Ed. A. Fennerty Soda Bottle

It's sort of amazing how what was once buried trash, given the passage of enough time, can sometimes turn into treasure. Well, maybe not literal treasure, but a pretty neat discovery.

​I recently unearthed this bottle...

...and wanted to find out more. 

Whipple's Fire Insurance Map Of St. Louis, MO, Volume 1, 1897

The bottle is embossed with "Ed. A. Fennerty", "St Louis MO", and "I.G.CO.". Let's start with Edward Fennerty...

...Edward A. Fennerty, the child of Irish immigrants, was in the soda water business in one form or fashion from 1878 through the early part of the 20th century. During the majority of that time he made his products in a little nondescript place located near the intersection of Poplar and South 16th in downtown St. Louis, MO. According to a blurb in American Carbonator and American Bottler, Volume 25 (1905), Fennerty produced a variety of drinks including soda water, ginger ale, phosphated iron tonic, genuine crabapple champagne cider, and cream soda.

Fennerty had 7 children and several of them were prominently involved in the business, although given how frequently the elder Fennerty changed residences, per city directory records, from 1 simple flat to another, my guess is that the company wasn't all that profitable. In 1908 a fire destroyed the company's stable along with 500 cases of soda water; 2 horses perished in the fire and the company relocated a short time later to 14th and Clark. Fennerty died in 1915 in Mullanphy Hospital at the age of 59.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Alton, Madison County, Illinois, 1885

Then there's the bottle. It's missing it's top portion, which is unfortunate, but the maker's mark is still plenty intact and indicates - I think - that it was produced by the Illinois Glass Company, located across the Mississippi River in Alton, Il. The Illinois Glass Company started in 1873 and by 1882 had an invested capital of $300,000 with an annual revenue of about $500,000. The glass company allegedly had the greatest capacity in green goods of any firm in the United States and employed 600 men and boy whose wages were about $5 per week. Based on old company catalogs it looks like the bottle I found was produced between 1880 and 1915, which lines up pretty well with the dates that Fennerty was in business. In 1929, Illinois Glass merged with Owens Glass Co. to become O-I Glass; today O-I Glass is one of the world's largest manufacturers of glass containers. ​

So there's a little history on the bottle...maybe next time I'll be lucky enough to find one that's still all there and in a little better shape. Regardless, this was a pretty cool find and I'm definitely gonna hang on to it.