Two Embossed Lantz Pint & Quart Milk Dairy Bottles. WV

 

On a recent trip to WV, I found a couple nice dairy bottles.  Both were from the Lantz Dairy and are in great shape.  I think they spent most of their time buried in mud next to a spring that got washed out after a downpour.

The smaller bottle (immediately below) is more ornate than the larger one.  I'd guess they'd both date to anywhere from the 1930s to 1950.  I think the half pint bottle is the oldest because of the type of closure.

Below is the larger bottle.

Here is the bottom of that one.

The larger bottle has the Thatcher Manufacturing Company mark to the left of the L.  The Thatcher marks are well documented and can be dated pretty well.

These are both exceptionally nice embossed bottles in great condition.  

The bottom of the smaller one appears to have only an O in a circle.  That mark is very faint.

Small Regional Glasshouse Olive-Green Lady's Leg Whiskey Bottle (?)

 

Beauty doesn't scream.  It doesn't have to.  You can't help but be absorbed into it, like the subtle hint of a totally confident smile dominates an entire room.  You want a name, but the smile makes it unnecessary.

Wait a minute.  You aren't on the wrong site.  I'm just playing around.

Above is an attractive dark green applied-lip blown bottle find.  The "ladys-leg" neck shows several long stretch bubbles.  The nicely proportioned barrel seems to taper ever so slightly.  There is no embossed name, but there are some hidden hints begging to be interpreted.

Here is the bottom of the bottle.

You can see a rather clear symbol that looks like maybe a plus or X and opposite that a very faint O or something.  

If the signs and symbols are correctly interpreted, I'd say this is a 1850–1870 American whiskey bottle from a small regional glasshouse

The dark olive-green is a classic whisky color. The lady's leg is typical 1840 - 1870 era. The 13-inch height and four-inch base is also rather standard for a whiskey. On the bottom you can see a post-mold tooling scar. The plus sign, or whatever it is, is probably a hand-engraved mold cutter's mark, and the O, probably a mold identifier.

Watkins Embossed Milk Glass Container

 

The very first bottles sold by Watkins are assumed to date as far back as 1868, but I doubt that the very earliest containers were actually embossed with the Watkins name, but would have likely been “generic” hand blown bottles with a paper label affixed to indicate contents...

The earliest versions of the Watkins bottles were presumably made in aqua glass, were handmade (with a tooled lip) and have the lip fashioned for a cork closure.  Later versions have a threaded-style lip for a screw-on lid.

The exact year when screw-top bottles were introduced by Watkins is unclear.  Perhaps this would have been sometime in the 1920s.  However, some products were continued to be sold in “cork top” bottles for many years after other products had switched to screw top containers.   For instance, some of the flavorings and extracts are seen in bottles with a cork closure, but the paper labels on the bottles include a zip code in the company address information.   This would definitely date those bottles to 1963 or later, the year that zip codes were introduced in the United States.   

Some of the later bottles with paper labels and cork closures appear to be “special edition” or “commemorative” bottles that mimic the look of bottles they sold decades before...

Here is the source link where you can find more about the Watkins bottles and products.

J. R. Watkins Co, Winona, MN ~ vintage glass bottles ~ Information

No mention was made of milk glass containers in that article, but below is an example of a milk glass Watkins jar with paper label for Watkins Cold Cream.

I do have another post showing a J. R. Watkins bottle.  You can find that by doing a search.

Embossed green Byrrh bottle.

 

BYRRH Bottle.

BYRRH is embossed three times around the shoulder of the bottle.  There are no other markings. 

The bottle has a high kick-up.  The mold seam goes all the way to the top.  There are no bubbles.  The bottle isn't very old.  The bottle hasn't been cleaned.

Bottom of Same Bottle.

Byrrh is an aromatic wine aperitif made of red wind, mistelle and quinine. Created in France in 1866 and trademarked in 1873, it was popular as an apéritif in the early 20th century. With its marketing and reputation as a "hygienic drink", Byrrh sold well. It was even exported, despite the similarity of its name to "beer", complicating sales in English- and German-language speaking regions

Byrrh was sold in the United States until Prohibition. As of 2012, Byrrh has been reintroduced to the United States.

