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Unusual Shaped Milk Bottles
These are Blake-Hart milk bottles. They were named after the patent holders Harry H. Hart and Irva J. Blake of Sacramento, California. Harry Hart owned restaurants. Sacramento city directories in the 1920's listed his business as Hart's Lunch. Irva Blake owned a dairy, named Blake's Dairy, in Sacramento. Sacramento city directories in the 1920's listed his business under the heading of "Creameries" and showed two addresses, one on L Street and another on 7th Street. Both men utilized Blake-Hart milk bottles at their businesses.
On July 12, 1927 they received a patent for their square milk bottle. The patent papers state that the square bottle will allow the bottles to be stored in a minimum of space and the flat sides will offer more contact surface to restrain movement. The patent papers also describe the bottom of the bottle as having a vacuum cup. They suggest that vacuum could be used on filling machines to hold the bottles more firmly. Even without external vacuum they suggest that if the bottle is full of cold milk a slight, natural vacuum will be created in the cup to hold the bottle more firmly to the surface it is setting on.
This was not the first patent for a square milk bottle. Charles T. Nightingale was issued a design patent on November 15, 1898 for a square glass milk bottle. Three years later he would also patent the bowling pin shaped milk bottle.
The Blake-Hart milk bottles are very heavy glass and often have a heart embossed with a milk bottle and the word Blake inside it and the word Trademark below it. In addition to the quart, pint and half pint sizes pictured here these milk bottles are also found in a third quart and quarter pint size. Most of these bottles are embossed with the patent number and patent date although some bottles will be embossed PAT. APPD. FOR. Presumably these milk bottles date prior to 1927. We have seen one Blake-Hart milk bottle from Blake's Dairy with a date code of December, 1925. The Blake-Hart milk bottle used by most dairies was a slug plate design, utilizing a rectangular slug plate. However some dairies, such as Blake's Dairy and Golden State Milk Products Company, used private molds for their Blake-Hart bottles. Private molds allowed embossing on the sides and back of the bottle. The Blake-Hart quart milk bottles from Blake's Dairy that are marked PAT. APPD. FOR are highly embossed. They have embossing on all four sides of the bottle and the base. Blake used the slogan "Milk that is Milk" on these bottles as well as his name in script. His later bottles that include the patent date are not as highly embossed.
We believe that these Blake-Hart milk bottles were only manufactured by the Illinois Pacific Glass Corporation and possibly its successors. The bottles that are embossed PAT. APPD. FOR, in our observations, do not have a glass makers mark although we believe they were made by the Illinois Pacific Glass Corporation. The bottles that are embossed with the patent number and date generally will have the IPG in a triangle mark of Illinois Pacific Glass Corporation.
Blake-Hart milk bottles are usually found from California dairies but some out of state ones do exist. Notice that on the bottle pictured on the right above the "Z" in SANTA CRUZ is backwards. When the molds were made the writing had to do done in reverse so that it would come out correctly on the finished bottle. Could this have been a mistake on the mold maker's part? Mold engraving errors were not unheard of. Click here for a picture of a mold error that made it in to production. The correct embossing was MOSS-ROSE like the bottle on the left however the bottle on the right was embossed MOSS-ROSS. One wonders if the mold maker made a mistake or if the order sheet was filled out wrong and the mold maker engraved the mold according to the specifications he had.
The following California dairies used Blake-Hart milk bottles:
Blake's Dairy, Sacramento
Blue Bird Creamery Inc, Riverside
Campbell's Creamery Inc., San Diego
Central Dairy Delivery, Modesto
Costa Bros. Creamery, Mill Valley
Crescent Milk Company, Oroville
Ellis Dairy, Vallejo
Golden State Milk Products Company/Golden State Company Ltd.
