The form of a bottle's lip can say something about a bottle's age.
The major lip styles changed little of the years and with the exception
of soda bottles produced in the 1840s and special patents, were used for
extensive periods of time. Regional preferences and traditions help to
dictate what lips were popular and for how long.
Special patents also dictated a lip's shapes. Some patents required a
special form of lip. The earliest Albertson patent, which was the
forerunner of Mathew's gravitating patent, required a large and wide
tapered lip to hold the internal spring mechanism.
The lip styles shown below are general representations only. The exact
shape of lip may very greatly.
 |
Rounded taper lip, circ:
1847-1905, Occurs on over 2,000 bottles.
This type of lip is often called a "blob" top by collectors. It was first used on soda shaped bottles and later on various shapes of
soda and mineral water bottles. Its rounded shape prevented chipping and provided the strength needed to mount various closures. It was used almost exclusively on pony shaped bottles. It was by far the most common type of lip used on pre-crown soda bottles. |
 |
Tapered lip, circ: 1844-1855, Occurs on over 500 bottles.
This type of lip was first used on late pontil soda shaped
bottles. On soda bottles its use followed the short tapered lip
and provided a heavier and larger area for securing the string
or wire used to secure the cork in the neck. Its use faded on
the East coast by 1850, but remained popular in the Midwest for
a number of years later. Its use was replaced by the rounded
taper lip. |
 |
Tapered lip with ring, circ: 1848-1870,
Occurs on 38 bottles.
This type of lip is often called a Twitchell top by collectors.
George Twitchell of Philadelphia was the first to use this top
in the late 1840s and used it almost exclusively on his bottles. This lip style was later used
by other bottlers in New York, Georgia, Illinois, and
Pennsylvania, but was never really that popular. It is known on
soda, pony and drug store shaped soda and mineral water bottles. |
 |
Short tapered lip, circ: 1838-1845,
Occurs on 41 bottles.
This type of lip was used on some of the earliest soda bottles.
It was replaced with the tapered lip starting in 1843. It was
used exclusively on the early and late pontiled shaped sodas.
These lips are often very crudely applied and add greatly to the
character of a bottle. |
 |
Rounded lip, circ: 1850-1855 and 1880-1915, Occurs on over 12,000 bottles.
This type of lip is sometimes referred to as a doughnut by
collectors. It was used on some early soda shaped bottles,
usually manufactured at Pittsburgh glass works during the era
that pontiled bottles were produced. Its use then stopped until
the Hutchinson stopper became popular. Since this stopper was
sealed internally, there was no need for a heavy lip to fasten
the closure to on Hutchinson shaped bottles. It is also used on
other internally stopped bottles such as those that used the
Baltimore loop seal or Roobach's second patent, which used Hutchinson
shaped bottles. Both of these later patents have a ring inside
the lip that is part of the sealing mechanism. |
 |
Long tapered lip, circ: 1875-1920,
Occurs on 248 bottles.
This type of lip was used mostly on Codd shaped bottle. It was
primarily used with bottles that used Codd's patent closure or
those of a similar function such as the early Roobach's stopper.
There is often a ring inside the lip with a rubber gasket that
serves as a sealing mechanism. |
 |
Inverted tapered lip, circ: 1850-1855 and 1865-1885,
Occurs on 251 bottles.
This type of lip was used on soda shaped bottles manufactured in
the Pittsburgh region during the era that pontiled bottles were
being manufactured. Its use then stopped and was reintroduced
when Matthew's gravitating patent shaped bottles were
manufactured. It was used almost exclusively on these
gravitating shaped bottles. When Hutchinson's patent closure was
introduced, this style of lip was used until the rounded lip
replaced it. |
 |
Flare with taper lip, circ: 1870-1875,
Occurs on 1 bottle.
This type of lip was primarily used on one style of bottle for
Taylor's 1872 patent closure. It was used on a pony shaped
bottle and comes with and without a hole through the lip. |
 |
Double tapered lip, circ: 1815-1885,
Occurs on 387 bottles.
The type of lip first made its appearance on black glass wine
and beer bottles. The shape second taper was a refinement of the
earlier lips used on these bottles. The second taper was used to
hold wire that was wrapped around the bottle and over the cork
to hold it in place. This type of lip was the mainstay on Saratoga shaped bottles. Its popularity started to fade during the 1880s
when it was replaced with the rounded taper lip. |
 |
Heavy flared lip, circ:
1855-1875,
Occurs on 6 bottles.
This type of lip was used primarily on Saratoga salt jars from
the third quarter of the nineteenth century. They are
often very crude and uneven in appearance. One patented
closure from a New York manufacturer also used this lip. |
 |
Matthews early lip, circ: 1864-1866,
Occurs on 14 bottles.
This type of lip was only used on pony shaped bottles that used
the first Matthew's patent. Although this lip appears wide, it
is really hollow inside and was used to house a spring mechanism
that would seal the bottle. |
 |
Double Rounded lip, circ: 1890-1900,
Occurs on 15 bottles.
This type of lip was not extensively used, but does occur on a
few soda bottles. The height of each of the rounded
collars on these lips varies greatly. At least one Hutchinson shaped bottle
from New Jersey used this lip. |
 |
Square collared lip, circ:
1860-1920, Occurs on over 500 bottles.
This type of lip was used extensively on siphon bottles, but does occur on a few other types of soda and mineral water bottles. The height of the square band on these lips varies greatly. This lip occurs on most cylindrical spring water, root beer extract and bottler's supply bottles. |
 |
Applied square ring lip, circ:
1835-1915,
Occurs on 7 bottles.
This type of lip was rarely used on soda and mineral water
bottles. Most of the bottles shapes have single occurrences
of this lip. |
 |
Applied ring, circ: 1825-1900,
Occurs on 4 bottles.
This type of lip was never really popular and was occasionally used on
mineral water bottles. |
 |
Double applied ring collar lip, circ:
1848-1852,
Occurs on 7 bottle.
This type of lip was only used on one soda water bottle from the
New York area. |
 |
Double chiseled ring lip, circ:
1860-1870,
Occurs on 29 bottle.
This type of lip was only used on one soda water bottle from the
Baltimore area. This style of lip was more common on
citrate of magnesia bottles. |
 |
Ground screw lip, circ:
1885-1886,
Occurs on 1 bottle.
This type of lip was only used on one soda water bottle from
Iowa and is associated with a specific patent. |
 |
Sheared lip, circ: 1800-1920,
Occurs on 57 bottles.
This type of lip was only used mainly on pottery jugs used to
bottle mineral water bottles or to bottle bottlers supplies. |
 |
Prescription lip, circ:
1855-1915,
Occurs on 13 bottles.
This type of lip was rarely used on mineral water bottles.
Generally it was used on bottles sold by druggists that
contained prescriptions. One from Virginia dates
to the mid 1850s and another from Alabama dates from about
1910 to about 1915. |
 |
Rounded Collar with Square
Band lip, circ: 1880-1910,
Occurs on 2 bottle.
This type of lip was only used on on a juice bottle from New
Jersey. |
 |
Crown lip, circ: 1892-2000
This type of lip was extensively used on soda and mineral water bottles after 1900 and were standard after 1920. They were mostly used on pony shaped soda and mineral water bottles. |
