Local Beachcomber’s ExhibitionThe Spring Arts & Heritage Centre (Summer 2016)

Becky Dunn’s Collection of Sea Glass

Codd’s Bottles

In 1872, British soft drink maker Hiram Codd of Camberwell in London, designed and patented a bottle designed specifically for carbonated drinks. The Codd-neck bottle was designed and manufactured to enclose a marble and a rubber washer/gasket in the neck. The bottles were filled upside down, and pressure of the gas in the bottle forced the marble against the washer, sealing in the carbonation. The bottle was pinched into a special shape, to provide a chamber into which the marble was pushed to open the bottle. This prevented the marble from blocking the neck as the drink was poured.

The bottles were regularly produced for many decades, but gradually declined in usage. Since children smashed the bottles to retrieve the marbles, they are relatively scarce and have become collector’s items, particularly in the UK. The Codd-neck design is still used for the Japanese soft drink Ramune and the Indian drink, Banta.

“A load of old Coddswallop”

‘Wallop’ is a slang term for beer, and it is said that ‘Codd's wallop’ came to be used by beer drinkers as a derogatory term for weak or gassy beer, or for soft drinks, often supplied in Codd’s bottles.

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Bottle Bottoms

"Flat" bottle bottoms are never totally flat, but instead are usually indented or domed upwards because they need an arched structure to allow them to be stable on a flat surface. The bottom of a bottle is usually the thickest part, retaining more temperature throughout the production line. Because the bottom is hotter, it is also more fluid and has a tendency to sag, forming a shape like a spinning top which makes it unstable on flat surfaces. Giving a bottle an arched shape at the bottom means that if it does sag, it can do so without touching the bottom.

The bases of many bottles have embossed letters, symbols, and/or numbers that pertain to the product that the bottle was designed to contain, the maker of the product contained and/or the maker of the bottle. This type of embossing was engraved or "cut" into the mould at the request of the buyer ordering the specific bottle.

Torpedo Bottles

The Torpedo bottle has a round end to prevent it from being stood up. The idea was that the contents kept in contact with the cork and stopped the cork from shrinking; the corks would dry up and shrink on upright bottles, causing the bottle to loose pressure. A side advantage for the merchant was that the consumer had to finish the beverage before the bottle could be laid down. Their shape also allowed them to neatly fit together in crates which reduced transport costs. These bottles are often known as "Hamiltons", named after their inventor Paul Hamilton.

Torpedo or Hamilton Bottle, Gosport: Both Mumby & Co (mineral water) and Talbot & Co (soda water) of Gosport were selling their products in heavily embossed torpedo bottles in the 1890s.

Listed on eBay: A rare 10 fl oz size torpedo/Hamilton blob top mineral water bottle, circa 1895 - embossed advertising for Charles Mumby, Steam Works, Gosport (Hampshire).

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Embossed Lettering showing the Contents of the Bottle

Havant Mineral Water Company or South Hants Mineral Water Co

(Letters and parts of words embossed on several of the bits of bottles found)

With thanks to Christine Bury, Chairman of the Havant History Group for supplying the

following information:-

Preston Watson was the wine and spirit merchants of the town. The premises consisted of a fine three-storey house with shop, a large coach house and two or three other houses on both sides of The Pallant that were used for mineral water production, bottling and storage... these premises were demolished and Waitrose now stands on the site.

A Memory of Havant (Barry Mahony, Sept 21, 2007.)

South Hants Mineral Water Co. seems to have had offices in Fareham, Havant and Chichester and been known by a variety of names including Portsdown and South Hants Mineral Water Co.

In his book, ‘Malting and Brewing in Havant’, Steve Jones mentions the Gloyne Brewery and states that the brewery premises were later used by the South Hants Mineral Water Co. among others.

From the London Gazette, September 2, 1870NOTICE is hereby given, that the Partnership heretofore subsisting between Messrs. George White and Alfred Chignell, under the firm of White and Chignell, of Havant, in the county of Southampton, Chemists and Druggists, Soda-water Manufacturers, Printers, Stationers, and Newsagents, has this day been dissolved by mutual consent.—As witness our hands this 24th day of August, 1870. George White. Alfred Chignell.

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In her talk on ‘My Family and Other Trades’ in 2013, Christine Bury mentioned that ‘In the late 19th century, White & Chignell, Chemists became Havant Mineral Water Co. and we have a bill of goods record (shown here) for South Hants Mineral Water Co.’ Located in West Street.

(Thanks to Christine Bury, Chairman of the Havant History Group)

With thanks to an anonymous contact (‘Starland’) who supplied this photo of an enamel sign advertising Havant Mineral Water, sent to me by email following an article I posted on my website.

