Hutch Soda: Alabama Bottling Works ABW {monogram} Bessemer Ala "T" base

[elliott 123]

Hopeful the experienced hutch soda collectors can enlighten me on this one too. All these bottles I'm posting are recently inherited - straight from the attic after being stored since the mid-eighties. I've posted several others I'm needing clarification on and would appreciate the help of the experts.

This one is clear and 8 inches tall. It has a small heel nick.
What year is this from and why is so much taller than all the others? Does the heel nick hurt it much value wise? What is that wavy line around the neck?

Embossed front: ALABAMA BOTTLING WORKS / ABW (monogram) / BESSEMER ALA (inside arch top inset)
Embossed base: Large faceted T

Is mine the same bottle Thomas C. Lines illustrates as BE-1d on page 23 in Alabama's Pre-Crown Top Drink Bottles 1840-1915: An Illustrated Guide to Known Variants?

 

[hemihampton]

Hutches come in many different sizes & colors. Quart Size, Blue, rare Amber, ect., ect. Yours is what they call a Tombstone Slug plate or what Ron Fowler calls on his Hutchbook website a Horseshoe slugplate. LEON.

Some examples below.

 

[elliott 123]

Wow! That's quite a collection! Very nice indeed. Thanks for your reply and for sharing your spectacular collection!

Do you think my bottle is the same as the one designated AL0025 at hutchbook.com? The example there is also 8 inches tall, has the same embossed monogram and lettering, and a T on the bottom. There's not a picture of the bottom, so I can't compare the T's.

 

[hemihampton]

Looks the same to me. unless it has some letters or #'s in small print on lower back? On the site it sez Blank in back. Also, the R in the one box means Rare. On the site you either got R=rare or S= scarce or C= common. Or blank meaning he don't know or didn't give it a rating. LEON.

 

[elliott 123]

Looks the same to me. unless it has some letters or #'s in small print on lower back? On the site it sez Blank in back. Also, the R in the one box means Rare. On the site you either got R=rare or S= scarce or C= common. Or blank meaning he don't know or didn't give it a rating. LEON.

Thank you. I don't see any other markings on mine. On page 23 of Alabama's Pre-Crown, Mr. Lines classifies it as Extremely Rare. HIs scale is a bit different from hutchbook.com. Mr. Lines' book was originally published in 1986. My grandfather and father (both now deceased) were very active in the local bottle collecting community. Exhibited at bottle shows all over the SE and locally. I'm certain Mr Lines would have known of the examples in this collection. Perhaps even used some of them for his drawings.

Here are the two rarity scales for comparison.

Alabama's Pre-Crown Rarity Scale:
Extremely Rare 1-5 examples known
Very Rare 6-10 examples known
Rare 11-15 examples known
Scarce 16-25 examples known
Relatively scarce 26-40 examples known
Common 41-65 examples known
Very common more than 65 examples known

Hutchbook Rarity Scale:
Rare <10
Scarce 10-100
Common >100 (See submittal form for ranges)

 

[elliott 123]

Looks the same to me. unless it has some letters or #'s in small print on lower back? On the site it sez Blank in back. Also, the R in the one box means Rare. On the site you either got R=rare or S= scarce or C= common. Or blank meaning he don't know or didn't give it a rating. LEON.

I've been studying the resources provided to me by kind members of this group. I seem to have variants - ones that almost match a listed example but not quite. Some of mine either have a different mark on the bottom and/or lack one of the markings noted in the description. My variants are not listed in either Thomas C. Lines Alabama's Pre-Crown Top Drink Bottles 1840-1915 or on the Hutchbook.com site. At least not exactly.

For example AL049 Alabama Bottling Works - my example is the same size as AL049 with the same slug plate marking in the same format as the one listed at Hutchbook.com as AL049. Mine also has "THE LIQUID" embossed on the bottom like AL049 but mine also has a number (presumably 11966 but it could be 99611) on the bottom. The example at Hutchbook.com has no number on the bottom. Another variation - AL049 has THIS BOTTLE / NOT TO BE SOLD / 9011 on the back. Mine has all of that, but not the 9011.

Is mine a variant that has not yet been recorded?

 

[hemihampton]

I would guess possibly variant not documented. Send pic & info to Ron from hutchbook & get his opinion. LEON.