Colorless Glass Milk Bottle Fragment (Archaeological Find)
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Title:
Colorless Glass Milk Bottle Fragment
Subject:
This fragment of the top and shoulder of a colorless glass vessel is likely part of a mid-20th century milk bottle. The fragment resembles the “Common Sense” milk bottle, with its “cap seat” design that fitted with a cardboard “ligneous disk” to form a simple and secure closure (Lockhart et al., 2017).
The presence of seams and lettering indicates that the bottle was mold-made, using semi or fully automatic machinery. Throughout the 20th century, Massachusetts introduced legislation promoting verification of bottle capacity and greater labeling standardization (Lockhart et al., 2017). Beginning in 1918, bottles were required to use a round “MASS SEAL” design, with the manufacturer’s mark in the center. This fragment is consistent with that standard; an arched “MASS” is visible above “B.C.2,” likely part of the Atlantic Bottle Company’s “A.B.C.2” seal, which was in use between approximately 1918-1931 (Lockhart et al., 2017).
Consumption of milk with meals seems to have been common at Harvard in the mid 20th century; this photograph of the Kirkland House dining hall in 1931 features multiple students drinking milk. Similarly, students at the Harvard Union in 1944 appear to have glasses of milk. In this photograph, empty glasses, pitchers, and metal milk jugs are placed at the far end of the food serving line. The jugs indicate that dining services sourced milk in large quantities, yet this fragment was likely part of a quart, pint, or half pint bottle (Lindsey, 2024). As such, it may have been used for individual consumption, separate from college dining.
Harvard University News Office photographs, 1940-1956. Birds-eye view of the main dining room at the Harvard Union. January 1944. Photograph. UAV 605.270.1, I., H., U626-U678., UAV 605.270.1 (U-640). https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/ids:9978327$1i. Harvard University Archives.
Lindsey, Bill. 2024. “Bottle Typing/Diagnostic Shapes: Food Bottles & Canning Jars.” Historic Glass Bottle Identification & Information Website. Last modified January 1, 2024. Accessed February 24, 2024. https://sha.org/bottle/food.htm.
Lockhart, Bill, Pete Schulz, and Al Morin. 2017. “Massachusetts Seals on Glass Milk Bottles.” In Milk Bottle Seals - The Other Manufacturer's Marks, contributions by Brad Blodget, 15-62. N.p. https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/MilkBottleSealsChapter2.pdf.
Lockhart, Bill, Pete Schulz, and Al Morin, contributions by Brad Blodget, “Massachusetts Seals on Glass Milk Bottles,” in Milk Bottle Seals – The Other Manufacturer’s Marks (n.p., 2017), 28, figure 2-8 – A.B.C.2 seal. https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/MilkBottleSealsChapter2.pdf.
Photographic views of Kirkland House. 1931. Photograph. Folder 6 of 6, HUV 664, Box: 1, Folder: 6, (seq.5). https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:422064188$5i. Harvard University Archives.
Object Name:
Colorless Glass Milk Bottle Fragment
Inventory Description:
Fragment of the top and neck of a mold-made colorless glass bottle, with lettering "MASS" and "B C 2" (possibly part of "A.B.C. 2")
Peabody Number:
2023.11.6
Culture/Period:
20th c
Intrasite:
H978 Level 2
Depth:
10-20cm
Class 1:
Glass
Class 2:
Bottle glass
Class 3:
Colorless bottle glass
Quantity:
1
Height (cm):
9.1
Width (cm):
4.6 (neck)
Depth/Thickness (cm):
3.6 (inner diameter)
Century:
20