GLASS BOTTLE MARKS ~ HOME PAGE
Hi there ~ I’m interested in the general history of the glass manufacturing industry in the United States, especially that of container glass, electrical insulators and tableware (both pressed and blown). Antique bottles, Fruit jars, Glass electrical insulators, EAPG (Early American Pattern Glass), Depression Glass, Milk Glass, antique children’s mugs, fishing net floats, and other items are some of the forms of glass I enjoy learning more about. My “GLASS BOTTLE MARKS” website attempts to discuss those subjects and more.
A lot of great information about glass is already available on the web, as well as in numerous books and magazines, but I’ve tried to gather some of the very best, basic info together onto this site, in particular concentrating on glass manufacturers’ identification marks found on bottles, fruit jars, insulators and tableware. I’m also in the process of adding various research articles to this site, with histories or summaries on a number of glass companies, and information about different types of collectible glass and glass items.
The glassmaking industry in the United States is a huge field that dates back to the seventeenth century, and covers a vast array of items and applications, including both handmade and machine-made glass.
According to historian Rhea Mansfield Knittle (Early American Glass, 1927), one of the earliest glass manufacturers in the US (not counting the unsuccessful attempts at Jamestown in 1607 and 1621) who may have produced considerable quantities of glassware and actually met with some degree of success, was Johannes Smedes (or Jan Smedes) who operated an establishment – probably making bottles for the most part – sometime in the period of 1654-1664 at New Amsterdam (now New York City).
What is glass?
Although some collectors and researchers might consider this a question with a fairly “obvious” answer, it’s not quite as simple as that. For a brief, basic discussion on glass (especially concerning the most common type of glass used for containers and tableware), check out my webpage here: What is Glass?
Every glass object, even the most lowly, commonplace glass bottle, has a story behind it, although all of the precise details may never be known. Where was it made? What was the name of the company or factory where it was produced? How old is it? Is it handmade? Was it mass-produced by machine methods? What type of glass is it made of? What elements/chemicals were included in the glass formula or “recipe”? Why is it a certain color? If it’s an older, hand-blown bottle, who was the glassblower who fashioned it? Who was the last person who used it and handled it before it came into your possession? Where was the physical location of the sand supply that eventually was turned into the glass piece that you hold in your hand? Is it American-made, or a piece that was produced outside the United States? Are there letters, numbers, emblems or other graphics embossed into the glass itself? Can the factory or company/glassmaker be identified by the markings on it? What do the markings mean?
Some or all of these questions might come to mind to the collector or layman, student, flea market shopper, historian, researcher, archaeologist, or casual hobbyist. And my site attempts to answer, in at least some cases if possible, these questions: Where, approximately when, and by what company was this piece of glass made?
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Glass making factories in earlier days were, for the most part, rather unpleasant places … the general inside environment could be, and often was, brutal. It was extremely hot (especially in the warmer months), noisy, dirty, and dangerous for a number of reasons. Injuries, especially burns and cuts, were commonplace. Fire was always a potential occurrence, and many early factories were destroyed by fire, sometimes leading to the complete closing down of a plant and/or failure of a company.
Antique and vintage glassware of all types and styles that are collected, studied and appreciated today are the tangible artifacts and testaments to the remarkable creativity, sheer hard work, energy, endurance, perseverance, and innovation of those men (and women, as well as many young children in the days before the enactment of child labor laws) who worked in those earlier factories.
Five of the webpages on this site list glass manufacturers’ identification marks (alphabetically listed) seen on container glass (bottles, jars, flasks, jugs, etc.) and on other types of glass including handmade and machine-made tableware and cookware.
A few examples of “glass bottle marks” on utilitarian containers would be “I inside a diamond” , “B in a circle” “R & CO” and “N inside a square”.
Please click here to go to “PAGE ONE” of the alphabetical mark listings, with introductory information and explanatory comments: Glass Bottle Marks
On this site are a number of individual web pages with basic information on some of the glass factories that operated in the United States. To read any of the glass company profiles I’ve posted (so far) on the Glass Bottle Marks site, and other articles pertaining to glass, please look along the right-hand sidebar of any page (on a computer screen) or at the bottom of the page (on mobile devices) for the menu of “Glass-Related Articles”, and click on any link in that list. I hope to post more articles and add more information as time and energy permits!
One page in particular within this site is a list of glass factories that manufactured, or are believed to have produced, glass electrical insulators for telegraph, telephone and/or power lines. Although mainly listing U.S. factories, a few Canadian factories are listed also. Click here to go directly to that page: GLASS INSULATOR MANUFACTURERS.
