# Reattaching old Putnam closure?



## Wheelah23 (Jul 21, 2011)

Now that I think about it, I wonder why I even tried this... I have a J.W. Ransley quart blob that could pass for a hutch. In fact, Ron Fowler of hutchbook.com even believed it was a hutch, that is, until I showed him mine which had a Putnam closure attached to it. The point is, I want to keep the closure with the bottle to reinforce the fact that it is not a hutch. I (rather stupidly) removed the original wire and closure so that I could remove the dirt and grime from the bottle. I figured it would be easy to reattach the closure, by using a new wire. But it was not so. I fumbled around with some pliers for an hour, and came up with this sad excuse for a Putnam closure... Obviously the rusty bit is from the original closure, but I used new wire. Any ideas on how to make it look/work a bit better? The wire around the neck won't stay tight enough to keep the closure in the right position.


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## Wheelah23 (Jul 21, 2011)

How do I fix this abomination...


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## cyberdigger (Jul 21, 2011)

Nice try, Wheelie.. I mean that.. a couple years ago I tried to re-work a porcelain stopper with a piece of coat hanger.. the result was truly laughable! 
 What kind of wire did you use? looks kinda like solder..


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## edndlm (Jul 21, 2011)

A friend of mine made up a jig years ago & used to prebend wire prior to putting it around the neck . Unfortunately , I didn't pay enough attention to it at the time .


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## Wheelah23 (Jul 21, 2011)

Trying to make one of those wires gave me a new respect for the people who originally made them... I have no idea how they did it... [8D]


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## cyberdigger (Jul 21, 2011)

I'm sure like anything it just takes a little practice.. and the right wire.. something that rusts along with the stopper..


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## LC (Jul 21, 2011)

I am sure they were made by hand , but most likely they had some sort of a jig set up to do the bending .


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## GuntherHess (Jul 21, 2011)

> How do I fix this abomination...


 
 take it off...


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## epackage (Jul 21, 2011)

You need to use "Tie Wire" that iron workers use on rebar and a pair of dykes or channel locks to tighter it around the neck...takes practice....Jim


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## blobbottlebob (Jul 22, 2011)

> Ron Fowler of hutchbook.com even believed it was a hutch, that is, until I showed him mine which had a Putnam closure attached to it.


 
 Hey Wheelah,
 Just an odd observation on this point.
 The bottlers at that time did not care one bit if their bottle was called a hutch or a blob or whatever. They wanted it to be sealed effectively until sold and consumed. They HAD to be resourceful in terms of making closures work even using (what we now think) is the wrong mechanism for the bottle type. Hutchinson _intended_ that their stoppers would easily be retro-fitted into existing bottle stock that was not designed for the hutchinson stopper. But I have likewise found hutchinson sodas that were sealed with a cork. The point is, our fixation with the closure should not solely determine a bottle's designation. There are many many examples of 'transitional' bottles that do not fit easily into categories. Yours looks like it may be one of them. jmho.


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## Wheelah23 (Jul 22, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  blobbottlebob
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
 Very true. The only interest in hutch vs. blob, etc. is from collectors today. This bottle is likely from the 1890's. I have found other evidence that they used cork closures for all their bottles, including the later crown tops I have. I know it may not mean much in the long run, but I'm happy to know which closure this bottler used.


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## surfaceone (Jul 29, 2011)

Hey Connor,

 I took a look at one that I recently found and thought that the rounded wire portion that went "down neck" was pounded flat and pierced for the wire to pass through and secure it to the neck.


















 Though the more I stare at these not too brightly lit photos, The more I scratch my head. So I thought I'd pay Tod's grreat site a call. Man do I need new glasses.






 "Putnam Closure, circ: 1859-1905,
 Invented by: Henry William Putnam,
 American Patent: March 15, 1859, Number: 23,263,
 American Patent Reissued: January 19, 1864, Reissue Number: 1,606,
 This cork fastener was the standard used on corked soda and mineral water bottles during the1860s, 1870s and early 1880s when it was replaced with the Hutchinson stopper. The bail was reusable and the bottler was not required to rewire the cork with every refilling of the bottle."

 If you follow Tod's links to the original Patent Drawing, all will be revealed. Here's the Reissued Drawing.




From.


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