This bottle is described by Bill and Betty Wilson in "Spirits Bottles of the
Old West," 19th Century Hobby and Publishing Co., Eau Gallie, Florida, 1968,
on pages 70 and 71.  On page 70, there are pictures of two variations of
this bottle, one that sounds like your description, and a second bottle with
slightly different embossing.  Neither variant shows the German address
embossed on your bottle.  The bottles have at least (can't see the reverse
side of the bottle in the picture) one wide chamfered surface, so that it
gives the appearance of a multi-sided bottle.  The Wilsons also state that
the bottles contained the cordial, Kummel.  Hope this is useful.

Allen Vegotsky
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-----Original Message-----
From: Robin Mills <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 5:51 PM
Subject: GILKA bottles


Histarch,

We have a found a number of bottle fragments in an early 20th century town
site in northern interior Alaska with "GILKA" embossed on the body. The
bottle's attributes are distinct:

+a distinctive dark green color
+a whittled surface
+a paneled body
+a "short brandy" finish with bead; appears to be an applied lip


I have been unable to find this bottle referenced in any of the usual
published bottle sources. Online (worldwideweb) sources indicate the
following data:

+The complete embossing for this bottle, found on the body, reads: "J. A.
GILKA \ O. SCHUTZEN ? STRASSE 9" (www.bottlebooks.com).
+Manufactured by J.A. Gilka, of Berlin, Germany
+The bottle contained a well-regarded brand of kummel, that is, a sweet,
colorless liqueur (www.webtender.com; www.foodsubs.com).
+According to one online source (www.bottlebooks.com), these bottles are
"quite common" on early 20th century sites in the United States, and also
notes that the name "Gilka", although in use for centuries, was a name not
used in modern commerce until 1914.


(1) Has anybody else found this bottle (i.e., references)?
(2) Can any of the above online data be confirmed?
(3) The shape of the bottle at this time is unknown to us. 4-sided,
6-sided?
(4) Chronology of the manufacturer or specifically the bottle?
(5) Simply, is there one suite of embossing per bottle, or multiple (re:
determining MNI based upon embossing overlap)?
(6) Base information (shape; embossing; etc.)?

Thanks for reading this far. Best,

Robin Mills
Archaeologist
BLM-NFO
Fairbanks, AK