Steve Van Wormer Speaks About
 Historic Bottles, Jars and Cans
At Home in Chula Vista
November 10, 2004 & November 9, 2006
 

On November 10, the ANTH 225 Historical Archaeology class took a field trip to the home of Steve Van Wormer and Susan Walter.  There, Steve did a very interesting presentation for the students.   They were able to see a wide array of historic bottle, jar and can types that Steve could not have brought for a presentation at Palomar College.  The following sets of photos cover much of what took place that evening, including a discussion of the history of bottle, jar and can manufacturing techniques, historic bottle types with information on form, color and function, as well as information on reference books used to identify and date historic bottles.
 

Steve Talking To Students
2004     2006

Student Audience Views
2004      2006

Useful Bottle Reference Books
Part I     Part II    Part III
Historic Cans
EXAMPLES OF HISTORIC BOTTLES and JARS
Part I Hand blown bottle with pontil mark; paddle rolled hand blown bottle; generic "junk" bottles of the 19th century
Part II Hand Applied Bottle Lip; Jamestown Hand Blown Bottle Replica with Seal; 2-Piece Bottom Hinged Mold Used Pre-1885/1890; Warner's Honey & Liver Cure Bottle
Part III 3-Part Mold Bottle; Semi-Automatic Bottle Machine (SABM) Lip Seam
Part IV Molded Gin Bottles with Hand-Added Neck and Lips; Bottle Form and Function Part I; Examples of Bottle Reuse
Part V Embossed Bottles; Bromo Selzer Bottles w/ & w/o Embossing
Part VI Qualitee Dairy Bottle with Production Date on Lip; Milk Bottles with Applied Color Labels; Aqua Rectangular Medicine Bottle with Recessed Body (Dr. King's....); Whiskey and Cognac Bottles with Applied Paper Labels
Part VII Bottle Form and Function Part II -- medicine, olives, flavor extracts, and olive oil; shoe polish and ink bottles.  Soda Bottles with Blob Top and with Internal Marble Stopper
Part VIII Examples of Various Medicine Bottles
Part IX Mason Jars; Jar with Beaded Seal on Neck; Putnam Bail Closure for Jars; Putnam Bail Closure Adapted to Bottles
Part X Mason Jars; Jar with Beaded Seal on Neck; Ball Mason Jar with Zinc Twist On Cap;  Top View of Zinc Cap
Part XI Paper Labels: ABC Beer; Cabinet Whiskey; Dr. Caldwell's Sienna Laxative; Hood's Sarsaparilla, Gentian and Bitter Orange.  Spray Painted Milk Bottle Label
Part XII Close-up of Putnam's "lightning stopper" for Bottles; Different Types of Caps on Catsup Bottles; Patent Medicine and Prescription Bottles with Graduations