Susan Jones and myself are researching a man by the name of Carl Worner. Carl Worner made scenes in bottles, quite like ships in bottles, but Carl usually did saloons, bakeries, shoe repair stores, meat markets, and cigar shops. Carl would usually go into a saloon and ask for a bottle (seltzer or flask) and by using a cigar box he would cut out the figures and items that would make the scene in the bottle. Carl would use these bottles to pay for his bill at the saloon, barter for shoes or whatever he needed. Carl has been known to be in the Chicago, IL area in the early 1900's and possibly in the late 1800's. His later bottles came from Granite City, IL and St. Louis, MO. The time period would be around 1913-1914. We do not know when Carl Worner died, but we are thinking that it might have been in the St. Louis, Granite City area, since that is when his last bottles were found. We will are now starting to do our research in the St. Louis and Granite City, IL area. These are the St. Louis bottles that Carl did while in the St. Louis area. We are hoping that anyone with these family names who had a saloon, shoe repair store, etc., by these last names write us and let us know. Maybe there are more bottles in the St. Louis or Granite City area. The St. Louis bottles were M. Behrens, Henry Eilers, and the shoe repair shop of Rudolph Casper and Adolph Gloor. I think Salzman bottle was made in Newark, but I'm not 100% sure. We did find a Max Salzman with a saloon in Newark, New Jersey. Carl made bottles in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, St. Louis, and Granite City. The Chicago Tribune did a wonderful newspaper article on my bottle (handed down from my grandparents saloon) and the people that collect Whimsey bottles (as these bottles are called). Since the article appeared we have found more bottles and wonderful stories about Carl and the families that the bottles belong too. Some bottles have been sold when businesses have closed or family members have died. One bottle, which was a Granite City bottle, was given to the Chicago museum in Springfield, IL. Another bottle has ended up in the Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C. We recently found a person who is 95 years old that has given us information about their family, their bottle was sold many years ago and ended up in a collection. The women was glad to hear our story about Carl Worner. Another 1907 Chicago bottle just surfaced and the father was able to tell his son, who told us, how the bottle was put together. Also, the father was 14 at the time Carl Worner made their shoe repair bottle and he sat along side of him watching it being made. The bottle is a treasured family heirloom. This information we just received confirmed that Carl was a laborer by trade and not a hobo as we had thought. I suppose he made the bottles to make ends meet. If you are curious about these Whimsey Bottles you can see their pictures at Susan's web site. http://sdjones.net/FolkArt/FolkArt.html#worner Any information would greatly be appreciated to help us put the pieces of Carl Worner's life together. Lynn Horn Horn@cccd.edu