Civil War Blob-top soda bottle, dug in Stafford Virginia in 1998 (SOLD)

A while back I was fortunate to acquire a large collection of Civil War excavated bottles. Being offered is an aqua-colored blob-top soda bottle, measuring 7” high with a diameter of 2 ½” at the base and in raised printing is “W.P. & Co.”. The digger marked the history of this bottle with “1862 – 1863 / Union N.Y. Inf. Camp / Near Brooke Station, VA / Found 10 October 1998”.

In November 1862, the Army of the Potomac – 135,000 soldiers, 60-70,000 horses and mules, 6,000 wagons and ambulances and over 400 artillery pieces – marched from Warrenton through Stafford and occupied the Stafford Heights overlooking Fredericksburg. About 75 percent of the army fought in the battle of Fredericksburg from Stafford (December 11-15, 1862).

In the mid-1800s, the soda bottle style changed from previous versions. The new “blob-top” soda bottles emerged because of the invention of fully automatic bottle-making machines. Blob-top bottles had a gravitating stopper that closed the bottle. Gravitating stoppers became popular because the stopper maintained the pressure inside the bottle, which kept the soda carbonated for longer. So, blob-top bottles preserved the rich flavor of soda and attracted more people to drink soda.

Over the years, blob-top soda bottles were a common find at Civil War sites, this validates their popularity. This one is in beautiful condition, with no chips or cracks. It also shows the signs of early glass with numerous bubbles. This would go great in any collection.