ORIGINS OF VINTAGE BOTTLES

**SAN ANTONIO BREWING ASSOCIATION (1888–1918)**

This beer was produced in a brewery many of you know as the Pearl Brewery in San Antonio Texas but before it was the Pearl it was the San Antonio Brewing Association in fact if you look at the center logo on this bottle you will see the xXx logo that Pearl took and uses to this day. The San Antonio brewery ended its operations in 1918 for the same reason most breweries ceased to exist after 1918 in Texas. Any guesses as to why? Prohibition went into effect in Texas in 1918 restricting the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcohol. Because of this date we know this bottle dates back at least to 1918 but the bottler mark on the bottom gives us a little more information on age. This bottle is stamped with SB&GCo which is the Streator Bottle & Glass Co., Streator, Illinois this company manufactured bottles from 1881 to 1905. My guess is this bottle would be closer to the 1905 date than the 1881 date based on the style of bottle but this does mean that this bottle was not machine made. This bottle would have been blown in a mold and had the top applied separately which is how bottles were made in that time. The bottom of this bottle is chipped and has been rolling around in a creek for a while but considering she’s 120 years old I’d say she looks pretty good!

**COCA-COLA, TEMPLE, TX (1915)**

You may recognize this style of bottle. Sadly, the script Coca-Cola logo was cracked so it had to be cut out but this particular bottle is unique. This design is something Coca-Cola first introduced in 1915, and they called it a hobble skirt bottle. This was a new design that set it apart from other competitors and a design that remained a standard until the 1960s. This bottle was produced 1917 to 1928 and this bottle is stamped on the bottom Temple Texas. Temple starting bottling coke bottles in 1905 but an “ice blue” in color 1915 hobble skirt is considered rare, most of the hobble skirt bottles have a green color.

**PRESUN BOTTLING WORKS. LA GRANGE, TX. HENRY AND ARTHUR (1910-1920)**

This is one of many La Grange bottles David was able to locate on one of our Colorado River adventures. This type of bottle is called a circle slug because of the circular pattern the text is written in. This bottle has text around the outside that says Presun Bottling Works La Grange Texas Henry and Arthur. On the square in Downtown La Grange you will find a historic marker showing the site in which this bottling company existed. The building was first constructed as a hotel before being purchased by a German immigrant Fritz Presun in 1893, the bottling works was added in 1897 and a son named Henry was also mentioned and it appears Arthur may have been another son. All bottles date back to 1910-1920.

**SOUTHERN EXTRACT CO. HOUSTON, TX (1921)**

This circle slug bottle reads Southern extract co Houston Tex. I was able to find a few advertisements from the Houston paper about this company in 1921 but no other advertisements so it may have just been a short lived company. The address of 315 Crawford street is now the home of the Houston Astros or Minute Maid park as I know it but has apparently been renamed Daikin Park. This bottle has a beautiful deep blue color and is in great condition.

**DR. PEPPER. WACO, TX (1930)**

What’s more of a Texas soda than a Dr. Pepper? This is a debossed bottle meaning that the letters are inset into the bottle rather than raised off of the bottle as most are. This is likely from the 1930s and is a 6 ½ ounce bottle with the 10, 2 and 4 logo on that back. This was Dr. Pepper advertisement at the time, “Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2, and 4”. This was based on research from the 1920s that indicated blood sugars were at their lowest during that day at 10am 2pm and 4pm so why not drink a Dr. Pepper to help with low blood sugar? This bottle is stamped on the bottom Temple Texas indicating it was bottled and distributed from Temple. The Temple Bottling Company was first established in 1924 and continues to operate to this day! Waco is the birthplace of Dr. Pepper when in 1885 a local pharmacist (druggist) by the name of Charles Alderton invented it by combining 23 flavors at the Soda fountain. Do any of you remember going to the soda machine as a kid and adding all the flavors to see what it would taste like? From my recollection it did NOT taste like Dr. Pepper.

**CROWN BORKING WRKS FRITZ PRESUN SODA COMPANY. LA GRANGE, TX. (1910)**

This is another Presun bottle but this bottle predates all of the rest. This is a larger bottle with clear embossing that says Crown Borking Wrks Fritz Presun Prop La Grange Tex Registered. And on the back it says this “bottle not to be sold”. I hope we are breaking the rules! Fritz Presun starting the bottling works in 1897 and when it started it was called Crown Soda Factory but since this bottle doesn’t include his son Henry so it likely predates his involvement. The bottom of this bottle is stamped by the bottle manufacturer A.B.G.M. Co which stands for the The Adolphus Busch Glass Factories which made bottles with this logo from 1906- ca. 1916. I would date this bottle at around 1910.

**COCA-COLA. AUSTIN, TX. (1924)**

This is another example of one of the first hobble skirt Coca-Colas with a patent date of Nov. 16, 1915. This bottle is stamped on the base AUSTIN TEX. which is where it was distributed from. The Coca-Cola bottling plant was first established in Austin by Charles Lewis in 1924 and considering this bottle is a 1915 patent and in December of 1923 the new bottles started production this bottle may have been one of the first bottles filled in the Austin Plant around 1924.

