Antique and Vintage
Coke Bottles
(link to original website
where this info is found http://www.antiquebottles.com/coke
. I just made it easier to read here)
One of the most popular soda
bottles to collect is Coca Cola, called "Coke" for short.
Hutchinson Coke
The very first Coke bottles
were Hutchinson style bottles - these are extremely rare and date before
1900. Straight-sided (S-S) Coke bottles with crown tops date about 1900-1919;
colors were clear, aqua, green, blue, and amber with amber bottles in good
condition typically bringing the highest prices. "Coca-Cola" embossed
in script letters contained Coke and is more valuable, while the "Coca-Cola"
embossed in block letters contained a flavored drink other than Coke so
is less valuable.
There are two styles of Hutchinson
Coke: one with "Coca-Cola" in script and one without. The Biedenharn hutch
is the one without "Coca-Cola" in script. Also be careful of the script
hutch reproduction. Examples of all 3 hutches can be found on the
Antique
Coca-Cola Bottle Hall of Fame page.
Straight Sided Coke, also known
as SS (the only GA that is amber is Dalton GA)
Of
the S-S Cokes, listed below are the basic styles which depend primarily
on where the script Coca-Cola logo is located:
-
center
slug plate script - about 1900-1905.
-
base
rectangular slug plate script - about 1900-1905.
-
mid
body script - about 1900-1910.
-
base
script - about 1902-1915.
-
center
diamond script - about 1907-1912. Only from Cumberland MD (amber and
clear) and Toledo OH (amber). Photo courtesy of Tim McGuire.
-
vertical
script - about 1905-1910. Only from Milwaukee WI.
-
vertical
arrow script - about 1912-1916. All amber, primarily TN and KY.
-
circular
arrow script - about 1912-1914. All from Jackson TN (amber and aqua).
-
shoulder
script - about 1910-1919.
For each style listed above,
you can click to see an example. Note there are also custom styles that
do not fall into one of these categories.
The SS Cokes originally had
labels. To see one with its original label,
click
here
.There
are reproduction labels around in new condition, so if the bottle looks
old and the label looks new, then chances are that the label was added
later. To see an original and repro label side by side, click
here.
In this photo, the repro label is on the left and the original label is
on the right. According to the Petretti book on Coke bottles, the repro
labels have even/straight/uniform lines while the originals had uneven/dotted
lines.
Hobbleskirt Coke, also known
as Contour
By 1917 Cokes started being
produced in the familiar hobble-skirt shape which is still used today.
The first hobbleskirts where patened Nov 16, 1915 and came in a variety
of colors: clear, aqua, ice blue, and green. To see a rare 1915 that is
blue on top and green on the bottom,
click
here.
The first five versions of
these hobbleskirt Cokes are identified by their embossing(none are amber):
-
"NOV.16 1915" were produced
from 1917 to 1928.
-
"DEC. 25 1923" (called the "Christmas
Cokes") were produced from 1928 to 1938. Must be careful since reproductions
of the 1923 Cokes were produced in 1989. Easiest way to spot a repro is
by looking at the base of the bottle. See
photo of 5 Christmas Cokes, one of which is repro - can you spot the
repro? It's the one in middle of the bottom row. The City/State letters
are smaller on the repro. Repro also has a circular line joining the State
and City names.
-
"PAT. D 105529" (called the
"D-Patent Cokes") were produced from 1938 to 1951.
-
"US PATENT OFFICE / MIN CONTENTS
6 FL OZ" were produced from 1951 to 1958.
-
"US PATENT OFFICE / MIN CONTENTS
6 1/2 FL OZ" were produced from 1958 to 1965.
Later hobble-skirt bottles (i.e.
Dec 25 1923 patent and later) all have a green tint color. One exception
are those produced during 1942-45; these were blue due to the copper shortage
for WWII (copper gives the green color).
Fake Colors
There are also some
amber
colored hobble-skirt bottles.
around, but the amber color in these bottles is artificially produced by
irradiating the bottle.There
are also fake amber S-S Coke bottles: see if you can spot the artifical
amber bottle in this
photo, courtesy of Tim McGuire. The photo shows the various shades
of amber that occur naturally, with the repro in the middle: a Macon GA
S-S. There are no natural amber S-S bottles from Macon GA.
Be careful of Coke bottles
with a deep purple color. Here are purple examples of a S-S
and
1915 Hobbleskirt.
Dark purple is not a natural color for these bottles and is caused by
irradiating
clear bottles. The older Coke bottles had manganese that will turn
the bottle dark purple when irradiated. However, these purple bottles do
make a nice color addition to your collection. There are some naturally
occuring bottles with a light amethyst/purple tint - leaving them out in
prolonged sunlight will darken the tint (but they will never become a dark
purple). Buyer beware!
Other Coke Stuff
Check out these 1915
ads
that shows a labeled straight-sided Coke bottle and the circular arrow
symbol that appeared on some of the Tenn amber Cokes. One ad shows the
baseball played Eddie Collins.
Books on Coke
-
Bill Porter writes/sells
the "Coke Bottle Checklist" which covers the history, rarity, and
pricing (general) of embossed, crown-top Coke bottles with script trademarks
(i.e. Coca-Cola in italics). Reggie sometimes has extra copies for
sale at $30 each plus $2 postage but have been sold out lately;
Email
to check availability.
-
Kovels'
has a section on Coca-Cola.
-
Coca
Cola Commemorative Bottles: Identification & Value Guide (Coca-Cola
Commemorative Bottles) by Bob and Debra Henrich
-
Commemorative
Coca-Cola Bottles (Schiffer Book for Collectors) by Joyce Spontak.
-
B.J.
Summers Guide to Coca-Cola 7th Edition
Links to other Coca-Cola sites
-
Ask
a Coke Question
-
Hall
of Fame for Antique Coca-Cola Bottles
-
Reggie's
Coca-Cola Bottles For Sale
-
Tim
McGuire's Coke page.
-
Coca-Cola
Collectors Club
-
Can find Coke bottles for auction
at eBay under Collectibles:Advertising:Soda:Coca-Cola
or Collectibles:Bottles
.. Coca-Cola or by searching eBay for Coca-Cola
Bottle or Coke
Bottle.
-
Keith's
Coca-Cola Bottle Clearing House
-
Clyde's
Coke Page
-
Some
Coca-Cola History
-
Coca-Cola
On the Web
-
THE
Coca-Cola Web Page
-
American
Cola Company - Coca Cola Collectibles Store
-
Old
Coke Bottles page by Danny Hills of Alabama.
This web page hosted
by
Antique Bottle Collectors Haven
.There
are reproduction labels around in new condition, so if the bottle looks
old and the label looks new, then chances are that the label was added
later. To see an original and repro label side by side, click
here
.
In this photo, the repro label is on the left and the original label is
on the right. According to the Petretti book on Coke bottles, the repro
labels have even/straight/uniform lines while the originals had uneven/dotted
lines.
.
photo of 5 Christmas Cokes, one of which is repro - can you spot the
repro? It's the one in middle of the bottom row. The City/State letters
are smaller on the repro. Repro also has a circular line joining the State
and City names.
.
around, but the amber color in these bottles is artificially produced by
irradiating the bottle.There
are also fake amber S-S Coke bottles: see if you can spot the artifical
amber bottle in this
photo, courtesy of Tim McGuire. The photo shows the various shades
of amber that occur naturally, with the repro in the middle: a Macon GA
S-S. There are no natural amber S-S bottles from Macon GA.
that shows a labeled straight-sided Coke bottle and the circular arrow
symbol that appeared on some of the Tenn amber Cokes. One ad shows the
baseball played Eddie Collins.
