Along with Allen's angle about the contents of the bottle, another important issue is
the closure.  Carbonation added an additional problem.  Some soda and mineral
water bottles, notably those closed with Cod stoppers or Hutchinson stoppers
(beginning in 1880), were filled upside down.  In both cases, the pressure from the
carbonated water forced the internal stopper into the bottle, then gravity sealed the
drink after filling.

Prior to those, the filling was usually gravity fed, but the problem was how to close
the bottle.  Carbonation creates a lot of pressure (that was the main reason early
carbonated soft drink bottles were made from such thick glass--it was not until the
Owens-Illiois Glass Co. developed the Duraglas processs that thinner glass could
withstand the strain) and would blow the cork if it were not quickly and efficiently tied
down.  Corks were generally driven into the bore of the bottle with a large, wooden
mallet.  They then had to be tied down fairly quickly, or the carbonation would pop
the cork.  I suspect that non-carbonated liquids were sealed the same way (mallet)
but were not tied in.

Corks provided another problem, too.  If they dried out, they would no longer seal,
and the carbonation would escape.  Some bottles were made with round or pointed
bases (collectors call the latter "torpedos") so that they could not be stored upright.

Bill

----------------------
> I know there's all sorts of information available about bottle
> manufacture in the nineteenth century. Does anyone have
> references/information regarding how bottles were FILLED? I'm
> particularly interested in the period 1850 - 1880.
>
> Robert Leavitt

Bill Lockhart
New Mexico State University
Alamogordo, NM
(505) 439-3732