# ATTENTION ~ MEMBER jblaylock ~ RE: "WALLINS CREEK BOTTLING WORKS" ~ KENTUCKY



## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 26, 2014)

The following pertains to a thread by member jblaylock from March of 2013 and his Wallins Creek Bottling Works bottle from Wallins Creek, Kentucky. In a recent communication with Josh, I promised him I would see if I could find anything else related to the bottle that wasn't discussed in the 2013 thread. As you will soon discover, Josh's bottle is still as big a mystery as ever.        



Link to thread ...

https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/Need-help-on-this-odd-bottle-m593575.aspx

The following are quotes from the 2013 thread and were posted by the members indicated. This is just about all I had to go on while conducting my own recent search ...

Cowseatmaize Quote:

"The 1925 book I have shows Wallins Bottling Works, G.P. Sharp, prop.. That's all I got."

Celerycola Quote:

"1923 Blue Book lists O. H. Howard as proprietor of Wallins Creek Bottling Works."

My Quote:

*G. P. Sharp Middlesborough, Kentucky Bell County Birth Year 1874 *

Jblaylock Quote:

"Interesting, as I did get a couple hits on Google for a very very old newspaper from Middlesborough for the words "Wallins Green", but I couldn't actually find it on the page."

                                                                               ~ * ~

The long story short is, other than the 1925 reference by cowseatmaize and the 1923 reference by celerycola, I was unable to find any confirmation of there ever being a Wallins Creek Bottling Works. But I did find a few things that might shed some light on this topic for future research. 

Attachments ...

1.  Middlesboro Daily News ~ Middlesboro, Kentucky ~ November 18, *1924*.
Shows a G.P. Sharp with the Whistle Bottling Company in Middlesboro, Kentucky. Middlesboro is about 35 miles from Wallins Creek. 

2 & 3. There were a lot of people with the last name Howard that resided in Wallins Creek, but the only one I could find that went by O.H. Howard during the 1920s was an Oscar Henry Howard. This 1917 WWI draft registration card indicates he was 28 years old at the time and that his occupation was as a "Merchant and Mining Business." But it doesn't specify whether he was an employee or an owner.
(More about this on the next page).


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 26, 2014)

Continued ... 
1.  Here's a picture of the bottle in question which is described by Josh as follows ...

"The bottle is a light aqua with a 'shingles' design on it. On the neck it reads "Wallins Bottling Works" On the base it reads "Wallins Green, KY", "Cap 6 1/2oz" "Patent appl'd for" On the bottom there is a large "W" and a small "c" inside a circle." 

The C-in-a-circle could be for ...

Chattanooga Glass Company, Chattanooga, Tennessee & other plant locations in later years (1901-1988), mark was used c.1927-1988. The circle reportedly may be either “single line” or “double line” on some earlier bottles.  Chattanooga Glass Company made tremendous quantities of the classic “hobbleskirt” shaped Coca-Cola bottles, and the “C in a circle” is often seen on the side or the base of these bottles.

( As for the "Patent Applied For" ...  I looked but have not been able to find a patent for the bottle, yet. As for the Wallins *Green that's *embossed on the bottle, that appears to have been an error on the part of the glass maker ).

2.  Regarding the last name "Howard," this calendar is dated 1926 and confirms there was a Howard Drug Store in Wallins Creek at the time. I'm not certain if O.H. Howard was a relation or not, but he could have been. It's also possible this is where Oscar Henry Howard worked in 1917 as indicated on his draft card.

3.  This (iddy-bitty) snippet is from a drug store journal dated *1921* and indicates that a W.K. Howard was the proprietor of a Wallins Creek drug store at the time. I also found a similar listing dated 1933, so the time period seems about right related to the bottle, which appears to be from the 1920s or early 1930s. ( I searched Ancestry.com but could not find a single listing for a W.K. Howard of Wallins Creek, Kentucky. Other than the information contained in the 1921 and 1933 snippets, I know nothing about him).


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 26, 2014)

Continued ...

