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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Hi! Thank you so much for this site, I frequently enjoy using it and it’s been super helpful.
Found in the lake in Vermont: thick clear glass bottle bottom with an E (straight lines not cursive) in a circle at the center, and STORE imprinted twice around it in large letters. There’s also a 28 off to the side. I don’t know the context of why a bottle would be labeled STORE, and I can’t find it, but am curious!
I found a brown glass bottle, sorta big with numbers 1559 and ” B in a circle”, any info?
Lisa, it’s a “stock” or “generic” cylindrical chemical bottle, made by Brockway Glass Company. I think most of that type date from the 1950s-1970s but I’m not really sure. They were used to contain may types of liquid chemicals, acids, cleansers, fertilizers, etc.
David
I located a small bottle while metal detecting central Texas with a raised stamp on bottom of “McC”, the small “c” in the middle is underscored. Along with the bottle were many items which easily dated back to early/Mid 1800’s. Does anyone know who would of been the bottle company?
Roger, please check my alphabetical mark listings. Page 4 is here: https://glassbottlemarks.com/bottlemarks-4/
Best regards, David
Thanx so much for the info, sorry I was unable to get that page to load for some reason but got it now.
I very much appreciate the time you have taken to keep this site, great info. I was really excited on the find, the bottle has an amazing purplish color with zero chips which is stunning cause I located it in a large rock bed. Starting the research now based off the awesome starting point y’all have given, thanx again!
Hi Roger,
Thanks for your nice words about the site. By the way, just as a “heads up” to any and all readers of this site, the content and configuration of the material here may or may not show up exactly the same on all smaller mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, as compared to the way it appears on a full size desktop computer screen. I have a total of about 91 separate pages (articles) on the site and some may not be immediately evident when arriving on the home page. There is a list of article titles along the right hand side of the screen as displayed on a computer. These may or may not be visible on some smartphones although I have tried to make this site more “mobile friendly” for those who are using those devices and do not typically use a regular “full screen” computer.
Take care and thanks again! Good luck on your metal detecting, bottle collecting and research!
David
McC and Mc & C are the celebrated marks of the William McCully glass factory in Pittsburg, PA. They were big in the second half of the 19th century. There should be many references to him in you Google search engine.
I have two Whittemore Boston French Gloss bottle one I clear with a number 4 on the bottom the other is a light green almost clear with an 8 on the bottom why age were they made
Tionda, I have no way of dating them exactly. The Whittemore bottles were made over a very long period of time, in various bottle styles. Your light green one may date from sometime after the 1890s up into the 1930s. The clear one would probably be more recent, sometime in the period of the 1920s to 1950s. Sorry I cannot be more precise.
David
Hi, I would like to get to know, if it is possible to get a print or reprint or online file about Alexander Kerr´s article “God´s cure for poverty or perhaps it is titled: “God´s remedy for poverty”. I would be very thankful to get and read this little article. I would like to use it for helping poor people. Or is it this article: “Circumstances Cannot Break God’s Promises”?
Thank You very much.
Kind regards
Angela
Hello Angela,
From what limited research I’ve done, it appears the article you are referring to (about Mr. Kerr, his faith in God, and the glass factory in San Francisco that was making fruit jars for him which was largely spared by the fire after the great 1906 earthquake) is this article:
https://heraldofhiscoming.org/index.php/read-the-herald/past-issues/181-past-issues/2008/nov08/2140-circumstances-cannot-break-god-s-promises-11-08
If I understand correctly, the article appeared in the November 2008 edition of the Pentecostal-oriented religious publication “Herald of His Coming”. To see if you can get a reprint of the article, or a back issue of the newspaper containing the article, perhaps you could try contacting someone at their current website at this link: https://heraldofhiscoming.org/index.php
Hope this helps!
David
I found a small apothecary bottle with cork and contents still intact. The contents are dark ‘shavings ‘. The bottle has MB on the bottom and measurement markings on side of bottle.
I’ve got a gallon jug with an anchor and superimposed H on bottom with ridges running vertically all around, the opening is to one side. Wanting to know what was this used for?
I have an AB S13, I don’t see it on the list of bottles. Not able to find it on the web either. Any information would be appreciated.
Hi Donald,
Unfortunately, all the info I have on these bottles is already here (in the text of the two pages concerning them) on my site. I will add the “S 13” to the list of known codes. Thanks for your post!
David
I have a footed bowl marked E O Brody Co M6000
Cleveland O USA
Can you tell me anything about it?
