Gross Bottling Co. / St. Louis, Missouri

[bottle-bud]

Gross Bottling Company
1533-1535 N. 15th Street
St. Louis, Missouri

Christian Gross acquired a parcel of land in 1888 and started a soda water factory in St. Louis that would stay at the same location until 1948. That is 60 years. Here is a clipping that shows the purchase.

Christian and Mary Gross had nine children per the census in 1880, all three boys would assist dad at one time or another in the family business.

Here is a mini bio from around 1904

His portrait.

A 1905 article in the American Carbonator and American Bottler sums it up quite nicely.

For an operation that was in business for so long I only managed to find one advertisement.

Only 10 images allowed, bottles on a reply.

 

[bottle-bud]

Here are the bottles I have in my collection. The blob top dates to around the 1888 period and the next two are bimal’s from the early 1900’s. Next are two quarts, the monogrammed bottle from the 1920’s and other bottle that would have had a paper label is from the 1930-40’s. The smaller 6-ounce size is from the 1940’s. No firm dates on any of these, but the art deco has date stamp of 1948. I was surprised as I thought the art deco style of bottle would have been replaced by the 1940’s. I guess they liked the style and stayed with it. Surprisingly, I have not seen any acl versions.

 

[embe]

Learned something new, thanks. And I can't imagine that brand name taking off nowadays but it's good to know there was a time where people wouldn't make a big stink about it.

 

[RoyalRuby]

Learned something new, thanks. And I can't imagine that brand name taking off nowadays but it's good to know there was a time where people wouldn't make a big stink about it.

But then again, maybe they tasted really bad and that's how the term got started!....lol

 

[shotdwn]

Nice bottles. Another great job of giving the history of another St. Louis bottler. Thanks.

 

[iggyworf]

Very nice! Always learn something new.

 

[Robby Raccoon]

Consumers today: "Gross? Eww."

 

[Creek Diver]

Very interesting. This place was in the neighborhood I grew up in. It was closed by the time we moved there, but the building stood for many years. At that house, we had a garage that was originally built for horses. It had a fire pit and a privy. I bet there are some Gross bottles in that privy!

 

[Bohdan]

Here are the bottles I have in my collection. The blob top dates to around the 1888 period and the next two are bimal’s from the early 1900’s. Next are two quarts, the monogrammed bottle from the 1920’s and other bottle that would have had a paper label is from the 1930-40’s. The smaller 6-ounce size is from the 1940’s. No firm dates on any of these, but the art deco has date stamp of 1948. I was surprised as I thought the art deco style of bottle would have been replaced by the 1940’s. I guess they liked the style and stayed with it. Surprisingly, I have not seen any acl versions.

Excellent research. It's refreshing to see/read something from someone who obviously cares about the history behind his collection. It's also very nice to see that you have the courtesy to clean your bottles before posting their pictures. Well done!