How old is your bottle?

Greetings from the PurplePatty.com Community!

Prior to the Civil War, all bottles were hand-blown. Any item that is hand-blown will not have any seam marks. A seam mark on a bottle is caused by the use of a mold.

So, when did those seam marks start showing up on bottles? Well during the Civil War, molds were created that allowed the glass blower to use them as an aid to increase productivity. Because bottles were used in the market of medicine, foods, chemicals and really any liquid item that needed a container, the demand was becoming more than the glass-blowers could keep up pace in producing. So, they really needed a way to increase the production of these hand-made bottle containers and the glass mold was created.

The evolution of the mold for glass blown bottles started out with only the lower parts of the bottles, so the seam only went over the shoulder (before the neck started) of the bottle. Then as mold-makers became more skilled, they made the molds to complete as much of the bottle as possible. So, the seam kept getting higher and higher on the bottle.

Around 1840 mold-blowing began, as the seam increased half-way up the neck by 1880, the seam goes all the way up the neck by 1900 and then after 1900 mold-makers create a mold that encompasses the whole bottle with the seam running from bottom to top.

The next time you run across some old bottles now you can try to date them!

Here's to a day full of shopping and smiles!

From your Super Shopper,

Purple Patty