Please help me identify

[DrSCKnowles]

I was able to find some of the basic information about the Allen Bottling Co. using old newspapers, but there's a lot to find here it seems.

The earliest trace I can find of the company under "Allen Bottling Co" is an ad in The Wichita Beacon from March of 1910:

View attachment 252402
From this ad we learn that the company was established in 1892, and confirm what Leon (hemihampton) above said - they sold not only mineral water, but bottled soda and ginger ale, siphons, fruit ciders and juices, milk shakes and fountain syrup, and more. Here's one from a few months later, which gives an address of 517-519 Tremont Avenue in Wichita:
View attachment 252403
A little deeper research indicates that Tremont Avenue was renamed St. Francis Avenue, located in the south-central portion of the city (https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=60594).

It was owned (at least in July 1913) by W.H. Hazelton and Ralph Lightner: View attachment 252404

It seems they bottled or distributed a little bit of everything, from local stuff to more widely-distributed drinks - Early on I can find mentions of Conway Springs Water, Sinalco, Grape-Rite, Pineapple Nectarade, and a few of their own concoctions, including "Allen's Red Tame Cherry" and "Allen's Orient Ginger Ale" in the mid-1910s. By 1917 they were bottling non-alcoholic beverages - I can find ads for "Pablo", made by Pabst Brewing Co., "Puritan", the self-described "Unexcelled Cereal Beverage" according to the ad (yuck), and Milo (another non-alcoholic beverage), for which they took out huge 1/4 page ads in some cases. Other things they bottled included Miller High Life (originally non-alcoholic), Green River Soda, and Hires Root Beer

It seems that Conway Springs Water & Geuda Springs Water were by far their best & longest running sellers, but they sold their own flavored sodas (the Grape-Rite, Tame Cherry, Orient Ginger Ale, and later a Strawberry, Orange Freeze/Sour, Lemon Sour,) into the early 1920s. Here's a few articles about the company:
15 Jun 1919:View attachment 252406 22 Jan 1922:View attachment 252405 1 May 1922: View attachment 252407

Wow! That is some thorough documentation! Nice work!

 

[Vetus Vitrum]

If you find a bottle that old on your family's farm there is most like going to be an area where refuse was discarded. One bottle leads to two, leads to a hobby, leads to a habit.....leads to an addiction. But not a bad one to have. I am stumped by the capital 'A' on the base. I like knowing who manufactured the bottle and can't figure this one out. Are there any other letters on the heal of the bottle?

 

[Sitcoms]

If you find a bottle that old on your family's farm there is most like going to be an area where refuse was discarded. One bottle leads to two, leads to a hobby, leads to a habit.....leads to an addiction. But not a bad one to have. I am stumped by the capital 'A' on the base. I like knowing who manufactured the bottle and can't figure this one out. Are there any other letters on the heal of the bottle?

My guess on the "A" mark is that it's probably just a mold indicator. Glassbottlemarks.com does state that a number of bottle makers used just a letter A, and it's hard to say which one this would be.

 

[Vetus Vitrum]

My guess on the "A" mark is that it's probably just a mold indicator. Glassbottlemarks.com does state that a number of bottle makers used just a letter A, and it's hard to say which one this would be.

I am had read that also on that site. I wouldn't think the A would be that large to indicate a mold but then again.