Hobbleskirt Coke with 1916 date error

[SODAPOPBOB]

As for my so called investigative skills, some of you might think differently about them after reading the following.
Due to some conflicting information between Bill Porter's 1996 Checklist book and the 2010 Bill Lockhart/Bill Porter article, I am inclined to eliminate the Graham Glass Company as having produced the 1916 error bottles. Originally I was relying on information from the Checklist where Bill clearly states ...

"Until 1920: No mark but usually a large mold number on the base."

The first thing I question is how Bill Porter or anyone could possibly know who made a particular bottle if it did not have a makers mark? What could there be about an otherwise unmarked bottle with only a large mold number on the base that identifies it as a Graham bottle? But that's only part of the confusion; on page 50 of the 2010 article the authors state ...

"Beginning in 1916, Graham added a unique date code system. These codes were based on letters, starting with "P" - the 16th letter of the alphabet:"

P = 1916
Q = 1917
R = 1918
S = 1919

So, as you can see, the information is conflicting as well as confusing to say the least. I suppose its possible that sometime between 1996, when the Checklist was first published, and 2010, when the article was written, that Bill Lockhart and/or Bill Porter finally figured things out which resulted in the new, updated information pertaining to the Graham Glass Company. And if things weren't confusing enough already, there's also this from the 2010 article ...

"On June 28, 1916, the Owens Bottle Co. bought the entire Graham Glass operation but continued to run it under the Graham Glass Co. name."

Plus, as member Canadacan and others have pointed out, there's the advertisements and signs to consider, which also display the 1916 error date. Surely Graham, nor any glass maker for that matter, could have been directly involved and responsible for all of that!

So without further ado, I have no choice except to go back to square-one and focus my attention on three primary targets, namely ...

1. Small glass factories
2. The northeastern part of the United States
3. The number 4

... which I feel are the most reliable clues presented thus far regarding the bottles themselves. As for the advertisements and signs, that presents an even bigger challenge which might never be determined.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Just for the record ... ( To illustrate the confliction and confusion ) 1. Graham information from Bill Porter's 1996 Checklist book2. Graham information from Bill Lockhart / Bill Porter 2010 article3. Graham date code chart / timeline

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

To help put things into perspective, I placed a green star on the states where the 1916 error bottles have been found thus far, which are ... 1. Connecticut2. Maryland3. Virginia

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

We can speculate all day long regarding the shipping cost from glass manufacturer to bottler and how it might factor into things, but because we're talking about 1917 through 1920, I'd say it was a definite concern. Hence, my guess is the glass maker who produced the 1916 error bottles was located somewhere within close proximity of the three states shown on the map ... but where?

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Here's the chart of early Coca Cola bottle makers again so we don't have to click back to view it. Of course, if the 1916 error bottles were produced by an obscure / small glass factory, that factory would not be on the chart. I'm mainly posting the chart again to have it near the map, which might cause something to jump out at us.

 

[Canadacan]

I'm with you...make sense to me. So I assume the #4 still pertains to a glass plant?....which still could have been owned by a parent company?

 

[Canadacan]

Could it be a Owens plant #? Graham owned by Owens Bottle Company after 1916, plants became part of Owens-Illinois in 1929.

 

[Canadacan]

Well there it is plant # 4...one or the other I guess. Table 1 – Owens Bottle Co. – Factory Numbers, Locations, and Dates* No.** Location Former Name Dates of Operation
1 Libbey St., Toledo, OH Toledo Glass Co. 1903-[1919] 1929†
2 W. Toledo, OH Northwestern Ohio Bottle Co. 1904-[1911] 1918
3 Fairmont, WV Owens West Virginia Bottle Co. 1909-[1911] 1929†
4 Westlake St., Toledo, OH Libbey Glass Co. 1913-1915
4*** Clarksburg, WV Owens Eastern Bottle Co. 1912-[1915] 1929†
– Evansville, IN Graham Glass Co. 1916-1929
– Loogootee, IN Graham Glass Co. 1916-1926
– Okmulgee, OK Graham Glass Co. 1916-1929
– Chekotah, OK Graham Glass Co. 1916-1923
– Newark, OH American Bottle Co. 1916-1929
– Streator, IL American Bottle Co. 1916-1929
5 Greenfield, IN Greenfield Fruit Jar & Bottle Co. 1917††-1921
6 Charleston, WV Owens Bottle Machine Co. 1918-1929
7 Glassboro, NJ #1 Whitney Glass Works 1918†††-1919
8 Glassboro NJ #2 Owens Bottle Machine Co. 1918-1929
5 ‡ Cincinnati, OH Charles Boldt Glass Mfg. Co. 1919-1926
2‡‡ Huntington, WV Charles Boldt Glass Mfg. Co. 1919-1929

* Most of the information in this table was taken from a Table 11, Scoville (1948:113). Dates,
however, are also from elsewhere in the book, Toulouse (1971:393-397), Miller & McNichol
(2002:6-8), or the Owens annual reports.
** Since the companies purchased (as opposed to factories built) retained their former identities,
they were not numbered like the ones originating with Owens and bearing the Owens name.
*** The Clarksburg plant received No. 4, when the Westlake plant closed in 1915.
† These factories remained in business until at least the end of the Owens era; the number in
brackets reflects the date they were absorbed into either the Owen Bottle Machine Co. or the
Owens Bottle Co.
†† Owens may have owned the Greenfield plant by November 14, 1916 (Roller 1994:41).
††† Owens gained control in 1915 but did not own all the stock until 1918. The plant continued
to operate under the Whitney name until the 1918 acquisition.
‡ The Cincinnati factory became Plant No. 5 after the Greenfield factory closed in 1921.
‡‡ The Huntington factory became Plant No. 2 after the W. Toledo factory closed in 1918.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

CC At this juncture I'd say anything is possible. I'm currently focusing on F.E. Reed & Co., Rochester, New York, which Bill Porter describes in his Checklist book as being one of the small glass makers at the time and who made blue Coca Cola bottles.

 

[Canadacan]

And it's in the right location..? 4*** Clarksburg, WV Owens Eastern Bottle Co. 1912-[1915] 1929†They received the #4 designation when Westlake closed in 1915.