Please help me identify

[Mandy.r.cashion]

Hello,
I'm brand new here. I found this beautiful bottle on my family's farm in kansas. I've done alot of research but I can't find anything online aside from a 6 1/2 oz green bottle that says the same as mine. It's made from allen bottling co wichita ks I think they bottled for conway springs mineral water in kansas. It's has a bold A on the bottom so I narrowed it down to spring or mineral water. Please help me get the Facts. I went down a deep rabbit hole trying to get specifics.

 

[Mandy.r.cashion]

 

[hemihampton]

Doesn't look like your typical mineral water, looks more like a soda pop pre 1920's. Leon.

P.S. Welcome to the site.

 

[hemihampton]

Update: my research sez they bottled both Soft Drinks (pop) & Soda Water. Leon.

 

[Mandy.r.cashion]

Thank you

 

[Sitcoms]

I was able to find some of the basic information about the Allen Bottling Co. using old newspapers, but there's a lot to find here it seems.

The earliest trace I can find of the company under "Allen Bottling Co" is an ad in The Wichita Beacon from March of 1910:

From this ad we learn that the company was established in 1892, and confirm what Leon (hemihampton) above said - they sold not only mineral water, but bottled soda and ginger ale, siphons, fruit ciders and juices, milk shakes and fountain syrup, and more. Here's one from a few months later, which gives an address of 517-519 Tremont Avenue in Wichita:

A little deeper research indicates that Tremont Avenue was renamed St. Francis Avenue, located in the south-central portion of the city (https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=60594).

It was owned (at least in July 1913) by W.H. Hazelton and Ralph Lightner:

It seems they bottled or distributed a little bit of everything, from local stuff to more widely-distributed drinks - Early on I can find mentions of Conway Springs Water, Sinalco, Grape-Rite, Pineapple Nectarade, and a few of their own concoctions, including "Allen's Red Tame Cherry" and "Allen's Orient Ginger Ale" in the mid-1910s. By 1917 they were bottling non-alcoholic beverages - I can find ads for "Pablo", made by Pabst Brewing Co., "Puritan", the self-described "Unexcelled Cereal Beverage" according to the ad (yuck), and Milo (another non-alcoholic beverage), for which they took out huge 1/4 page ads in some cases. Other things they bottled included Miller High Life (originally non-alcoholic), Green River Soda, and Hires Root Beer

It seems that Conway Springs Water & Geuda Springs Water were by far their best & longest running sellers, but they sold their own flavored sodas (the Grape-Rite, Tame Cherry, Orient Ginger Ale, and later a Strawberry, Orange Freeze/Sour, Lemon Sour,) into the early 1920s. Here's a few articles about the company:
15 Jun 1919:

22 Jan 1922:

1 May 1922:

 

[Sitcoms]

In late October 1922 Lightner and Hazelton sold the company to Robert Getterman of Topeka, KS for $50,000 (a considerable amount - almost $860k in today's dollars), and he planned to enlarge the company and continue business. The sale included the company's contract with Conway Springs Water Co., and Mr. Getterman would continue to be the main bottler and distributor for that company.

Following Getterman's purchase the company continued to do much of the same it had in the decade prior - being the main bottler/distributor of Conway Springs Water and distributing a number of other large soda companies, like Hires and NuGrape (by 1927). W.H. Hazelton would return as a manager for the company in the late 1920s, but I know little else of what the company did. They were still in business by the time that W.H. Hazelton died in 1941, and I have no clue when the company closed.


Based on what I've found I'd have to agree with Leon - this is probably a late 1910s/1920s soda bottle. Guessing that since the company name is on it as opposed to a larger brand it could have been one of their in-house flavors.

 

[Bottlediggerct]

Nice finds

 

[Mandy.r.cashion]

In late October 1922 Lightner and Hazelton sold the company to Robert Getterman of Topeka, KS for $50,000 (a considerable amount - almost $860k in today's dollars), and he planned to enlarge the company and continue business. The sale included the company's contract with Conway Springs Water Co., and Mr. Getterman would continue to be the main bottler and distributor for that company.
View attachment 252408
Following Getterman's purchase the company continued to do much of the same it had in the decade prior - being the main bottler/distributor of Conway Springs Water and distributing a number of other large soda companies, like Hires and NuGrape (by 1927). W.H. Hazelton would return as a manager for the company in the late 1920s, but I know little else of what the company did. They were still in business by the time that W.H. Hazelton died in 1941, and I have no clue when the company closed.


Based on what I've found I'd have to agree with Leon - this is probably a late 1910s/1920s soda bottle. Guessing that since the company name is on it as opposed to a larger brand it could have been one of their in-house flavors.

Wow! Just incredible! I can't believe you dug all this up! Just wow!!! I have no plans on selling this beauty but out of curiosity how much do you think it's worth? The only other bottle from them I found online is green. Is it possible mine was once green? I personally don't think so since it has the clear luster and was in the ground for years.

 

[hemihampton]

Typically Bottles like that get $10-$20 in good condition. Yours having a big chip in bottom & kinda rough maybe $5.00. Unless there is something super rare or desireable about it then more. Just my opinion. others may vary. Leon.