Found: Oldest Aqua Velva Bottle Circa 1928

simmonds · Nov 8, 2011

Scored this amazing Aqua Velva bottle for a whopping $3.95 today. I have been looking for a vintage one lately, hoping maybe for a 40s-60s bottle and stumbled upon this. From what I can gather these are extremely hard to find AV bottles and a Google search will provide you with zero results of this style except for in some ads from the late 20s. I found a local bottle restorer who can restore it to like new or close to new condition for 10 dollars so I think that is what I will do. I am in the process of designing the original label with Photo shop and will print it on antique paper. The hard part is going to be finding this old style metal cap to fit the bottle. I can always make one out of a plastic mold kit and paint it gold like the original but that will be a last resort. I wasn't even sure it was a AV bottle...just couldn't believe it was until I looked at the underside and saw the JBW Co. Anyway, just had to share. I know it will look out of place filling this old gal up with modern blue color AV but it would be a great decanter for the plastic bottle AV.

I will post pictures after the restoration.

Chris

By chrissimmonds at 2011-11-08

xXClockwork · Nov 8, 2011

That's a sweet find!

ErickQ · Nov 8, 2011

That's nice!

simmonds · Nov 8, 2011

I copied this to the Aftershave forum...maybe a better place for it.

global_dev · Nov 8, 2011

that is a sweet bottle. much much better than the contemporary bottles... can you give a better view of the top? whats the mechanism, like a euro dropper?

simmonds · Nov 8, 2011

Here is a view of the top. Tapers to a narrow opening kind of like modern cologne bottles.

By chrissimmonds at 2011-11-08

hotreds · Nov 8, 2011

Sledgehammer39 · Nov 8, 2011

Excellent Find!!! look forward to the restoration.

D.Jackson · Nov 8, 2011

Hey, that's pretty incredible. Nice score!

malocchio · Nov 8, 2011

My method for bottle restoration: soak inside with CLR ,fill to very top,let sit 2 days,will not hurt the glass,rinse and wash.Outside - give it a good polishing with a green scrubber pad and "barkeepers friend" powder,several applications may be neccesary.Finally,wax the bottle down with old fashioned "glasswax"...this should give you a really close to new bottle,and the bottle you have is a real beauty ! great find...

simmonds · Nov 8, 2011

malocchio said:
My method for bottle restoration: soak inside with CLR ,fill to very top,let sit 2 days,will not hurt the glass,rinse and wash.Outside - give it a good polishing with a green scrubber pad and "barkeepers friend" powder,several applications may be neccesary.Finally,wax the bottle down with old fashioned "glasswax"...this should give you a really close to new bottle,and the bottle you have is a real beauty ! great find...

Wow! That is fantastic information friend. I appreciate it. I will give that a shot and do the glass restoration myself...and save myself the 10 to 20 dollar estimate I was given. I already have a can of "barkeepers friend" I have around for grinding radio crystals up frequency (ham radio), I will need to grab some CLR though and possibly glasswax. It will come in handy as I have other old glass bottles with calcium deposits and staining that could benifit from the restoration. Thanks again for the great tip and sharing your bottle cleaning method. Hmmm, I hope this doesn't lead to ABDAD (Antique Bottle Digging Acquisition Disorder) :ohmy:

72plymsatellite · Nov 8, 2011

malocchio said:
My method for bottle restoration: soak inside with CLR ,fill to very top,let sit 2 days,will not hurt the glass,rinse and wash.Outside - give it a good polishing with a green scrubber pad and "barkeepers friend" powder,several applications may be neccesary.Finally,wax the bottle down with old fashioned "glasswax"...this should give you a really close to new bottle,and the bottle you have is a real beauty ! great find...

i need to try this with an old milk bottle i have

op, grats on the cool find

DarbyRides · Nov 8, 2011

Oh wow. Excellent score!

DarbyRides · Nov 8, 2011

malocchio said:
My method for bottle restoration: soak inside with CLR ,fill to very top,let sit 2 days,will not hurt the glass,rinse and wash.Outside - give it a good polishing with a green scrubber pad and "barkeepers friend" powder,several applications may be neccesary.Finally,wax the bottle down with old fashioned "glasswax"...this should give you a really close to new bottle,and the bottle you have is a real beauty ! great find...

