Introduction
In these days of mass production by well known
international brands it may seem hard to believe the vast wealth of local
bottles produced in the Victorian and Edwardian periods.
Hundreds of brewers, mineral water companies
& wine merchants have operated in the three towns of
Albert Road, Devonport – Note the Codd bottles in shop
window
Needless to say, most of those companies are a
distant memory at best these days so there is a certain fascination in
discovering their names. There is also a fascination offered by the bottles
themselves, the various types, colours, materials; all a far cry from today’s
anonymous clear glass items. In a city like Plymouth, however, there is surely
also the added fascination in locating the former premises of these companies
as a large proportion of the addresses used have been wiped from the map by
German bombers or post-war redevelopment.
Without the dedication of the band of diggers
and collectors much of this history would remain forgotten and a rich part of
the social history of the three towns would be lost forever. This CD is a
pictorial introduction to some of the knowledge accumulated over the last 30
years by this dedicated group.
Picnic on the Breakwater – Codds in front of dog, beers
on structure at right
I have endeavoured to put this information
into a logical order, alphabetical where possible but in some cases small
companies have been lumped together for the sake of space (in particular
chemists fall into this category). The body of the text deals mainly with significant
companies and could not realistically be a definitive listing within the
confines of this CD although I have included many early companies that I feel
may feature in future finds. Similarly, the bottles shown are not the only ones
in use by the various companies but are shown as typical examples hence some
particularly rare bottles may not be included.
There is an obvious emphasis on photographs in
this CD as these were lacking in the previous work due to its nature as an
exhibition catalogue, also, as they say, a picture speaks a thousand words.
The scarcity of the recovered bottles, and
hence conclusions drawn about output, are based on current finds that the
author is aware of and could change if further productive sites are made
available for excavation, vast quantities of refuse were used in land
reclamation schemes that are currently not accessible as they lie under parks,
roads, housing estates or within the boundaries of Devonport Dockyard. Another
potential source of “hoards” are the buried cellars of blitzed buildings which
may be uncovered during future redevelopment of the city centre or the former
commercial sites in Devonport swallowed by the Dockyard in the 1950s. Indeed,
it should be noted that at present Devonport and Stonehouse bottles are
generally much scarcer than
Area around Embankment refuse site c1910
Finally, should
you be inspired to build up your own bottle collection, be aware that digging
old refuse dumps is dangerous and should not be carried out without experienced
supervision or alone. Also be aware that even old dumps are owned by somebody,
get permission before digging.