If you have additional information, please contact me (at the email address listed on the Contact Information page on this site) as I’m continually looking for the most accurate data available on these companies. Sources of some of the information is included after each entry if I have it available. I’d appreciate any additions, corrections, or suggestions you may have!
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Some of the information on glass insulators is from research originally compiled by N. R. Woodward, creator of the “CD” (Consolidated Design) numbering system now used worldwide by collectors for identifying and cataloging insulators. A portion of the info in this site pertaining to insulator manufacturers is drawn from various articles in the classic 2-volume reference book “INSULATORS: A HISTORY AND GUIDE TO NORTH AMERICAN GLASS PINTYPE INSULATORS“ by John & Carol McDougald (published in 1990).
The glass insulator pictured here, a blue aqua or “Hemingray Blue” CD 257 “Mickey Mouse”, is a type made for power lines, made by the Hemingray Glass Company at their factory that operated in Muncie, Indiana.
This site is a “work in progress” started in February of 2004. Originally, the core material was posted as a “sub-page” on the umbrella site https://myinsulators.com (hosted by webmaster Bill Meier), but in September of 2012 I moved to my own domain name, and have since expanded this site with additional articles. I would also like to thank the many people around the country (and some from outside the US) with whom I’ve communicated by email, and who, over the years, have sent me photos of glass marks, some of them posted in the alphabetical listings.
I hope this website will be of help in your quest to discover more information concerning the wide world of glass and glass manufacturing. Please be sure to bookmark my site, and return often!
Thank you!
~David
COMPLETE LIST OF ALL ARTICLES ON THIS SITE
SURNAME-ORIENTED ANTIQUE BOTTLE COLLECTING
GLASS MANUFACTURERS MARKS -ALPHABETICAL PAGES – PAGE ONE
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David
I have AB connected A1, A6, & C6 bottles. Thanks, Joe Molenda Helena, Montana
Thanks Joe!
David
Congratulations on all the research you shared! Wow. I looked up this bottle I have to find the origins. It has the FF in cursive. Thank you for saying the name Foster Forbes. I saw on your description it said 1924- and you were looking for information on that. My bottle is clear, dark blue screw on lid, but the bottom of it says (clearly not an S) 5 ff logo 1868. Of course I researched which I am sharing the site I found about the companies. Apparently there were more than one company as it failed. Anyway, I wanted to share what I have and what I found. Also there is some strange looking brown substance looking a little like syrup still in the jar. Yikes! Don’t know what it is, label is gone. This glass was not blown but a mold as it has a line down both sides. Could it be 1868? Did they mold glass in 1868? If its not the year the glass bottle was made, I do not know the significance of 1868. Thanks for any input!
Hi Jeanette,
The “1868” is a style or inventory number assigned to that bottle design. Such numbers (especially 3 or 4-digit numbers) are often seen on the bottoms of many bottles, and they are often misunderstood to mean a year. The “5” is probably a mold number. Foster-Forbes made many kinds of bottles and I can’t say what was in yours. It might have been some kind of medicine, cough syrup or who-knows-what.
Also, for clarification I should mention that the great majority of bottles are actually BLOWN, but they will be either “Hand-blown” (by a workman blowing by mouth into a blowpipe), or “Machine-blown” (the bottles are made on an automatic glass-blowing/forming machine with compressed air). Most bottles made after the 1910s (with exceptions here and there) are machine-made.
Although some antique bottle collectors might use the term “blown” very loosely to mean older mouth-blown bottle methods, the term can theoretically be applied to both handmade and machine-made bottles.
Best regards,
David
I found a bottled that washed up in our yard from the Chesapeake bay, it has on bottom the following… A2808 and has M inside a polygon and 10 inside a square. Any ideas? Thanks!
Jack, the “M inside a hexagon” is the mark used by Metro Glass Company. Please check my alphabetical listings.
David
This may be a dumb question, but I am having a very difficult time finding info on amber Ball quart bottles. The one I have is labeled “not to be refilled” and “no deposit * no return” at the shoulder of the bottle (the asterisk is a small 5 pointed star). It actually holds more than a quart up to the top; probably closer to 35oz. The bottom of the bottle is marked with a small Ball logo that you could cover with a nickel, the letters SS (possibly 55), 165, 75, and C5 (possibly CS). The 165 & 75 are in the center of the bottom and separated by a small dot of glass, roughly where the & symbol is. IF anyone has any info on this I’d love to hear about it. Thanks, and happy new year!
Should also add that the Ball logo looks to be the 1933-62 variety with the open B, underline, loop, and no A “tail”.
