...could this refer to the European custom of wrapping bottles in a
wicker-like covering, like a basket?  Did you ever find an answer?  I've
kept this in my inbox because I'm curious!
 
VivianLea Stevens
 
RCL wrote:
>
> I've run across an advert for bottled mineral water from 1870.  It offers
> "...200 baskets - quarts and pints - ..."  Can anyone explain "baskets" in
> this sense?  I'd infer that it's used as we would use "cases".  But were
> they really "baskets" as we know them?  And is there any way to tell how
> MANY quarts or pints to the "basket"?
>
> Robert C. Leavitt