To Dylan Stapleton

      You really need to go back and reread what Toulouse has written about
the Illinois Glass Company.  He presents a five-page summary of the
Illinois Glass Company history.  In it he shows earlier marks and dates the
company as beginning in 1873 and lasting until it is merged with Owens to
form the Owens-Illinois Glass Company in 1929.  You question "Could these
three references be mixing up two different companies that happened to have
the same trademark for a while?"  suggests that you have not read Toulouse
closely.  The beginning and end dates in Toulouse match those in the Bob
Snyder book.  The odds that there were two Illinois Glass Companies both in
business from 1873 to 1929 that used the same trademark must be greater
than the odds of any lottery you might care to play.

      Julian Toulouse worked in the glass industry from the 1920s and
during WWII I believe he was part of the War Industry Planning Board
dealing with the allocation of resources.  He probably had better contacts
in the glass industry than anyone has ever had and his book Bottle Makers
and Their Marks has many references to the people who gave him the
information on the dates of the various marks.  Toulouse could be wrong on
the 1900 to 1916 date for the "IG Co." in a diamond mark, but that would be
up to you to prove.  If you had that mark from a very well documented
context from before 1900 you would have a case.  Earlier dates than 1900
probably cannot be proved by a bottle book that does not provide citation
as to how they got the mark.

I am still curious about the bottle you recovered.  Is it machine-made or
mouth-blown?  Does it have an Owens suction scar?