Chapter 9b
Bottles of Union and Nicholson Bottling Works
© Bill Lockhart 2000
Union Bottling Works

Francisco Dominguez & Co.
     The style of Dominguez's pre-Union bottle is unknown.  It may have been unembossed with a paper label.
Union Flavors
     The earliest Union Bottling Works containers may not have survived.  It is also possible that the first three owners retained the same bottle style.  However, the company used at least three different configurations for their containers during the nineteen years they were in business.  It may be that Beys chose different forms from the one used by Nicholson; the earlier, shorter bottle was very similar to the style that Nicholson adopted as his earliest Nicholson brand.
N 01 
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Colorless 
Size (in cm.):  19.4 (h); 5.9 (d) 
Primary Labeling Style:  Embossed 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  6.5 oz. 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical at heel, shoulder, and neck but divided into four vertical panels at the body and just above shoulder.  The body and neck panels were further subdivided to form a total of eight vertical panels extending around the body. 
Front Description 
Body:  Panels were embossed, PROPERTY OF/UNION/BOTTLING WORKS/409 SO. VIRGINIA ST./EL PASO/TEXAS/CONTENTS/6½ FL. OZS. 
Back Description 
Body:  See front 
Heel:  Bare [Embossed - 1148 28] 
Base:  Embossed - (star) 3 RIVERS (star) [bare] 
Manufacturer:  Three Rivers Glass Company (1925-1937) [unknown] 
Dating:  [1916 (?)-1925 (?)] Although the container made by Three Rivers could not have been manufactured prior to 1925, bottles of this style may have only been used during the 1919-1925 period when Nicholson owned Union Bottling Works. 
Collection(s):  Mike Morrison Collection; Richard Chavez collection; author's collection. 
 
Rick Chavez
 
     Although the next bottles held slightly more soda, they were much taller and thinner.
N 02 
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Colorless 
Size (in cm.):  23.5 (h); 5.8 (d) [23.3 (h); 5.5 (d)] 
Primary Labeling Style:  Embossed 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  7 oz. 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical with eight embossed vertical ribs extending from heel to neck, creating eight panels that were embossed with evenly-spaced stippling to form a minute checkerboard effect [same] 
Front Description 
Body:  A countersunk horizontal rectangle on the body front was embossed, UNION/BTG. WORKS [Embossed - UNION/BOTTLING WORKS/EL PASO TEXAS in a diagonal labeling area {not countersunk}] 
Heel:  Embossed - (star) 3 RIVERS (star) [bare] 
Back Description 
Body:  No labeling [same] 
Base:  Embossed - EL PASO/7 OZ./TEXAS [9 I-in-an-oval-superimposed-on-a-diamond 2/7 - OZ. CAP.] 
Manufacturer:  Three Rivers Glass Company (1925-1937) [Owens Illinois Glass Company (1929-1954) 
Dating:  [1925-1935] Bottles of these types may have only been used during the years after Nicholson left and Beys was the sole owner (1925-1935).  The second variation was likely used later; the individual bottle was probably manufactured in 1932. 
Collection(s):  Mike Morrison Collection; author's collection. 
 
Mike Morrison
 
NIB
     By at least July 13, 1920, Union was distributing NIB, a near-beer. The initials, NIB, indicated Non-Intoxicating Beverage.  An advertisement in the El Paso Herald Post showed NIB as packaged in a colorless, beer-style bottle with a paper label.  Although colors cannot be discerned from the ad, the label had downwardly-coursing stripes within a dotted-line border.  The label announced:  NON-INTOXICATING BEVERAGE (block)/NIB (script)/SERVE COLD/Tennessee (script) BEVERAGE CO (upwardly slanted block) MEMPHIS, TENN. (underlined block)/CONTAINS [?] LESS THAN 1/2 OF 1% ALCOHOL BY VOLUME.  To the right of the upper part of BEVERAGE CO, the label read, CONTENTS/12 FL. OZ.  NIB was manufactured by Tennessee Beverage Co., Memphis, Tennessee (EPHP 7/13/1920 4:6). 
 