I was wondering if you knew anything about the date range on embossed “Please do not litter” that is found on glass bottles.
Lexy, I don’t know the exact date range, but I can say that that phrase (and similar phrases) was especially popular/common on non-returnable beer and soda bottles during the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Perhaps a reader has a better timeline for you.
David
Hi Jennifer, Maryland Glass made the bottle, but only a general date range can be given. There are no date codes on your bottle (the “7” is a mold number) so we cannot be sure on an exact year it was made.
~David
Does it by chance look like a lava lamp and is brown? If so I have found at least 20 and have no clue what they are. they say please do not litter in the bottom
It was just a small fragment, it is brown glass. I imagine it was part of a beer or liquor bottle.
Hi Lexy and Collin,
Here is a Google Images search that will bring up some pictures of typical amber beer bottles with the “PLEASE DO NOT LITTER” phrase. Again, they were VERY common during the early to mid 1970s (I know this for sure, as I drove around on my bicycle when a pre-teen, looking for aluminum cans to recycle for cash that had been tossed out along the roadsides, and I saw many of these “stubby” types of beer bottles bearing that phrase thrown into the ditches) but I don’t know how long that phrase was commonly used. Many of the bottles have date codes on them, so a close examination of the base markings may reveal the date the bottles were produced.
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=550&q=amber+beer+bottle+%22please+do+not+litter%22&oq=amber+beer+bottle+%22please+do+not+litter%22&gs_l=img.3…188.8510.0.8779.37.12.0.25.25.0.234.1105.0j7j1.8.0….0…1ac.1.64.img..4.10.1109…0j0i30k1j0i5i30k1j0i8i30k1j0i24k1.SsGEeruJZnY
~David
Collin, I might also mention that the “LAVA LAMP” shaped bottles were used for the Michelob brand beer. They were produced heavily from the late 1960s and (I think) into the 1980s. Not sure what range of years bore the “PLEASE DO NOT LITTER” phrase but the date codes on those bottles may give that information if enough of them are scrutinized!
David
We manufactured the “lava lamp” bottle for Michelob at Anchor Glass in Cliffwood, NJ through 1995. I can’t remember if it had “please do not litter” in the mold. But we made literally millions of them.
Kuz, I really appreciate your input!! I enjoy getting good background information like this for my site.
Take care,
David
while on the phone with Moms…she found a bottle made for Phillips Mike of Magnesia and the M circle on bottom of bottle. I myself have a blue looks like a wine bottle with the M circle and the #5 at the bottom of the bottle
It seems Maryland made a very large variety of bottles for all kinds of products! It is good that a lot of them were marked with their “M in a circle” trademark, as bottle collectors love to have some reliable “provenance” to hang on to, although I understand many of Maryland’s bottles, especially in their earlier years, were not marked with the “M”, but sometimes just a mold number.
Take care,
David
My Mother worked for Maryland Glass in Baltimore City as a lab worker before closing in 1980 or 81 and still till this day has some of the glassware and bottles that was made. One bottle she has now a comment on the bottle states… December 1972 Seasons Greetings
Hi Craig, thanks for your post!
David
I have a coke bottle dug up in Russia from a German trench at the battle of Stalingrad. Does anyone know how to read the base codes ?
found an AB A3, digging footers in Clearwater fl.
I have an amber brown michelob bottle with an n inside a square, reg u.s. pat off, and 20 embossed on the bottom. Any idea what year this could be from?
Willie, your amber Michelob beer bottle was made by Obear-Nester Glass Company of East St. Louis, IL, but from your info there may not be a date code on it, so the exact year it was made may not be known. I would guess it dates from the early 1970s into the 1980s. The “20” is probably a mold identifier number. See my webpage on the “N in a square” mark.
Best regards,
David
Greetings. I just found an AB connected beer bottle with a code that is not on your list. S20. Found in the Baja California desert along a fault that ruptured in 1892 on December 6th, 2016. Photo on request.
Thanks Tom! That variant will be added to the list shortly.
~David
A sea green colored, similar to a beer bottle shape that is heavy w/ thick irregular rough appearance, bottom has irregular thickness (a thicker slant to the right), writing on the bottle completes an oval shape (the top half “H.T.harris”, bottom half “Brighton”), in the middle of the oval marking has “Trade tht Mark”, The opening of the bottle is thick & bulbous that likely had a cork top.
Silloo,
I’m sorry but it sounds like a British bottle, and I am not familiar with it.
David
I have a old bottle with brown amber. I found it on a island near Beaufort NC. It has horseshoes all over it. A 16 and a little square that looks like a house. With nothing inside of it.