Attachment:

1.  Newspaper article from ...

The Middlesboro Daily News, Middlesboro, Kentucky ~ March 19, *1923*

As far as I know, Wallins Creek did not have a newspaper in the 1920s-30s, with the nearest one's being located in Harlan about 10 miles away and in Middlesboro about 35 miles away.

Notice in the article that it mentions an "Arnold Drug Company" store but not a "Howard Drug Store."  It could be the Howard Drug Store, which we know from the snippet was there in 1921, wasn't mentioned in the article because it was already established and likely not part of the new face-lift the town was experiencing in 1923.

The link below, and the copy/pasted [but slightly edited] information from it, shows there were two drug stores in Wallins Creek at one time. Even though I don't know the exact time period the gentleman is referring to, because he mentions a movie theater I suspect he is talking about no earlier than the 1920s. (By the way, the U.S. Census for Wallins Creek shows a population of only 900 residents in 1930).  

Also notice where he refers to a Coca Cola bottling plant, which I have seen other "vague" references to but otherwise cannot find any listings for to "confirm" that a Coca Cola bottling plant ever existed in Wallins Creek, Kentucky at any time. If anybody has confirmation of one, please share it with us. Also, is the gentleman saying the ice plant and the Coca Cola plant were two separate operations or one and the same?   

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/wallins-creek-high-school-1959-class/4Hj7-_DjJZE


"There was a time long ago when you could get about anything you wanted or needed in the town of Wallins. Just before you entered Walllins, there was an Ice Plant and a Coca-Cola Bottling plant. As you came in town there was the Wallins National Bank, *2 Drug Stores*, 2 Hardware Stores run by Grover Blanton and Bradford Howard. Joe Love Lawson was the undertaker. Ed Hoskins ran a Groc. Store. Ben Abraham run the Bakery. Nell Lewis and A.J Johnson each had a Dress Shop. There was an A&P Groc Store and Candy Kitchen. 2 Hotels, and a Post Office. Furniture stores and Restaurants. We even had a theater. You could go to the show on Friday evenings for 5 cents. Wallins also had a drycleaning shop and had a shoe shine boy. School was on School-House Hill. You had to cross a swinging bridge over the Rail Road tracks and 2  flights of steps up the hill to the school."

                                                                             ~ * ~


INCONCLUSIVE CONCLUSION ...

Even though I cannot explain Cowseatmaize 1925 G.P. Sharp reference, nor Celerycola's 1923 O.H. Howard reference, I accept them as being legitimate. But other than that, and despite the existence of Josh's bottle, I still remain unconvinced there was ever a Wallins Creek Bottling Works. I am also unconvinced there was ever a Coca Cola bottling plant. Please know I do not say this to be argumentative because nothing could be farther from the truth. It's just that more needs to be found in order to confirm the existence of a Wallins Creek Bottling Works besides what has already been posted by others, including myself. If you have information to refute my suspicions, please share them with us. At this juncture I am leaning toward three possibilities ...

1.  The so called Wallins Creek Bottling Works wasn't as big an operation as we might normally expect but rather was a small, backroom operation located at the Howard Drug Store.

2.  That Josh's bottle might have originated in either Harlan or Middlesboro, Kentucky but was made for and sold in Wallins Creek.

3.  That O.H. Howard and G.P. Sharp were in some way connected with the bottling facility but not necessarily in Wallins Creek proper.

Lastly ...

If there was a Coca Cola bottling plant in Wallins Creek, Kentucky, then why can't I find any confirmation of it's existence, nor a single bottle marked as such? Or was it and everything else soda pop related located at the ice plant?


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 26, 2014)

P.S. In the gentleman's story I posted a link to, I wonder how far he meant when he referred to the ice plant and the Coca Cola plant as being located ... "Just before you entered Walllins" Did he mean one block - one mile - or ten miles? Let's assume it was within a mile. And yet I still wonder if that would that fall into the Wallins Creek district or possibly the Harlan or Middlesboro districts?


