Most of us will remember Shippam’s meat and fish paste – indeed, it can still be obtained today.
This jar is another item dug up in the garden which had belonged to village eccentric, Cally Hulbert.
Shippam's Paste Jar dug up in a garden at Northbrook, Market Lavington
Apparently jars of this style were in use from the 1920s until at least the late 1950s. The chances are that this jar was used and discarded by Cally. Our thanks go to the British Antique Bottle Forum (http://www.britishantiquebottles.co.uk/) for their help in dating this bottle.
The Shippam Company was based in Chichester. Apparently, the older Mr Shippam was strictly teetotal and objected to his workers drinking. We are told that if he suspected one of his team of imbibing some lunchtime liquor he hauled the person in front of him and made him say, ‘Shippam’s Chichester Sausages’. Seemingly if they could manage that, they were deemed OK, but if they couldn’t say it clearly they were in trouble.
As a final thought, the person who found this jar thought it was very ordinary and said, ‘You won’t be interested in that, will you?’ Well of course, we can’t keep everything but ordinary things from living memory do need keeping. And museum visitors love saying, ‘Ooh, you’ve got one of them. I remember them.’ So yes, we were pleased to receive the jar.
Tags: bottle, food, Market Lavington, Museum
Market Lavington Museum 
February 29, 2012 at 10:43 am |
I can remember as a kid at Sunday tea Shippams Fish paste was quite common on our table and on special occasions we had meat paste.
March 11, 2012 at 8:03 pm |
just thought i would reply to this item as i too have just found the same type jar in my garden last week, and couldn’t believe how good the condition it is in, i thought i recognised the name on it but couldn’t place it so looked up on the net and came across your item and found this very helpfull, i was digging footings for my workshop when i found this jar and will take pride of place in there when its finnished for sure 😉
March 11, 2012 at 8:22 pm |
Splendid, Danny. I agree – it’s a lovely item of no cash value at all, but who cares.
Rog (Curator)
November 3, 2012 at 9:26 pm |
Thanks for this post. I found an identical jar while scuba diving off of the old pier in St. Croix, USVI today. It’s always fun to know where things like this came from.
August 3, 2013 at 5:30 pm |
I have a lovely A3 (guess rough size) Shippams advert from the 1930s, really art deco in design , with a flapper girl in a bathing costume, original advert, and i love it, I do bottle digging and come across all sorts of meat paste pots, and have now started to collect them as they too are a part of our social history which has been overlooked for far too long .cheaqp, and easy to find and collect, with the advertising, would make a interesting collection.
August 3, 2013 at 5:35 pm |
I couldn’t agree more, Chris. I should say you’ll have a really worthwhile collection. Maybe you’ll research the history one day. Our jar has become the most looked at individual item on the museum blog. It proves there is real interest in them.
August 3, 2013 at 5:47 pm |
Thank you for the kind words.
If i get chance i will send a photo of the advert i have 🙂
December 15, 2013 at 9:56 pm |
In 1955 I was stationed at Chichester Barracks my pay was 15/- (75p) per week. The day before payday everyone was broke. Shippam’s allowed us to use their social club, free sandwiches but soft drinks only, these we had to pay for. I have only ever bought Shippham,s. Thanks Mr. Shippham. Happy days
March 26, 2014 at 12:01 am |
The jar that you found was filled on a hand filler there is one from shippams in Chichester museum.
March 26, 2014 at 6:35 am |
Thanks Chris. Always good to know more.
May 30, 2014 at 6:07 pm |
I just found a shippams jar in the back yard while sadly digging a hole to bury my best friend and companion “Conan” it has a 6 or a 9 on the bottom…any idea how old? its the shorter sqattier one in perfect condition
May 30, 2014 at 6:19 pm |
Sorry – no real knowledge. Ours was just found and we were surprised how little information was ‘out there’.
Rog
Curator
June 20, 2014 at 11:22 pm |
Just found a Shippams bottle in our garden along with glyco thymoline mouth wash , pinoleum (olbas type), scrubbs fluid and a poison or medicine bottle with teaspoons written on plus measurement lines. Our house dates from 1907.
June 21, 2014 at 5:15 am |
Gosh! How lucky you are.
September 12, 2014 at 2:52 pm |
I have just found 1 of these bottles in my garden. our house dates back to 1597.We have also found several other bottles and believe they belonged to the bottle factory in Vange Springs in 1900
Justine
September 13, 2014 at 12:08 pm |
Hi Justine
If you want to know more about your finds try http://www.britishbottleforum.co.uk/ They sort out most of my needs.
Rog
Curator
November 11, 2014 at 7:14 pm |
Hi I have 5 of this jars. They been bered in my garden for long time. Can i sell them? And how much they will be. Thanks.
November 12, 2014 at 10:03 am |
We have no interest in cash values but suspect such jars are worth approximately nothing. If you really want to find out offer them for sale on Ebay or any other auction.
December 15, 2014 at 2:12 am |
I have many Shiipham’s Meat and Fish paste jars. Since Aug 14th this year I have been digging up bottles on a Small scale Domestic tip/dump , local to me. Every time I dig a new hole , it is 95% likely I will dig up a Moulded glass Shippham’s paste jar. They date from the 1920’s – 30’s and are often in Mint condition due to this Tip being Previously unknown until I found it. Unfortunately as pretty as Meat and Fish paste jars can be, and the various different mould shapes. They are pretty much worthless. And it’s a damn shame because these Diddy jars can be some of the prettiest pieces of glass you can find .