Anthony, I don’t know, but you might be describing a “keystone” mark, usually seen with a letter inside. The keystone without any letter inside was used by Knox Glass Company on some bottles.
David
Hey i found a bottle in my back yard. Many years ago the property was a nunnery & convoy. The house is old as hell. The bottle is still sealed an contains a white powder. I have no idear it has numbers on the bottom. 650 G232 Mo GM None in witch i can find on google. But im very interested. Also i found another. Actually i found heaps but these two are ones that intrest me the most.. the second bottle has “THIS IS THE PROPERTY OF WJ & BARNES PTY LTD MELBOUNRE” down the side. Both clear glass with rusted lids still on them.
What can you tell me about these
Carli, I’m sorry but I don’t know anything about the bottles. Are you in the UK or Australia? Most bottles with just numbers on the bottom cannot be identified with precision. Please check out my page on “Numbers on the bottom of glass bottles”.
Take care,
David
I am in Australia. One of the bottles is a castup bottle from the 1940s.
I have just come across a ruby mason 1858 bottle. It is from a collector friend I know. I read your information about these bottles and am aware that they are extremely rare. The deep red glass is beautiful and thick. It has notes of amber around the very top of the lid and other beautiful hues difficult to explain and see because of the deep ruby of the glass. It does unfortunately, I think, have the marking on the bottom H3 then what looks like a backwards 9 and then an S that looks kind of like a 5. So this is certainly a reproduction? It is so beautiful!!! Valuable or just cool to look at. I, of course, want it to be authentic, but not just because of the value but because it is so beautiful. I understand that there were also reproductions made in the US during the last century that are very collectable. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I can send pics if you’d like. It’s a stunning specimen either way. Thank you.
Michael
Michael,
Your fruit jar is a modern reproduction, imported from Asia (China, India, perhaps other countries) within the last few years (probably no earlier than 1995…..perhaps just in the last decade). The ruby red color was NEVER used for authentic fruit jars. Just place it in a sunny window and enjoy the fabulous color, but be aware that it is not an old item, and was never used for canning. Many of them (in various wild and beautiful colors) are being sold on ebay and at flea markets around the country. Thanks for your post!
David
Lake Eufaula Oklahoma found a clear old round glass bottle with markings of W.F. Young Inc. and 18 in a circle. I have done a lot of searching including your site and think it is a horse care product some old cowboys must have carried with them. Found along North Canadian river where old Indian encampments are known to exist. How old could this be? Might want to continue searching in area. Thank you very much!!!!!!! Joe
Joe, I’m not familiar with the W.F.Young company.
David
David:
I’m sure the “CNY” Mark was discontinued in 1994 when the plant was sold to O-I.
Also, I worked at Anchor Glass Plant 13 in Cliffwood NJ from 1994 until it’s closing in 1996 if you have any questions about Anchor or Anchor Plant 13.
J
Thank you John!
~David
Can I email a bottle to you? I’ve had one I found off a island near Beaufort NC. And I haven’t found a close image to it. I also found a 1956 old Crisco bottle that was easily identifiable. Thank you.
Anthony, my email address is shown on the bottom right-hand corner of any page on my site. Pics can be sent, but they should be reduced in byte size for easier download.
David
Hi: not a comment but a question. I was born in Ridgway and spent my summers in that area during my teen years. I remember that in the 30’s Pennsylvania experimented with using broken glass (I believe it was from Brockway) in macadam. I can find no references on the Net. Do you have any information regarding that?
Jack, I don’t know anything about that.
David
Hi David – I was browsing your site and you asked for info on years of operation of Central New York Bottle Company in Auburn NY. I worked there from 1983 until around 1990 and transferred to the Miller Brewery in Fulton NY. Miller (owned by Phillip Morris then) sold Central New York Bottle Company to Owens-Illinois in 1994. It is still in operation as Owens-Illinois Plant 35 in Auburn (Sennett) NY.
I believe your opening date of 1978 for CNYBC is correct.
Hi John,
Thank you very much for the information. Do you know if the mark used by Central New York Bottle Company was discontinued at that time (1994), if not soon after? Take care,
~David
David,
I have a 1945 Owen-Illinois liquor bottle. I was curious if you would know the distiller codes for that year. The distiller code on the bottle is D-567, liquor permit number is 88, and year is 45. I’ve tried to find it online, but can’t find anything.
Josh, I’m sorry but I don’t have a list of distiller codes. There may not be such a list online (at least right now).