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 26, 2014)

By the way ... There were Coca Cola bottling plants in both Middlesboro as well as in Harlan, Kentucky. I can't help but wonder why they would but a Coca Cola plant in Wallins Creek when they already had one in Harlan, which was only about ten miles away? The 1930 population for Harlan was about 65,000 versus Wallins Creek 1930 population of only 900


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 26, 2014)

Just for the record ... From "The American Bottler" ...  *1920* *http://books.google.com/books?id=LZZRAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA61&dq=harlan+kentucky+coca+cola+bottling&hl=en&sa=X&ei=saOsU7PFE4SQqgbKwoDoAQ&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=harlan%20kentucky%20coca%20cola%20bottling&f=false *


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 27, 2014)

Because Wallins Creek is in Harlan County, I'm hoping this Harlan County historical records site will produce something useful. It's quite extensive and I have barely skimmed the surface of it. The Census category alone is worth it's weight in gold. Check it out ...  http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kyharlan/research.html


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 28, 2014)

The more I look into this, the more inclined I am to think the "Wallins Bottling Works" was owned and operated by the "China Coal Company" and was just one of several company owned businesses that were common in small mining towns such as Wallins Creek. If I am correct on this assumption, it would explain the lack of advertising associated with the brand because it was likely intended only for the workers and families who lived in Wallins Creek and worked for the mine.

I searched the 1920 census records from my last post and found no less than twenty adult individuals in Wallins Creek with the last name of Howard, the majority of which were listed as merchants of groceries, dry goods, and one that was the manager of a pool hall.

Notice the snippet below, which is from a coal mining journal dated 1921, where it shows ...

PR [Public Relations] B.F. Howard
GM [General Manager] John L Howard

I haven't fully researched the China Coal Company, yet, but as near as I can determine it was not owned by the Howard's, but it's sure starting to look as if the Howard's operated most of the stores in Wallins Creek in the 1920s and that one of their operations might have been a small bottling works.

I intend to take a closer look at the history of the China Coal Company and will post anything of interest I find.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 28, 2014)

This newspaper article isn't from or about Wallins Creek, but it does typify what I mentioned earlier about small, one-room soft drink bottling operations. From ... The Middlesboro Daily News ~ Middlesboro, Kentucky ~ March 29, *1923*


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 28, 2014)

More pieces of the puzzle ...

I still haven't found a Coca Cola bottling or any other type of bottling operation in Wallins Creek, but the following will confirm there was a *Ice Company *located there which began operation in 1923 and changed it's name in 1925. The first article also mentions a *Howard's Confectionery *[candy store/business] which might lead to a connection with a soda bottling works because both used tons of sugar and it is not uncommon to find a confectionery business and a soda pop business under the same roof.

1.  Middlesboro Daily News ~ Middlesboro, Kentucky ~ June 13, 1923    (Ice company ready to open)(Howard's Confectionery)

2. From a refrigeration trade journal ~ 1925      (Ice company name change)


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 29, 2014)

GOOD NEWS!   ?(Maybe)?

From an Education of Labor / Business & Economics trade journal ~ Dated *1936*

Where it states ...

*G.G. Whitcomb, - Mr. Whitcomb is a bottler of soft drinks and sells his product to all the commissaries of the coal companies in Harlan County.*


I haven't been able to fully research this yet, but I was able to establish that a George G. Whitcomb resided in Harlan, Kentucky as early as 1920. I'll keep digging!


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 29, 2014)

P.S. I haven't forgotten that Josh's bottle is embossed with "*Wallins Bottling Works*" and that it is highly unlikely a bottler in Harlan would have a separate bottle made for every coal mining town he distributed to, but because of the lack of substantial evidence to support there was ever a bottler in Wallins Creek proper, I have to follow all leads no matter where they might take me. It could be that G.G. Whitcomb simply distributed major brands like Coca Cola or Pepsi Cola, but it appears he distributed "something" to *all *of the commissaries, and hopefully I will be able to determine just what those something's were.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 29, 2014)