Hart's, Sacramento
Meadow View Dairy, Calistoga
Mission Creameries - Orange, Grape Fruit, Lemon Juice
Mojave Valley Creamery, Barstow
Pioneer Creamery Company, Stockton
Sadler's Dairy, Santa Cruz
Scott's Dairy, Hanford
Snell's Dairy, Victorville
The Holstein Dairy, Santa Maria
Ukiah Dairy, Ukiah
Milk bottles left to right:
Blake's Dairy, quart, Sacramento, California, Illinois Pacific Glass Corp., 1928-1929
Golden State Milk Products Co., pint, California, Illinois Pacific Glass Corp., 1930
Sadler's Dairy, half pint, Santa Cruz, California, Illinois Pacific Glass Corp., 1926
Off page milk bottles left to right:
Del Monte Creameries Moss Rose, Monterey, California, Illinois Pacific Glass Co., 1913
Del Monte Creameries Moss Ross, Monterey, California, Owens-Illinois, 1934
 Here are three types of unusually shaped California milk bottles. The first two milk bottles are from Adohr Farms and are grenade shaped. Adohr was located in southern California and advertised itself as the world's largest herd of Guernsey cows. The company was started in 1916 by Merritt and Rhoda Adamson. The name Adohr actually came form spelling the name Rhoda backwards. These bottles are pyroglazed on the neck and embossed on the body ADOHR GOLDEN GUERNSEY. The first bottle has a cap seat and the second bottle has a Dacro style lip. Both are half pints. Adohr also made a bulb shaped quart bottle. Adohr Farms also produced certified milk, which was milk processed to higher standards, and these certified milk bottles can be found with their name. Adohr was known for its advertising slogan "Adohr-able milk for Adohr-able babies".
 The third and fourth milk bottles shown above are from Arden Farms, which was also located in southern California. Arden Farms was started by Edward Robbins in 1904 and was the first certified milk dairy in California. These bottles had a long straight neck to make it easier to grip. They are found embossed and pyroglazed. These milk bottles were patented by Troy D. Lewis of Glendale, California on January 9, 1940. The patent was assigned to Arden Farms Inc. of Los Angles, California (although the patent papers state Arden Farms was a corporation of Maryland). The patent was a design patent for an ornamental design of a milk bottle with no claims made for the bottle itself. These milk bottles are sometimes referred to as the Lewis Easy Grip milk bottle. The patent number is embossed on the base of the bottles. Shown above are a pyroglazed pint and half pint. We have seen this bottle in sizes up to a half gallon. The milk bottles shown above are WWII bottles with a label urging consumers to; "Speed Victory! Return this vitally needed bottle as soon as empty". Certified milk bottles from Arden Dairy are also very collectible.
 The last bottle is unique in that it is shaped like a ten gallon milk can. It even has handles molded in the sides. The front of the bottle has 3 carnations as pictured above and the rear of the bottle is pyroglazed "Fresh From Contented Cows". This milk bottle was made by the Carnation Company for use in the Brown Derby restaurants of southern California. The exterior of this milk bottle has a frosted texture and it uses a Dacro style cap. Carnation Company started in business in 1899 in Kent, Washington under the vision of Elbridge Stuart producing condensed milk. The "Contented Cows" slogan was adopted by Carnation Company in 1906. Carnation Company's first plant in California was a condensery in Gustine, California that opened in 1921. Their first fresh milk operation in the state started with the purchase of the American Creamery Company, based in Oakland, Richmond and Hayward, California in 1929. Later creameries were added in Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Stockton and Santa Clara.
Milk bottles left to right:
Adohr, half pint, Los Angeles, California, Owens-Illinois, 1954
Adohr, half pint, Los Angeles, California, Owens-Illinois, 1959
Arden, pint, Los Angeles, California, Owens-Illinois, 1943
Arden, half pint, Los Angeles, California, Owens-Illinois, 1947
Carnation, half pint, Los Angeles, California, Owens-Illinois, 1967
The two bottles in the above picture are from Chattanooga, Tennessee. The size is not marked on the bottle but they measure out to about a third of a quart. The tops of the bottles take a crown type cap. The amber bottle is for a product called Bul-Ga-Lac. The bottle is embossed MUST BE KEPT COLD. We have no idea what this was. The second, aqua bottle is embossed Clover Leaf Dairy Co. and has a clover leaf listing their products (cream, butter, fruit, ices, bread, pure milk and ice cream). One wonders if Bul-Ga-Lac was also made by Clover Leaf Dairy Co.
