24
Jan
2011

Wisconsin Pottery Bottles

There are over 150 different varieties of stoneware and earthenware bottles from Wisconsin - far more than any of the surrounding states. Why were they so popular here? Most have no maker's mark, so what potteries made them? None have survived with paper labels so it's unclear what products they were even used for. And why did many bottlers use both glass and stoneware bottles at the same time? The earliest marked stoneware bottles from Wisconsin are from the 1840's and 1850's and by the 1880's they began to fall out of favor. By the turn of the century, they had become obsolete. Why did that happen? This article explores these and other questions about this fascinating category of early Wisconsin bottles.

Wisconsin Pottery Bottles article

A.P. DICKENSON'S ALE F. RAYMOND AGT.

Frank Raymond was a Milwaukee Agent to the A.P. Dickenson Brewery in Chicago in the early 1860's.

PH. ALTPETER MILWAUKEE

Phillip Altpeter was a beer bottler in Milwaukee. This one is the earliest variety. The stamp was dipped in cobalt. I has remnants of the Putnum wire cork retainer.

PH. ALTPETER MILWAUKEE

The stamp and shape of this example is the same as the previous but lacks the cobalt. The cobalt one is more difficult to find.

PH. ALTPETER MILWAUKEE

This bottle has the same stamp as others but the form resembles that of bottles in eastern U.S. States. The closure is a flat metal band that has a rubber disk attached (now gone on this one)) held in place by a metal loop. It was stamped several times by a frustrated potter.

PH. ALTPETER MILWAUKEE

This one is similar to the previous except stamped once.

P.A. (Phillip Altpeter)

Stamped P.A. with the band fastener like the triple stamped one above. The glaze resembles Denby inks. It may have been made by Henry Kummerow Pottery in Fond du Lac.

P.A. (Phillip Altpeter)

There are several varieties of pressed (molded) Altpeter bottles. This one has a large turkey dropping. There is an article on this site about the patented process used to make pressed bottles. https://milwaukeebottleclub.org/pressed-stoneware-bottles

P.A. (Phillip Altpeter)

Another 12-sided molded Altpeter stamped P.A. in a different font.

P.A. (Phillip Altpeter)

Same as the above except it has Albany slip glaze on the exterior and the inside. It is possible that Altpeter put up a different product such as root beer but that's just a guess.

P.A.

Phillip Altpeter from Milwaukee. If you look closely at the neck you can see verticle lines. They were in the mold for some reason.

Atwell's Celebrated Table Beer

Stamped B.A. ATWELLS CELEBRATED TABLE BEER COR. STATE & JOHNSON STS MADISON WIS this quart sized earthenware bottle was made by one of the two Portage City potteries, probably the Dewitt street pottery (1859-1863). Ben Atwell opened a grocery in 1856 that ran until the mid-1860s. Atwell was a retailer, not a brewer.

G.B. CO. (Possibly G. Banse)

They G.B. CO. stamp could be G. Banse but we can't be certain. They turn up in Wisconsin and northern Illinois and the lip is smaller than Wisconsin bottles.

BARTL

From Beaver Dam.

JOHN BERG

From Milwaukee, There is an article on this site about this bottle. https://milwaukeebottleclub.org/a-stoneware-bottle-find-and-a-timeline

FRE-BOCK

Possibly Fred Bock is from Boscobel Wis.

JOHN BOLLOW WAUKESHA

There is a good article about John Bollow on this site: https://milwaukeebottleclub.org/a-bottle-a-murder-and-a-mystery-john-bollow

Z.H. BEEBE & BRO quart stoneware beer

The Beebe Bros were listed in the 1870's Milwaukee City directories as root beer bottlers.

BLATZ CO ST. PAUL MINN

Blatz bottled massive quantities of beer in Milwaukee in the 1870's and 1880's but there are virtually no bottles from Milwaukee. Apparently the used paper labels only. There are many branch Baltz bottles from around the country for some reason and this is one of them.

Butterfield Monroe

This quart bottle was made around 1880 but virtually nothing is know about this company.

F. CALGEER MILWAUKEE

This bottle is quite rare. Felix Calgeer bottled beer in Milwaukee

CHATFIELD & CO LA CROSSE WIS

This is a 12-sided quart pressed stoneware bottle. Chatfield was a large soda bottler and there are several glass bottles from this company.