David
I have an old apothecary jar which has been in the family for a very long time. It is large, probably 20″ tall, the glass top is intact. There is a “J” in a diamond on the bottom of the jar. I saw in your listings about the diamond “J” in reference to soda bottles but nothing about apothecary jars with this marking.
Deborah,
Since the “J in a diamond” mark is currently not identified with certainty (as far as I’m aware), I can’t comment with any authority on whether your apothecary jar would have been made by the same manufacturer. But it wouldn’t surprise me if it had been. Perhaps more information will surface in time.
David
i need to know what this bottle with a 8 imprinted on it is please help
Hi Joann, Gobs of bottles carry single numbers on the bottom, or sometimes along the lower heel. Those numbers are usually mold numbers. Please see my webpage on “Numbers on the bottoms of glass bottles”. There is no way to date a bottle by mold numbers. You can see mold numbers on modern glass bottles and jars in your refrigerator even today.
David
Hey david.. Please help! I have found a bottle washed up after hurricane matthew here in jax fl on the intercoastal. It is a one quart liquid, florida store bottle, on curve near the heel it has BB48 then on heel it has a large 3 cent mark. Also has duraglas and 17 oi diamond 3 and possibly a “c” below it. Think i know what plant. But am confused on possible year made. No stippling on bottom either. Any ideas or comments? Thanks!
Nic, I can’t say for sure, but I assume your find is a milk bottle. The “17” plant number (to the left of the logo) indicates it was made at Owens-Illinois’ Clarion, Pennsylvania factory, and the “3”, which is a date code, could stand for either 1933, 1943 or 1953. I believe it would be 1933 but I can’t prove that.
Hope this helps,
David
I’m at a loss of what to do, and I’m hoping someone can help. I recently received a very large cobalt blue bottle collection. We are talking at least 1,000 bottles. I have no idea what to do. I have been searching online and have very little to go on. Many still have labels, not all are perfect, but they are legible. I can’t find much. There are just so many. I hate to get rid of any, not knowing what they are worth. They were very valuable to the owner. Just to list a few : there are eye wash cups, vicks vaporub with contents, alka lithia with contents still inside, jasmine ink with labels, churchills juniper oil, rootone. That’s just among the 10 I’ve gone through so far. I’m overwhelmed. Is there somewhere I can take them for appraisal in Illinois? Sorry, I’m just losing my mind trying to look these up. Thank you.
Hi Adrienne,
I would strongly suggest you post your query on the http://antique-bottles.net site / discussion group, where many experienced, long-time bottle and jar collectors post all kinds of questions and comments. Surely someone there will give you better advice than I can. Get input from several collectors, not just one.
In any case, I STRONGLY suggest that you refrain from discarding any of the bottles. There are many collectors of cobalt blue bottles and jars, both old and new, across the country. Cobalt glass was used for several different types of bottles, primarily poison, medicine, cosmetic, and some older sodas, as well as other types. Eye wash cups are in demand and very saleable. I would guess that the majority of the items have moderate or only minimal value, but in a collection that large there are sure to be some “goodies”! Good luck and let me know how this turns out!
David
Hello. My dad found some whittmore Boston bottles and one of the bottle is misspelled instead of Boston it says botson. I can’t find anything about it or what it’s worth. Can you tell me anything about this? I have pictures if you want to see it.
Randi, Many older bottles have spelling errors and other embossing mistakes caused by the mold engraver. I haven’t heard of this error, but I am sure it would be of interest to anyone who collects Whittemore shoe polish bottles or related material. No info on value, but you can always try selling it on ebay and see what happens.
David
David, First I want to say thank you for creating this website. I’ve been collection Mason Jars for a couple of years now & I am starting to take interest in bottles & insulators. You’re website has helped me gain knowledge that I don’t believe I would have found anywhere else. Second, I recently picked up a bottle for about $1. I don’t believe that it is extremely old, but I am having trouble finding any information on it. The emblem on the neck & base of the bottle is CBQ Co I believe. The bottle is “stippled” all around. The design on the bottle is somewhat similar to a Ball Juice Jar. The base has the large ornate CBQ CO in the middle. Under that it says Cincinnati .O. Around the edges of the base it says, “Minimum Contents 24 Fluid Ozs” I’ve been looking around the website & under “glass bottle marks”, but I haven’t seen it. Thank you so much!
Ashley, I don’t know anything about your bottle. If you wish, you can email me a pic of the bottle and the base to my email address which is listed in the lower right hand corner of any page on this site.