Thank you
Hi Mary,
There are many kinds of bowls, vases, etc made for E O Brody & Company and I’m afraid I do not have specific, solid information on them. I feel like most of those types of glass items date from sometime in the 1960s through 1980s, but I can’t narrow that down any better for any particular item.
Take care,
~David
Hello –
I have a large 5 gallon jar, which I believe is a pickle jar. It has the I in the O with the diamond logo on the bottom, but the date code to the right is 68. I thought this logo ended around 1954. Can you help me with this, please?
Thank you,
Pam Hodom
Hi Pam,
You evidently have an example of a container in which the logo on the mold was never retooled (at least not until after 1968, if ever). Actually, the second Owens-Illinois logo (I inside an O) was “officially” introduced in 1954, but in reality it was several years before all the bottle and jar molds then in use were retooled, eliminating the diamond. I think some were not retooled if they saw very limited or highly sporadic use, which may be the case with your 5 gallon pickle jar. Please check out my page on Owens-Illinois Glass Company if you haven’t already. I have a picture posted there of a bottle from 1966, so you have shown at least one container has an even more recent date: 1968!
Take care, David
Hello, i need help with a bottle i found on a beach in NY. its a brown “4/5 quart” bottle. On the bottom is a B in circle with 2 serifs on it i believe and it is centered on the bottom. On the left of the circle-b is 52, below is D-126, to the right is 14, and above is 1.
From what i understand, given the number placement, its a 1914 Brockway glass Co. bottle from mold #1. However, i dont see a plant code for 52 so im confused and i dont know what the D-126 means. Any information would be of great help and i would love to send you pictures if you want to see for yourself.
Hi Chris,
There are so many questions about bottles that are hard to answer, and many glass companies made bottles with different configurations of markings depending on what type of bottle it is. In your case, I can say with certainty that the “14” is a “liquor bottle permit number” (you might google that four word phrase…..there is a list posted online of liquor bottle permit numbers used by a number of bottle-making companies) which was assigned to Brockway Glass Company. The “1” is probably a mold number. The “D-126” is a distiller number, identifying the distiller of the liquor that was sold in the bottle originally. I think the “52” in this case is a date code for 1952.
Best regards,
David
Thank you very much for the reply. Thats more information than i could have ever hoped to have and gives me even more to research :). Thank you!!!!
Hey
I have recently come across a clear glass bottle that has many bubbles or imperfections all over and also has a trident mark on the bottom of it, im wondering if you might know anything about it.
Thanks
By reading David’s article on hens on nests, I discovered that I have a mulberry colored (mulberry stain on clear class) hen. I have not been able to find a picture of mine on the Internet. So I am assuming this one is a rare find.
I have cobalt insulator marked USA K inside circle.can you id? Thankyou.
Hi Susan,
I sent you an email directly to the email address you provided. Please check your spam/trash folders if you did not receive it. If you can send me a photo of the piece by email, maybe I can identify what you have.
Thank you and best regards,
David
Is the date of your posting 2012? I want to cite it in a paper where I talk about the algae growing on glass fishing floats.
Is this citation OK?
Whitten, D. 2012. Glass Bottle Marks. https://glassbottlemarks.com
Gayle Hansen
Newport, Oregon
Hello Gayle,
I am not sure about the proper “standards” used in citing works, but I can say, by checking my records on this site, my specific webpage on Glass Fishing Net Floats was first published on the internet on April 8, 2013. (The basic material on this site was first posted online in February 2004, as a small subpage on the umbrella site myinsulators.com. At that time only a core handful of brief pages were included. I then moved over to my own domain name in September of 2012, and have continued to add additional pages to this site since that time. I do frequently re-edit and “tweak” many of the individual pages. I have not added much to the Floats page since 2013, so you might cite that year if you prefer.
Thank you very much for your interest in this site!! Take care,
David
Hi David, I have an amber bottle I found. All the way around the top it says federal law forbids sale or re use of this bottle. It has diamond o with 1 in it on the bottom, with D 9 56 45 and what looks like 29 or 23. Just wondering any info on it. Found it demolishing an old building in Jefferson barracks in St Louis.
Hi Craig,
Your bottle was made by Owens-Illinois Glass Company (their trademark was a Diamond and Oval with an I inside). The “D-9” is a distiller code number. The “56” is a liquor bottle permit number assigned to their Charleston, West Virginia factory. The “45” is a date code for 1945. The 29 or 23 is probably a mold number. You can see more info on Owens-Illinois at my page here: Owens-Illinois Glass Company. Also some general info on my page on Numbers on the base of bottles. Hope this helps!
~David
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