Collectibles for Beer Lovers

 

QUESTION: Along with enjoying a variety of beers, I've also started collecting beer-related items. So far, I've collected mostly small items—bottle openers, coasters, glasses, and a variety of cans from various breweries. But there are so many things out there, I'm not sure what to do next. Can you help me get some direction to my collecting?

ANSWER: Collecting beer-related memorabilia is one of the most popular pastimes. But because the number of items varies greatly, collecting beer-related items can be daunting. 

The Chinese have been brewing beer for over 5,000 years. The Greeks and Romans revered it as a healthy beverage. But during the Middle Ages in Europe beer drinking was popular because beer was cleaner than the water.

Beer has been a part of American culture since the first Virginia colonists began brewing ale from corn in 1587. Adrian Block & Hans Christiansen's brewhouse at the southern tip of New Amsterdam, now Manhattan, was the first brewery established in the New World. 

In 1935, the G. Kreuger Brewing Company of Newark, New Jersey, became the first brewery to sell beer in steel cans. That year, only about 25 percent of all beer sold was packaged in bottles and cans. Breweries sold the rest in kegs.

Breweries have always been competitive with each other. To beat the competition, they used everything from distinctive bottle labels, foam scrapers, serving trays, brightly colored cans„ neon signs, tip trays, cups, T-shirts, hats, and countless other items so consumers would remember one brand over another.

Today, the market for vintage brewery collectibles is hot. But there are so many different items. Key categories include beer cans, beer steins, beer trays, beer signs, beer bottle labels, and bottle openers, plus more unusual items such as tap knobs and bar statues. Many collectors also focus on specific brands.

Beer collectibles consist mainly of bottles, cans, and advertising. Advertising comes on coasters, matchbooks, shirts, beer tap knobs and handles, statuettes, labels, and signs.

One of the most popular beer-related collectibles is beer glasses. They include everything from early hand-blown glassware to modern pint glasses covered in  advertising. In the 18th century, people drank beer in glass goblets at meals. Early stemware designed for beer often bore engraved hops-and-barley motifs.

The glass cups and mugs of the 18th century were simple and smaller compared to today’s versions, as the ale was much stronger than modern beer. Beer mugs were generally made in a cylinder or barrel shape with a handle and no foot. Because they were manufactured in glasshouses that produced bottles and windows, early American mugs were almost always made from colored glass.

In the 1820s, the development of a glass-pressing technique by John P. Bakewell allowed glassware patterns to be mass produced, quickly diversifying the shapes and styles of beer glasses. Though glass manufacturers found it difficult to blow even the simplest-looking tumblers with smooth sides and no foot by hand, pressed glass molds made this form commonplace.

During the 1880s, as breweries expanded and pasteurization allowed them to send products longer distances, beer-glass advertising became popular. A few of these early advertising glasses used color-embossed logos, but most relied on an acid-etching silkscreen process. 

And since  the U.S. has never instituted legal restrictions on beer serving size, American bars have used a variety of serving glasses, including tall pilsner glasses, with a slightly indented waist near the base and the goblet or tulip-shaped glass mounted on a short, sturdy stem.

Though people considered these objects "throwaways" in their day, collectors worldwide now vigorously pursue them. Prices for these collectibles vary widely, so focusing a collection is important from the start. To begin, you might build on what you already have or start in a new direction of interest. It's easy to start small, with something inexpensive like coasters. Serving trays, signs, a cans produced after Prohibition are all good places to start.

So what determines pricing for brewery collectibles? As with other antiques and collectibles, it's condition, condition, condition," since most brewery collectibles have been used. Pristine examples can command high prices, and they can be difficult to find. While rarity is important, for collectibles where multiple examples exist, condition rules.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Advertising of the Past" in the 2023 Spring Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Connoisseur Collectibles

 

QUESTION: I love wine. And while I’m not what you call a connoisseur, I do have an appreciation for fine wine and wine culture. Over the years, I’ve assembled a collection of wine labels and about half a dozen antique corkscrews. I’d like to collect other wine-related items but am not sure what to collect. What advice would you give me to start a serious wine-related collection? 

ANSWER: You’re off to a great start. However, you need to research the history of wine making to know all the objects available to collect. In addition, you need to set a budget. Older, ancient wine-related objects can be extremely expensive. 

People have produced wine for around 8,000 years. Evidence of ancient wine production dates to 6,000 BCE in the Republic of Georgia. The development of pottery made fermenting wild grapes grown in what’s now Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, as well as coastal and southeastern Turkey and northern Iran easier.

In ancient Egypt, wine played a ceremonial role. Trade introduced winemaking into the Nile Delta around 3,000 BCE. By this time, people had begun growing grapes in vineyards. By the end of the Old Kingdom, five distinct wines, probably all produced in the Delta, constituted a canonical set of provisions for the afterlife.

But much of modern winemaking came from the ancient Greeks. Wine historians believe that retsina, a white aromatic wine produced in Greece today, is a carryover of the ancient practice of lining wine jugs with tree resin, which gave the wine a distinct flavor.

But of all the ancient cultures, the Romans had the biggest impact on the development of winemaking. Wine was an integral part of the Roman diet, and winemaking was a precise and thriving business. The expansion Winemaking expanded so much that by 92 CE Emperor Domitian was forced to pass the first wine laws.

During the Middle Ages, people from all social classes drank wine where grapes were grown. 

Today, more people have an appreciation for fine food and wine. And unlike objects associated with the preparation, eating, and storage of food, those associated with wine have been less popularized. 

While corkscrews are the most commonly collected of wine-related items, collectors are also interested in ephemera such as wine tags and wine holders. Early postcards, advertising and travel posters are usually colorful and make a nice addition to a collection, as do antique wine racks and holders. In addition, some collectors include wine tasters, funnels, champagne taps, and bottle stoppers in their collections.

Decanter labels, a general term intended to include labels for wines, spirits and sauces, as well as toiletries and medicines are also of interest to collectors. 

Also known as bottle tickets or bottle tags, decanter labels are commonly seen in silver or silver plate, although they were made in a number of other materials, including enamel, porcelain, mother-of-pearl and horn. Collectors look for a variety of different aspects including hallmarks, maker's marks and label design, which vary from plain bin labels used in cellars to beautiful, ornate labels which once adorned fine decanters, elaborate cruets and delicate toilet water bottles.

Other wine-related collectibles include wine coasters, goblets, tankards, port funnels, wine coolers, wine. jugs and pewter tankards. apparatus such as cellar equipment, corking machines. presses, barrel tools, vineyard tools, port decanting cradles, ceramic bin or cellar rack labels and numbers are also garnering interest. Wine collectibles can be displayed anywhere. Collectors often adorn their home bars with wine-related items.

For collectors whose budgets allow, there are ancient and antique wine bottles, wine coolers, antique wine glasses, and more available. 

By far, the most popular wine-related antique/collectible is the corkscrew. Early corkscrews weren’t just intended to open wine. During the 18th and 19th centuries, many items used cork for closer, including beverages of all sorts, medicines, apothecaries, foods, sauces and perfumes. Eventually, most of these items were packaged in other forms, but wines and other spirits still required a corkscrew.

The first American corkscrew patent was issued in 1851. Since that time, more than 1,000 corkscrew patents have been issued in the United States alone, giving collectors an endless selection of shapes, styles and themes in a variety of price ranges.

The Rockwell Clough Company of Alton, New Hampshire, produced a number of wood-sheathed advertising corkscrews for businesses ranging from breweries to laundries and insurance agencies. These have a patent date of October 16, 1900 Those made in the 19th century often had carved ivory, bone or tusk handles and can sell for three figures. There are also corkscrews, dating to about the turn of the 20th century which double as walking sticks.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "folk art" in the 2023 Winter Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

When It Comes to Coca Cola Collectibles—Buyer Beware

 

QUESTION: Several years ago, I began collecting advertising items made for Coca Cola. I have several calendars, stuffed animals, and matchbooks. They seem to be everywhere, so it wasn’t hard to begin collecting them. Recently, I purchased a serving  tray, supposedly dating from the 1930s, with a woman in a yellow swimsuit holding a bottle of Coca Cola at a local antique show which features mostly lower to middle priced late antiques and collectibles for sale. This was the most expensive Coca Cola piece I had yet purchased, so I was a bit hesitant at first. But the dealer assured me that it was authentic. Considering its age, I was surprised how bright and crisp the colors were, but I just assumed it had been used very little. How can I tell if the tray is authentic?

ANSWER: Because Coca Cola has been around for over 130 years, there’s a huge number of collectible items on the market. And with the launching of online auction and sales sites, the number has steadily grown. But this means there’s an even greater chance that some of these items are reproductions or outright fakes. 

