Unique small bottle with sloppy full seam, uneven, stamped inside out

SquidSalad

Looking for any information
Found at a mangrove island in south Florida
Oily stains like a mother of pearl sheen
In my opinion the bottom reads F 2 inside out

Harry_Pristis

Probably mid-twentieth century. The "sloppy" seam is a result of heavy use of the iron mold -- the edges of the mold oxidize with repeated contact with molten glass. The "mother of pearl sheen" is the result of decomposition of the glass over time in the water.

SquidSalad

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Chris

I think @Harry_Pristis means 19th century...I would say later 19th c. Earlier bottles like this would have a pontil scar, by the mid 20th century all but a minority of bottles are screw top, not cork top.

Harry_Pristis

No, Harry Pristis meant 20th century. This is a mold-blown bottle without a machine valve scar. The only remarkable thing about the bottle is how worn (oxidized) was the iron mold. But, in this case, crudeness is not a mark of age of the bottle.

Chris

@Harry_Pristis Help me understand here, you are saying this bottle is from the 1950s or thereabouts?

I spent a lot of time as a teenager digging in 2oth century dumps looking for milk bottles and canning jars and my recollection is rarely seeing aqua glass. To me, cork closures disappeared by and large after around 1920 except for wine.

I have a hard time seeing this as anything other than the typical later 19th century aqua glass stock that was so common then.

Harry_Pristis

Chris . . .

If we assume that this little bottle was made in the USA, fully mold-blown bottles weren't available till after the 1903 Owens machine was introduced. Owens machines left a valve mark on the bottom of the bottle. This bottle is fully mold-blown and has no valve mark. That leads me to conclude that this bottle is no earlier than say 1930.

That being said, I've had this nagging thought that the bottle may not be USA-made. The bottle was found on "a mangrove island in South Florida," which may or may not be in the Keys. (There are lots of other mangrove keys around the tip of the State.) Mangrove roots trap floating bottles, some of which are from foreign ships.

I have the impression that the mold used to produce this bottle was used long after a USA glassworks might have retired the mold . . . just my impression. But, if the bottle is foreign-made, it could be as recent as you suggest -- 1950 or thereabouts.