Best regards,
David
Bry, the “Scales” trademark was used by McKesson & Robbins, a pharmaceutical company dating from the 1850s. You can probably find more info on that company with an online keyword search. I have seen the mark on the base of several types of emerald green containers. I don’t know the timeline it was used, but the jars I’ve seen look like they might date from the 1930s-1960s period. I think a lot of the M&R containers were made by Owens-Illinois Glass Company, in their standard “Seven-up green” or emerald green colored glass.
David
Thank you!
I would like to get a better education of Mason Jars. What books do you recommend?
Debra, there are no books that will tell you ‘everything’ about jars, but I recommend the reference books “The Fruit Jar Works, Volume 1” and “The Fruit Jar Works, Volume 2” by Alice Creswick. Unfortunately, these books are very hard to find, are out of print, and when found they command a high price. There are several bookseller websites you can search, such as bookfinder.com. The accompanying price guide (updated every few years) to the “Fruit Jar Works” books is commonly called the “REDBOOK” which lists most known fruit jars. Another extensively researched book is by Dick Roller and is titled “The Standard Fruit Jar reference”. It is also very hard to come by. An older book with lots of good info (BUT quite a few errors in details such as factory attributions) is “FRUIT JARS” by Julian Toulouse, published in 1968. It is readily available on the resale market.
Another price guide, with background material, released in several editions is “The Guide to Collecting Fruit Jars (Fruit Jar Annual)” published by Jerry McCann and with material by Barry L. Bernas and Tom Caniff.
Some of these books might be available at a local library, or through interlibrary loan. Hope this helps,
David
I bought a Drey one pint jar with Perfect mason offset. The rim is very ruff and there are bubbles in the glass all over. It is clear. I am having a hard time finding out when it was possibly made.
I am new at this and love your website it has been very helpful. I have learned a lot.
Candice
Candice, The “DREY” fruit jars were made by Schram Glass Manufacturing Company, located in Hillsboro, IL. The “Drey Perfect Mason” was made in the early 1920s, perhaps around 1920 to 1925. Ball Bros. Glass Company purchased the Schram factory in 1925, but continued to produce more DREY brand jars for several years after 1925………..not sure how long after 1925 they were continued to be made. This info is from “The Fruit Jar Works, Volume 2” by Alice Creswick.
~David
David, while digging on my property I found a pristine brown bottle with a cork in it, while looking at the bottom, it has the O-I logo inside of a diamond near the top. To the left of the logo is a 7, to the right is a 1, and below it is an 18 with a period after it. Way below all of that it says 1845. On the side of the bottle are MILS graduations from 50-250. There is still a reddish-brown liquid sealed inside of it. I can’t seem to find anything quite like it described on your website. Is there anything you can tell me about it? I can send pics if you’d like.
Thanks,
J.R. Webb
Hi Jason,
You’ve found what I call a standard or “generic” chemical bottle. It is a typical cylindrical amber type of bottle used for all kinds of liquid chemicals and medicinal products (such as hydrogen peroxide, chlorine, rubbing alcohol, ammonia, cleaning products, farming-related products, fertilizers, pesticides, etc, etc) and it came in several sizes. I believe the type was made over quite a long period of time.
“1845” is the four-digit “stock”, “inventory” or “style” number assigned to that basic shape by Owens-Illinois. I have occasionally received enquiries from those who were wondering if it could be a date.
Just as a “study method” I often search through listings on ebay, comparing bottles that happen to be listed on that site. (Ebay is the major marketplace for bottles and jars of every description, new and old!) Here is a search that I came up with…….. Some of the listing results will be irrelevant, but you can see a few bottles similar to yours that came up in the list.
http://www.ebay.com/dsc/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=1&_nkw=%28amber%2Cbrown%29+bottle+1845&_trksid=m570.l1313&_odkw=%28amber%2Cbrown%29+bottle+1845&_osacat=0
Your particular bottle was made at the Alton, IL glass plant, and the date code “1” stands for either 1941 or 1951. The “18” is a mold number.
I hope this helps!
~David
David,
I have a “AB” connected aqua quart bottle with the markings of “C 4” below the “AB”. It was found on a mining claim in northern California in the hills, north of Yreka. It is in great shape and I find it interesting that so many of these bottle are found near old mining camps.
Hi Greg, thanks for you post! Yes, it appears that lots of beer bottles were shipped out west in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In particular, the AB-connected bottles were evidently shipped all over the country and ESPECIALLY to the western states such as AK, CA, NV, AZ, UT, WY, CO and NM in the 1905-1909 (or later) time frame. It seems that a good percentage of the miners and other “Go-West-Young-Man adventurers” of that time period were heavy beer (and whiskey) drinkers.
