# Cant find anything on this bottle



## Thumper (Apr 3, 2011)

We found this bottle in a forest preserve in the Chicago area. We have tried googleing the name and address on the bottle and came up empty.

 It is an 8 1/2 fl oz clear bottle and is very thick and heavy with embossed lettering that reads

 Front:
 This bottle owned and filled by
 Alois Vana
 Trade mark
 (with a lions crest)
 1835-7 fisk st
 Chicago ILL

 The back says:
 This bottle is never sold.

 We are just dying to know what this bottle is!
 Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks


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## Thumper (Apr 3, 2011)

This is the only thing we could find on it.

http://www.goantiques.com/detail,alois-vana-1835,792942.html


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## blobbottlebob (Apr 3, 2011)

Hey Thumper,
 Welcome. Appears to be a crown top soda bottle that could date as early as the 1920s. Neat that you found it.


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## blobbottlebob (Apr 3, 2011)

Your link is interesting. Looks like it sold but unfortunatly, it doesn't say what it went for. My guess is that its worth a few dollars (unless there is something unusually rare about it - in which case it could be more valuable).


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## Thumper (Apr 3, 2011)

What I find so strange is even having the name and address of the bottler I still cant find anything out about this bottle


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## cowseatmaize (Apr 3, 2011)

Welcome.
 There was a Hutch version down the road a ways at 82-84 Fisk. He was a member of the American Bottlers of Carbonated Beverages in 1925 so I'd guess at least 10-15 years in business. There were a few at least sales records but no prices realized that I saw. I guess in the $10-15 range for the graphic if it's in good condition but that's an opinion, not an appraisal.


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## sandrajoan22 (Apr 3, 2011)

Oh no.. someone else digging in a chicagoland forest preserve! May I ask what area you found it in? Not the exact forest preserve unless you want to share that, but just a general area. Maybe we're wandering the same forest preserve! Nice bottle, btw. I love finding weird ones that I cant get information about on google... makes it a challenge to find out its history!


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## Thumper (Apr 3, 2011)

Hi sandrajoan22.
 No problem, we just found the bottle while walking the dog. My Girlfriend just happened to spot it and thought it looked old.
 It's along the Desplaines river in Maywood "Miller meadow". Across 1st ave from Loyola hospital


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## Thumper (Apr 3, 2011)

I've spent most of the day online trying to find something on this company and came up empty.
 The street no longer even exists.
 It seems amazing to me with all this info on the web I cant find anything.


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## cyberdigger (Apr 3, 2011)

You might want to get used to not finding info on bottles like that online. Bring it to a local bottle show or even a local flea market and you might find a veteran local expert who will know some history of the company..


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## sandrajoan22 (Apr 3, 2011)

Good! not the same forest preserve  mwahaha my secret is safe... so far.


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## ybwblue@comcast.net (May 3, 2011)

I just posted this same bottle I found at my parents house in Chicago.  See What it is after 1900.


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## railroadrx (Jun 15, 2011)

My grandfather immigrated from Bohemia (Czech Republic) stowing away on a boat. Settled in Chicago and went into a partnership with brother in law, Otto najmnik in 1889. This later became Vana, Inc. My father worked there all of his life perfecting flavors and mixing syrups. Fisk Street is now Carpenter Street and the building has since fallen in. My dad and his siblings were raised in the building.

 A couple interesting facts: The crest on the bottle is a Bohemain symbol and was part of Bohemia's flag.  In the sixties the neighborhood began changing from mostly Bohemian to Peurto Rican. My father adapted more flavors that were favored by the Peurto Rican population. The company wholesaled alcoholic beverages as well until prohibition. When prohibition ended they did not return to the alcohol market.

 The distribution area included the West side of Chicago and the Western Suburbs. They delivered to bars, grocery stores, and homes. 

 Please let me know if you would possibly be interested in allowing me to acquire the bottle for a family keepsake.

 Miles


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## Ryan Schnitzer (Jun 17, 2011)

seeing bottles like yours makes me continue looking for old bottles[]


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## hvychev (May 31, 2012)

Hello, I saw this thread while searching something related and thought I would answer some questions about the Alois Vana bottle.  I am not a bottle collector, but someone who collects items related to Chicago and Czech Chicago history.  Some of Miles info above was helpful but I will fill in some gaps.  

 As it was already said, Alois Vana was a Chicago Bohemian/Czech bottler who early on bottled alchohol as well as soft drinks.  During and after Prohibition he concentrated on non alchoholic beverages.  His bottling facility was located in the Chicago Bohemian neighborhood of Pilsen in Chicago.  This neighborhood survives today as one of the oldest in Chicago, having been built up after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.  The neighborhood was populated with Bohemians and later Poles, Slovenians, and Yugoslavians.  In the late 1950s the Eastern Europeans began to move away and Mexicans, NOT Puetro Ricans, replaced them.  The neighborhood stlll remains mainly Mexican, but has been gentrifying since the turn of the 21st century.  Many artists and urban professionals have been moving in primarily because of the neighborhoods proximity to downtown Chicago and the fabulous vintage buildings that survive there.  

 The Alois Vana bottling facility was located at 1835-37 S. Fisk St., the street name was later changed to Carpenter St.  Here is a google maps view of the location although unfortunately the facility was torn down.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1837+s+carpenter+chicago&hl=en&ll=41.856864,-87.653174&spn=0.000016,0.016469&sll=41.884715,-87.646952&sspn=0.007364,0.016469&hnear=1837+S+Carpenter+St,+Chicago,+Illinois+60608&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=41.856956,-87.653176&panoid=DZ-tTqPRF1EFlBar4hCmuw&cbp=12,102.43,,0,-7.27

 I am pretty sure that the lion crest on the bottle is influenced by the "Czech Lion" that appears in some of the crests from different Czech cities.  Maybe Mr. Vana "borrowed" the crest from his villages flag?  Either way, it all ties together with his Bohemian/Czech heritage.  Just a bit more info for the bottle collector.  If you find Alois Vana bottles with an address of 82-84 S. Fisk St. they date to before October 1909.  That was when Chicago redesigned their address numbering system.  82-84 S. Fisk St. became 1835-37 S. Fisk St. after 10/1909.  

 Here are a few ads and items from my colection.  The first is an ad that appeared in the 1915 Chicago Bohemian directory.  





 The next is an ad that appeared in the 1933 Chicago Words Fair, Czechoslovaks of Chicago book.  You can see how Mr. Vana aged over the years.  It also mentions that 1933 was the 50th anniversary of Alois Vana's operation.  I believe that Mr. Vana passed away in 1948.  







 The last item is a celluloid advertising brush with Alois Vana's company info on it.






 I hope this helps with the mystery of this and other Alois Vana bottles that may surface in your searches.  

 Best,

 Frank Magallon
 Author of: Chicago's Little Village Lawndale-Crawford.  
http://www.amazon.com/Chicagos-Little-Village-Lawndale-Crawford-Publishing/dp/0738577375/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338509325&sr=8-1


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## surfaceone (Jun 1, 2012)

Hello Frank,

 Thanks for adding to this discussion. Welcome to the Blue Pages.

 Here, we use an arcane *



* system that takes a bit of getting used to.

 As an old part Bohemian sort, I appreciate your contribution.




From.


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## epackage (Jun 1, 2012)

Thanks for the small pics Surf...LOL


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## surfaceone (Jun 1, 2012)

You're Welcome.


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## epackage (Jun 1, 2012)

I'm gonna have to get a bigger monitor...[]


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