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Colored Milk Bottles
Most milk bottles were made of clear glass. This was logical since the consumer needed to see the milk to determine its quality. It was important that the milk was clean, pure and a nice color. Also seeing the depth of the cream line and the color of the cream was important in judging the quality of the milk. Colored glass milk bottles were utilized by a few dairies for products that might separate during storage and not be so visually appealing to the consumer. 
These embossed milk bottles are all amber glass. It has been reported that these early round ambers were used for buttermilk and in fact some can be found with the word "Buttermilk" in the embossing. They were much less common than the clear glass milk bottles. Round amber milk bottles can be found in half pint, pint, quart and half gallon sizes. The first three bottles on the left are all amber quarts from New York made by the Reed Glass Company in the 1930's. The fourth bottle shown above is a half pint embossed amber bottle from San Diego, California. Round amber milk bottles are not common from California and the half pint size is much less common than the quarts. California dairies that used round, amber milk bottles included:
Long Beach Dairy & Creamery Company, Long Beach
P.M.D. Assn., San Diego
Santa Monica Dairy Company, Venice
United Milk Company, San Francisco
Western Farms Dairy Company, Los Angeles
The Reed Glass Company of Rochester, New York was a common manufacturer of round, amber milk bottles as well as the green milk bottles discussed below. A company advertisement in the late 1930's mentioned their colored glass (picture). Other manufacturers of round, amber glass milk bottles included Fairmount Glass Works of Indianapolis, Indiana, J. T. & A. Hamilton Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Thatcher Manufacturing Company of Elmira, New York.
Later in the 1950's there was a concern that light could be breaking down the vitamins in the milk. There was an increased interest at this time in amber glass milk bottles to keep the light from altering the vitamins in the milk. These milk bottles were usually square. Quart bottles were most common (picture) but half gallon and gallon size square, amber milk bottles are also found (picture). Pints are also found and a few dairies used a square, amber half pint milk bottle. At least six California dairies used the square, amber half pints.
Milk bottles left to right:
Big Elm Dairy Company, Rochester, New York, Reed Glass Co., 1934
E. F. Mayer, quart, Rochester, New York, Reed Glass Co., 1934
Peoples Milk Co., quart, Buffalo, New York, Reed Glass Co., 1934
P. M. D. Assn., half pint, San Diego, California, Weber Glass Co., pre-1920
First off page milk bottles left to right:
Challenge Cream & Butter Association, quart, California, Owens-Illinois, 1960
Golden Arrow Dairy, quart, San Diego, California, Glass Containers Corp, 1956
Borges Sanitary Dairy, quart, Chico, California, Owens-Illinois, 1956
Taylor's Dairy, half pint, Sacramento, California, Owens-Illinois, 1956
Second off page milk bottles left to right:
Porterville Dairy, half gallon, Porterville, California, Owens-Illinois, 1961
Campbell's Dairy. half gallon, San Diego, California?, Owens-Illinois, 1956
Borden's, gallon, California, Owens-Illinois, 1963
Reed Glass Company also made a round, quart milk bottle with green glass. It was reportedly used for eggnog and is even more scarce than the amber milk bottles. Many dairies that used the green milk bottles also had amber milk bottles. The majority of dairies that used green milk bottles were located in the state of New York. There were no dairies in California that used a green milk bottle.
Reed Glass Company made one green milk bottle that was unique. It was used by Alta Crest Farms and was a cone shaped milk bottle (picture) rather than the conventional shaped milk bottles pictured above. It was based on a shape that was patented by Henry Kart of Buffalo, New York on May 28, 1929.
Green milk bottles appeared again the late 1950's and 1960's. Just as with square, amber milk bottles, break down of the vitamins in the milk due to light was an issue. At this time the bottles were square and half gallon and gallon sizes were more common (picture). Most of these milk bottles were made by Liberty Glass Company of Sapulpa, Oklahoma.
Milk bottles left to right:
Big Elm Dairy Company, quart, Rochester, New York, Reed Glass Co., 1934
Brighton Place Dairy, quart, Rochester, New York, Reed Glass Co., 1934
Weckerle, quart, Buffalo, New York, Reed Glass Co., 1934
First off page milk bottle:
Alta Crest Farms, quart, Spencer, Massachusetts, Reed Glass Co., 1934
Second off page milk bottles left to right:
Sun Valley Dairy, half gallon, Highland Park, Illinois, Liberty Glass Co., 1965
Unmarked, gallon, Liberty Glass Co., 1961
Pictured above is the only red milk bottle. These were not actually used to sell milk but were a sample made by the Anchor Hocking Glass Corporation of Lancaster, Ohio for the Borden Company in 1950. Borden decided not to use the bottle for milk sales however some of the bottles survived. The base of the bottle is embossed "Royal Ruby" and "Anchorglass" along with the anchor symbol of Anchor Hocking Glass. The base is also embossed with U.S Pat. No. 2,177,396. This patent was granted to John Watson on October 24, 1939 and was assigned to the Borden Company of New York, New York. The patent dealt with the neck and lip construction of the bottle with the goal to make a more rugged bottle that would stand up to heavy use as well as automated capping and washing machines. These bottles had a more short, squat shape than conventional milk bottles.
Thanks to American Bottle Auctions for the use of their picture. 
One will also find purple or amethyst tinted milk bottles. These milk bottles were not intended to be that color. Glass is naturally an aqua color with a blue-green tint. This was mainly due to iron impurities in the sand. In order to make the glass clear, glass makers bleached the glass with various chemicals. In the early 1900's manganese dioxide was the chemical used to bleach the glass. What the glass makers at that time did not know was that exposure to the UV light from the sun would cause the glass to turn a purple color. The main source of manganese was in Europe and when WWI broke out in 1914 glass manufacturers were unable to maintain a supply of manganese. Other chemicals had to be used to bleach the glass. Selenium was a common alternative but it will not cause the glass to turn purple. Thus the latest one will find purple colored bottles will be shortly after the start of WWI depending when a glass manufacturer's supply of manganese was depleted. We have bottles dated 1916 that have a strong purple color and it may be possible that some glass makers might have had manganese available for a year or two after that.
Occasionally one will see very deep purple milk bottles (picture). These have been altered to get the purple color that dark. They have either been irradiated or placed under strong UV lights. Exposure to natural sun light will not change the color of the bottle to a deep purple. Often this is done to plain milk bottles in an attempt to increase their value.
Milk bottles left to right:
Fairfax Dairy, quart, Fairfax, California, Winslow Glass Co. (DeLaval), pre-1918
City Dairy, pint, Hanford, California, Illinois Pacific Glass Co., pre-1918
Millbrae California Milk Co., pint, San Francisco, California, manufacturer unknown., pre-1918
Wallace Dairy, pint, Ukiah, California, Illinois Pacific Glass Co., pre-1918
Off page milk bottle:
C.C.S.E., half pint, location unknown, Essex Glass Company, pre-1918 |
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