Help with Hobbleskirt ID

[SODABOB]

Even though I should already have known this (but forgot) while researching the Coca Cola bottling operation in Columbus, Georgia I was reminded that John S. Pemberton (who invented the original Coca Cola formula) once lived in Columbus. For me that's good news because I can think of no better place to introduce the new hobble-skirt bottle than in the town where the brand's inventor once lived. Hence, I'm going to stick with Columbus for a while and see what else I can find. There is a ton of information on the Internet about Pemberton's connection with Columbus, these links are just a sampling ...

Map
Historic Columbus | GA | Historic Columbus Foundation | Soft Drink

John S Pemberton
John Stith Pemberton - Wikipedia

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

This article doesn't tell the whole story, but it tells some of it. It's the earliest I can find related to Columbus, Georgia.

October 17, 1916

 

[hemihampton]

It sez the first to put it on the market, hmmm? LEON.

 

[SODABOB]

Leon

You may recall that we briefly discussed the "first" on the market references earlier. The Tampa, Florida bottler made a similar claim on November 12, 1916 where they said ...

"Just received 172,800 of the new bottles" and "First Coca Cola bottler to adopt the new design."

Even though I can't say for certain, I suspect those claims were referring to their particular territories. Notice in the Columbus article where it says, "Flooding the entire district."

However, the September 19, 1916 Evansville, Indiana article says ...

"New Coca Cola bottles with waist and hip effect are being made by the Root Glass Company of Terre Haute on the orders of Coca Cola Manufacturers' association over the entire United States, including Evansville. They have appeared here."

Unfortunately, all of those statements are somewhat confusing if not contradictory and raise more questions than they do answers. It sounds like the Evansville bottles were made by Root, but what about the Columbus and Tampa bottles, who made them? And did ANY of those bottles have makers marks, dates, and city/state on the bases? Or were they ALL blank? The only thing I'm confident about is that they all had the Nov. 16, 1915 patent date on them. It is especially interesting that the Tampa bottler mentioned receiving 178,800 bottles. Even though that might be a drop in the bucket compared to today's standards, that's still a LOT of bottles.

As we know, I have a hobble-skirt marked with Root 17 from Scranton, Pa. I just completed a search this morning to see if I could find any other hobble-skirts with the same mark. The ONLY one I found was from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Even though the listing did not include a photo of the mark, the description was very detailed, and I believe it was accurate. I also conducted a search for unmarked hobble-skirts and actually found a few of them, my ice blue bottle being one of them. Is my ice blue bottle and others like it one of the bottles that were produced and sold in 1916? If so, I have absolutely no idea of how to prove it! If someone does eventually prove that the unmarked bottles were indeed produced and sold in 1916, then that will be a great day in the neighborhood for collectors and sellers alike.

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

Here's my ice blue bottle that I converted to black & white alongside one of the Tampa illustrations for comparison.

 

[SODABOB]

Food for Thought!

Observation ...

Of the untold number of hobble-skirts I found, about 99.9% of them had some type or combination of identifying marks on them such as a maker's mark, date, city/state.

Question ...

Why would ANY hobble-skirt manufacture not mark their bottles in some manner?

I wish I knew the answer but don't!

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

One more question ...

What does the 1AR mark stand for on this Root hobble-skirt from Columbus, Georgia? I found a few other hobble-skirts that had the same mark, and they were ALL from somewhere in Georgia.

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

Hi, Ivy

I hope you don't mind that I highjacked your discussion. I didn't intend that in the beginning, but one thing led to another and here we are. You titled it "Help with Hobbleskirt ID" - so I thought I would at least try and answer part of your question with the attached ad. It is the earliest use of the words "Hobble Skirt" in connection with Coca Cola that I am aware of. I do not know if the Wichita bottler came up with it on their own or if someone else did. However, I do know that a brand of soda called "Bludwine" used it before Coca Cola did to describe their bottles. But that is another story for another time and place.

1919

Bob

 

[graybeal]

So, guess what I came across today? I found (and purchased) ANOTHER ROOT 30 Pat'd Nov 16, 1915 bottle with Cincinnati and Cleveland O. on the base. Also interesting that I noticed "1FN" before the ROOT, similar to what you mentioned above. I also got my first Ice Blue bottle Pat'd Nov. 16, 1915. It doesn't have ANY maker marks or town/state. The "Coca-Cola" looks slightly different to me as well, so I'm thinking it must be 1917-20. I'm including some pics.

 

[SODABOB]

gb

(Notice that your gb initials work with the words Great Bottles)

Great bottles - I especially like the ice blue one. Does it have the valve mark 'circle' on the base? By the way, I found a 1915 hobble-skirt with the Root 1FN on the heel that was from Boston, Mass. but there was no photo of it. I'm not sure what the 1FN or the 1AR stand for, but my best guess is some type of mold or catalog code for the Root Glass Co. Being as the 1FN that I found was from Massachusetts and your 1FN is from Ohio, the code doesn't seem to be related to a particular state. Who knows? Another mystery among many!

Bob