A Collector’s Guide to Prescription Vials and Bottles

Author: Mary O. Bogard
Publisher: American Institute of the History of Pharmacy
Year Published: 1984, 2006
Slides: 20
AIHP#: ST10
Price: $20.00 ($12.00 for members)

Summary: Pharmacy glassware from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Abstract: The primary sources of information on pharmaceutical glassware are the catalogues of both the glassware manufacturers and the wholesale druggists, as well as the advertising pages of the pharmaceutical journals. Two of the largest such collections are in the Pharmacy Library of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Lloyd Library in Cincinnati. Much of the history of 19th and early 20th-century pharmacy can be found in the colorful prescription bottles that have survived and are available to the collector today. Prescription bottles make an interesting and comparatively inexpensive collection for the historian of pharmacy.

AIHP News

AIHP Thanks National Association Sponsors

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Patron ($10,000)

American College of Clinical Pharmacy, Donor ($5,000)

Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, Donor ($5,000)

American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, Contributor ($2,500)

American Pharmacists Association, Contributor ($2,500)

National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, Contributor ($2,500)

Join AIHP and Subscribe to History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals

Individual Subscription For $90/year ($110/foreign)

Institutional/Corporate subscription For $180/year ($200/foreign)

Pharmacy Education Fund (Schools or College of Pharmacy) For $360/year

Access the Pharmacy in History JSTOR Archive
All past issues of Pharmacy in History have been digitized and are text-searchable at JSTOR.

Note: Academic libraries seeking subscriptions to History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals should directly contact the University of Wisconsin Press.

AIHP Events

AIHP Calendar of Events

Upcoming events hosted by AIHP

December 17, 2025, 11:00 am (Central): Pharmacy History Working Group: Beyond medical pluralism: Interactions between physician-pharmacists and other craftspeople in the Graeco-Roman world with Laurence Totelin, Cardiff University.
January, 21, 2026, 11:00 am (Central): Pharmacy History Working Group: Spring Semester Welcome Back Event: A critical reading of Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls, hosted by Kelly O'Donnell, Towson Unviersity.
February 18, 2026, 11:00 am (Central): Pharmacy History Working Group: Audrey Ke Zhao, UC Santa Cruz & CHSTM Research Fellow
March 18, 2026, 11:00 am (Central): Pharmacy History Working Group: Ryan A. Kashanipour, University of Arizona

AIHP News

Calendar of Events

Upcoming events of interest to pharmacists and historians of pharmacy, pharmaceuticals, medicines, science, and related fields.

December 7-11, 2025: ASHP Midyear, Las Vegas, NV.
January 14, 2026: JCPP January 2026, Alexandria, VA.
March 27-30, 2026: APhA 2026, Los Angeles, CA.
April 18-21, 2026: NACDS Annual Meeting, Palm Beach, FL.
June 3-7, 2026: AAHM 2026, Buffalo, NY.
June 13-17, 2026: ASHP Pharmacy Futures, Charlotte, NC.
June 25, 2026: JCPP June 2026, Alexandria, VA.
July 18-21, 2026: AACP Pharmacy Education, Grapevine, TX.
September 17, 2026: JCPP September 2026, Alexandria, VA.
October 3-6, 2026: 2026 NCPA Annual Convention, Kansas City.