Oldest ACL Royal Crown Cola Bottle?

[SODAPOPBOB]

For Comparison ... 1. RC2. Dr Pepper

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe the information for the article on this link was provided by the Royal Crown Company itself. Most accounts I've read indicate it was "after" Claud Hatcher's death on December 31, 1933 that chemist Rufus Kamm was tasked with the challenge of developing a "new" cola, which, as we know would become known as Royal Crown Cola. And yet, in this particular article it states it was Hatcher himself who initiated the development of the new cola "shortly before" his death in "1932."

Just how accurate this information is I cannot say, but it at least gives us a possible window related to 1932, which in turn adds a small measure of credibility to the dates prior to 1933 and 1934. But whether or not they produced any bottles for test market purposes in 1932 still remains to be seen.



http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/54/Royal-Crown-Company-Inc.html


"The greatest money to be earned in the soft drink industry was still in the cola market. Hatcher's realization of this fact had prompted the development of Chero-Cola in the first decade of the century, and it prompted him to muster another attempt shortly before his death. In 1932 he had instructed his chemist to develop a cola beverage, and by 1934, when the company stood on solid financial ground, the new cola product was ready for distribution. Named Royal Crown, the new soft drink represented the company's future, becoming a favorite of consumers in the decades to follow."

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Maybe, just maybe my clear RC bottle didn't contain cola at all. Maybe it contained a fruit flavor like that on the caps shown below. But please don't ask me the dates of the caps, because at the moment I don't have a clue except that the name "Nehi Bottling" was established around 1928. However, I will say this much; the crown image on the caps is very similar to the crown image on the embossed Royal Crown Root Beer bottle I posted a picture of earlier. My initial reaction is to say the caps are most likely from the heavily embossed bottles except that ... 1. I don't know exactly what time period the crown embossed bottles are from.2. I don't believe a connection between the crown embossed bottles and Nehi has ever been established.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Here's the crown embossed root beer bottle again ...

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

In other words ... The RC on my clear bottle surely stands for ROYAL CROWN, but that doesn't automatically mean it is a "cola" bottle!

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Is it even remotely possible that my, as well as the other LGW 2,3,4,6 bottles are Royal Crown "flavor" bottles from 1932-1933-1934-1936 - which would have had paper labels?

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

After all ... Those particular bottles are "clear glass"

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

In case you're wondering why Royal Crown would produce fruit flavors when Nehi's claim to fame was flavored beverages, well, I'm wondering the same thing. And yet, the bottle caps I posted clearly show ROYAL CROWN / NEHI BOTTLING COMPANY - and they are definitely fruit flavored soda bottle caps.

 

[dbv1919]

Sodapopbob I owe you and everybody an apology. My bottle collecting friend came over comparing RC bottles today and we went through my bottles thoroughly today. I thought of my 15 or so rc bottles I had all OI except for one ball and one LGW. I had not picked up my "36" bottle in three or four years I could have sworn it was an OI bottle. Low and behold it is an LGW. LGW with a 6 under it. I honestly now am not sure of the year. I'm 99.9 percent it is no later than 37 because of the ACL. But here is the bottom. It was not my intent to deceive anyone, I feel like a fool. My honest apologies, Brad.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Brad: Don't feel bad because I might have some apologizing of my own to do. It dawned on me this morning that the clear RC bottle I purchased, and that I am still waiting to receive, might be a "ghost" acl with the label worn off. About all I know about it at the moment are the pictures I've seen and that it was recently "dug" from a dump. I will be disappointed if it does turn out to be a ghost acl, but I won't hold it against the seller because if it is a worn-off acl, I'm sure they were not aware of it themselves. Its really hard to tell sometimes unless there is a faint trace of the acl left and held in the right light. But on the other hand, it could very well be a clear bottle that once held a paper label. As for your bottle with the LGW 6, that actually might be good news because it could be a clue to the LGW dating code for 1936. So hang in there, because this Jack Dempsey boxing match ain't over until someone cries "uncle." Heck with the bottles - I want a pair of those signed boxing gloves! []