Home >> Collecting >> Antiques

Different Bottles of Coca-Cola Over the Years

The iconic Coca-Cola bottle has changed in a myriad of ways since its introduction in the early 1850s. Today Coke bottles are common collector's items along with other Coke memorabilia. Coco-Cola was originally sold exclusively at soda fountains, but in 1849 fountain owner Joseph Biedenarn began to bottle the soda from his fountain and sell it to customers who could then enjoy the beverage at home or on the go. Thus bottling Coke began.

Hutchinson Stopper-Bottles
- The first official Coca-Cola bottles were manufactured by Hutchinson and were called stopper-bottles for their thick rubber cork stoppers. These bottles were thick, heavy, straight-sided and embossed with the Coca-Cola name and the city they were bottled in. To open these bottles the consumer pushed the rubber stopper down inside the bottle then popped it out, originating the term "soda pop."
Crown-Top/Crown-Cork Bottles
- Around the turn of the 20th century crown-top or crown-cork bottles began to grow in popularity. These glass bottles were thinner and lighter than Hutchinson bottles and were the shape of modern beer bottles. These bottles used a metal bottle cap like those on bottles today and were invented by William Painter of Baltimore in 1891. By 1902 stricter sanitation laws favored crown top bottles and Coke began to use them officially. The color of these Coke bottles ranges from brown to green to clear because individual bottlers used different colors and shapes at their own discretion.
The "Mae West" Bottle
- In 1915 Coca-Cola introduced the now iconic "Mae West" bottle, designed by the Root Glass Company. This bottle is the one often seen today with a slender neck, a bulge in the center and grooved imprints down the sides. The color of these bottles were uniform "Georgia green," named for the state in which the Coca-Cola company was based. The term "Mae West" bottle came about in reference to a popular dress of the period, which the new bottles resembled.
1950s Bottles
- During the 1950s Coca-Cola stopped embossing the city of bottling on the bottles. This is a point of reference for many collectors seeking to date the manufacture of their Coke bottles. The 1950s also saw the adaptation of applied color labeling. Rather than using paper labels or embossing the logo into the bottle glass, this technique pasted the Coke logo onto the glass permanently. This technique is still used on glass Coke bottles today.
Modern Bottles
- During the mid-1960s Coke discontinued the returning of bottles for re-use. Bottles were now stamped with a "no-deposit" label so consumers could not return them for a nominal refund. This is still imprinted on modern collector's bottles. Cheaper and lighter plastic bottles and aluminum cans came into use in the 1970s and are still the main form of bottling used today.

Antiques