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Clorox Bottles From the 30s and 40s

Clorox is an icon and an American rags-to-riches story. Although the five California entrepreneurs who started the company made their first investment in May 1913, the official name brand did not come about until 1914. The name "Clorox" stems from a combination of chlorine and sodium hydroxide, two key ingredients in the solution. Since then, Clorox containers went through a myriad of design changes --- especially in the 1930s and 1940s --- which make bottles made during that era into collector's items.

History
- Delivered in the San Francisco Bay area by horse-drawn wagons, Clorox solution was the first commercially manufactured liquid bleach. Although it originally sold its bleach in 5-gallon crock jugs as a sanitizer to local industries, Clorox manufactured pint and quart bottles with no markings --- just a rubber stopper --- at the end of the 1920s. Successful advertising campaigns made the amber glass bottles a household standard, and the name Clorox gained nationwide recognition.
1930s Bottle Characteristics
- Early bottles had the Clorox diamond trademark along with the letters "R-E-G" embossed on the bottom. In 1931, the name "Clorox" circled the bottle's neck and shoulder, with more lettering added on the shoulder and heel in 1932. The bottle included a fill line from 1933 to 1936. The neck area expanded to 3 1/4 inches in 1938. An amber 1/2-gallon jug with a finger-ring added a little variety to the Clorox line the following year.
1940s Bottle Characteristics
- Rubber stoppers served as the standard closure until the 1940s, when Clorox introduced a screw cap similar the modern lids still used today. The next two years saw the brand name moved to the side and another expansion of the pint and quart size neck to 2 7/16 inches and then to 2 3/4 inches in 1943. Then, the company added a grainy texture on the shoulder and heel of the bottle from 1945 through 1950, which also saw the addition of the gallon bottle with a finger hole.
Collectors
- Clorox bottles manufactured past 1928 have distinctive markings for an accurate manufacture date of the bottle. According the Clorox company website, measuring height and volume can help determine whether a bottle is vintage. Until 1933, the amber pint contained only 15 oz. while measuring 7 5/8 inches high. Then, the pint bottle increased in height to 7 7/8 inches and added another ounce to make a genuine pint. The quart bottle, always a true quart, went through various changes in size throughout the years. Screw-top amber Clorox bottles are plentiful and less valuable than older bottles as of 2011.
Labels and Caps
- A label with the diamond design and word "Clorox" in the center originated when the company first began manufacturing 5-gallon jugs. Since the labels were made of paper, very few have stood the test of time. Since many manufactures employed the same crockery jugs, collectors will find it nearly impossible to determine whether a bottle was made by Clorox without the presence of a label. However, some labels have survived on later pieces and, of course, make a bottle more valuable. The rubber stoppers bore the Clorox name.

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