FOOD BOTTLE DESIGNS
Copyright © 1999 Digger Odell Publications
Beginning in the last decades of the 19th century, food packers began to demand clear glass bottles in which to display their products. Up until that time, the typical food bottle was made of "green glass". Green glass was any of a number of shades of what collectors today call aqua. Most of the bottles shown in the Design Patents shown below were made in clear glass. The predominance of clear glass is noted in both late 19th century dumps and privies. The archaeological record shows the conversion from green glass to clear glass to be nearly 100% by the end of the beginning of the second decade of the new century. Between 1890-1918, along with the change in color, there came a parallel change from embossed bottles to those which were label only. As new styles of containers were developed, form alone began to carry much of the meaning that embossing had previously signaled. New products such as flavoring extracts were being invented and sold along side of old favorites like mustard, and horse radish. The culture was changing from an agrarian one to an industrial one and fewer people were growing their own and more were buying prepared products. Population increases meant bottled goods like olives, pickles, peppers, relish, chutney, sauces, catsup were being produced in greater and greater numbers. Modern compressed air bottles machines eventually enabled the supply to meet the demand. The new century hosted a whole new type of container. The legacy can be found in dumps and privies and surviving specimens.
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#1 Company was Jones Bros. & Company, Louisville made vinegar, catsup and probably other foods about 1901-1908