If you ask most people what their favorite type of soda is, they'll say the same thing: Coke. And one of the things Coke is most famous for, besides its delicious flavor, is its iconic bottles.
But they haven't always looked the way they do now. To learn more about the bottles — and why some of them are now worth up to $4,000 — it's time for a short history lesson.
Coke, or Coca-Cola, was invented in 1886 by Dr. John Pemberton, a pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia. After he created the syrup, he teamed up with a local shop to start selling the syrup with carbonated water as a soda fountain drink.
When Dr. Pemberton died, the company fell to the hands of Mr. Asa Candler, who got sole ownership in 1891.
When Asa took over, he expanded the business rapidly, and by 1895, Coca-Cola was being sold in every single state around the country.
In 1899, Coca-Cola started bottling their drinks in Chattanooga, Tennessee, using "Hutchinson bottles."
[H/T Coca-Cola]
Thumbnail Photo: ebay
Coca-Cola has a fascinating history, but the most interesting part is its bottling.
Why? Because some of these bottles are now worth up to $4,000.
Asa Candler, who owned the company, worked very hard to grow the company, even offering coupons for free sodas, like the one seen above.
As the company continued to expand, they had to start bottling their delicious product.
When Coca-Cola started bottling their own drinks, they used a Hutchinson bottle, which looked essentially like the bottle above.
Hutchinson bottles had straight sides, a metal stopper, and a logo right in the center. Today, some of these bottles go for up to $4,000.
The metal stopper had to be removed with a special device, like the kind seen above.
Breaking the seal of the stopper made a "pop" sound, which is how the term "soda pop" came to be.
The Hutchinson bottle was only used by Coca-Cola for seven years — in 1906, they switched to an amber-colored glass bottle with a triangular logo. These bottles are worth up to $400.
And by 1915, they had switched to yet another bottle — the famous Coca-Cola contour bottle, which is very similar to the glass Coke bottles they still sell today. Some of the early contour bottles sell for around $15.
So what exactly makes those first Hutchinson bottles so valuable?
One of Coca-Cola's history experts, Phil Mooney, explained in an article that the Hutchinson bottles are worth the most money because they only were on the market for such a short amount of time.
Although many of the bottles had an older version of the logo printed into it, the bottles with the script-lettered logo go for the most money.
Have you ever seen one of these Hutchinson bottles before?
Did you know the fascinating history behind Coca-Cola bottles?
Please SHARE this article with your friends — who knows, maybe they have a Hutchinson bottle just sitting in their house collecting dust!
