Chapter 10d 
Bottles of Nehi-Royal Crown Bottling Co. and Royal Crown Bottling Co.
© Bill Lockhart 2000
Nehi-Royal Crown Bottling Company
Royal Crown 
     A second very similar style bottle was used after the name change.  At least two variations were used in El Paso.  The first identified itself as property of Nehi-Royal Crown Bottling Co., El Paso, Texas.  The second, however, was used in both El Paso and Phoenix and was marked, NEHI ROYAL CROWN BOTTLING CO., EL PASO - PHOENIX or ROYAL CROWN BOTTLING CO., EL PASO - PHOENIX. 
 
NRC 07 
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Georgia Green 
Size (in cm.):  23.1 (h); 6.5 (d) 
Primary Labeling Style:  Yellow and Red ACL 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  12 oz. 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical 
Front Description 
Shoulder:  Yellow ACL - ROYAL CROWN (downward arch) 
Body:  A yellow square enclosed a depiction of four yellow pyramids on a yellow sand foreground with a red sky background.  The words ROYAL CROWN were emblazoned in yellow across the red sky, followed by REG. U. S. PAT. OFF., then a star in the bottle's Georgia Green color stenciled through the red background.  The initials RC appeared on a Georgia Green background between the two center pyramids followed on the yellow foreground by COLA in red lettering.  The lower left corner proclaimed, COPYRIGHT 1936/NEHI CORPORATION, with CONTENTS/12 FLUID OUNCES on the right. [variation 2 - same] 
Heel:  Bare [Embossed:  8   430] [variation 2 - bare] 
Back Description 
Shoulder: Same as front 
Body:  Yellow ACL - BOTTLE STERILIZED/BEFORE FILLING/CONTAINS CARBONATED WATER,/SUGAR, AND ACIDULANT,/COLA NUT EXTRACTIVES,/NATURAL FLAVORS,/CARAMEL COLOR/PROPERTY OF/NEHI- ROYAL CROWN BOTTLING CO./EL PASO, TEXAS [BOTTLE STERILIZED/BEFORE FILLING/[star]/PROPERTY OF/NEHI ROYAL CROWN BOTTLING CO./EL PASO- PHOENIX] [variation 2 - BOTTLE STERILIZED/BEFORE FILLING/[star]/PROPERTY OF/ROYAL CROWN BOTTLING CO./EL PASO-PHOENIX] 
Heel:  Bare [Embossed:  5 L G W 0] 
Base:  Embossed - 9 [I-in-an-oval-superimposed-on-a-diamond] 2/Duraglass (script) [C 286/Duraglass (script)/15 [I-in-an-oval-superimposed-on-a-diamond] 52/3] 
Manufacturer:  Owens Illinois Glass Company (1929-1954); Duraglass logo used after 1940 [Laurens Glass Works (1913-1970)] 
Dating:  [1941-1953] [1947-1953] The company name was changed from Nehi Bottling Company to Nehi-Royal Crown Bottling Company in 1941.  Bottles of this type were used in El Paso from about 1941 (the renaming of the company) to the change of bottle styles by 1953.  The Phoenix name could not have been used prior to the purchase of that plant by the Ritters in 1947.  Note that 1951 and 1952 bottles bore the name ROYAL CROWN BOTTLING CO./EL PASO- PHOENIX, although the change to that name in El Paso did not appear until 1965.  Even though the El Paso name appears first, the Royal Crown Bottling Co. name is probably related to the Phoenix plant.  These bottles also bear a different shoulder marking (see above) and were probably a later design variation. 
Collection(s):  Mike Morrison Collection, Las Cruces; Bill Ward Collection, Oro Grande, New Mexico; author's collection. 
 
 
 
 
     Around 1953, Royal Crown slightly simplified their labeling design.  Along with the twelve- ounce bottle for home distribution, a ten-ounce package was designed for use in vending machines.  RC used the ten-ounce bottle from 1953 to about 1956 (personal communication from Mike Elling).
 
