Antique Soda & Beer Bottles

Your Information Source For Pre-crown Sodas & Beers

Bottle Colors:

The color of glass is determined by impurities or coloring agents present when the glass is made.  Iron is the most common agent as it naturally occurs in much of the sand used to manufacture bottles.  The amount of iron will produce varying shades of green.  Very little iron will produce a light aqua shade and a lot of iron will produce an almost black color to the glass. Other additives will produce different colors.  For example, tin produces a white or milk glass.  Some additives act as decolorizing agent.  These additives produce a clear glass, however, this glass is often not as strong as some of the colored glasses.  Coloring and decolorizing agents are listed below in the color table.  

The color of a bottle has something to say about a bottle's age.  Colors used on soda and beer bottles have periods of use that are not reflective of the colors used in general.  For example, there are many clear pontiled bottles but try and find a true clear pontiled soda bottle.  

Some colors, such as canary yellow, are not known in soda and beer bottles.  Many colors were considered too costly to be used in the manufacture of the lowly soda or beer bottle.

The colors of glass used for soda and beer bottles also has a lot riding on tradition and regional preferences.  For example, the following table shows how many different deep blue soda and beer bottles were produced for Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley bottlers in five year increments:

Period Philadelphia Lehigh Valley
1845-1849 45 bottles 1 bottle
1850-1854 21 bottles 2 bottles
1855-1859 5 bottles 5 bottles
1860-1864 1 bottle 4 bottles
1865-1869 0 bottles 3 bottles
1870-1874 1 bottle 5 bottles
1875-1879 0 bottles 2 bottles

As you can see this blue color was basically phased out in Philadelphia by 1859 and at the same time was just becoming popular in the Lehigh Valley.  These two areas are a scant sixty miles apart and were well connected by railroads and canals.  The bottles were even manufactured by the same glass works.  Tradition and regional preferences dictated how soda and beer bottles were colored.

The following information on colors is based on my experience in researching soda and beer bottles.  The date ranges are for pre-crown soda and beer bottles only.  Most of these colors were used on other types of bottles for greater lengths of time.

Blue colors, circ: 1845-1905, (color agents: cobalt, copper)

This is the most sought after color by soda and beer collectors.  The colors range from a very light or powder blue to deep violet or purple blues.  The deeper and more purple the better.  The blue color was never popular in beer bottles although examples can be found.  The blue color greatly enhances the price of a soda or beer bottle.

Green colors, circ: 1750-1905, (color agents: iron, copper, chromium)

Green soda and beer bottles represent perhaps the greatest range of colors.  They range from yellow green and blue green, to olive green.  The colors can be very light to almost black.  As time progressed, the greens became more refined and by 1880 were either a yellow or Kelley  green.  After 1875 green was rarely used for soda and beer bottles.  In most applications were a dark color was desired, brown glass was used instead.

Brown colors, circ: 1844-1920, (color agents: carbon, nickel)

Brown is most often called amber by collectors and hues range from yellow to almost black.  The brown color never became popular for use in soda bottles in the pre-crown era.  It was used extensively in the bottling of beer as the dark color was thought to preserve the beer by blocking out the sun light.  There are less than ten different pontiled soda and beer bottles in this pure coloration, but many more with olive overtones.

Amethyst colors, circ: 1846-1865, (color agents: copper, gold, selenium)

The holy grail color for soda and beer bottle collectors!  Collectors commonly call this color puce, but it is truly shades of red or amethyst.  Most of these bottles date between 1846 and 1848.  However, there were a few produced during the 1850s and early 1860s.  There are less than twenty American soda and beer bottles in this coloration and they are rare and pricey.

Aqua colors, circ: 1830-1920, (color agent, iron)

By far the most common color in soda and beer bottles.  Most likely 85% of all pre-crown bottles are this color.  Aqua colors can have green or blue tints, which is caused by small amounts of iron or other metals in the sand.  This color was rarely used for soda and beer bottles before 1848 but some examples exist.  Aqua colors were more popular in the Midwest than in the Eastern part of the country in pontiled soda and beer bottles. 

Clear colors, circ: 1890-1920, (color agent, lead, magnesium, selenium)

Clear glass bottles almost always have a tint of pink, aqua, or gray.  A clarifying agent was added to the glass to make it clear.  Clear glass displays a bottle's contents best, but early clear glass was not as durable as glass in other colors.  Therefore, it is often damaged with dings or cracks. Most clear pre-crown soda and beer bottles will turn a lovely shade of pink, called sun-colored amethyst, with a prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light.