The Purity bottling works, Ansonia Conn. date?

piggler

Hello again...

I'v been snooping around some old farm properties and have stumbled apon what looks to be an old dump site. ( Will post separate thread about the whole thing). The area is a steep slope with a river below, I have done some "swimming" and have recoverd some very interesting bottles. My question pertains to the attached specifically.

This bottle I found has the embossed letters " The Purity Bottling Works, Ansonia Conn". Contents 7 Fluid oz. Around the crude base has the code, D.O.C. 72-5 widely spaced out. It also has what looks to be an "inclusion" stuck in the glass. Looks to be burnt wood, or ash. I know this is a crown top bottle, and have found late 1800s and early 1900s bottle fragments at this location.

My question is from what era, and if possible can a date be applied to this piece of history? The bottle is in immaculate condition for sitting at the bottom of a river for 90+ years....... Looked like a stone when i found it. :)

Thank you for any information you, or anyone can provide...

Jeff

piggler

Inclusion

historic

Hi Jeff, This bottle might at first appear a bit older than it looks thanks to that inclusion in the glass. There is a handmade feel to this bottle although it is machine made.

First we note that it has a crown top closure which dates to no earlier than the late 1890s, but then note the mold seam which goes all the way to the top of the lip. This all suggests an early machine made bottle from the 19 teens or perhaps 1920s.

For further research, look for old directories or newspapers in the town of Ansonia for info about the company.

Chris

PS If you happen to have a before cleaning photo, that would be really instructive for viewers to see how brown and grungy a bottle can become when sitting in fresh water for a long period of time.

piggler

Hey Chris,

Wish I did take a pic of the bottle when I pulled it up out of the water. Had a very rustic "old and dingy" look about it. I do, how ever have some before and after pics of some of the other bottles I have found in this river. The comparison is of a Rawleighs bottle, not sure how old it is. All the other examples I have researched have " made in USA" ont the bottom. This one has no markings except a 3 on the base. Ant Ideas? The other pic is some other small bottles I found, medicine, and a warranted flask......

historic

Great comparison of the before and after cleaning.

All of your bottles are early 20th century, right at the time when automated glassblowing was beginning but some semi-automated processes were still in use.

Chris