# Strange Shaped Arrowhead bottle



## smustang (Sep 24, 2012)

I was told the strange one was made by Arrowhead employees when the factory was closing. I got it about 10 or 12 years ago from a nice lady who had a number of them in different shapes. If anyone knows any more about the history of this type of bottle please do tell. Thank You


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## surfaceone (Sep 24, 2012)

> I was told the strange one was made by Arrowhead employees when the factory was closing.


 
 Hello Steven,

 Welcome to the Blue Pages. When did the "factory" close? It would be nice to see more photos of the reheated one, please.




From.


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## smustang (Sep 24, 2012)

In 1909, The Arrowhead Springs Company was formed and the company's water products were marketed in Southern California. The water was transported from Arrowhead Springs, north of San Bernardino, California, to Los Angeles in glass-lined railroad tank cars. In 1917, the bottling operations moved to a new plant in Los Angeles. In 1929, the Arrowhead Springs Company merged with the company that marketed Puritas water, and began co-marketing the Puritas products with Arrowhead water. Puritas water products were first introduced in Los Angeles in 1894.
 The Arrowhead and Puritas brands were bottled in the same plants and co-marketed until the 1970s. Arrowhead Springs marketed the brands in separate containers that sometimes carried the Arrowhead or Puritas names alone, but containers were often labeled "Arrowhead and Puritas. This was from Wikipedia so take it for what its worth.


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## botlguy (Sep 25, 2012)

Is that "strange one" made of glass or plastic. I appreciate the picture of the two together to get an idea of scale but could we see pictures of the "strange one" alone from various angles? And perhaps a little larger.


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## cowseatmaize (Sep 25, 2012)

I think you were told wrong. I doubt a new bottle mold would be made and paid for if the plant was going to close.
 I could be wrong but I think it's a, maybe, Spanish or Portuguese wine.
 Cool bottle and welcome to this place.


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## smustang (Sep 25, 2012)

Sorry that took a while.


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## smustang (Sep 25, 2012)

one per message, let me know how to put more then one photo in a single message if possible


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## smustang (Sep 25, 2012)

pic 3


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## smustang (Sep 25, 2012)

pic 4


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## smustang (Sep 25, 2012)

pic 5


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## smustang (Sep 25, 2012)

pic 6


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## mtfdfire22 (Sep 25, 2012)

so is it glass or plastic?


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## smustang (Sep 25, 2012)

its Glass


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## surfaceone (Sep 25, 2012)

Steven,

 I'm assuming the bottle on the left is a 5 gallon Arrowhead water cooler bottle. Is that correct?

 Photos in natural light, without flash might pick up more detail. What is the capacity of the one on the right? Size information, and if there are any embossed numbers, letters, or symbols would be helpful.






 I think the nice little old lady was spinning a tale. What connection to Arrowhead does it have?

 I think Eric may have called this correctly...




From.


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## smustang (Sep 25, 2012)

The neck on this one is is almost exactly like the later Arrowhead 5 gallon water jugs and what appears to be a seam down the side looks like the same too . There are no ID markings at all on the strange looking one. How much it would hold, 3-4 gal I think. If I remember correctly she had most of theses in Arrowhead cardboard boxes, and her home was near where the Arrowhead plant would have been. She had them in what was either a Box car or metal storage container and more in her garage. So I guess the only way to know for sure is to find someone who worked at the plant when it closed.


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## RED Matthews (Sep 25, 2012)

Hello smustang;  When I was traveling the world and visiting a lot of glass companies to sell them metal for forming hot glass; I went to the Arrowhead Water factory in California.  They had some bottles similar to this in their lobby.  I asked about them and then went to their production managers office.  We didn't find any parts that we could help them with but we did discuss these big bottles.  

