W for Washington?

[chosi]

Fellow bottle collectors in the Washington DC area have told me that Pabst beer bottles that have a "W" on the bottom were from the Washington DC bottling branch. But none of them have ever been able to tell me how they determined that. Can anybody confirm or deny this?
I know that Pabst had a bottling plant in Washington DC from 1890-1917. And there are Pabst bottles that have "WASHINGTON DC" embossed on them. But I've always wondered about the "W".

 

[chosi]

Here's what the bottle looks like.

 

[epackage]

Could be an M for Milwaukee...

 

[Wheelah23]

Probably a mold number. Pabst was a national brand, was it not? These bottles were more than likely shipped nationally. It wouldn't have made much sense to put a location on the bottle unless they were meant to be distributed locally, which was also the case in different situations. I'm going with mold number.

 

[imukdiver]

Maybe its an "M" for Milwaukee ?

 

[chosi]

I've considered that it might be an "M" vs. a "W". But an "M" usually has straight lines, whereas a "W" has lines at an angle. And the mark on the bottom of this bottle definitely has angled lines.

Has anybody dug a pabst bottle with the "W" on the bottom outside of the Washington DC area?
Has anybody got a pabst bottle with a different letter on the bottom?
Does anybody have any idea how I might be able to find a definitive answer?