For the past several weeks, I have given you information about bottles and even shown you photographs of bottles. Now, I would like to give you some little known facts about bottles:

• The Revenue Act of 1862 passed on July 1, 1862, by the United States Congress to help fund the American Civil War caused whiskey to be taxed.

• In 1902, the Food and Drug Act restricted the sale of bitters. Bitters sold in bottles as a medicine was not medicine. It was actually an alcoholic drink.

• Hand-blown bottles were made before 1860.

• The automatic bottle machine was invented in 1900 but did not catch on until around the 1920s.

• Glass stoppers used in bottles are called lighting stoppers and were invented in 1875.

• A piece of broken glass on the bottom of a bottle called a pontil mark. They were made until 1860.

• A bottle put together in three pieces is called a three mold, and these bottles were made until 1809.

Louisiana Treasures Museum has over 3,000 bottles on display. Stop by and see if any look like the ones you have in your collections. Please call me at 225-294-8352 for more information and hours of operation.

Wayne Norwood is a lieutenant with the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Department and owner and operator of the Louisiana Treasures Museum located at 10290 Highway 22, West Pontchatoula.