Many Americans, both civilian and military, had their first taste of commercially canned foods during the Civil War. Increasing varieties of meats and vegetables were packed in tin cans in the late nineteenth century, but glass bottles remained—and still remain—chiefly the package of condiments, sauces, and other foods that require a reclosable cap.
These limited uses can nonetheless result in a large number of empty containers. Food bottles are usually one of the most numerous items found in a household trash heap. At Middleton Place, only four of a total of seventy-seven bottles were food containers, and all had originally held the preserves, flavorings, and oils that are usually packaged in glass. [Figure 23]A shows a “One-pound American preserve,” a jar sold at the turn of the century by at least one glass company, and [Figure 23]B is a typical late nineteenth/early twentieth century olive oil bottle. [Figure 24] shows both the excavated example and a 1920 catalogue illustration of a white pressed glass container for Armour’s Beef Extract, a by-product of the packing business produced by Armour & Co. beginning in 1885.
Figure 23. Preserve jar and olive oil bottle, c. 1860s-1920s.
Figure 24. Armour Beef Extract jar, c. 1900-1920s. Armour & Co. began producing beef extract in 1885, but this glass container was not used until around the turn of the century.
None Genuine without
4 OZ. NET WEIGHT
Armour’s
Extract of Beef
MANUFACTURED & PACKED BY
ARMOUR & CO,
Chicago. U.S.A.