NRC 08 
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Georgia Green 
Size (in cm.):  24.1 (h); 6.4 (d) 
Primary Labeling Style:  Red and Yellow ACL 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  12 oz. 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical with light stippling on shoulder and neck 
Front Description 
Shoulder:  Bare 
Body:  Same as above, but the pyramids on the body front disappeared, and more complicated copyright information was replaced by COPYRIGHT on the left and NEHI CORP. on the right. 
Back Description 
Shoulder: Bare 
Body:  BOTTLE STERILIZED/BEFORE FILLING/[two stars]/CONTENTS 12 FLU. OZS./[star]/PROPERTY OF/NEHI-ROYAL CROWN BOTTLING CO./EL PASO, TEXAS [variation had only one star after BEFORE FILLING] 
Base:  Embossed - G-2906/Duraglass (script) 5 [I-in-an-oval] 56/10 
Manufacturer:  Owens Illinois Glass Company (1954-present); Duraglass logo used after 1940 
Dating:  [ca. 1955-1958] Bottles of this type were used from the mid-1950s to the next design change in 1958. 
Collection(s):  Willie F. Terrazas collection; author's collection. 
 
Willie Terrazas
 
 
     The next design change was major, including the alteration of both the bottle and label.
 
NRC 09 
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Georgia Green 
Size (in cm.):  24.0 (h); 6.5 (d) [27.3 (h); 6.5 (d) 
Primary Labeling Style:  Red and White ACL 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  12 oz. [16 oz.] 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical, narrowing slightly at the heel, and gradually widening back to 6.5 cm. at the center body.  The bottle contained eighteen vertical panels 
Front Description 
Shoulder:   Raised (embossed) diamond with 12 FL. OZS. in white ACL in the center below a line drawing of a crown [16 oz. - A solid White ACL circle contained the initials, RC with the ® symbol below the R.  Around (outside) the circle forming a semi-circle, were the words, ROYAL CROWN®COLA - CARAMEL COLORED.] 
Body:  Embossed with a double-diamond, the top diamond being smaller than the bottom one.  The larger diamond was enameled red with a white border and the words, Royal/Crown®/Cola, in white above another line drawing of a crown.  A white diamond was superimposed at the apex of the first with the initials, R/C in red.  [16 oz. - 16 Fl. Oz. (1 Pt.)] 
Back Description 
Neck/Shoulder:  Bare 
Body:  Bare 
Base:  Embossed - I-in-an-oval; year designation - 65 [LG 69/980/12] 
Manufacturer:  Owens Illinois Glass Company (1954-present) [Liberty Glass Company (1954-present) 
Dating:  [1958-ca. 1980s] Bottles of this type were introduced in 1958 and may have extended into the 1980s 
Collection(s):  Willie F. Terrazas collection; author's collection. 
 
Willie Terrazas
 
 
     About the same time, another variation appeared.  In this one, the diamond migrated down to the body front and became a white-outlined red diamond with Royal/Crown/Cola/[crown] enameled in white in the center.  A second, white diamond was superimposed over the top termination of the main diamond with the horizontal initials, RC, in red.  A second white crown was enameled at the shoulder.  Bottles of this type, in eight-, ten-, and twelve-ounce configurations, were in use from 1958 to at least 1966 and may have varied by location (Bates et al 1996a:R-11-12). 
 
 

     A final variety returned the main logo to the shoulder, this time in the form of a white enameled circle superimposed with a red stylized RC, commonly called the "RC target."  Just outside the circle, wrapped around the lower half, were the words, ROYAL CROWN COLA   CARAMEL COLOR.  The lower body front was enameled, 12 FL. OZ.  Bottles of this type came in ten-, twelve-, and sixteen-ounce sizes and were used, with slight variations, from 1970 to 1988  (Bates et al 1996a:R-12). 

     The most recent addition to the RC family was Royal Crown Draft Cola, introduced in 1995.  The new drink was sweetened with cane sugar and packaged in an amber bottle with a paper label that was reminiscent of a beer bottle.  The bottles were topped with continuous thread aluminum caps.  The body label contains a distinctive star (Elling 1997).
Upper 10 
     Although not specifically mentioned in telephone or city directory advertisements, the Nehi-Royal Crown Bottling Company probably offered Upper 10, a lemon-lime drink available from the franchiser, Nehi Corporation, Columbus, Georgia.
 
NRC 10 
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Forest Green 
Size (in cm.):  20.1 (h); 6.0 (d) 
Primary Labeling Style:  Yellow and Red ACL 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  7 oz. 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical 
Front Description 
Shoulder:  Yellow ACL underlined Upper 10 in script 
Body:  Yellow rectangle that depicts a Hansom Cab, top hat, cane, and gloves.  Below the message reads Upper 10 (red script)/PICKS YOU UP/LIME-LEMON SODA/CONTENTS 7 FLUID OUNCES 
Back Description 
Shoulder:  Yellow ACL underlined Upper 10 in script 
Body:  Yellow ACL - BOTTLE STERILIZED/BEFORE FILLING/CONTAINS CARBONATED/WATER, SUGAR,/CITRIC ACID, FLAVOR, AND CITRATES./PROPERTY OF/ROYAL CROWN BOTTLING CO. 
Base:  Embossed - I-in-an-oval-superimposed-on-a-diamond and the word, Duraglass, in script 
Manufacturer:  Owens Illinois Glass Company (1929-1954) 
Dating:  [1941?-1955] Bottles of this type came in seven-, ten-, and twelve-ounce capacities and date from sometime during the tenure of Nehi-Royal Crown Bottling Co. (1941-1965) to 1955 (Bates et al 1996a:U-3).  The earliest bottle of this type shown by Bates et al dates to 1951. 
Collection(s):  Mike Morrison collection, Las Cruces. 
 