Again, by the look of the glass, it obviously a recent bottle and not worth anything.

Here is a link for more about Byrrh.

Byrrh - What It Is, How to Buy It, and How to Use It

Parker Super Chrome Ink Bottle made by Armstrong Cork Co.

Parker Ink Co. Super Chrome Turquoise Blue Ink Bottle
with Paper Label. 

Superchrome was developed by Gaylen H. Sayler and patented in the early 1930s, but it was not widely marketed until Parker began producing the Parker 51 pen.

The label reads inn script  - writes dry with wet ink.

PARKER

Super chrome

... turquoise blue

permanent ink

The Parker Pen Co. Janesville, Wis??. U.S.A.

Here is the top to the bottle.

The bottom reads as follows.

3 0Z                                  88CG

10                               A in circle underlined.

MADE IN U.S.A.

The makers mark is for the Armstrong Cork Co. which later got into glass.

The logo consisted of the Circle-A mark with a notable underline. As with the others, it was found on both amber and colorless glass, and it occurred on liquor containers but, these lacked the “MADE IN U.S.A.” found on the ones with the Circle-A “rmstrong” marks. 

Here is that link for more about that.

ArmstrongCork.pdf

However this bottle has the circled and underligned A along with the MADE IN U.S.A. mark.

Knox Glass Bottle Co. Pharmacy Bottle of 6 Drams.

 

Graduated Pharmacy Bottle.

I've found tons of these kinds of pharmacy bottles that were made so the pharmacy could affix their own paper labels.  They are one of the most common types of bottles, and not nearly as nice as pharmacy bottles bearing embossed labels showing the name of the pharmacy.  They come in a wide variety of sizes, and I've posted a few of the other sizes.

This one has a bottle maker's mark on the bottom.  It is a J in a Keystone.

Bottom of Same Pharmacy Bottle.

That is hte mark of the Knox Glass Bottle Company, used on containers made at their Jackson, Mississippi factory location (1932-1953). 

J in a Keystone (1932-1952) The Knox Glass Bottle Co., Jackson, Mississippi, used the J-in-a-keystone mark (Figure 5) from its inception in 1932 (Toulouse 1971:271) until 1952, when Chester Underwood was ousted, and all plants switched to K in a keystone.

So that pretty well dates this bottle to a twenty year period as well as the plant where it was manufactured.

Here is a link for more about the Knox glass company, which had numerous plants

untitled

On the shoulder of this bottle is is the following mark.

Mark on Bottle Indicating 6 Drams.

The first mark, which looks something like a "3" is the symbol for dram, a measure of volume.  A dram is 1/16 of an ounce (1.772 grams) for weight or 1/8 of a fluid ounce (≈3.70 ml) for liquid.

The mark indicates the total volume of the bottle, so the mark indicates the volume of the bottle is 6 (vi) drams.

I've some bottles with smaller pharmacy bottles as little as 2 (ii) drams.

Pressed Glass Decanter by Thatcher Glass Mfg. Co.

 Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Pressed Glass Decanter.

If you hunt bottles, you'll probably find a few decanters - not often but occasionally. The decanter shown above was found along the Indian River.  It is about 9.5 inches tall and in perfect shape.  The top is perfect.  It isn't chipped, the bottle was made with an irregular ruffled edge around the lip.  It looks fine sitting on a windowsill reflecting the morning sunlight.

There are no marks of identification on it except on the bottom, where there is a good amount of information.  You can see that below.

Bottom of the Same Decanter.

Most prominent is the FEDERAL LAW FORBIDS SALE OR REUSE OF THIS BOTTLE message encircling a variety of other marks that need deciphering.  

The Federal Law message dates the bottle to somewhere in the range of 1935 to 1964.  One of the other numbers on the bottom is "62" which could indicate a date of 1962.  I haven't yet done enough research to decipher all the marks, but I think I could find the information. I know there is probably a factory code (probably the D), a mold number and some other things.