Milk bottles left to right:
Bul-Ga-Lac, third quart, Chattanooga, Tennessee, maker and date unknown
Clover Leaf Dairy Co., third quart, Chattanooga, Tennessee, maker and date unknown
The milk bottles pictured above are described as bowling pin milk bottles since they are narrower at the base than at the shoulder. This style of bottle is often found with the word EMPIRE or KEYSTONE embossed on the base. Both will have the same patent date of August 13, 1901. This design patent was issued to Charles T. Nightingale of Chicago, Illinois and half the patent was assigned to the Empire Bottle & Supply Company of New York, New York. The shapes of the Empire and Keystone milk bottles are slightly different so one wonders how they could both be covered by the same patent. Our guess is that the patent was general enough in describing the shape of the bottle that both bottles could be covered by the same patent. This was a design patent so it only related to the looks of the bottle where as a utility patent would relate to how the bottle functioned. The patent only refers to a continuous and uniform curve of the body of the bottle into the base and the shoulder. There are no actual dimensions or other functions discussed in the patent. This was not Charles Nightingale's first milk bottle patent. He also received a patent on November 15, 1898 for a square glass milk bottle.
The milk bottle on the far right has a slightly different shape and is embossed with an October 18, 1898 patent date. This patent was issued to Robert Burnett who was the owner and manager of Deerfoot Farm in Southborough, Massachusetts. He used this milk bottle exclusively on his farm. This bottle does have a cap seat.
We have seen bowling pin shaped milk bottles from quarter pint up to half gallon in size. Because of the smaller base these milk bottles were not as stable as straight sided milk bottles when used on bottle fillers and other equipment. That probably explains why they tend to be earlier bottles and are not as common.
Milk bottles left to right:
Model Dairy W. F. Casady (etched), quart, Watsonville, California, Hart Manufacturing Co., approx. 1918
A. Rosa & Co., pint, Oakland, California, Essex Glass Co., pre-1920
Guadaloupe Dairy Co., Pint, San Francisco, California, manufacturer unknown, pre-1920
F.T.B. (etched), quarter pint, Carmel, California, manufacturer unknown, pre-1918
Deerfoot Farm, quart, Southborough, Massachusetts, Lockport Glass Co., early 1900's 
Some dairies used unusually shaped bottles to promote their milk or even special lines of milk. This was especially true for Guernsey milk. Dairies wanted the consumer to identify the shape of the bottle with the quality of the product. Guernsey milk was known for its deep cream line and golden color thus it commanded a greater price. The first bottle on the left is a squat pint from Troutmere Guernsey Farm in La Honda Cannon, California. The second and third bottles are both half pints from United Milk Company of San Francisco, California. The second, squat milk bottle was for their Golden Guernsey milk and the regular half pint next to it was for their Bossy Brand, which was not breed specific.
The last milk bottle was used by Safeway stores to sell their milk. Rather than a round bottle it is 6 sided or hexagonal. Safeway used the brand name Lucerne for their milk. Safeway was formed in 1926 but the Lucerne name started in 1904. In that year the Lucerne Cream and Butter Company was formed in Hanford, California. They sold milk to Safeway until 1929 when they were purchased by the chain and became its private brand. Safeway used this distinctive bottle shape to identify their milk to shoppers. Safeway still sells milk under the Lucerne brand today. Lucerne is another name for alfalfa, a major source of forage for dairy cows.
Milk bottles left to right:
Troutmere Guernsey Farm, pint, La Honda Cannon, California, Berney-Bond Glass Company, 1925
United Milk Co. Golden Guernsey, half pint, San Francisco, California, Illinois Pacific Glass Co., 1921
United Milk Co. Bossy Brand, half pint, San Francisco, California, Owens-Illinois, 1934
Lucerne (Safeway), half pint, California, Owens-Illinois, 1936 
Rather than being smooth glass, the milk bottles pictured above are a ribbed or paneled design. These bottles are not as common as the smooth glass milk bottles. Early Borden's milk bottles were like this. These bottles are usually composed of 22 or 24 flat panels that form the bottle. These bottles are only found embossed since pyroglazing requires a smooth surface. The second and third bottles are the only two California bottles with an embossed eagle and interestingly both are panel designs.
