Orange swimsuit bubble girl 7up

[SODAPOPBOB]

Based on the currently available evidence, it appears that ...

1. The solid-orange swimsuit bottles were only used by Joyce Products Company of Columbus, Ohio
2. The solid-white swimsuit bottles were only used by Downey-Joyce 7up Inc. of Norwalk, Ohio

If this is correct as I believe it to be, then its possible that each bottler intentionally ordered their bottles with the different solid-colored swimsuits. But exactly why they would have done that I do not know. That is unless they had some specific reason for wanting to distinguish their individual bottles from one another.

 

[Canadacan]

2. The solid-white swimsuit bottles were only used by Downey-Joyce 7up Inc. of Norwalk, Ohio

So are there many of these that show up or that are known to exist?

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

2. The solid-white swimsuit bottles were only used by Downey-Joyce 7up Inc. of Norwalk, Ohio

So are there many of these that show up or that are known to exist?

I currently only know of two examples of the solid-white swimsuit bottles as shown on this forum thread started by member JayBeck in October of 2011 ...

https://www.antique-bottles.net/showthread.php?456765-Some-unusual-8-bubble-7-Up-bottles

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S.

As near as I can determine ...

1. The solid-orange swimsuit bottles are dated 1937
2. The solid-white swimsuit bottles are dated 1938

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Here's some additional information by former member surfaceone ...

Surfaceone Links

https://www.antique-bottles.net/showthread.php?425842-7-up

http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/joyce/1718/

There was a Joyce in early 1900s Columbus, OH who was proprieter of Joy Products Co.At some point he went into business with John Downey who married Adrienne M (aka Mary A.) Joyce...but I'm not sure who her parents were as Glenna and her husband had no children.Downey and Joyce ran Washington Breweries here in Columbus and at least two 7-up factories...one here and one in Norwalk, OH.

Here are the Joyces in the early Columbus, OH City Directories:

1914-1916, in the Cols, OH City Directory Wm H Joyce is proprieter of Millbrook Distilling Co.

1923 First entry for Joy Products Co. And John Downey's first entry with Adrienne.

1927 John Downey is now shown as VP of Joy Products Co.

1928 Company is now called Joyce Products.

1934 First entry for Washington Breweries.John Downey is shown as Pres but I'm assuming Joyce is still involved.

1941-1942 John Downey is Pres of both Washington Breweries and Joyce Products Co.

After 1942 Neither Company is listed.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Meet ...

John R. Downey

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Something to look for ...

11 Page Book

(Date Unknown)

Meet ...

John M. Joyce

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Jbeas31

I found the eBay listing where you acquired your orange-swimsuit bottle and hope you don't mind my posting this image of it. But by doing so I'm hoping it will boost collector interest in it and also help increase its value. It truly is a unique bottle that most collectors are probably not even be aware of. In the past I have done just about as much research on 7up as anyone has and of the countless 7up bottles I've seen I have never once came across one like yours. I suspect what happened is that Joyce Products took it upon themselves to order the bottles without the parent company's knowledge but once the company got wind of it they told Joyce Products to cease and desist because the bottles did not conform to 7up standards. If this is indeed what occurred, then its possible there was only a single run of the bottles by the Reed Glass Company, which would explain their scarcity. I fully understand your wanting to keep the bottle, and I would do the same thing if it were mine. But if there is one bottle like yours, then there are surely to be a few others like it. But then again, maybe not. For all we know the parent company ordered Joyce Products to destroy them. If that's the case, then the rarity factor on your bottle might have just sky rocketed.

Here's the eBay seller's description. Notice he doesn't even mention the orange swimsuit. Which suggest to me that he had no clue about it being extremely different from a typical eight bubble 7up bottle. However, some of his wording seems to indicate that he knows a thing or two about soda bottles. But why he didn't emphasize the swimsuit we will probably never know.

"This auction is for a green 7 Up soda bottle from The Joyce Products Co. of Columbus, Ohio. This is a 7 oz. bottle dated I believe 1937. This 78 year old bottle is in great condition with no chips, dings or cracks. There is some minor surface wear to the bottle but that's about it. The label shows some wear and fading but ACL or painted label sodas from these early years of the process often had light and delicate labels that usually washed out in the cleaning procedure before the bottle itself actually wore out. These bottles were a transition bottle between the amber squatty 7 Ups and the green swimsuit girl bottles with the painted neck label. This bottle actually has a painted neck label on one side and an embossed 7 Up on the other. Ideally the neck labels would align with the front label but early on bottles had no locating lug cast into the bottles so when the bottle passed thru for the neck label to be applied it was just applied wherever it fell in place. Check out the pics and see how great this bottle looks on display. These bottles are more rare than the brown 7 Up bottles which show up on ebay all the time. Check out the pics and you'll see this is a good looking soda bottle for someone's collection."

Click back-and-forth and compare one bottle to the other. Notice the various differences between the orange and the white swimsuit bottles, such as the gaps at the arms and the line between the legs, to that of a typical eight bubble bottle ...

Orange Swimsuit



Typical Eight Bubble



White Swimsuit

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S.

Perhaps its true when they say ...

"If there's something you desperately want but can't have, that makes you want it all the more "

I guess that's where supply and demand comes into play. But there's another saying that goes something like ...

"If there's something you desperately want that others want just as much, then you will have to pay the price to get it"

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Just for the record ...

Here's a 1943 Joyce Products 7up bottle that was on eBay in January of this year that did not receive a single bid. But the important part is that it confirms Joyce Products was not producing an orange swimsuit bottle at the time, at least not one that was made by the Owens Illinois Glass Company. I'm currently in search of any Joyce Products 7up bottles that were made between 1936 and 1940 to see if there are any others with the orange swimsuit and hopefully determine when they discontinued making them. But even with that said, I have a feeling that 1937 was the only year they were made.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Columbus-Oh...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557