Cross & Co. Vancouver B.C. 1894-1963

[Canadacan]

Here is the best I could do for a then and now comparison of the 38 East 4th Ave. location 1936 vs 2014. [attachment=Cross & Co. 2014 then&now1.jpg]

 

[Canadacan]

And here is the full version of the photo. I discovered that in 1928 Cross & Co. picked up the Whistle brand of soda, it was listed as Vancouver Whistle Co. and of course shared the same address. The photo is dated Aug. 24th 1936 and is from the City of Vancouver archives. Wondering about the motorized go cart? this info came from Theoldmotor.com The Whistle brand promoted on the hood of the midget car was an orange soda pop that originated in St. Louis, Missouri in 1919. And while the identity of the mid-thirties International “C” Series truck in the middle is easy to figure out, the year, make and model of its much older companion is also an unknown to us. We invite you to tell us what you might know about it, the little race car and Cross & Company. You can also find more than 100 pages of unusual trucks and buses here on The Old Motor. Photo courtesy of the City of Vancouver.* Updated * By Robert Cunningham: “The midget auto is a National Junior Racer, manufactured by Ezra Plummer in Des Moines, IA, from 1932 until the late 1930s, when rights were transferred to M.A. MacKenzie’s Wichita Carriage Works in Wichita, Kansas. The cars were 82 inches long, weighed 340 pounds, traveled 60 miles per gallon, and were powered by a single-cylinder Briggs & Stratton “Y” air-cooled engine”. [attachment=Cross & Co. Vanouver BC Aug 24 1936.jpg]

 

[Canadacan]

These are the only 2 Whistle bottles I have. The straight side short is 6.5 oz...I know very little about it and can't get a maker mark or year from it but would date from the late 20's to early 30's. On the tall cross hatched 6.5 oz it is bottom marked Vancouver BC, the bottle was US made and has the IPG triangle mark with a date code of 1928. [attachment=Whistle.jpg][attachment=Whistle1.jpg]

 

[Canadacan]

And one more amazing photo ....I just love these old time photos..check out the Cross logo on the back of the truck!This photo is circa 1938 taken in front of Moose temple on 636 Burrard st...photo from City of Vancouver. [attachment=Cross & Co. Vanouv..., 636 Burrard].jpg]

 

[Plumbata]

Really nice work here, and engagingly presented. For what it's worth, I've dug those SS whistle bottles (same style, that is) in 1920s contexts, and from what i recall they had date codes from 1922 and 1923.

 

[Canadacan]

Really nice work here, and engagingly presented. For what it's worth, I've dug those SS whistle bottles (same style, that is) in 1920s contexts, and from what i recall they had date codes from 1922 and 1923.

Thanks very for the comment [] Hmmm so that SS bottle could be a little older than I think hey...and now that you mention the 1920's and date codes, I believe most earlier bottles have no date codes...but that's not always the rule either. I have bottles with the IPG Triangle logo and no date on code on the lip...those I tend to date at 1926-28.There is numeral 1 embossed on this bottle and assume it's a mold # ?

 

[CanadianBottles]

That little car is fantastic! And it was even issued a license plate as well! Interesting to see that Cross & Co. seemed to only advertise their ginger ale. The only other flavour of theirs I know of for sure is club soda, but it seems like there should have been more, especially with that logo that's clearly a ripoff of Coca-Cola on the back of the blue and white ACL. Maybe ginger ale was just their most successful.I've been looking through that Museum of Vancouver website and they have a lot of bottles, although most are unfortunately not photographed. Which is really a shame, since there are some things, like an NDNR Cross's bottle, an acid-etched Thorpe's (not a syphon), and a Coquitlam patent med called OK Mosquito Oil (if that counts as a med) that I would really like to see pictures of. Also, turns out Lucky Strike used bottles as well, which explains my crates, since they are way too tall to make sense for cans.

 

[Canadacan]

Yes no doubt ginger ale was there mainstay!... I always loved that lettering on the back of those ACL's! in the Coca-Cola script [] Now I don't know when they first bottled it but did you know they bottled Kist Beverages?Kist is dated 1954. [attachment=20141120_091719_resized.jpg] [attachment=20141120_091743_resized_1.jpg]

 

[CanadianBottles]

Hey, I didn't know about that one! I didn't know Kist was bottled by independent bottlers at all, all the ones I've seen have only mentioned Stratford. That's definitely one to look out for.

 

[Canadacan]

Hey, I didn't know about that one! I didn't know Kist was bottled by independent bottlers at all, all the ones I've seen have only mentioned Stratford. That's definitely one to look out for.

Makes me wonder what else they bottled?...have you seen these?...hope this link works! So I pretty much include the Kist with the Cross family of bottles being it's the only one I have [] http://www.ecbw.ca/tim_ma...kist_canada_ltd_02.jpg