# National Fruit co ltd - art deco soda bottle



## RCO (Oct 6, 2020)

found this at an antique mall the other day , if you've seen my posts you know that I'm interested in this style of bottle and have several others in the exact same design . all of which are from Ontario , some are fairly common to find here but a few are more scarce .

but I hadn't ever seen one for the " National Fruit co ltd " before and price was very reasonable so I took it home . 

my research leads me to believe its from western Canada more specifically Saskatchewan , that seems to be where the National Fruit co ltd was based and operated . they must of also been selling carbonated beverages as a side business 

if anyone else has or has seen any national fruit co ltd bottles yet me know and post any examples to this thread , here are some pictures of it


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## embe (Oct 6, 2020)

The diamond pattern really stands out, nice


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## RCO (Oct 6, 2020)

embe said:


> The diamond pattern really stands out, nice



the design isn't unique and was used by other bottlers , whats interesting as I've never seen one from the national fruit co before , so not sure how uncommon it could be


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## RCO (Nov 25, 2021)

i noticed this one online , it had sold or been for sale , but very similar to my bottle except embossed  " moose jaw " 

moose jaw is a small city in Saskatchewan which makes sense as thats where the national fruit co seems to be based 

may also be a couple other city variations out there as they appear to have operated in other cities in that area


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## SKjugcollector (Nov 25, 2021)

Here's an other similar bottle,

 Scott Fruit Co Ltd Yorkton. There is also a Scott Co Ltd Brandon and a Scott Co Ltd with no city name on it


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## RCO (Nov 27, 2021)

have heard of the scott fruit co bottles from SK/MB , not sure how there related to the national fruit co other than they used the same bottle but had a different name 


never seen the Humboldt bottle before , its not a very big town


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## Crushy (Dec 1, 2021)

Beautiful bottle.   Don't know all of the corporate histories for these two firms but seems they were both operating in some small prairie cities.  Based on some bottles and research from Medicine Hat,  National Fruit was operating in that city prior to 1950.   My 1961 7-up bottle was made by the National Fruit Co -A branch of Consolidated Fruit Co. L:t.   By 1967 it is the Scott National Company Limited in that city - and Moose Jaw (based both on research and a High N'Dry bottle I have from there.  The firm was gone from Medicine Hat by 1970.   Consolidated Fruit also made High N'Dry in Calgary.    So at one time or another, all of these fruit companies were connected.  Could help explain the common bottle - though those pictured above date to much earlier than the 60's  - but perhaps they were connected that far back?   Hope someone else can add to this story.   I've attached a pic of the bottles I have.   Cheers


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## Crushy (Dec 1, 2021)

Further to my last post, found some more of the story. Seems that the connection between these three fruit companies goes back to 1926.  In that year  Pat Burns  (of the Calgary Meat Packing firm) acquired both Scott Fruit and National Fruit and merged them to create Consolidated Fruit Company (see  http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio.php?id_nbr=8428). Could help explain why they might be using the same style bottle--though there were others using them too.       

Also found a couple of advertisements related to their bottling operations. One notes their establishment of a bottling plant in Cranbroo BC in 1938.  The other is a 1952 ad noting the Edmonton factory and that they make Scona  - which is generally associated with Consolidated Fruit in Calgary.  From this, along with the bottles, it would seem that the individual firm names continued to be used after the 1926 consolidation.      Cheers.


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## SKjugcollector (Dec 1, 2021)

Great info, thanks for posting.  Would you know if (High N Dry)  Moose Jaw and (High N Dry) Medicine Hat- Moose Jaw had 7oz and 28oz bottles? I know they both have 10oz bottles and that Medicine Hat -Moose Jaw has a 28oz


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## Canadacan (Dec 6, 2021)

Scott National Company also had a registration for 'Highland Dry' Reg. Nov. 1 1938.
I also noted Scona has a Registration in 1956 but noted it was being used in 1952 as per this ad, which does not mention soft drinks.
Also interesting how the Scona name came about from combining Scott and National.


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## tolmanbridge (Oct 11, 2022)

Found this bottle in a collection I purchased.  Kind of a pebbly surface with fluted sides.  NF Co and the D in a diamond on bottom.  At base says National Fruit Co and Contents 6 1/2 Fl. Oz.  Anyone have any info on this bottle?


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## RCO (Oct 13, 2022)

tolmanbridge said:


> Found this bottle in a collection I purchased.  Kind of a pebbly surface with fluted sides.  NF Co and the D in a diamond on bottom.  At base says National Fruit Co and Contents 6 1/2 Fl. Oz.  Anyone have any info on this bottle?



not the same bottle as mine but likely related to the national fruit co if it has there name embossed in the bottle , some of thee larger bottlers used a number of different bottles over the years so designs changed from time to time


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