Hoping to learn about Frostie-like bottle found in crawl space

[SODABOB]

This 1940 census document is the closest I have found that is related to the 1939 date.

George H. Rackensperger - Part Owner Beverage Company (Cantonsville)

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

Even though I can't say for certain, based on what I have seen so far I'm starting to suspect that George Rackensperger's first beverage was not Old Fashion Root Beer or Frostie Root Beer. I'm okay with the 1939 start date as a bottler, but now I'm leaning toward the possibility that between c1939 and c1941 he bottled some other beverages - one of which that may have been Nickel Soda. It is not entirely uncommon for someone to claim a certain start-date for a particular product, but what they really mean is when they started as a business.

The search continues!

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

This link is where I found the reference to Nickel Soda (page 49) as well as a lot more information about the Rackensperger family ...

Family Ties and Tales (Final Edition)

I have been working about 40 years gathering family stories and digging through libraries and computer archives tracking the history of my families ancestors. It’s the age old question of where did I come from. I was able to find some interesting tales about who our ancestors were, what they...

shorturl.at

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

According to the article I just posted a link to, Joseph Nitsch was George Rackensperger's original partner in the soft drink business. Attached is Joseph Nitsch's 1940 census document where we see "Salesman Soft Drink Company"

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

I hope I'm not overdoing things, but this might be the first time that any of us has taken a close look at Frostie bottles. At first I was like everyone else and thought that all of the Frostie bottles had the word Frostie on them. But now we know differently thanks to member justonebottle. My latest discovery is kind of strange and I'm still trying to make sense of it. It pertains to a bottle opener I found that has Canton Ginger Ale on it and is from Cantonsville, Maryland. What's unique about it is that the bathing lady sort of looks like the lady on the Frostie bottles and paper labels. At first I thought it was a fluke until I found this item on eBay that says the same thing - although the seller describes it as being from 1929 ...

https://shorturl.at/dlq78

I wonder if the Ginger Ale lady and the Frostie lady are one and the same?

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

Stay tuned for this one that I'm still working on. It's the only one like it that I have been able to find. Notice it doesn't have a label of any type, but it does have Cantonsville Bottling embossed on the shoulder. I have seen at least a hundred early Frostie bottles - but none of the examples I've seen have the embossed shoulder like this one. I wonder what the story is behind it? I don't think it's an ACL (Applied Color Label) that has worn off. I will let you know if/when I find anything else about it. I also attached a sampling of various Frostie bottles to compare with the one that has the embossed shoulder.

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

Just for the record - Frostie Old Fashion (First use June 1942)

Bob

 

[shadeone]

Sodabob, great research!!
I don't know if you remember, but you had previously looked up some Frostie stuff for me a while ago.
Here was the final timeline we came up with. I made some edits since I did find a 1946 bottle of "Frostie Old Fashioned Tasty Creamy Root Beer"

FROSTIE ROOT BEER TIMELINE

1939 = Catonsville Bottling Company established in Catonsville, Maryland. First location was in the Jail portion (basement) of the old Catonsville Firehouse located at 22 Bloomsbury Avenue:

1939 = Catonsville Bottling bottled "Nichol Kola" - "Tasty Beverages" - "Catonsville Beverages":

1940 = Bottling operation continues at 22 Bloomsbury Avenue.

1941 = Moved from 22 Bloomsbury Ave. in Catonsville to 6426 Edmondson Avenue in Catonsville.

1942 = First use of "Frostie" name "in commerce" according to patent office documents

1946 = First commercially produced and bottled "Frostie Old Fashioned Tasty Creamy Root Beer" (That we know of so far)

1947 = The Frostie Company established.

 

[shadeone]

This article from a 1952 issue of National Bottlers Gazette mentions that Frostie was first franchised "6 years ago" (1946):


I also found this glass online in a couple places, but no date on them:

With regards to the bottle itself, there is also a version that has clear corners instead of the dark brown filled in corners like the one that this thread is about. I snagged this picture off of facebook with no further information on it unfortunately:

 

[shadeone]

August 1st, 1945 Baltimore Sun classified ad indicates it was still being called just "Old Fashion" root beer: