Green Vintage Bottles

People everywhere and from all walks of life are interested in collecting vintage bottles. People love these bottles because of their colorful shapes and their connection to days gone by. They are a reminder of our past history when things were much different than they are today, and as such are charming and intriguing to many.

There are many types of bottles to collect, milk bottles, ink bottles, vintage perfume bottles, poison bottles, fruit jars, soda bottles just to name a few. Whiskey bottles, wine bottles, medicine bottles, are a few more.

Highly prized are vintage and antique perfume bottles for their exquisite beauty. Among the vintage perfume bottles there are many themes to collect, such as Lalique, Baccarat, Avon, Elizabeth Arden and so on. Your theme for your collection can even be holiday bottles, spring bottles, or Christmas bottles. There are almost endless ways to build your collection.

Other vintage bottle collectors do the same within their chosen field of interest, whether they only collect bottles from their home town or county, only collect medicine bottles or focus solely on Jim Beam whiskey bottles.

Are you perhaps interested in starting a collection? Or do you have a bottle or two that you are looking to identify out of curiosity to see what you have? The best thing to do is to go to the library and look up some bottle guides there. If they have them this saves you having to buy them. If you are wanting to become a hobbyist or serious collector, you will eventually wan to buy your own guides, but for a casual inquiry on one or two bottles there should not be a need to purchase one of these books.

Don’t forget to search the Internet in an effort to identify your bottles. The Internet is a good and useful resource. Here is a website that you may find helpful. It is the Historic Glass Bottle Identification and Information Website and it contains information about utilitarian bottles and jars produced in the United States (and Canada) between the early 1800s and 1950s.  You may also get more information from this site on vintage bottles.

Vintage glass bottles come in all shapes and sizes. Very few of them are identical as they were mostly hand made. Many have flaws in them such as bubbles which make them unique. Briefly, the following characteristics will determine the value and rarity of a bottle:

- The age of the bottle. Bottles made before 1870 had lips that were hand made. The lips of these bottles are often uneven and crude looking. These bottles will also have a mark on the bottom where the rod was attached to hold the bottle while the lip was being formed.

- The color of the bottle is important. The highest value colors are yellow and olive greens, cobalt and teal blues, yellow, purple and greens. Black glass is most likely the earliest form of American glass, as the black color kept the contents of the bottle from spoiling. “Black” glass also refers to dark amber and olive-amber colors.

- Design or embossing. These marks are important as they can be a clue to the date the bottle was made, the producer, and where the bottle was made.

- Condition of the bottle. If the bottle is cracked, chipped or scratched it can devalue its worth. If the bottle has a label and the label is soiled, discolored, blotchy, or disfigured it can also lower the value of the bottle.

- Category of the bottle. This is the bottle type such as medicine bottle, vintage perfume bottle, ink bottle, milk bottle, etc.

- Packaging and labels. If your bottle comes with packaging or labels, it should not be torn or disfigured in any way. Nor should it be discolored, blotchy, or stained. If the label or packaging is not in good condition it will devalue the piece.

Before you purchase a vintage bottle from anyone remember to do your research on the bottle. This is the most important thing you can do as a buyer. Ask questions and make sure the pictures are detailed. Avoid impulse buys, as you will not have researched such buys adequately.

You will find vintage bottles for sale in many places such as flea markets, yard sales, garage sales, thrift shops, antique stores and malls, and in online auctions such as eBay. You can search through your own home in your attic, your garage, your laundry room, kitchen and any old sheds that you might have. You never know where the old vintage bottles will turn up.

Some people go on special bottle digs. These people are called diggers. They usually scout out the landscape ahead of time and then ask permission from the land owner to dig in the spot they think looks promising. If you decide to dig, make sure to pay attention to the other items that come out of the dig with the bottles, if you dig up plastic with the bottles, this is not a good sign that the bottle you find there will be vintage.

Some vintage perfume bottles are worth several hundreds, even several thousands of dollars. Other types of vintage bottles fetch nice prices too. Whether you are collecting for the love of the forgotten everyday object from yesteryear, or for the monetary value of the vintage bottles you will not be disappointed.