Vernors Ginger Ale 150th B-Day

[VernorsGuy]

I'll echo the accolades! Thanks, Bob! You came up with some resources I've never seen before. This was fun and a great learning experience. I appreciate everyone's input and your bottle expertise.

I'm not done, though. I've exhausted anything I have in my collection. But, I still plan on getting my hands on James Vernor's hand written recipe book that the Detroit Historical Museum has. I also want to find the original sources for the two soda water letters/articles I posted written by James Vernor. I'm guessing they were newspaper ads and I'm hoping the opposite side is dated.

As I find things, I will post them here for everyone. Please do the same if you find something. Happy collecting!

 

[SODABOB]

Thanks, guys ... but like I said, I'm still going to try and find and date as many early Vernor's Ginger Ale soda bottles as I can. And possibly even determine what was the very first bottle they ever used. We've seen the following before, but I wanted to focus on it again for a minute to see if anything jumps out at us that we might have missed earlier. Its the original trademark document that was registered on August 15, 1911.

Notice ...

1. That it list ginger ale and ginger ale extract separately. Which is no major revelation in itself, but it at least tells us there was a distinction between the two in an official sense and that one refers to prepared ginger ale and one refers to the extract.

Especially notice ...

2. In the cropped segment where it mentions labels, bottle caps, and says "blown in bottles." Again, no major revelation, but it confirms there were definitely embossed bottles at least as early as 1911. Of course it doesn't differentiate between extract and carbonated bottles, but because the header list them separately, I think its safe to assume it's referring to both types of bottles.

Note: I'm still searching to see if the VGA monogram was ever officially registered, but so far have not been able to find anything related to it along those lines. If it was ever registered, it could be helpful in determining the dates for certain bottles.







(To be continued)

 

[SODABOB]

Why the 2 different Serial #'s on these bottles?

View attachment 175049

Leon

Good question! That's the 1206 serial number you referred to earlier. Other than the different serial numbers, is there any major difference between the 1206 and 1246 bottles? If so, please explain.

 

[SODABOB]

I'm currently searching for the earliest reference I can find that uses the word "Bottling" in connection with Vernor's Ginger Ale. I could end up being wrong, but I doubt they would use the word "Bottling" in connection with the extract. The word "Bottling" is almost always used in reference to the mass production and bottling of the carbonated version.

 

[hemihampton]

Leon

Good question! That's the 1206 serial number you referred to earlier. Other than the different serial numbers, is there any major difference between the 1206 and 1246 bottles? If so, please explain.

No other differances between the 2 that i'm aware of. LEON.

 

[SODABOB]

Leon

Thanks!

Unless you've already done so and I have forgotten, could you please post a full image of your 1206 bottle, both front and back. And if you do, I'll put my 1246 bottle along with your 1206 bottle and see if anything jumps out at us. There's got to be an explanation for the two different serial numbers but the only thing that pops into my head at the moment is that serial numbers are usually sequential and the 1206 was probably issued before the 1246, but why they would do that I really can't say right now.

In the meantime, check out this ad that was described as being from 1916. I found it on the Internet but it didn't say if it was from a magazine or a newspaper, nor can I confirm the 1916 date. But I'm going to try and find another one like it for confirmation.

Note: I don't know what the text says because I have not been able to enlarge it. Early ads that include pictures of Vernor's bottles are extremely rare.

1916 ?

 

[SODABOB]

The book on this link was published in 1916 and discusses in detail numerous aspects of the 1906 Food & Drug Act. It should open on the part about serial numbers. I haven't been able to make complete sense of it yet, but perhaps someone else can find something specific that I missed ...

https://books.google.com/books?id=w...pure food and drug act serial numbers&f=false

 

[VernorsGuy]

Leon

Thanks!

Unless you've already done so and I have forgotten, could you please post a full image of your 1206 bottle, both front and back. And if you do, I'll put my 1246 bottle along with your 1206 bottle and see if anything jumps out at us. There's got to be an explanation for the two different serial numbers but the only thing that pops into my head at the moment is that serial numbers are usually sequential and the 1206 was probably issued before the 1246, but why they would do that I really can't say right now.

In the meantime, check out this ad that was described as being from 1916. I found it on the Internet but it didn't say if it was from a magazine or a newspaper, nor can I confirm the 1916 date. But I'm going to try and find another one like it for confirmation.

Note: I don't know what the text says because I have not been able to enlarge it. Early ads that include pictures of Vernor's bottles are extremely rare.

1916 ?

View attachment 175066

It's hard to see the label, but it looks like one of the two early paper label bottles I posted earlier. There is more lettering on it, so my guess is it is not the "Bottled By James Vernor" label that was part of the 1911 trademark application. There are quite a few more words in that section of the label, so 1916 could be just about right.

Keith

 

[VernorsGuy]

This one Bob? Looks like it might say Siphon right on receipt?View attachment 175014

This is a very interesting receipt. Just to add to the mystery, attached is a photo of a Vernor's extract can - not bottle. I've never seen one in person. It sure looks early, though.

 

[hemihampton]

Bob, here's a pic of my 1906 bottle. Pictured on left. Bottle on right does not have the statement. Bottle on right has the words & monogram closer or spaced tighter on the bottle.