< PreviousExcavation of the later furnace access vault at Dyottville produced part of an olive glass bottle seal that, if complete, would have read “E. P. MIDDLETON [slugged-out area] / WHEAT / 1825 / WHISKEY / PHILADA.” This seal would have once been located on the upper body or shoulder of a large liquor bottle, and served to identify the company and/or product within. Blob seals such as this were applied to the bottle after blowing and finishing were complete, but while the bottle was still hot. Much like sealing a letter with wax, blob seals were created by applying a slug or “blob” of hot molten glass to the newly formed bottle, then pressing an inscribed metal or clay seal into the slug, flattening it into the typical round or oval shape, and permanently embossing the bottle.1For at least 12 years, brothers Edward P. Middleton and George W. Middleton were partners in E. P. Middleton & Bro., a firm specializing in the importation and wholesale of liquor. From their store at 5 North Front Street, the Middletons marketed a variety of imported spirits and wines, including Hennessy cognacs, Holland gins, sherry, Madeira, and Champagne. In addition, the brothers sold flavored brandies “of our own preparation” and a variety of Monongahela whiskeys—the traditional Pennsylvania rye whiskey.2 It was wheat whiskey—made from its namesake grain, as opposed to Monongahela’s rye or bourbon’s corn—which seems to have become their premier product for a time.3 By January 1856, the brothers were marketing “Old Wheat Whiskey (1825),” of which they claimed to be sole proprietors. It seems probable that they purchased the whiskey wholesale, subsequently bottling it under their own name like many “craft distilleries” in the present-day revival of rye and wheat whiskeys.4 Additionally, it may not be coincidental that 1825 is the reversal of the last two digits of the year the partnership was founded. In the years leading up to the Civil War, the Middletons marketed their wheat whiskey as far away as Pittsburgh and New Orleans.5 During the war years, however, the brothers’ relationship deteriorated to a breaking point, and they dissolved the partnership in February 1864.6 E. P. Middleton continued to operate the business, and when he died childless in 1869, he left none of his vast estate to George. Before other relatives could squabble over their inheritance, the estate paid off E. P.’s debts, including a $59.00 bill from H. B. and G. W. Benners for glassware—perhaps bottles produced at the Benner’s Dyottville Works.7 For his part, H. B. Benners seemed to take an interest in E. P.’s death and the subsequent fight over his estate, noting the event in his journal and testifying in court.8The authors are aware of at least four different E. P. Middleton seal variations on two different bottle forms. The earliest of these seals would have read, “E. P. MIDDLETON & BRO. / WHEAT / 1825 / WHISKEY / PHILADA.” An An unknown glassworker used a porter-shape bottle mold to create this hat “whimsy,” complete with remnants of the original bottle embossing stretched and disfigured from shaping the brim. This same bottle seems to have been produced at the Dyottville Glass Works, evident from matching sherds recovered from the furnace cleanout vault at the site.These bottles bore embossing for John M. Kirschenmann, a “lager beer brewer” who owned a bottling establishment and “beer house” on Germantown Avenue, above Columbia Avenue (now Cecil B. Moore) in Kensington.1 Kirschenmann, born around 1815 in Baden, Germany, first appears in city directories operating a tavern at that approximate location in 1851—indeed, the address on the bottle, “485 / GERN ROAD,” shows the street numbering system used prior to the late 1850s.2 Though Kirschenmann is listed as a bottler until his death in March 1870, by which time the address had become 1729 Germantown Avenue, no known bottles exist bearing this address.3 Though this mold had an outdated address (at least officially) by the time Kirschenmann died, the absence of any known later bottles indicates that it was likely used from the very late 1850s well into the 1860s, and maybe a bit later.4 Kirschenmann’s son, Edward, is listed in city directories as a bottler by the mid-1870s, though no known bottles exist bearing his name.5 While the intact examples of this bottle all feature smooth bases, this hat has an open pontil scar—a characteristic typical of pre-1860 bottles. Here it doesn’t necessarily indicate an earlier manufacture date, as a pontil was needed to hold the glass while shaping this