For the first time in its 40 year history, the Heritage Glass Museum has commissioned the production of a hand-blown glass commemorative flask. It celebrates South Jersey’s glass industry, its history, and folklore. These unique bottles are now available for purchase at the museum. 

They are made the traditional way, blown and finished by hand, one at a time. For over 160 years, before the invention of the automatic bottle machine, this was how all bottles were made here. A Clevenger Brother Glassworks (Clayton, NJ) scroll flask mold was used by a traditional glass artisan, Phil Gilson (also formerly from Clayton). The scroll flask design (GIX-10) dates back to the 1820s and has become one of the more desirable in the collecting world. Each has a pontil mark on its base, the unmistakable sign that it was handmade. Hand engraved slug plates were used to put designs on each side of the flask - The Salem Oak on one side and the Jersey Devil on the other. 

On June 6, 2019, in the Salem, NJ Quaker Friends Graveyard, a 600-year-old white oak tree fell. This tree was not just any tree, but the largest and one of the most historic in NJ. In 1675 John Fenwick of England arrived in Salem. His group of 49 were the first English settlers in South Jersey. They were escaping religious persecution and sought to start a new life in the colony of West Jersey. They soon made friends with the local Indians and signed a treaty with them under this tree. Since then, the tree has been revered as a symbol of the area’s heritage and a regional landmark. 

Meanwhile, 60 years later, in what was then Gloucester County (now Atlantic County), a baby was born, the 13th child of Japheth & Deborah Leeds. Deborah was 50 years old, and the pregnancy and delivery were so difficult that she cursed her newborn, “let it be the devil’s child.” Legend has it that it was a grotesque creature that had wings, hooves, and tail at birth, who flew up the chimney and has since haunted the Pine Barrens of South Jersey. 

Each flask has special added properties and features. Inside the molten glass batch used to make these flasks, additional ingredients were added. Pieces of the Salem Oak were saved and put in the mix. In addition, pieces of glass cullet from 15 different South Jersey glass factories were added. Wistarburg, Whitney, Stanger, Whitall- Tatum, Salem, Batsto, New Brooklyn, Malaga, Winslow, Crowleyville, Estellville, Wheaton, Medford, and Tansboro & Williamstown. 

Plus, inside each flask are several actual pieces of wood from the Salem Oak. Before the tree was hauled away, a Salem citizen gathered some of its wood and has generously provided them to our museum for this project. 

The first 100 were numbered and made in green and olive green. Only a few of those remain. Sixty additional flasks were made in sapphire blue. They won’t last long. The flasks are $30 each. 

Another flask is being planned for 2022—possibly a cabin bottle similar to Whitney’s famed Booz Bottle. Stay tuned... 

To purchase a collectible bottle, visit the Museum or email us at: heritageglassmuseum@hotmail.com