John Pemberton, a pharmacist, created Coke syrup in 1886. He convinced a nearby soda fountain in Atlanta to add carbonated water and give it a try. At first the drink was only a modest success, Pemberton and his partner, Frank Robertson, came up with the  name Coca-Cola, scripted in a flowing hand by Robertson. That, plus a series of hand-painted banners encouraged passers-by to "Drink Coca-Cola," was the beginning of a successful marketing campaign that lives on to this day.

Coca-Cola has used its particular shade of red in its merchandising for more than a century, and its distinctive trademark has remained virtually unchanged from the original. 

Coca-Cola collectibles can be found at a variety of prices all over the Internet. EBay alone lists over 200,000 collectibles for sale, ranging from original 6.5-ounce glass bottles for 99 cents each to lifetime assortments well into six figures. Restored and working vending machines can cost $10,000 or more. Early porcelain signs and those with original neon enhancements frequently sell for thousands as well. And because of the huge variety of merchandise, many collectors tend to specialize by era, type or size.

Even though Pemberton and Robertson founded the company in the late 1890s, collecting Coca-Cola advertising items---beautiful models printed on trays, calendars, signs, and even tiny pocket mirrors—didn’t begin to get popular until the early 20th century. Coca-Cola print advertising onto just about anything and gave these items out at state fairs and schools in towns all across the country.

Coke’s advertising department placed many of the large, gorgeous cardboards and metal advertisements with store owners and gas stations as temporary promotional displays intended for seasonal use. Many ended in the trash just like those of today. People used signs to patch holes in roofs, line attic walls, or for target practice.

The overwhelming number of reproductions in this category makes it imperative that collectors learn as much as possible Coca-Cola items. Beginners can learn a lot from price guides and online forums.

Collectors typically like items produced from the late 1800s to the 1960s. But with so many items on the market, it’s only natural that some will be fake. The difference between a reproduction and a fake is that there never was an original item like the fake. At first, the Coca-Cola Company made it easy to make their reproductions look like the originals produced 50 to 100 years before. For example, the reproduction trays from 1974 had only a small written notice on the rim of the trays to say they were recently made. But savvy sellers could easily remove the notice by scraping it off with a pocket knife. 

Reproduction serving trays from the 1930s have a note on the back saying so. The original had sharper lithography with a dark-colored back while the reproduction trays had less-than-sharp lithography and a light colored back.

The location of the trademark notification has also varied throughout the years. Early on, the trademark appeared inside the long trailing C in “Coca.” Starting in the 1940s, The company moved it to a position under the entire word “Coca-Cola.” That happened because the Coca-Cola Company lost a court case. The result was the loss of the trademark control over of “Cola” since the trademark notification was only under “Coca,” not under both parts of the logo.

This change was great for collectors who want to date Coca-Cola items as being before 1940 but can lead to many problems for dating items made after 1940. Naturally many novice collectors don’t know the difference and end up paying way too much for items produced more recently.

It’s a good idea for beginning collectors to do research before making an expensive purchase and to consult more than one source for information.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about the "Pottery Through the Ages" in the 2022 Winter Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Bottles, Bottles Everywhere

QUESTION: Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved collecting bottles. I started by digging them up in our backyard. None of them were anything special—pill bottles and soda bottles mostly. But now that I’m older, I’m more serious about collecting bottles. I find them everywhere—at yard and garage sales, flea markets, even in the trash. But my collection has grown by fits and starts and isn’t organized at all. What advice would you give about focusing a bottle collection? Which kinds are the most collectible?



ANSWER: Bottle collecting is one of the easiest to get into but also the most confusing. The term “bottle collector” is a misnomer since he or she collects not only medicine, soda, beer, wine and liquor, and food bottles, but also bottle openers, advertising, and even stoneware. So first you must decide just what kind of bottles you’re going to collect.

Bottle collectors find beauty and rarity in old, dirty, empty glass bottles made to hold food or beverages over 100 years ago. They scour flea markets and auctions and go digging in old garbage dumps.

Collectors classify bottles by what they originally contained—medicine, soda, beer, liquor and wine, and food. Within each of these categories, however, there are a number of subcategories that really help to illustrate the true depth of bottle collecting

Those who collect medicine bottles specialize in bottles that had contained a particular type of cures or bitters. Others might specialize in medicine bottles that have their original labels or that still have their original content. However, today, it’s illegal to buy and sell old medicine bottles with their contents still intact.

People collect medicine bottles made in certain towns or those embossed with certain words such as “electric” or “magic.” Some of these collectors also seek out bottles in colors other than clear and aquamarine.

