Question about bottle markings

I just purchased a darker amber bottle that has 'SB & G Co' on the bottom of it, for Streator Bottle and Glass Company. I know that they operated from 1881 until 1905 under that name and manufactured beer and soda bottles. However, there is an additional 'C' under the 'SB & G Co' logo at the bottom of the bottle and I wondered if that had any significance or noted anything specific?

Hey Lel,
It could be several things. It could be a mold marking for SB&GCO to designate its manufacture. It could also be the 'shadow image' (if you will) of the C from CO (if the molten glass moved when only partially set). SB&G bottle will often have a manufacture date on the hub of the bottle so be sure to check that out carefully.

Thank you for the info! I purchased that one (and two others) yesterday from the owner of a 130+ year old home that found them under the flooring of his porch. I'm pretty new to this, so I've been reading the forum posts to trying and learn as much as I can. The history is just so interesting and rich when it comes to bottles....I'm starting to see why my dad was such an avid collector when I was a kid. []

Welcome Lelliott608. If you go to the "resources" page on this site,before you click on "forums",you will find tons of bottle information.Good luck and if you find anything please post a picture.We love to see what people have and it makes identifying something easier.

Well lellliott608, Your posted thread just caught my eye regarding bottle marks. I just wrote a post for a guy that needed some advise about marks on bottles, and that is a subject I spend a lot of time on - so I am going to repeat the post just to help you also - maybe - or it will be TMI.

""Hello Kurt; I use a free picture handling software called 'Irfanview' it works great for everything and is fairly easy to use for resizing.

Regarding your bottles, the most important things to learn about are pontil marks (the blow pipe - tube pontil marks), which have left an open tube of glass from the blowing of the previous blown bottle that was left on the previous blow pipe. From there the marks left by the use of an iron punty or puntee rod, which was coated with sticky dirt, red lead, graphite paste. and/or white lead paste, and then powdered glass, iron powder from mold shop machining, or sand that would stick to the glass product to let that punty rod be the handle for finishing the top of the bottle with applied glass.

Looking at the bottoms of you bottles you should learn to recognize those marks.

The next thing is to look at the top of the bottle. If the mold seam comes up over the finish on the bottle - it is good for recycling unless it has some unique characteristics.
If there are horizontal tool marks from the shaping of the finish they are keepers, if there is extra sloppy glass below the finish that was pushed down and left there - they are keepers.

The quality of embossing that was hand cut in the molds that you can realize are crude and unique should be saved, embossing that is in a slug plate oval or round ring enclosure should be evaluated. Lettering that has little dots from a venting drilled hold should be evaluated.

There are certain types of bottles that should be set aside - and I can't take the time to list them here.

Good luck checking them out. If you want to question me more - send me an email.
RED Matthews ""

Thanks to both of you for the suggestions and information. I'll definitely keep that handy to use as a reference. I've attached a picture of this particular bottle, in case anyone has any additional thoughts or info.

...and here's a picture of the bottom of the bottle.

Hi. I recently purchased a small amber bottle. Embossed on the front is 'Wright & Taylor Distillers Louisville KY'. There is a line going around the bottom, broken at the back with the word 'registered'. On the bottom is embossed 'S B & G Co'. The bottle is 5 1/2 inches tall and almost 2 1/2 inches across the base. I have been trying to find some information on it, but all I can find is the quart bottle. Can you help?