Below is the maker's mark displayed in the center of the bottom.

MTC Maker's Mark on Bottom of Decanter.

A little research revealed that to be what is referred to as the MTC mark - one of the variations used by the Thatcher Glass Mfg. Co.  Thatcher was referred to the father of milk bottles.  He didn't invent the first, but was responsible for many of the early innovations and did a lot to make milk bottles "the" method of delivery.

Here is a link for a lot more information on the Thatcher company.

4-page_spread

The extent of the available research on the company is impressive.  It is the kind of research that is not produced by big names but to a large extent by devoted enthusiasts who are as systematic and detailed in their research as any top name scientist.

I think the linked site will help me decode some of the other numbers on the bottom of the decanter when I devote the time to it.  

Here is a link to an article that tells how to tell the difference between pressed glass and cut glass.

https://www.libraryofvintagethings.com/2025/11/11/pressed-glass-vs-cut-glass-how-to-tell-the-difference/

When you do find a decanter, you never find the stopper at the same time, but usually find enough lost stoppers to be able to find one that fits and looks good.

Brown Embossed Lysol Cork Top Bottle.

Brown Embossed Lysol Bottle.

This bottle has Lysol in script repeated four times around the shoulder of the bottle.

Bown Lysol Bottle Bottom.

Around the bottom outside reads: LYSOL INCORPORATED    BLOOMFIELD N.J.

Inside that is: BOTTLE MADE IN USA.

In the center is a triangle with something within.  I could be the WT mark, but is too faint to make out for sure.

The first-ever Lysol antiseptic disinfectant was made in 1889 by Gustav Raupenstrauch. It was created in order to end the cholera epidemic in Germany, where it was causing huge destruction. Next time, the product was advertised by Lehn & Fink in 1918 during the Spanish flu pandemic. It was advertised as an effective product for fighting the influenza virus.

Here is another bottle, that to me looks like it might be older.

Finally, Lysol was introduced to hospitals and drug stores in 1930, and around 1962 the company began manufacturing the Lysol disinfectant spray. 

Here is a link for more of the history.

What Was Lysol Originally Used for? History of Lysol - 1920 to 2021

NuJol Embossed Quack Cure Bottle.

 

NyJol Bottle.

Nujol is in infamous quack remedy created in 1850 by "Old Bill" Rockefeller, father of John D. Rockefeller. The elder Rockefeller was the definition of "snake oil" salesman, claiming Nujol, which was made from pure petroleum, as a cure for everything from Cancer to constipation. John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company continued offering the cure-all for sale up to the time of World War II.

The bottle has an H on the bottom, which could indicate one of numerous glass makers.  More research is needed.

Chas. H. Fletcher's CASTORIA bottle. Blue embossed bottle Manufactured by Owens.

 

This beautiful blue bottle is in great condition.  The glass is clear and without cracks, scuffs or other damage.

One side is embossed: CASTORIA

And the other side is embossed Chas.H.Fletcher's in a script style.

The bottom has the Owens O in a square.  There is a single dot on each side of the Owens mark.

I've posted photos of both Pitcher's and Hatcher's Castoria bottles.  Pitcher's became Fletchers.

Here is a link to a post showing a Pitcher's Castoria bottle.  TreasureGuide's Bottle Barn: Bottle embossed DR. S. PITCHER'S and CASTORIA.

And here is the link to a clear glass Fletcher's Castoria bottle.  TreasureGuide's Bottle Barn: Bottle embossed DR. S. PITCHER'S and CASTORIA.

The following link will take you to a complete documentation of the history of the company and the bottles and manufacturers.  And I do mean complete.  This is impressive and very detailed research.

Here is the link.

CastoriaHistory.pdf

Embossed SMALLY KIVLAN ONTHANK Fruit Jar Boston.

 

Embossed top to bottom:
LIGHT
SKO
QUEEN
TRADE MARK
WIDE MOUTH
REGISTERED

This jar would date in the range of 1907 - 1921.

Embossed SMALLEY KIVLAN ONTHANK BOSTON.

