If your an experienced ACL collector, you probably have heard of certain bottles being referenced by a nickname outside of their original brand name. With ACLs, I have found over the years that many select bottles have nicknames based from the design or style of the bottle. This section is dedicated to those named bottles. Hope you enjoy “Put a Name on It”
The Atomic Bottle
I came across this unique Double Cola a while back and had to get one in my collection. Double Cola has produced tons of different bottle styles and sizes that have flooded the market, but this is one that stands out. The symbolic white symbol in the background looks much like the common atomic symbol logo.This bottle is from 1958 and from DC Bottling Tennessee. I have not discovered any documentation on the background on this bottle design. but still looking :)
Link to the Double Cola Website
Link to Google Search on atomic Symbol
The Butterfly Bottle
This unique 1976 bottle from Nehi presents a butterfly looking logo at the mid of the neck top start of the neck. This is a 10oz bottle and I have see two variants out there, one with the outline in red(Root Beer) and one with yellow outline (Orange Drink).
The Pyramid Bottle
Royal Crown was the first company to sell a soft drink in an aluminum can. The famous pyramid bottle came out in the 1930s. A yellow square enclosed a depiction of four yellow pyramids on a yellow sand foreground with a red sky background. Later labels of RC remained the same color, but without the pyramids. This bottle has been a collectors favorite and is a great piece of soda history.
Great Article on the history of Royal Crown in Texas written by Bill Lockhart
The Mae West Bottle
Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980 was an American actress, singer, playwright, screenwriter, comedian and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades. Mae West's most famous attribute was her figure. Buxom, rounded and held in place by rigid corsets, West's silhouette provoked a degree of outrage, while also serving as her best publicity.
You might of heard of Mae West gas pumps, but for the soda industry, Canada Dry has won this title for their unique curved bottles. There are many different bottles from Canada Dry including their Wink Beverage.
The Famous Bubble Girl Bottle
The silhouette drawing of the “slenderizing” lady or “bubble girl” – a silhouette of a young woman with arms up stretched with bubbles floating upward from her arms. Yes I’m talking about the famous “Bubble Girl” 7up bottles.
The original Seven-Up ACL labels had eight bubbles on the orange shield and eight bubbles above the swimsuit lady An unsubstantiated rumor stated that someone in the main office noticed that the number of bubbles on the orange label and above the swim-suit lady and suggested that since the drink was called seven-up, seven bubbles would be more appropriate – so the design was changed. Have not seen documented truth on this so lets keep it a rumor!
Credit: Great Article on the history of 7up in El Paso, Texas. by Bill Lockhart 2010
Happy 2024 to everyone and hope all is well. Finally was able to make some updates to both the Library and Links section of my site. Check them out for some great ACL knowledge!