renz, a German native. There are three variants of these bottles and the previous three lots are considered the 2nd variant, as the R’s are not curved but have large lettering. This example does not have curved R’s either but as we discovered through the years, the manner in which these were made becomes clearer all the time. In the Wichmann bitters book, the order of manufacture is listed backwards. This is a beauty and grades a 9. – Jeff Wichmann, American Bottle Auctions, Auction 70, Part 1 of the Don Dwyer Collection

Support Image: Auction Lot #15: DR. RENZ’S HERB BITTERS with applied top in light yellow-green. Ex. Mlasko, 1868-81. Here is the final example we have to offer, with more coming up in part two of Don’s collection. This has very thin glass and feels fragile. It is a very interesting color and one that may not be in a lot of collections. You might call this a light-yellow green. Another high-quality Renz that grades an 8.5. We could honestly grade all of these with a 9, we just want to make sure we are more conservative as we don’t need surprises. There is just a hint of interior haze but nothing that detracts. Grades a 9. – Jeff Wichmann, American Bottle Auctions, Auction 70, Part 1 of the Don Dwyer Collection

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