1940s with original liquid inside, what is it?

[JJ_Johnson]

Can anyone tell me about these bottles? They were found in a garage in Georgia on a 1940's chicken egg farm. The garage had fallen to the ground but the bottles were preserved in the dirt floor upside down. I have five with the original liquid still inside and the sixth was missing its lid. The liquid is oily with a slight alcohol smell. The lids are metal and still in tact on the inside where the liquid was in contact. I have only opened one. The only markings are on the bottom and reads: 10OZ , 14 (I) 1 , 7 in three separate lines enclosed in a circle. They measure 6 1/8" x 1 3/4" x 2 5/8" and the opening is 1". Any information would be helpful.

 

[woody]

It's hard to say what was in the bottles without the labels.
Strickly unembossed bottles from the 1940's-1950's aren't worth collecting.
I would dispose of the bottles as they may have held some sort of poison or insecticide.

 

[David E Dearden]

No not even 40's if that one item on the bottom of those bottle's (no don't take them out of the trash).Well if that mark on the bottle is an I inside an O it belongs to Owen Ill. Glass used since 1954.

 

[JJ_Johnson]

I am not sure what you meant David. Did you think that they might be worth something? The mark on the bottom is an I inside and O. Thank you for that information. At the very least I would like to know what is possibly in them.

Thank you both for replying.
JJ

 

[Maine Digger]

JJ, what David was saying, tactfully I might add, is that your 3 bottles really have no value to collectors. They're common bottles, likely from the 50's or newer; the marking on the bottom refers to Owen Glass - a manufacturer that started using that mark in the 50's. Also, you should be very cautious when opening old bottles with contents still in them, there's some really nasty stuff found that can raise hell with your lungs if inhaled, and your skin if touched. From your description, the contents sound like some kind of salve, but anyway, you'd be better off disposing of them. Happy hunting.

 

[Dump Digger]

Hold on now. Say if the bottles are from the 40's or 50's, that what, 50 + years old? It may have no monetary value, but hell, they've lasted for that long, haven't they? I dug up an 1870's bottle yesterday. I doubt it has any monetary value, maybe a dollar or two, its a simple, clear medicine bottle. I'm thrilled with it. But think of this, back in the 1870's, that bottle was trash. So were most now collectible bottles. Now we go around digging in people's toilets trying to find these bottles. I'd hope the most of us were doing it for the love of finding these little nuggets of history, not simply for the money. But we're now looking at 50 year old bottles, plain though they may be, as trash? Look to the future. In another 50 years, people will be going around digging these up.

If I may implore, don't just throw them away. Dig a hole and dump them off down in there if you feel the need to be done with them. Put them down in a ravine. Put them in an old barn, whatever, but don't just throw them away like they're little pieces of nothing.
One of these days, those 50 year old pieces of trash will be a look into the past.

 

[Maine Digger]

Hey Dump D, I think our responses had mor to do with disposing of the CONTENTS more so than the bottles themselves! lol You are correct about some of today's trash becoming the future's treasures. I think part of the bias towards ABM plain janes is that they were so mass produced and not many were destroyed as this was before recyling. I still re-bury many of the 'newer' bottles, clorox etc that I come across for just what you so passionately express - But PLEASE, don't throw them in any dug privys unless you include a note sealed in the bottle that say's 'Don't bother, this pit's been dug'! lol