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Welcome to Bottle Mysteries: information about rare and collectible glass bottles from a member of the glass bottle mold manufacturing industry:
I have had a thing for glass since I was a kid at the age of seven. My parents had gone to a farm near us to visit with two people they liked and I was allowed to play and walk around in their yard. While there I came upon the lady’s rock garden. Her husband worked at the Corning Glass Works and he had brought home pieces of glass for her rock garden. The glass cast a spell on me and they gave me three pieces of glass to bring home. On a subsequent visit, I was given three more pieces and I still have them.
I got my first collected bottle by visiting a glass factory when I was about nine years old. My Grandfather took me to Elmira, New York and the Thatcher Glass Factory, where they made milk bottles. I brought home a little half-pint cream bottle, which I still have. These two things showed my early pack rat tendencies and I have collected bottles for many years.
My third development of glass interest became a reality doing one of my youth chores. Often I would walk the railroad, in back of our little farm and often this would go about three miles to Burdett and my Grandmother’s home – that promised good cookies. In the fall this trip ended up with me carrying a metal bucket to pick up pieces of soft coal dropped by the engine tenders, onto the tracks. These pieces were added to the wood fire in my Mom’s wood burning cook stove, to get a hotter fire when she needed one for cooking. While doing this, I developed an appreciation for the glass telephone insulators the workmen would throw away. Glass insulators started following me home, as a collectible.
In the spring the bucket was used to collect wild asparagus spears. This plant grew well and thrived on the cinders that fell from the steam train’s smoke. I carried a piece of old bed sheet or cloth with me and I would tie strips of it to the bushes or fence near the asparagus plants, to mark to their location for future harvesting. Wild asparagus is like wild strawberries – the flavor is beyond fantastic. It was an annual family mealtime vegetable.
I didn’t realize it until I got older, that my Dad was very mechanical and I learned a lot from him about “How things were made”. When I was about nine years old, my Dad went to work at the Morris Chain Works in Ithaca, NY. He would often bring home little pieces of metal scrap products and he delighted in how I thought they were made. He got big belly laughs out of the bizarre descriptions that I came up with. After that he would explain how they were made. Years later, I took Mechanical Engineering in college and minored in Metallurgy.
Later on, I went to work for the above mentioned Thatcher Glass Plant, as an Applications Engineer and asst. supervisor. I worked there for fifteen years and evaluated many aspects of bottle making and problems relating to mold life and mold durability in glass production.
From there I left the company and got a contract for selling metal products to the Glass Industry in many parts of the world. I have put on seminars and sales presentations to many of the glass mold people in the world. At one time I had over 3,000 names in my computer, all were Production and Engineering people, as well as Mold manufacturers and Mold repair supervisors. I spent thirty years plus doing this work and it was all centered on development of mold component materials and methods used on the ABM Automatic Bottle Machines.
All of this background is still with me in my glass studies and since retirement, I have been studying the methods of bottle making from (1500 to 1900). I have joined a couple bottle clubs and became interested in the methods of those earlier years of bottle making. I keep collecting printed information and books on the subject and I have assembled studies on various glass products and how they were made.
I have collected items from Early Black Glass to Case Gins, Civil War Glass, to Fly traps and minnow traps. I have also collected big store advertising bottles, that never held anything. Saratoga Mineral Water bottles, etc.. There are so many products one could not even comprehend the extent of glass applied to the human life cycle.
I have also been helping diggers evaluate their finds, eBay sellers with their descriptions and glass explanations – just for the fun of it and to be of help. When I pick up an old bottle, I let the marks on it tell me how it was made. If I find a mark I don’t know about it becomes a “bottle mystery”, thus the name for my home page. I expect to have a section of bottle mysteries, that I need solutions for; and with the hope that when someone recognizes them they will write to me.
– Red Matthews
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Red,
So this is what you have been doing in retirement.
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:27 amImpressive. I will revisit and read everything that is posted.
Dave Baron
I read similar article also named | Antique Bottle Mysteries, and it was completely different. Personally, I agree with you more, because this article makes a little bit more sense for me
August 18th, 2008 at 12:25 amTo Daniel - in reply to his comment. Hey I want it to make sense - if it doesn’t I want the chance to clear it up. Thanks! RED Matthews
August 27th, 2008 at 10:17 pmRed, nice site. I need to pass on the mold repair “half moon” impression you gave me info on for Todd Van Mechow. He and I were discussing that defect in York ‘08, and he did not have an answer for it. You might want to discuss some acedemic glass blowing issues with Bill )discpontil, who is compiling information for a book on pontiling.
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:03 pmBest, Curt
Red, you have accomplished so much! Keep up the good work; it’s a wonderful site with so much great information for bottle collectors and glass product manufacturers. I grew up with glass all around me. My father had delivered newspapers to Alexandria and Old Dominion Glass Works was on his delivery route. It’s a shame that so little is known about their products. There was a much earlier glass producer at the same site, but there is nothing we can find out about them. Let’s hope that someday the information will be coming.
Mike
September 5th, 2008 at 1:40 pmHi When I get back to Florida I think I will be able to look up who operated Dominion Glass before them. RED M.
September 13th, 2008 at 3:48 pmvery interesting site ,glad to have a chance to review ir have learned much.keep up the good work it is greatly appreciated. looking forward to more great information. thank you gary
September 27th, 2008 at 3:15 pmHi Red…
November 8th, 2008 at 3:49 pmI love your site,you packed a lot of information into it.
