Prohibition bottles - list?

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bottle-o-pop

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I am a collector of decorated embossed soda bottles, but this topic isn't limited to just those.

Prohibition (the 18th amendment of the Constitution) remained in effect from 1920 to 1933. I found it interesting to read about it in Wikipedia and elsewhere.

Anyway, 13 years is a long time, and large bottling and beverage companies had to turn to other things for people to drink during that time - to keep their beverage and beverage-related businesses alive.

There was also an empty niche in people's lives. Hence, the 'prohibition bottles', but which ones are, or can be called, prohibition bottles? I guess this question really means to ask - which are the 'prohibition' brands printed on beverage bottles?

It appears to me that there are two basic kinds of 'prohibition bottles'.
  1. bottles with brand names that include 'tag' words such as: wine, brew, club, punch, rye, etc.
  2. bottles with recognizable brand names of beers or wines that have the soda bottle shape, not the beer or wine shape.

There's a third type of bottle that has a name or depiction of a person that would make one think of adult partying, instead of just quenching thirst. that might be called a 'prohibition' bottle.

Has anyone here ever made or seen a list, or a specific collection, of 'prohibition bottles'?
 

RCO

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I think this bottle might be what your talking about , its fairly unusual and only one I've seen like it , its for O'keefe's which was a large Canadian brewery but at some point likely prohibition or around that time they bottled pop and ginger beer . but I think they might of continued doing pop post prohibition , perhaps it had been too successful to let go


okeefesartdeco.jpg
 

RCO

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another prohibition bottle that exists from Ontario is for "sleeman's brewery " its a large brewery in Guelph Ontario and seems to have bottled pop for a very short time in 20's or 30's , I don't have this bottle but have a picture of it

sleeman's-guelph.jpg
 

SODABOB

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bop

I am by no means an expert on Prohibition era soft drinks, nor the bottles those soft drinks came in. But during the course of the years I have been collecting and researching I have come across certain brands during that era that seem to stand out more than others. As you probably know, the closing of bars and saloons during the Prohibition years caused a modest decline in the sales of certain soft drink mixers in those types of establishments. However, it wasn't long before other types of establishments emerged to fill that void, such as Speakeasies and Soft Drink Parlors. As a consequence, "Bathtub Gin" became the most popular form of alcohol served in Speakeasies and Soft Drink Parlors. And to compliment Bathtub Gin, certain mixers gained in popularity as well. Of all the mixers I am familiar with during that era between 1920 and 1933, two types stand out more than any others. The two types of mixers I'm referring to were just about any brand that used the terms ...

Dry Ginger Ales

Lime Rickey

As near as I can determine, the King of all mixers during Prohibition was ...


Canada Dry Ginger Ale



Based on what I have read, it appears that Canada Dry was first imported into the United States around 1919, which was coincidentally just prior to the start of Prohibition in 1920. But whether it was actually coincidental or intentional is the topic of another discussion. Anyway, if I were to search out Prohibition era soft drinks I would start with dry ginger ales and lime rickey's, with Canada Dry Ginger Ale at the top of the list. I know those types of soft drink bottles can be found with paper labels - but whether they were also made in fully embossed deco-style bottles, I'm not sure. I guess the only way to know for sure is to search for them and see what can be found.

I hope my observations help.

Bob
 

SODABOB

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P.S.

Here's an interesting (full page) newspaper article about how ginger ale became a billion dollar industry during Prohibition.

From ...

The Sunday Tribune ~ Minneapolis, Minnesota ~ March 6, 1927

(Save and zoom to read)

Ginger Ale Prohibition Star Tribune Minneapolis Minnesota March 6, 1927.jpg
 

hemihampton

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Another good sign of a Prohibition drink is many Breweries would produce non alcoholic beers of 1/2% alcohol & sodas from these same breweries but the brewery name would change from Brewery to Beverage co or Bottling works, Products Co. ect, ect. I have many different beer bottles with these type of name changes on there labels. LEON.
 

Canadacan

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Jblaylock that bottle must be past prohibition....but it's so cool!..I like it!
 

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