Great information! Thank You!

malocchio · Nov 8, 2011

simmonds said:
Wow! That is fantastic information friend. I appreciate it. I will give that a shot and do the glass restoration myself...and save myself the 10 to 20 dollar estimate I was given. I already have a can of "barkeepers friend" I have around for grinding radio crystals up frequency (ham radio), I will need to grab some CLR though and possibly glasswax. It will come in handy as I have other old glass bottles with calcium deposits and staining that could benifit from the restoration. Thanks again for the great tip and sharing your bottle cleaning method. Hmmm, I hope this doesn't lead to ABDAD (Antique Bottle Digging Acquisition Disorder)

after your are finished,do not toss out the CLR,you can use it over and over,it works great on crud encrusted razors as well. you might want to get some pipe cleaners to get out tough spots in the bottle that the CLR can't disintegrate,although it will usually get 99% of it.

malocchio · Nov 8, 2011

72plymsatellite said:
i need to try this with an old milk bottle i have

op, grats on the cool find

If the milk bottle has painted lettering on the face,you will not want to get barkeepers friend on the paint,just warm soapy water.In my part of n. calif. these beautiful old milk bottles are starting to go way up in price,some in the hundreds.

simmonds · Nov 9, 2011

malocchio said:
after your are finished,do not toss out the CLR,you can use it over and over,it works great on crud encrusted razors as well. you might want to get some pipe cleaners to get out tough spots in the bottle that the CLR can't disintegrate,although it will usually get 99% of it.

Thanks again!

sir-nix-alot · Nov 9, 2011

I wouldn't use CLR.

What works better than pipe cleaners is 90+ isopropyl alcohol and salt. That bottle is going to have to be bone dry to get the salt through that opening, then fill with an inch or so of alcohol and gently shake.

The salt will not dissolve in the alcohol and will act as an abrasive without scratching the glass (don't ask me how I know this).

The alcohol will dissolve any oil residue that is in the bottle and loosen up any crud, and vinegar (doesn't matter what kind) will take care of any mineral deposits. Depending on how the bottle has been used - I would alternate back and forth because it is possible that the is oil residue under the mineral residue... By alternating you can assure that you get all the crud out. Rinse with alcohol, then vinegar, then vodka / everclear and you will have spotless glass with no odor. Best part is your bottle will be spotless in an hour vs. days.

I would try alcohol and salt and vinegar first and see where that leaves you before using CLR.
1. If this has had only Aqua Velva in it, there should not be any mineral deposits.
2. CLR smell is very difficult rinse clean even on glass that can be easily filled and rinsed, let alone through that little hole. I personally wouldn't use CLR unless there is rust.

simmonds · Nov 9, 2011

sir-nix-alot said:
I wouldn't use CLR.

What works better than pipe cleaners is 90+ isopropyl alcohol and salt. That bottle is going to have to be bone dry to get the salt through that opening, then fill with an inch or so of alcohol and gently shake.

The salt will not dissolve in the alcohol and will act as an abrasive without scratching the glass (don't ask me how I know this).

The alcohol will dissolve any oil residue that is in the bottle and loosen up any crud, and vinegar (doesn't matter what kind) will take care of any mineral deposits. Depending on how the bottle has been used - I would alternate back and forth because it is possible that the is oil residue under the mineral residue... By alternating you can assure that you get all the crud out. Rinse with alcohol, then vinegar, then vodka / everclear and you will have spotless glass with no odor. Best part is your bottle will be spotless in an hour vs. days.

I would try alcohol and salt and vinegar first and see where that leaves you before using CLR.
1. If this has had only Aqua Velva in it, there should not be any mineral deposits.
2. CLR smell is very difficult rinse clean even on glass that can be easily filled and rinsed, let alone through that little hole. I personally wouldn't use CLR unless there is rust.

Thanks for these tips too! I will definitely take them into consideration. The white staining on the inside of the bottle is from water, I assume from being underground in a bottle dump for 70+ years...also why there is no label or metal cap. It was found in an archaeological dig though I am not quite sure where yet. I bet the small kept large amount of dirt form getting inside yet allowed plenty of ground water in.

malocchio · Nov 9, 2011

you can always experiment on old worthless bottles as well....

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Found: Oldest Aqua Velva Bottle Circa 1928

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xXClockwork

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D.Jackson

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