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 many 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 known as 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 and Mexican 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 at the very bottom of any 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
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Hello David, first off love the site, large amount of useful information. I recently found two small bottles I have been unsuccessful in identifying their purpose. I think they might be small alcohol sample bottles but haven’t been able to find any examples anywhere. They are embossed on the bottom…S C Herbst…IMP T G. Co….MILWAUKEE. One is colored brown the other is clear with a purplish tinge. I have pictures I can send if you have some time to look at them. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Rusty.
I am amazed. I found just a bottle bottom from a company which was taken over by Armstrong Cork who i worked for in the 60s in the UK. The glass company was on east coast and i found it on the site of Fort Beale Springs in Kingman Az
Thank You. I am thankful for your work with bottles. Iam a collector of food, beverage, medicine… Well if it’s old glass
I like… it seems like I can dig a bottle quicker than I can find out info on it so your information is truly valuable. Thanks again may you find the one you been dreaming of…
Rebecca, thanks for your post! It is appreciated~
David
I came across some more information on the Foster-Forbes Glass Company and their marks, especially the FF in a circle. Thought I would share it with you since you said you were looking for more info. The Society for Historical Archeaology has a PDF on the company at: Foster Forbes article – PDF file
Hello Lacy,
Thank you for the link. The subject of glass bottles, bottle markings, glass manufacturers and associated background info is very wide, and new information is constantly being discovered. There is a lot of information posted online that I haven’t “come up to speed with” in recent years. Bill Lockhart is an archaeologist, researcher, historian and writer and has many detailed articles on the web, this being one of them. I had not read that article in detail until now. I have re-edited slightly my entry on the “FF in a circle” mark used by Foster-Forbes, and have included a link to Lockhart’s .pdf file article there. Thanks again and take care!
David
The bottle was found on a construction site the original house that was there was built in the early 1890 as was the house I live in. so possible the bottle was made 1886 or a little later. What do these bottles usually sell for.
Hi Toby,
Those bottles (the “AB-connected” beer bottles) were made after 1905, so it was discarded several years after your house was built. Also, although my site is not intended as an appraisal site, in all honesty, since HUGE numbers of these bottles were made over several years time, and they are considered very common by antique bottle collectors, the average “market value” to experienced collectors is around a dollar or two.
However, these bottles frequently show up for sale at antique shops, flea markets and on ebay and in those cases they may be priced MUCH, much higher. Often the seller has not the slightest idea on their worth. Whether they actually Sell at those prices is another matter. So, even though these bottles are certifiably authentic antiques, being around 100-110 years old or more, because of being so common they do not have high monetary value. (Simply the law of supply and demand). Hope this helps,
~David
I recently found an aqua blue glass bottle with AB joined together with P 4 below that what does P 4 mean
Hi Toby,
Can you check out my two pages on the “AB-Connected” mark on beer bottles? They are here:
https://glassbottlemarks.com/ab-mark-on-beer-bottles
https://glassbottlemarks.com/list-abconnected-bottle-base-mold-codes
The “P 4” is probably a mold number — basically, it just identified a particular bottle mold being used at the glass factory. Many other molds for the same type of bottle were being used at the same time, so each mold had a unique number assigned to it.
Hope this helps,
David
Hello David, my great Uncle died last year and left a home filled with about 200 or 300 milk glass hens on nests. We were told by a Northeastern auction house that there is no market anymore for milk glass and that basically what we were left with is worthless. Can you advise in any manner? As you have stated, I am not asking for pricing information, I’m inquiring if you are aware of a market for these hens? Thanks so much.
Rachel,
I don’t know a lot about the values of milk glass hens, but I can say it would depend on the exact style and maker of the hens involved. MANY, MANY glass companies have made glass hen-on-nest dishes over many years, as far back as the 1870s/1880s when they were made in large quantities by Atterbury & Company and Challinor, Taylor & Company. Hens from those companies are CERTAINLY not worthless by any stretch of the imagination!! Very large quantities of white milk glass hens were made for many years in the 20th century by Westmoreland Glass Company, Imperial Glass Company, Indiana Glass Company, and Hazel-Atlas Glass Company, and others.
Because of their having been made in such numbers, I would imagine their retail market value is not very high, but in no way, shape, or form can any of them be characterized as “worthless”. The auction house is not being truthful if they really said that the hens were “worthless”. They might have gotten that erroneous idea because of the large numbers of Indiana Glass hens posted on ebay, with few bids, simply because that particular type is very, very common. (See my page on Indiana Glass to see which type I am referring to).
I can’t really give you any better info than this……… a collection of 200-300 milk glass hens would very likely include a number of the scarcer / rarer variants. It would be difficult to identify them all, unless a truly knowledgeable collector was able to view the collection in person. But let me clearly state that collectible older classic Milk glass is NOT worthless!!! There are currently many collectors of milk glass, both old and new, scattered across the US. A search of Youtube videos and Facebook groups will uncover milk glass collectors, collections, and discussion groups devoted to that type of glassware.
Hope this helps a bit!
David
Thank you very much, David.
Hi David – I’ve recently joined several FaceBook pages dedicated to milk glass, vintage glass and vintage “non-glass” (ceramic, china, etc). I’ll bet someone there would be interested in a collection of hens …
Do you still have the hen on nest dishes?
Hi David, What a nice guy you are to try and help all of us. I was lucky to recently go thru several dusty shelves of canning jars in an old garage in the Georgia mountains. I didn’t know much about the history of various jars when I did this, sadly. I’ve learned much since. I haven’t been able to determine the dates of any of the Kerr jars. I see others have the same problem. Can you suggest a chart similar to the one someone created for the Ball jars?
I also have 3 quart jars that just say MASON – that’s all they say. On the bottom there’s an I inside a circle, A and 75. Any idea who mfgr. is?
Appreciate any and all help. thank you.
Hi Rosemary,
Thank you for your kind words! Unfortunately, I do not know of any chart that illustrates a timeline for Kerr jars. They tend to be difficult to date precisely. I do not collect them myself, and have only a superficial knowledge of them. I realize it is a hassle and an expense, but for any collectors seriously interested in Kerr jars and their many variants, I suggest getting a recent copy of the “RED BOOK” of fruit jars, a price guide used by most fruit jar collectors. There are many different Kerr variants listed in that book, although the dates used are not, in most cases, shown or explained.
