What is an R.J. Shine Coke?

[Andrewt]

Was he a bottler? Thanks for the info!

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Andrewt ~

R. J. Shine was a Coca Cola bottler in Winchester, Virginia in the early 1900s. I have also seen references for him connected to Martinsburg, W. VA., but other than that, I do not know his history. Most of the bottles with his name embossed on them are straight-sided and from about 1910 to 1917. I have not found a contour/hobbleskirt bottle yet.

Scroll to the bottom of this link and you will see one of his bottles that sold for $300+

http://www.antiquebottles.com/southeast/jul05.html

SPB

[Shoulder Embossing]

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

[Heel Embossing]

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

According to the following link, a Winchester, Virginia Coca Cola Bottling plant was built in 1940 - closed in 1958 - and is currently a historical landmark. But there is no mention of a R. J. Shine who most likely conducted his early 1900s operation at a different location.

http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Winchester/138-5044_CocaColaBottlingWorks_2008_NRfinal.pdf

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I apologize for the super-long link, but I do not know how to shorten them. It is a "American Bottlers" article from 1919 and refers to a Winchester, Virginia Coca Cola Bottling Works with R. J. Shine listed as president. I do not know what the Hangtown, MD. reference on the end indicates. But it does establish that R. J. Shine was in operation at least as late as 1919.

http://books.google.com/books?id=TfpYAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA98&lpg=RA1-PA98&dq=R+J+Shine+coca+cola+bottling+works&source=bl&ots=X2G-OsP4oz&sig=bki5zxUSVl3ltj-LRyB4Dj3k4co&hl=en&sa=X&ei=d2lLUJnvMemHywG7uYCYDA&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=R%20J%20Shine%20coca%20cola%20bottling%20works&f=false

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S. ~

If R. J. Shine was in operation in 1919, then he surely bottled Coca Cola in contour/hobbleskirt bottles. They would have been the 1915 patent bottles (but not distributed until 1917) and embossed on the base with ... Winchester, Virginia.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

There is a patent 1915 Winchester, Virginia hobbleskirt on ebay right now with a starting bid of $8.99. According to Bill Porter's book, those particular bottles are listed as common.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/November-16-1915-Coke-Bottle-from-Winchester-Va-Not-a-Repo-/271053340766?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1c09c05e

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Here's a 1915 American Bottler reference for R. J. Shine in Hangtown, Maryland, as well as ones that refer to Charleston and Martinsburg. It looks like our mysterious Mr. Shine really got around, and apparently had several bottling plants in operation at the same time but in different locations.

http://books.google.com/books?id=c69RAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA60&lpg=RA2-PA60&dq=R.+J.+shine++bottling+works&source=bl&ots=WVKPKO1yau&sig=E5brlYY__z0l5iTx7EZnSjBs8ho&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JXNLULjnGKLpygG4wYG4CQ&sqi=2&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=R.%20J.%20shine%20%20bottling%20works&f=false

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

... which means it might be hard to determine which of the straight-sides Coca Cola bottles are from which location unless they are marked accordingly.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

It's starting to look as if the various straight-sided R. J. Shine bottles were marked with specific locations. Here's one from Hangtown, Maryland.