One clue leads to another ... *Smith Bottling Works, Inc. ~ Harlan, Kentucky  ~ 1932*


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## jblaylock (Jun 29, 2014)

Bob, you are a research genius.  I'm blown away by what you can dig up. Being from Wallins, I can say a few things about it.   1.  The "just before you entered Wallins" line likely refers to the geography of the town.  Once you turn off the main road (us. 119) and enter Wallins, everything from there to the end of that road is considered Wallins.  However, you are not actually in "Wallins" until you cross the Cumberland River.  The crossing to 'downtown' is about 3/4 of a mile.  The ice plant (which I think is still there, but being used as a garage) is just before the bridge. 2.  The Coca-Cola plant.  I have been told by several sources that there was, in fact, a Coke facility near the ice plant.  My grandfather, who's 90+, and a few others have told me.  Also, I read a newspaper article where someone found a Wallins Creek Coke bottle in the Cumberland river near Pineville.  I cannot seem to find the article now.  There was also an RC plant there later on in the 40s-50s.  I'll try to find that article, maybe Greg Grimes has seen it. 3.  Wallins was a coal camp town.  I'm not sure how the census classified people, but during coal production, I'm sure all the coal camps where full of people.  Henry Ford owned a coal mine at the end of wallins, an area call Banner Fork.  My sister lives just below where the coal camps where.  This town was booming during that time 20s-60's.  As you mentioned, it had banks, theaters, shops, etc...  There was even a Chevrolet dealer.  I have an ink blotter from the Wallins Creek Motor Company with a 25 Chevy on it.  My point is, due to the population, lack of good roads in this time and especially in Southeast KY, and slow transportation, it's very possible there was a bottling facility, however small, in Wallins.  This could have been the same facility that did the Coke as well, or a grocery store.   I agree that this bottle may have been a very small operation, likely out of the back of a grocer.  I think this was common back in that time frame.  I have a Danville KY 1920's pepsi bottle.  I have researched it and cannot find if there was a facility in Danville.  This bottle too, could have been filled out of another facility, like a grocery store.


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## jblaylock (Jun 29, 2014)

I'm trying to find out some info from the Wallins 'historian' on Facebook.  Maybe someone there knows who O.H. Howard is.  I think the key may be with me.  Perhaps he sold it to G.P. Sharpe later.


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## grime5 (Jun 29, 2014)

ive heard someone found a ss coke from harlan in or around straightcreek near pineville.seen a couple of wallins green bottles but bob has already told us more than i have heard from this bottler.later greg


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## jblaylock (Jun 30, 2014)

My Wallins historian agreed there was a Wallins Creek KY Coke plant.  Though he has no concrete evidence.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 30, 2014)

Josh:

Thank you for the compliment. I'm glad you find my research interesting, but I am far from being a genius. If that were the case I would have solved this mystery days ago. But as it is, I have to rely on information that is sketchy at best. I have no problem accepting there was a Coca Cola bottling plant in Wallins Creek at some point, but I do call into question why your bottle isn't marked as such when the majority of that type of bottle, which I believe is a flavor bottle, are more often than not marked with Coca Cola Bottling Co./Works? Of course, this isn't saying it's not a Coca Cola bottle, it's just that I have my suspicions which lead me to think that it might not be. If it is a Coca Cola related bottle, then why isn't it marked as such?   

With that said, and if the 1923 O.H. Howard and the 1925 G.P. Sharp references are accurate, I strongly feel at this juncture there was a stand-alone WALLINS BOTTLING WORKS located in Wallins Creek in the early 1920s and that your bottle was a product of that concern.

Based on everything I can piece together, a major rejuvenation took place in Wallins Creek starting around 1923, which included new businesses, new streets, new sidewalks, etc. And because the 1923 date seems to be a significant factor, I feel it highly possible that's when the WALLINS BOTTLING WORKS was established. [Conjecture]

As for O.H. Howard ...

