This bottle is embossed with H.J. Heinz Co. on one side and Pittsbough, PA. on the other. Although Henry John Heinz had started marketing bottled horseradish as early as 1869 it was not until 1888 that his business assumed the name H.J. Heinz Company. The object that is in the collection has a rectangular base with chamfered (cut off) corners. This is a machine made bottle exhibiting a distinct value mark on the base. Within the use category of “food” “horseradish style” forms a sub category of bottle referred to as “bottle type” in the Parks Canada nomenclature. This style bottle may show a variety of base shapes. A patent finish is often present as on object 45K1765/M-42.
The dating on this particular example of the bottle type can be concisely bracketed between 1888 and 1909. It was in 1909 that the Heinz Co. began using square based bottles for its products. In the case of this horseradish style bottle the embossing makes all the difference when it comes to dating. Given that the bottle is embossed with the company name H.J Heinz we know that it was produced after 1888. As can be seen from old catalogs of Illinois Glass Company, bottles of this type continued to be manufactured beyond 1926.
On the left is an early bottle of Heinz’s horseradish. The bottle on the right is from sometime after 1892, when the H.J. Heinz Co. inaugurated its “57 Varieties” slogan.
Page from the Illinois Glass Company’s 1926 catalog.
http://www.sha.org/bottle/Typing/IGCo1926/page132.jpg
http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/Heinz_Company.html
http://www.biography.com/people/hj-heinz-39251#early-life&awesm=~oEPjuziJf9BnX1
http://www.heinz.com/media/downloads/view/evaporatedrelish.jpg