Weird Maker's Mark - Simple Bottle

[DeeSter]

Hey all! Stuck in the house with a crappy case of summer pneumonia and I'm bored lol! I've had this bottle for several years now and am curious if anyone's familiar with the maker's mark. Bottle itself is fairly straightforward - about 11" tall, nice defect riddled applied top, and simply embossed with "This Bottle Not to be Sold". There's also an area on the reverse where a round label would have been. The base, though, is embossed with a pair of great, witchy looking symbols. I've checked sha.org with no luck. Anyone ever seen anything like this? Thanks! Edited to add... that small circle next to the crescent mark is a bubble, not part of the embossing

 

[Indiana_Digger1]

I think it's the City Bottling Works of New Orleans.

 

[DeeSter]

Thanks, Indiana! A quick check doesn't turn up a lot of info on them, but I did see a a similar star mark. No little crescent thing, though. Guess I'll keep looking

 

[GlassAss]

I have never seen that mark before...very nice!

 

[RED Matthews]

I have a similar bottle with the not to be sold wording - but never saw that marked star on any bottle. RED M.

 

[DavidW]

Hi Dee,
I am posting my observations/thoughts/comments on this site as well as my own, where you had posted a comment about this bottle. (glassbottlemarks.com) . Please allow me to note that the star on the base of the bottle, as far as I know, cannot be proven to be related in any way to any particular glassworks. The bottle is a "generic" beer bottle of East Coast origin, the general type was made in many slight variations and the wording “This Bottle Not to be Sold” was a VERY, VERY common “generic” phrase which appeared on hundreds, if not thousands, of different beer and soda bottle variants produced over a long time.....although I would say especially in the circa 1880-1920 period. Many of the bottles also carried a particular local brand/company/brewer/bottler name. Since yours has only that "..Not to be sold" phrase on the face, it is very difficult if not impossible to know where the bottle was made or used. That “tic tac toe” type of “star” (as if hand-sketched, in 5 intersecting straight lines) along with the crescent mark, on the base of your bottle is a mark I have NEVER seen, and I think it COULD stand for either an unidentified glassworks, OR it could merely have been a mold identifier (taking the place of a mold number or letter)…….that is, identifying a particular beer bottle mold in use at the factory, where perhaps a number of identical, or very similar bottle molds, were in use. That type of "mold mark" is pretty common on the bottoms of some kinds of old fruit jars (like with crosses, "X's, tic-tac-toe, triangles, etc).
The “Star” motif has been used in a multitude of ways over many years, being just a decorative device on some bottles, or actually standing for a company. For instance some “WARRANTED FLASK” liquor flasks are believed to have been made by a Star Glass Works of Medford, New Jersey. I have seen those bottles show up every so often on ebay. The Star on the face of those flasks are not at all the same style of star as on the bottom of your beer bottle.
Also… I can assure you that your bottle has NOTHING to do with the City Bottling Works of Louisiana, that info was suggested because there is a lettered bottle posted on a website with that bottling company marking AND it also has a star on the base (but it's a completely different star, similar to the one used by Star Glass Works of New Albany, Indiana), but the date range of the City Bottling Works eliminates it being from Star from New Albany. (Is this confusing enough yet?Sorry I really don't know who made the bottle, or what the mark represents........but hopefully this will serve as more "food for thought" ?

~David

 

[DavidW]

I should also add that the your bottle might have been intended as a soda bottle, although I think the shape was more frequently used for beer. Sometimes they were used for both!~David