A bottle is a container used to hold liquids such as water, oil, juice, and other beverages. It is also commonly used to store pharmaceutical and medical supplies, cosmetics, and other personal care items. Bottles can be made of glass, plastic, or metal. Plastic bottles are usually used to package foods and beverages, but they can also be used to hold other items such as cleaning solutions and soaps. Plastic is a versatile and durable material that can be formed into many different shapes, sizes, and colors. Bottles can be crafted to display specific designs, such as a logo or phrase, or they can be made in plain shapes such as ovals, rounds, and squares. Bottles can also be decorated with a variety of labels, closures, and finishes.
Calabash – A large, gourd shaped bottle popular in the mid to late 19th century – ca. 1850-1870 (Wilson 1994). These bottles/flasks are named for their resemblance to the fruit of the tropical American “calabash tree” – Crescentia cujete.
Applied color labeling – A process by which bottle lettering, labeling, or decoration is applied with a mixture of borosilicate glass and mineral or organ pigments that has been baked in a furnace. This is a much more durable method of decorative treatment than painting, which is susceptible to cracking, flaking, or peeling. The term is also sometimes referred to as pyroglazing, baked enamel labeling, or fired glass lettering. (See also etching, silk screening, and paint on glass)
Full sized mold – A type of bottle mold which forms the base, body, shoulder, and most or all – depending on era and style of bottle – of the neck/finish conformation of the bottle. This is a different form of mold than the dip and pattern molds which do not form this conformation. See the Bottle Finishes & Closures page for further discussion.
Ganging – A series of parallel lines on the sides of a bottle, neck, or body caused by the insertion and removal of the glass into and out of a parison mold in order to give it shape. Often seen on machine-made bottles. Also known as parison seams or molding lines.
Deposition lag – A significant time delay between the manufacture, use, and discarding of a bottle or other item. It is common for fragments of 19th century jars to be found in dumps or other deposits long after they were originally thrown away.
PET – Polyethylene terephthalate is a durable and lightweight plastic that can be shaped into many different sizes and shapes. It is an excellent substitute for glass bottles used to package food and drink, pharmaceutical and medical products, and other household products.
Recycling plastic bottles can help to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills where it will decompose and leach harmful pollutants into soil and water. It can also help to cut down on the approximately 165 million tons of plastic waste that currently float in our oceans.