Its good to see that your love of old glass never faded.It gives me hope for the future. : -) Rick
Oh I forgot to add,nice collection of links and books you got there red. Rick
November 8th, 2008 at 4:08 pmRed,
Just read the contents page on your website. I’m really looking forward to reading your segments on the upcoming subjects, especially on the glass makers tool marks.
Warren
December 17th, 2008 at 6:45 pmim trying to do small production runs of cast art glass using a 1000lb crucible
December 19th, 2008 at 9:50 pmim now tackling the problems of cast iron molds gob sizes press and blow molds etc
im hoping to contact red as a source to help shorten my learning curve in all of those details any help would be appreciated thanks so much hugh blunden los angeles ca
Hi Red,
January 5th, 2009 at 1:20 amGreat site! I’ve enjoyed reading your helpful info on the Antique Bottle Forum and look forward to learning even more from your website.
Did you ever hear of Try-Me Beverage Co,
January 27th, 2009 at 5:59 pmRED : YOU ARE A CREDIT TO THE BOTTLE COLLECTING COMMUNITY. ONE OF THE MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE I KNOW ON GLASS MAKING!
February 1st, 2009 at 1:05 pmJamie: Wow! what a thing to say. I know it isn’t so though, because one of our Forum members: Bill Lindsey has more knowledge and experience than I can even comprehend. His collected works are the most complete information source there is. His link is on my links page, I am sure you have checked him out. If not - do it. http://www.sha.org/bottle/index.htm Enjoy.
February 1st, 2009 at 3:05 pmHi Red, I just happened to run across your web site here this evening, been busy ever since just reading your material. Keep up the good work, as you know there are many antique bottle mysteries in the bottles and glassware we North Americans collect with information very difficult to obtain. I will be looking and reading through your site here quite often, very interesting and as I said helpful people like you are hard to find. thanks again…..Bruce
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:22 pmHello red.
February 13th, 2009 at 11:19 pmI have an unusual bottle that I would like to know what it is,and what it is worth.I was wondering if I could send you a picture and get your help.Thanks…Michelle
The new site is coming along well Red. Thanks again for the help.
March 28th, 2009 at 6:45 pmRed, Thanks for the information and direction with my missisquoi mineral water bottle. Its a rare thing to find honest and direct help online as evidenced by the numerous 3-400 dollar offers I have received ( when the bottle is worth far more!)Thanks Again
April 9th, 2009 at 7:08 pmI just found a bottle in the river, at low time, and it is a bottle I have never seen before. It is “Try-Me”. Looks kinda like the Tower of Pizza, or however you spell it. Has little arch window impressions around it in a couple of places. Must be a very old bottle because my father had a grocery store in a warehouse out over the water in the 30’s. People would buy drinks and when they were finished, toss them into the water. That was acceptable back then and no big deal. I have found many bottles, and three nice ones that particular day; all different.
April 12th, 2009 at 1:00 pmRed-
I am currently doing reserach on bottles for my in-laws. They are both financially struggling and they both had inherited many antiques but amazingly I cam across a box full of antique bottles. You name it…medicinal, ball jars, bitters but I came across the most beautiful one of all. It is a amber fish bottle. I don’t see any hallmarks or letters to research it..no name. Do you know much about these type of bottles. It is intersting. It has fins cut out in it and is simply unique. Could you tell me anything about these type of bottles.
Dimensions are 13″long by 8″wide. The mouth of the fish is open of course.
Thank you for you assistance.
Veronica Smith
May 13th, 2009 at 12:53 pmHere is the Sweeney chilled mold patent and patent re-issue:
http://www.google.com/patents?id=A0YAAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=sweeny+glass+mold&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0_0
http://www.google.com/patents?id=AgkeAAAAEBAJ&dq=sweeny+glass+mold&jtp=1#PPA2,M1
Bob Stahr
May 30th, 2009 at 10:00 pmBob@hemingray.com
Hemingray Glass Company Historian
I have 6 still full of chemical and the original hangers. Shur-stop from International Fire Equipment Co. Staten Island NY. Wanting to sell.
Jeff
June 1st, 2009 at 6:50 pmAfter looking several times on different websites, my son and I think we found a winner!! My 13 year old son started working today for TreeTrust digging and building with his teen crew members. He discovered this beautiful square shaped bottle which VERY closely resembles the one you have pictured on your welcome page. We believe this to be an old ink bottle but we are not sure. There are numbers and a letter on the bottom of the bottle (C or G 134). We are interested in finding out more about his discovery. What ever you are willing to share, we would love to hear about it.
Juanita
June 15th, 2009 at 11:18 pmRED: YOU HAVE SEEN MY COBALT ,PONTILED,”HALF POST” BOTTLE ” ON THE BOTTLE FORUM. I MAY HAVE TO SELL IT IN THE NEAR FUTURE AND REALLY DON’T KNOW IF IT MAY BE “WATERFORD” OR NOT AND HAVE NO WAY TO RESEARCH IT,AS DOWN SOUTH IN MY AREA WE HAVE NO EARLY AMERICAN GLASS.[WAS TOLD IT MAY BE 1810-1830 OR EARLIER] I AM AT A LOSS AS TO WHAT TO DO TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I HAVE AND WHAT WOULD BE A FAIR PRICE FOR THE “DECANTER” [?] ANY SUGESTIONS? THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS! JAMIE LINDSEY
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:47 pm