I am sure there are some Kerr collectors around the country who have much more detailed knowledge on the various jars and their approximate periods of manufacture, but much of this information may be “in their heads” but not written down or published. (I will make a plea here for any collectors to chime in on the subject of Kerr jars, and submit any info you can for the sake of Rosemary and other collectors of Kerr jars).
The reference book “The Fruit Jar Works” by Alice Creswick does have some information on estimated dates of production of some of the jars, as does Dick Roller in his encyclopedia work on fruit jars. These books are no longer in print and difficult to find, at least at a reasonable price.
About the jars with “I inside a circle”, actually the mark is meant to be an “I inside an Oval” or “I inside the letter O” and that stands for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company. If you get a chance, please check out my webpage on that company. Those jars would have to date after the year 1954.
There are also many other types of jars with just the word “MASON” embossed on the front, and a number of glass companies were involved over many years’ time.
Hope this helps a bit!
David
I have a one pint smooth green Gallo wine bottle (flask-like in appearance) with a screw top that says it was made and bottled and sealed by Gallo in California. The very partial paper label that was left said “Thunder” Everything I have seen on-line indicates there should be something on the bottom of the bottle, some marking that says Gallo, but this bottle has no symbols or numbers/letters on the bottom, nothing at all. Any idea of the date?
Hi Richard,
I don’t know how old the bottle is. You might try contacting the Gallo Glass Company and ask them if they have any info on dating your bottle. Their website is https://galloglass.com/ .
Take care,
David
“What’s the word? Thunderbird!” Gallo started selling Thunderbird in 1957 and stopped in the early 2000s.
Hi David, I have a pair of 12 paneled green glass containers, both with indented handles in the circular flat glass lids. The marking on the bottom of one shows “3 – K – 345” and the other shows “4 – K – 345”. They are about 6 inches tall and 4 inches in diameter. Any hints?
Hello! Was trying to date a milk bottle I found on my property yesterday. My husband and I purchased 110 acres on Lookout Mountain Georgia and have found many old dump sites. I haven’t
“dug” into them yet but have found some interesting bottles on the surface. I have been trying to research this milk bottle I found yesterday. Along the bottom is “One Pint Liquid Registered Sealed UGP51 D 967” Ive got it down to Universal or United glass products company. It has ejection mark from press and blow machine. The bottom base has a “X” and “55” stamped. The mouth has small round nubs along the rim. There is no other embossing on the jar to identify brand. Glass is completely clear and I can see a few horizontal ridges at the neck.
The UGP51 is from 1920-1940’s. The best I can figure with my search is maybe 1940’s. I haven’t found what the “D” or “967” mean, but I assume where the manufacturer was and assume the “X” and “55” on bottom is mold identification. I can’t find much referencing that company. Any idea how I could date it more accurately?
Thanks!
Hello Nikki,
I consulted the reference book “Glass Milk Bottles: Their Makers and Marks” by Jeffrey Lyle Giarde (1980). On page 127, Giarde writes (in part):
“Universal Glass Products Company, Parkersburg, West Virginia (1930-1962) ; Joliet, Illinois (From 1962)”.
He also writes: “The UGP mark together with the numeral “51” are found on many milk bottles. Universal did not adopt the system of regularly embossing the manufacturing year on its milk bottles which proves a disappointment for collectors. The “51” is not a date. ”
My own guess would be that you may be correct……perhaps it’s a 1940s vintage bottle. I’m sorry I can’t give you more precise dating info.
Best regards, David
Thank you so much, I appreciate your time!
I have a brownish-yellow bottle that has marks on the bottom TT CO JAPAN H2. The two Ts are sort of like a double T a la Texas Tech. Might be a mineral water bottle?
I have a similar bottle, but can’t find info on the marking anywhere, have you had any luck?
Hello David, My name is Bill Vest. I’m from Columbus, Ms. Several years ago I was deer hunting outside a small town Ethelsville, Alabama way out in the middle of nowhere. I had climbed a tree and was about 20 foot in the air, the sun was shining and I noticed the sun was hitting something on the ground and shining. I said to myself I’m going to see what that is when I get down. Finally I got down and went to retrieve the object – it was a small jar and when I got home and cleaned it up it said Vaseline trade mark Chesebrough, New York. I was excited over my find and where I found it at.
Hi Bill,
Thanks for your post. It is amazing how you can find old bottles and jars just about anywhere where people have been. I can’t say for sure, but it is possible the area once had a house standing there many years ago, now long gone.
Take care, David
I have a pint size milk jar with a W with a 5 within the W. Any ideas?
Brenda, the “5W” mark was used by Winslow Glass Company, with glass plants located at Matthews, Indiana (1900-1908) and Columbus, Ohio (1902-1927). They manufactured a lot of milk bottles.
Best regards, David
Hi David I found a small glass bottle buried under my porch, marked
65-k
liquor bottle
O
5
It doesn’t look too old but still interesting, Thanks!
I have a brown bottle with the lettering of X-O-X on it. Trying to find out what it is, it’s also a cork top.
I have a brown bottle with 4 leaf clover around top and bottom. Trying to find out what it is
Hey David,
I have a small blue glass vase that I am trying to identify. The only mark it has on the bottom is the number 4. Any ideas?
Vic, the “4” is a mold number and doesn’t give us any information on age or maker.
Best regards, David
Just found this site – great site! I have a mystery mark that an hour on google has not resolved – a modern looking juice glass with an etched image of a glass blower on the bottom, no letters. The glass blower is pointing upwards, could almost be mistaken for an enthusiastic trumpet player. This design is etched onto bottom of plain 2-3 oz glass. Any ideas?
