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

[morbious_fod]

Dark liquid does explain the oddities I was seeing in the other ones as well. It is quite hard to tell from the photos. My money is still on someone gluing that blob onto the top of a regular crown top after cutting off the original top though. Especially if they were machine made, they wouldn't have been able to attach a blob top to it by hand.

 

[morbious_fod]

ORIGINAL: SODAPOPBOB

Currently on eBay ~ Augusta, Georgia ~ Base Script ~ Coca Cola Bottle ~ Buy It Now ~ $64.95

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUGUSTA-GA-STRAIGHT-SIDED-BASE-SCRIPT-COCA-COLA-BOTTLE-/400571525162?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d43ec682a

Maybe I'm crazy, but the top looks tooled to me, but I could be wrong.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

The Augusta, Georgia Coca Cola bottle isn't the only odd looking blob bottle in the J.L. Jones book. Check out bottles numbered ...

226.
227.
228.

Notice bottle number 226 is an obvious blob. And yet right next to it are two more blob bottles that have that weird 'ghostly' look. And these aren't the only ghostly blobs in the book, there are quite a few more of them. Are we to believe every one of them is a fake?

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Here's the text for bottles 226 - 227 - 228

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I looked through the entire book and of the blob-top bottles pictured I found ...

18 ghostly blobs.

13 obvious blobs.

Of the 13 obvious blobs, many were listed as either cobalt blue or emerald green, which might explain why they photographed with more detail.

Of the 18 ghostly blobs, all were described as either aqua, clear, or ice blue, which might explain why the tops photographed with more light passing through the closures/lips.

As for the placement of the script on various straight-sided Coca Cola bottles, especially regarding the one in question which is a base script, the following should serve as a general guide for dating them ...

1. Center slug plate script - about 1900-1905.
2. Base rectangular slug plate script - about 1900-1905.
3. Mid body script - about 1900-1910.
4. Base script - about 1902-1915.
5. Center diamond script - about 1907-1912. Only from Cumberland MD (amber and clear) and Toledo OH (amber).
6. Vertical script - about 1905-1910. Only from Milwaukee WI.
7. Vertical arrow script - about 1912-1916. All amber, primarily TN and KY.
8. Circular arrow script - about 1912-1914. All from Jackson TN (amber and aqua).
9. Shoulder script - about 1910-1919

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I sent Bill Porter the following copy/pasted email ...

Hi Bill:

In J.L. Jones 1972 soda bottle book there is a picture and text for a ...

Augusta, Georgia Blob-Top Coca Cola bottle.

I have never heard of a blob-top Coca Cola bottle and was wondering what your thoughts were about it? Is it the real deal or some kind of fake?

I am attaching some pictures from the book, including the cover. If you have this book, the bottle in question is listed on page 86.

Even though it appears to be a blob, the author describes it as a Hutchinson, which it obviously isn't. The Augusta, Georgia bottling plant was started in 1902.

Thanks

Bob

 

[morbious_fod]

I think that if there was an authentic blob top Coca-Cola out there we would have heard about it by now, most likely after "the prince" purchased it.This bottle is rare to the point of being one of a kind, but shares the exact same bottle/script town name design as a crown top that was "machine made". Add to that the fact that it has the obvious signs of having been dug, if you will notice the swirls on the shoulder, it is quite common for someone to dig a bottle with a broken top and attach a different top to it for a conversation piece. I've seen amber cokes with cork whiskey tops on them in real life. These were made just for fun, unlike some people who will replace the crown or other top on a bottle in order to deceive.

I put this one squarely in the category of conversation piece that the author wasn't sure about, or was completely taken by, and didn't want to leave out of the book just in case it was real.

Wait, I just read your email to Bill Porter, and obviously I missed something. The author identified this bottle as a Hutchinson? It looks absolutely nothing like a Hutchinson as you rightly pointed out. Hmmmmmm.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I heard from Bill Porter who had this to say ...

~ * ~

Bob,

Check #2017 - same bottle with crown top. This cannot happen. A blob or Hutch cannot share a mold with a crown top. No blob top Cokes have ever been reported, and no Hutch from Augusta. It would be very easy to attach a blob top to a topless crown top. This is an old book written at a time when people were still finding there way in the dark. This bottle has never surfaced to my knowledge. I'm sure it would have if it were real.

Bill

~ * ~

Bill obviously has the J. L. Jones book because he referred to bottle #2017 which I did not send him a picture of nor mention in my email. I only sent him a picture of the blob #2014. I especially like what he said about Blob's and Hutch's not sharing the same molds as Crown's.

Here are bottles 2014 - 2016 - 2017 again that Jim/package grouped together ...

 

[epackage]

ORIGINAL: SODAPOPBOB

I heard from Bill Porter who had this to say ...

A blob or Hutch cannot share a mold with a crown top.

I have the utmost respect for Mr. Porter and his contributions to this hobby, they are unrivaled, but he will have to explain this to me.... This has nothing to do with the Coke just to clarify...[]

 

[morbious_fod]

ORIGINAL: SODAPOPBOB

I heard from Bill Porter who had this to say ...

This is an old book written at a time when people were still finding there way in the dark. This bottle has never surfaced to my knowledge. I'm sure it would have if it were real.

He expressed a point I was thinking all along, but didn't want to just come out and say. This book came from a time when the knowledge base was still quite full of speculation. As you said Soda, this guy was a pioneer, but being a pioneer means you end up finding out in future that sometimes what you thought was true wasn't as you gain more facts. We have more access to information that he didn't have back then, partly due to his own research, and the research of those who followed him.

As to the second part of that, if Bill Porter hasn't seen one of those, then most likely it is a one off, thus likely a fake.