Ginger Ale Bottles wanted

[IRISH]

That Rowlands is a really good one [] , I'll send you an email if I come across a ginger ale Wilcox or any others from Oz.
Your blue Tennessee ginger ale is one flash looking bottle [] .

 

[Ginger Ale collector]

Hello John-

When you suggested that I post some pictures of my ginger ale bottles I thought. "well, I should do that, but which ones would collectors want to see and know about?" I couldn't answer that, so I'm just picking here and there- and I thought this one would be most appropriate for our Amercian friends on July 4th.

 

[Ginger Ale collector]

Hi Sam- great pictures of your paper label ginger ales from Maine. What's interesting about paper label ginger ales is that many of the "brands" like Killarney and Nu-Icy were sold by extract companies. You'll see in the picture that this Killarney label is from Fairbault, Minn., and if you can make it out, it says at the bottom, "use of the title Killarney authorized by Foote & Jenks. Foote & Jenks was a large maker of extracts and flavorings and sold to bottlers around the country. The name Killarney was to harken back to the origin of ginger ale which was in Ireland. In the early days, American ginger ale was pretty punk,and had a tough time selling against the imported brands like Grattan, Cantrell & Cochrane, Ross's and few others. Early on bottlers figured out that they could slap an Irish name on their stuff, and most ginger ale drinkers would not know the difference. The extract makers caught on also. You'll see the ginger ale glass from the 1930s for Killarney. Restaurants, taverns, trains all served ginger ale and the flavor makers gave out glasses to promote their brands.

 

[bubbas dad]

all the bottles here are nice looking. it's hard to believe that some of these being around a hundred years old are still in such great shape. the blue one from nashville is superb. about how old is it and do you know an approx value. it looks super.

 

[Ginger Ale collector]

Thanks Irish- the Tennessee bottle is a tough bottle to get and I was in the right place at the right time.

It is flash as you say- but take a look at this Nemco bottle from Boston during the roaring twenties in the states! Many of the ginger ale labels from 1890s through the 1940s in the states were like the micro-breweries today- each competing for their market share with flash labels-

 

[Ginger Ale collector]

Hi John,

The Nashville bottle is most likely from the late 1870s to the mid 1880s. Probably somewhere in the middle. I have not researched this particular company, but I am sure that someone out there can tell us a more accurate date. The bottle style with the panels outlined with a raised rib rising up to make a pointed "arch" on the shoulder of the bottle is from that period and was a standard mold. I have quite a few in that style including roundbottoms. But only one in that COLOR!! Value? Well there are two ways to value a bottle in my opinion- one an auction price, and two, what you might see it for at a bottle show. Auction prices, well- we know that if you have two people with more money than brains, the price for a bottle can be WAY out of reality compared to its rarity. Condition is a big deal as we all know. The other way is more dependable, but harder to determine with rare bottles because you don't see them at shows to see the price, or know what it sold for. So- taking all that into consideration- I have seen auction prices for ones in fair condition go for $300-400. At a bottle show I have seen a near perfect one for $900. So, I guess one in very good condition with strong color would be in the $700 range.

Speaking of blue bottles- here's one from Baltimore that is one of my favorites. Perfection Ginger Ale from Brooklandwoods Springs. If anyone thinks the color looks familiar, they would be right as the Maryland Glass Company made this bottle and thousands of the blue Bromoseltzer bottles of the same deep blue glass.

 

[Ginger Ale collector]

Hi- ACL- thought you might like to see one of my favorite ACL ginger ales from the Virgin Islands. I got this from a bottler in Rhode Island who was going out of business. He had gone on vacation to the Virgin Islands and made friends with the people who ran this soda business there- in friendship they gave him a souvenir to take back to Rhode Island. My bottler friend in Rhode Island passed it on to me to be preserved.

 

[bubbas dad]

thanks for the info. i mainly collect sodas from the 1900s on, but i can really appreciate nice bottles from all eras. if money were no object i would have a house full of soda and mineral bottles such as you nashville.

 

[Ginger Ale collector]

Hi John-

I understand completely. Believe me I didn't pay a ton for that Nashville bottle- I'm not a high roller- bottles are great fun- but the bills have to be paid first! I was just in the right place at the right time, and for some of the other rare bottles I have, well- it's wonderful to have had good friends many years ago who helped me get them at reasonable prices.

Say, maybe you could help on a bottle I've had for a long time and think it is out of South Carolina, but don't know for sure. It is about 12 oz, and has an applied crown top- (not machine-made) so that might put it in your after 1900s collecting. All it says is Colonial Ginger Ale and I think you can make out the steam train embossed on the bottle. Thanks.

 

[Sam_MaineBottles]

Hi GAC -

Thanks for the Killarney background info, I'm not very knowledgable on how the extract companies played a role in soda bottling.

Here's another set of ME paper label ginger ales.

I like ACL bottles alot but they just can't get the colors and detail found on a paper label.