whimsical hat. - Thomas J. KutysArtifact Round UpThe Kirschenmann Hat50 | Vol 2 | 2017 | River ChroniclesPhotograph by Thomas J. Kutys, 2012example of this seal has been found on a large olive liquor bottle (shown here) that features gently sloped shoulders and an applied mineral finish. The seal recovered from Dyottville is one of two slightly different seals that seem to represent the next variation chronologically, as the “& BRO.” has been hastily removed or “slugged out” on the original metal or clay seal. The size of the Dyottville blob seal and curvature of the body fragment to which it is still attached indicate that it likely once adorned a bottle like that pictured, though the other known slugged-out variation (with slightly different embossing) occurs on a smaller amber liquor bottle. The probable latest seal variation reads “E. P. MIDDLETON / WHEAT / 1825 / WHISKEY / PHILADA,” and has been seen on a similar amber bottle, characterized by a squat body; long, straight neck; and more abrupt shoulders.Given the different Middleton seals and the history of the company, it is likely that the slugged-out seals represent an expedient (and probably somewhat temporary) solution after the dissolution of the partnership in 1864. The slugged-out seals were probably only used for a year or two after the Middleton brothers parted ways, especially given the existence of the seal variation completely without “& BRO.” Thus, while the Dyottville seal can be comfortably dated between 1864 and 1869, its manufacture and use can most likely be narrowed to only the mid-1860s.AN UNBROTHERLY SEALA Family Divide Preserved in GlassSamuel A. Pickard and Thomas J. KutysRiver Chronicles | Vol 2 | 2017 | 51(Top) The “E. P. Middleton” seal fragment recovered at Dyottville is pictured with an intact liquor bottle bearing a variant of the seal. Artifact photograph by Thomas J. Kutys, 2013. Bottle photograph courtesy of Norman C. Heckler & Company Auctions.(Right) Page from E. P. Middleton’s estate accounts, with a payment of $59.00 to H. B. and G. W. Benners for glassware highlighted. Courtesy of Philadelphia Register of Wills.Excavation of the furnace cleanout vault at Dyottville resulted in the recovery of nearly 60,000 artifacts, consisting primarily of manufacturing debris and small bottle fragments. Despite the huge volume of material found in the vault, only a very small percentage of this fill—namely, the embossed bottle sherds—can aid archaeologists in narrowly dating the deposit and the use of the vault itself. Embossing is the raised lettering or designs on a bottle used to identify the bottler or product within, and the information gleaned from such proprietary embossing can typically provide archaeologists with very narrow date ranges for the production and circulation of a bottle, particularly when bottler names and/or addresses are included.While many of the other artifacts from the furnace cleanout vault were generally datable, not all artifact dates carry equal weight. The well-established study of historical glass bottles has generated a huge amount of data concerning the development of bottle-making technology over time, and this accumulated data has allowed researchers to formulate broad date ranges of popularity for different bottle features, such as colors, shapes, finishes, etc. These generic date ranges for bottle styles and trends frequently originate, however, in the dates of operation for the bottlers themselves. Bottle fragments from Dyottville with identifiable embossing thus provide archaeologists with the most valuable information in regard to dating.Only a very small number of bottle sherds with identifiable embossing were recovered from the furnace cleanout vault, and the majority of these represent beer and soda/mineral water bottles. Nine bottlers (and bottling partnerships) have been identified thus far from the vault beer and soda bottle assemblage, as well as a small number of stock Dyottville bottles that would not have been produced as the result of custom orders. Because the deposit within the vault consisted of fill likely dumped during a construction episode at the glassworks, dating the fill would, in turn, help archaeologists to determine when the vault stopped being used and when the brick floor above it (from the last building phase at Dyottville) was built. While the nature of the deposit (specifically, its secondary deposition as fill) could mean that the material may have sat idle at the glassworks as waste for years, if not decades, city directory research into the