Student Blog — Glass Pepsi-Cola Bottle: Finding the Date of Manufacture

Esther Schachter

Site Coordinates: E 626 N 751
Context: 0-10 cm depth
Excavators: ES AW

Artifact description: A fragment of colourless bottle glass with red and white applied colour label markings and printed text on the convex surface of the glass.

Visible text on the bottle glass: “Sparkling” (pictured in top-left); “Pepsi-” (pictured at the bottom edge of the glass).

The soft drink was established in 1898 under the name “Pepsi-Cola” for the first time (PepsiCo 2023:par. 1). As a result, the terminus post quem of the artifact is likely 1898 and the glass bottle fragment originates after this date.

The 1951 logo of Pepsi-Cola has similar iconography to the glass bottle fragment; this logo was changed to a largely different style and colour palette in 1963 (Pepsi 2023:fig. 9, fig. 11). The similarities between the 1951-1962 logo and the iconography on the glass bottle fragment may indicate a more specific date range for this artifact (Pepsi 2023:fig. 9, fig. 11).

As a result, the range for the date of manufacture/origin for the glass bottle fragment likely extends from 1951 to 1962 with the verifiable sources available online.

The soft drink was established in 1898 under the name “Pepsi-Cola” for the first time (PepsiCo 2023:par. 1). As a result, the terminus post quem of the artifact is likely 1898 and the glass bottle fragment originates after this date.

The 1951 logo of Pepsi-Cola has similar iconography to the glass bottle fragment; this logo was changed to a largely different style and colour palette in 1963 (Pepsi 2023:fig. 9, fig. 11). The similarities between the 1951-1962 logo and the iconography on the glass bottle fragment may indicate a more specific date range for this artifact (Pepsi 2023:fig. 9, fig. 11).

As a result, the range for the date of manufacture/origin for the glass bottle fragment likely extends from 1951 to 1962 with the verifiable sources available online.

References Cited

Pepsi
    2023  History of the Birthplace of Pepsi in New Bern, NC. History of The Birthplace of Pepsi. The Pepsi Store.

PepsiCo
    2023  Pepsi® celebrates its historic 125th anniversary with 125-day-long campaign, spotlighting iconic moments of the past, present and future. PepsicoUpgrade.