By Norm Tessman

The bottling of soda water is one of the frontier occupations which is frequently overlooked by historians. The soda works, however, was certain to exist in every town of even moderate size and permanence, and left more artifacts to record its existence than did many better-known businesses.

The bottler with his team and wagon was a prominent part of the Victorian summer scene in Prescott, perhaps selling nickel pop directly from the wagon or plodding by on his way to deliver a case or two to a saloon or other retailer. Judging from the bottles found in surrounding mining camps, a substantial part of the production of Prescott's soda bottles was shipped to other towns. 

The idea of bottling "mineral waters" or water containing dissolved minerals and gases is an old one. The English Schweppes Company patented a method of producing artificially carbonated "sparkling water" in 1792. The next step in the evolution of soft drinks was to add fruit juice or flavoring to the sparkling water and by 1840 American bottlers were doing so, primarily in the larger cities on the Atlantic coast. In the mid-1850's several soda-bottling works were established in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is almost certain that the first bottled soft drinks to arrive in Prescott were imports from the Bay Area. In fact, fragments of dark blue bottles embossed Bay City Soda Water Co. S.F. were found behind the site of the old Prescott Bottling Works, suggesting that early in their history this local company filled any available soda bottle. 

In today's supermarket society, soda pop drinkers can usually take the fizz and freshness of their next drink for granted. It was all too common, however, until the nineteenth century was nearly over, to draw the cork from a soda, expecting the pleasing "POP" of released carbon dioxide but to get only silence. That was "going flat," a consequence of the irregularly shaped mouths of hand-finished bottles. Before the glass industry's change over to the Owen's Automatic Bottle Making Machine between 1900 and 1915, all bottles were blown into body molds and the top then formed either by hand tooling or applied as a separate piece. A well-soaked, pliable cork forced into an "out-of-round" bottle mouth would conform to the contours of the glass, producing a good seal. Usually it was then wired in place. The problems arose later as the cork dried and shrank, providing enough gap for the elusive carbon dioxide to escape. 

One early and obvious solution to the shrinking cork problem was a bottle which could not stand upright for lack of the usual flat bottom. If the bottle always lay on its side the cork could not dry out and shrink. Generally, earlier products of this logic had graceful, pointed bottoms and are called "torpedos" by today's collectors. In the 1860's a new style of non-standing bottle with a smoothly rounded, ball-like base appeared. Most of the "round-bottoms" were imported from Ireland filled with Belfast ginger ale and were then reused by American bottlers. Remains of these latter bottles were common in Victorian-era dumps and fragments have been found in Prescott. 

Undoubtedly, the most successful of the patented closure systems of the 19th century was the Hutchinson Internal Stopper. This invention, patented in 1879, was adopted by bottlers throughout North America. The Hutchinson system required a specially made, short-necked bottle and a "figure-eight" spring wire stem which fit through the bottle's mouth. On the internal end of the stem, sandwiched between two metal plates, was a round rubber gasket, slightly larger in diameter than the mouth opening. To seal the bottle after filling, the wire stem was pulled upwards to seat the gasket. Shaking the bottle released enough carbon dioxide from solution to hold the gasket snuggly in place. To open, the stem was forced downward to break the seal with a satisfying "POP" of escaping gas. Although the noise accompanying the opening of Hutchinson sodas undoubtedly perpetuated the nickname, "soda pop," the term is apparently much older. In 1812, English poet Robert Southey described ginger ale as " a nectar, between soda water and ginger beer, and called pop, because 'pop goes the cork' when it is drawn." 

While the Hutchinson system was generally efficient, it left much to be desired in sanitation. Any dust, insect parts or other foreign material which collected around the stopper would be pushed into the drink upon opening. Therefore, several cities outlawed all internal stoppers long before national ordinances were passed against their use in the early 1920's. 

In 1891, William Painter of Baltimore patented the stopper which was destined to replace the Hutchinson, calling it the crown cork. This, with minor change, is the familiar "bottle cap" still in use on returnable bottlers. The transition by bottle-makers to the Owen's Automatic Bottle Machine allowed production of extremely uniform bottles, a necessity for the use of the crown cap. The change from the Hutchinson to the crown cap began in earnest about 1900 and was probably completed by 1915. 

Elaborate equipment and safety devices were required to fill both Hutchinson and early crown cap bottles. Gas generators produced carbon dioxide from marble dust and sulfuric acid, and despite "foolproof" safety valves, occasionally exploded. Flaws or cracks in heavy glass soda bottles could fail when subjected to the standard sixty pounds per square inch filling pressure. Wise bottlers wore screen wire masks and padded protective clothing. 

Pure water was a necessity to prevent the sodas from becoming "ropy," a bottler's term for souring. Syrups were prepared by dissolving granulated sugar in hot water at ratios as dense as ten pounds of sugar per gallon of water. Flavoring extracts were purchased from suppliers such as the W. H. Hutchinson Company of Chicago. A typical seven-ounce soda contained an ounce or two of sugar syrup, a few drops of extract and enough carbonated water to fill the remainder of the bottle. Standard flavors were strawberry, lemon, sarsaparilla, cream soda and ginger ale. For variety checkerberry, orange raspberry, spruce beer and pear cider were added to the line. The ratio of the mixture was set on the filling head of the bottler's table. A foot-operated press maintained a tight fit between the mouth of the bottle and the filling head. When a Hutchinson bottle was filled, the filling head was raised, pulling up the stopper to seal the bottle. 

Prescott's first bottler was apparently the Prescott Bottling Works built on North McCormick Street in 1882. Hutchinson and crown cap sodas from this firm, embossed both "Arizona" and "A.T.," are known. The use of "Prescott, Arizona" was apparently common as early as 1890 and does not necessarily indicate manufacture after statehood. 

Shortly before the turn of the century, a second soda works, Beaver and Heisler, became established on South Montezuma Street. Like their competitors, they also filled Hutchinson bottles with "A.T." and "Arizona" embossing. About 1909 this soda works was purchased by G. L. Merritt, who added crown top sodas marked "G.L.M." to the roster of "Prescott" marked artifacts. In addition to the common seven-ounce size, Merritt bottled an unusual quart-size crown top soda. 

In 1895 the Crystal Ice Company was located on the banks of Miller Creek just north of where Prescott College's Samuel Hill Warehouse is today. However, their only known artifacts are crown cap soda bottles made by automatic bottle machines. This suggests that, although they sold ice before 1895, they became soda bottlers well after the turn of the century. 

If soda bottling lacked the drama of many frontier occupations, it probably never occurred to a thirsty boy in early Prescott, especially if he has sarsaparilla on his mind and a nickel in his pocket. 

(Norm Tessman is the curator at the Sharlot Hall Museum) 



Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (bub8065pd). Reuse only by permission.
Prescott's first bottler was apparently the Prescott Bottling Works built on west side of North McCormick Street in 1882. Soda works existed in every town of even moderate size and permanence, and left more artifacts to record its existence than did many better-known businesses.