Antique Coca Cola Bottle Very Simple Straight Sided Crown Top

By kitsune-kari, 21 August, 2010
Description

This is a glass bottle that has been in my family a long time. It stands about 8 inches tall. The glass has a green hue especially at the bottom where the glass is very thick. The top is a crown top style and the bottle itself is in the style typical of the straight edged. Right along where the bottle tapers down at the bottom of the neck there is a ring that bevels out from the rest of the bottle like a rim going around. Below that is the inscription COCA-COLA Written in very plain and small non-stylized text. Below this says "CONTENTS 6-FLU.OZS." turnin the bottle around it says "BOTTLING WORKS URBANNA, VA. There is a seam going down along each side of the glass as well. This tapers down to a seam that goes around the bottom of the glass. On the bottom edge is written the numbers "3574" then "ROOT" then "23". Bubbles are inside the glass of the bottle and can be seen here and there along the inside of it. The glass is very thick. I thought it funny that Coca-Cola is written in plain text and right in the same size as the other lettering. Not sure if this is anything special or if it means it is some old knock of f brand. The bottle is very old.

Category
General Antiques and Collectibles
Medium
Glass
Distinguishing marks
Written various places around bottle: "Coca-Cola" (in plain text), Contents 6-FLU.OZS., Bottling Works Urbanna, Va. , 3574, root, 23. The bottle is green. It has bubbles inside the thick glass.
Condition
Good
Size and dimensions of this item
8 inches tall, 7 and a half inches in diameter around the base.
Date Period
Definatly earlier than the 1950's because my mother's mother has had the bottle a long time and my Mom was born in the 1950's.
Weight
Not certain of exact weight but it is heavy for it's size because of thick glass.
History
It belonged to my mom, and my grandmother. I'm not sure who owned it before that had it always been hers or had someone else owned it prior.
eBay Auction Link
For Sale?
No
Photos

stephanbrown

14 years 4 months ago

Are you from the Urbanna area? Right now there is no bottling company there. I was wondering if you knew when there might have been or if it may have just come from a drug store.

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Yes, I'm from close by. Middlesex (Hartfield). I know there used to be a bottling place there but it's been gone for quite some time. I'm only going by what my parents have told me of the area though. I'm only 21 and so I would not have any personal recollections.

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The modern two-letter abbreviated codes for the states and territories originated during the Post Office's switch to ZIP codes in 1963. The purpose was to make room for the ZIP codes in the address. It appears that the a in VA on your bottle is a capital letter without the period after it, the two letter abbreviation for Virginia in 1963 was VA by the USPS. previous to 1963 the abbreviation for Virginia was Va. including the period. So I believe your bottle was made after 1963, here is a link that explains the zip code changes and when they took effect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_abbreviations#GPO

I hope this helps

 

Bob

No votes yet

stephanbrown

14 years 4 months ago

This information is from a local historian in Urbanna:

The coke plant was in Urbanna as early as the early 1920s. I know it
was here in 1921 because it was called Coca-cola Bottling Works
operated by E. W. Chapell. We have advertisements in the old
Sentinel. They bottled coke and orange crush. It operated in Urbanna
until about 1960, when the building was sold and converted into The
Vacationer Motel (around 1964). The building still sits across the
street from Lansdowne and the stack you can see clearly from the porch
of Make Thyme. I think the new owners call it the Chesapeake
"something". It was the Urbanna Inn.

No votes yet