Pratt
Thomas.E. Pratt operated as a soda water
manufacturer in George Lane, Plymouth from around 1893 – 1900.
The company issued some very distinctive
bottles; firstly Codd bottles with sand blasted rather than embossed wording.
Secondly, and even more impressive, a ginger beer bottle with a pictorial trade
mark of the Eddystone lighthouse. Both of these finds are rare, with the ginger
beer being especially sought after. There are in fact two variations of the
ginger beer bottle, the difference being the inclusion of “registered design”
on the trade mark or not. The rarest find of all, currently only perhaps two
whole examples, is a codd bottle embossed with the lighthouse pictorial which
appears to have been produced in standard and bulb varieties.
One interesting incident which has come to
light is the prosecution of Thomas Pratt for using bottles owned by Lake&
Co, apparently in retaliation for the use of his own bottles by Lake & Co
on a previous occasion. Due to the previous provocation he was treated
leniently and fined 20 shillings plus costs.
TE Pratt ginger beer
TE Pratt codd bottle with lighthouse pictorial
Front of TE Pratt codd bottle