Presumably the type of closure that would have been used.

Smalley, Kivlan & Onthank, Boston, Massachussets (1907-1921) Information about this firm is sparse. After the lawsuit that forced them to discontinue the use of the Smalley Jar Co. name, Edgar Smalley, John L. Kivlan, and Charles F. Onthank reorganized as Smalley, Kivlan & Onthank at 21 Blackstone in 1907. Toulouse (1971:312) set the date when the firm became Kivlan & Onthank at 1919, but Roller (1983:301) noted the reorganization after Edgar Smalley’s death in 1921. Even though John Kivlan and Charles Onthank stopped using Smalley’s name in 1921, they did not officially end the business until the courts forced involuntary bankruptcy on the pair as Smalley, Kivlan & Onthank on September 15, 1925 (Boston Herald 9/16/1925).

Source: SmalleyCompanies.pdf

See also

A. G. Smalley & Company – The Museum of American Glass in West Virginia

Antique Food Container Bottles and Purpling.

Old Food Bottles (3 Purpled)

These are old food container bottles found along the Treasure Coast.  This type of bottle seems to be more likely than others to turn purple.  That is said to be caused by manganese dioxide used in the glass before 1914, although that is not a perfect cut-off date and some bottles, including more recent example, were artificially purpled.

In my finds, it seems the most sun-purpled bottles are food container bottles.  Maybe pickle bottles.  I always wondered if the contents might have some effect on purpling, but I've seen no evidence of that in the literature.

I do have a couple pharmacy bottles that are nicely purpled, but other than that very little purpling among my finds.

The bottle on the right is the only one marked with a patent date - Aug. 20, 1901.  Of course, the patent date isn't the date of manufacture, which you'd expect to be somewhat later.

None of these are blown bottles.  On the bottle that has not purpled, the seam marks would suggest an older age than the other bottles.  The general impression would be that older bottles are more likely to be more purpled, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

It seems you can't tell much about age from sun-purpling other than the general date of 1914 being generally accepted as general dividing line.

Below is another food container bottle, but that one has a maker's mark (J. K. & S), which dates it to around 1857 - 1900, older than the above bottles, and obviously a different type of glass (light green) that did not purple

The J K & S maker's mark is rare.  I showed an example in an individual post on that bottle in this blog.

---

Green Embossed Licoreria La Bodega Bottle.

 

Embossed LICORERIA LA BODEGA  INC. PONCE, P.R.

The Federal Law message pretty much dates the bottle.

The trade mark seems to be a sailing ship with something over it that looks something like an ax.

To give a better idea of the coloring here is another photo.

The bottom shows the I in diamond/circle trademark along with the number 65 on the left and 44 on the right.  Those would be decent numbers for the date range although I haven't been able to narrow it down with certainty.     Either of those numbers would be reasonable date codes from what I've learned.

Owens-Illinois Mark used from 1929 - present.

FALLS CITY BREWING CO. brown embossed bottle.

 

Embossed on shoulder in star: 

FALLS CITY

BREWING CO.

INCORPORATED

LOUISVILLE, KY.

And on the heel:

REGISTERED.

The embossed labeling is small and not easy to read.

The story all began in 1901 when the biggest brewers in Louisville formed one giant company that made ALL the beer and owned almost ALL the tavern real estate in ALL the land. The tavern owners had to rent property and buy their beer from the Central Consuming Company, creating quite the monopoly.  By 1905, the local tavern owners were annoyed and fed up, rightfully so, and decided to come together and start Falls City Brewing Company and the rest is history….or is it?

By 1911, Falls City Beer had an annual production of 75,000 barrels and its first motorized delivery trucks...

Here is the link for the rest of the story. 

The condensed history of Falls City Brewing Company – @fallcitybeer-blog on Tumblr

Horlick's Malted Milk embossed bottle.

 

Here is what I learned.

In the initial stage of manufacturing, milled malted barley and wheat flour are mashed together in hot water where the starch is converted into sugars.  To this sugar solution dairy powders are added. The water content is then evaporated to form a syrup that is dried in vacuum band driers to form a cake. This cake is milled into the finished powder...

