# Torpedo Bottle



## diginit (Jun 24, 2005)

Found this at the bottom of the hole. Embossed K.B. on the bottom. Can anyone date this for me?May be a value? Thanks


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## whiskeyman (Jun 25, 2005)

mebbe 1880-1900...possibly Canadian or some other country. There's not too many embossed round bottoms from the US....Many were Ginger Ale bottles.


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## bigkitty53 (Jun 25, 2005)

Hi Diginit,
              KB on the bottom would probably be the manufactorers trademark as opposed the bottlers'.Especially on a Torp' where the body would be used by the bottler.There was a bottle factory in West Yorkshire called Kilner Bros. and they did produce torp's.(LOTS of 'em!)Yours is a bit unusual with a typical pre 1890 blob-top lip on a post 1890 round bottom.Looks like you have a transitional bottle there! As a transient it does have a bit of historical interest, though,without a bottler's name it's monetary value is nominal.

 Still an unusual find!

 KAT


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## IRISH (Jun 26, 2005)

That's a Kilner Bros made bottle for sure, I've seen a few the same as that one found here in Oz.


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## stubby (Jun 27, 2005)

hello; 
   Nice bottle ,I have a few just like it found diving here in eastern canada . They were a common Bitish used bottle like Cantrille&cochrane and Ross from Belfast. But we refer to them as round bottom instead of torpedo which comes to a point at the bottom. Also at a local store I bought a a couple of metal candle holders which after a bit of bending make a great bottle stand.  I hope this helps  Stubby


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## diginit (Jun 28, 2005)

Wow, Thanks everyone! 
 So, I dug an 1890's aqua transitional Kilner Bros round bottom from Yorkshire in california. In a 1930's dump! How cool is that. Found a few tooled tops there also. Surrounded by stuff like this in the pic. 
    I take it the 1885 date for the transition applied to tooled tops doesn't apply to blobtops. Am I correct in making this assumption? I hate to assume- I know it's alternate meaning.


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## bigkitty53 (Jun 28, 2005)

> ORIGINAL:  diginit
> 
> 
> I take it the 1885 date for the transition applied to tooled tops doesn't apply to blobtops. Am I correct in making this assumption? I hate to assume- I know it's alternate meaning.


 
 No,Diginit the date is about right for the blobtops,it's just that the roundbottom was introduced circa 1890,so you have an 'old style' lip,(not obsolete,obviously) on what was,at the time, a new, 'improved' bottle.
 'tooled' lips were faster to make,and used (marginally)less glass,which is why most glassblowers were on that bandwagon by the time the roundbottom was developed.Who knows,maybe the Kilners were short of lipping tools![]
 You see tooled lips on pointed bottoms,(a little more commonly),as well. They are also considered transitional.Then finally came the crown capped roundbottom.

 KAT


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## IRISH (Jun 28, 2005)

Some of those round bottom bottles date back pretty early,  they do get found in holes as early as the 1850's here although we don't get many [] .


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## bigkitty53 (Jun 29, 2005)

From the '50's or from a 50's HOLE,Irish?As I understand it, the roundbottom was developed in the late '80's.New one on me!

 KAT


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## TROG (Jul 3, 2005)

Hi Kit.
 The round bottom bottles have been around since the 1840,s as there has been several found here in South Australia without a company name but with a registered date of 1845 embossed on the bottle. There are also several local aerated water companies that used these bottles with embossed names that only were in existence from the late 1840, s to mid 1850,s. These bottles are generally about 11 inches long and smaller in diameter than the commonly seen Irish examples.South Australia is where 95% of this style of bottle is seen in Australia as there were long distances to transport the bottles between towns and these packed very well into boxes etc.,where as the pointy ended or torpedo bottle was difficult to pack and took up much more room.These torpedo bottles are very common in the other states of Australia where populations were larger and towns much closer together


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## bigkitty53 (Jul 3, 2005)

Cheers Trog!Learnt something new!

 KAT


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## NORG (Jul 3, 2005)

I think this round bottom pre-dates 1890. It has 1851 embossed on it but I think thats the patent date.


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