# Denver, Colorado Hutchinson soda bottles



## plehbah (Apr 16, 2013)

These little cuties are tough to get over with a shovel around here. The underpaid, under read, and freakishly strong privy dippers of Denver must have sought for the local returnable beer and soda bottles as hard as I do. I imagine it might have been a lucrative sideline for a 5 year old trapped inside the body of a hulk, and making whatever low wage was paid to a digger of new poop. I never get paid for it. No business person locally has any need for stale human guano. 

 There are 90 BIMAL Denver sodas listed in the local bottle book. I am doing my best at coming home as exhausted and filthy as I can, as often as possible. I am looking for all of them. It is a tough job, but I sure as hell am not PAYING for old bottles. They must come from the Earth. 

 I think I am one or two shy of 30 in the last two years, which means I only have 60 more to go. That's fine because I enjoy hiding in pits and scratching at layers of dirty old cans and shoes. I think a dirty old hutch soda is the neatest thing. 

 Here is a window shot of the overall forms and color of my different Denver hutch sodas. These are just the best of each different example, and do not include color variations. The embossing may be hard to make out, but there are only a few in the photo that are really rare or special. The little green wonky one in the center-left is a very rare Star Bottling Works, Denver, Colo bottle that was produced by a local glass house for a short time in 1889. The two mug base hutches on the right are green or yellow-green A.D. Simmons, Denver, Colo bottles from the Eagle Bottling Works that are very rare colors of an otherwise very common local soda. Those are the 3rd and 4th examples known, I think. I may be off by one or two. 

 I am proud of this little collection. This represents lots of fun, lots of slave labor, lots of empty holes, and everything is a personal find!


----------



## plehbah (Apr 16, 2013)

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago, I just noticed. There are a couple of Chicago bottles in that windowsill, and a few new Denver examples not pictured. I thought I would mention this for the sake of the eagle-eyed and the picky.


----------



## cmulliganNWI (Apr 17, 2013)

Great display man.  Is that a Westerholm, Chicago on the far right? Let me know if you have any Chicago bottles you want to get rid of!

 Chris


----------



## dakotaman (Apr 17, 2013)

Nice sodas'......Love the "ELEPHANT" from Mile High....Had an EXTENSIVE Colo. hutch collection, at one time.....And, druggists' also....Sold 'em off, and moved out of state....Fond memorie's of Colorado digging...Even some dump action in Denver now & then.....Mainly the Spg's.....


----------



## myersdiggers1998 (Apr 17, 2013)

very nice start .


----------



## epackage (Apr 17, 2013)

More bottle less window!!!


----------



## Bottleworm (Apr 17, 2013)

That's alot better!


----------



## plehbah (Apr 18, 2013)

Thanks for the replies!

 Good eye, cmulligan! That is a Westerholm on the right! I found that one on a lake bottom locally here. It's covered in case wear and etching from the lake, but it is something different to look at. I doubt it would be anything anyone local would want. The one on the far left is also from Chicago, and is a Hayes Bros. That one is probably common in Chicago, but it is a cool bottle. It has all the bells and whistles (pictorial embossing, mug base, "this bottle not sold") that many Denver bottles dont have. 

 Dakotaman- The elephant H.G. Meuman is a a legend. I have never seen so much as a broken piece in the wild, but I know there is one out there. There is another elephant hutch from Georgia that a local bottle guy has researched and concluded that Meuman stole the idea from. There is a nice version for Georgia guys to look for, too, but under a different name. I haven't been to the Springs to dig, and Denver keeps me filthy and busy, but on hot days I start thinking about all the woods around Cripple Creek and Victor. 

 epackage- Thanks for the help on the photo. I agree with you that the dirty window did little to enhance the bottles. You keep me on track, and I will work on improving my photo discipline!


----------



## dakotaman (Apr 18, 2013)

GREAT LOOKING SODA BOTTLE'S.............Continued success in your pursuit...


----------



## dakotaman (Apr 18, 2013)

PLEBAH............Here tell that the majority of the Muemans' came out of Colo. Spg's.....I-25 widening project a few years back, then another out of a nice dump along Fountain Creek....Spg's dump's are scarce, but, if you work Shooks Run, along the east edge of downtown.....( small creek / drainage )...I had all the Durango's, Montag's, etc, etc.....My former hutch group now resides in Canon City.....Yup, had the Mueman also........


----------



## madman (Apr 18, 2013)

VERY NICE!


----------



## cmulliganNWI (Apr 18, 2013)

Plebah,

 I have that same Westerholm hutch.  It's actually far less common than the Hayes Bros.  Westerholm wasn't in business as long and are harder to find.  The Hayes Bros with the horseshoe and mug base is one of the coolest looking Chicago hutches and pretty common.  Without seeing an individual picture of it, it looks a slight bit different than the ones I've seen.

 Chris


----------



## plehbah (Apr 19, 2013)

You speak the language! Did you get the lime green Montag or the amber, or maybe both? Just the few bits of your found collection is impressive, and far beyond where I am at currently. I celebrate you and your success.

 I really appreciate the heads up on somewhere to go. As far as I can tell there are no really good area to go creek stomping in downtown Denver. I watch the forums and see the guys doing it anywhere farther east than Colorado, and I envy them. Especially when it is 100 degrees and I am digging through five feet of clay and coal compressed by a bunch of heavy equipment. I have looked it up, and think I will try to get out there in the next couple of weeks. If I ever find a Montag or a Meuman then I owe you a good dig!

 Is your collection in Canon with a private collector or in one of the museums? I go through there all of the time and would love to see it. 

 Thanks again!


----------



## plehbah (Apr 19, 2013)

Thanks for the info, cmulligan! I never would have guessed that the Westerholm is anything more than super common. I figured there must be about 20 billion of them made for one to float all the way out here. But stranger things have happened. Apparently more people than I would have initially imagined packed in a large supply of hutch sodas for a cross country train trip!


----------

