# Question about codd bottles.



## Sir.Bottles (Feb 28, 2014)

Well I'am not codd person. But there is some I'am curious about.-How to put the marble inside the codd bottles?-How to re seal a codd bottles?Somebody please HHeeeeelllllpppp me....


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## sandchip (Mar 1, 2014)

Well, they're rare as all get out since all the little girls used them in their doll houses, but to re-seal them, they made what looks like a tiny toilet plunger, that you inserted into the mouth of the bottle, stuck it to the marble, pulled upward against the O-ring until until the mini-plunger popped loose from the marble, leaving it sealed up nice and tight.


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## sandchip (Mar 1, 2014)

By the way and in all seriousness (my serious face, 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




), the marble was inserted after the bottle was made, then the O-ring or washer was inserted into the groove in the top.


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## cowseatmaize (Mar 1, 2014)

They were filled upside down I think and you waited for it to seal. As for the marble I'm not sure. The marbles don't come out even when the seal is missing so I suspect they were put it before the lip was applied. I have no clue with the ABM process.


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## sandchip (Mar 1, 2014)

Ruin it for me, will ya, Eric. [] I guess you could reseal them by putting your thumb over the top, inverting, shaking vigorously before turning it back upright.  I'd try that outside. Actually, I've never owned a Codd, although I saw one from a Georgia town once.  Had never heard of one before.  The top was knocked off and it looked like it had rolled down Stone Mountain, but the owner was as tickled to have it as if it was sparkling mint.


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## TROG (Mar 4, 2014)

The marble was inserted in the top section of the bottle before the top was applied in the earlier bottles and in later versions before they finished hand shaping the lip. There is a groove in the lip that takes a rubber ring. These bottles were filled upside down with nozzle holding the marble inside the neck and when the filling nozzle was removed the marble fell down on the rubber ring and as the bottle was turned upright the gas held the marble in place to seal.Hope this helpsDavid


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## Sir.Bottles (Mar 5, 2014)

cowseatmaize said:
			
		

> They were filled upside down I think and you waited for it to seal. As for the marble I'm not sure. The marbles don't come out even when the seal is missing so I suspect they were put it before the lip was applied. I have no clue with the ABM process.


You're thinking what I'am thinking. & yes I'am very curious for the machine made. From that point the marble will melt together don't you think? On something like this where is RED?? He usually have an explanation.


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## RED Matthews (Mar 7, 2014)

Guys, there are a lot of write-ups on Codd Bottles, I know I have put some in my GLASS MAKING document files.  If you email me - and ask I will try to find the files and see if I can send you some information.  They were made and used in many parts of the world.  I have one here in my bottle den. that was made by the RBCo  RICHMOND  BOTTLING  Co. - It is a light cobalt color and the top seal washer is missing.  I have some in NY also.  There values vary so much it isn't possible to set prices on them.  They are just a novelty. RED Matthews<bottle mysteries@yahoo.com>


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## RED Matthews (Mar 7, 2014)

One file I had a cc of here:Codd btl history.doc   3/27/11  A-BN FOURM thread by Woody.
 Hiram Codd and the Codd bottle 
 Hiram Codd, despite his American first name, was British. He worked all his life in the soft drinks industry. In the 1870s he designed and patented a system for keeping fizzy drinks in bottles with a glass marble stopper. When the bottle is filled, pressure in the bottle keeps the marble against a rubber washer at the top making a seal. To open the bottle, the marble is pressed down into the neck chamber. Many Codd bottles, as they are known, were broken by children in order to get hold of the marble - even though at one stage Codd patented an oval-shaped marble to make them less attractive to children. 

 The man who discovered how to manufacture carbonised mineral waters was Joseph Priestley in 1772. Jacob Schweppe was the most successful of the early producers, starting his Bristol business in 1794 using earthenware bottles. The problem with these bottles was the build-up of gas inside - the only way to stop the gas blowing out was to lay the bottles on their sides, which kept the cork wet. 

 The desire to be able to see what was inside the bottle led to the use of glass and William Hamilton's egg-shaped bottle was developed in 1840. This had to be laid on its side and so tended to roll off shelves and counters. The Hamilton bottle was eventually replaced by Codd's bottle, which could stand upright. 

 Hiram Codd worked at first with Harry Barrett in Camberwell in London. One problem with making his bottle was that the marble stopper had to be larger than the diameter of the neck of the bottle. It was in 1876, when he worked with a Barnsley glassblower, Dan Rylands, that Codd found the answer. They made the neck of the bottle in such a way that the ball was prevented from falling back into position when the bottled was emptied. The Codd bottle became standard in much of Europe and throughout the British Empire and went on being used until about 1930. 

 Hiram Codd died in 1887 and is buried in London's Brompton Cemetery.


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## RED Matthews (Mar 7, 2014)

Here is another one:
 CODDS Â§TUFF.


 This type of bottle takes its name from the inventor and patentee Hiram Codd, whom in 1872 patented a bottle for use in the aÃ«rated water trade. The bottle was unique; it would never need a cork inserted to form the closure because trapped in it's neck it had a glass ball or marble which could not leave the neck chamber, or perish. This allowed the bottle to be used many times without the expenditure of a cork. The bottle was filled under gas pressure forcing the marble into the lip where it met an India rubber washer retained in a groove. The marble was forced against the washer forming a perfect air tight seal.

 This invention was a great success and was adopted by nearly all companies manufacturing mineral waters at the time. The patent gave Hiram Codd some protection from people stealing his ideas but many marble-in-the-neck bottles appeared as glassworks realised they had to manufacture this type of bottle due to increased demand.
 This popularity and competition provides a rich legacy for the UK mineral water bottle collector. It has been estimated there are about 250 relevant patents registered between 1868 and 1907 but as well as variations of closures this includes lips, washer fittings, manufacturing tools, openers and filling methods. They were mainly manufactured in two sizes, capacity being 10oz and 6oz (splits) but you can find dumpy codds, jumbo codds, even giant codds whose capacities are all different.
 Rylands, a Barnsley Glass Bottlemaker introduced the "anti-theft" codd. This was an aqua bottle whose top or lip was made of a coloured glass to identify one particular company. Thanks to Dan Rylands, bottle collectors can find codds with blue, amber, brown, green and even red lips ! Other manufacturers produced codds with coloured marbles, and yet others provided codds whose glass was a colour other than aqua.
 The only real problems with this design were:
 The bottles were costly to produce and were rarely recycled as children smashed them to get free marbles.
 As legislation reared it's head hygiene became an issue. In the 1930â€™s Public Health Authorities complained that Codds and stoneware ginger-beer bottles were too difficult to clean and manufacturers were encouraged to produce simpler shaped bottles.
 As a result the Crown Top and Internal Thread bottles were developed to address these problems, this hastened the demise of the globe-stoppered bottle.
 In February 1887 Hiram Codd died but he left a lasting legacy in the form of his invention, The Codd Bottle and a phrase that is still used today "Codd's Wallop".

 RED M


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