7up 3-1-3 bubble bottle!

[SODABOB]

This is going to be another one of those tricky-to-explain quandaries, but will do my best by posting it in segments. For starters, I'm trying to determine exactly when the Los Angeles Seven Up Bottling Company began operation. What started this recent research was my inability to find a Los Angeles 7up bottle dated earlier than 1938. I have searched every resource I can find and the best I can come up with is this snippet that speaks for itself ...

February 1, 1938




Reminder: This will take several post to complete - so please bear with me as it might take all day or longer

 

[SODABOB]

I posted this bottle earlier and guessed it was either a 1935 or 1936. But I'm taking that back until I or someone else finds a better picture of the base because I believe the date code might actually be an 8 for 1938.




Especially notice ...

1. Owens-Illinois plant #24

2. Catalog/Mold # 4243G




Footnote: I will address the Owens-Illinois plant numbers 23 and 24 later on.

 

[SODABOB]

Prior to 1938 there was another 7up bottler in the Los Angeles area known as "The Best Ever Bottling Company" located in Arcadia, California. Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California located about 13 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Note: I'm not sure what they mean where it says "the eastern part of Los Angeles County" nor where the territory border was between the West and the East. All I can tell you at this juncture is that the article came from ...


[ The Arcadia Tribune ~ August 2, 1935 ]

 

[SODABOB]

Which brings us to this "Best Ever Bottling" 7up bottle from Arcadia - Which looks like an 8 to me ... I'm confident the Owens-Illinois plant number is 24 because the Catalog/Mold number is ​4243G which was used by plant number 24 as seen on the Los Angeles bottle I just posted.

View attachment 186048


View attachment 186049

 

[SODABOB]

In other words, I think both of the bottles I just posted were both made at plant #24 in 1938

( I'm not done yet - but getting there )

 

[SODABOB]

I know that iggy and other members are familiar with the following Owens-Illinois charts - So I'm primarily posting them for members who are not familiar with them. They are the charts that most of us refer to when researching Owens-Illinois. But the overall main reason I'm posting them is to point out that not one of them list Owens-Illinois plant #24. No one seems to know why plant #24 is not listed, but we know for certain it existed because of the Los Angeles (and possibly Arcadia) bottle I just posted base pictures of. Anyway, I will discuss this in more detail later on.

Note: The last chart pictured here is the earliest of the three and is from Julian Toulouse's 1971 book ""Bottle Makers and their Marks" which I have a copy of. I'm not 100% certain who compiled the other two charts, but I believe they might have been compiled by Bill Lockhart and the Bottle Research Group (BRG)











(More to follow )

 

[SODABOB]

P.S.

According to most sources, Owens-Ilinois plant #24 was in operation between 1932 and 1937. However, the Arcadia bottle I just posted clearly has 24 <(I)> 8 on the base, so I guess I will have to call into question the 1937 closing date for plant #24

 

[SODABOB]

Even though I have not found absolute confirmation as to when plant #24 closed, I feel it is safe to assume it ceased operation by 1938 at the latest. As to the 1932 date when it began operation, the following should confirm that date. Please note that what I have been referring to as plant #24 was originally called ...

The Illinois Pacific Coast Company


[ The Los Angeles Times ~ March 18, 1932 ]

Notes:

1. The article starts with "Toledo" where the information originated, but was re-published in the Los Angeles Times. Toledo was where the Owens-Illinois' parent company was located and was considered plant #1

2. Owens-Illinois was established in 1929 when Illinois Glass and Owens Glass merged.


View attachment 186054

 

[SODABOB]

Before I conclude this, please be reminded that iggy's 3-1-3 Los Angeles bottles are marked with ...


23 <(I)> 1. (1941)

 

[SODABOB]

Now comes the really tricky part, or what I call ...

Long Story Short / Summary / Speculation / Assumption / All Rolled Into One ...

1. Based on what I have been seeing, it appears the Owens-Illinois plant #24 in Los Angeles closed at about the same time as the second Seven Up Bottling Company opened in Los Angeles - both of which appear to have occurred in 1938.

2. Even though we don't know for certain when or where member kbobam's 3-1-3 Los Angeles 7up bottle was made, it likely came from one of the two Owens-Illinois plants - namely plant #23 or plant #24.

3. If kbobam's 3-1-3 bottle came from plant #24, it was likely made in 1938 or earlier.

4. If kbobam's 3-1-3 bottle came from plant #23, it was likely made in 1938 or later.

5. If kbobam's 3-1-3 bottle was made in 1938 or earlier, it would precede iggy's 3-1-3 bottles by at least three years, as well as preceding the Bakersfield 7up bottling plant by at least one year.

6. If kbobam's 3-1-3 bottle was made in 1939 or 1940, it would still precede iggy's 3-1-3 bottles by at least a year or two, but would sort of fall in line with the opening of the Bakersfield 7up bottling plant in 1939.

7. The only way I think we will ever know what came first; the 3-1-3 Bakersfield sign or kbobam's 3-1-3 Los Angeles bottle, is ...

A. To find another bottle like kbobam's that has the u7p neck logo that came from Los Angeles and has good pictures of the front, back, and base.

B. To find a Bakersfield bottle with good pictures of the front, back, and base.