ACL SODA BOTTLE "SILK-SCREEN" SEARCH

[SODAPOPBOB]

mgardziella ~

Thanks again. The pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together. I re-read both fishnut's reply and the Soda Fizz discourse and see now where Richard Matthews described the items he inherited as ...

8.5" x 11" card stock

So apparently the actual designs are made of either cardboard or paper. Which would still be okay, especially if they have the original bottle label stuff on them. In a way, having one or more of those stencils/proofs would be like having the original art work to thousands of acl bottles. And to me that would make a very cool collectible. But first we have to determine if any still exist. Even a photo of one would make me happy.

SPBOB

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S. ~

Does anyone know if the "card stock" stencils/proofs/screens were flexible and wrapped around the bottle when the paint was applied, or if they remained flat and it was the bottle itself that rotated under the stencil? I have seen a modern video that shows acl glasses being made and the glass itself rotates under the paint application. But the process I am referring to was of a modern computerized machine and it didn't appear to use a stencil, and was more like an ink-jet process.

Thanks,

SPBOB

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Here is the link to the glass painting video I referred to. Notice on the top of the machine where there appears to be a flat section that may be a stencil of some kind. ??? In case the various videos get mixed up it is the one titled "LC Screen Machine for Glasses."

SPBOB

Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3iY21z8qLQ&feature=related

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Even better ... check out this video for "bottles" being painted.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXhBtsUdL90&feature=related

In fact, check out all of the videos. Very interesting.

SPBOB

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I just sent the following message to the Soda Fizz e-mail address above, but it bounced back to me as being no longer active. So I will locate their current address and see what (if any) kind of reply I get.

SPBOB

e-mail message I intend to send ...

Hi ~[/align] [/align]I recently came across this e-mail address on the Internet that was related to an October 2002 discussion related to some silk-screen soda bottle label proofs that an individual by the name of Richard Matthews inherited from his grandfather.[/align] [/align]I am searching for photos or a website that will show what some of those early proofs look like. If you have access to what I am looking for and/or photos on file, I would very much appreciate seeing what you have.[/align] [/align]I have never seen one of those proofs from the early days of acl soda bottle labeling, and think it would be incredibly cool to see what they look like, and possibly even seek one out for purchase to add to my collection of acl soda bottles.[/align] [/align]Thank you in advance for your time and interest.[/align] [/align]Sincerely,[/align] [/align]Bob Brown [/align]

 

[fishnuts]

Perhaps I can help further.
In my experience, on all screen printing jobs we would run a copy or two to go into the customers file. These cards that often turn up are pretty much the same. The maker could then always look up the order by number, check the artwork, etc. Those are not screens, obviously, they are 'proofs' and would go to the buyers of the print job, for approval. You'll note that on those cards you will see a screen printed image for each piece of the artwork created for that bottle. One for the first down... white, one for the second color down...say, red, and one for the neck label. And one, or more, again for the back side label.

In bottles, I presume that means either the bottler, ordering bottles direct from , say, O/I glass. Or from the makers of the syrup flavors, who often supplied bottles to small bottlers along with ad slicks, cartons, and point of purchase materials in order to get them as customers for their syrups. Or from advertising agencies who work as middle men between the bottle makers and agents client, the end customer of the product being printed on, whoever that might have been.
I cannot understand why they would use STENCIL when they mean SCREEN. But I do know that when in the screen print sign business that folks from outside the business (ie. customers and agencies) would know their jargon, but not ours. An ad man might call a screen a stencil not knowing those are two different things to someone in the screen print biz.
Modern screens are rigid metal square tubing about 1.25" square, welded on mitered corners. The have to be accurately square and not torque side to side or corner to corner. The silk is fixed tightly as a drum head to the frame so that it, too, is flat and square. Size wise they can be any size...in the shop where I worked we had machines up to about 48" wide x 48". I never worked around any dimensional jobs, just flat stuff. It makes sense, from what I know, that the screens would stay flat and horizontal as the screeds ran over the screen and that at the same time the bottle would rotate under it. And not to move the screen around a fixed bottle.

Or did I confuse you more?

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

fishnuts ~

No confusion on my part. Your most helpful discourse makes total sense to me. Now if we can just find a photo of one of those dang things (the original early ones) we will be batting 1000.

I already sent a slightly edited inquiry to the Soda Fizz people and hopefully will hear back from them soon. I sure would like to get my hands on one of those proofs/stencils/screens, or whatever they are called. []

Thanks again,

Bob

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I found the following photo by searching the words "Bottle Stencil." But I personally think of it as more of a stamp than a stencil. Here is the copy/pasted text that was associated with it ...

"Rubber & Canvas Coca-Cola Stencil For Twenty Four Bottle Wood Cases. Circa 1940s to 1950s. General overall medium wear. (Very Good)."[/align] [/align] It sold in a 2007 auction for $100.00[/align] [/align]At least we know one of the methods now they used for marking wooden cases. Which is something I wasn't aware of until just a few minutes ago. If nothing else I guess it's good for a start. [][/align] [/align]SPBOB[/align]

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Regarding the Coca Cola stamp I just posted ...

I have studied it a little closer and "suspect" it was part of a larger belt of some kind used with the mass production machinery of wooden cases. I could very well be wrong, but it would surprise me to discover they stamped thousands of cases by hand. Especially when all four sides of those cases were usually marked like that.

Heck ... This could easliy turn into a "Part II" of how wooden cases were made and marked. But I think I will stick with the acl bottle labels themselves for the time being. That in itself is becoming more of a task than I initially thought it would.

SPBOB

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Just for the record here is as good an example as any of what the finished product looked like of a 1950s Coca Cola wooden case. Notice on the stamp above what appears to be a lot of red paint/ink residue.

Now back to my search for ... whatever they are called. []

SPBOB