Hi Judith,
The trademark of a glassblower holding his blowpipe upward was used by Macbeth-Evans Glass Company, and later by Corning Glass Works (maker of Pyrex) after they acquired Macbeth-Evans in 1936 or 1937. From info in the book “400 Trademarks on Glass” by Arthur G. Peterson (1968), on page 13 he indicates the glassblower design was first used as far back as 1880 on lamp glasses [chimneys] and globes. However, that would be pertaining to one of the earlier glass companies that merged to become Macbeth-Evans in 1899. I have not researched this in detail, and you may be able to find more precise information online.
Best regards, David
I have been checking all sources for my Pyrex Mixing bowls Primary colors and cant find out about them. I have some others with the regular markings, but a few are different. My 402 Red is marked 402 Pyrex R in a circle(registration then under that 20). All of which is in a circle on the bottom.
Do you have any ideas. I appreciate it.
Hi David,
I have a miniature creamer, sugar bowl with cover and covered butter dish – they are what my mother would call “rose” glass. They are pinkish… Anyway, the punt mark is a bee and the letter M. I thought I read your article thoroughly. I didn’t find that description. Any ideas? Thanks, Deborah
Deborah, I am not sure. Perhaps a reader has more information. Higbee Glass Company used a “bee” design as their trademark, but not sure about a bee mark with the letter “M”.
David
Found an old bottle that reads “LONDON STORES BOTTLING COMPANY 137 S 5 TH AVENUE NEW YORK” and also has a shield type design on the front with the date “1876” on the back
Hi! My father in law found an old green glass bottle in his garage with absolutely nothing on it but a four leaf clover on the bottom, no number, no letters, nothing. I’ve been trying to find research but nothing! Please help!
Hello David,
I found what looks to be a glass drinking jar in an old dump site behind my house in the Missouri Ozarks. The only markings on the glass are found on the heel. The word ‘delited’ with the number 9 above it is all I can find on the glass after I cleaned it.
The glass is smooth, with circles around the bottom neck of the glass above the heel. The only matching image I can find on the internet says it’s a Delited food company jam jelly jar originating from nashville, TN in the 1930s-1940s, but Im not sure this is a trustworthy site.
Have you come across any Delited glass ware? I cannot find any history for the company or glass.
Hello Emma,
I don’t know anything about the jar or the Delited Food Company. Perhaps someone will land on this site eventually, and pass along more info.
David
Darn! Thank you anyways!
I am trying to date a Kerr self-sealing Mason jar. It is a 56 oz smaller opening clear jar. I have not seen an example of this one. The bottom says Kerr Glass Mfg Co around the bottom with Sand Springs Okla around the other side on the bottom. In the center is PAT, a subscript 10, next line: AU 31, next line: 1915 (looks like 1815 because the glass apparently ran on the 9.
The unusual thing is the front of the jar. It has Kerr in large script. Underneath: “SELF SEALING” (no dash) in large caps in parenthesis. Under it is a “swoosh” coming off the G of self sealing with – very faint – TRADEMARK inside the swoosh. Next line off center to the right is PATENTED (smaller letters) and next line, larger letters, is MASON.
I do have photos. Can you tell me anything about this jar? Thanks!
Hi Michele,
The KERR fruit jars are many and varied, and the ones marked “SELF SEALING” were made with slight variations for a very long time. Some of the earlier ones have the AUG. 31 1915 patent date on the bottom. From information in the reference book “THE FRUIT JAR WORKS Volume 2” (Alice M. Creswick and Steven B. Creswick, published 1987) on page 73, she indicates the earlier 1915-marked jars probably date from around 1915 to 1919. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those jars date somewhat later, but I honestly can’t say for sure!
Hope this helps,
David
Hello David,
I wonder if you would be interested in a copy of my grandfather’s self-published book. He was a 3rd generation glass & mirror maker and engineer. He researched the origins of glass, mentions of it in history and the bible, the travels of glass makers throughout Europe. It is particularly focused on Jews and their involvement in glassmaking throughout history, but from reading this blog I think you would find it of interest as he also mentions many glass makers thoughout Europe, many of whom he visited personally (mostly flat glass, but that is a much more recent innovation as history goes).
Hello Avner,
Would you contact me directly at my email address (shown under “CONTACT INFO / NOTES”, near the bottom of any page on this site).
Thanks for your post!
~David
I have an E.O Brody Co Cleveland Ohio white container. It has a small 2 and MJ-42 stamped on the bottom. Can you explain what the numbers and letters designate?
Deborah, I assume they are codes for the particular style/shape of the container, and/or mold information of use within the factory that made them. I can’t elaborate any further than that.
David
Hi, David – Great website! I worked for Owens-Illinois in a previous life, part of the time in Beer, Liquor and Wine Marketing for Glass Container Division. I still visit at some of the retiree programs they have. Anyway, I have a bottle that must be a liquor bottle. It has “Federal law forbids sale or reuse of this bottle” molded in the glass around the shoulder. It has a glass stopper with a cork wrapper around it. on the bottom is D-8 and below that is 66-48 and below that are three dots. I don’t want to know its value, only if it might b e of interest to a collector. I’m moving and am going to pitch it otherwise. Again, great site! By the way, I have an old marketing report prepared by the GCMI in which they concluded that there was no future for the one-way beer bottle!
Hello Philip,
Thanks a lot for your post. From the markings “66-48” we can know the bottle was made in 1948 (48 is the date code) and the “66” is a liquor bottle permit number assigned to Owens-Illinois (although I don’t know which glass plant carried that particular number!)
There are some collectors of liquor bottles made by O-I (say, especially of the 1930s-1950s) scattered around the country, but in general a bottle will garner more interest from collectors if the design is more “striking”, unusual in shape or has especially detailed graphics. Some of the liquor bottles of that era (made by O-I as well as other glass bottle makers) have been saved and reused as decanters or vases. I can’t say for sure how easy it would be to find a collector interested in that particular bottle, but in any case I would suggest you keep it just for nostalgia’s sake, since you used to work for Owens-Illinois, but if you truly have to downsize (in a serious way!) you might try donating it to a local thrift store (along with other unwanted items you might have) so it could end up in the hands of a collector that way.
Thanks again for your post and your info!!
