Maple Shade Farms milk bottle

[John S]

About a month ago I found an old milk bottle, its 137mm high, 50mm wide at the top, 59mm wide at the bottom. Embossed around the bottom is "HALF PINT LIQ. 3603 REC. SEALED MTC B12" The MTC looks like some company logo with a large T and a smaller M under the left side and a small C under the right. Embossed on the bottom is "11 E51". Written on one side in white is "Maple Shade Farms Dairy Horseheads N.Y." Then on the other side is a picture of a man pouring milk into a glass a girl is holding with a woman standing next to her and it says "Yes Sir! Its good for grown-ups too!"

Any info anyone might have on it would be appreciated.

 

[NYCFlasks]

The lettering is ment to read as TMC, for Thatcher Manufacturing Company, who were a leading producer of milk bottles for much of the 20th century.
The other numbers and letters are mold/machine/plant codes used for quality control and the like, same for the number/letters on the base. On the base the 51 might stand for the year the mold was cut. While many of my milk bottle collecting buddies have told me this, no one has really proven it either, that I am aware of so I take it with a grain of salt.
Value would depend on the condition of the pyro glazing (the painting). What is throwing me off is you say the lettering is white. White was very, very rarely used, as when the bottle was filled with milk, it would not be seen. Colors commonly used are red, orange, blue, black, yellow, and green. When the colors fade, due to exposure to sunlight, they will go white. If this is the case, it would have a negative effect on the value.
As for the age, pyro glazed milk bottles were very popular from the 1940's into the 1960's. Using my friends dating system, the mold was cut in 1951, so the bottle would most likely date from the early to mid 1950's.
Hope this helps.

 

[John S]

When the colors fade, due to exposure to sunlight, they will go white. If this is the case, it would have a negative effect on the value.

Thats probably what happened, when I found it it was laying half exposed with moss growing around and inside it. The white is also very faint, you can just barely see it when you hold it up at a certain angle to a light.