December 15, 2014 at 9:26 am |
I agree they are lovely – but also very common which I suppose limits value. At a museum cash value is not of much interest to us. What we care about is the local provenance. They are appreciated by many. Our page on the Shippam’s jar is one of the most visited single pages on the blog.
Rog
Curator
April 17, 2015 at 12:30 am |
Hugh found the same jar while rooting about on Burgh Island here in Devon. The hotel on the island has so much history and it obviously was discarded in those interwar/postwar years by either some bright young thing or some other person of the period. There are probably loads around the island – not discovered yet. No recycling in them days; straight to the island tip although then of course there would be no plastic. Dinky thing it is with a circular space on the back for a label. Worthless really but we’ll keep it as a pretty gewgaw. All love from Hugh at Bigbury on Sea.
October 9, 2015 at 3:57 am |
Where can I find one of these sweet
jars to buy, if indeed are available? Are
they hard to come by? Any info, resources,
links & what-nots would be ever so much
appreciated. Thank you so very much for
your time, efforts, and insight!
Warm blessings,
Sharon
October 9, 2015 at 5:45 am |
Hi Sharon
We don’t buy things at this museum so havwe never looked into availability. But they were made in millions so they will be about somewhere and ought to be very inexpensive.
October 11, 2015 at 10:23 am |
hi my partner found a shippams glass bottle founded in the 1750s with a number 8 on the bottem in the middle it was found on a building site he would like to no if u are able to give any history and wiuld like to no if it gas any value
October 11, 2015 at 5:30 pm |
Sorry. We have no idea
May 16, 2016 at 5:32 pm |
Hi there, my daughter has just found one of these whilst digging in the garden.
Any advice on what we could do with it ?
May 16, 2016 at 5:36 pm |
Nothing beyond using it as a little vase. They have no value.
August 17, 2016 at 5:02 pm |
I’ve just dug up the same jar in Swansea Wales
August 18, 2016 at 6:05 am |
Enjoy it. We think they are lovely jard but of no value, of course.
August 31, 2016 at 12:14 pm |
Found one in the bush today ( 31/08/2016) – Tinonee, NSW, Australia, while walking the dog. The bush was used as a dumping ground in the early years. Sadly today it still is.
Very interesting history to this bottle.
August 31, 2016 at 1:05 pm |
Clearly an international item. We have the same problem here in the UK with people fly tipping.
September 29, 2016 at 12:20 am |
Found one while digging around a basement for weeping tile work in Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada. The site of the house was ontop of an old dump site back when our city was two towns. The dump site was turned into a small subdivision of housing back in the 1970s and we found all kinds of interesting things digging around the foundation walls, one being this bottle. Wonder if they were ever produced in Canada?
February 11, 2017 at 1:04 pm |
I’ve just found of these bottles sticking out of the edge of a water filled pot hole in a green lane near Exmoor National Park. The track is used by 4X4’s to link up farms. All I saw was the word Ship on a piece of glass. Curiosity made me dig it out. I was surprised to find it was a whole bottle. It was obviously thrown in with the rubble chippings before they were used to surface the track at some time. Thanks to the website for the information about the bottle. This one has the number 26 on it. I wonder how long it would have lasted vulnerable to the 4×4 wheels. It made walking my Border Collie in falling snow well worth it just to learn something new.
April 4, 2017 at 5:31 pm |
I have one dug up recently in Brean Sands in perfect condition
April 4, 2017 at 5:33 pm |
I have one dug up recently in Brean Sands in perfect condition it’s says founded 1750 on the bottom
July 16, 2017 at 1:08 am |
Empty Shippams paste jar used upside down in the middle of the meat pie to hold the pastry top up by both my grannies in the UK early 1950’s. Now a Kiwi.
March 17, 2018 at 6:33 pm |
Hi me and my friend went bottle hunting and found the exact same but in way better condition what should i do with it?
March 17, 2018 at 7:44 pm |
Whatever you like. It’s probably not at all valuable as there are so many of them about.
June 17, 2018 at 7:35 am |
I found one of these exact Shippam’s glass jar in my back garden near Wymondham, Norfolk yesterday [16/6/18]. I was digging a big hole to install an in-ground trampoline. Next to it was a small oval shaped white glass pot with “Ponds” written on the bottom. The house was built in the late 1980s on previously agricultural so how they got there and alongside each other is anyone’s guess. Maybe a farm worker who likes beef paste and well cared for skin!
October 21, 2019 at 5:57 pm |
My husband requested shippams paste recently. I searched and found some & can actually say I enjoyed a nostalgic crab paste experience. Why, I wonder, having just read this post, do shippams paste bottles now have to wear plastic waistcoats, which are tricky to remove & to my way of thinking, totally unnecessarily environmentally polluting! Ditch the plastic!!!
January 2, 2020 at 5:17 pm |
Just found this little jar in whiltshire nr stone henge founded1750 no 21 on the bottom any body know what the numbers mean?size maybe?
July 9, 2023 at 11:22 am |
I to, have a shippams paste jar identical to callys one
July 13, 2023 at 11:15 am |
Thank you for keeping this jar. It’s is a part of my history as I am a decent of Shippam’s and we don’t have these relics of my family and a lot of this story has never been told to me. If you ever don’t have the space for safe keeping I would be happy to have them in our family’s possession.
April 28, 2024 at 8:31 am |
We found a similar shippam’s paste jar in our garden!