old brown/amber bottles

fredzahn

trying to date 2 old amber/brown bottles found in NC. Both bottles have stamped Federal Law Forbids Sale or Reuse of this bottle. 1 bottle has stamp on the bottom - 73 D126 51(in a circle) and Ball 1 bottle has stamp on the bottom - D-126, 12 A(in a circle) 50, made in u.s.a., pat'd 9546

Just curious about how old these might be. 1935-1964? Wondering how to read the stamps on the bottom of the bottles. The seam run up to the lip on both bottles.

Thanks

historic

Have you read my article on Federal Law Forbids ?

CJay

Fred...you bottles date to 1951 (Ball) and 1950 (Armstrong), respectively. The digits that are to the right of the bottle maker logo OR to the right of the "D code" is always the date code. Prior to 1940, it is a single digit (7 = 1937). These codes were required by law on liquor bottles (ONLY) made from Nov. 1934 (with a grace period to Jan. 1935) to 1964. See this article for more info on codes and placement on the bottles, etc. http://bottleinfo.historicbottles.com/pdffiles/DiamondG.pdf

The 73 (Ball) and 12 (Armstrong) are the bottle maker permit #s. The 126 is the Distillery permit #. There must be (at least) one more digit on that patent number. ?? Google has a great Patent Search site under "MORE" (pages).

Brayant

Mine is 3514

Brayant

This is the a bottle a friend came across and was wondering what it was four

duncanking

Please help identify I've read your article but im stilll a little lost on this

Chris

@duncanking For your bottle, we only know that it was manufactured by Ball (the folks who make canning jars) and that D-9 is the permit number for the company that was selling the product packaged in your bottle.

I have done some research into these permit numbers by looking at labeled bottles and connecting the product name on the label with the D- or R- number on the base. For D-9, I have associated this with the Golden Wedding whiskey product as well as Ancient Age Whiskey and Old Quaker whiskey.

You can search images on the internet for this products and find similar bottles.

Linds

I also have a Ball 73 D126 50 bottle. Any idea what it held?

Chris

@Linds whiskey or other hard liquor.