**CALDWELL BOTTLING WORKS. CALDWELL, TX. (1910-1920)**

This early Texas soda bottle reads CALDWELL BOTTLING WORKS 7 FLU. OZS. CALDWELL TEXAS. This type of bottle was referred to as a “circle slug” based on the circular embossing on the bottle and was a style of embossing on sodas seen from the late 1800s into the 1920s. Many small towns in Texas had bottling location that would order bottles with their logos on them and once they arrived would be filled with various flavors on site before they were distributed. Because these bottling locations were often located in railroad towns these bottles are found not only in the town of origin but other nearby towns as well. Caldwell itself has a history dating back to its founding in 1840 with the bottling works was established before 1880. The bottling operation prospered through the 1920s as indicated in the article below that details the expansion of the bottling works plant in Caldwell in May of 1928. This bottle is stamped with G23 on the heel of the bottle indicating it was produced by the Graham Glass Company which was in existence from 1912-1929. This bottle likely dates to 1915 – 1925.

WEIMAR BOTTLING WORKS. WEIMAR, TX. (1910-1920)

This early Texas soda bottle reads WEIMAR BOTTLING CO. WEIMAR TEX. This type of bottle was referred to as a “circle slug” based on the circular embossing on the bottle and was a style of embossing on sodas seen from the late 1800s into the 1920s. Many small towns in Texas had bottling location that would order bottles with their logos on them and once they arrived would be filled with various flavors on site before they were distributed. Because these bottling locations were often located in railroad towns these bottles are found not only in the town of origin but other nearby towns as well. Weimar was established in 1873 with the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway soon to run through the town. Not long after the town was founded the Weimar bottling works was established and continued distributing bottles into the 1900s. This bottle dates in the range of 1910-1920.

WHY Vintage Bottles

David and I both love history especially local Texas history. This love for history is rooted in our upbringing where we were fortunate enough to spend time with our grandparents and great grandparents learning about their family history which dates to the early days of Texas. Having a love for history is only part of the story though, our family also instilled a desire in us to find things of historical significance. I can still remember times in Lone Grove Texas growing up where we tried to find room for some of Granny O’s sugar cookies after stuffing ourselves with homemade chicken and dumplings and garden raised black eyed peas. After we awoke from the food coma, our uncles would go looking in the plowed field for points or arrowheads and if we were lucky, we could tag along. On one occasion I remember being told to look for something on the ground that was shaped like a Christmas tree. As a parent now, I can only imagine how many Christmas tree like rocks were presented to the uncles from all of the cousins as arrowheads that were nothing more than a rock but, I was lucky enough to find a small bird point and still remember the excitement I had and the astonished look my uncle had that he wasn’t being presented with yet another worthless rock. Since those times David and I still find enjoyment in other forms of history treasure hunting like metal detecting, which started as a Christmas gift from my parents years ago and is still something we each enjoy. Once, when I was younger I remember asking my grandma Orsag if I could metal detect around the old homesite on the property Meagan and I currently live and I was told by my grandma that while I was welcome to try it’s unlikely I would find anything because her family (Drews) didn’t have any money and if they did lose something of value they would have looked until they found it. After spending more time than I would like to admit detecting around the property I can say so far, she appears to have been correct. I’m still trying to prove here wrong though. Also, value isn’t my motivation in looking for this historical treasure. Take a step back from the air-conditioned home you are sitting in right now looking at your phone that’s connected to the internet and think about what the area you are sitting in looked like in 1900. Most of the towns David and I find bottles from were first established in connection to a railroad being built through the town. For example, the town I grew up in Giddings Texas was founded in 1871 with the Houston and Texas Central Railway and this is a picture of what life looked like in early Giddings history.

Its during this time frame that locally embossed glass bottles were being produced and many towns had bottling works or local pharmacies (druggist) that would have bottles manufactured with their business name molded into the glass. The bottling works would receive the embossed bottles and fill them locally with a variety of different flavoring options and the local druggists would fill the bottles with “medicine” to cure a variety of ailments. Many of these supposed cures were primarily alcohol while others included cocaine or morphine in such high doses that they themselves could cause serious health concerns.

The bottles we find with local names date to the 1920s but some examples date back into the 1800’s and are incredible examples of Texas history!

Some of you may wonder….How do you find these bottles? In those days dragging your trashcan to the side of the road to be picked up once a week was not a thing. Instead, most trash was burned or dumped on the property somewhere. If the trash pit on your property filled up or you didn’t want to dump your trash next you’re your house another option was a drainage area near by or a creek. Horse drawn wagons carrying wood barrels filled with trash would be backed up to a embankment of a creek and the barrels would be pushed over the edge. The beautiful thing about pushing a barrel into a creek is the next hard rain your trash might magically disappear . One last area where we have had luck finding older bottles is an old privy. What’s a privy? Well… Before indoor plumbing every house would have an outdoor bathroom near the home with a hole dug into the ground. Among the things dropped into those holes were bottles they needed to dispose of. I know that seems… lets call it interesting but after 100 years you aren’t digging through what you might imagine. David and I work to locate these areas in public spaces or through permissions from landowners in an effort to find history but as you might imagine after rolling around in a creek for 90 years or being dropped into a privy hole these bottles are often damaged. These damaged bottles would generally be discarded again or left but since that hurt my heart, Meagan suggested we combine two of our passions and cut the broken bottles and fill them with Texas Beeswax to create candles. That seems like a great way to share history with others in a way is both unique and functional. All of that said… Here are some of the bottles we have found an a brief history of the bottles. Keep in mind that these bottles are not in perfect condition but which of us are :). I do my best to ensure there are no sharp edges through grinding the surfaces after cutting them but please use caution.

Vintage Bottle Beeswax Candles