David
Hello David, You site is great and I was hoping you might be able to help me identify what this bottle is and its time period. I received a bottle from my folks that is brown glass curve like a flask on the curved side it has “FEDERAL LAW FORBIDS SALE OR REUSE OF THIS BOTTLE” on the bottom it has the number 3 in the in the center left side and D153 in the center and under the 153 it has the numbers 73-40 with ball in cursive to the right of it. Thanks for any info you can provide Mark.
Mark, all I can tell you for sure is that it is a liquor bottle made by Ball Bros Glass Manufacturing Company, and the “40” is a date code for 1940.
David
Hi David, at dump, I found 3 small bottles(21/2-4”tall) with “Bromo Seltzer Emerson drug Co. Baltimore,MD.” across fronts but no M marks; not screw tops. Can you give info as to their age
Sue, I can only give you a guess (repeat: guess), since there is no clearcut information available to narrow it down precisely. It also depends on whether they are handmade or machine-made. If the two vertical mold seams ‘fade out’ before reaching the top of the bottle, they are handmade (“mouth-blown”), and would be somewhat earlier, perhaps 1890-1910. If the seams reach all the way to the very top of the bottles, they are machine-made. In general, the machine-made versions are later, perhaps from the 1910-1930s time period.
David
I recently came across a small green bottle on a beach. On the bottom reads “C & Co Boston”. Just below the neck of the bottle on one side is the word Polish.
I have found the bottom of a glass bottle in at Crystal Cove beach. I thought it would be fun to figure out what it was when it was complete but i cant find any info on the markings. There is a big GS in the center. It also says pat des 86037. On the side it also says CREA which i beleive is cutoff. Id like to figure this out but i cant find any bottle after searching that says GS on the bottom very big. Thank You!
Hi An Di,
That’s part of a milk bottle. The patent was issued in 1932 to Frank L. Lloyd. I found this by searching the GOOGLE PATENTS database with “D86037” . The “PAT DES” means “PATENT DESIGN”. Typing the number along with ‘bottle’ on google will bring up some webpages where actual bottles are discussed…….the patent lasted for a number of years, and I am assuming a number of different dairies and/or brands of milk bottles were involved. Bottles made under this patent were manufactured in the 1930s and probably into the 1940s. Perhaps the partial lettering “CREA” is part of the word “CREAM” or “CREAMERY”?
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pages/USD86037-0.png
The “GS” on the bottom would probably be the initials/name of the dairy where that particular bottle was used. Many milk bottles have initials on the base which stood for the dairy involved.
Hope this helps! Take care,
~ David
Thank You! I appreciate the help but that was far as I got. And I am assuming it does mean cream on the side. What I am puzzled by is I cannot find a glass bottle or any info on a bottle with GS embossed on the bottom. Its big letters, they are almost as big as the whole bottom which is 4-5 inches wide. Thanks again!
I didnt realize the you gave me info on the GS part, thank you for that as well!
I have this machine-made crown top, green soda/beer bottle from the early to mid 1900s with a large “ØL” on the base and a “4” on the skirt. Any ideas?
Was this ever answered? This site is amazing, but I haven’t been able to trace the bottle we just dug out of our backyard in Atlanta. It matches this description, although it may have an E4 on the bottom instead of just a 4. The ØL is large and centered on the bottom, with a clear suction ring and no texturized markings around it.
Hi Catherine (and Garrett),
I’m afraid I did not answer Garrett’s post, and I have no information on the bottle or the mark. I am guessing this might be from one of the Scandinavian countries that use the letter “O with a slash” in their alphabets. Or the letter is some kind of trademark?
Sorry I can’t be of much help here.
David
Hi David,
While hiking in the mountains in Utah I found an intact 24 oz blue glass bottle with the mark AB(connected) A 5 on the bottom. It was at about 9k feet and in a super steep pine canyon. From what I e read these are early 1900’s hand blown glass is this correct?
Thanks for this very cool and informative site.
Tyler
Hi Tyler,
Thanks for the nice words about the site! Yes, the great majority (perhaps not all) of the AB/connected beer bottles were hand blown (or “mouth blown” , the term used by some collectors / researchers!) and, as far as we can tell, date from the 1905-1917 period. Because of the high incidence of homesteaders, explorers, travelers, miners, emigrants, etc drinking lots of beer, these bottles are found just about anywhere, even high up in the mountains, as you have discovered!
David
Hi I found a bottle that says Philadelphia louis hillemann embroidery on the side. It has a green tint to it and says contents 10 fluid ounces near bottom.also on bottom has 26n . do you know anything about this bottle anything would be appreciate it thanks
Mike, I don’t know anything about the Louis Hillemann brewery (I guess that’s what you meant?) but the bottle is probably from 1926, and made at Newark, Ohio by American Bottle Company. See my entries under “N” in the alphabetical listings, with the numbers in front such as “17”.
David
I found a bottom piece of clear thick glass, tumbled and frosted from beach wear. It says “liquor bottle” and some numbers. Any idea what year they stopped embossing those letters on the bottom of bottles? I’ve searched then someone recommended I ask you. Thanks for any input you may have.
Jenny, I honestly don’t know. But just from casual observance it seems most of the bottles I’ve seen with the phrase “LIQUOR BOTTLE” embossed on the base are from the 1960s through the 1980s. Perhaps a reader would have better info.
David
David:
A glass base for restaurant sugar shakers from the old Star Products of Los Angeles carries the Maywood Glass (Compton) mark you display (#2). The rim lettering reads “GUARANTEE STAR PRODUCTS, INC. LOS ANGELES CA”. The center codes (item #’s) are 2715 above MG mark, and 10 below that. Star, which also had the napkin dispensers with a star on the sides, so commonly seen in old movies, would later become property of Dispensers Inc. of Santa Barbara along with the “Dripcut” brand. All seems to have gone to Traex. I would assume Maywood had this relationship before the Anchor-Hocking takeover in 1959, the base being in the six-ribbed style curving down and outward (’40’s-’50’s look).
Hello al,
Thanks a lot for the information you have passed along!
