Q: I have an unopened Thanksgiving Coke bottle with the patent date Nov. 16, 1915. I am wondering if it is worth anything.
A: We don’t know why the Coca-Cola bottles with the patent date Nov. 16, 1915, are sometimes called “Thanksgiving” bottles, because that was not the date of Thanksgiving in 1915 and the bottles were not issued for the holiday. But the patent was granted in November, the month Thanksgiving is celebrated. The Coca-Cola Co. held a contest in 1915 to find a unique design for the Coca-Cola bottle. The winning design, based on the shape of a cocoa pod but called “hobbleskirt,” was drawn by Earl R. Dean, a bottle designer at Root Glass Co. of Terre Haute, Indiana. The patent was signed by plant superintendent Alexander Samuelson and granted to the Coca-Cola Co. The first bottles in this shape were produced in 1916. They were made in clear, aqua blue, ice blue, and green. After 1923, all the bottles were made in green. Bottles with the patent date “Nov. 16, 1915” were made until about 1924. In 1971 Coca-Cola authorized the production of 5,000 commemorative bottles, made from the original molds but embossed “1915-1965” on the base. Reproductions were made again in 1999, but these have the date “1999” embossed on the base. Check your bottle for the marks on reproductions. It is very likely, given the fact that your bottle still holds Coke, that it is one of the reproductions. But even if it’s an early bottle, it would sell for under $30.
The reason that these are sometimes called that is because of the bottles called Christmas cokes that have a patent date of Dec. 25, 1923. Calling the Nov. 1915 bottles Thanksgiving cokes is just sort of an offhand reference to that.
These are nicknamed “Thanksgiving” bottles to distinguish them for “Christmas” bottles, with have the date “Dec. 25, 1923” (produced from 1928 to 1938). The November date is close enough to Thanksgiving for Coke collectors!