identifiable bottlers can still provide a firm starting point for dating the closure of the vault.52 | Vol 2 | 2017 | River ChroniclesPhotograph by Chester Cunanan, 2017.CLUES FROM THE VAULTDating with Beer & Soda BottlesThomas J. Kutys54 | Vol 2 | 2017 | River ChroniclesJohn AndrewsDyottville Glass Works (stock bottles)Alexander Jimason (Parkesburg, PA)Johnston & Co.John M. KirschenmannMcCrudden, Campbell & Co.Francis McKinneyRobert RiddleGeorge S. TwitchellJacob YoungbloodAll from Philadelphia unless noted otherwise.Beer & Soda Bottlers Identified from the Furnace Cleanout VaultRiver Chronicles | Vol 2 | 2017 | 55These aqua, pony-shape soda/mineral water bottle sherds represent the most significant datable artifacts from the cleanout vault, as the history of the bottler provides the TPQ of 1869 for the entire deposit. Dating from circa 1869 to 1879/1880, the complete bottles would have read, “MCCRUDDEN CAMPBELL & Co / PHILADA // M. C & Co” (in large, hollow block letters). The identical, complete example shown here, measuring 6.75 inches tall, was recovered during archaeological excavations in Port Richmond, just north of the former Dyottville Glass Works. Photographs by Thomas J. Kutys, 2017.Though many of the vault bottlers worked for relatively long periods of time in the nineteenth century, a number of the sherds from the deposit bear embossing for the more short-lived McCrudden, Campbell & Co., a bottling partnership listed in the city directories from 1870 to at least 1879 (possibly still in business in 1880).1 McCrudden, Campbell & Co. was probably formed late in 1869 (or at least after that year’s city directory went to print) by four former Irish immigrant drivers: Patrick McCrudden, Alexander Campbell, William Callahan, and Neal (sometimes Neil) Gillen. The partnership was originally located 56 | Vol 2 | 2017 | River ChroniclesWhile the majority of the soda and beer bottle sherds recovered from the furnace cleanout vault are aqua or dark aqua in color, a small number were found in darker shades of green. These two sherds were once part of a John M. Kirschenmann porter-shape beer bottle (complete example shown is from a private collection). at 444 North Thirteenth Street, at the corner of Hamilton Street, in the city’s Fourteenth Ward; then, from late 1876, farther north at 1517 North Twenty-First Street.2 While the firm continued under the same name following McCrudden’s death in 1877, it last appeared in the 1880 city directory, by then only associated with Gillen.3 The McCrudden, Campbell & Co. bottles are highlighted because they provide the latest begin date for any artifact in the vault deposit (known as the terminus post quem, or “TPQ,” in the discipline of archaeology). A TPQ of 1869 for the furnace cleanout vault artifacts means that the vault cannot have been filled and sealed prior to 1869, otherwise the presence of McCrudden, Campbell & Co. bottle sherds within that deposit would be impossible. River Chronicles | Vol 2 | 2017 | 57This is an example of the type of firm, specific date that bottle embossing can provide. Regardless of how old the vault fill was prior to its final deposition, the vault was filled after 1869—that is a certainty.Despite the fact that embossing-related dates from the vault soda and beer bottles can provide more singular, concrete dates, more generic date ranges related to other bottle characteristics (those generated by accumulated data and by association with specific Perhaps not coincidentally, these Kirschenmann bottles, measuring 7.5 inches tall, bear large, hollow, gothic-style “Ks” on their reverse sides, very similar in design to the “Js” found on the Johnston & Co. bottle, shown on the next page. Given that both bottles are now known to have been made at Dyottville, could their fancy, hollow block letters represent a convention at the glassworks, or even the work of the same mold maker? Photographs by Thomas J. Kutys, 2017.(Right) At the center of the 1869 photograph of the Dyottville workers is the gaffer (head glassblower), with a blob-top, pony-shape soda/mineral water bottle on the end of his blowpipe. This form of bottle is identical to that of the McCrudden, Campbell & Co. bottles and numerous others recovered from the furnace cleanout vault. Employees of Dyottville Glass Works, dated December 4, 1869. