Cleveland Bottle

Q: Can you tell me something about this bottle? It’s an opaque red-orange color with pictures of several Cleveland landmarks in black, avocado green and white. It says “Cleveland 1956, ABCB Convention” around the bottom edge. The bottom of the bottle is clear red glass is marked with the letter “I” inside an “O,” some numbers and “Duraglas.”

A: This bottle was issued for the American Bottlers of Carbonated Beverages (ABCB), a group that was founded in 1919. The name was changed to the National Soft Drink Association in 1966 and changed again in 2004 to the American Beverage Association. The “O-I” trademark belongs to Owens-Illinois, a company formed from the merger of the Owens Bottle Company and the Illinois Glass Company in 1929. The company is still in business, with headquarters in Perrysburg, Ohio. The opaque finish on this bottle is called “Duraglas” and was made by a special process developed at Owens-Illinois that made the surface scratch resistant. A similar bottle sold online recently for $45.