DUPRS_0022 Ballantine

DUPRS_0022 Ballantine

Ballantine Brewery

The object is a light green glass bottle foot with a small portion of the wall in tact. The base has a makers mark as well as the words "Ballantine Newark, NJ." There are the remains of a seam on the bottom of the bottom that would have continued along the sides. The seam stops at the foot of the bottle.

Ballantine Beer Company

Selective Surface collection, center Stanley Park, Historic Chatham Township (modern Summit, New Jersey)

Drew University, Department of Anthropology

late 19th-early 20th century

Juliet LaVigne

Glass

Cultural and Historical Significance: Ballantine Beer bottles were manufactured in Newark, NJ. The maker's mark is three overlapping rings that represent purity, body, and flavor. Peter Ballantine, the founder, invented the symbol after seeing the marks left on a wooden table from a beer can. The symbol was first used in 1879. Ballantine started Ballantine Beer in 1833 after working at a brewery for thirteen years. In 1840 he moved to Newark, NJ with his family in order to be closer to New York. In 1850 Peter Ballantine purchased land near the Passaic River to brew his beer. After many successful years and surviving prohibition y diversifying into insurance and other types of sales, the company acquired the Christian Feiganspan Brewery in Newark, NJ which ran from 1943 until 1948. By the time the second factory opened, the company focused on canning their beer instead of bottling it. This shows that this bottle was most likely from the first factory which was established in 1850 and brewed beer until the early twentieth century when they diversified during prohibition, establishing the date of the bottle between 1850 and 1920. Ballantine Beers was one of the largest producers of beer in the U.S. Their beer was mass-produced and was competitive with other companies like Anheuser Busch.