BACK TO COMMEMORATIVE SODA BOTTLE INDEX PAGE

SODA MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION COMMEMORATIVE BOTTLES

At the dawn of the bottling of soda beverages, it was relatively easy to "get into the business".  One just had to retire to the kitchen and whip up a batch of tongue tingling syrup that when mixed with water would produce an irresistible taste.

Step two required the mixing of the syrup with water, adding a dash of carbonation, pouring the mix into a bottle, loading the new  concoction on the wagon, and selling the product door to door.

The most expensive part of the whole process for the early bottlers was the purchase of the returnable bottles for their drinks.  A brisk  black market trade developed for these bottles once they were sold.

To slow the misappropriation of bottles, and to deal with the problems of wide spread distribution networks, the bottlers decided to  ban together, and in 1882, the United States Bottlers Protective  Association (U.S.B.P.A.) was organized.  The association lasted only  three years but formed the basis for other groups to follow. 

In 1889, the "American Bottlers Protective Association" (A.B.P.A) was formed to serve the needs of both soda and beer bottlers.  In 1918, the soda bottlers felt the need to form their own group they called the  "National Bottler's Association", until the "American Bottlers of  Carbonated Beverages" (A.B.C.B.) evolved in 1919.

The A.B.C.B emerged as a strong national soft drink association with forceful leadership which tackled many diverse issues affecting the  bottlers such as, taxes, product standards, the Great Depression,  Prohibition, rationing, and wartime price controls.

In 1921, the first industry-wide national exposition was sponsored by the A.B.C.B. in conjunction with their national convention.  These annual meetings are still being held and have produced many unique and valuable collectables over the years.

Changes in the industry along with new product packaging methods led to a name change, the "National Soft Drink Association" (N.S.D.A.) in  1967.

NSDA serves as a liaison between various industry, government, legislative, regulatory and public groups. Until 2000, NSDA hosted InterBev,  the beverage industry's largest trade show. InterBev, previously named the International Beverage Industry Exposition (IBIE), continues to exist and is held every two years.  For more information please see www.interbev.com.

A wide variety of rare and colorful collectables have been made over the years of existence of the various associations of soft drink Manufacturers.  Association bottles make up one of the more poplar branches of soda collectibles and  some of the older varieties have values ranging into the hundreds of  dollars. 

ABCB & NSDA CONVENTION BOTTLES 

BOTTLE MFG KEY (BM):

KEY TO TERMS AND SYMBOLS

ABCB & NSDA CONVENTION BOTTLES 
Miniature Bottles by Glenshaw Glass

KEY TO TERMS AND SYMBOLS

WESTERN CANADA SOFT DRINK CONFERENCE COMMEMORATIVE BOTTLES
KEY TO TERMS AND SYMBOLS
**NOTE:  Bottle pictures submitted by Ivan(Canada) 9'05

BACK TO COMMEMORATIVE SODA BOTTLE INDEX PAGE

E-Mail Us