Of course a philatelist is a stamp collector but what is a collector of old bottles called? Probably a numbskull who should get a life! …Whatever! I guess that it is time for me to come out of the closet, nail my colours to the mast and admit that I collect old glass bottles. I like them to be in very good condition and the glass must be green tinged. I especially like bottles from Yorkshire. They might have once contained beer, sparkling water, ink, milk or medicine. As long as they are green-tinged and fairly old, I don’t mind.
Today, after shopping at our local friendly “Lidl” store, I called in at an antiques emporium at Heeley Bottom just to see if any old bottles had turned up and I was pleased to find this beautiful baby from the 1930’s. Isn't she gorgeous?...
You might not be able to make out the embossed writing. It says “Rider Wilsons Table Water Sheffield” so I am delighted to say it’s another local bottle. It cost me £5. Collecting bottles isn’t a particularly expensive hobby and I have liberated several from derelict properties – in other words free!
If you haven’t fallen asleep yet or clicked away from this dull blogpost, here are some more of my treasured bottles:-
This type of soda bottle (below) - the codd bottle - takes its name from the inventor and patentee Hiram Codd, who in 1872 patented a bottle for use in the aërated water trade. It was made in Barnsley, Yorkshire. The bottle was unique; it would never need a cork inserted to form the closure because trapped in its neck the glass ball could not leave the neck chamber, or perish. This allowed the bottle to be used many times without the expenditure of a cork. The bottle was filled under gas pressure forcing the marble into the lip where it met an India rubber washer retained in a groove. The marble was forced against the washer forming a perfect air tight seal.
And this one is of course an old "Coca Cola" bottle - probably from the 1950's. I bought it in a junk shop in Panama City, Florida for one dollar. On the base you can see where it was made - in Bainbridge Georgia where a Coke bottling plant still operates today:-
I have never really stopped to consider why I like old bottles. Perhaps it's linked to my fondness for abandoned farm buildings. They speak of earlier times. They are tactile and heavy and when they were made there was no expectation that they would ever be treasured.
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| Some of my bottles on display at the grand entrance to Pudding Towers |
Love old bottles. Each one has a story as you point out.
ReplyDeleteDo they have old bottles like these in Australian junk shops?
DeleteOh, they are lovely. They don't make pretty ones like that any more, mores the pity. Do you use them at all. We always have a bottle of water on the table these days when we have friends for a meal ( drinking water is very "in" !!) and a pretty bottle ( or two ) would be lovely.
ReplyDeleteWe also drink water with food - have done for years but I don't think that any of my bottles are big enough for such service. Nice idea though.
DeleteYour bottles are very pretty! This post reminded me of the "bottle trees" you sometimes see here in the deep South, although I think blue is the preferred color for making those.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of bottle trees before Jennifer but I have now just been to Google Images and seen some. Quite amazing!
DeleteI didn't find it dull.
ReplyDeleteThe first photograph is a beauty. They are very photogenic.
I like that first photo too Ade and when I took it all I was thinking about was the bottle - not about creating a decent picture.
DeleteGlass beats plastic hands down, every day!!
ReplyDeleteMs Soup
You are right Madam Soup. The widespread use of plastic is creating environmental issues that were never connected with glass.
DeleteI think old bottles are fascinating. You have some beauties there. I think they are worthy treasures.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lee.
DeleteAs Mr. Spock of Star Trek fame (and also Lee above) might say, "Fascinating!"
ReplyDeleteIt is good to know that after nine years of blogging you are finally beginning to reveal your true self. That means I have two more years to go.
After the bottles I will need to blog about my underwear drawer or my smelly socks. After ten years I am running out of things to blog about!
DeleteThey are not dull, YP. Like yourself, they are lovely old interesting relics...and Coca Cola always tasted better from a glass bottle, as did Irn Bru. My dad was a pharmacist and he had several old pharmaceutical bottles which were really lovely, especially the blue ones.
ReplyDeleteOld interesting relic? You cheeky mare! You have got a lot of bottle to say that to me!
DeleteI thought you would be in Belgium today with your team.
DeleteCouldn't get a ticket Mollykins. Next time would you mind knocking on Tom Huddlestone's door? If you promise to do a bit of cleaning for him I am sure he'll be able to pay you back with a ticket or two. Have you got a pair of Marigolds?
DeleteIf I bump into him in the inconvenience store when I am buying my Marigolds, I will ask him.
Delete"no expectation that they would ever be treasured". Beautiful sentiment, Mr. Pudding.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many interesting functional things from the past that now deserve to be treasured. Take you and me for example!
DeleteYou have some lovely specimens in your collection, YP but I've just got to ask ... who dusts them? :)
ReplyDeleteWe have a little cleaner from The Third World - Rhyl in fact. She is called Myfanwy and has a tattoo of a Welsh leek across the small of her back. I saw this when holding the step ladder steady for her.
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ReplyDeleteInterestingly I learned about Codd bottles from one of his descendants who introduced me to croquet in New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteAnd cthere was you thinking that a codd bottle would have a dead fish inside it!
DeleteWhat a great collection! I especially like that one with the wide top and narrow bottom (second photo). Very unusual. I like the green-glass theme, too. It's kind of mind-blowing to see a bottle from Bainbridge, Ga., among your collection! Coca-Cola always used to put the location of the bottling plant on the bottom of its bottles, and it was always fun to see where the bottles originated.
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