Antique_Archeology

Antique Archaeology Upon moving into my new home this past June I discovered an old bottle under our home. It was very dirty and partially submerged in mud. I knew that it must be old because not only do you not find glass bottles anymore, but it was green. I began to wash the layers of dirt and mud off to discover a 7 UP soda bottle from approximately 1969. Due to the extended period of time that it has spent underneath the house it has been well preserved. The purpose of this particular bottle was to store 7 UP for marketing and selling the product in a consumable form. The origins of the glass bottle can be traced back to about 1500 B.C. with finds of small vases and goblets in the toms of Pharaohs. Early glass bottles were usually hand blown and sealed with a cork. Over the years the "bottle" has been redesigned several times. The most significant change in the bottle and bottling itself occurred in 1903 when Michael J. Owen, and employee of Libby Glass Company , invented the first successful automatic bottle blowing machine. By 1910 this new machine became capable of producing over 57,000 bottles every day. This was a huge improvement over the 1500 bottles per day produced in previous years by the hand blowing method. One of the factors that makes bottles collectable and worth any value is the labeling. In the early years of bottle manufacturing and labeling, raised glass letters and decorations were created as part of the mold used to make the bottle. These labels were used primarily as a means of getting the bottle returned for refills. In 1934, the bottling industry began to use Applied Color Labels referred to by collectors as ACL or Painted Label Soda Bottles. The label was baked on the face of the bottle and eventually made the use of embossing and paper & glue labels almost obsolete and created outstanding collectables. The first 7 UP bottle was technically produced to the world in October 1929 when Charles Leiper Grigg introduced his Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda. Grigg's new soda contained lithium citrate (Lithium - a psychiatric drug commonly used as a mood-stabilizer for treatment of bipolar disorder) which was a new health fad at that time. As the drink hit the market and became popular the name was shortened several times through the years ending up as just 7 UP in 1936. Manufacturers of 7 UP removed Lithium in 1950 as the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) was coming up with new regulations in regards to food and drugs. The 7 Up company thought it wise to remove Lithium before they were forced to do so that it would not hurt sales of the product. In 1969 the Seven-Up Company switched the label configuration from a horizontal design to a vertical one. 7•UP began enameling the label vertically up the body front of the bottle so it could be read while on its side being drank. Another notable change was the dot becoming red between 7 and Up. Sources - Wikipedia www.gono.com/can-a-pop/cc/bottle.htm www.inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl7up.com www.nopes.com/business/names/7up.asp www.7up.com/page/history www.brandspeoplelove.com Bottles on the Border: The history and Bottles of the Soft Drink Industry in El Paso, Texas 1881-2000 - Bill Lockhart