Glass From The Past - Harlan, KY

07/15/2026

07/15/2026

Blue Lick Springs commercial enterprise evolved from 1770s salt-making works along the Licking River in Nicholas County (about 10 miles north of Carlisle) into a premier 19th-century mineral spa and global bottled-water distributor, before completely declining by the early 20th century. In the 1770’s, Pioneers and salt makers discovered the saline and mineral-rich streams at Upper and Lower Blue Licks, originally used by wildlife and indigenous groups. By the early 1800’s, as more efficient commercial salt operations opened elsewhere, landowner William Bartlett pivoted to marketing the sulfur- and mineral-heavy spring water as a medicinal tonic thought to cure ailments like gout and asthma. Shortly after that, John and L.P. Holladay acquired the property, constructing a massive 300-room hotel known as the Arlington Hotel featuring grand galleries, a ballroom, and baths. During regional cholera outbreaks (such as in 1849), the resort remained remarkably free of the disease, skyrocketing the national and international fame of Blue Lick mineral water and leading to Cooper shops operating continuously to build kegs, barrels, and crates to ship the medicinal water worldwide. By the late 19th and early 20th century, Changing vacation trends, financial pressures, and the eventual drying or shifting of the original springs caused the grand resort era to collapse. By 1919 The local Blue Lick Springs post office officially closed. The historic grounds are now part of the Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park. These very historic Carlisle KY bottles are in great shape for their age. Especially considering a few still have the original paper label surviving in decent shape. Although, One does have a piece of a crossword puzzle on it that has made itself a part of the bottle permanently 😂😂. The multiple colors, surviving paper labels, and the different tops, are really cool in my eyes anyway.
Very nice and cool piece of Kentucky bottling history. Gifted to me from my good friend, Buzz Malone!!!! Thank you greatly sir for this gift. I actually had one of these bottles without the paper label, one amber bottle with the label and the one I had both have the same embossing on the base Red Raven Splits.

06/24/2026

A very cool guy Chris Robbins drove all the way from Virginia Beach to Harlan KY, to pick up some old stamped bricks. He pulled this out of his bag and blew my mind! Chris, I greatly appreciate the sign brother man. Safe travels and god speed brother man!!!

06/23/2026

For sale!!!! PM OR COMMENT IF INTERESTED!!!

06/23/2026

FOR SALE!!!!!
35$!!! OBO!!!
H&S Anchor Bottling Works. Pittsburgh, PA.
Beautiful mug base Hutchinson bottle. Has 1 small chip that is highlighted, and also a bruise on the right side that is highlighted. Awesome bottle. Please PM ME OR COMMENT IF INTERESTED THANK YOU!!!!!

06/07/2026

Chicago Hutchinson bottle!
Henry Weaber

06/07/2026

Very nice hutch bottle from Chicago. In the late 1800’s Henry Weaber was business partners with a man named Darley, bottling different carbonated beverages and mineral waters. Henry Weaber also operated his own bottling company later in the 1800’s around 1890. His plant operated on 685 Fulton Street. This specific bottle was part of the Weaber/Darley partnership and is an earlier example. Beautiful embossing, nice aqua color, and very light wear on this bottle. Not a very rare bottle by any means but still a nice one to have in my eyes nonetheless.

06/03/2026

The history of the East Tennessee Nova Kola Company of Lenoir City, Tennessee, is somewhat obscure today, but it was part of the wave of regional soft drink bottlers that flourished across East Tennessee during the early 20th century. The company appears to have operated in Lenoir City, Tennessee, likely during the 1910s through the 1930s, when hundreds of independent bottlers produced local cola and fruit-flavored drinks throughout the South. Lenoir City itself was a growing industrial town that developed rapidly after its founding in the 1890s, benefiting from rail connections and expanding manufacturing. Nova Kola” was one of many regional cola brands created during the era when Coca-Cola’s success inspired countless competitors with similar-sounding names. Across the South, consumers could find drinks such as Nova-Kola, Koca-Nola, Afri-Kola, and many others. These brands were usually produced by independent bottlers serving only a limited geographic territory. The East Tennessee Nova Kola Company bottled its own cola beverage and may have also produced flavored sodas. Like many local bottlers, the company likely purchased syrup concentrate and bottled the finished drink under franchise or license arrangements. Small regional bottlers faced increasing competition from national brands such as The Coca-Cola Company and larger regional bottling networks. By the mid-20th century, many independent soda companies had either closed, merged, or switched to bottling nationally distributed beverages.