BOTTLES MADE AFTER 1900
This final group of bottles and jars have nothing in common except their date. The two clear glass bottles at left are standard desktop ink bottles made after the 1904 introduction of the Owens bottle machine and before screw top inks replaced the corked variety around 1930 ([Fig. 25]). The conical ink in the center was one of the earliest shapes for desk-top ink bottles, introduced when ink was first bottled in small individual containers in the 1840s. The contents of the ointment jar at right, made after 1916, are unknown. Patent records indicate that the May 15, 1916, date was neither a trademark registration nor a patent issue. It may be a false patent date, put on the bottle to lend the contents an air of legitimacy.
Although other artifacts, such as the Austrian porcelain in [Figure 11] and the beef extract jar in [Figure 24], may have been manufactured in the twentieth century, these three containers were the only items in the privy pit that were definitely made after Susan Middleton’s 1900 abandonment of the plantation. As such, they were the only evidence archeologists had that these nineteenth century objects were probably deposited in the twentieth century. All three are items likely to have been in use at the time of the Smith family’s 1925 move to Middleton Place, and they were probably discarded at that time.
Figure 25. Twentieth century bottles. A. Cylinder ink bottle, machine-made, c. 1904-1930. B. Cone ink, machine-made, c. 1904-1930. Embossed on base, CARTER’s MADE IN USA. Carter’s Ink Company began bottling ink in Massachusetts in 1858. C. Screw top ointment pot, white pressed glass. Embossed on base, AUBREY SISTERS MAY 15, 1916.