Rare 1912 Coca Cola Bottle & Other Nice Relics from the Weekend!

[mangum]

Hello all! I got out Saturday & yesterday to do some hunting & found a few keepers. My favorite find was a 1912 Coca Cola bottle manufactured in Chester SC. I know its a fairly rare one & I can't find much online. Even though I don't plan on selling it I'm interested to see how much it's worth. Any insight from bottle collectors would be appreciated. I found a nice assortment of other relics as well. The IHs are always hit or miss. The back is beautiful & the front is toast?!! Thanks for looking & HH!

 

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[mangum]

View attachment 1108687
View attachment 1108688
Sorry I couldn't fit it all in one shot but the $120 corresponds to that bottle

That's a bad photo on that site but if you look close it's not the same bottle. (I found that as well) That one has more embossing on the front. It's around the same age though.

 

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[MuckyBottles]

View attachment 1108687
View attachment 1108688
Sorry I couldn't fit it all in one shot but the $120 corresponds to that bottle

Does his bottle specifically state Greenville SC?

 

[mangum]

This is the only link I can find to the same exact bottle. I'm not paying or starting a free trial to find out where & what it sold for... Rare CHESTER S.C. Script S-S Coca-Cola Coke Bottle 1912 (11/09/2007)

 

[MuckyBottles]

Yea I don't trust Worthless point it is almost as bad as using eBay for price quotes.
here are some decent links for future bottle lookups.
Antique Bottle Collector's Haven
Historic Bottle Website - Homepage

 

[matt092079]

Great coke bottle!

 

[Plumbata]

As an ambassador from ABN I figured I'd help regarding the coke, though some from there may be able to provide more detailed info.

It is a late BIM (handblown) coke, of the style I've always understood to be the very last used before the different bottlers adopted the hobbleskirt style. The "1915" cokes didn't actually become widely available until 1917, so until then, coke came in straight-sided bottles. By no means does this suggest that all the hundreds of bottlers invested in new stock as soon as the hobbleskirts were able to be provided by the different glasshouses; indeed the straight-sided bottles for coca cola (not just flavored sodas also sold by the franchises) were made through the early 20s and appear to have been used alongside new contour stock as the SS bottles were being phased out, though the specific timelines for this are unique for each bottler.

All that said, the 1912 date is probably quite inaccurate, as the gov't mandate to have the fluid capacity marked/embossed on bottles stemmed from a March 3, 1913 amendment to the pure food and drugs act of 1906, which didn't come into effect until 18 months later on September 3rd, 1914, after which point producers would be subject to fines/enforcement measures. Then, as now, people tended to wait closer to the deadline before conforming, as stock replacement wasn't cheap.

So I'd say a 1914-1918 date range is more in-line with reality for the bottle, despite what others here are saying. It really is a nice find even though it is a later example of a SS coke.

Regarding the "whatsit", I'd guess it is a gear from a wind-up toy car.

 

[mangum]

As an ambassador from ABN I figured I'd help regarding the coke, though some from there may be able to provide more detailed info. It is a late BIM (handblown) coke, of the style I've always understood to be the very last used before the different bottlers adopted the hobbleskirt style. The "1915" cokes didn't actually become widely available until 1917, so until then, coke came in straight-sided bottles. By no means does this suggest that all the hundreds of bottlers invested in new stock as soon as the hobbleskirts were able to be provided by the different glasshouses; indeed the straight-sided bottles for coca cola (not just flavored sodas also sold by the franchises) were made through the early 20s and appear to have been used alongside new contour stock as the SS bottles were being phased out, though the specific timelines for this are unique for each bottler. All that said, the 1912 date is probably quite inaccurate, as the gov't mandate to have the fluid capacity marked/embossed on bottles stemmed from a March 3, 1913 amendment to the pure food and drugs act of 1906, which didn't come into effect until 18 months later on September 3rd, 1914, after which point producers would be subject to fines/enforcement measures. Then, as now, people tended to wait closer to the deadline before conforming, as stock replacement wasn't cheap. So I'd say a 1914-1918 date range is more in-line with reality for the bottle, despite what others here are saying. It really is a nice find even though it is a later example of a SS coke. Regarding the "whatsit", I'd guess it is a gear from a wind-up toy car.

Thank you very much for the great information! Very interesting!

 

[NHBandit]

As an ambassador from ABN I figured I'd help regarding the coke, though some from there may be able to provide more detailed info.

It is a late BIM (handblown) coke, of the style I've always understood to be the very last used before the different bottlers adopted the hobbleskirt style. The "1915" cokes didn't actually become widely available until 1917, so until then, coke came in straight-sided bottles. By no means does this suggest that all the hundreds of bottlers invested in new stock as soon as the hobbleskirts were able to be provided by the different glasshouses; indeed the straight-sided bottles for coca cola (not just flavored sodas also sold by the franchises) were made through the early 20s and appear to have been used alongside new contour stock as the SS bottles were being phased out, though the specific timelines for this are unique for each bottler.

All that said, the 1912 date is probably quite inaccurate, as the gov't mandate to have the fluid capacity marked/embossed on bottles stemmed from a March 3, 1913 amendment to the pure food and drugs act of 1906, which didn't come into effect until 18 months later on September 3rd, 1914, after which point producers would be subject to fines/enforcement measures. Then, as now, people tended to wait closer to the deadline before conforming, as stock replacement wasn't cheap.

So I'd say a 1914-1918 date range is more in-line with reality for the bottle, despite what others here are saying. It really is a nice find even though it is a later example of a SS coke.

Regarding the "whatsit", I'd guess it is a gear from a wind-up toy car.

Totally agree on the "whatsit" Part of a drive mech for a wind up toy. As for straight sided Coke bottles I have one from Mobile Alabama with Coca Cola in block letters. It is my understanding from the research I've done that if the Coca Cola is in the traditional script style like yours it actually contained Coke and is what most collectors want. If it has block letters it contained something else such as another flavor of soda, water, etc.. and was simply bottled at the local Coca Cola plant. Here's my Mobile AL bottle. And an excuse to show off my next restoration project. A .10 cent Dr Pepper machine.

 

[smittyman]

Nice digs Josh. It's funny how this hobby leads you to interests that you would never have even considered otherwise.

 

[beez0404]

The bottle is very nice. For me though I would be intrigued with those lead bale seals and have to try to find out who's initials are on them. Great recoveries my friend!

 

[timekiller]

Nice early coke bottle they don't show much now & days around here most have been picked up over the years already.I may have found 8 or so in my years of digging the one below was my last one I found.
Take care,
Pete,

 

[Carolina Tom]

Nice finds Josh. Congrats!

 

[flatbutton]

Like I said before, it's a little too modern for my taste, especially since I'm a Pepsi guy..
View attachment 1108689

Dang! Being from the town where Pepsi Cola was Invented, About the oldest I've seen found around here were brown and aqua colored glass bottles with crown top. Even some Bradham's drug bottles. Don't recall ever seeing a blob top like yours