~David
Hi we own a croft house in Yell Shetland Isles – when taking a wall down we found in the centre of the wall a glass fishing float it is made in two haves and has British Made with a star embossed on the bottom. It is clear or as clear as old glass can be! Can anyone say how old it is please?
Jon, I would suggest you join the Glass Float collectors club on Facebook. There are many members there who would have more and better information than I have!
David
Hi David, I have found a couple of old glass containers, which I dug up from the yard on the side of our home that washes when it rains. I have found an ace shoe polish bottle,(1940s according to some others i’ve seen on different sites),a jergens lotion bottle, and many pieces of old clorox dark glass bottles so i know old bottles and stuff are buried here from some time back. I found one today which looks common but I’m thinking it’s older like the rest. It’s small like maybe 12 0z size, only has markings on bottom,barely visible,which I think are L O w and seems to be dots before letter L and after w on the top. A circle impression is in the middle with a sideways 5 or S to the left of it, and what appears to be a partial 0 or maybe J 8 0 with a smaller font R, as the w appears in L O w. I tried to find info on it but can’t find anything.
Amy, if you can, please send a pic of the markings to my email address (at lower right on any page on this site). If I can see it, I might get a better idea on origin or age.
David
will do asap
David,
I have a pint size flat whiskey or medicine bottle with purple tint that has mark of ” S. B. M.” on the bottom. Any idea of the maker. I looked through the bottle marks section and couldn’t find it. Suppose to have come from Leadville Colorado area. Thanks!
Hi Scott,
I’m not familiar with the mark, although it seems vaguely I might have seen it somewhere. It is possible the initials don’t stand for a glassmaker, but perhaps instead a whiskey distributor, pharmaceutical or chemical company or some other type of business concern. The fact that the last initial is NOT “G” (for “Glass”) or “CO” (for “Company”) or “W” (for “Works”) points just a little bit in that direction. But without more solid info, all bets are off!!
~David
Toulouse discusses a similar mark on a prescription bottle from Ferndale, California (pre1909) in his BOTTLE MAKERS AND THEIR MARKS, page 464.
Hi Michael,
Unless there was a typographical error in Scott’s post, he is asking about the mark lettered “S.B.M.”, not “S.B.W.”. S B W is believed to be a mark used by Saltsburg Bottle Works Company, of Saltsburg, Pennsylvania.
~David
I have a Brookfield insulator that has an XP on the top. Can’t seem to locate any info about it
Beth,
Many Brookfield insulators of the “later period” (perhaps c.1915-1920) bear so-called “shop letters/numbers” 00, X0, X1, and X2 on the dome. These are believed to be related to paying the particular “Shop” (group of glassworkers) involved in the production at the factory. There were likely several shops working simultaneously, each assigned a certain shop number or letter/number combo. Are you positive that the second character is a “P”?
David
Hi David,
I recently found a R & CO #22 bottle in my yard a few weeks ago, beautiful bottle! I was going throw um away but i decided to keep it, i just have no use for it! I live Maui & was surprised a bottle like dat was even on da island..
Hi Tiara,
Lots of the “R & CO” beer bottles, along with other bottles of every description, were distributed throughout the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s, (no doubt including Hawaii which became a U.S. territory in 1898) so they can theoretically be found almost anywhere! Thanks for writing~
David
I found light blue bottle with AB connected and the letters J2 on the bottom. Found in a tidal creek in Savannah Ga. Today July 4 2016. It is in good shape with some barnacles on it
Eddie, thanks for the info. I will add that to the list of AB code numbers on that webpage. https://glassbottlemarks.com/list-abconnected-bottle-base-mold-codes/
Take care,
David
After writing you I researched specifically the 3 medicine bottles i have they’re absolutely Owen Illinois.. the single digit to the right of the triangle confuses me slightly for instance one has a #4 does that mean 1934? Are the singles to right always from the 1930’s? But MOST important thing I wish to know that I have spent 3 days trying to figure out and your page nor internet says nothing n shows nothing about what the amber/orange/brown colored syrup like liquid is that’s identical in each bottle when it settles there’s a white layer that forms on the bottom also.. these 3 particular bottles tho I haven’t found a single picture of outta literally thousands I’ve found which leads me to believe they are extremely rare.. your thoughts?
Raena,
There is great confusion on the date codes used by Owens-Illinois. No one is absolutely sure of a way to identify the year many O-I bottles were made, since single-number date codes were used in the 1930s but also in later years.
Your bottle with a “4” could date from either 1934, 1944 or 1954. Sorry, I simply cannot state with absolute certainty. For more detailed background info on Owens-Illinois bottle codes, check out the link to the Bill Lockhart/Russ Hoenig article, (link farther down near the bottom of the text on my Owens-Illinois Glass Company webpage).
