Welcome to stokebottles.com, a website dedicated to antique bottles and associated collectibles from the Stoke-on-Trent area of Staffordshire, UK
Stoke-on-Trent was formed as a federation of six towns in 1910 and only became a city in 1925. Prior to 1910 the towns were considered separate boroughs or urban districts, namely Hanley, Longton, Fenton, Burslem, Tunstall, and Stoke-upon-Trent
During the Victorian and Edwardian periods, a large variety of bottles and pots were utilised by traders to house their products. A lot of these carried branding, not only as an advert for the company and product, but also as a means for the traders to recover their 'empties' for reuse.
Since the materials used were relatively robust (glass, stoneware, ceramics, etc...) many items have survived, even after having been buried in old refuse tips for over 100 years. A large proportion of what has survived come from mineral water manufacturers, brewers, chemists, and wine and spirit merchants
Many of the local items in my collection are shown throughout this website, together with historical information relating to them
Click on the links below to view items in the collection, together with historical information, links to other sites, and details of the local Bottle Club which I run along with Chris Morris and Dave Skingsley
These pages are constantly under development, so please check back regularly for updates!
If you have any questions or comments, then please feel free to contact me at dave@stokebottles.com
Site last updated: January 2024
WANTED!
I am always interested in purchasing new items for my collection, whether you have a single bottle, or an entire collection to sell
If you have anything which you think I may be interested in (even if you don't wish to sell it), either send me an email to dave@stokebottles.com, fill out the contact form below, or call me on 07790 933 920
Additionally, if you have photos or information relating to the former mineral water companies, chemists, brewers etc... from the Stoke-on-Trent area, then I would be happy to hear from you
Arrowsmith's
I am also interested in collectables carrying my family name. Click here for further info...
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Unless otherwise stated, all images and content of this website are © Dave Arrowsmith, and may not be reproduced without prior permission.