R.G.M. ON BASE OF BOTTLE HELP?

[madman]

OK, IVE GOT 2 SODAS FROM KNOXVILLE TENN, ONE IS A AL-KO AND THE OTHER IS A KNOXVILLE BOTTLING WORKS, BOTH BOTTLES HAVE R.G.M. EMBOSSED ON THE BASE , I KNOW THERE ROOT BOTTLES! BUT CANT FIND ANY INFO ON DATING THE R.G.M. EMBOSSED BASES ANY HELP?????

 

[morbious_fod]

I'm betting that you will find that R. G. M. are the bottler's initials.

 

[morbious_fod]

Actually I remembered something from Pat Roddy's history of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Knoxville, the original name for the company which was a partnership going by the name of the Roddy-Goodman Company. I have this nagging thought that this might have not been the actual name. I remember that later Coca-Cola receipts and some bottles actually read Roddy Mfg. Co. after Goodman left the company. I'd bet a dollar to a donut that the actual name of this partnership was the Roddy-Goodman Manufacturing Company. And you have a couple of their bottles.

 

[madman]

the al -ko bottle and the knoxville bottling works bottle, were not bottled by roddy and goodman, the al-ko bottle has root 19 on the heel, im guessing it stands for root glass manufacturing... hey morb ive found a really cool add for roddy and goodman the building said roddy and goodman ill have it next week until then check this out

 

[morbious_fod]

ORIGINAL: madman

the al -ko bottle and the knoxville bottling works bottle, were not bottled by roddy and goodman, the al-ko bottle has root 19 on the heel, im guessing it stands for root glass manufacturing... hey morb ive found a really cool add for roddy and goodman the building said roddy and goodman ill have it next week until then check this out

I'm still guessing you are mistaken. Even if it isn't Roddy Goodman, I bet if you find out who was actually the owner of the Knoxville Bottling Works during the period that those bottles were made that his initials would be R. G. M. If it is Root Glass Manufacturing then this is the first ever use of this mark on their bottles that I know of, usually they marked the bottom of the bottle with the word root. Charlie and I went through this one with those D. D. P. embossed on the bottom Pepsi-Cola bottles from Bristol, VA and Appalachia, VA. Even thought it was the glass manufacturer's initials that time two, but found no evidence of it. Turned out it stood for D. D. Parks who was owner of both operations over a period of time. Then there are the W. A. S. bottles which stand for W. A. Scott. There are other examples out that of this type of initialing on the bottom of bottles.

Hit the city directories, and you may find your answer.

 

[morbious_fod]

Wait a minute. I love it when I am right! Just did a quick check on Google Books and dredged up this little tid bit. (I was a bit shocked myself) Your embossing is indeed the name of the owner of the Knoxville Bottling Company as this excerpt from the 1914 "The first exposition of conservation and its builders" book will attest. The owner of the Knoxville Bottling Company (and the Mullins Coal Co.) is none other than R. G. Mullins. The link to the page is below if you doubt me.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ki4wAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA393&dq=%22knoxville+bottling+works%22&hl=en&ei=Ws40TrHKLK600AHV6dWNDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22knoxville%20bottling%20works%22&f=false

 

[madman]

ok then if thats a fact al -ko was owned by the same guy? help me out i did not see r.g. mullens in your link????

 

[morbious_fod]

"Mullins, R. G. Proprietor Mullins Coal Co.; Knoxville Bottling Works" His name is on the line above the highlighted Knoxville Bottling works.

I'd bet my reputation as a researcher on the fact that the Al-Ko was a brand bottled by the Knoxville Bottling Works thus R. G. Mullins. Does it have a bottling company listed on the Al-Ko bottle?

For the record this entry was part of the list of individuals involved in the Appalachian Expedition of 1911 which was held in Knoxville, Tennessee.

 

[madman]

yep i see it now! you da man! the al-ko does read al-ko bottling works but i guess he owned that too..................

 

[morbious_fod]

ORIGINAL: madman

yep i see it now! you da man! the al-ko does read al-ko bottling works but i guess he owned that too..................

One thing to keep in mind, sometimes the bottling works name on the bottle doesn't necessarily indicate a different bottling company at all. Dr. Pepper of Marion bottled Tip and Sun Flower for a time under the name Tip Bottling Company, no Tip Bottling Company ever shows up in the city directories. Tip Corporation does, but that's a different company.

I have a Tru-ade bottled by the "Tru-ade Bottling Company of Johnson City, Tenn." in reality it was bottled by the Dr. Pepper Bottling Company of Johnson City, Tenn. Another good example you own if memory serves, and that is the green 10oz Pal bottle from Marion, VA, on the back it reads Pal Bottling Company Marion, VA this of course was bottled by the Marion Bottling Company.

The list goes on, it just seems to have been common practice with some parent companies of some brands to make their bottles with bottling company names that reflect their product. This makes things rather confusing when using bottle evidence to try to piece together an area's bottling history. If the bottles were to be believed Johnson City had a Hires Bottling Company, they actually used this name in the advertising of the brand, the brand of course was being bottled by the Quality Orange Kist Bottling Company. For the longest time I thought Johnson City had had a Nu-Grape Bottling Company in the 1940's and 1950's; however, it turned out to be Dr. Pepper.

It is possible that this was a name change for the company, which is why you need to hit the city directories and start looking these bottlers up, but I say the common thread is Mullins for these two bottles, its those little clues like initials on the bottom that give it away.