There have been gobs of different kinds of liquid medicines (aside from the most common such as cough syrups, tonics, laxatives such as castor oil, cod liver oil, etc) packaged in glass bottles, so it might be difficult to identify exactly what was in the bottles, perhaps unless you consulted a druggist or chemist more acquainted with the way the products look and change over long periods of time. In any case, I don’t think it matters much what was in the bottles. The white layer might be lime (calcium) perhaps an ingredient in the mixture which has “settled out” over time.
Best regards,
David
I have several questions I hope you can help me with I have 2 clear square about 16 oz glass bottles with lines going from top to bottom on 3 sides and a square space for a label both have an amber color liquid in them and a white consistency settled on bottom both have metal twist caps but one has sold only at Rexall Drug stores the other is a little unclear but has a picture of a horse in front of a tree and says keep tr… (something ) on the cap the bottoms on both have a embossed symbol that looks like a planet and a #4 & #8 on each side of the symbol and #4 under one’s symbol  under the others symbol any ideas I’ve narrowed it down but can’t find anything exactly the same anywhere.. I also can’t locate a bottle that is the same as the bottle I have that’s very tall and says Mr Boston down each side and the name and pic of him on metal twist cap and embossed federal law forbids sale or reuse of bottle another says same federal law on front and cap says Kasko distillers Philadelphia with a crown and 2 circles one with a woman and one with two leaves saying fine quality in middle there is space for a label on each side with diamond shapes all over it. I’d appreciate any direction u can give me ty
Raena,
The only advice I can give you is to check out my page on Owens-Illinois Glass Company, the glassmaker who used what you call the “planet” symbol on their bottles from 1929 to the mid-1950s. I have no other info on the other bottles.
Best regards,
David
I have a 1953, 5 gallon bottle/jug made by the Owen Illinois glass company and it was made in Alton, IL and has a mold number 5. But it also has a number above the logo “5250” I have researched and found this information about the jug but have not found out about this. I hope you can tell me what it means. Thank you
Laura, the number “5250” is a catalog number… simply a number assigned to that particular bottle design or style.
~David
David
I am signing off the site, but wanted to say thanks for the info on my bottle and other information.
Very interesting hobby, but I have too many already.
Again Thanks
Joseph Haley
Thank you Joseph!
~David
Hi David, I have a pink satin glass perfume bottle in the shape of an upside down fan with a little round ball top. I don’t really know how to describe the mark on the bottom other than maybe four little leaves which come together to form a square. Can you possibly determine the origin from my limited description? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much.
Delilah,
I’m not familiar with the mark, although it seems like I may have seen it somewhere before. Perhaps a reader can help.
Take care, David
i read your post on Dr. S. Pitcher’s Castoria bottles and read the longer CastoriaHistory.PDF that was in the comments section,and i think i might have a rarer bottle of its production location. Its the more or less standard aqua color, its hand blown, it has what appears to be 2 vent holes on either side and the embossing is extremely clear and its lettering edges are very sharp. On the bottom is has A.2. From what i have read, i would place it as the 2nd mold used in 1905 to produce these bottles at the American Bottle Company, and due to the sharpness of the lettering, it was produced using a new mold. Is this assertion correct?
Hi Andrew,
The article you cite about the Pitcher’s Castoria bottles is on another website and was not written by myself. It was written by Bill Lockhart with input from several other researchers and collectors. The information presented on that page re the “A” (plus number) marks on the base (of certain Pitchers bottles) as being a product of American Bottle Company is currently a hypothesis (theory) and has not yet been proven as fact. Therefore I can’t say whether your assertion would be correct. You might try contacting Mr. Lockhart and ask him for his thoughts on your bottle.
Best regards,
David
Hi David,
Can you tell me anything about an aqua bubble glass Mason jar I have that has “The Mason” embossed on it, with the “The” inside the opening loop on the word “Mason”? (Cursive script, angled up)
Thanks!
Heather, that particular style of Mason jar was made by Mason Fruit Jar & Bottle Company of Coffeyville, Kansas (1907-1909). It is listed as jar #1651 in the reference work “The Fruit Jar Works, Volume 1” by Alice Creswick, as well as the accompanying price guide known to jar collectors as the “RED BOOK”. A similar jar was made by Ball Bros Glass Company which has the word “BALL” in cursive placed above the words “THE MASON”. Evidently that variant was made for a short time after Ball purchased the Coffeyville plant in 1909. They closed the plant down in 1911.
David