RABCA - The Richmond Area Bottle Collectors Association
RABCA is an active club of bottle enthusiasts that has been meeting regularly since 1970, now in the Dale Ruritan Club building, off of Rt. 10 just south of Chippenham Parkway (see map below). We meet on the 1st Wednesday (NOTE THE CHANGE OF MEETING DAYS) of February, April, May, September and November 7:30 - 9:00 pm. The June meeting is a picnic. In November we have our annual "Best ..." where members bring in their best bottles from the last year to compete for ribbons in a number of categories, and we have a dinner in December. We have a program at each meeting, a raffle for bottles, and members bring in recent acquisitions for Show & Tell. Of course, there are always a lot of great discussions about bottles. Visitors are always welcome. Rick McCormick is the club president, Tom Leveille is the VP, Marvin Croker is our secretary/treasurer and the show chairman is Tony Townsend. Click here to email me (Ed Faulkner) or call (804) 739-2951 if you want more details about our meetings or activities.
As well as the 5 regular meetings we have a picnic in June and a Christmas dinner at a local restaurant. Our picnic is always especially fun as there are activities such as a club raffle and an auction for members to sell bottles and go-withs. In 2024 we had around 35 people show up for the burgers, hot dogs, all served with a good helping of bottle talk on the side. There are pictures of the 2024 picnic at the top of this page. Each club member can put as many as 14 lots up for auction and this year’s bidding brought in more than $550 to sellers, the club getting 10% of each final bid.
As well as the 5 regular meetings we have a picnic in June and a Christmas dinner at a local restaurant. Our picnic is always especially fun as there are activities such as a club raffle and an auction for members to sell bottles and go-withs. In 2024 we had around 35 people show up for the burgers, hot dogs, all served with a good helping of bottle talk on the side. There are pictures of the 2024 picnic at the top of this page. Each club member can put as many as 14 lots up for auction and this year’s bidding brought in more than $550 to sellers, the club getting 10% of each final bid.
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At the end of September will be our annual bottle show. For 2024 the show will again be at the Chesterfield County Fairgrounds and our next show will be there on Oct. 4, 2025 and will be our 53nd Annual Show It is a great place to see bottles of all types being sold by dealers from all up and down the east coast. Plan now to attend this year. Former dealers will be sent a contract in mid-July, and potential new dealers should contact us about table availability and getting a contract.
The basic information is on the flyer (left). It is great fun with lots of bottles, go-withs and people who like to talk about bottles. You can call the show chairman Tony Townsend (804-379-0902) or me (Ed Faulkner) at 804-739-2951 for more info about the club, the show or any questions dealing with bottle collecting. we’ll be happy to talk to you about any of these. Club member Rick (Meech) Burchfield has a good web site with info, pictures and ideas about digging bottles. We are now on Facebook thanks to Tom Leveille - just log on and do a search for the Richmond Bottle Collectors. Another good source of bottle related information is the national organization, the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (FOHBC.org). Their web site has a number of bottle related areas and is still being developed. |
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Above and below: Pictures from our 2023 show
