Bottle id help please...

[aquachigger]

I recently found this bottle in a mud bank along a river. I was detecting a Civil War (ACW) camp and was hoping that this bottle could possibly date to the early 1860's. The mold seam and applied lip are visible in the photo. Is this a food bottle and could it date to the 1860's? Thanks for your help...

[epackage]

A pic of the whole bottle would help and it's actual dimensions, looks to be some sort of food/sauce possibly with that big of a mouth. Very nice and timeline may be correct 60-70's, since it's not pontiled it wouldn't be any earlier than that...Jim

[sodetraveler]

Is this a food bottle and could it date to the 1860's?

The size of the mouth implies that it is indeed some type of food bottle.

The applied lip and lack of a pontil mark on the base would give you a probable date range of 1858 to 1890 - although there is a small probability that it could even be out of this range! It looks very much like Civil War era to me, but your best bet is to either find someone who has an identical bottle from a well dated dump, or - better yet - go out there and find some more bottles that may be easier to date. Embossing helps allot!

[aquachigger]

Thanks a lot for helping me out with this. I tried to research it myself and ended up pretty confused. I did find it in a mud bank with a nice spill of Civil War relics so I was kinda hoping. But being in a river, I guess I'll never know for sure...but at least it has a chance! Thanks again...

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

aquachigger ~

Cool bottle. Most bottles can usually be dated by determining what type of closure/finish/lip it has. In the case of your particular bottle, it appears to have a "Tapered Collar." Below is an example of one and some additional information. If the finish is correct, I'd say it qualifies from the Civil War era, and possibly even earlier.

SBB

[ Copy/Pasted Text ]

TAPERED COLLAR - Also called a sloped collar, long tapered collar, and likely other names. McKearin & Wilson (1978) described this finish style as a "plain broad sloping collar."

The tapered collar is an early, one-part finish that is usually moderate in height (1"), wider at the base of the finish than it is in vertical height, and flares distinctly out from the rim to the base of the finish. It is similar to the oil finish except proportionally shorter, i.e., the oil finish is usually taller than it is wide at the base. It also shares some physical similarities - as well as use on some similar types of bottles - with the blob finish except that finish is rounded on the outside surface whereas the tapered collar is flattened. It is also similar to the upper, taller portion of some mineral finishes.

This finish is probably most often seen on soda/mineral water and beer/ale bottles made in the 1840s and 1850s, largely giving way to the blob finish in the early 1860s It is also seen frequently on some medicine and bitters bottles, a few figured flasks and liquor bottles from the same time period stretching through the 1860s.

The applied tapered finish pictured below is on an early mineral water bottle that dates from the late 1840s, which was made by the Dyottville Glass Works of Philadelphia, PA.

[aquachigger]

Thanks SBB. That's some great information. There is so much to learn about bottles. I'm still learning about Civil War relics and have been studying them for over 30 years. Good stuff!