New Discovery - Early Math. Kramer soda from Colby Wisconsin

Colby is located halfway between Green Bay and Minneapolis, near the only bend in Hwy 29. Colby is so small the "Thank you for visiting Colby" sign is painted on the backside of the "Welcome to Colby" sign - population about 1,500. The fact that a soda bottler was in business there in the early 1880's is astonishing. The bottle is a Hutchinson soda shaped like a Matthew Gravitating Stopper bottle. It is embossed MATH KRAMER COLBY WIS and WIS GLASS CO. MILW on the bottom. According to Roger Peters, Kramer bottled soda and beer between 1881 and 1883. The lip is applied. There were several other bottlers that operated there later but this is the earliest bottle known so far.