Ad in El Paso Herald, 7/13/1920
 
Nicholson Bottling Works
Nicholson Flavors and King Kola
     Nicholson Bottling Works produced Orange Squeeze, King Kola, and eighteen other flavors, including pineapple, apple, lime, lemon, orange, root beer, grape, and grapefruit--all carbonated.  All flavors, including King Kola, were bottled in identical containers.  The names of the individual flavors, excluded from the bottle labels, were identified by markings on the crown caps.  The Nicholson advertisements in the 1956 and 1957 telephone directories offered "BEVERAGES 10 BIG FLAVORS . . . Also SWEET SODA & MIXERS" and suggested that the buyer "Check Our Prices."  King Kola and Orange were included in the directory listings as early as 1945.
N 03 
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Colorless 
Size (in cm.):  19.8 (h); 5.5 (d) (flat side to flat side) [23.5 (h); 5.5 (d) (flat side to flat side)] 
Primary Labeling Style:  Embossed 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  6.5 oz. [9 oz.] 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical at base and neck with body divided into eight vertical panels and a raised labeling area extending diagonally across four vertical panels 
Front Description 
Body:  Embossed - NICHOLSON/BRAND diagonally on raised labeling area 
Heel:  Embossed - CONTENTS 6½ FLU. OZS. [CONTENTS 9 FLU. OZS.] 
Back Description 
Body:  Embossed - the back four panels were vertically embossed PROPERTY OF/NICHOLSON/BOTTLING WORKS/EL PASO, TEXAS 
Heel:  Embossed - S-in-a-star [I P G in a triangle] 
Base:  Embossed - NICHOLSON 
Manufacturer:  Southern Glass Company (1917-1931) [Illinois Pacific Glass Corporation (1925-1930) 
Dating:  [1925-1950?] These bottles are datable from the inception of Nicholson Bottling Works in 1925 to the mid- to late-1940s or even the early 1950s.  A clear date for Nicholson's change to ACL labeling is unknown. 
Collection(s):  Mike Morrison Collection; author's collection. 
 
Mike Morrison Mike Morrison
 
     The first ACL bottles were probably labeled with blue lettering on bottles made in Mexico.  Although Mexican bottles were cheaper, they did not survive the rigors of use as well as bottles made in the U. S., so Nicholson returned to the use of U. S. bottles.
N 04 
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Colorless 
Size (in cm.):  23.3 (h); 5.4 (d) 
Primary Labeling Style:  Blue ACL [White and Blue ACL] 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  8 oz. 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical with an orange peel surface on the shoulder terminated by an embossed double ring at the neck and a single ring at the body.  The extreme lower body was offset from the labeling area by a single embossed ring to enclose an orange peel surface superimposed with outlined bow-ties extending to the heel. 
Front Description 
Body:  Blue ACL - QUALITY/NICHOLSON/SODA (upwardly slanted) with CONTENTS/8 FL. OUNCES below in small print, followed by, Beverages (in script) [alternating white and blue ACL on QUALITY/NICHOLSON/SODA] 
Back Description 
Body:  Blue ACL - Contains/CARBONATED WATER,/SUGAR, CITRIC ACID,/ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR/AND COLOR./Bottled by Nicholson Bottling Works/EL PASO, TEXAS superimposed over a logo depicting various sized bubbles [same but white ACL] 
Base:  Embossed - 502-1 L-G/8 FL.OZ./63 [Blue label - BOTTLE MADE IN MEXICO/MV-in- a-circle] [Blue & White label - 502-1  L-G/8 fl. oz./67] 
Manufacturer:  Liberty Glass Company (1946-1954) [Cartel Vidriera Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico (mid-1950s-at least 1980)] 
Dating:  [1950?-ca. 1960] [ca. 1960-ca. 1968] Blue-label bottles can be dated from the 1940s (or early 1950s) to the mid-1960s. The Mexican-made containers were probably the first ACL bottles used by Nicholson.  White and Blue ACL bottles replaced the monochrome containers in the mid-1960s and continued to be used until about 1970. 
Collection(s):  Andrew Nicholson collection; Mike Morrison Collection; Andy Nicholson Collection; author's collection. 
Mike Morrison
 