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S. Dodman & Sons Ltd: Pickle manufacturers. Operating from Drummond Road, Bermondsey, London. Closed down in 1960.

Hambledon: part of the word identified on a bottle to contain either a drink manufactured by local company, Hartridge’s, or possibly from the Hambledon Vineyard, established in 1952.

Horndean Brewery: Established in 1847, Gales Brewery (George Gale & Co. Ltd) was an old brewery situated in Horndean, on the edge of Waterlooville, near Portsmouth. It made the nutty HSB (Horndean Special Bitter) and the newer Gales Bitter. It took its water from its own well situated under the brewery which is fed from the South Downs, and the yeast and 'liquor' (local water used for brewing), coupled with the local brewing style, produced beers with a sparse head, quite dark in colour.

In late 2005, Fuller's Brewery bought Gales for £92 million. It raised fears as to the future of Gales Horndean brewery and some of its beers, and the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) launched a campaign to encourage Fuller's to continue production of the full Gales line at Horndean. However, in January 2006, Fuller's began cutting jobs at the Horndean brewery, and it was announced on 27 February 2006 that the brewery would close at the end of March 2006, although distribution and warehousing would continue in the area.

At that point, production of the Gales brands moved to Fuller's Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, London, with the exception of Gales Bitter which was one of the few beers that was discontinued.

Liniment Sloan: Sloan's Liniment or capsaicin topical: Capsaicin is the active ingredient in chili peppers that makes them hot. Capsaicin is used in medicated creams and lotions to relieve muscle or joint pain.

Sloan’s Liniment was created by Earl Sawyer Sloan in the late 1800s, along with his father and a local veterinarian, to treat lameness in horses. Sloan soon discovered that the liniment also worked well to treat human aches and pains.

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London Co-op Society Limited: Milk bottle. The London Co-operative Society was a consumer co-operative society formed in September 1920 by the amalgamation of the Stratford Co-operative Society and the Edmonton Co-operative Society, two of the largest societies in the London Metropolitan area.

Paterson’s Camp Coffee & Chicory, Glasgow:

Camp Coffee is a Scottish food product, which began production in 1876 by Paterson & Sons Ltd. in a plant on Charlotte Street, Glasgow. Almost one hundred years later in 1974 businessman Daniel Jenks merged his business with Paterson to form Paterson Jenks plc. In 1984, Paterson Jenks plc was bought by McCormick & Company. Thereafter, McCormick UK Ltd assimilated Paterson Jenks plc into Schwartz.

Camp Coffee is a brown liquid which consists of water, sugar, 4% caffeine-free coffee essence, and 26% chicory essence. This is generally used as a substitute for coffee, by mixing with warm milk in much the same way as cocoa or added to cold milk and ice to make an iced coffee, but it is commonly found on baking aisles in supermarkets as it is also used as an ingredient in coffee cake and other confectionery.

Shippam’s Paste Jars: 1960s. Established in Chichester in 1750, Shippams chiefly produce potted meats and seafood pastes. The company is now owned by Princes Foods, a subsidiary of the Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan. The main building was opened in 1911 and covered all the area from East Street to East Row until 2002 when the company moved out of the city centre to the outskirts.

Young & Son: Warblington Castle Farm. Milk Bottle

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Embossed Lettering showing the Maker of the Bottle

The name of the bottle manufacturer (the ‘maker’s mark’) is embossed on the sides of several of the bits, towards the base of the bottle. Internet research has allowed me to identify the company and approximate dates of manufacture:-

Barnett & Foster, makers, London: On 29th December 1873, a patent was registered by H. Codd and F. Foster - an improvement to the tool that formed the groove in the neck of the bottle. Codd's Globe Stoppered bottle needed a new type of filling machine, which had been covered in an earlier patent (2212). These machines were manufactured only by Barnett & Foster who were well known in the mineral water trade.

Barrett & Elers, London: operating from Wallis Road, Hackney Wick, London E9.

In 1868 the first internally stoppered bottle was patented by John Adams and Henry Barrett in England.

This patent became Barrett and Elers’ patent soon afterwards, when Adams’ estate was assigned to Charles Elers. The bottle contained a long wooden

plug with a rubber ring attached to one end. When the bottle was filled the

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rubber ring of the stopper was forced into the neck where it made a seal. To open the bottle the stopper was simply pushed down.

In 1897 the company was registered, to take over the business of manufacturers of screw stoppers and dealers in bottles, and to erect a factory to manufacture carbonic acid gas, of a company of the same name.

In 1937 the company was a Listed Exhibitor at the British Industries Fair as Manufacturers of all kinds of Ebonite Screw Stoppers, Bakelite and Bellerwere Mouldings for bottle and jar closures, and other mechanical and fancy purposes. Also Belleroid Mouldings for electrical insulation.