Milk bottles left to right:
Suburban Dairy, L. McGugin & Sons, quart, Fresno, California, Illinois Pacific Glass Company, 1922
Eagle Creamery Co., quart, Richmond, California, Essex Glass Company, pre-1920
Eagle Dairy, A. Borba, pint, Woodland, California, maker and date unknown
Paradise Dairy Co., half pint, Los Banos, California, Pacific Coast Glass Company, 1931 
Pictured above are two types of unique, patented milk bottles. The two milk bottles on the left are called token milk bottles. The shoulder of the bottle has a round pocket or slot. These milk bottles were patented by Edwin Alexander of Kansas City, Missouri on September 22, 1925. In the patent papers, Mr. Alexander explains that it is common for restaurants to serve milk to their guests in the original container. However the milk cap, which indicates the grade of milk and the dairy that produced it, is often removed and the customer has no knowledge of the milk's quality or source. The idea behind this bottle was that the cap, once removed, could be inserted into this pocket on the bottle shoulder so the customer could view this information. In reality most of the milk bottles that are embossed with this patent date will have a small metal token in the pocket. The token is usually about an inch and a quarter in diameter (about the size of a 50 cent piece) and smaller than the milk cap. The token usually has the name of the dairy or brand of milk stamped on it. Advertising could also be inserted behind the token so that it could be viewed by looking through the back of the milk bottle.
In 1929 The Lamb Glass Company of Mt. Vernon, Ohio advertised that they were licensed to sell these milk bottles and referred to them as the "Gold Seal" milk bottle. Only one dairy in a city was allowed to use the bottle and they had to qualify based on producing quality dairy products. How quality was determined is not clear. At some point other glass companies must have produced these milk bottles as we have seen token milk bottles made by other glass manufacturers. These milk bottles are found in quarter pint, half pint, pint and quart sizes. The only California creamery that used token milk bottles that we know of was Lakeview Creamery Company of Los Angeles.
The two milk bottles on the right are examples of a unique cone shaped glass milk bottle. Compare it to the conventional shape of the token milk bottles on the left. The shoulder of this bottle tapers from the bottle body to the lip in a straight line rather than having a curve to the shoulder. This bottle shape was granted a design patent on May 28, 1929 for its ornamental design. The inventor was Henry Kart of Buffalo, New York. Henry Kart owned a dairy in Buffalo, New York and the quart milk bottle pictured above is embossed with his dairy name. Henry Kart referred to his milk products as Sanitarian Dairy Products and one wonders if he shaped his milk bottles similar to wax cone milk containers which were advertised as being more sanitary. In advertisements for Kart's Milk they referred to this milk bottle as the Strate bottle. Kart claimed it was more sanitary since it was easier to clean and that it also attracted the attention of customers.
The patent papers showed a milk bottle that had a crown lip like the quart bottle shown above but the bottles can also be found with a conventional cap seat like the half pint bottle pictured above. We have seen a September, 1933 advertisement for The Strate Side Bottle Company of Buffalo, New York that promoted these milk bottles. They claimed that various large bottle companies would manufacture the bottles if a small royalty was paid to The Strate Side Bottle Company. They stressed sanitation and reduced bottle loss due to the distinctive shape as the advantages. They claimed that the bottle could be used with existing equipment and it could be capped with any standard cap or hood. Presumably Henry Kart started The Strate Side Bottle Company to increase the income form his patent. One dairy even utilized this bottle patent in a green milk bottle (picture). These milk bottles are often embossed with the patent number as well as the patent date. We have seen them in half pint, pint and quart sizes.
Milk bottles left to right:
Colvert's Selected Milk, half pint, Ardmore, Oklahoma, Liberty Glass Co., date unknown
Sorge's Selected Milk, quart, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Lamb Glass Co., date unknown
Henry Kart Inc. Sanitarian Dairy Products, quart, Buffalo, New York, Reed Glass Company, 1934
Fikes Dairy, half pint, Meyersdale, Pennsylvania, Thatcher Manufacturing Co., 1934
Off page milk bottle:
Alta Crest Farms, quart, Spencer, Massachusetts, Reed Glass Company, 1934
Even though this is a bail top milk bottle we listed it here because it is unusual in that it is not made of glass but rather stoneware. This is the only dairy we know of that used a stoneware milk bottle. Mackworth is a small island, about 100 acres, that sits off the coast of Maine. In the late 1800's Jersey cows grazed on the island and the milk and cream was bottled in these stoneware bottles and shipped to the mainland to be sold. The milk bottle pictured above is a half pint but they are also found in pint and quart sizes. |
