Collectable Bottles
| Up to the middle of the 19th century, liquids had been sold in stoneware bottles. Generally, these bottles were plain in colour with the manufacturer’s name and contents incised into them. By the end of the 19th century, most were decorated with underglaze or transfer printing.
In the middle of the 19th century public concern about health standards led manufacturers to begin using glass containers through which the contents could be inspected before purchase. |
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Glass bottles have three basic ingredients: silica (sand), soda and lime. Traces of other elements give glass its colour. Most sand has traces of iron, which gives an aqua colour to glass. Glass is made clear by adding manganese or selenium. This was not usually done with disposable glass bottles before about 1910. If too much manganese is added, the glass will turn purple on exposure to strong light. This often happens with bottles from the early 1900s.
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