| The
Design
There were two designs
created for the television version of this bottle, one for
the first season (in black and white) and one for the second
and subsequent seasons. Since the second season bottle is
the more easily recognized, this is the design that I offer
on e-bay and by special order. The design I use in
re-creating the second season bottles is a design which was
computer generated to replicate the exact design
proportions.
The
Colors
The colors of the "I
Dream of Jeannie" bottle are the subject of wide
debate. I have done a great deal of research on the subject
to try to replicate the original colors as closely as
possible, but there are problems inherent in the exact
replication of these colors and here's the best explanation
of this that I can offer.
Even if I owned an
original prop from the "I Dream of Jeannie" show
(which I do not), matching the colors to that bottle would
not effectively reproduce those seen on the show. Why? Well,
there are a hundred factors which could contribute to
variations in color. First of all, even if I had an original
bottle, the odds that the colors appeared the same on
television is extremely remote. The colors may have faded or
changed over 30+ years, in addition to the fact that
television lighting, the new color TV technology of the 60's
and individual TV set color differences make it virtually
impossible for the colors to have shown accurately. For
example, in the pictures on the right, the scan has caused
the base color to show up as very blue, when in fact it is a
metallic purple/magenta shade!
Is this a cop out? By no
means. I have matched my colors as closely as possible to
video footage of the original show as well as to color
photos of the original bottle. My goal is to not only create
close replicas of the original, but more importantly to
replicate the bottle as it appeared on television and as we
all remember and love it. You can see clear shots of the
bottle in episode #50 "One of Our Bottles Is
Missing", and in episodes #77,#78,#79, & #80,
"Genie, Genie,Who's Got the Genie". (Incidentally,
the arches are a very pale blue, and not white like some
artists paint them. You can see them clearly in these
episodes!)
The
Bottle
In 1964, The Jim Beam
company manufactured a special edition Christmas bottle for
it's Beam's Choice liquor. As TV folklore tells it, the
producer of the soon to be "I Dream of Jeannie"
television show received one of these bottles as a Christmas
gift. The unusual shape of the bottle struck him as perfect
for his new show. He then had a prop designer named Mitch
create a design for the glass bottle. The show actually
obtained these 1964 Jim Beam bottles and painted them as
props for the show.
Today, the bottle itself
is a collectible item. The exact color of the bottle varied
from an olive green to brown to gray. They vary in price
based on condition (primarily of the stopper, whose cork can
easily dry out and be broken over the years) but can usually
be purchased for $60-$75. The condition of the label can add
value to this bottle, and I've seen them fetch as high at
$150. I only paint and sell original 1964 Jim Beam Genie
bottles.
Owning
The Bottle
Today, these bottles are
painted and sold frequently on e-bay, on the internet and at
collector's shows. I can hand paint a bottle for you by
special order for $365, or you can periodically find my
bottles for auction on e-bay. I have seen bottles auctioned
on e-bay for prices ranging from $250 - $1300.
Why
a "Bottle Genie" Bottle?
These bottles are
available painted by many individuals. I am an experienced
professional freelance artist with a great deal of knowledge
in the area of glass painting. I take a great deal of time
on the detail work of these bottles. Start to finish, it
takes about seven days to complete one bottle. I use only
ceramic and glass base paints and condition my bottles
thoroughly before painting. If glass is not properly
conditioned before painting, oils (particularly skin oil)
can become trapped between the paint and glass and can
ultimately flake, bubble or lift. Painting by a
knowledgeable artist like myself not only assures a
professionally painted design, but many years of enjoyment
and durability as well. |
