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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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 .. 🙂