I'm still leaning toward Oscar Henry Howard:

1.  Born May 4, 1889
2.  1917 Draft Registration list him as being 28 years old / Merchant - Mining Company
3.  The 1930 U.S. Census list him as being 41 years old / Auto Repair
4.  The 1940 U.S. Census list him as being 51 years old / Deliveryman - Beral Bakery 

[ The current missing link for him is the 1920 U.S. Census ]

I hope to eventually find the 1920 Census, but irregardless of his occupation at the time, which I predict will be as a Merchant, I feel the key dates will involve 1923 through about 1925. I have suspicions that the WALLINS BOTTLING WORKS was a short-lived enterprise and was only in operation for a few years, and that in 1925 was possibly taken over by G.P. Sharp, who was previously with Whistle Bottling Company in Middlesboro and listed as such in the 1924 snippet I posted earlier. [ All conjecture, of course, but the dates fit ]

Oscar Howard was no dummy, either. In 1946 he and Albert Blanton and Edgar R. Howard patented a rifle ... ( Oscar was 57 years old at the time )

Patent Number:  2,482,398
Filed:  October 30, 1946
Issued:  September 20, 1949

Check it out ...

HTTPS://www.Google.com/patents/US2482398?dq=Oscar+Howard+wallins+creek&hl=en&as=X&ei=uW6xU7PLEMaKqAbs34G4Dg&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA


I sure hope my conjectures lead to something. If not, oh well. I tried.  []

I'll be back!

Bob


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 30, 2014)

I wish I could tell you these pictures were of the WALLINS BOTTLING WORKS, but they're not! But they do help us visualize what a small operation looked like in the 1920s and that not all bottling facilities were major concerns and oftentimes were just one-room operations where good ol' boys and their families worked their tails off ...


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## jblaylock (Jul 1, 2014)

Bob, I absolutely agree that this was Not a Coke bottle.  You're are right that most Coke bottle or bottles from a Coke plant was embossed as being that.  What I was trying to convey was that if there was, in fact, a Coke plant in that town, it is large enough to support a bottling operation of some sort. I may be seeing my Grandfather this weekend. I'm going to take the bottle and talk with him about O.H. Howard.


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## DesertDruggist (Jul 30, 2019)

*I have another one of these bottles*

Hello,

Back in the late 1990s I actually found one of these bottles buried in the bank of the Cumberland River just south of where Puckett Creek enters the river near where the Blackmont train depot used to be.  I was wading the river, fishing, when I saw a small piece of the bottle in the dirt.  I figured it was going to be broken, as usual in these cases, but as I dug it up I found it was in near perfect condition.

At the time I tried my best to find out information about it. I asked around, posted to a Wallins message board, but no one knew anything about it.

This past weekend, I got the bottle back out and thought I would look around online to see if there was anything new.  That's when I found your thread from several years ago.  It is great to know there is at least one other of these bottles out there.  However, on my bottle there is no typo.  Wallins Creek, KY is spelled correctly on the bottom.  That means they at least had two molds or fixed the mold after your bottle was made.

I have attached some pictures.  It's hard to find the best background to appreciate it, but you can see it's the same bottle.


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## jblaylock (Aug 23, 2019)

DesertDruggist said:


> Hello,
> 
> Back in the late 1990s I actually found one of these bottles buried in the bank of the Cumberland River just south of where Puckett Creek enters the river near where the Blackmont train depot used to be.  I was wading the river, fishing, when I saw a small piece of the bottle in the dirt.  I figured it was going to be broken, as usual in these cases, but as I dug it up I found it was in near perfect condition.
> 
> ...



Hey DD.  Thanks for sharing your bottle.  You are right there are 2 different molds of this bottle.  I located one that has the correct spelling.  My guess, the bottle I have is an error on the part of the mold maker.


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## jblaylock (Aug 23, 2019)

I have since found a few more styles from Wallins as well.









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## DesertDruggist (Aug 26, 2019)

jblaylock said:


> I have since found a few more styles from Wallins as well.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Very nice!  Where did you find the two on the right?


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## jblaylock (Sep 6, 2019)

Local people in the area

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