Some 45 years ago or so, when I was living in Birmingham, a friend and I discovered an old tip that was being excavated prior to the building of houses. It was off Dudley road West at Tividale, tnear Dudley. For several months we investigated the tip and found many interesting bottles, some broken, some not. From details of the botttles and local maps it seems that the dump was used prior to WW1, probably going back to the late 1890s, certainly for rubbish from the very local area, but possibly from Birmingham also. Since I moved to Reading in 1981 they have been wrapped up in boxes in my garage. Have started to investigate the contents of the boxes and thought they might be of interest to others. Will be putting photos of them, with comments, on the forum. The first two are below.
1. R. White pint bottle
Familiar name to even younger people, though now absorbed into a larger organisation. Though running round the bottom of the bottle is R White & Sons, Camberwell & Walford, it would have been bottled and distributed from their depot in Birmingham. they first appear in the 1897 directory at a depot in Saltley Road, at a site previously occupied by The British enamelled Iron Co, and later by the Lingard St Fire Station. Between 1899 and 1900 they hmoved to the later site in Western Road.
The interesting thing about this bottle is that it is dark green glass, which I certainly usually associate with a beer bottle. Indeed one site (https://www.thevintagewall.com/0911DETL28.html ) showsn an identical bottle with stopper and describes it as a beer bottle. Possibly it was ginger beer. Certainly there seems no record of the firm producing real beer. The bottom shows a U within a sort of top of a wineglass shape. This might be the United Glass Co, though this was only formed in 1913 by an amalgamation. Other firms previously used a U in their marks.
2 Showells ½ pint beer bottle
(The following is from MacKenna's book Birmingham Pubs)
Showells called themselves a Birmingham Brewery and their headquarters were at 157 Gt.Charles St., and they later had bottling facilities off the Crescent in Birmingham, but the beer was always brewed outside the city, at first at Simpson St, Oldbury. and later at Crosswell Brewery, Langley. The brewery was taken over by Allsops in 1914 and brewing in the area then ceased, presumably being transferred to Burton.The bottom of the bottle is shown, and on it is "C S & Co Ltd". This is the logo of a bottle making factory - Cannington, Shaw & Co. Limited, St. Helens, who manufactured for several breweries and traded 1875-1913
1. R. White pint bottle
Familiar name to even younger people, though now absorbed into a larger organisation. Though running round the bottom of the bottle is R White & Sons, Camberwell & Walford, it would have been bottled and distributed from their depot in Birmingham. they first appear in the 1897 directory at a depot in Saltley Road, at a site previously occupied by The British enamelled Iron Co, and later by the Lingard St Fire Station. Between 1899 and 1900 they hmoved to the later site in Western Road.
The interesting thing about this bottle is that it is dark green glass, which I certainly usually associate with a beer bottle. Indeed one site (https://www.thevintagewall.com/0911DETL28.html ) showsn an identical bottle with stopper and describes it as a beer bottle. Possibly it was ginger beer. Certainly there seems no record of the firm producing real beer. The bottom shows a U within a sort of top of a wineglass shape. This might be the United Glass Co, though this was only formed in 1913 by an amalgamation. Other firms previously used a U in their marks.
2 Showells ½ pint beer bottle
(The following is from MacKenna's book Birmingham Pubs)
Showells called themselves a Birmingham Brewery and their headquarters were at 157 Gt.Charles St., and they later had bottling facilities off the Crescent in Birmingham, but the beer was always brewed outside the city, at first at Simpson St, Oldbury. and later at Crosswell Brewery, Langley. The brewery was taken over by Allsops in 1914 and brewing in the area then ceased, presumably being transferred to Burton.The bottom of the bottle is shown, and on it is "C S & Co Ltd". This is the logo of a bottle making factory - Cannington, Shaw & Co. Limited, St. Helens, who manufactured for several breweries and traded 1875-1913