Agana Guam Hobbleskirt Coke

[SODAPOPBOB]

I did some rough math/guessing on the stockpile of bottles picture and came up with the following ...

1. Fifteen rows of bottles front to back.
2. One hundred individual bottles left to right.
3. Fifty individual bottles top to bottom.
4. Equals 75,000 individual bottles total.

I'd say the answer to my question as to how they were stacked is obvious - by hand. But as to why they were stacked individually and not in cases, and what their eventual purpose was to be, I don't have a clue. I'm also curious as to whether those are walls in the back and on the left or large crates with writing on them?

Bob

 

[daven2nl]

I don't mean to troll up an old thread, but I had a couple new things come up.

(1) I got back to the museum and got another look at the AGANA GUAM embossed bottle. It is definitely a PAT-D bottle from Chattanooga Glass Company, but I can't read the date off the skirt. I'm looking through glass at it, so I can't get a close look. It is on display at the museum behind large glass panes that are not easily removed - so access is difficult (on purpose). I hope to get a look at it sometime in the future, to determine the date and to get some better photos.

(2) I have a clear coke bottle, not PAT-D but "TRADE MARK" only, dated 1941. I think this may be a pre-war Guam coke bottle but a newer bottle than the ones embossed AGANA GUAM. Question: Do most foreign Coca-Cola bottles from this era only have "TRADE MARK" embossed on them? Since Patents would not mean much outside of the USA? Also, weren't many foreign coke bottles from this era clear and not green? That would explain my finding. There is no embossing on the base (bottom) of the bottle.

(3) Yesterday I came across a new manufacturer's mark. 1945 clear Coca Cola hobbleskirt. The manufacturer's mark is the capital letter "L" with a dot just to the right of the "L". On the skirt: 1 L' 45

This is a new one for me, and in more than 260 clear WW2 era coke bottles surveyed, the first one I have found with this marking.

-Dave

 

[hemihampton]

ANY UPDATES????????

 

[daven2nl]

I've had a bit of a medical hiccup (good prognosis) so my exploring has been limited. I'm still searching, and have found a couple pre-war Coke bottles, from 1940 and a German 1928 (Ruhrglas) coke bottle but none with the Agana embossing.

I'm about to move to a new house located further south on Guam, in an area that saw significantly more pre-war human activity. New virgin territory for me to explore. I've not given up yet!

 

[duanekiszak]

Re: RE: Agana Guam Hobbleskirt Coke

I am stationed on Guam and an avid diver. Recently came across a lot of bottles in the harbor. I have quite a few coke bottles and we have been finding coke bottles dated from 1940 to 1946 green and clear. None from Guam though, at least not that I know of. The clear ones (mostly 1945's) the size of the writing and style varies, even the clearness of the glass as some have a dark tint to them. Some the glass isn't so clear. At first I thought it was because of coral growing on them or the sand in the bottom scratching them, but there are some I remove the coral and they are clear and look brand new.

 

[hemihampton]

Re: RE: Agana Guam Hobbleskirt Coke

Interesting. Can you post a pic of some of the bottles you found? THANKS, LEON.

 

[duanekiszak]

Re: RE: Agana Guam Hobbleskirt Coke

Here are some of the them. I tried to get a variety. There is a 1944 and 1946 in there also. Some of them have a dark tint, some almost frosted, and some are clear. The dark tint ones seem to larger lettering. Think they are different manufacturing. The dark one in the middle has a 7L'45 o it. The rest have the duraglass on them.

 

[duanekiszak]

Re: RE: Agana Guam Hobbleskirt Coke

Here is one more picture of a couple of more.

 

[hemihampton]

Re: RE: Agana Guam Hobbleskirt Coke

Do you got any extras for sale or trade? LEON.

 

[daven2nl]

Re: RE: Agana Guam Hobbleskirt Coke

Duane, Those are all very nice examples of WW2 era coke bottles. My gut feeling is that they were also used in the immediate post war years also (returned/refilled). There is a gap between 1946 and 1950 - I find almost no coke bottles with these dates. In 1950 they start appearing again with Japanese glass manufacturing marks. I suspect they reused the WW2 era coke bottles until supply dried up (non-returns/broken) at which time they started shipping in new stock. Depending on where you found them, they were probably either dumped from ships in the harbor or trash bulldozed off the cliff (like Shark Pit area). I am friends with the manager of Sumay Cove Marina and he swims in the old sea plane channel and finds them there also. I'm still looking for the Holy Grail (AGANA GUAM embossed bottle). I had some health issues over the last 8 months that kept me out of the jungle but I hope to get back to it hard and heavy since I'm transferring this summer - time is running out. -Dave