# Looking for info on this 1989 20th-Anniversary Anheuser-Busch Beer Bottle from the Jacksonville (Florida) Brewery



## Kevin2

I'm new here and excited to be on this forum.  Was cleaning out an old house and found this old beer bottle. It's very interesting because it has two raised/relief faces  - one on either side. It is an Anheuser-Busch amber beer bottle and I've never seen one with _anyone's_ face on one of their bottles. (Photos , below.)

On one side, above the face, it reads:

"*Anheuser-Busch
Jacksonville Brewery
20 Years - 1969 to 1989*"

And below the face:

"*John Wilchek
Plant Manager*"

On the other side, below the face:

"*Tom Walter
Brewmaster*"

Around the bottom, just above the rim it says, "*47 REG. U.S. PAT. & T.M. OFF. PLEASE DON'T LITTER 89*".

On the very bottom, in the center, it says "*47*".

There are no other markings.

The Jacksonville Brewery was started in 1969 and I believe these were made to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of the brewery.  According to someone's father who used to work at the brewery: "_Anchor Glass and Midland Container were the bottle suppliers back then. This bottle with the likeness of the plant manager and the brewmaster was a very limited production commemorating either a production milestone or an important anniversary for the brewery. Not sure which. That bottle is probably very rare since they only made enough to give to employees and maybe some distributors and vendors_."  I'm almost positive it was made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the plant - there's no question that the plant was started in 1969 and it says right on the bottle: "Jacksonville Brewery, 20 Years - 1969 to 1989".  

I wonder how rare it is.  Has anyone ever seen one like it?  

I would like to eventually sell it.  I realize collectibles can have a very broad price range.  Any idea of what it would be worth?

Interestingly, the Jacksonville Brewery just celebrated its 50th anniversary last month on November 24.  I wonder if they had another special bottle?!

Thanks in advance for the help!


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## Kevin2

I wonder if I should have posted this in the "What is it? AFTER 1900" forum.  Hmm.


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## WesternPA-collector

Welcome to the site. I love these type of Anchor Glass / Anchor Hocking bottles. They made a long line of these commemorative bottles for various events but I had no idea they were still making them by 1989. I own some similar types of bottles. I would put it's worth at $40.00.


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## slugplate

It's certainly a commemorative bottle they gave to the plant administration. I have a Heinz commemorative. However, your AB in a Michelob bottle makes it kind of cool.


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## slugplate

Kevin2 said:


> I wonder if I should have posted this in the "What is it? AFTER 1900" forum.  Hmm.


It's all good. Your posts will show up in the "New Posts" anyway.


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## Kevin2

Thanks very much for the replies.  

Has anyone ever seen one of these before?  I scoured the internet and couldn't find a photo or mention of one anywhere.  I wonder how many exist?

@WesternPA-collector , thanks very much for the ballpark valuation.  I appreciate it.


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## WesternPA-collector

Kevin2 said:


> Thanks very much for the replies.
> 
> Has anyone ever seen one of these before?  I scoured the internet and couldn't find a photo or mention of one anywhere.  I wonder how many exist?
> 
> @WesternPA-collector , thanks very much for the ballpark valuation.  I appreciate it.


Very few. You won't find much online about a bottle that is made for one or two people like this.  If any others have one they are probably also being kept in storage somewhere.


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## Kevin2

Thanks for your reply.  I'm interested in what you said - do you think this bottle was _literally _made for only one or two people? It wasn't distributed to 100-200+ people who worked at the plant, vendors and distributors?


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## slugplate

Hi Kevin, I ran into a similar problem with this Heinz Commemorative. I suspect it was given only to upper people of the plant. However, I can't rule out that employees may have gotten one as well. Like you said, it's hard to get info on them.


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## WesternPA-collector

Kevin2 said:


> Thanks for your reply.  I'm interested in what you said - do you think this bottle was _literally _made for only one or two people? It wasn't distributed to 100-200+ people who worked at the plant, vendors and distributors?


It's very doubtful they made them for that many. You're talking a  bigger cost there. There's instances where certain glass items or bottles were handed out to the whole factory at Christmas time. I'll be posting some examples of that soon. Saving that post for Christmas.


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## WesternPA-collector

slugplate said:


> Hi Kevin, I ran into a similar problem with this Heinz Commemorative. I suspect it was given only to upper people of the plant. However, I can't rule out that employees may have gotten one as well. Like you said, it's hard to get info on them.


That bottle is awesome. I need to find me one of those.


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## slugplate

WesternPA-collector said:


> That bottle is awesome. I need to find me one of those.


If you're ever going to be in Jersey, drop me a heads-up and you can have it. The bottle is mint, museum quality... but no cap.


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## WesternPA-collector

slugplate said:


> If you're ever going to be in Jersey, drop me a heads-up and you can have it. The bottle is mint, museum quality... but no cap.


How about if I paid you to ship it eventually?


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## slugplate

WesternPA-collector said:


> How about if I paid you to ship it eventually?


I think that's fine.


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## WesternPA-collector

slugplate said:


> Hi Kevin, I ran into a similar problem with this Heinz Commemorative. I suspect it was given only to upper people of the plant. However, I can't rule out that employees may have gotten one as well. Like you said, it's hard to get info on them.


I just realized that this bottle is in my Anchor Hocking Commemorative Bottles Book as an amber bottle. It is worth $40.00 to $50.00 and I feel it's the right thing to do to disclose this to you. The book gives me a lot of inside information on various bottles.


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## slugplate

WesternPA-collector said:


> I just realized that this bottle is in my Anchor Hocking Commemorative Bottles Book as an amber bottle. It is worth $40.00 to $50.00 and I feel it's the right thing to do to disclose this to you. The book gives me a lot of inside information on various bottles.


Thank you WPA-C for your honesty. My bottle is clear glass, as you know, and I will certainly honor the commitment I made. So no need to worry, I'm happy you like it.


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## Kevin2

slugplate said:


> Hi Kevin, I ran into a similar problem with this Heinz Commemorative. I suspect it was given only to upper people of the plant. However, I can't rule out that employees may have gotten one as well. Like you said, it's hard to get info on them.


Thank you very much for the reply and all of the photos of your Heinz bottle.  It was very cool to see those pictures.  That's a really neat bottle.  I wonder how many/if anyone in Pittsburgh has one?!  (Go, Steelers!)


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## Kevin2

WesternPA-collector said:


> It's very doubtful they made them for that many. You're talking a  bigger cost there. There's instances where certain glass items or bottles were handed out to the whole factory at Christmas time. I'll be posting some examples of that soon. Saving that post for Christmas.



I would have thought that all the high-dollar cost would be in the creation of the bottle template or mold - not in the manufacturing or distribution of bottles after the mold has been made.  That is counterintuitive to me.  I would have thought once the mold was made, they could make them for as many people as they wanted.

I'm going to go hunting now for your Christmas post.  I'm eager to see it!


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