1873: James Horlick, a pharmacist joined his brother, William, in the US and together they founded the company J and W Horlicks in Chicago to manufacture a patented malted milk drink as an artificial infant food...

This bottle I found is not nearly that old.

Octagonal Mucilage Glue Bottle Bearing Crescent Moon Symbol as Hazel Atlas Maker's Mark.

 

Octagonal Mucilage Glue Bottle.

If you are not a youngster, you might recognize this bottle.  It is a mucilage glue bottle that had a rubber tip with an opening for applying glue to paper or other surfaces.  The glue was made by the LePage company.

The bottom reads: CRESCENT PRODUCTS.

The crescent moon symbol is the maker's mark.  In this case, it could be confusing since there were more than one bottle companies that used the crescent symbol as a maker's mark.  In this case, it is the mark used by Hazel Atlas, as hard as that might be to believe because of their very common and distinctive H over A symbol.

That is what my research and AI tells me although it still seems pretty confusing if not doubtful.
.

Invented by William Nelson LePage in 1876, mucilage glue was originally made from fish skins and became a staple adhesive in classrooms and homes.

The glue was packaged in small glass bottles with rubber applicator tops, and the bottles became collectible over time due to their distinctive shape and markings.

LePage’s glue was eventually acquired by Henkel Corporation, which still owns the brand today.

Here is a link to the company's history.  Very interesting.

The History of Lepage's Glue | Just Use Glue

Vintage Mucilage Retail Display.
Source: See link above.

In the 1990s the white PVC glues had largely replaced mucilage.

Royal Crown Soda Bottle with Debossed RC and Star on Shoulder. Nehi Bottling Company. 1935 1939.

 

Royal Crown Bottle
with Debossed RC and Star on Shoulder.

Royal Crown Cola was introduced to a limited audience in mid-1934 but was not fully available to the public until the following year. The new cola soon came to dominate the Nehi product line. The initial bottles appear to have been produced with paper labels that were similar to the ACL labels that followed in 1936 (Vaughn 1995a:28-31). 400 Although later bottles were made with ACL neck designs, the technology was not sufficiently advanced to produce ACL on the early ones. It was not until ca. 1937 that ACL machinery was able to apply the enamel to two curves in the glass at the same time, although the 1937 bottle used at El Paso did not yet use this technology. Thus, the earliest two logos were embossed or debossed on the bottle’s shoulder (Figures 10a-10 & 10a-11)  Source: EPChap10a.pdf

Tbis is a transitional bottle.  ACL machines were not yet able to print on two curves so the shoulder marks were embossed or debossed.  This bottle is debossed.

Also some bottles at this time had paper labels and others were ACL.  I think this bottle had a paper label.  There is absolutely no indication of any ACL paint on the bottle.

Debossed RC and Star.

Michael Elling (personal communication) noted that the bottles with embossed/debossed shoulder label was used from 1935-1939. He further claimed that paper-label bottles were used during the same period of time. Only the larger, more successful bottlers used the ACL bottles at that time.  Source: EPChap10a.pdf

Embossed: PROPERTY OF NEHI BOTTLING CO.

For additional information see EPChap10a.pdf

Brown Fehr's Beer Bottle with Embossed Label.

FEHR'S Beer Bottle.

I've not found much information on this Fehr's beer bottle yet, but I did find the pair of Fehr's bottles sold on eBay (shown below).

Vintage Fehr's beer bottles.

The green bottle on the left seems to have the same label as the brown one at the top of the post

Generally, before the 1930's beer came in green bottles, but after the Prohibition they were bottled in brown glass to better preserve freshness by filtering out the sunlight. So, it seems that the brown bottle is later. And it looks like it.

I've found very little information on the Fehr's beer company.  I assume, though, that it is the same as the Frank Fehr Brewing Company of Louisville, KY.


In 1872, Frank Fehr moved to Louisville, Kentucky and started brewing. He developed the recipe for Fehr’s XL (Extra Lager) and won Louisville’s Southern Exposition, every year from 1883 to 1887.