     A second style of ACL bottles were used later.
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Colorless 
Size (in cm.):  24.3 (h); 6.1 (d) [8 oz. - 23.5 (h); 5.6 (d)] 
Primary Labeling Style:  White and Blue ACL 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  10 oz. [8 oz.] 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical (note that all embossing on former bottles is gone) 
Front Description 
Neck/Shoulder:  A white ACL geometric design formed a background for an upwardly-slanted, NICHOLSON, in blue [missing on 8 oz. version] 
Body:  White and Blue ACL - QUALITY/NICHOLSON/SODA (upwardly slanted) with CONTENTS/Beverages (in white script)/10 FL. OUNCES (white) [CONTENTS 8 FL. OUNCES on 8 oz. version] 
Back Description 
Neck/Shoulder:  Same as front 
Body:  White ACL - Contains/CARBONATED WATER,/ SUGAR, CITRIC ACID,/ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR/AND COLOR./Bottled by/Nicholson Bottling Works/EL PASO, TEXAS 79902. 
Base:  Embossed - LG 71/909 22 
Manufacturer:  Liberty Glass Company (1954-present) 
Dating:  [ca. 1968-1979] Although the examples can be no older than the zip code inception date of July 1, 1963, bottles of this type (both 8 and 10 ounce) were probably not used until the late 1960s and continued in use until Nicholson closed its doors in 1979. 
Collection(s):  Andy Nicholson Collection; author's collection. 
 
Andy Nicholson
 
     Nicholson cases (commonly referred to as shells) were manufactured from wood and were painted a dark red-orange with stenciled black letters proclaiming the Nicholson name.  As with most shells of the time, these were bound together with light steel strips nailed around the end pieces.  Into each end was sawn an 8.8 x 3.0 cm. oval opening to serve as a handle for ease of carrying.  Internal wooden dividers separated each bottle for easy removal and protection during transportation.  Although filled bottles were handled a bit more gently, shells containing empty bottles were frequently thrown to the tops of trucks.  The thick glass of the returnable bottles could take considerable punishment. 
 
Andy Nicholson Andy Nicholson
 
     According to Alkie Nicholson, American bottles survived an average of about a dozen fillings before they broke or were retained by the customers.  Mexican-made bottles had a shorter life expectancy.  The oldest bottles the firm used were so strong that when dropped on a flat concrete surface, they would usually bounce rather than breaking.  Many of the stores served by Nicholson were restocked daily; others at varying time intervals.  A rough estimate of average turnaround time would be two weeks.  Multiplying the average turnaround time by the average number of fillings produces an average bottle-life of 168 days or just under three months.  It is obvious from dates on bottle bases, however, that Nicholson bought bottles at infrequently.  Dates on ACL bottles suggest that the company only purchased new bottles about every four years. 

Other Products Bottled by Nicholson 
     Nicholson bottled Howdy Orange, Muscadine Punch, Goldcrest, Golden Glow, and NIB from at least 1927 until the end of Prohibition in 1933.  Both Howdy Orange and Muscadine Punch may have been distributed slightly longer.  Goldcrest, Golden Glow, and NIB were all near-beers.  Along with Muscadine Punch, none of their containers have been locally identified.  It is possible that, in keeping with the beer tradition, all bottlers of near-beers utilized paper labels to advertise and identify their products.  Muscadine Punch may have been similarly labeled.  If so, containers used for these products now contribute to the large variety of unidentifiable glass artifacts in the archaeological record.
Howdy Orange
     Howdy Orange, however, was marketed in easily identifiable proprietary embossed bottles.  Howdy Orange was invented by Charles Leiper Grigg, a former employee of Vess Bottling Company and the inventor of the drink, Whistle.  After a disagreement with Vess Jones in 1919, Grigg teamed up with Edmund G. Ridgeway to form the Howdy Company as a vehicle to franchise Grigg's latest invention, Howdy Orange (Rodengen 1995:79-80). 

