Frequently Asked Questions
- Where can I find out more about a particular
bottle or manufacturer?
If the embossing includes a city name, your first stop should be the
Historical Society of the county where city is located. They quite likely
have Business Directories or other information about the company, including
such information as when the company was in business, products made, etc.
What if there is no city listed on the bottle? The answer depends upon what
type of bottle you have. There were directories printed of medicine
companies, breweries, soda bottlers, etc. Larger libraries or archives might
have copies of these directories.
And don't forget -- many of these companies were purchased by larger
companies, which might still be in business today. Most larger companies
have historians or archivists who can answer your questions.
Another source of information to check are the several books and periodicals
listed on our website. Much research has already been done on manufacturers
and glass houses, so it pays to refer to previously published sources.
However, many of the older books listed have been out of print for many
years, but your local library should be able to obtain them for you via
Interlibrary Loan.
So the real answer to the question is -- research, research, research.
- How can I determine when a particular
bottle was made?
There are several ways, but the most important is the presence or absence of
a pontil scar. The pontil scar, a ring of glass or black iron
indention on the base of a bottle, indicates that it was held on a pontil
rod while the neck and/or lip was finished by hand. Typically, American
pontil scarred bottles predate 1865 or so.
Another age determiner is the presence of a mold seam, and if
present, how far up the shoulder and neck of the bottle it extends. Many of
the earliest bottles were free blown (i.e. blown without the aid of a mold)
and have no mold seam. The absence of a mold seam, however, does not
indicate that a bottle was free blown, as sometimes the bottle was spun
while in the mold to eliminate the mold seams.
Mold seams that extend from the bottom to the top of a bottle indicate
manufacture from 1900 onward. A seam which ends just before the lip
indicates that the lip was hand finished, and dates it to the 1880+ range.
Finally, a seam that extends only to the shoulder indicates that the neck
and lip were hand formed, and dates the bottle to 1860+.
Keep in mind, however, that these are only hints as to the age of a bottle.
- How can I determine what was
originally in the bottle I have?
Many times, the embossing on the bottle can give you a clue to the original
contents. Another clue bottle collectors use is the shape of the bottle
itself. Surprisingly, 100 year old whiskey bottles have pretty much the same
shape as current whiskey bottles.
- Where can I find bottles for sale?
As a member benefit you will receive our quarterly magazine that includes
many types of advertisements - bottles for sale, bottles wanted, supplies,
books.
The Antique Bottle and Glass
Collector magazine has a website that has their advertisements listed.
Many collectors have websites on which they sell bottles. Good choice
of "key words" on your favorite Search Engine should turn up many
choices.
Bottles are frequently sold at auctions.
Bottles are sold at bottle shows at various locations and dates. See our bottle
show calendar.
Frequently
asked questions about fruit jars or canning jars
http://www.av.qnet.com/~glassman/info/jarfaq.htm
What is a Mason Jar?
The familiar term Mason Jar is named after its inventor, Mr. John L. Mason, who,
at age 26, was a tin smith in New York City. The perfected a machine which could
cut threads into lids, which ushered in the ability of manufacturing a jar with
a reusable, screw-on, lid.
Historians believe the first jars were made at Crowleytown's Atlantic Glass
Works, in Crowleytown, New Jersey.
These jars freed farm families from having to rely on pickle barrels, root
cellars, and smoke houses to get through the winter. For urban families, Mason
Jars allowed excess fruits and vegetables to be preserved for use later.
These jars carry the familiar embossing "Mason's Patent Nov. 30th
1858". This date refers to the original patent date, not the actual date of
manufacture. Jars carrying this embossing, often with other monograms, numbers,
letters, etc., were widely produced until about 1920.
What is a Ball Jar?
A canning jar or fruit jar made by Ball.
These canning jars were made by the Ball Brothers Glass
Manufacturing Company, The Ball Corporation and now Alltrista Corporation.
Generally these jars will have the word Ball embossed in the
glass.
(Some people may use the name "Ball Jar"
to describe any type of canning jar. This is technically incorrect).
The Ball Brothers started making fruit jars beginning in 1884 in Western New
York . Their first jars showed the BBGMCo monogram. This monogram was used until
1886. From the early 1890's until 1962, they made their canning jars in Muncie
Indiana. From about 1900 to 1940, Ball acquired many other fruit jar
making companies . The company name was changed to The Ball Corporation in 1969.
Other plants were located in many other cities including El Monte, California,
Mundelein, Illinois, Asheville, North Carolina. Since 1993. the Alltrista
Corporation has been manufacturing the Ball glass canning jars. They
also make Kerr, Bernardin and Golden Harvest canning jars. Alltrista's
home canning product line can be found at www.homecanning.com.
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- What can you tell me about Warner's 'Safe'
Bottles?
The Warner Company started in 1879, with their first bottles being made in
1880. This is after the use of a pontil rod in the making of bottles stopped
in the 1860s. Thus, there are no authentic Warner bottles which have pontil
scars.
Warner bottles can be found which are either mold blown, or made via an
Automatic Bottle Machine (from the early 1900s until the 1930s).
There are several reproductions of Warner bottles, particularly the K &
L Cure bottle. Early reproductions have "Crownford China Co."
embossed on the base, machine made, with a blob-type top.
The latest reproductions, which are very well done, have no base
identification, have a double collar top, but are still machine made (which
is evident upon close examination).
The reproductions come in many colors, with cobalt blue being the most
striking. Real Warner's are amber and off shades of the same, with hints of
green at times.
Foreign variants of the Warner bottles (e.g. London, Melbourne, etc.) come
in more colors, with amber and brilliant greens being the most predominant.
The information on Warner's bottles was provided by Jack
Stecher, and is used with his permission.
PLEASE NOTE.
The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors does not research or
appraise your bottles, jars, or flasks for you. There are several bottle price
guides, available at most large bookstores and online services, which address
the valuation of bottles, jars, flasks and related items.
If you have a question that was not answered here, feel fee to look through the
listing of those who are willing to answer
questions. Also, look for a collector in your area or one that shares the
same area of collecting as you in the
Collector Listing.
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