DETROIT ALE MEESOW MILWAUKE

There are no intact examples known as of 2023. It resembles the Lill's Ale and F. Raymond agent bottles. It dates from the early 1860's

DR. F & CO

Doctor Fricke from Cedarburg.

DR. FRICKE CEDARBURG WIS

Dr. Fricke bottled beer from 1869 to 1874 in Cedarburg. See the other bottle above.

CHS GIPFEL MILWAUKEE

Charles Gipfel bottled beer in Milwaukee starting in 1849. There are various styles of bottles with this stamp. The blue bank varies in size and location and in some cases is missing. The blob style also varies considerably.

CHS GIPFEL MILWAUKE

A very rare variant. Note the errors in the stamp. The bottle was probably made by Charles Hermann & Co of Milwaukee.

C.A. Gladwin quart cla

There is a possibility that this could be a Milwaukee bottle. Gladwin is listed as a partner with the Beebe Brothers in the 1870's but is not listed in the city directories himself. More research is needed.

E.R. HANTZSCH

This bottle is from Eau Claire and appears to date from the 1870's based on the style. it is also known in a quart size.

E.R. HANTSCH

Quart bottle with the same stamp as the pint. Note the square shoulder style.

F. HENS & CO.

From an unknown bottler thought to be located somewhere in Wisconsin based on the stamp and the fact that known examples were found in Wisconsin.

E.L. HUSTING MILWAUKEE

The cobalt neck color band has dripped a bit on this example.

E.L. HUSTING MILWAUKEE

The "WIS." below "MILWAUKEE" was wiped off after stamping while the clay was still wet.

E.L. HUSTING MILWAUKEE WIS

The two stamp varieties on pint Husting bottles are both relatively abundant. Husting sold vast amounts of soda in clay bottles.

E.L. HUSTING (quart)

The quart sized stoneware bottles are quite rare. There are two slightly different stamps.

G. KARL Lacrosse

This bottle is attributed to a pottery in New Ulm, MN based on its distinctive style.

G CARL

G. CARL LACROSSE (quart)

this one is a quart size and appears to have been made by Charles Hermann Milwaukee.

G. KARL Lacross

Attributed to a pottery located in New Ulm, Minnesota based on its distinctive form.

ROOT BEER WM. E & CO. MILWAUKEE

It appears to be made from a red clay and coated with a heavy off-white glaze of some type. It was probably made by a local pottery.

N. EBERL G. RAPIDS

A Civil War era pint with cobalt in the stamp.

GRAY

Attributed to Gray & Co of Janesville. The bottle was press molded using the Merrill Bros. patented process. It has a cobalt X on the should to help bottles distinguish their bottles from those of other bottlers when they are in the case.

W.H. GRAY

W.H. Gray was a brewer based in Milwaukee. Any time you see cobalt in the stamp of as Wisconsin bottle it likley dates from the Civil War time persiod of before.

JOHN ENES

From Milwaukee. Enes bottled beer from 1862 to 1879.

J.B. FERSTL ASHLAND WIS.

JOHN GRAF MILWAUKEE WIS.

There are four varieties of John Graf stoneware bottles, this one being the most abundant.

JOHN GRAF MILWAUKEE WIS.

This variety was coated with Albany slip glaze and is very rare.

JOHN GRAF MILWAUKEE WIS.

Note the outline around the embossing. This is a very rare variant.

JOHN GRAF MILWAUKEE WIS.

Note the blue bands on the neck, thought to be case markers.

JOHN GRAF MILWAUKEE WIS. (quart)

Quart size John Graf. It has the same stamp as the pint size bottles but is quite rare.

GRAF & MADLENER MILWAUKEE WIS. (quart)

Quart size Graf & Madlener. It has the same stamp as the pint size bottles.

GRAF & MADLENER MILWAUKEE WIS.

Note the cobalt flower decoration which is probably a case marker.

H. GROVE MADISON

Henry Grove bottled beer and soda. This one appears to date from the 1870's based on the bottle style.

GRISBAUM KEHREIN MILWAUKEE

GUNTHER & BERNS SHEBOYGAN. (quart)

Quart bottles with a potter's stamp are rare - pottery bottles are almost always marked with the bottlers name. They presumably did this so that multiple bottles could use them and still identify them upon return. One bottler that used them was the Sheboygan Mineral Water Co. for sparkling mineral water. See the www.madefromclay.org article "Eastern Stoneware Co.". Bottoms have twisted wire cut marks.

