Oldest ACL Royal Crown Cola Bottle?

[SODAPOPBOB]

Correction ... After taking a closer look at the article, I believe it was 12 machines and not 13. But whatever the total count was, prior to the expansion they only had 3 machines. Based on what I've learned about such things recently, more machines equate to bigger machines, which in turn equate to more molds per machine, which in turn equate to higher mold numbers on the bottles, which might explain the 8 and the 14 numbers on the 1950s bottles I posted earlier.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Correction / Correction Dang! The way they word things in the article it's hard to make sense of it at first. But having reread it for the tenth time, I now see where each "tank" (molten glass) involved three machines, so three tanks equals nine machines and four tanks equals twelve machines. In other words ... 1. They had three tanks and nine machines prior to the expansion. 2. They had four tanks and twelve machines after the expansion. But still helpful information for my ongoing search to try and figure out the reason why some of their bottles (like the 1 through 6 examples) did not include date codes. There's got to be an explanation someplace - but where?

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I'm still researching the Royal Crown/Laurens Glass Works connection and along the way found this ...
This link pertains to a legal proceedings involving Royal Crown Bottling vs. the IRS and is dated 1954. It has a ton of interesting information, especially where it says ...

"Nehi, Inc., first tested Royal Crown Cola, a cola drink in a 12-ounce bottle, in 1934, and the testing continued through 1935. The year 1936 was the first year in which Royal Crown Cola was in commercial production. In that year Nehi started its extensive advertising of Royal Crown Cola. The Chero Cola Bottling Company sold Royal Crown Cola throughout the year 1936. Prior to 1939, such advertising was on a local or plant-by-plant basis, in conjunction with the advertising of Nehi representatives and an advertising agency in Atlanta, Georgia. Nehi supplied its bottlers with advertising material. In 1938 Nehi engaged Batton, Barton, Dursten and Osborne of New York to undertake national advertising of Royal Crown Cola, and this program was under way in 1939."

Note: I'm not certain how accurate the information is, but I especially like the parts that say ...

1. The testing continued through 1935.

2. The year 1936 was the first year in which Royal Crown Cola was in commercial production.


http://www.leagle.com/decision/195471022cjtc688_1623.xml/ROYAL%20CROWN%20BOTTLING%20CO.%20v.%20COMMISSIONER

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S. The information I posted in my last reply might be the best explanation yet as to why the 1935 newspaper archives do not contain a single Royal Crown Cola article/ad but explode with them in the 1936 newspapers.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

The earliest Royal Crown Cola advertisement I've found is from April of 1936, but it's just a snippet from the classified section and doesn't include any details. This one starts out with "Stop the presses ... " and is the earliest I can find that uses the term "new" From ... The Evening Sun ~ Hanover, Pennsylvania ~ October 1, 1936

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

This is a reminder/update for those who might have lost track of things along the way.

According to the most reliable information available to me, the earliest Royal Crown Cola bottles timeline is as follows ...

1934 through 1936:

1. Clear glass
2. Debossed trapezoid on shoulder with RC
3. 12 Ounce
4. Paper labels on front and on shoulder with pyramids
5. Shoulder label has Good Housekeeping seal
6. Does not have 1936 Copyright on paper label
7. Property of Nehi Bottling Co.

Note: It appears there was a transition period starting in 1936 when paper labels as well as painted labels were both used simultaneously depending on who bottled it and where. Some of the smaller bottlers likely used the paper labels longer than did the larger bottlers.

1936:

1. First ACL / Painted label introduced
2. Clear (and possibly aqua) glass
3. Debossed trapezoid on shoulder with RC
4. Front painted label with RC and pyramids
5. Does not have 1936 Copyright on painted label
6. Back painted label has large Good Housekeeping seal
7. 12 Ounce
8. Property of Nehi Bottling Co.

I am not aware of ...

1. An ACL earlier than 1936
2. A 1936 aqua colored bottle - although there might be

And still hoping and waiting to see a picture of a 1936 ACL []

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S. I forgot to mention that no confirmed examples of 1934 and 1935 bottles have surfaced either but all the indicators suggest they exist. It could be that my clear RC bottle and others like it are from 1934 or 1935 but this has yet to be determined.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Hold The Press!

According to this eBay seller, the 1934 Royal Crown promo, test market bottles looked like the one pictured below. I have pictures of a similar bottle in my files along with a picture of the root beer variation, but this is the first time I've seen a clear picture of the heel where it is embossed with ... "Nehi Bottling" I wasn't sure by who or when these bottles were produced, but because it has Nehi Bottling, it has to be from 1928 or later when Chero-Cola changed it's name to the Nehi Corporation. It's starting to look as if the Royal Crown embossed beverage bottles are not from the 1910s era as I previously thought. And because the name Nehi is on the bottle, this temporarily changes things for me and needs additional research. If the fully embossed bottles (with the word Beverages and not Root Beer) were the bottles used to test market Royal Crown Cola in 1934, then it's possible the clear RC bottles like mine were introduced around 1935-1936 following the test market period.

Here's the eBay link ~ unfortunately the only two pictures still active are the one's posted below.(I slightly enhanced the color of the heel picture)

Http://www.ebay.ca/itm/RAREST-ROYAL-CROWN-COLA-PROMO-BOTTLE-RC-NEHI-BOTTLING-CO-2ND-TIME-EBAY-/161233264698

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S. Don't miss reading this, which is at the very bottom of the eBay description ... [align=center]Notes from a friendly ebayer I thought I'd pass along :[/align][align=center] [/align][align=center] Dear Seller; These bottles were the introductory bottles beginning in 1934. They are known from Baton Rouge, LA; Birmingham, AL; Jackson, MS; Lufkin, TX; Meridian, MS; Morgan City, LA; and Shreveport, LA. The plain ones are considered to be company bottles from Columbus. Even harder, are the companion bottles that have the terms: ROOT BEER! [/align][align=center]Michael Elling, Sharon, Tennessee[/align]

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I can't believe I never fully researched the embossed Royal Crown Beverages bottles, but for some reason I just never did until now.
Here are some links to more examples of the embossed Royal Crown Beverages bottles. According to the various descriptions, some of the bottles are marked with L's. I'm not sure if the L's stand for Laurens Glass Works or something else. Nor do I know if they are date marks, mold numbers, or something else. However, the one marked with LG sure has my attention.


Marked 3R (Three Rivers Glass Company)

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/embossed-royal-crown-beverages-77707541


Marked LG

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/embossed-royal-crown-beverages-bottle-152960655


Marked L3

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/royal-crown-beverages-embossed-soda-151904771


Marked L4

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1930s-royal-crown-beverages-bottle-rare-ex