Dating owens illinois bottles
10-Nov-2019 13:23
Early milk bottles were made using the Owens Automatic Bottle Machine which left a round scar on the bottom of the bottle.The Owens machine used suction to pull molten glass into a mold and the glass was then cut by a knife which left a scar mark.The side of the bottle may be printed with the product or manufacturer's name, and this can be helpful in identifying your find. Many bottles have marks on the bottom, and these are important signatures of bottle manufacturers.
This machine was widely used from circa 1905 to 1920.
The more times a milk bottle was used, the more profit for the dairy. If a dairy had home delivery routes as well as store sales, then they needed to distinguish which bottles were for home and which bottles were for store use.
Stores usually charged a bottle deposit fee to encourage returns.
On e Bay, certain pontil bottles regularly sell for a few hundred dollars.
Scarcity is a significant factor in antique bottle values, and certain markings are very rare.Collecting antique bottles is a fun and interesting hobby, but it's easy to get confused when trying to decipher the markings on the glass.