“G.W.” mark
This “G.W.” mark is seen on the bottoms of a variety of utilitarian bottles and jars typical of the late Victorian era. These bottles are most frequently found in the St. Louis and surrounding area. They are typically found in a light aqua-colored glass, but also in clear (colorless) and rarely in cobalt blue.
Recently collector David Leo sent me a photo of a clear prescription/druggist bottle marked “CRAWFORD & CO / DRUGGISTS / GALENA ILL” and it bears the “G W” mark on the base.
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Here are a couple brief mentions from contemporary sources:
“The Great Western Glass Company, P. B. Leach, President, W. F. de Cordova, Secretary and Treasurer, was established in 1874. Their specialties are druggist’s flint prescription bottles, and flasks. Their capacity, which is 300 boxes a day, has been more than doubled since 1878, when it was only 125 boxes daily, and still the demand continues to increase at a rate that will require early enlargement.” From 1882-83 [St. Louis] Year Book of the Commercial, Banking, and Manufacturing Interests, Volume 1.
The Great Western Glass Works apparently closed down production in late 1886 -possibly early 1887. Exactly when glass bottle production ceased at St. Louis is not clear, but various problems resulted in a business move to Paola, Kansas, where a new factory was built and in operation by the fall of 1887, under the name “Paola Glass Company”. That operation only lasted a few months after it became apparent that the natural gas supply was not sufficient to keep the factory operating. (More information on the move is detailed in the article by Bill Lockhart, linked below).
Meanwhile, the St. Louis factory site sat idle for several years until the site was razed in 1890 according to the following newspaper article:
“The Great Western Glass Works, corner of Third and Barton streets, are being wrecked by the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association, who will establish in their place a bottle house employing new methods of manufacture.” Iron and Machinery World, [trade newspaper] December 27, 1890, page 12.
That soon-to-be-built bottle manufacturing plant mentioned in that brief article above would have been the second plant of the Adolphus Busch Glass Manufacturing Company, division or subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association. Beer bottles made by that concern are typically embossed “A.B.G.M.CO” or “A.B.G.CO”.
The Great Western Glass Works operation evidently went by both “Company” and “Works” although the term “Works” may have been used more in casual conversation, referring to the actual brick and mortar factory building as opposed to the organized business operation (firm name).
For much more background information and discussion on the Great Western glassworks, check out this PDF article written by Bill Lockhart et al:
https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/GreatWestern.pdf
For an extensive list of glass manufacturers’ marks seen on bottles, fruit jars, electrical insulators, tableware and other items, please click here to go to the GLASS BOTTLE MARKS pages, page one.
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