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, Museum of American Glass, Millville, New Jersey.bottler information) are also of great use to archaeologists. The sodas and beers from the furnace cleanout vault, including those without identifiable embossing, were made exclusively in various shades of green and aqua, and in only two general shapes. The beer bottles from the vault (or at least the original bottles the sherds would have originated from) feature a short, squat form with abrupt shoulders and a relatively long, straight neck. This form is frequently known as the “porter” shape, and was common from the mid-1840s to circa 1880—though most of the vault examples, with their slightly narrower diameters, probably would have dated to the last 10–15 years of that range.4 The soda bottles from the vault are all “blob-top” sodas, characterized by a “variably long steep shoulder which blends gradually into a relatively distinct moderate length neck.”5 The examples from the furnace cleanout vault all feature longer, more sloping shoulders than earlier varieties in this class, a form sometimes known as the “pony” shape.Perhaps just as significant as the forms recovered from the furnace cleanout vault fill were those soda and beer bottle forms not found in the vault. The porter shape for beer bottles was gradually replaced over the course of the 1870s by the taller “Champagne beer” form, which still exists to some degree today and certainly became the dominant beer bottle form after circa 1880.6 Likewise, the popularity of the blob-top style soda and mineral water bottles quickly faded with the rapid rise of the Hutchinson style bottles in the 1880s.7 Both The porter-shape Johnston & Co. beer bottle shown here, measuring 6.5 inches tall, represents the only complete soda or beer bottle recovered from the furnace cleanout vault. Very few complete or nearly complete bottles were recovered from the Dyottville site as a whole. River Chronicles | Vol 2 | 2017 | 59of these forms, the Champagne beer and Hutchinson styles, were found in large quantities elsewhere at the Dyottville site, but are noticeably absent from the furnace cleanout vault. Their absence from the vault fill insinuates that it was likely filled and capped prior to the production of these styles at the Dyottville Glass Works.What, then, do the very specific 1869 TPQ and more generic style/form dating trends tell us about the closure of the furnace cleanout vault at Dyottville? One of the advantages of historical archaeology is that historical documents can often supplement and inform the interpretation of a site and its artifacts, as in the case of the furnace cleanout vault. The cleanout vault seems to have extended beneath the northernmost of two heating furnaces in the works that are depicted on an April 1878 survey of Dyottville (see overlay on page 42). While it can be reasonably assumed that the use of the vault is contemporary with this configuration of the factory (two stacks), later surveys of the works indicate that the presumed circa-1889 conversion to a single stack did not necessarily coincide with a conversion to a single furnace.8 The 1897 Hexamer survey of the works still depicts two furnaces, thus the circa-1889 single-stack conversion cannot be used as an absolute end date for the use of the furnace cleanout vault discussed here. Based on artifacts recovered from the vault, it appears that, for whatever reason, this furnace cleanout vault was sealed, and the furnace itself accessed from some other direction, well before this specific furnace went out of use.All of this being said, the artifacts indicate that the vault was definitely filled after 1869 and probably closed by the early 1880s, if not by the mid to late 1870s. One very specific date (1869) carries more weight than the other more generic one (late 1870s/early 1880s), but both are important to the interpretation of the vault and the site. Likewise, those artifacts with narrower date ranges from the vault—such as the embossed beer and soda bottles discussed here—can, by association, further inform us about the numerous other artifacts from the same context that were not quite as finely datable (e.g., demijohns/carboys, figural flasks, liquor bottles, etc.). Such is the nature of archaeological dating.Three mold variations of Johnston & Co. bottles were found in the cleanout vault, being most easily distinguished by differences in the large, hollow block letter “Js” on their reverse sides. The complete example features a “J” with pointed, trident-like tips, while many of the sherds (like the one pictured) bear more ornate “Js” with clover/club-like ends. Even among the fancy, clover designs, there is an additional mold with more robust lobes on the “J.” Photographs by Thomas J. Kutys, 2017.Next >