RARE SODA BOTTLE BOOK ~ By J. L. JONES ~ COPYRIGHT 1972

[SODAPOPBOB]

I scanned this page from David Graci's 2003 book titled ...

"Soda and Beer BOTTLE CLOSURES 1850-1910"

Notice I underlined in red where it says ...

"Hand and Knee Bottling"

and ...

"200 dozen bottles a day"

~ * ~

Which suggest to me that even if a bottler didn't have the latest, fancy equipment, he could still fill quite a few bottles in a single day. Maybe the Augusta, Georgia Coca Cola bottler had one of these "hand operated bottle filling machines" to handle special orders for special customers. Also notice where it talks about inserting a cork with a wooden mallet.

I had to reduce the size of this image in order to post it, so you might have to increase your zoom to read it.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Jim/epackage ~

I forgot to tell you, I now stand corrected about never hearing of a (ABM) automatic bottle machine blob-top bottle. Thanks to you I have learned a number of new and interesting things today.

Gracias' Amigo ... [sm=thumbup.gif]

Bob

 

[celerycola]

Birmingham Bottling Company opened in 1911 using both Hutches and crowns. They were still using Hutches in 1914 when the mold was re-worked adding contents to comply with the Gould Amendment. There was still a market for Hutch bottles in 1918 based on ads in the bottlers magazines.

 

[morbious_fod]

I stand corrected, I did not realize they were actually dated, I only noticed one bottle with a date on it, which made me dubious. I assumed they would have replaced their Hutchinson filling equipment with the newer updated crown top. As Epackage said; however, the different types were most like due to different types of beverages rather than specific customer requests. I'm pretty sure that a Hutchinson table was more of a hand operated device than an automatic machine, so anything is possible, but Augusta's blob top isn't a Hutchinson. So they may have not needed it at all.

Still yet, these facts about a completely different bottler don't bring us any closer to settling your 1% issue.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

My Summarization regarding the Augusta, Georgia Blob-Top Coca Cola soda bottle ...

Description ...

1. It is pictured in J. L. Jones 1972 book.

2. It is valued in the book at $25.00-$30.00.

3. It is described in the book as a Hutchinson.*

4. It has a Blob-top closure and not a Hutchinson closure.

5. It is straight sided and apparently aqua colored glass.

6. It is described as 7 3/4 inches tall and 8 ounces.

7. It has Coca Cola embossed in script on the lower portion.*

8. It has Augusta, Georgia embossed in block letters on the lower portion.*

9. It is one of three Augusta, Georgia script Coca Cola bottles pictured in the book.

9. It is one of approximately 50 other script Coca Cola bottles pictured in the book.

10. It is the most valuable Coca Cola bottle in the book.

~ * ~

3A* There is no true Hutchinson Coca Cola bottle pictured in the book.

7A* One of the other Augusta, Georgia Coca Cola bottles is a Crown with mid-script.

8A* One of the other Augusta, Georgia Coca Cola bottles is a Crown with lower-script and except for the closure/size/contents appears almost identical to the Blob-top.

~ * ~

Etc. ...

1. There is currently no known example of a Blob-top Coca Cola bottle in existence today.

2. The general consensus from forum members is that the bottle is fake and was originally a Crown-top that someone applied a Blob-top closure to.

3. Coca Cola expert Bill Porter said he is not aware of one and feels it is most likely not genuine.

4. There is no known picture nor a reference to a Blob-top Coca Cola bottle on the Internet or in any other books I am aware of. As far as I know, the J. L. Jones book is the only place where the bottle appears.

~ * ~

Summarization ...

Although the majority of evidence points to the bottle as being a fake, I am remaining open minded to the possibility of it being genuine. I base this on my newly formed saying in that a bottle is innocent until proven guilty. The lack of evidence in support of something's existence does not automatically constitute it's non-existence.

Although I know very little about J. L. Jones, nor any of the individuals who assisted him in the publication of his book, I get the impression they were competent collectors and would easily recognize a fake bottle when they saw one. As I indicated above, the Blob-top Coca Cola bottle is only one of approximately 50 Coca Cola script bottles pictured in the book, which suggest to me that J. L. Jones and his contributors were acutely familiar with Coca Cola bottles, their rarity, and values in 1972. When I take into account everything involved in the publication of the book, which included gathering, photographing, identifying, categorizing, valuing, describing, and listing over 2,000 varieties of soda and mineral water bottles, I find it hard to believe that the Blob-top Coca Cola bottle in question missed their scrutinization and that they included it in the book on a whim. In other words; I feel they believed it was genuine even if it might not have been and is the reason they included it in the book. Consequently, if they thought it was real, then I have no reason to think it wasn't unless something presents itself to prove otherwise. To those who feel J. L. Jones, his book crew, and possibly members of the Greer bottle club, were all fooled by the Augusta bottle, I acknowledge and respect your opinions even though I may not agree with them. Thus, I am currently 51% of the opinion the bottle is genuine and 49% of the opinion it is a fake.

I suppose only time will tell should another bottle like it ever surfaces. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if the same bottle pictured in the book is sitting on someone's shelf this very moment. Find the individual who has it and the mystery will be solved.

Respectfully,

Bob

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

My next major contribution to this thread will involve ACLs from the J. L. Jones book. Just wait until you see some acls the book contains that I have never seen before and have some questions about.

Bob

 

[epackage]

Calling it a hutchinson makes me question who ever it was that actually ID'd it for the book, it's like eBayers who are selling "pontiled" Listerine bottles, it throws into question how much they really knew about bottles to begin with... Now if we could just find a blob top Popeye cola the world would explode... []

 

[celerycola]

Jim, I share your doubts on the Augusta bottle. Since it does not appear or warrant mention in the recently published Augusta bottle book, written by the guy who organized the local club in the sixties, and knowing J. L. 's sense of humor and the prevalence of replaced tops at the time, facts outweigh any "hunch" the bottle is real.

By the way, I picked up a pair of Popeye Colas at the NC bottle show last weekend for $15. Unfortunately they are not blop top or Hutchinsons.

ORIGINAL: epackage

Calling it a hutchinson makes me question who ever it was that actually ID'd it for the book, it's like eBayers who are selling "pontiled" Listerine bottles, it throws into question how much they really knew about bottles to begin with... Now if we could just find a blob top Popeye cola the world would explode... []

 

[T D]

I hear Jones' sense of humor mentioned again, and it makes me think along the lines I did earlier in this thread. Suppose Jones did not collaborate with anyone, photographed all the bottles in his collection, self valued them, and made a book? I'm not saying this happened and once again do not even want to hint that this is what happened because I never met the man, but in theory it could happen. I do know that at least three South Carolina collectors that I know and respect either have or want the book, so it must mean something to them.

I conclude that in my estimation, the probability of there being a blob top Coke from Augusta, Georgia is .0000000001 % yes and 99.9999999999 % no.

Somebody count the zeros and nines to see if that adds up to 100.

 

[Bass Assassin]

Since it is one of the first books, what if he intentionally fabricated the blob, put it in his book and listed it as the most valuable bottle in order to entice people to get a copy of the book and start collecting? In other words he shows this highly valued bottle and its value just to hook people into collecting. Then, he sells more books on a farce he created. Maybe he did have a sense of humor