Ginger Beer & Root Beer Heritage, 1790 to 1930 by Donald and Elizabeth Yates (8300 River Corners Rd., Homerville, OH 44235, c2003, $35.99, 364 pages). It's the definitive book on ginger beer and root beer, how they're made, and their bottles. Originally ginger beer was a naturally carbonated alcoholic drink made from ginger root, lemons, and yeast. It was introduced in Great Britain in the mid-1700s and was being exported to the United States by the 1790s. Ginger beer was usually bottled in stoneware bottles. The book has photographs and lists of company-marked stoneware and glass bottles and their values. Other related material, like trays, trade cards, ads, and mugs, are also included. This is serious research by serious collectors compiled into a book on a neglected subject.