Bratby, Manchester: Bratby & Hinchliffe Ltd was founded in 1864 and in 1889 became a public company. In 1894 the company exhibited its Steam Cork Bottling Machine at the Brewer’s Exhibition. In 1929 the company was made private and by 1930, two of the directors were also partners in Barnett and Foster. The company was acquired by Barfos Ltd in 1950 and was still operating in the 1960s.

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‘E. Breffit & Co makers, London’ were operating from 83 Upper Thames Street, London and using this exact wording on bottles made between 1869 and 1913. Most of my bottles have this wording so they are at least 100 years old.

The Castleford Bottle … (see the section of a large bottle base). Both E. Breffit and John Lumb were manufacturing glass bottles in Castleford, West Yorkshire, pre 1920s.

Glass making in Yorkshire dates back to the seventeenth century, but it was not until the nineteenth century that Yorkshire became the dominant area of glass producers. During the latter part of the nineteenth century the West Riding became the most important manufacturing area in the country. It exercised leadership not only in the actual production of glass products, but also in the movement of men and employers, and in the invention and development of machinery.

In an address to the Yorkshire Section of the Society of Glass Technology in 1953, Dr. F. W. Hodkin a director of Bagley & Co. said:

“The earliest definite knowledge of glass making in Yorkshire takes us back no further than the middle of the seventeenth century. As a seeker after truth I freely admit that glass making flourished in London, Newcastle, Stourbridge and Bristol before it did so in Yorkshire.”

Dan Rylands, Barnsley using this exact wording on bottles made between 1884 and 1888.

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Embossing on bottle Dates

Ben Rylands 1874 to 1877

Rylands and Codd 1877 to 1881

Codd and Rylands 1881 to 1884

Dan Rylands 1884 to 1888

Dan Rylands Ld. 1888 to 1897

The Rylands 1897 to 1928

Ben Rylands became a partner at the age of 24 in the Mexborough Flint Glass Works in 1849, which a year later became the Don Works. In 1852 he started the Swinton Glass Works along with J. Tillotson & J. Wilkinson, both former partners of the Don Works. In 1867 he built his own works, namely the Hope Glass Works next to the Stairfoot Railway station, Ardsley near Barnsley, South Yorkshire. The site that he chose was ideal, with ample space for expansion, railways passing through it and the Dearne and Dove Canal alongside. It became sufficiently profitable for him to lease a second works in 1872, the Dearne & Dove Glassworks at Wombwell a few miles away.

He took out a license in 1874 to manufacture the CODD bottle and in 1877 went into partnership with Hiram Codd; Hiram held one-fifth of the share capital and Ben retained four-fifths and the responsibility of management. On August 29th 1881 Ben died aged 56 and his son Dan then 31 took over and Hiram forced him to pay a huge premium to keep the partnership agreement in force.

The policy of Hope Glass Works was embodied in its trademark "4", embossed on all its glassware. This signified four qualities considered by the firm to be of paramount importance with regards to the manufacture of glass bottles - accuracy, cleanliness, neatness and strength.

Late in 1884 after Dan and Hiram stopped their partnership, Dan Rylands' name alone was moulded on the Rylands bottles. In 1885 Dan brought out his Premier Patent design. In July of the same year 'The Useful Patents Co. Ltd. of London (owned by Hiram Codd) won a court case against Dan for infringing the Codd and Foster patent of 1873, which covered the tool used to produce the groove in the neck of the bottle. Dan retaliated by patenting another tool for the same purpose - bottles produced by this method are embossed: "PATENT SAFE GROOVE". Also that year Codd's 1871 patent expired and Dan again took advantage and brought out his Reliance Patent, early examples of this are embossed: "MADE BY THE RYLANDS' PATENT PROCESS".

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Acknowledgements & Further Research

Antique Bottle Collecting & Restoration

www.collectingantiquebottles.co.uk/

Antique Bottle Collector

www.abc-ukmag.co.uk/

Bottle Digging UK Forum

www.bottledigging.org.uk/Forum/

The Bottle Dump

www.thebottledump.co.uk/

The British Antique Bottle Forum Website

www.britishbottleforum.co.uk/webpage/

Collectable Bottles & Pots on eBay or on Preloved

www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Collectable-Bottles-Pots

www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/list/3188/bottles

The Old Brigade Antiques & Collectibles

www.theoldbrigadeantiques.co.uk/

Unique Bottles

www.uniquebottles.co.uk/

Thanks to Christine Bury, Chairman of the Havant History Group

and to ‘Starland’

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