Moxie Mystery ACL Bottle

[SODABOB]

Last but not least / In search of ...

One of these quart-size Moxie Sparkling Beverage ACL bottles with A.B.CO. on the base. If anyone has one of finds one, please share it with us - Thanks

(From the Moxie article that Bill Lockhart and I compiled in 2022)

 

[SODABOB]

Fake News / New Mystery

I found these Moxie newsletters on eBay - one of which is dated 2020 and indicates that my bottle is a fake. It also shows some mugs and other stuff that are fakes.

https://shorturl.at/mABC4

I contacted the Moxie Museum / Moxie Congress / Moxie Heritage who published the letters and got in touch with one of their curators named George Gross. George is looking into this and is supposed to get back to me soon.

The new mystery is ...

1. Who faked them and when?
2. How did they fake them?
3. What type of a stencil did they use?
4. Why did they fake a 1922 bottle?
5. Are there other examples of these fake bottles?

I did some addition test on my bottle, including trying to scrape the ACL off with an SOS pad as well as a light grid sandpaper. Even though I took care not to scratch the glass, the experiment did not remove or even phase the ACL. I'm still of the opinion that the ACL is fused/baked into the glass, but how this was accomplished I do not know. Based on what I do know about applying ACL, it would require a temperature of at least 1,200 degrees. The only thing I can think of that would reach temperatures that high is a pottery Kiln.

I'm actually ok with it being a fake - it presents me with the challenge of trying to solve the mystery associated with it. I will let you know when I hear from the museum and what they have to say about it.

Bob

P.S. If anyone has this 2020 newsletter please share it with us - Thanks

 

[iggyworf]

Wow! That's a bummer. I was hoping it was a older reused bottle. Sorry Bob.

 

[hemihampton]

sabotage.

 

[SODABOB]

Thanks, guys. I heard from the museum but they are still working on it - but did say "possible counterfeit" which is not good news. I searched to the enth degree but cannot find another one like - nor any of the mugs. That makes me wonder if they were mass produced or just a one-time thing. I will let you know when I hear from the museum people again. In the meantime I plan to bid on this other Moxie bottle on eBay. Even though I'm not certain about the numbers on the base, they look like either a 23N or a 28N. The main thing about it is that the only glasshouse I know of that used that type of code is the American Bottle Company - which we know became part of the Owens Illinois Glass Company in 1929. If it is an American Bottle code, who never made ACL bottles, that leaves Owens-Illinois as a the likely contender who applied it - maybe? By the way, I contacted the seller to find out what the base marks actually are. I will let you know when I hear from them. I'm hoping it's a 1920s bottle that was repurposed by Owens Illinois in the 1930s.

Here's the eBay link again - plus I attached a photo of the base. Like I said previously, if someone else wants to bid on it, go for it. My new max is $40.

https://shorturl.at/cJZ09

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

I just this minute heard from the eBay seller - here is his copy/pasted reply

BOB, WHEN I HOLD IT TO THE LIGHT IT LOOKS LIKE 26 N, THEN SOMETIMES ON A DIFFERENT ANGLE IT LOOKS LIKE A 20 N. 90% SURE 26 N.
THANKS MIKE

 

[hemihampton]

Close up of ACL color/label looks kinda thick & orange peely for a ACL, But I'm not expert in this area. Leon.

 

[Sitcoms]

Definitely an interesting one you've got here, Bob, especially with Moxie being such a prevalent thing up here in Maine. I actually just dug my first embossed one - a later 1940s variant that's seen better days. Even with it being a possible counterfeit, the chase of trying to figure out the who, why, and when is always entertaining

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Don't know anything about that Moxie bottle, but I do know there were a lot of fake "Ted's Creamy Root Beer" bottles produced in the 1990's and sold at sportscard shows in the New England area. I also recall having an unused Moxie label with Ted Williams on it, as well as a plastic Moxie bottle that was a key chain. Both were definitely reproductions. So someone was busy churning out stuff like that back in the day.

Why someone would counterfeit that Moxie ACL bottle is a mystery to me, though. Wouldn't be that much demand for it, so why go to the trouble of counterfeiting it? And if they did, they would have made dozens of them to make it worth the effort. Where are the rest of them?

 

[Oldsdigger]

SodaBob,
What a unique bottle and great find. I don't know if you are a member of the FOHBC but they publish a great magazine "Antique Bottle & Glass Collector" There November-December issue has a great 4 page article on the Moxie Soda. Oh, just in case you are not familiar with them. FOHBC is Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors. Also, if you are on Facebook, you can message Peachridge Glass. They are connected with the Virtual FOHBC Museum. Best of luck, you might have a unicorn there!