A bottle is a narrow-necked container of glass or other impermeable material of various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Bottles can be sealed with an internal stopper, an external bottle cap or closure and/or induction sealing. Bottles are used to package food and beverage, cosmetics and medicines as well as other items for general use. A wide variety of bottle materials exist, with glass and plastics being most common today. Bottles made from plastic are typically formed by blow-molding techniques utilizing either reheat and blow molding or co-extrusion blow molding. Bottles made from a combination of glass and plastic, known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), are often found in beverage packaging as well as dry products like motor oil and shampoo.
A key distinction of bottles is their shape which can vary greatly depending on the intended use. Bottles can be shaped to be cylindrical, oval, ovoid or rectangular. The neck of the bottle can also be rounded, square or straight, a feature that is especially important to bottles designed to hold thick liquids such as beer and other spirits.
The bottle material can also differ significantly, with glass being the most common, though other materials are used including aluminum and some types of plastics. Aluminum is lightweight and strong, while PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is a type of vinyl plastic which can be molded to make containers and is comparatively inexpensive. PVC can be recycled, but it is not as easily done as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic which is readily recycled.
Glass bottle manufacturing has evolved over time to include a number of different techniques and forming methods which create unique bottle characteristics. These can be seen in the variety of bottle shapes and materials that have been produced over the years.
Bottles are made from a mixture of raw materials that are heated in the glassmaking pot to a molten state, called batch. During the glassmaking process, a gather is taken from the bocca – an opening in the side of the furnace – and placed in the molds to form the body and neck of the bottle.
A specialized type of bottle, the calabash, was so named because it is shaped to resemble the hard shelled gourds of tropical American “calabash” trees – Crescentia cujete – of which there were many during the 1850-1870 period when these were popular bottle/flask forms (see Calabash Bottles/Flasks typology page). Other specialty bottles were often called carboys and are described on the Carboys/Demijohns typology page.
Embossing – raised lettering or designs on the surface of a bottle caused by incising on the mold surfaces during the glassmaking process (see Bottle Body Characteristics & Mold Seams and Embossing pages). See Plate for an illustration.