Take care,
David
Another SoCal glass name popped up in an unrelated search. Turns out one Hermosa Glass Company of Hermosa Beach CA had deeded a land section to Pacific Electric Railway at an unknown date (could have been through a predecessor streetcar company and transferred by Great Merger of 1911). In 1949, PE Ry conveyed this tract to City of Hermosa Beach. Have found nothing on product/business history of Hermosa Glass so far.
Additional sample-2715 over MG over 12…vertical ribbed…no Star Products name on glass. Lid carries STARLINE & Dripcut (script, registered mark) names around starburst logo (atomic mid-century). “STAINLESS STEEL” across bottom, all on lid center. Presumed to be from original Los Angeles supplier (before Santa Barbara Dispensers Inc.)
Still finding more Maywood items made for Star Products, both large and small sizes. Unmarked versions of the same styles were made into the Dispensers Inc. era with the same number codes…possibly Anchor Hocking kept things going? Did find in 1959, Maywood got into a legal dispute with the government over unemployment compensation for a worker (glass packer) who was canned for putting bad glass into the shipping cartons after having been warned (she counter-claimed about having a bad day of some sort). Maywood seems to have lost over technical reasons. Guess that might be a good factor in selling out.
Hi David, I found a 9 and 1/2 inch tall glass jar with the several markings on the bottom. There is a capital A inside a mark that is an open box, open at the bottom. then the # 5799
and then the # 2 . it does not look like a screw top jar. it has an almost shield like design front and back. It was found on a property dating to 1903. Any clues?
Thanks,
LeeAnn
LeeAnn,
From your description of the mark, it is a product of Hazel-Atlas Glass Company. Please check out my page on that glass maker. I don’t have any specific info on your jar. H-A made millions of jars of many types and shapes. The #5799 is probably a mold design (catalog or inventory) number assigned to that particular style of jar.
David
Saw a marking today that I can not find listed it looked like a cent sign or a C with a line from top to bottom. Don’t see anything like that listed on your site and a google and ebay search turned up nothing. Any idea? PS love your site. Pete
Peter, thanks for the kind words. I have tried 3 times to contact you via email and received a “Mailer Daemon” in response. Your email was evidently entered incorrectly.
I am *guessing* you are seeing the mark used by Imperial Glass Company which slightly resembles a “cent” sign. It is actually meant to be an “I” and a “G” superimposed. That mark is usually seen on better-grade tableware including a lot of opaque glass (milk glass) and fancy colored glassware of many patterns and designs.
Best regards, David
Hi David, I found a very small glass bottle marked BW & CO on it. it is about 2 inches tall. there are no other markings. any idea of how to date it? It is a screw top. thanks, mike
Mike, I’m not familiar with the mark. I have a hunch it could stand for a pharmaceutical company, but I may be wrong.
David
Burrows Welcome & co tabloid bottle
Have you ever been able to find any more information about the Eureka base for a probable jelly jar? Where was this found? Was it found in California? There is another piece of a base that has been found in an old house dump in California.
Hi Linda,
No, I haven’t learned anything new or heard a peep from anyone since posting this page, until now!
The “EUREKA” shard I found was not found in California. I found this shard among various items (whole and shards of bottles, pieces of glass insulators, broken tableware, pieces of bricks, etc, generally dating from the mid-1880s to the 1910s period) when the downtown “Waterfront Park” along the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky was under development. Areas along the bank of the river were excavated in the 1995-1997 period, uncovering assorted debris where an unofficial trash dumping area appeared to have been located. That area is now the “Great Lawn” and a nearby small boat harbor with piers.
Thanks for the note! If you find out anything more, please keep in touch!
David
Dear David,
I found a bottle/jar amber bottom with the logo KX inside a rhombus and the number 500, it seems old, but funny enough I retrived this on the shore of the Baltic sea in Latvia, Europe after a big storm. Could it be the “K X ………………………seen on an amber jar base shard, circa 1960s or 1970s. No info on maker, though it might stand for one of the Knox Bottle company plants, or maybe it is just a mold letter (mold identifier).” ? Or is there any other manufacturer with this name? I can send a pic if it helps!
Hello,
I strongly doubt it has anything to do with the American bottle maker Knox or the KX mark I list on this site. There are lots of other bottle makers’ marks from around the world that are not listed on this site, and may appear to be very similar to marks listed here. Please email me a pic of the mark, to the email address listed on the bottom corner of the page.
Thanks!
David
Hi David, You have done a great job with the website. On your “bottlemarks” page, the bird like logo is a logo we used up to a few years ago. It is still present on some older molds that we run. We are currently using a new ‘bird” logo that can be seen on our website. If you’d like I can send you better pictures of the logos we have used.
Hi Joel,
Thanks very much for your information! I will also try to follow up with the person who was first asking me about that mark. My email address is listed on the right-hand bottom corner of any page on the site, and you are welcome to email pics of the marks used by PhoenixPackaging.com. Thanks!
David
Hi David just want to let you know how much I have learned from this site and from all the work that went into putting together, the best information on the American glass manufacturing industry anywhere. I have been collecting glass bottles for almost 50 years on and off and have over 2000 now in my collection. I had a lot of questions for you on factory marks on some of the bottles I have collected since 2012 when I first visited your site, but thanks to the updated information you added you answered them without me needing to ask. After reading some of the questions and knowing the answer was on the site I would suggest to anyone interested in glass bottle marks to review the information already provided on the site and then ask questions if you still have any.
Thanks again David for sharing your research and knowledge on your website.
Hi Randell,
I just discovered your post – it had landed in the website “spam folder” several days ago – I don’t know why. Sometimes posts sent in by readers are diverted to the spam folder, for no apparent reason. Thanks a lot for your kind words about the site!
