Bottles Found in This Old House

 

Old Grand Dad Bottle

Photo of the front: PhotoFront.jpg
Scan of the front: ScanFront.tif
Photo of the bottom: BottomPhoto.jpg
Photo of the back: PhotoBack.jpg
Scan of the bottom: BottomScan.jpg
Other scan of the bottom: BottomScan.tif
Scan of the back: ScanBack.tif
Photo of MO Liquor Control Decal: MOLiquorControlDecal.jpg

This bottle was made in 1934. I have this on multiple lines of evidence--and lots of help from some very helpful and friendly bottle experts. (See http://www.historicbottles.com and http://www.sha.org/bottle/index.htm.)

The embossed warning: "Federal law forbids re-use of this bottle" puts it in the post-Prohibition era, though it wasn't a requirement until 1935.

The liquor control label, unfortunately, is missing the date. However the name of the Treasurer is legible: Richard R. Nacy. He served two terms: 1933-37 and 1948-49.

The maker's mark on the bottom gives us more information. The bottle was made by the Owens-Illinois company. The markings on the bottom are:

D 2 3(or 8) 4
56 <diamond IO logo> 4

The D-number is the distilling company's permit code, and that company is Old Grandad. The 56 was Owens-Illinois' liquor bottle permit number. (Even though the embossed warning wasn't required until the beginning of 1935, this permit was required in 1934.) And the 4 represents the year. Since there aren't stippling or texturing on the bottom (from a later machine), it was probably 1934 . Going back to Nacy's two terms, since we know he wasn't Treasurer in 1944, this bottle has to be made in 1934.

Further, in 1940 a law went into effect that required using a two-digit rather than a single-digit for the date code. And finally, beginning in 1940, Owens-Illinois used the Duraglas formula/process, so the lack of a Duraglas marking also argues for the 1934 date.

Here's a video of the machine that made this bottle: http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/michaelowens.mpg


Vodka Bottle

Photo of front: VodkaFrontPhoto.jpg
Scan of bottom: SmirnoffBottomScan.jpg
PHoto of back: VodkaPhotoBack.jpg

This bottle was full and unopened. I found it in a dead space under a staircase when I removed a small bit of original plaster and lathe. I had found numerous empties of the same bottle stashed in all sorts of hiding places in the house. This one must have fallen behind something and been forgotten. Using the Owens-Illinois markings, this bottle for sure dates from 1975.

The spot under the stairs where I found this bottle also yielded a lovely short crowbar (with a 90° head and a nail puller), and some scraps of newspaper from about 1892. The newspaper was used to back the wall paper on the plaster/lathe wall I tore out. All I ended up with were scraps, and they were all from the real-estate section. Housing wasexplictly segregated.


Soda Bottle

Photo of front: SodaPhotoFront.jpg
Scan of bottom: SodaBottomScan.jpg
Photo of back: SodaPhotoBack.jpg

This was the easiest one to date. On the label, there's a copyright 1931 (just to the left of the Indian in the canoe graphic). Also, the lack of stipling and the makers marks indicate that the bottle was made in 1932.

The bottom markings are:

9 <diamong IO logo> 2
90


Castoria Bottle

I found one of those very cool, ice-blue ~6" long Fletcher's Castoria bottles out in my yard. Unfortunately, I found it with a tiller, so it's broken in a few pieces.


Vick's Bottle

I found a cobalt blue Vick's Vap-o-rub bottle in the front yard. This time I didn't break it. I'm not sure what year it's from.