Mike Morrison
 
 
     A second Upper 10 bottle was used later.
 
NRC 11 
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Forest Green 
Size (in cm.):  24.0 (h); 6.1 (d) 
Primary Labeling Style:  Yellow and White ACL 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  10 oz. 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical 
Front Description 
Shoulder:  ACL - UPPER 10 in white enclosed by two yellow lines above and below and a series of four horizontal yellow lines to right and left forming the lateral sides of a box. 
Body:  An ACL box formed similarly to the neck logo but with double lines on top and bottom and ten horizontal lateral side lines.  The outline surrounded the message, KING SIZE/UPPER/10/PICKS YOU UP in white letters. 
Back Description 
Shoulder:  Same as front 
Body:  ACL - A NEHI PRODUCT/[star]/CONTENTS 10 FL. OZ./[star]/CONTAINS CARBONATED/WATER, SUGAR, CITRIC ACID,/SODIUM CITRATE AND FLAVORS/FINE LIME AND LEMON OILS 
Base:  Embossed - 5 LGW 8/7 2583 
Manufacturer:  Laurens Glass Works (1913-1970).  The 5 and 8 surrounding LGW probably represents the year 1958. 
Dating:  [1956-1969] Bottles of this type were used from 1956 to about the time of the sale of Nehi-Royal Crown Bottling Company in 1969.  Bates et al (1996:U-3) show bottles of this types in use to at least 1971). 
Collection(s):  Lawrence Angus collection. 
 
Lawrence Angus
 
 
Diet Rite 
     No diet drinks were mentioned in the articles on the El Paso bottling industry in 1953 or 1954, but the Herald Post states that the Nehi-Royal Crown Bottling Company bottled "two lines of sugar-free drinks, cola and orange" in 1956 (EPHP 4/28/1956 F12:1).  Although the brands referred to are unknown, either could have been test marketed dietary drinks under strict corporate control.  However, neither could have been the regular Diet Rite Cola which was not introduced until 1963, although it had been invented the previous year.  The original Diet Rite was packaged in an unembossed bottle with paper labels on body front and neck.  The neck label said, Diet Rite, with a drop-down addition that informed, SUGAR/FREE.  The body front label contained the words, Diet Rite/Cola/Par-T-Pak, suggesting that the first Diet Rite was bottled under the Par-T-Pak label (Behar 1995:49). 

     At least one and possibly two variations followed the Par-T-Pak bottles, but neither have been located in El Paso or identified positively as El Paso bottles.  These may have been produced concurrently with the bottle described below and may only indicate different areas of the country.  Alternatively, they may have been manufactured in such small quantity that no examples have been found (Bates et al 1996a:D-7-8). [The bottles shown by Bates et al are dated at 1960 and 1961, two and three years before the invention of Diet Rite Cola by Royal Crown.  Occasional examples of this kind indicate the importance of assuring that reliance on two-digit dates on bottle bases is supported by other data.]
 
