At 01:21 PM 12/28/98 -0500, you wrote:
>
>Mike et al.
>
>On a trip to Tecate, Baja California one year (en route to the rock art site
>at La Rumarosa), I stopped at a liquor store for brew.  In a section of the
>store, was a rack of the local "white lightening" filled in all sorts of odd
>bottles.  It made me realize how this same sort of behaviour could have
>resulted in 1820s bottles re-used into the 1920s.
>
>Ron
 
 
This was quite common in the US until not too long ago.  Most reputable
bottle collector catalogs/publications include a caveat against using
markings impressed into the bottle at time of manufacture as a guide to
final contents.  It was apparently common to recycle a bottle, using your
own paper label to supercede the original markings.  I've seen one bottle
with the impression "Assure that every cork is branded Cantrell &
Cochrane".  That's a drinks firm, still in business in Cork and Dublin
(Ireland) known last century for its ginger-flavored soft drink. This was,
perhaps, to counter recyclers who would "forget" to use their own paper
labels.
 
I've heard, but been unable to trace down, reports that current
construction in San Francisco in the past few months has uncovered a bottle
recyclers yard.
 
Robert C. Leavitt