TH. GUNTHER & BERNS SHEBOYGAN.

TH. GUNTHER & BERNS SHEBOYGAN

With inverted stamp.

TH. GUNTHER & BERNS SHEBOYGAN. bottom

The bottler used a pair of twisted wires to cut it from the wheel. Some used a single wire which left no pattern on the bottom. Twisted wire was used primarily in the 1860s and earlier by Hermann and Gunther.

Gunther & Berns unmarked bottle

This pint stoneware bottle with a narrow neck and prominent blob has no makers mark. However, the oval side mark that looks like the bottle was in contact with another obect in the kiln when it was fired also appears on a stamped Gunther & Berns bottle that has an Albany glaze. The bottom of both have twisted wire cut marks. On this one the wheel was at a full stop when it was removed. Some of them have an incised line at the shoulder while this one does not. Based on these and other similarities we conclude that this bottle was probably made by Gunther & Berns.

HENK & CO.

This one has the typical salt glaze finish. It could be from Waukesha, the Milwaukee location or both.

HENK & CO.

With Albany Slip glaze inside and out. From Milwaukee. Presumably the albany glazed and salt glazed variants were used for different product, such as root beer vs sarsaparilla.

HENK 8 CO MILWAUKE (quart)

HENK MINERAL SPRINGS WAUKESHA WIS. (quart)

S.H. & SONS MILWAUKEE (quart)

From S. Hickey & Sons Milwaukee.

JAH POTTERY BOTTLE Marinette WI 1874 (quart)

From J.A. Hanson who was a Root Beer bottler in Marinette.

HOPKINS & CO (quart)

From William Hopkins and his brother in Milwaukee. This is one of the earliest bottles from Wisconsin. It was made using the Merrill press process in the 1850s. It is attributed to the Milwaukee Stoneware Company which advertised pressed bottles as one of their products.

A.J.H Anton Hanson Racine

A.J.H. – Anton J. Hanson (1882 Racine City Directory lists him as Root Beer Mfr at 1133 N Wisconsin Ave living at the same address.)

HUCHTING BROTHERS MADISON.

These were probably made by Gunther & Berns stoneware maker in Sheboygan. Most examples have to cobalt in the stamp.

E.L. HUSTING MILWAUKEE WIS.

Stamped twice in the front.

E.L. HUSTING MILWAUKEE

L. LIEBSCHER

From Milwaukee.

LIEBSCHER & BERG

From Milwaukee

LIEBSCHER FT. ATKINSON.

S.B. KUPFER KENOSHA WIS.

LILLS ALE R.P.S. MILWAUKEE. (pint and half pint)

J.H. LOCKWOOD

From Fond Du Lac

LOBB 8 BOND

This appears to be made by Ch. Hermann but the location of the bottler is unknown.

TH MENK

From Watertown. There are quite a few stamp variations. It appears that stamps were put together with printer's type each time a batch was made.

TH MENK WATERTOWN WIS

TH MENK WATERTOWN

TH. MENK WATERLOO WIS.

MENK & LAVRRENZ

This bottles is thought to be from Hartford Wisconsin, although there is no record discovered about this partnership.

I.S. MEISTER MILWAUKEE

F. MEIXNER (quart)

F. MEIXNER (pint)

From Milwaukee.

W. D. Mosier (quart)

Slip glazed and wheel turned quart bottle Mosier was a earthenware maker based in Wautoma, Wis. After about 1860 the company name changed to W.D. Mosier & Co., so this bottle dates from the 1850s which makes in one of Wisconsin's earliest pottery bottles.

MF WATERTOWN

C.H. MUNZINGER MILWAUKEE

B. NIEHOFF

NORTH LAKE BREWREY

H.C. OLSON RACINE WIS.

Author: Peter Maas

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The Milwaukee Antique Bottle and Advertising Club is a group of people interested in finding and preserving antique bottles and advertising items and the history related to them. Started in 1972, we are one of the oldest clubs of this type in the US. Contact us at info@milwaukeebottleclub.org

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Wisconsin Pottery Bottles

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