Bill Pullen’s glass bottle collection reminds him of time in South America

By MICHAEL FORTUNA, DAILY SUN

THE VILLAGES — While working at a hotel in South America, Bill Pullen uncorked a new collection.

From 1966 to 1968, Pullen was the manager of the Torarica Hotel and Casino in the capital city of Paramaribo in Suriname, located north of Brazil.

“It was an interesting two and a half years of my life,” Pullen said.

A gray-haired man from India came to the hotel one day selling several antique glass bottles. He put some of them on Pullen’s desk and asked for 300 guilder (Dutch currency) — a little more than $300 back then.

Pullen didn’t want any at that price, so the man started packing up the bottles. He then stopped and brought the price down. After some haggling, Pullen reached an agreement and bought the bottles for 175 guilder.

“He’d play this game with me all day,” Pullen said, laughing. “He was back all the time.”

Pullen eventually ended up with more than 50 Dutch and British hand-blown bottles, some dating back to the 1600s and 1700s. He even put them on display in the hotel.

“I like the authenticity of them,” Pullen said, “that there are very few of them, to know that a piece is 300 years old. I find that fascinating.”

Pullen said that during the 1700s, ships journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean from England and Holland to pick up various fruits from Suriname.

“The sailors would throw the bottles out into the river,” Pullen said.

Many years later, locals started digging around for artifacts and selling the bottles.

The bottles are either short and squat or tall and thin; a few of the necks were irregularly shaped during the glass-blowing process. Most of the bottles have a darker hue (usually greens or browns) to keep the contents safe from sunlight. Some have discolorations that probably came from their time in the river.

The lip of the bottle can reveal which country it came from; a roundish one was made in Holland, while a flat one came from England. The bottoms of the bottles have indentations where the pontil was used to hold the glass.

In 1968, when Pullen was moving to Scottsdale, Ariz., he had the bottles shipped by a friend who had a freight plane. Unfortunately, some confusion ensued, and two out of the four boxes disappeared. He now has about 30.

“I never expected to have that many,” Pullen said. “I (got the collection) by accident. Once I bought the first few bottles, I kept buying more.”

Michael Fortuna is a reporter with the Daily Sun. He can be reached at 753-1119, ext. 9234, or michael.fortuna@thevillagesmedia.com.