Specialty collectors can look at a bottle and tell when the company who made it was in business, what other addresses the company used, what other products the company  made, which glass company probably made the bottle, and even what other colors that particular bottle can be found in. These collectors spend hours researching, looking through original records, business directories and other source documents, in a quest for information about companies that have been out of business for over a century.

Although many collectors specialize in a particular type of bottle, others specialize in a different way. For example, some people collect bottles that were made in their hometown or home state, regardless of whether the bottle originally held spirits, milk or medicine. Others collect bottles that have their name or interesting pictures, such as lions or eagles, embossed on them. There are collectors who select only bottles manufactured by certain glass houses. Others collect solely on the color of a bottle, so that a cobalt blue fruit jar shares display space with a cobalt blue soda bottle.



Of course, not all bottle collectors are specialists. Instead, they choose to collect a few key examples from many different collecting specialties.

Collecting bottles can be a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it's difficult to go to a yard sale, flea market, auction, ii or antique show without seeing dozens of bottles for sale. The volume of bottles available on the market certainly makes it easy to amass a large collection in fairly short order, and at fairly low prices.

Many novice bottle collectors find themselves in a quandary soon after beginning to collect, as their display space begins to disappear before their collecting budget is exhausted. This abundance of supply also causes problems for advanced collectors as well. Due to the volume of bottles manufactured during the past two centuries, no single bottle price guide pictures, describes, and prices all of the ones that a collector might find in just one day at a large flea market. Thus, finding the value of a bottle can be difficult.

NOTE: For more information on collecting antique medicine bottles, read “Collecting Pieces of the Medicine Show" in The Antiques Almanac.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Article section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the other 18,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about western antiques in the special 2019 Spring Edition, "Down to the Sea in Ships," online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques & More Collection on Facebook.  

Leftovers from the Medicine Show

QUESTION: I have  a collection of old medicine bottles, all unopened, that I from an old local pharmacy that I bought at auction. Most contain narcotics and have the original corks intact in them.  How should I dispose of the contents, mostly liquid, some pills, how to remove the corks to save them, as well as how to clean the bottles without ruining the labels?

ANSWER: Old medicine bottles can contain some nasty substances. Many are extremely volatile and shouldn’t be mixed with any other substance. But before I get to disposing of the contents, it’s important to know what the laws are governing them.

Collectors of old medicine bottles do so for the bottles, themselves, if made before 1920. They’re especially interested in the bottle shapes. Those who collect bottles made after 1920 collect them for their contents and their labels. Generally, while collectibles, like cereal boxes, are worth more with their contents unopened, this isn’t so with old medicine bottles.


   
Laws governing the sale of containers with flammable, corrosive or poisonous contents have been on the books since 1908.  Cough syrups and other medicines often contain alcohol, classified as a flammable liquid by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The penalties are severe for selling bottles containing dangerous substances, especially in today’s terrorist-prone world.

Nationally, it’s the responsibilities of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to regulate toxic substances and investigate violations. In 1970, Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act, Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, which became the legal foundation of the government's fight against the abuse of drugs and other substances.

The law is a bit lax when it comes to poisons, such as strychnine and a deadly product called mercury bi-chloride, formerly used as an anti-syphilitic and to clean wounds. So how do you dispose of nasty substances like this?

While most drugs can be thrown in the household trash, you need to take certain precautions before tossing them out, according to the FDA. The agency used to recommend that people flush some drugs down the toilet, but they no longer do since some of these dangerous substances have been found in the soil and water table. One possibility is to pour kitty litter into a plastic bucket and then pour the bottle contents—cough syrups and other liquids—into it. Let it sit for a while, then scoop up the kitty litter into a double plastic bag and toss it into your trash. Make sure you use enough kitty litter to soak up the contents. Do this outside preferably on the day before your trash will be collected.



You can do the same with pills and capsules, but instead of kitty litter, use coffee grounds. Pour the capsules in a Zip-Loc plastic storage bag containing the coffee grounds and mix the pills into them. Seal and place in your trash.

If you’re not sure how dangerous your bottle’s contents might be, you can look up the medicine in an older edition of the Physician’s Desk Reference or the Merck Manual. However, some of these substances, such as mercury bi-chloride, may no longer be used and, therefore, won’t be listed in any of the reference books. If in doubt, check with a local pharmacist.

