A Few Nice Local Milks

[Jim]

Here is another good one that I can check off from the want list. A nice 1937 embossed quart GEO. P. OPPEL/ OPPEL HOME DAIRY/ R#1 NEWTON HAMILTON, PA. Newton Hamilton is a very small town about 15 miles from Lewistown, at the far end of Mifflin County. Painted Oppel bottles are hard enough to find, but the embossed ones are almost never available. These have the squiggly line neck grip, which is one of my favorite styles. ~Jim

 

[Jim]

Slug plate:

 

[Jim]

Squiggly line grips are cool. The Oppel bottles are one of only two milk bottles from Newton Hamilton. Newton Hamilton is still there, but there was a change in the mail routes in the 1940s and the location of the Oppel dairy became part of nearby McVeytown, PA. Later Oppel bottles have McVeytown on them rather than Newton Hamilton, as does my original Oppel milk cap that I have for this bottle. ~Jim

 

[cyberdigger]

That is one SWEET specimen, Jim!!

 

[Lordbud]

Those are some really good local examples -- the first embossed bottle I dug was a milk.
Embossed Kern County 5cent quart size in Mountain View, California which was a few hundred miles from home down near Bakersfield. Talk about "dried up" I haven't found a good milk at a yard sale or antique store in years...

 

[Jim]

Thanks, Charlie and Jason. I have really taken a liking to local embossed sodas and milks from the 1920s and 30s. As much as I like my early local blob beers, hutch sodas and embossed druggists, I am almost out of early local bottles that I need with a few exceptions. I guess that's the one downfall of being an advanced collector [].

My favorite milks are the ones with colorful names and/or fancy neck grips. There are two from Lewistown that have the spiral line grips. As my luck would have it, they are both very rare and expensive, but they are on my long-term "get" list. I don't know what my next one will be, but I'll be glad when I can dig again for them. It's good exercise, and much easier on the wallet than buying them []. ~Jim

 

[lynna]

Hello!! I am new to bottle collecting and talking on a forum. Moved a few years ago to a 150 year old house. (Love It) I found the surface dump and spent the summer digging up all kinds of stuff. I have dug up a few milk bottles, however my favorite is a small kinda of purple, "consumers condensed milk" bottle. Bottled by Orange County Milk Association. I live close to the border of Orange County, NY. The front has a what looks like an American Flag wrapped around the wording. There is no lip inside the bottle to hold a paper cap. I have been told that they used Manganese prior to WWI to produce clear glass and with time the bottles turned this purple color. The bottle also has some great bubbles and the seam does not go to the top. []

Lynna

 

[lynna]

Got it! Finally posted the picture.

 

[cobaltbot]

Wow Lynna, and Welcome to the forum!

That little milk has a lot going on. Look for a two digit date on the heel or the bottom.

 

[lynna]

There are no numbers on the bottom or heel of the purple bottle. However I do have other milk bottles that do have dates. One is a milk bottle from Brooklyn. On the bottom it is embossed PAT. SEPT. 17 89