pair of rare and intact c. 1870s or 1880s privy dug matching deep blue aqua hutchinson soda bottles manufactured for chicago bottler f.c. lang. the front body is embossed vertically with the bottler's name and place of manufacture. both are finished with an applied blob top, and retain remnants of the patented hutchinson spring stopper. crudities are typical of age and date of manufacture, including bubbles and whittling. they have not been cleaned (i.e. tumbled) and so appear to have slight haze and spots of discoloration. frederick lang was born in germany in 1839. he formed his own bottling company in chicago in 1878, upon the departure of his brother august from their partnership. during that first season frederick lang is listed alone as a soda water bottler at the 60 w. pearson address, but the bottling works is still referred to as "lang bros.". beginning in 1879 it is listed in the city directories as the "frederick z. lang" soda works, and from 1880 onwards the middle initial is corrected from 'z' to 's'. the f.c. lang bottling works appears only to have been listed in city directories from 1879-1884. the 1880 census indicates lang's bottling operation produced an annual value of $25,000 in bottled product. lang took on a series of business partners for his last three years distributing soda and mineral water, including j. henry zitt and william boppart. from 1885-1887 the company name was embossed on bottles as "f.c. lang & co."