tradesman's beer bottle discovered in the wall of a 19th century chicago cottage undergoing demolition

a 19th century two-flat (discussed in a previous post) has been reduced to rubble, but the discovery of an aqua blobtop miller beer bottle (with intact lighting stopper) left in a wall exposed during the final moments of demolition, has made it worthwhile to photo-document the demolition from beginning to end. in fact, halfway through the demolition, another bottle was discovered dating to the depression, which was around the time an addition was added to the brick two-flat.

the bottle found towards the end of the demolition, when a single wall was left standing, dates to 1888-1892 (based on preliminary research of the miller brewing company and the bottles they distributed dating back to the 1850's, when it was first established in milwaukee, wisc.), which coincides nicely with the build date of the brick two-flat. the beer bottle was deliberately left by a tradesmen - a plasterer in this case. the beer bottle remains amazingly intact, with original stopper, comprised of a metal bail and lever wire. the light green or aqua-colored glass is free from damage. 

the 19th century beer bottle was found resting on a sill plate, secured against a stud with plaster applied on the base and neck of the bottle. thankfully, the slugplate, with deeply embossed lettering, is completely visible. the bottle was fabricated by the rhodes glass and bottle company, massillon, oh. founded by felix rhodes shepley and george henrich the rhodes bottle company began with two tanks that manufactured beer, whiskey, and soda water bottles. by 1910 rhodes employed nearly 200 workers that produced thousands of bottles a day. the company's 36 glass blowers managed to craft nearly 60,000 bottles a day. the rhodes bottle company closed in 1923 with bottling automation along with prohibition.

the discovery of the miler beer bottle reminds me of the milk, liquor, and soda bottles i've collected while documenting the attics of chicago theaters. finding these objects allows me to connect with the tradesmen who were instrumental in building chicago's movie palaces during the 1920's, or in this case, a 19th century cottage - now demolished.