Take care, David
May I just say thank you for this impressive and informative website. My goodness the time you must have put in to learn all of this and then put it together for all of us is incredible. I’m still relatively new at collecting glassware and so my personal knowledge is minimal so far. With sites like this, it sure makes it so much easier. Especially for someone like myself, who struggles oftentimes with research. It can become overwhelming. I absolutely LOVE antiques of all kinds. History fascinates me and its just so incredible to see how things were made, when made by someones hand especially. People truly took pride in the work they did. Our ancestors were true “stuff doers” as I say. They went out every day and did stuff,all kinds of amazing stuff. Often anymore people lack that kind of mind set. Its refreshing to see other people passionate about antiques and vintage things, also about the people/companies that made them and how. So sorry for rambling on. What I just wanted to say is thank you. Your time spent is appropriated. 🙂
Hi Bethany,
Thank you very much for your kind words. I really appreciate that!! Actually, this site began as nothing more than a brief list of glass maker marks on bottles, as well as a short list of glass factories that manufactured electrical insulators (one of my primary interests in the field of glass), first posted on the web back in early 2004. And it has expanded gradually over the past 14 years, with more information being added as time has permitted. Much of this material is gleaned from books and other reference material I have at hand, as well as lots of searching online (Google has been a big help)………so please don’t get the impression I actually have more than a tiny percentage of it memorized! 🙂 I have a collection of books pertaining to the field of bottles and other glassware, which I find very helpful……and I often check them before posting an answer.
I might also mention (for the benefit of many who have written to me and not received a reply) – I have been getting more and more emails and posts lately, and because of a lack of time and energy I can no longer answer a lot of the queries I get. Also, many of the questions I get have to do with interpreting the numbers on the bottoms of Owens-Illinois bottles, (and other well-known, “major” glass companies who made tremendous quantities of bottles which are found often) and since this is certainly still an “inexact science” in many cases I simply don’t have definite, conclusive information to pass along.
In any case, I also love antiques and history, and I really get a kick out of handling old items that were at one time a part of the ordinary lives of people who have long since passed on. It is a connection to the past……physical reminders of the lives of those who have gone before us, and the little “ordinary” things they made, handled and/or used as part of everyday living. Thanks again for your letter!
David
Hello David , As a child my dad gave me a Broma Seltzer Bottle we pulled out of our well at the Family Farm that has been in our Family since the Kansas Land grant days. This is just not an ordinary Broma Seltzer Bottle, according to some investigative digging I did, but maybe you can fill in the blank for me with the resources you have, the only research article I could find on this bottle ( which was an older article) I read was The Glass Society and Museum is that there were no Broma Seltzer bottles accounted for or could not be located with an OBC mark on it – Ohio Bottle Company, and mine is a 1906 circa and with this mark OBC so its supposed to be one of a kind. Has anyone reported to you that has one too? Thank You for your most valuable time.
Linda, please check your email (including spam/trash folders). I sent an email asking if you can send me photos of this bottle. Thanks, David
Great site. I recently acquired a bottle with my last name a Humphries & Co Cooling Bitters. The base is embossed C & S P it sort of looks English to me. The color is a greenish aqua… any guesses on the origin of the maker. The bottle is Bimal I’m guessing 1880-90s, Thanks
Hi I have a bottle that I can not find any information on and was hoping you could help it is marked pitecorsky & kraftzoff AA in the center Philada with the numbers 678 on the bottom any information will be helpful
Hi David–thank you for the AMAZING website and phenomenal amount of information you’ve compiled. I picked up a glass jar today in Bermuda, in about 6 inches of water on the northwest side of the island. It looks brand new, but I could tell that it was old by the mold/machine marks. It never occurred to me that I could find so much information about it so easily, but you made it possible. According to what I’ve read your website, it’s made by the Owens-Illinois Glass Company in Fairmont WV, probably in 1939. So now I have this lovely mystery to ponder: where has it been all these years that it is intact and completely unpitted/unfrosted? Certainly not in the salt water where I found it! Thank you!
Hi Susan,
Thanks a lot for your kind comments about the site. It is hard to be sure, but my guess would be your jar has been buried (somewhere in the area along the shoreline) for many years, and because of water movement (tides, storms, currents) has been recently uncovered, to be found by you. Sometimes items that were casually dumped a long time ago were buried, and many years later will “resurface” after continued erosion. Take care, David
Hello. Help to define firm of the producer of this small bottle. At the bottom of this bottle there are letters of WSS.
Thanks.
Vycheslav – did you ever find the maker? Mine shows a wide spaced capital “”W with a cleft style “S” over each half of the “W”. .. maybe Im reading it upside down.
I have a bottle with R&Co 50 can u tell me anything about it? I can’t find one like it. It’s light aqua color
Lile, please check out my webpage on the R & CO beer bottles made by Reed & Company of Massillon, Ohio at this link: Reed & Company
The “50” is a mold number and does not give us any info on the age of the bottle. Many different mold numbers are seen on these bottles. However, all R&CO bottles were made sometime between 1881 and 1904. Hope this helps,
David
Was doing a project for work digging out a coffer dam and came across this old bottle with A.B.G.M Co with c2 stamped in the center. Was trying to get an approximate age on the bottle. Once I cleaned it out I realized that it still has the original cork inside of it. The glass has beautiful air pockets in it and what look to be fold lines or what some people are calling stretch marks in the neck of it. I don’t see any other identifying marks on it. Any help in dating this would be appreciated. Thanks, Adam S
Hello Adam,
The A.B.G.M.CO. mark was used by Adolphus Busch Glass Manufacturing Company and they were in business from 1886 to circa 1926. However, it is my suspicion that the great majority of the beer bottles bearing that mark on the base date from an earlier period of time within those years, perhaps from 1886 to somewhere in the early or mid-1910s. The C 2 is a mold/shop number. Also, check out my page on the “AB Connected” bottles. Hope this helps,
David
Hello David,
My husband and I were digging around in the woods behing our house and came across a very interesting Bottle, I woild like to email you some pictures of it. I have never seen anything like it, the most interesting part is what is written on the side of the clear glass long necked bottle. It says
Federal Law Forbids Sale or re-use of this Bottle. On the bottom is some numbers on the top row is 69-44, the middle has D-9 the bottom row is 34. On the side of the bottom of the bottle it says 4/5 Quart. Have you ever come across a bottle as described?
