original and intact c. late 1860's or early 1870's deep blue aqua soda bottle manufactured for chicago bottlers gottlieb wurster and company. the high, tapering shoulders are finished with a squat neck and oval blobtop. embossed low on the front body is "wurster & co. / chicago". the smooth base and side seams evidence manufacture with keyed hinge mold. crudities are typical of the age and date of manufacture, including bubbles, whittling, and minor discoloration. gottlieb wurster was first listed in the chicago city directories in 1868 as a grocer operating at 550 n. clark. in 1869 and 1870, he was listed as a bottler of mineral water at 730 n. wells and then as a "mineral water dealer" at 55 sigel. in the early 1870s, wurster bottled soda water in partnership with john huttenlocher as "wurster & huttenlocher" before becoming senior partner and changing the name to "gottlieb wurster & co". from 1874 onward, wurster bottled alone at the same address until the business closed in 1882. in the 1877 city directory only, george and frederick wurster were listed as operating the bottling works and gottlieb was not mentioned. the wurster company is listed in the 1880 census as having produced an annual value of bottled products estimated at $12,000. toward the end of the 1870s he switched over to using the new-style hutchinson internal stopper bottles, four embossed styles of which are known. the bottle was unearthed from an old abandoned privy pit behind a chicago workers cottage on evergreen street.