Paper Label - Worth Collecting? Curious what the view is.

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JKL

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Up until a few years ago I never thought to much about paper label soda bottles. But I had a few sneak into the collection and I found some kind of cool. I posted a Welch's Grape soda on the forum a couple years ago and it had good conversations about bottle date and UPC code intro. I recently picked up a Kist Green Label Ginger Ale (quart) and a 10oz Fanta Orange with paper labels and actually wanted to acquire them. What struck me was that when I first started collecting as a kid in the mid 70's if I found a 50s era Pepsi bottle or even a 60's Pepsi I was thrilled. But those bottles were only 20 yrs old or less. Some of the paper labels I have now are 50-70 yrs old I realize but others are from the 70s and 80s. Meaning they are now 40-50yrs old. Is that an old bottle in today's bottle collector's mind. I dug some out today and took pics. I was surprised at how many I have. I would love to hear what others think.
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CanadianBottles

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I really like those paper labels! I think they're worth collecting at this point, the 70s and even 80s are getting up there in age. Even the 90s are starting to reach that point, at least the early 90s. These paper label bottles are getting fairly rare as well, even if they aren't that old there aren't too many left a lot of the time and they don't show up in good shape that often. I'll buy labeled bottles from that era, particularly from smaller and defunct brands, although I won't pay very much for them.
 

bottle-bud

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Nothing wrong with collecting paper label bottles, if that's what you like. I know I do. My thing is that I only acquire them if they are St. Louis marked. Here are some of mine, some older and some newer. I agree with CanadianBottles that they are to to find in good condition sometimes.
BTW, that Royal Charger bottle is really cool!

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Bottle 2 Rocks

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Nothing wrong with collecting paper label bottles, if that's what you like. I know I do. My thing is that I only acquire them if they are St. Louis marked. Here are some of mine, some older and some newer. I agree with CanadianBottles that they are to to find in good condition sometimes.
BTW, that Royal Charger bottle is really cool!

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Interesting Anheuser-Busch ginger ale. Hi Ball tip top is pretty cool
 

bottle-o-pop

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Those are very fine collections you have! Even the prices on those large bottles are amazing.
As you probably know, ephemera is a category of antique; old paper items. Paper is very ephemeral, especially after it's discarded. Paper bottle labels definitely an interesting part of history.
 

JKL

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Nothing wrong with collecting paper label bottles, if that's what you like. I know I do. My thing is that I only acquire them if they are St. Louis marked. Here are some of mine, some older and some newer. I agree with CanadianBottles that they are to to find in good condition sometimes.
BTW, that Royal Charger bottle is really cool!

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Those are really great bottles. Thanks for sharing them. Good to hear there are collectors who look for paper labels.
 

Donas12

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Up until a few years ago I never thought to much about paper label soda bottles. But I had a few sneak into the collection and I found some kind of cool. I posted a Welch's Grape soda on the forum a couple years ago and it had good conversations about bottle date and UPC code intro. I recently picked up a Kist Green Label Ginger Ale (quart) and a 10oz Fanta Orange with paper labels and actually wanted to acquire them. What struck me was that when I first started collecting as a kid in the mid 70's if I found a 50s era Pepsi bottle or even a 60's Pepsi I was thrilled. But those bottles were only 20 yrs old or less. Some of the paper labels I have now are 50-70 yrs old I realize but others are from the 70s and 80s. Meaning they are now 40-50yrs old. Is that an old bottle in today's bottle collector's mind. I dug some out today and took pics. I was surprised at how many I have. I would love to hear what others think.
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Those are mighty fine bottles you have collected JKL. Nice variety. I think finding a bottle with a paper label in excellent shape is very special. They are real survivors. I completely subscribe to the “collect whatever makes you happy” point of view..
 

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