Thank You,
Wanda Stone
Hi Wanda, You have a “fifth” liquor bottle made in 1944 by Foster-Forbes Glass Company of Marion, Indiana (with another plant at Burlington, WI). The “69” is a “liquor bottle permit number” assigned to Foster-Forbes, and the “44” is a date code for 1944. (Google the phrase “Liquor bottle permit numbers” for a page with lists of those numbers). The D-9 is a distiller identification code. “34” is a mold number. For a little more background info, you might check out my article on the phrase “Federal Law Forbids sale or re-use of the bottle”; the article on “Numbers on the base of bottles” and the “Owens-Illinois Glass Company” webpage, elsewhere on this website.
Hope this helps,
David
Looks like you found a 1930’s liquor bottle, Wanda.
I have 2 bottles that say 21 1/3 FL. ounces. narrow opening with a small dot of an opening (olive oil?) On Front a flowered design F.W. Fitch Co. Bottom of one is a triangle with the circle inside with and I in the circle. One is numbered 7 4 0 and the other is 7 3 0, Looking at your alphabetical list, possibly bottles made in Illinois? Do you know what year they would have been made? Thanks
Yes, they were made by Owens-Illinois Glass Company, but I don’t have any other precise info. I think you meant “diamond”, not “triangle”, correct?
David
I believe the Fitch bottle was hair tonic or preparation.
Hey Dave
How ya been? Hope you’re well.
I have an aqua Atlanta, Ga. 10 panel Hutch with “C & CO No. 6” embossed on the heel.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Steve
Hi Steve, thanks for the kind words. That would be Cunningham & Company, of Pittsburgh. Check out my alphabetical listings pages for more info. I would guess the “No. 6” is a number assigned to that particular mold.
Take care, David
David, I found a green AB bottle with a J8 code in Metropolis, Ill
Thank you, John. That one was just added to the list today.
David
Hello, Jim Sinsley sent me here. I have a bottle marked LaM.A&F. It is a ribbed green bottle. I can;t find any info on the makers mark. I believe the A&F is something and fruit as I believe this is a fruit jar. Not sure what the LaM stands for I believe this would be the maker. I have photos at this website
https://www.antique-bottles.net/showthread.php?688667-Makers-mark-identification-help
Any help would be great
Hi James, I answered on the antique-bottles.net site. I am not sure where those bottles were made, but suspect they might be products of Great Britain or France. No info on what the initials represent.
Take care, David
W&T base mark on turn of century tooled top druggist bottle dug in rome, ny?
Hi Al,
(Readers, we communicated by email concerning this particular mark, as well as another bottle embossed with “W.C.G.CO.” on the base. The “W & T” initials appear on the base of a clear handmade druggist bottle, and the mark is currently unknown / unidentified. Al Parker kindly gave me permission to post a photo of the W&T base mark on his bottle, and the pic has been inserted into the alphabetical “Glass bottle marks” listings on page five. See also my updated text on the WCGCO mark.)
Thanks and take care,
David
AB S 12 found Saskatoon Saskatchewan by a sewer company employee. Submitted by 33rd Street Vintage and Artisan Market. Can provide photo upon request.
Hello, do you know anything about ‘S&B Patent’ mark?
Hi Nicole,
No. You can email me a pic of the bottle. My email address is at the bottom right hand corner of the page.
~David
This site is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for all of your information!
Jeanann, thanks a lot for your kind words!
~David
i found a ruhrglas glass bottle with a hammer and sword logo on bottom, cant seem to find any info at all on it
Zane, the marking is DURAGLAS, and I don’t know about the hammer and sword logo, but Owens-Illinois made gobs of bottles marked “DURAGLAS” on them, all of which date after 1940.
David
I found a 12 oz nehi glass bottle that has a D stamped in the bottom side if anyone could help me with the age I would greatly appreciate it because I can’t really see the numbers on the bottom but it does not have any kind of flavor wrote on the label.thanks for everything Eric
Hi Zane it’s from Germany. I just found one today. Mine is brown and has a 22 and a 63 on the bottom. 22 I believe is oz but the 63? Maybe the year? Have you found any more info?
Hello David, my mom and I found an aqua bottle with AB K23
I have a piece of a glass bottle that has a mark on the bottom showing an “H” with an “A” between the lower part of the H. There’s also a number: L-7-8514. The glass has bubbles in it, so I know it’s probably older in age. Didn’t see it on your list. Any idea?
Hi Hondo, please check out my page on Hazel-Atlas Glass Company. That glassmaker used the “H over A” mark which is also in my alphabetical marks listings. Hazel-Atlas made huge quantities of many kinds of bottles and jars over many years. A lot of them are marked on the base with a style or mold number which in your case would be the “L-7-8514”. Hope this helps,
Best regards,
David
I have a set of 5 what I’m assuming to be milk jugs with a long wooden crate with rope strap handles the only marking I can see is a number 2 on the bottom of all 5 jugs.. can you please help me find out what I have here??? Thank you so much
Hello Branislav,
I am guessing you have an old black glass wine or liquor bottle of some sort, probably made somewhere in Europe. I know very little about those types of bottles, so if anyone who lands on this site has information on the mark, please let us know!
David
Hey David , I have a glass bottle which is clear 3 1/2 oz with what looks to be a compass engraved on the bottom of the bottle. Found on burried on beach and am curious to its origin. Found this piece with other bottles from dates as early as 1892.
thank you for your reply. I think it was made after the First World War, probably in Germany, but I’m not sure. If someone recognizes the tag please write .. 🙂
Hi David, I have a heavy glass ashtray with a capital F – possibly and E with wear – inside four points ^ to look like a square. Can you give me a y information on it please?.
Diana, I don’t know, but am posting your query here. Readers?
~David
Possibly Foster-Forbes? But the mark I’m aware of is an “f-f” inside a circle, not a square.
Thanks David. It’s actually an F or an E with wear – not both. I have pictures but I can’t upload them here.
Diana, my email address is listed on the right bottom corner of the page. You may send me pics of the bottle and mark if you wish.
