Embossed carbonated water bottle, Forster Moore Ltd, Norwich, circa 1880-1920

Embossed mineral water bottle, Forster Moore Ltd, Norwich, circa 1880-1920.

Material: thick dark green glass
Dimensions: height approx. 20.5 cm
Shape: cylindrical with a rounded shoulder, a stable base, a short neck and a pronounced lip, typical of carbonated drink bottles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Mark: visible embossing "Forster Moore Ltd" and "Norwich".

This type of bottle was frequently used in Britain in roughly the period 1880-1920 for bottling carbonated soft drinks. The robust shape and the thick glass answered the need to withstand the internal pressure generated by carbon dioxide. The embossing served both as the maker's identifying mark and as a means of protection against unauthorised reuse by competitors.

The Forster Moore Ltd works in Norwich was a local bottler active at the end of the 19th century and in the interwar period, known for the distribution of soda water and mineral water.

Bottles of this kind are associated with the industrialisation of drinks production in Victorian and Edwardian England, particularly in the expanding urban market. After the 1920s and 1930s, bottles of this type were gradually replaced by standardised containers with paper labels, and embossing became rarer.