All bottles, regardless of embossing, had paper labels. The embossing was a trade marked method of assuring the customer that the product was genuine. Many embossed bottles were pirated by other companies, with their labels placed over the letters. I have found liquor bottles with carsup, olive oil, salad dressing, and other labels affixed to them. The local manufacturers of various medicines, tonics, and bitters were especially fond of the extremely common Hostetter's bottles, and probably found it much more economical to gather discarded specimines than to pay to have their own name placed on the glass.
You might try your local library as a search tool. Directories are an excellent resource, usually containing a list of all people that were in business at the time of the printing. Don't dispair, the answer is out there. You just have to look for it.