     The initial Howdy bottle, used in 1927 and 1928, was colorless and had a finely embossed horizontal checkering on the heel and lower body and the neck area.  The labeling area was set apart and covered the upper body and shoulder.  The word, HOWDY was embossed vertically and joined at the "W" by a second, horizontal, HOWDY to form a cross.  The term, REG. U. S., reposed below the "HO" with PAT. OFF. beneath "DY."  The front heel was embossed, 6½ FL. OZS.  The heel was notably wider than the body of the bottle creating an unstable condition for packing that caused its replacement in 1929.  The shoulder was so low and gently sloped that it created a slightly conical effect (Rodengen 1995:81).
     The second bottle followed the basic design of the first but was easier to stack.  Differential circumference between the heel and body were reduced and the body sides were straightened to a vertical placement, pushing the shoulder to a more typical position.  The labeling area was increased, reducing the checkering on the lower body.  Checkering was retained on the neck but absent on the heel.  The embossed HOWDY cross was retained with the same positioning of REG. U. S. PAT. OFF., but the entire logo was countersunk into the labeling area (Rodengen 1995:78).
N6 
Method of Manufacture:  Machine 
Color:  Colorless 
Size (in cm.):  21.8 (h); 5.5 (d) (at thickest part of labeling area) 
Primary Labeling Style:  Embossed 
Finish:  Crown 
Capacity:  6.5 oz. 
Overall Bottle Design:  Cylindrical with finely embossed horizontal checkering on the lower body and the neck area and a raised labeling area on the central and upper body extending onto the lower shoulder 
Front Description 
Body:  Embossed - a large countersunk cross contained the word, HOWDY (with downwardly embossed wood-grain appearance) extending downward in the upright section of the cross.  The left arm of the cross was embossed HO/REG. U. S.; the right:  DY/PAT. OFF.
Heel:  Embossed - 6½ FL. OZ. [21 I-in-an-oval-superimposed-on-a-diamond 5 6½ FL. OZ.] 
Back Description 
Body:  Same as front 
Heel:  Embossed - IPG-in-a-triangle [PAT. NO. DES. 78351] 
Base:  Embossed - L (large letter) [O. K.-in-a-diamond] (possibly Nicholson bottles were embossed with a large N) 
Manufacturer:  Illinois Pacific Glass Corp. (1925-1930) [Owens Illinois Glass Co. (1929- 1954)] 
Dating:  [1929-1939?] The Design Patent Number 78351 was issued in 1929 (Giarde 1980:159).  I have been unable to discover when Howdy Orange (or this bottle style) was discontinued but it may have been terminated in the early 1930s due to a combination of reduced sales during the Great Depression, competition from the popular Orange Crush, and the development by Grigg of the nationally popular Seven-Up.  Economic pressures may have forced the company to concentrate on Seven-Up to the elimination of Howdy Orange.  In any event, the product was likely dropped from the Nicholson line before 1940. 
Collection(s):  Author's collection. 
 
 
NIB
    Union Bottling Works originally carried this brand.  Since it was advertised on the Nicholson plant wall in 1927, it was likely retained by Gus Nicholson when he separated from Beys in 1925.  The bottle style is dealt with in the Union section above.
Table of Contents
Chapter 10a - Nehi Bottling Co., Nehi-Royal Crown Bottling Co., and Royal Crown Bottling Co 
.