Oldest ACL Royal Crown Cola Bottle?

[dbv1919]

SODAPOPBOB, Check out this auction on ebay with a copyright date of 1930. -RC Cola paper advertisement bottle shaped cut-out 29 5/8" tall circa 1930-

 

[M.C.Glass]

That cut out does clearly say 1930 but I don't personally believe it's authentic. Colors look too fresh and bright. And that date. I emailed Mr. Peacock, who told me his paper label RC was 1933, but he hasn't replied.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

dbv: Great find! Because this is totally unexplored territory for me, I'm keeping an open mind regarding all dates and other factors. Here's the eBay link and a couple of pics - which I feel are worthy of additional investigation ... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=191194335462&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S. The first thing I intend to look into is the Nehi, Inc. ( Incorporated ) ?

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I have a couple of Royal Crown/Nehi websites readily available that only take a minute to tap into, and my initial findings related to the paper sign are ... 1. The Nehi, Inc. fits okay with the 1930 date and even as early as 1924.2. I believe this is a case similar to the 1936 dates on so many of the Royal Crown bottles in that the date is a copyright date and not necessarily when a particular item was produced. Many sellers of such items are often confused or mistaken about this aspect.3. Even though the 1930 date fits with Nehi, everything else about the paper sign, including bottle style, etc., suggest late 1930s, early 1940s.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I received another communication from the eBay seller of my clear RC bottle and
they informed me that they dug several of the same type of bottles except that
where mine has a 2 the others have 3, 4, 5, and a 6. Normally I'd say single
digit numbers like that are mold numbers, but the odds of finding sequential
mold numbers in a single dump seem astronomical to me, suggesting that the
numbers might very well be codes for 1932,1933,1934,1935, and 1936. ???(Please note the question marks) []

 

[dbv1919]

Sodapopbob I believe you may be on to something here. It doesn't make sense to have that many molds in a single place. Maybe the gentleman in West Virginia was correct? MCglass I don't know what to think about the sign it looks almost too good. But it's interesting though. I would love to know about the date on the paper label bottle, hope you find out and let us know.

 

[dbv1919]

P.S. Sodapopbob I don't know if this is of any use but I went and looked for the copyright on the bottles I have and both 1937 bottles I have don't have the 1936 copyright by Nehi Inc. All three 1938 bottles I have do have the 1936 copright, and every other acl pyramid after that has the copyright up to my newest which is 52.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S. Sodapopbob I don't know if this is of any use but I went and looked for the copyright on the bottles I have and both 1937 bottles I have don't have the 1936 copyright by Nehi Inc. All three 1938 bottles I have do have the 1936 copright, and every other acl pyramid after that has the copyright up to my newest which is 52.

I thought about that, too, but the problem with the non-acls is that they don't have any place to show the copyright date, thus leaving us in the dark and pushing us back to square one! []

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Try this one on for size ...

I'm hoping the following will shed some light on things and not make them more confusing, so please bare with me as I try to make sense of this ...

According to this "collector," he states that raised-letter/embossed Dr Pepper bottles were only made in the late 1920s to about 1931. And even though I'm not certain if this is true or not, for the time being I will accept it as fact and assume that all "debossed" variations were produced after 1931.

Here's his quote and the link where I found it ...

"We collectors use the term "Raised Letter" when describing them in auctions or publications. The term "Raised Letter" is for the lettering & design on the sides of the bottle. It is all truly embossed and has no debossed lettering. These type were only made in the late 20's to about 1931."

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Dr-Pepper-Bottle-styles-1920s-30s-Embossed-Debossed-/10000000005012846/g.html

~ * ~

Which brings us to a Dr Pepper bottle currently on eBay. Notice that it's the more common "Debossed" variation which, according to our collector guy, would have been made "after" 1931. Right? Okay, fine. Now look at picture of the base where you will see a solo LGW with a 5 beneath it. I searched high and low and this is the only solo LGW mark I have been able to find with a solo number. All of the others were the typical 3LGW9 type marks that are easy to date, with my example here being for 1939.

So is it possible that the LGW 5 on the Dr Pepper bottle is for 1935? Or is it 1945, 1955, or not a date at all and simply a mold number?

Perhaps one of the Dr Pepper collectors among us will be able to shed some light on things, especially considering how blurry they are at the moment. The only thing I can say with relative certainty is that solo LGW marks are far and few between. So far I have only seen two, one on my clear RC bottle and one on this Dr Pepper bottle ...

Link to eBay "Debossed" Dr Pepper bottle with LGW 5

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121353061366?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT