Dr. Pepper Aqua Glass Soda Bottle - [Owens-Illinois Glass Co.]

One of the most difficult parts in collecting old glass bottles is realizing that the bottle you've just spent the last 30 minutes painstakingly digging out is actually broken.  I usually don't bring broken bottles back with me, but I wasn't sure if I'd ever find another aqua, or "Georgia green," Dr. Pepper bottle with this particular label.






(Looking at it now, the DP bottle bears several similarities to the 7-Up bottle I mentioned last week:  both are unusually heavy, use applied color labels (ACL) rather than embossment labeling or paper labels, and they both have a small circular divot in the glass on the heel of the bottle. The general body shape is also quite similar.)

The numbers surrounding the Dr. Pepper name, '10-2-4', represent the three times during the day when Dr. Pepper should be guzzled*: 10am, 2pm, and 4pm.  The orientation and placement of the numbers around the Dr. Pepper name mimics that of an analog clock.

The base of this bottle is the only part of its body to include embossments on the glass.  A dotting pattern circles the outer rim of the base.  Within this circle at the top is the text "KNOXVILLE", and at the bottom, "TENN".  At the very center is the (very faint) glass manufacturer's mark, an I inside an oval.  The number '7' is directly to the mark's left, and the number '3' is directly below the mark.  There appears to be nothing to its right.

*In the 1920s, Dr. Walter Eddy of Columbia University discovered that people naturally experience an energy slump at 10:30am, 2:30pm, and 4:30pm.  He also found that if people ate or drank something around 10am, 2pm, and 4pm, they were able to avoid the energy slumps entirely.  Following the release of Dr. Eddy's research findings, Dr. Pepper launched one of its most well-known marketing campaigns: Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2, and 4.  Commonly referred to as "Dr. Pepper Time", the company marketed its soda as the preventative against energy drops at the aforementioned times.

-- DR. PEPPER BOTTLE DATING --

Chronology of Dr. Pepper Bottles

Bill Lockhart of SHA notes: "In 1958, the company selected a style it called “bounce lettering” to distinguish their third ACL bottle configuration.  The lettering was so named because the third “p” was “bounced” up to a slightly higher position than the other two (Figure 11c-5).  Although the new style was introduced in 1958, the logo was not used until 1960.  The style continued until 1971." 

Because the manufacturer's mark is an I in an oval, we know that the manufacturer was Owens-Illinois Glass Co. and that it was made after the year 1956 (because the IO mark lacks the diamond).  I have to assume that the number 7 next to the IO mark represents the plant in Alton, Illinois and that the number 3 below the IO mark represents the year of manufacture, 1963.  The large embossment of "KNOXVILLE" & "TENN" refers to the city and state where the Dr. Pepper beverage is bottled.