Bulb Top Discussion Thread

Bulb Top Conetop List

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idigrust
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Bulb Top Discussion Thread

#1

Post by idigrust »

Use this thread to add to the Master File.


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Re: Bulb Top Discussion Thread

#2

Post by Wheaton »

I'd like to acknowledge Jim Hall for extracting this bulb top composite from his master conetop reference. For anybody who hasn't yet met our very own Conehead, he's definitely one of the hobby's point men for anything and everything conetop related. In Jim's words:

I started collecting like many others, as a kid in the mid seventies. I collected everything as most did but was fortunate to locate a rather large dump shortly after starting that was almost all cone tops. Some of the better labels that came out of that dump were Clipper (from Youngstown), Carnegie, Old Anchor, Grossvater J spout, Royal Bru, Dutch Club, etc. Over 30 different cone top labels were found in the dump. I was able to use that find to really build my growing cone top collection. Eventually space limitations forced me to cut the collection down and cone tops naturally became my focus. My nickname, "Conehead", was coined in the mid 1980's by the Scoglietti Bros. as it seemed that every time we went out dumping I was able to find a cone top, even if no one else did. I was fascinated by all the minor differences I kept finding in the cones. I obtained a copy of the Wolpe catalog shortly after it was offered to BCCAers and have been adding to it ever since. My current cone composite now stands at over 3000 cone tops (which includes crowntainers and quarts).

Many thanks for this contribution, Jim, and for all the conetop detective work you've done over the years!
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Re: Bulb Top Discussion Thread

#3

Post by eric »

Why are some cans listed in blue and others in black?
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Re: Bulb Top Discussion Thread

#4

Post by Wheaton »

eric wrote:Why are some cans listed in blue and others in black?
Excellent question that I should have addressed long before now. Thanks for getting me back on my toes.

Black entries are verified against one of several sources - Jim's collection, the online Beer Can Guide, and in a few instances I was able to help out by corroborating cans that I personally owned while I was specializing in these. Blue entries are for cans that are currently unverified, but reasonable assumptions based on the available data. If anybody has examples of cans listed in blue, please post pictures here. Include a closeup of the can code (MPC) whenever possible, and also note the seam style. On bulb top HPs, there are three possible seam styles: straight, 5-toothed, and 7-toothed. The first two appear similar at a glance because on the five-toothed design, they are small and may be difficult to discern. Hence the term "5 mini" that appears in the seam style column. The can codes are of importance because in the vast majority of cases, there was a lithographic "form signature" used for different label variations. This is the letter that often appears after "52-2." If you look at the MPCs for all the different Schlitz, for example, you find different form codes for each alcohol statement variety and also the two different N.Y. distributor address cans.

For anybody who is unfamiliar with bulb top HP cones, I did a Rustlings piece several years back that might be of use. It can be found in the April 2008 issue. It was intended to be informative and light-hearted, given that the subject matter is considered esoteric by many, and I'm happy to say that most of the information remains unchanged. There is one alteration I'd make at this point regarding the dates these cans were used. I built a case in the article for an approximate two-year window, from early 1939 through late 1940, but later I logged the date codes from the bottoms of many Jos. Schlitz bulbs (Schlitz Vitamin D, Schlitz, and Milwaukee Club). This improved the big picture: HP bulbs were actually in use from sometime in mid-late 1938 through early-mid 1941. Someday I'd like to get that log sheet back out and try to dissect it down to the date level to put a finer point on it, but for now that's the only part of the bulb top "story" that's been updated.
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