The easiest way to clean old medicine bottles after you have disposed of the contents is to rinse them with a solution of warm soapy water. Don’t make the water too warm or the label will come loose. If the bottle has any residue or stains in it, especially those with narrow necks and small openings, you can buy a set of inexpensive fish cleaning brushes from your local pet store. If you can’t find these, check the baby aisle in your local drug store for soft bristle baby bottle brushes. If the stain persists, pour a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water and let it set for a few hours, then try brushing the inside of the bottle again.

Unfortunately, the corks on old medicine bottles will have absorbed some of the solution and are just as dangerous as the bottle’s original contents, so throw them out. However, you can reuse those on bottles containing pills.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Article section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the other 18,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about western antiques in the special 2019 Winter Edition, "The Old West," online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques & More Collection on Facebook. 

Bottles, Bottles, and More Bottles

QUESTION: My father loved to collect old bottles. He would take me and my sister out on bottle hunting expeditions, digging for them or looking for them in old garbage dumps. We gathered every old bottle we could find without paying much attention to the type or age. I particularly liked the colored ones. Now that I’m older, I’d like to start to seriously collect bottles. I’d like to add to the few I still have but really have no idea of what to collect.  Can you help me?

ANSWER: Bottle collecting is a fun thing to do, especially if you have children. But serious bottle collecting can be addictive.

Bottle collectors find beauty and rarity in old, dirty, empty glass bottles made to hold food or beverages a century or more ago. They scour flea markets at sunrise, auctions until midnight, and go digging in old garbage dumps and cisterns—all for that elusive bottle to add to their collection.

To non-bottle collectors, bottles are confusing and at the same time fascinating. They see old bottles, priced from a few cents to incredible amounts of money with no apparent rhyme or reason, at most antique venues. The fascination kicks in when they see a collector pick up that old dusty bottle on a sales table, turn it around in the light as though it were a flawless diamond, and murmur how they’ve been searching for it for a long time.

Even the term “bottle collector” is itself a misnomer. Bottle collectors collect everything from soda and beer bottles to food or medicine ones to flasks, as well as canning and storage jars. Some collect stoneware jugs, advertising bottles, trade signs, and bottle openers.

Bottles come in all shapes and sizes. Jugs from the early part of the 19th century were more chestnut-shaped. Flasks were vertically oval and often embossed with designs such as eagles and cornucopias on the front and back. Early whiskey bottles were either flask-shaped in the early part of the 19th century or iron pontiled (held by an iron rod after blowing) by the time of the Civil War or barrel shaped during the last quarter of the 19th century. Bitters bottles had a vertical rounded rectangular shape with a flat front and back, usually embossed with the name of the bitters and the company. Some bottles had impressed glass seals with the name of the company added to them. And some whiskey bottles came wrapped in wicker.

Bottle collectors classify bottles based on what the bottle originally held. Most categories of bottles fall into one of the following broad groups—medicine, soda, beer, food and spirits. Within each of these categories, however, there are a number of subcategories.



For example, in the medicine bottle-collecting specialty, there are some collectors who specialize on a particular type of medicine, such as  cures or bitters. Others might specialize in medicine bottles that have their original labels or that still have their original content. However, it’s now illegal to buy or sell any medicine bottles with their original contents.

Most bottle collectors are specialty collectors who can look at a bottle and tell when the company that made it was in business, what other addresses the company used, what other products the company made, which glass company made the bottle, and even what other colors that particular bottle came in. They spend hours researching, looking through original records, business directories and other documents in their quest for information about companies that have been out of business for a long time.

Although many collectors specialize by bottle type, others specialize in a different way. For example, some people collect bottles that were made in their hometown or home state, regardless of whether the bottle originally held spirits, milk or medicine. Others collect bottles that have their name or interesting pictures, such as lions or eagles, embossed on them. There are collectors who select only bottles manufactured by certain glass houses. Others collect solely on the color of a bottle, so that a cobalt blue fruit jar shares display space with a cobalt blue soda bottle.

Some bottle collectors are generalists, who choose to collect a few key examples from many different specialties.

But collecting bottles can be a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it's difficult to go to a yard sale, flea market, auction, or antique show without seeing dozens of bottles for sale. Everyone seems to have some stored away in basements, displayed on shelves or windowsills, or taking up space in garages. This sheer volume of bottles available on the market certainly makes it easy to amass a large collection in fairly short order, and at fairly low prices.

