green glass Lionel bottles? Give me a clue.

[pbjwilson]

O.K., I'm clueless on this one. Listed on e-bay are two glass bottles with Lionel embossed on them. What are these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4146&item=5961238082&rd=1

[csxt30]

Hi PJ, Not real sure, but could be from their chemistry sets they made. Always wanted one back in the 50's , but a lot of parents were afraid the kids would blow up the house!! Thanks, John

[pbjwilson]

This is my guess. In the old days you would go to the local Lionel dealer and you'd buy smoke pellets in bulk. He'd pour some pellets out of these bottles and you paid by the weight.
Or, These bottles contained eu de Lionel perfume. That ever so succulent smell of Lionel trains, oily,electrical motor scent.
Or, some voodoo elixir that shrunk you down so you could actually put yourself in the cab of your 736 Berk.

[Anonymous]

Actually these bottles are quite modern. They contained 100 proof spirits to be taken by mouth when a train equipped with all that electronic gadgetry just sits there, stone cold dead on the track.

Those of use who have never graduated from the post-war electro-mechanical era don't need it.

Heaven give us trains we can fix.

wolverine49

[Anonymous]

Wow, whatever they were for somebody wanted them badly. My lionel chemistry set had little squat square clear bottles. By the way, if you were shrunk down how would you control the Berk? It would be fun tho. John

[Anonymous]

Hello All: My guess is they came from the testing lab at Lionel, Just a thought Steve

[csxt30]

Steve, [#ditto] I see they sold for $305.00 . WOW!! Thanks, John

[Kooljock1]

I've seen something like this before, maybe in an old TCA Quarterly. I believe they are Oil & Vinegar decanters from the New Jersey factory cafeteria, or perhaps the New York H.Q..

And for the record, LIONEL modern engines don't sit stone cold when the electronics pop. At any rate, they require MUCH less fiddleing with than a pre or post-war E-Unit! Those puppies look nice, but they're parked on the shelf, because I for one am tired of the constant brush swapping, e-unit cleaning, armature scrubbing, slot scraping regimen!

Jon [8D]