Fehr’s XL was the most widely consumed beer in Louisville when prohibition started in 1920.

Fehr’s Brewing sales peaked in 1949 as the brewery began wrestling with competition from large, national breweries. After putting up a good fight for 15 years, Fehr’s last pour was in 1964. 

Source: fehrsbrewing.com | It' Always Fehr Weather

I did a post on an older bottle from the Frank Fehr Brewing Company (shown below).

Olive Green Embossed John & Robert Harvey Whiskey Bottle. Glascow, Scotland.

 

Embossed: JOHN & ROBT HARVEY CO LTD
              GLASCOW  SCOTLAND

The bottle is olive green although the photos do not show the true color well.

John & Robert Harvey was an old, if not the oldest, whisky business in Glasgow, and dated back to 1770.

Like many in the industry the firm suffered badly in the wake of the Pattison crash that began in December 1898, and approached DCL with a view to a merger. The timing wasn’t right for the DCL, but in 1902, attracted by Harvey’s blending and exporting potential, the company – along with its closed Dundashill distillery – were acquired. Harvey’s became a fully owned subsidiary, although Dundashill was permanently closed in view of the DCL’s concerns around over-production at that time.

Yet by the early 1980s John & Robert Harvey was still listed as licensee of Aultmore distillery near Keith, and with a Glasgow HQ which it shared with Bulloch Lade and John Begg, among others.

Source: Harvey's Special | Scotch Whisky

John & Robert Harvey Embossed Whiskey Bottle.

On the shoulder of the bottle is the Federal Law Forbids Sale or Reuse of This Bottle embossing, which was used from 1935 to 1964.

Bottom of the Same Bottle.

You can see the UGB makers mark on the bottle.

• U G B ……………………………… United Glass Bottle Manufacturers, Limited (large conglomerate of many glass factories in the United Kingdom). This mark dates from 1913 to about 1968 and is found on the bases of innumerable bottles of many styles and sizes that were made in Great Britain.   UGB included glass factories located at Ravenhead, St. Helens;  Sherdley, St. Helens;  Portobello, Scotland; Charlton, London;  Shettleston, Scotland;  Castleford, Yorkshire;  Harlow, Essex;  New Cross, London;  Brimsdown, London;  Kinghorn, Scotland;   Alloa, Scotland and Peasely, St. Helens.  The history is confusing and some factory locations operated for a very long time but others were relatively short-lived. 

From: Glass Manufacturers' Marks on Bottles & Other Glassware - Page 5

CHIVAS BROTHERS ABERDEEN SCOTLAND Green Embossed Bottle.

 

CHIVAS BROTHERS ABERDEEN SCOTLAND 
Embossed Green Bottle.

CHIVAS BROTHERS ABERDEEN SCOTLAND
Embossed Green Bottle.

The bottom is embossed C. B. C or G. which I take to mean Chivas Brothers Company or Glass.

Also on the bottom is a 3 in the middle and what looks like 101A.

Chivas Brothers Bottle Reading: 

Chivas Brothers was formed in 1857.

A Royal Warrant was originally granted by Queen Victoria to James Chivas in 1843, as ‘Purveyor of Grocery for Her Majesty in Ordinary’. The first Royal Warrant for Scotch Whisky was granted to Chivas Brothers as ‘Purveyors of Scotch Whisky’ in 1923. Chivas Brothers no longer hold a Royal Warrant...

In 1853, a new Act permitted vatting under bond for individual distilleries and The Spirit Act of 1860 allowed whisky from different distilleries to be blended without payment of duty.

This opened the door for modern blending and it is believed that James Chivas created his first Brand Name blended whisky during this time.

The Chivas traditions in the art of blending have been passed on to blenders and master blenders over the years...

Here is that link for more about the company history.  Our Story | The Chivas Brothers Story

And here is another link for more about the company history.

PowerPoint Presentation

This bottle appears to be the one on the left in the illustration below, there fore dating between 1939 and 1961.