Unfortunately, this abundance of supply causes some problems. Many novice bottle collectors find themselves in a quandary soon after beginning to collect, when their display space disappears before they have exhausted their collecting budget. This abundance of supply also causes problems for advanced collectors as well. Due to the volume of bottles manufactured during the past two centuries, no single bottle price guide pictures, describes, and prices all of the ones you might find in just one typical day at a large flea market. Thus, finding the value of a bottle can be a real challenge.

Learn more about the restrictions on collecting medicine bottles by reading "Take Caution Selling Medicine Bottles Says DEA" in #TheAntiquesAlmanac.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Article section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the other 18,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about Colonial America in the Spring 2018 Edition, "Early Americana," online now.

We've Come a Long Way Baby

QUESTION: I discovered an unusual bottle in a box lot I bought at a local house sale.  The bottle is about six or seven inches long, pale green, and oval but doesn’t have a flat bottom, so it must lay on its front or back. Do you have any idea what this little bottle would have contained or been used for?

ANSWER: Believe it or not, your little bottle once held baby’s milk.
           
The development of baby bottles took centuries to transform into the sterile plastic throwaways in use today. As knowledge of germs and hygiene developed, so did the infant feeder. While parents of earlier times sensed that babies who were breast fed had a better chance at surviving, it wasn't until the early 20th century that mothers and bottle makers realized that clean, sterile feeders were necessary to protect a baby's health.

Before then, bottle makers created a variety of feeders—from tiny coffeepot-shaped ones of tin to china submarine-shaped flasks decorated in Flow Blue and transferware patterns. Glass bottles didn’t come on the scene until the mid-19th century.

Nipples, made of wood, ivory, bone, sterling, pewter, leather„ rags, sponge, rubber, and yes, a pickled cow's teat, were nothing like those in use today.

Much like today, bottles were necessary because some mothers couldn’t breast feed, and, unlike today, it wasn’t always fashionable to nurse. When a friend asked Queen Victoria if she intended to breast feed, she reportedly said she had no intention of making  a cow of herself.

One manufacturer immortalized Victoria’s image on a stoneware bottle that’s now prized by collectors. But the queen hated that her likeness appeared on a nursing bottle.

Besides a dislike, of nursing, there were other reasons for women to use baby bottles. Many women thought that nursing would destroy their figures. It also inhibited them socially since they couldn’t travel and leave the baby at home.

Fathers weren’t too keen on breast feeding, either, because doctors and midwives often advised mothers to refrain from sex during nursing.

Wealthier families employed wet nurses, usually young women who had a child and could nurse another. Since parents believed that a milk giver’s personality traits could be transferred to an infant through their milk, choosing the right one was important.

The ideal wet nurse was a plump rosy-cheeked young woman. Many people believed that red-headed girls gave bitter milk and produced ill-tempered babies. They even suspected animal milk, believing that infants took on the attributes of the cow or goat. French nobles gave the title of “contessa” to a wet nurse so that their infants could be nursed by milk of noble origin. Those who couldn’t afford to hire a wet nurse, turned to a variety of infant feeders, many of them unsafe by modern standards.

Though a china submarine-shaped bottle with blue transferware is beautiful, being completely opaque it was hard to clean. Fermenting milk curds could be lodged in the corners and mothers would never see them.

Charles M. Windship of Roxbury, Massachusetts, developed the first glass baby bottle, a small turtle shell-shaped: feeder, in 1841. Women thought the shape would fool their infants into thinking it was a real breast.

To use the Windship bottle, a woman wore it on a harness on her breast. It was probably difficult to use because girls with tender, post-childbirth breasts wouldn’t want to place any weight on their on top of them. Because of its shape, the Windship bottle became known as a mammary bottle. Today, they’re highly prized by collectors and sell for nearly $500 each.

But the Windship bottle wasn’t safe for the baby. The Windship and some subsequent bottles came with a long rubber tube, topped off with a rubber nipple. The tube allowed for hands-free feeding for mothers. These devices also had their problems. Dried formula would clog the tube which was too small to be cleaned, so bacteria blossomed. This feeder became known by the onerous name of the “murder bottle.” New York State banned them in 1906, and other states rapidly followed suit.

The turtle-shaped bottles, begun with the Windship model, remained in use from around 1860 to 1910. The bottles had vents, sometimes on both ends, so that air bubbles wouldn’t enter the milk. A nipple went on one end and a tiny cork on the other.

Most bottles became cylindrical by the beginning of the 20th century. Sterilization also became routine. And by the 1930s, bottle makers began embossing their glass bottles with puppies and kittens. These continued to be used until the invention of the disposable plastic bottle.