2013.005

Lukacs, Claire

Gift

Museum Collections. Gift of a Friend of the Museum.

1906 - 1914

Date: 1906-1914

Notes: http://dairyantiques.com/Milk_Bottle_Makers.html Empire Bottle & Supply Company We mentioned at the top of the page that this list was based on companies that advertised themselves as milk bottle manufacturers and based on that criteria Empire is part of the list. Their ads stated "Manufacturers of Flint Milk Bottles" however we believe they were only jobbers or resellers of milk bottles made for them by other glass factories. Charles T. Nightingale was the president and founder of the Empire Bottle and Supply Company. Nightingale's first company selling milk bottles was the Climax Stopper and Bottle Company of New York, New York. It was incorporated in May of 1890 and resold milk bottles made by other companies. Nightingale was granted a patent in 1898 for the first square milk bottle that is found embossed CLIMAX on its base. The company also sold round milk bottles that are found with the same CLIMAX embossing. Around 1898 Nightingale sold his interest in the Climax Stopper and Bottle Company to Albert Hamilton of the J.T & A. Hamilton Company and the company was renamed the Climax Bottle and Manufacturing Company. Soon after Charles Nightingale started the Empire Bottle and Supply Company which was also located in New York City. He was granted a second patent on August 13, 1901 for a bowling pin shaped milk bottle. Even though this was only a design patent and the difference in the milk bottle was only ornamental, Nightingale marketed the patent well and earned Empire milk bottles a good reputation. This patent date and the word EMPIRE or KEYSTONE are found embossed on the base of these milk bottles. Empire Bottle and Supply Company also sold conventional milk bottles without this patent date. Empire contracted with the Essex Glass Company and the Poughkeepsie Glass Works to manufacture their milk bottles for them. In 1910 Empire Bottle and Supply Company signed a five year contract with the Poughkeepsie Glass Works for all of the output of their factory. Poughkeepsie soon ran into financial trouble and in 1913 was negotiating with Empire to lease their glass factory. They almost became a true milk bottle manufacturer. This deal appears to have failed though and may have been the down fall of Empire Bottle and Supply Company itself. In 1913 Empire failed to pay the Essex Glass Company for merchandise and soon found itself being sued by Essex. After 1914 Empire Bottle and Supply Company seems to have disappeared. Empire Bottle and Supply Company bottles usually have EMPIRE embossed on them. This can be found on the base in conjunction with the 1901 patent date or alone on the heel of the milk bottle. The Empire Bottle and Supply Company trademarked the word EMPIRE for use on milk and cream bottles in 1911. They claimed use of the word since August of 1901 which would have been the same month the patent was granted. However since the bottles were made by another company one will often find the E4 mark of the Essex Glass Company or the P-3 embossing of the Poughkeepsie Glass Works or one of these company's state seals. Empire Bottle and Supply Company also trademarked the words "EROX" and "ESSX" for use on milk bottles but we have never found a milk bottle with that embossing. Empire Bottle and Supply Company furnished a 1000 dollar bond to the state of Wisconsin to register the number 17 as their seal in that state. Essex Glass Company Essex Glass Company was started in 1906, a 1914 ad said they had been making machine made milk bottles exclusively for eight years. Another 1914 ad said they were the sole owners of the rights for the United States for the manufacture of milk bottles with the O'Neill Semi-Automatic Blowing Machine. Rex Lamb was involved in the management of the company and would start the Lamb Glass Company some years later. The company remained in business until September 2, 1919 when a large deal involving five glass manufacturers was struck and it was purchased by the Thatcher Manufacturing Company. The company had factories at Mt. Vernon, Ohio (2), Parkersburg, West Virginia, Dunkirk, New York and Fairmont, Indiana. One of the Mt. Vernon factories and the Parkersburg factory came from Essex Glass Company's take over of the Standard Milk Bottle Manufacturing Company in 1913. In 1914 the company advertised that they had purchased land for a third factory in Mt. Vernon but this third Mt. Vernon factory was never mentioned again in future ads. The Dunkirk factory was started in 1915 and the Fairmont factory a year later. Essex's Fairmont, Indiana factory had previously been the milk bottle factory of the Bell Bottle Company. Essex Glass Company actually advertised that prior to October of 1916 they were going to acquire a site for a sixth factory but we don't believe this came to happen. None the less the company showed exceptional growth, however some of the reason for the new factories was the lack of a reliable gas supply in Mt. Vernon. At one point the company was planning on closing the Mt. Vernon factories due to the lack of natural gas but the town convinced them to stay. In it's first year Essex produced 40,000 gross of milk bottles. In 1914, prior to the Dunkirk factory opening, output was 150,000 gross of bottles per year. Completion of the Dunkirk factory was to push output to 200,000 gross of milk bottles per year. Essex claimed that the output of the Fairmont factory was 500 gross per day. The company advertised it's milk bottle business heavily in the late teens and prominently displayed its makers mark of E4 which it said would be found on the front, lower edge of the bottle. They used the slogan "The" Milk Bottle. They advertised four shapes of milk bottles that they made called the B, M, K and X-shape. Essex Glass Company used E as their Mass. seal and E-4 as their Maine, Minnesota and Michigan seal and 4E as their Wisconsin seal. They registered the number 4 in New Jersey and New York. Essex Glass Company manufactured milk bottles for the Empire Bottle & Supply Company of New York and Blanke Manufacturing & Supply Company of St. Louis. Both these companies were jobbers or resellers of milk bottles. Status: OK Status By: dw Status Date: 2013-02-25