Bottle Attributes Lips

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.

Some lips are noticeably rare or absent from some areas of the country. In New York City, early porter bottles were produced with a tapered or rounded collar lip type. In Philadelphia, a mere ninety miles away, the double taper lip was used almost exclusively on these same bottles. Considering that both these city's bottles were manufactured at the Dyottville and Union Glass Works, one can see the influence of regional preferences, which can be used to identify a bottles place of origin. A pontiled porter bottle with a rounded collar is not likely from Philadelphia or its surrounding region.

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 following bottle lips are documented on this site:

  1. Beer Bottle Lips
  2. Soda & Mineral Water Bottle Lips

Click on the links above to get more information on an attribute or to identify a bottle that you are researching.