Collectible Soda Bottles (1900-Now)

Your Guide to Collecting Soda Bottles From 1900 to Now

If you are looking for an exciting collection, consider collecting soda bottles. You can put them on the shelf for others to admire. You can also trade them with other vintage soda bottle collectors.

What are some types of collectible soda bottles?

Basically, collectible glass soda bottles made after 1900 can be divided into two broad groups. One group consists of smooth base non-machine-made soda bottles. This group includes Hutchinsons, blobs and hand-tooled crown tops. Production of these bottles was well underway in 1900 and continued through about 1925. Machine-made embossed bottles are the second group. Production of these bottles began about 1892, and manufacturers are still making them.

What are characteristics of Hutchinson bottles?

Many different soda companies bottled their product in Hutchinson bottles as did makers of other products. Most of these bottles have two vertical seams up the side of the bottles, but you can also find examples with four equally-spaced seams up the bottle's sides. These bottles could have a round base or a 10-panel base. While most are aqua, it is possible to find a variety of colors in Hutchinson glass soda bottles, including cornflower blue, emerald green, and amber. These hourglass bottles closed with a wire stopper. Most collectors place a premium on those where the stopper is still present. Manufacturers made the last Hutchinson bottles about 1920. Collectors often find these bottles made by American Glass Works, North Baltimore Bottle Glass Company, Wisconsin Glass Company, and Illinois Glass Company.

Collecting blob-top soda bottles

Blob top soda bottles were still being made at the turn of the 20th century. Makers poured the glass for these bottles into a mold and then allowed the glass to set. A maker would then apply the blob to the top of the bottle after it was cool and shape it by hand. While many closed with a cork stopper, others are designed to have different types of stoppers including:

• Gravitating stoppers: These stoppers found on antique drink bottles are shaped similar to a baby's pacifier and sealed at the top of the soda pop bottle with a rubber seal. The most prolific manufacturers were John Morrison and Illinois Glass Company.
• Hutchinson-style stoppers: Better known on Hutchinson bottles, some blob bottles used the same type of stopper. Collectors often find these bottles embossed Illinois Glass Works, Northrup & Sturgis, Pacific Soda Works, and Mt. Hood Soda Water.
• Roorbach Ball Stopper: These stoppers looked like a rubber ball, and they pushed against a rubber gasket to form a tight seal. Most of these rare soda bottles, which may have only been available in the Eastern United States, have Roorbach 1885 stamped on the soda bottle's bottom.