“M inside a circle” marking 

Maryland Glass Corporation first used the “M in a circle” logo in 1921, according to trademark information reported in Arthur G. Peterson’s  400 Trademarks on Glass  (1968).    However, Julian Toulouse, in Bottle Makers and their Marks (1971, page 341) wrote that the “M in a circle” first appeared on bottles in 1916.  Toulouse’s information appears to be incorrect and the year 1921 actually saw the beginning of the use of this mark.

Maryland Glass Corporation was organized in 1907 as a vehicle for making large quantities of Bromo-Seltzer bottles for parent Emerson Drug Company, of Baltimore.   Emerson Drug Company (founder and president, Issac E. Emerson, 1859-1931) had been formed in about 1887 and was officially incorporated in 1891.    Emerson was actually a native of North Carolina but had moved to Maryland in 1880, starting a small drugstore in Baltimore not long afterward.

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Bromo Seltzer was first sold in about 1888.  With greatly increasing sales as the years passed, by the mid-1900s Emerson realized he needed a more reliable source of supply for the large quantities of glass bottles needed, so he decided to have his own glass factory built to accommodate the increasing demand.  Isaac Emerson teamed up with Philip I. Heuisler to run the Maryland Glass Company operation.

The president of Maryland Glass Corporation was Philip I. Heuisler; Joseph F. Hindes was listed as vice president and treasurer; Parker Cook, secretary, and Harry J. Williams was  manager (this info from an invoice dated November 26, 1913- relayed to me by MGC researcher Ernie Dimler).

This company eventually specialized in producing all kinds of cobalt blue bottles and jars,  not just Bromo-Seltzer.  Many of the blue glass containers made for Phillips Milk of Magnesia,  Bromo-Seltzer,  Bromo-Caffeine,  Vicks VapoRub,  Noxzema,  Posner’s, Evening in Paris perfume,  as well as many other products were produced here.   Maryland also produced some clear glass as well as cobalt.

It is virtually certain that the great majority of cobalt blue glass containers made for distribution in the United States during the 1920s-1950s were made by Maryland Glass. Lesser amounts of cobalt container ware were made by Carr-Lowrey Glass Company, also located in Baltimore, and Hazel-Atlas Glass Company.

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The “M in a circle” mark is seen on tremendous numbers of glass containers from the 1920s through the 1970s, and cobalt blue jars and bottles from trash dumps of this time period are often found that bear this mark.  Many of these containers might be classified as “generic” bottles, and have no identification or brand markings other than the “M in a circle” on the base, often accompanied by a mold number.

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Maryland produced the most commonly-seen type of figural “violin bottle” or “fiddle bottle”,  in cobalt blue, amber and clear glass.  Cobalt blue is the most common color seen.  These bottles were not usually marked, except for bearing a mold number on the bottom.  They were probably produced mostly in the 1950s, and were sold in retail outlets such as the typical “five and dime stores” of that era.  They were evidently sold in great numbers and are often seen for sale in antique malls and online auction sites.

Maryland Glass was acquired by Warner-Lambert Corporation in 1956, and then by the Dorsey Corporation (based in Chattanooga, Tennessee) in 1968.   The Dorsey Corporation already had as a major subsidiary the Chattanooga Glass Company which it had acquired in 1960.

The Gulfport Glass Company, of Gulfport, Mississippi, was built in 1955 and was basically a subsidiary of Maryland Glass.  A lot of cobalt container ware was also made at the Gulfport facility and was marked with “G in a circle”.

Maryland Glass Corporation continued to operate under it’s own name  through the years, even after being bought (successively) by Warner-Lambert and later by Dorsey Corporation (subsidiary of Chattanooga Glass Company).    In 1978 the plant was sold by Chattanooga Glass to Steve Kelly, who soon ran into financial problems with the property and filed for bankruptcy in 1979.   By  1980 the workers were being laid off, and the plant was closed down completely by February of 1981.  The very last bottles were evidently produced in late 1980.

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OTHER MARKS

Maryland also used a “plain M” mark on some bottles, including Phillips Milk of Magnesia bottles, such as pictured below.

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Rarely, Maryland Glass used an “M inside a G” logo, shown here as seen on the base of a rectangular poison or medicine bottle.   The exact period of time the “M inside a G” mark was used is uncertain but it might date from rather early in the company’s history.

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NOTE: An “M in a circle” logo is also seen on the base of tableware, novelty glass shoes, upscale reproduction pattern glass, various colored glass toothpick holders, etc, and in those cases it is the mark of an unrelated firm, the Mosser Glass Company of Cambridge, Ohio.  (Maryland Glass made, for the most part, utilitarian and commercial containers.) 

Please click here to go to the Glass Bottle Marks section (page 4).

Click here to go to my website Home Page.

For more information on the Bromo-Seltzer bottles, the most well known product of Maryland Glass Corporation, see my webpage here: Cobalt Blue Bromo Seltzer Bottles

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Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower

NOTE: I wanted to heartily recommend this museum in Baltimore where hundreds of bottles made by Maryland Glass, as well as a variety of other items related to the company including letters, calendars, invoices, advertisements and other ephemera are displayed.  The collection, curated by Maryland Glass historian and collector Ernie Dimler, is displayed on the 15th floor of the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower (or “Bromo Tower”) in downtown Baltimore.  For more information, check out this site: 

https://www.bromoseltzertower.com/visitor-info/museum

Here is an article with a short video of Ernie, showing some of the glass in the museum:

Maryland Glass Museum – Ernie Dimler

 

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