Pop! Pop! Pop!

[Flasks]

It is lunchtime in the early oil fields of Pa. and shortly after, one might likely have heard a single "pop" or maybe several more soon after. If you guessed these guys were opening their soda bottles you'd be right. In 1864 a Mr. Matthew's patented a glass stopper with a band of rubber held in place by the carbonated drink. Sometimes they were pulled out from the neck, but at other times the palm of the hand tapped quickly and firmly down on top of the stopper creating a pop as the gas escaped. The stopper would remain in the wide part of the bottle and the beverage could be consumed. Now you know where the term "pop bottle" originated. I've found several of these but the one pictured is embossed with the name Matthews, pat. applied for, and 1864. One picture shows this stopper in place but due to time the rubber seal has crystalized and disintegrated. I'm enclosing a copy of a research paper (no copy write) for additional information. My prayer goes out to those in need during this trying time for all of us, panic is not the answer and worsens this critical time, but being a bottle hunter, which you are if you're reading this, chances are you're pretty well self sufficient.

 

[yacorie]

That’s awesome - I never knew that type of cap existed. Such a large piece of glass for a stopper

 

[Flasks]

The stopper would have been about 3/4" deeper into the neck of the bottle when the rubber gasket was in place sealing the bottle. The bottle was filled with the bottle in the upright position...the stopper was pushed in squeezing the rubber stopper enough to pass through the neck and then immediately released......the pressure would immediately force the stopper up into the neck and seal the contents in.

 

[iggyworf]

Very cool! I also have never seen that one before.

 

[hemihampton]

Most of the Gravitating Stopper Bottles I've seen look pretty similar to the Hutch or Hutchinson Bottle. But they will say Mathews Gravitating stopper bottle on the bottom of Bottle. I've only dug one or 2 of these over the years & only have a small few in my collection. They seen hard to find, especially from Michigan.

 

[Flasks]

The life of these glass Matthews stoppers was short lived and soon became obsolete with the advent of the Hutchinson closure. In my estimation, a stopper in good condition with the rubber having survived in place and being signed is usually worth more than the bottle it came from...just my 2 cents.

 

[sandchip]

Very cool. Always nice to learn something new.

 

[SODABOB]

See and read ...

US44684A - Improved method of stopping bottles - Google Patents

 

[Flasks]

All the stoppers I've found are embossed "matthews" with the date 1864 and "patent" and are a different form of the glass plug. Albertson must have discovered the "idea" and Matthews improved upon it, perhaps this is the reason Alberton assigned the patent to Matthews? Thanks for your contribution to this little known stopper. I've never found a bottle such as pictured above, all mine have come from blob top style sodas. We still have lots to learn.

 

[SODABOB]

I scanned these from David Graci's 2003 book ...

"Soda and Beer Bottle Closures 1850-1910"

David's book is one of the most advanced studies ever published on the topic. Another good resource is the 1993 Roy M. Topka study - which I don't have.