A few questions for the bottle-nerds out there

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Slowmovangogh

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So I have a few questions I wanted to ask the community. I am still relatively new to the hobby and still learning. Soooooo.....
First, can someone explain the difference between an applied top and a tooled top?
Second, At what point did they start putting "Registered & This bottle not to be sold" on bottles and why?
And lastly, what is the correct name of the brighter blue color you see in turn of the century(ish) soda bottles? I've seen it as "cornflower blue" and also as "electric blue". Is one right, both right, both wrong?
I'm sure other questions will arise but that's it for now.

Thanks.
 

hemihampton

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Most people will call a blue bottle Cobalt Blue. The really light blue ones are usually called Cornflower & the darker blue ones some will call electric blue but most call them Cobalt Blue. Just my opinion, others may vary? Some Examples below.
BlueHutchCabnitCloseUp.JPG
LEON.
3AndreaHutchs (2).JPG
2PWolfsCleaned2.JPG
Norris14Blue2.JPG
 

webe992

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So this is a crown top that isn’t your typical aqua. I generally refer to this color as “ice blue”.
 

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willong

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First, can someone explain the difference between an applied top and a tooled top?
A true "applied" top is exactly what it sounds like: after the gather was blown into the mold, the glassblower would shear the pipe away, apply a smaller gather--perhaps "dab" would better convey the size--of molted glass to the top of the still hot and plastic glass of the bottle neck, insert a lip forming tool into the pliable glass and rotate the tool to form and finish the shape.

The later improved method formed most of the lip within the mold itself and simply "tooled" the lip to produce a smooth surface.

Both methods obliterated some of the mold seam marks on the high neck to lip region of the bottle. The resultant smear marks are what differentiate antique bottles that were BIM (blown in mold) handmade from later machine made variants.

It is usually, but not always, easy to determine if a lip was actually applied. Aside from crude and "drippy" exterior appearance, one can often feel inside of the neck for a junction between the neck glass and that of the applied top.

Expanding upon another member's comment, probably the best single source of information your will ever find for educating yourself on antique bottle identification, and understanding the manufacturing methods and eras is: https://sha.org/bottle/

Specifically to lip finishes, see: https://sha.org/bottle/finishes.htm#Diagnostic characteristics - applied & tooled finishes

Here's a photo example of a quite obvious applied lip from the site:
1644464028262.png
 
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Len

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Most people will call a blue bottle Cobalt Blue. The really light blue ones are usually called Cornflower & the darker blue ones some will call electric blue but most call them Cobalt Blue. Just my opinion, others may vary? Some Examples below. View attachment 234722LEON.
View attachment 234720View attachment 234721View attachment 234723
Hey hemihampton! I can't think of a better lesson than your pics. You "blueaway" that one. ...For the newer members, color + form will be ongoing areas of questioning with most bottles that you encounter. Their name labels (esp. w/color) may be contested from time to time by the individual examiner. ...One more thing. Some, if not the vast majority of us, may not necessarily warm to the term "bottle-nerd." I've found the people in this community are very cool individuals who share and care very specialized information and their own experiences. Also, they'll come to your aid with hands on help if requested. None of us ever charged consultant fees either. Hmmm. --Welcome grasshoppers.
 

willong

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Hey hemihampton! I can't think of a better lesson than your pics. You "blueaway" that one. ...For the newer members, color + form will be ongoing areas of questioning with most bottles that you encounter. Their name labels (esp. w/color) may be contested from time to time by the individual examiner. ...One more thing. Some, if not the vast majority of us, may not necessarily warm to the term "bottle-nerd." I've found the people in this community are very cool individuals who share and care very specialized information and their own experiences. Also, they'll come to your aid with hands on help if requested. None of us ever charged consultant fees either. Hmmm. --Welcome grasshoppers.
Unless one defines a color by the actual wavelength, or combination of wavelengths, of light producing it, we should expect all discussions of color to be subjective. Anyone who doubts this should simply look at all the creative names for artists' paints, pastels and the like.

I got a kick out of "Hmmm. --Welcome grasshoppers." as I too was one who did not warm to "bottle-nerd."
 
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hemihampton

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I've seen alot of 1915 Cokes some people will refer to as Ice Blue, These are really light blue. LEON.
 

Csa

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I know this doesn’t apply or map over directly to bottle colors, but this chart gives you an idea of all the diff color names and slight variations for insulators. Again totally subjective and another source may use diff names for colors but there we are…., there is also a good color name study using fruit jars, I’ll try to find the link.
 

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