ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 23, 1995                   TAG: 9507240127
SECTION: HOMES                    PAGE: D-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KATHY SUE GRIGG
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SEAM IS THE KEY IN DETERMINING A BOTTLE'S AGE

Collecting old bottles has been a hobby of mine since I was a little girl. My grandmother lived in the boondocks of North Carolina for almost a century. I would go to the place where she burned her trash and dig for bottles. Since those days, I have been on many bottle-digging gigs and learned a great deal about how to tell a bottle's age.

There are some basic facts that can help date a bottle's age. Looking at the way the bottle was made is the key.

Look to see if there is a ponytail mark on the bottom. This is a scar that is left when broken free from the glassblower's tool. Such a ponytail or "punty rod" marks on old utility bottles indicate a production date before 1860.

By 1860, most bottles were formed in molds. The mold seams can be used as a gauge to date a bottle's production. Newer bottles can be easily recognized because the hold seams extend closer to the top of the bottle. If the mold seams stop somewhere on the shoulder of the bottle, the bottle can be dated in the 1860s. The whole neck and lip were drawn out and formed "freehand." Eventually, the snapcase replaced the punty rod; therefore, no ponytail marks were made on the newer bottles.

By the 1880s, the seam stopped below the mouth of the bottle. The lip or mouth shows irregularities of being formed by hand.

At the turn of the century, the mold seams began to rise toward the top of the bottle. Some even stopped within one-eighth of an inch from the crest of the bottle.

In 1903, while working for Libby Glass Co. in Toledo, Ohio, Michael J. Owen perfected the first bottle-making machine. This machine formed the lip of the bottle first. The mold seams ran through the lip rather than the neck.

Since the advancements of bottle making were created step by step, bottle diggers, like myself, are now able to date bottles by merely observing the mold seams.

In short, my story is all seamed up. 


 by CNB