Bob and List,

        Below are the references I was able to find.  I realize that
Alan already noted the Jane Busch article, but I wanted to be
thorough. Bob's questions should stir up some concern among us.  Not
only are returnable bottles often underrepresented in the
archaeological record, they are probably some of the most dateable of
containers. According to my research, more than 90% of all returnable
soda bottles are out of use withing about six years from manufacture.
 The shelf life (either in the store or at home--or both) of many
bottled articles is much longer than that.  Because of that,
returnables may be our most datable artifacts.  I am still working on
reasonable figures for beer and milk bottles.  The entire business
dynamics are different in the three major returnable bottle
industries.

        Because the bottling company actually owned the bottles (consumers
bought the drink *not * the bottle it came in), they were required to
return deposits on bottles regardless of condition.  In the early
1970s, when I worked as a route salesman for Pespi-Cola in the
Washington, DC, area, we routinely collected broken empties from
grocery stores and other sources.  When we collected enough to forma a
full "breaker case," we turned them in to the company for full credit.

        I also remembered two other sources for bottle reuse (rather than
returnable bottle returns) and will e-mail them to the list if anyone
is interested when I return from our Spring Break (hooray!!!) on
April 1.

        Although returnable bottle use is almost a thing of the past, a few
hearty bottlers still sell their product in them.  The Mathews
article (below) is about the end of 6.5 oz. returnable bottles in the
US.  Those have become impossible for bottlers to find--not enough
demand, so the glass houses have stopped making them.  One company in
New Mexico buys its returnables from Mexico.  The Coca-Cola Bottling
Company of Deming (New Mexico) still uses 16-ounce bottles for Coke,
Sprite, and Dr Pepper.

Bill Lockhart

Anonymous
 2000 "Getting Back the Empty Bottles."  The Milk Route 239:3. [from
 The
Milk Dealer 1927]

Anonymous
 2000c "A Carload of 'Pasteurized Milk Advertising' for $200." The
 Milk
Route 237:2-3. [from The Milk Dealer 1936]

Busch, Jane
 1991 "Second Time Around:  A Look at Bottle Reuse." In Approaches to
Material Culture Research for historical Archaeologists, pp. 113-126.
Society for Historic Archaeology, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Dept. of Commerce
 1977 Carbonated Soft Drink Bottles.  Department of Commerce,
 Washington, DC.

Lockhart, Bill
 2000 Bottles on the Border:  The History and Bottles of the Soft
 Drink
Industry in El Paso, Texas, 1881-2000.  Townsend Library, New Mexico
State University at Alamogordo.
http://alamo.nmsu.edu/~lockhart/EPSodas/

 2001 Just Who in the Heck is Lula, Anyway? The Alamogordo, New
 Mexico,
Carbonated Beverage Industry and Its Bottles.  Townsend Library, New
Mexico State University at Alamogordo.
http://alamo.nmsu.edu/~lockhart/AlamoSod/index.html

 2001 You Can Whip Our Cream, But You Can't Beat Our Milk: The Dairies
 of
Otero County, New Mexico, 1889 to 1977.  Townsend Library, New Mexico
State University at Alamogordo.
http://alamo.nmsu.edu/~lockhart/AlamoSod/index.html

Matthews, Blair
 2002 "The End of an Era: Jefferson City Bottling Plant Discontinues
 6.5 oz
Glass Coke Bottle Line."  Soda Pop Dreams Magazine 5(2):9.

Paul, John R. and Paul W. Parmalee
 1973 Soft Drink Bottling:  A History with Special Reference to
 Illinois.
Illinois State Museum Society, Springfield, Ill.

Woodroof, Jasper Guy and G. Frank Phillips
 1974 Beverages:  Carbonated and Uncarbonated.  AVI Publishing Co.,
Westport, Connecticut.



> Date:          Wed, 20 Mar 2002 13:47:02 -0500
> From:          "Robert L. Schuyler" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject:       Formal Reuse of Bottles (?)
> To:            [log in to unmask]
> Reply-to:      HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]>

> Does anyone on the list know of PUBLISHED sources, or unpublished papers,
> on the history and nature of the formal reuse of glass bottles? I am
> referring to the practice in the 20th century (19th century?) when bottles
> were systematically returned to the store or other original source. The two
> major categories I am familiar with are:
>
> (1) Soda bottles which were purchased (with part of the price considered
> a deposit) and then returned for money. This was a way many children
> made pocket money, especially with Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola bottles.
>
> (2) Milk bottles which were left out to be picked up by the milkman
> (sorry, I do not remember any milkwomen!) to be taken back to the local
> dairy to be refilled.
>
> Some questions:
>
>         (1) Are there other obvious categories beyond the two I listed above?
>
>         (2) When did such practices start?
>
>         (3) When did they end (if they have ended)?
>
>         (4) When did the phrase - "No Deposit No Return" - come into
> use?
>
>         Such practices have a major impact on the archaeological record
> of the 20th (19th?) century. For example, in recent excavations of 20th
> century deposits we found only one Coca Cola bottle and it was there
> because it had been broken.
>
>         I am after published (or at least formally written up) sources,
> either primary sources or work by researchers such as archaeologists,
> material culture experts or cultural historians. I would also be
> interested in personal knowledge you may have. You could either send
> such personal accounts to me off line or, if you want, share them with
> the list. This question would, I think, be of interert to many historical
> archaeologists.
>
>                                         Robert L. Schuyler
>
>
>
> Robert L. Schuyler
> University of Pennsylvania Museum
> 33rd & Spruce Streets
> Philadelphia, PA l9l04-6324
>
> Tel: (215) 898-6965
> Fax: (215) 898-0657
> [log in to unmask]
>