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About Antique Beer Bottles

Prior to about 1850, most beer was sold only by the barrel, to taverns, for distribution. But independent breweries pioneered individual bottling post Civil War, with the introduction of stamped glass making different brands identifiable. Cork stoppers were used until pressurized caps came along in the 20th Century. And many pre-Prohibition beer bottles were green (aka Aqua glass), in contrast to the later predominant brown, which supposedly keeps out sunlight and preserves freshness.


Articles

An Interview With Beer and Soda Bottle Opener Collector John Stanley

An Interview With Beer and Soda Bottle Opener Collector John Stanley

My mother brought home a bunch of openers back in 1977, and that got me started collecting. I thought it woul…  [more]

An Interview With Antique Beer Stein Collector Frank Loevi

An Interview With Antique Beer Stein Collector Frank Loevi

I’ve been a beer stein collector for about 25 years. About 10 years ago I sold my business, a specialty dat…  [more]

An Interview With Antique Bottle Collector Bill Lindsey

An Interview With Antique Bottle Collector Bill Lindsey

My maternal grandfather and uncle got into bottles in about 1965 or ‘66 when I was in high school, and we s…  [more]

Guest Column: Collecting Antique Ball Jars

Guest Column: Collecting Antique Ball Jars

One of the most common fruit jars ever produced is the lowly Ball jar. Historical figures show that from betw…  [more]

An Interview With Breweriana Collector George Barone

An Interview With Breweriana Collector George Barone

George Barone, an executive at Bank of America, is an avid collector of American beer coasters and the webmas…  [more]

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Article Libraries

Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors

Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors

“The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors is a non-profit organization for collectors of historical bot…  [more]





Top Websites (“Hall of Fame”)

Red Fox Chapter

Red Fox Chapter

The guys at the Connecticut Chapter of the Brewery Collectibles Club of America have created a full-on tribute to t…  [more]

Historic Glass Bottle Identification

Historic Glass Bottle Identification

Bill Lindsey's fantastic bottle identification and information site. Loaded with detailed descriptions and diagrams…  [more]

Bottle Cap Index

Bottle Cap Index

Assembled by Gunther Rademacher with the help of several other contributors, this collection of over half a million…  [more]

Cape May County Bottle Collectors

Cape May County Bottle Collectors

Ed and Mark Runyon's wonderful guide to the antique bottles of Cape May County, New Jersey is a great site for anyo…  [more]

Just For Openers

Just For Openers

This site features photos of beer advertising openers from the early 1900s, organized alphabetically by state. But …  [more]

Antique Bottle Collector's Haven

Antique Bottle Collector's Haven

There's a ton of information here, but as with bottles, you have to dig to find the best stuff. Start with the famo…  [more]

Diggersdiary.co.uk

Diggersdiary.co.uk

This great site, from British diggers Darren Gray and Jeremy Kemp, is rich in information about hunting for antique…  [more]

British Beer Labels

British Beer Labels

This pre-1965 collection is organized alphabetically by brand and contains scans of seemingly thousands of beautif…  [more]

Plopsite.de

Plopsite.de

Norbert Lamping's collection of 600+ ceramic bottle stoppers, Hutter stoppers, swingtops, swivel stoppers, and ligh…  [more]

Beer Stein Library

Beer Stein Library

Though partially restricted to members-only, this site has a huge amount of free, publicly available and incredibly…  [more]

Old Spice Collectibles

Old Spice Collectibles

Lather up with Creighton Friceks complete chronology of collectible Old Spice shaving products. Start with the bott…  [more]

Bock Beer Labels

Bock Beer Labels

A quick tour of pre-Prohibition bock beer label designs with nice, high resolution scans. Do the whole slide show o…  [more]

Beuhbaba's Beer Collection

Beuhbaba's Beer Collection

This site features a fascinating variety of over 1000 beer bottle labels from around the world. Though focused main…  [more]


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Bald Eagle Beer Bottle Bald Eagle Beer Bottle$4.99 Ends in 2 hours 1 bid