 They were making their own carboys at this shop in a two stage parison and final mold machine with a lot of hand handling of the glass gather and production.  It was much more hand operated than the Italian machine that Owens used for these carboys.  They had a side line of making paralytically hand made bottles with each new batch of glass and had these formed pieces from bottles which they sold to gift shops and people that wanted them.  I ended up with four of them, and had to go back the next day to pick them up after annealing.  I still have three of them.  One exploded because the annealing didn't do a good job.  The three are unique and good conversation pieces.  I have a friend that wants to buy one, so no doubt they are marketable.  My wife an I got to watch them make them at that visit.  

 I think they had a half dozen or so designs they sold.  The objective was to make these to sell while the glass and equipment got ready for their production run;

 One of mine is similar to this one, so I can verify the real story.   RED Matthews


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## surfaceone (Sep 25, 2012)

> If I remember correctly she had most of theses in Arrowhead cardboard boxes, and her home was near where the Arrowhead plant would have been.


 
 Steven,

 You keep talking about Arrowhead in the past tense. What plant are you speaking of? They had a bottling plant in Los Angeles in 1917, per their History page.

 It has a square base, the water cooler bottles did not. How tall does it stand? What are the base dimensions?

 The finish does look watercoolerish. What are it's dimensions?




From.


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## RED Matthews (Sep 25, 2012)

Hi surfaceone;  It was near Los Angeles and it was when I was operating Matthews Technical Sales and GLISCO Inc..  That was after I left Thatcher Glass, so it had to be about 1975 or 76, I can't remember exactly and I would have to be in Florida to look up the file on them.
 RED Matthews


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## cowseatmaize (Sep 25, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  RED Matthews
> 
> Hello smustang;  When I was traveling the world and visiting a lot of glass companies to sell them metal for forming hot glass; I went to the Arrowhead Water factory in California.  They had some bottles similar to this in their lobby.  I asked about them and then went to their production managers office.  We didn't find any parts that we could help them with but we did discuss these big bottles.
> 
> ...


That's confirmation enough for me. Thay must be a huge company to not sub out the glass making and make special bottles to boot.
 Thanks for clearing that up Red.


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## surfaceone (Sep 25, 2012)

> When I was traveling the world and visiting a lot of glass companies to sell them metal for forming hot glass; I went to the Arrowhead Water factory in California. They had some bottles similar to this in their lobby. I asked about them and then went to their production managers office. We didn't find any parts that we could help them with but we did discuss these big bottles.
> 
> They were making their own carboys at this shop in a two stage parison and final mold machine with a lot of hand handling of the glass gather and production. It was much more hand operated than the Italian machine that Owens used for these carboys. They had a side line of making paralytically hand made bottles with each new batch of glass and had these formed pieces from bottles which they sold to gift shops and people that wanted them. I ended up with four of them, and had to go back the next day to pick them up after annealing. I still have three of them. One exploded because the annealing didn't do a good job. The three are unique and good conversation pieces. I have a friend that wants to buy one, so no doubt they are marketable. My wife an I got to watch them make them at that visit.
> 
> ...


 
 Big Bravo, RED,

 Thanks for solving the mystery with a great _Our Man at the Plant_ eyewitness account. Thanks for this history.




From.


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## smustang (Sep 25, 2012)

Thank You all very much for helping me !   []


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## mtfdfire22 (Sep 25, 2012)

You came to the right place from the looks of it. Congrats. That's the most concrete answer on a strange bottle I've ever seen. Red you amaze me.


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## probe buster (Sep 26, 2012)

The McLaughlin Glass Company of Gardena, CA designed a machine for making the 5 gallon water bottles, then shortly after sold the business to the Arrowhead and Puritas Water Company in 1956. One of the McLaughlin sons, Don McLaughlin, continued to make glass at Arrowhead Glass Products Division for a number of years. He later operated his own 'home-type' business making odds and ends, including reheating and reshaping 5 gallon water bottles into forms such as yours and flatter fruit bowl shapes. He then sold them to a store known as Akron, much like Pier 1 Imports. 

 Here's a pic of one of Don's bowls:


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