Federal law forbids flask, teal color
I have a bottle that is teal colored with "FRIENDSHIP"over an embossed design, other side of piece has a sun-burst looking embossed design. bottom has..."Federal law forbids sale or reuse of this bottle" around bottom shoulder, middle has....."L-9529" at upper section, 58 D-125 51. There is also the Owens Illinois Glass Co. logo. Base would not photograph well. Measurements are, 8-1/2 inches tall, w/o stopper, 10-3/4 inches with stopper, bottom is, 3-1/4 inches by 1-3/4 inches. stopper is glass with cork.
Any help to ID this bottle or info on what it was used for, personal or a bar bottle etc. would be wonderful.
Thanks so much.
Any help to ID this bottle or info on what it was used for, personal or a bar bottle etc. would be wonderful.
Thanks so much.
Comments
This was one of several styles of special edition bottle for Lord Calvert whiskey for 1961.
It was/is one out of a set of four bottles made in commemoration to the founding of the United States of America, of which they all had/have different colors, graphics, and themes: Courage - colors varying between Pink/Purple/or Clear; Liberty so far always Green; Friendship - so far always Blue; and last but not least Horn of Plenty - varying colors between Pink/Yellow/Clear. As "it took courage" "to fight a war in order to gain their liberty from England" "and become friends" "so that they could thrive economically - enabling them to bountifully fill their horns full and over flowing from the fruits of they labor" (being they where no longer being overly taxed on every thing the King of England could come up with) so to speak.
This set of bottles where/are as well post-prohibition liquor bottles, and being as such they had to comply with the laws of the United States government of the times, of which they where to include four things upon the bottom of each and every bottle itself: #1) the bottling manufacturer's License Number; #2) the distilleries License Number, #3) the plant's Permit Number, and #4) a Date Code.
Therefore the numbering on the bottom of these bottles are as such:
At the top is the federal bottling license number [L- __ ] for the making of liquor bottles and bottling liquor within the U.S. At the bottom is the federal distillery license number [D - __ ] for the actual manufacturing of liquor that is to be sold in the U.S., no matter which country it may have been originally produce in. On the left side is the Bottling plants Identification Number [usually a one or two digit number]. And on the right side the two letters standing for the year that it was bottled in. And the "O" with an "I" in it was the bottlers official registered Trade Mark (i.e.: Owens-Illinois) they used between the years 1954-1966.
So far all these bottles within this set of four, that I have seen pictures of the bottoms, have close to the exact same numbering on them - the only difference being the last digit of the L-# at top. The "Friendship" bottles have L-9529, the "Liberty" bottles all have L-9528, the "Horn of Plenty" bottles have L-9527, and the "Courage" bottles exhibit L-9526. other than this all the bottles have the same exact D-126 (yet then again I have seen many a different brands of whiskey bottles and jugs that have this same exact D-126 on them, [?]). The Plant Number is always 58, and the Date Code is always 61. Again I have not seen every bottle of these kind that where ever made, but from the one's I did see and could make out where as described. The bigger # usually a sideways 2, yet I have seen what appeared to be possibly an upright 3 once [hard to tell in pictures at times due to glare, as many even seem not to have this larger# at all]. Anyway it is believed that these larger #s were an identifying number corresponding to a catalog number, or perhaps simply a personal numbering of the particular mold set affixed by the individual bottlers themselves[?].
Any way, according to my findings the Plant's Identification Number 58 so far is a mystery. Their where some years that they simply did not keep records and others that they did. But I do know that if they moved a plant it would carry the same Plant Number, or even at times when they shut one down and then opened another one years later on they would simply re-use the old Plant Number, and #58 was actually one that was re-purposed for one of their newer liquor bottling plants based in [can not find info right now] from 1984-? [again can not remember everything but will try and find to up date later on]. Perhaps they had simply re-open an older one after many years gone by of it being closed. Who knows?
And although some purport that they have one of these bottles made in 1985, to my knowledge (so far) I believe that the entire production run of this set was only made in the year 1961 (at least that is the only year that I have seen on the bottom of many of these bottles as of yet, and that including the picture from those claiming it to be made it 1985).
As for the statement "FEDERAL LAW FORBIDS SALE OR RE-USE OF THIS BOTTLE", embossed around the bottom of these particular bottles, after the prohibition of alcohol was lifted in the United States in 1935 a law was pasted that all liquor bottles and ceramic jugs made by licensed bottlers from that point on were to have this statement permanently placed some where either embossed or stamped upon the bottles and jugs themselves in an attempt to not only add an extra federal charge to boot-leggers themselves (of whom would try to keep the production costs of their illicit product down in order to remain competitive against the licensed companies products without cutting into their profits), but to also as well try and scare people from buying moon-shine from said such boot-leggers in fear that they would be charged with an extra federal crime themselves if they were to get caught with such a bottle with moon-shine in it.
I do not know if it was the intent to make such a contrast when they decide to make the set of bottles or not, but I think it a tad funny that this set of bottles commemorating or Freedoms and Liberty that we fought so had for has a statement upon it them forbidding something as simple as selling the empty bottle or even re-filling it with any thing else. Even if it would not be enforced if it did not actually have illicit moon-shine in it at the time of sale or at any time that one would get caught with the bottle. And for that matter the fact that it was a liquor bottle forbidding us to re-use it strictly to keep us from making moon-shine in the first place being we were supposed to be a free nation of people. It
By the year 1964, being boot-legging was no-longer a rampant issue, the federal government repealed this law so as to alleviate the Bottling companies the extra expense when making newer molds. Of coarse it was not mandatory to stop embossing the statement upon the Liquor bottles and therefore for whatever reason some companies continued on for years after still putting the statement upon their product. Being as such there can be found some liquor bottles with the statement upon them dated as late as 1974.
I have attached pictures of the four bottles within the set, as well as some that had the labels and tax stamps still affixed as it would have looked before most people removed them, as well as some bottom pictures showing the different numbers of L- 952_, that are possible to read them. Please see also next post as I had forgot to attach one of the pictures in this posting. AND BE FORETOLD, THAT IF YOU LEFT CLICK ON A PICTURE, TO GET BACK TO THIS POST TO SEE THE OTHER PICTURES YOU WILL NEED TO FIRST LEFT CLICK THE BACK ARROW IN YOUR WEB-BROWSER, AND THEN RIGHT CLICK THE REFRESH BUTTON OF YOU WEB-BROWSER BEFORE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THIS POSTING. YET IF YOU WILL MIDDLE CLICK ON THE PICTURES THEY WILL OPEN UP IN NEW TABS, AND THEN TO LOOK BACK AT THIS POSTING ALL YOU WILL HAVE TO DO IS RIGHT CLICK ON THE TAB THAT IT WAS IN. SAME GOES FOR THE PICTURE IN MY POST BELOW.