David
Hi there I have recently found a small round milk glass cold cream jar (I’m assuming) with a lid to match, on the underside is embossed chesebrough Vaseline New York . The history web site I found describes nearly every bottle/ jar since Vaseline was first sold and has photos too . It describes similar jars to mine but no photos saying cold cream began sales in the late 1870’s which would fit with where it was found . I have trawled Google and cannot find any image to this item can you please help in any way . It was found in Manchester , England on the top of a Victorian tip
David,
I am trying to identify a symbol on the bottom of a plastic bottle cap of a plastic water jug. I know this website is about glass bottles. But I was wondering if you might be able to point me to a website or something that could help me identify the symbol. Some friends and I as well as some people on an online forum I frequent have been trying to figure it out, but with no luck.
If anyone is interested, it’s a capital B inside an inverted triangle. I do not know the brand of the water bottle.
If you choose to delete this comment due to it being somewhat off-topic, I would understand.
Hi Joshua,
Very interesting question, and something I have noticed inside many plastic lids and other articles……..the logo or insignia of a plastic-manufacturing company…….but I’m not sure about how to find the maker. If you haven’t tried already, you might search by using keywords that are more “technical” such as HDPE (high-density polyethylene), PP (Polypropylene), or PET bottle manufacturers. HDPE (#2 plastic) is used widely for toys, standard milk jugs and 5-gallon buckets.
It seems many of the plastic manufacturers sell their wares through distributors / wholesalers, so it may not be easily evident where or by whom they are actually made.
Good luck with your search. If any readers have an idea on the user of the “B inside an inverted triangle” on plastic bottle caps, please advise!
Thanks, David
David,
I recently found a Ball Mason jar dating between 1923-1933. It has a questions mark with and underscore on the bottom. Could you enlighten me on what this may mean and value of the jar with zinc lid?
Monica,
That’s really supposed to be the number “9” with a line underneath, although with the hand-engraved “cursive” look, it does look similar to a question mark. Sometimes the number looks almost like a bass clef sign on printed sheet music. Many of those jars have a line underneath the numbers 6 or 9 to differentiate between the two. Most of the Ball Perfect Mason jars in aqua or “Ball Blue” glass (with the numbers 0 through 15 on the bottom) are valued by experienced fruit jar collectors at around 1 to 3 dollars with a lid, (because they are extremely common) although there are many slight variations, and other colors, that are worth more. They tend to be priced MUCH higher at antique stores and flea markets. Hope this helps,
~David
My apology for not responding sooner. Thank you very much for the information. It helps a lot.
David, it seems that there is little to no information on referencing how to determine the origin of some basketball size glass fishing floats I found in 1975 on the northern island of Honshu, Japan.
Do you know of anyone who might be able to help?
Alonzo, the best advice I can give is to check out the books listed at the bottom of my article, and to become a member of the Facebook discussion group about collecting glass fishing floats. You should be able to make contacts with very knowledgeable collectors and researchers through the Facebook group. They know A LOT more than I do about many of the floats that are found. Also, I might add that a lot of floats remain unidentified, as pertaining to age and origin.
Best regards,
David
Hi I found a small glass with a chess piece and a number 5 its a bit bigger than a shot glass. Can you give me more info about it. I found it and I know nothing and was curious what’s and where it’s feom. Thanks Renee’ S
Hi Renee,
Please check out my page on the Capstan Glass Company, on this website.
Best regards,
David
I’m hoping you can help me. Research has me stumped. I found a small, round clear glass bottle with a lid made by Alcoa. Lid says “Beautiful Hair. Breck.” Bottom of glass says 1904, has a B with two serifs in a circle with a 7 underneath. I can’t find any Breck bottles online made before 1930, and they are all rectangular. Also, if this is Brockway Glass Co., your site says this logo was used after c. 1930. Is 1904 the date? Did Breck make hair tonics before 1930?
Amanda, the “1904” would not be a date, but is likely a mold identification or style number. The “B in a circle” was used by Brockway Glass starting approximately 1925, or perhaps a little later. According to Wikipedia (not always 100% accurate, but I would assume it is correct in this instance) Breck shampoos were introduced in 1930.
By the way, sometimes a bottle no longer has the original lid, but a replacement that just happens to fit. Are you sure this is the original lid that came with the bottle?
David
It has both the cap and the seal, so I thinks it is original to the bottle. I have pictures if you have email.
Hi Amanda,
My email address is listed at the bottom right of the webpage.
Best regards,
David
Hi David,
Awesome site!! I recently found a round piece of white sea glass with a large number 50 on it. I found it on the beach in Slovenia (Adriatic sea). I asked for help and researched but couldn’t find anything. Here is the video of the sea glass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gdnV8Sv2VU
Thank you for your help!
Best wishes,
Marina
Hi Marina,
Neat little video there…..thanks for sharing! However, I’m sorry but I really don’t have any idea about the glass piece you found. I will assume it is a mold number on the bottom of a bottle or jar. Please check out my webpage about numbers on the base of glass bottles. Also, since it was found in Slovenia, there is a very good chance the glass was made somewhere in Europe…… and I am not that familiar with a lot of the glass companies and marks used in Europe. But in any case, just a number on the glass does not give us any good information on who made it, or how old it is.
Best regards, David
Hi David,
Not a problem, I completely understand 😀 Thank you so much for your help and for having this amazing website. Someone said that it can be from a 50/50 bottling company, who knows 🙂
Have a wonderful day!
Marina
Hi I just found an old brown bottle in the woods behind my house, and i washed it off and when it was all clean i examined it to find the number 67 engraved in the bottom… if anyone would be so kind as to tell me what this bottle may have been used for and what the 67 may mean.
Nic, please check out my webpage here on “numbers on the bottom of bottles”. If there is no glass manufacturers mark, it is difficult to know what company made the bottle, or how old it is.
Best regards,
David
David, I’m a former O-I employee and am looking for info on a mint condition 5-gallon blue tint “carboy” with a crazed pattern bottom and an I in an oval O. No date or other identifiable markings. Any info on year and approximate value would be appreciated.
Joelle,
It’s my understanding that most of those large water bottles will have a plant code and date code on the bottom, a number placed to the right and left of the logo. However, the numbers are often VERY difficult to see, and may blend into the “crazing”. If there are no numbers, then I have no idea on date. Although with the “I inside of O” mark, we can assume it dates sometime after the mid to late 1950s.
Best regards,
David