NRC 12 
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Colorless 
Primary Labeling Style:  Red and White ACL 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  8 oz. 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical with a series of embossed vertical ribs extending from just above the heel to the bottom of the shoulder and beginning again above the labeling area, extending briefly into the neck 
Front Description 
Shoulder:  Red ACL trapezoid with the words, diet-rite/cola in white letters.  To the left of the word, cola, in script lettering were the words, special/dietary; to the right was the single word, flavored.  Below, still within the trapezoid was the message, ARTIFICIALLY SWEETENED CARBONATED/BEVERAGE. 
Body:  No labeling 
Heel:  8 FL. OZ. 
Back Description 
Shoulder:  White trapezoid with SUGAR FREE/LESS THAN 2 CALORIES/PER BOTTLE/A PRODUCT OF ROYAL CROWN COLA CO. 
Body:  Raised (embossed) panel with CARBONATED WATER, CARAMEL COLOR/CYCLAMATE SODIUM GUM ACACIA, PHOS-/PHORIC ACID, SACCHARIN, CAFFEINE AND/FLAVOR.  ¼ OF 1% CYCLAMATE SODIUM/(SUCARYL), 1/100 OF 1% SACCHARIN,/NON-NUTRITIVE ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS/WHICH SHOULD BE USED ONLY BY PER-/SONS WHO DESIRE TO RESTRICT THEIR/INTAKE OF ORDINARY SWEETS, NO FAT OR PROTEIN, 1/10 OF 1% AVAILABLE/CARBOHYDRATES, 1/6 CALORIE PER/FLUID OUNCE./CONTENTS 8 FL. OZS. 
Heel:  Bare 
Base:  Embossed - 10 [I-in-an-oval] 61/3 
Manufacturer:  Owens Illinois Glass Company (1954-present) 
Dating:  [1963-?] The numerals, 61, suggest that even though the product was not available to the public prior to 1963, the bottle manufacturer was informed at least two years earlier.  Bottles of this type were probably used for a very short time after 1963. 
Collection(s):  Willie F. Terrazas collection. 
 
Willie Terrazas
 
 
     A second bottle type was used for a longer period.
 
NRC 13 
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Georgia Green 
Size (in cm.):  27.2 (h); 6.4 (d) 
Primary Labeling Style:  White ACL 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  16 oz. 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical with a series of embossed vertical ribs extending from just above the heel to the bottom of the shoulder and beginning again above the labeling area, extending briefly into the neck 
Front Description 
Neck:  White ACL - DR 
Shoulder:  White ACL - Diet/Rite®/Cola 
Body:   SEE BOTTLE CAP AND CARTON/FOR INGREDIENTS DECLARATION/AND ADDITIONAL LABELING/INFORMATION/16 FL. OZS. (1 PT.) 
Heel:  Bare 
Back Description 
Neck:  Same as front 
Shoulder:  Same as front 
Body:  Bare 
Heel:  Embossed - ONE PINT 
Base:  Embossed - 22L  78, possibly indicating the year 1978 
Manufacturer:  Unknown 
Dating:  [1964-1979?] Bottles of this type were used from 1964 until at least 1979.  Bates et al (1996a:D-7-8) indicate several variations within the same general style throughout the period. 
Collection(s):  Willie F. Terrazas collection. 
 
Willie Terrazas
 
 
Royal Crown Bottling Company
 
Quench 
     Quench was only mentioned in advertisements in 1967-1969 (EPTD 1967-1969).  It was undoubtedly present for a longer time, but no further dating possibilities have surfaced.
 
NRC 14 
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Forest Green 
Size (in cm.):  26.3 (h); 6.4 (d) 
Primary Labeling Style:  White, Red, and Orange ACL 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  16 oz. 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical with long body and short neck 
Front Description 
Shoulder:  White horizontal rectangle stenciled to produce a green water drop with a face made from white features followed by the word, Quench, in red. 
Body:  A white rectangul served as the background a highlighted orange resting on stenciled green and white leaves.  To the upper left appeared the ® symbol.  Below the orange was enameled, Quench/[star] QUENCH YOUR THIRST (slanted capitals). 
Back Description 
Shoulder:  Same as front 
Body:  White ACL - A WONDERFUL DRINK/A PERFECT MIXER/CONTAINS CITRUS JUICES,/SUGAR, CITRIC ACID, VITAMIN 'C'/AND CARBONATED WATER, followed by a white horizontal bar that stated in red letters, VITAMIN 'C' ENRICHED.  The white lettering continued, BOTTLES CARRYING THIS TRADE MARK/NOT TO BE USED FOR ANY OTHER DRINK/CONTENTS 1 PINT/BOTTLED UNDER/LICENSE OF/THE QUENCH CO./--SEATTLE, WASH. 
Base:  Embossed - 20 [I-in-an-oval] 64/3-C/1968-G 
Manufacturer:  Owens Illinois Glass Company (1954-present) 
Dating:  [late 1950s-1970] Bottles of this type were probably used from the late 1950s until the Seven-Up Company bought Nehi-Royal Crown in 1970.  It is unlikely that Seven-Up would have continued bottling a citrus product in competition with their main beverage. 
Collection(s):  Willie F. Terrazas collection. 
 
Willie Terrazas
 
 
Table of Contents 
Chapter 10e - Bottles of Seven-Up Bottling Co. and Seven-Up Royal Crown Bottling Co. 
.