K. B. Co. embossed on the bottom, the bottles from the Keystone Bottling Company of West Virginia

The Keystone Bottling Company, whose principal office was located in Keystone, West Virginia, was incorporated on February 2, 1907. The stockholders of the company was C. S. Angel of North Fork W. VA, C. C. Hale of Keystone, VA, C. W. Elliot of North fork, W. VA, W. E. Stuart of Keystone, W. VA, and T. W. Zink of Keystone, W. VA. This company was comprised of a group of bottlers with branches in Keystone, W. VA, Welch, W. VA, Williamson, W. VA, North Fork, W. VA, and finally Bluefield, W. VA. The main product of this bottling group was Coca-Cola, and would add Nu-Grape in the middle 1920’s. This bottling group identified its bottles not by using a town name on them, except in certain cases, but by using the initials K. B. Co. which is usually located on the bottom of the bottles including their Coca-Cola Bottles. The company would be renamed the Northfork Coca-Cola Bottling Company by the late 1920’s, and would create a bottler in Rock, W. VA known as the Rock Mineral Springs Bottling Company.

Thanks to the good folks at Coca-Cola in Bluefield WV, I now have a photo of the C. W. Elliot Company of Northfork, WV. This building was also the corporate offices of the Keystone Bottling Company group.

1913 Coca-Cola Soda Water bottle from the Keystone Bottling Company.

1916 Coca-Cola bottle from the Keystone Bottling Company

1923 C. C. Soda Water from the Bluefield Bottling Company which was part of the Keystone Bottling Company

1924 C. C. Soda Water from the Flat Top Bottling Company of Welch, WVA which was part of the Keystone Bottling Company

November 16, 1915 patented hobble skirt Coca-Cola bottle from the Keystone Bottling Company

1927 deco bottle from the Bluefield Bottling Company

1930 Big Bottle from the C. W. Elliot Company of Northfork, WVA which was part of the now named Northfork Coca-Cola Bottling Company.

1937 Big Bottle from the Welch Coca-Cola Bottling Company, former Flat Top Bottling Company, of Welch, WVA which is also part of the Northfork Coca-Cola Bottling group.

Dixie Beverages bottle from Northfork, WVA, which is most likely part of the company as well.

 And that's all of them I hope you enjoyed the bottles from the Keystone / Northfork Coca-Cola Bottling Company bottling group.

Bottles from Roanoke, VA

Roanoke had quite a few bottlers over the years, and several Roanoke based brands such as Lemon Kola, King Cola, 3-C Nectar, and Dixie-Ola. Unfortunately none of them survived to the modern day; however, the evidence of their existence still survives in the form of bottles and other go with items. Here are just a few of them.

The Roanoke Bottling & Cider Company would eventually become the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Roanoke, VA according to James C. Ayers' Pepsi=Cola book.

King Cola was a Roanoke based drink during the late teens. They were sued by Coca-Cola and lost.

3-C Nectar was created by the Columbia Chemical Corporation (get it?) in the early 1920's and within three years was out of business. The brand was bottled as far away as Philadelphia, PA and Coney Island, NY.

Dixie-Ola was created around 1928 by the Roanoke Extract & Bottling Company.

A cap from the company found in Mouth of Wilson, VA, it may be possible that they bottled the brand at some point or just purchased the company's bottle cap stock after they went out of business.

Two Orange Crush bottles from the 1930's.

Mid 1930's Dr. Swett's Root Beer from Roanoke, VA

A late 1930's Pop Kola marked "the property of L. L. Rice" who later owned Rice's Bottling Company; however, by this point his company was known as the Big Bill Bottling Company.

Grapette from Rice's Bottling Company of Roanoke, VA. Lawrence L. Rice would open up branch plants in Johnson City, Tennessee, and Jacksonville, Florida.

1940 Pop Kola bottle from Rice's Bottling Company of Roanoke, VA

A Clicquot Club Beverages bottle from the 1950's. I don't know much about the company that bottled this one.

A 1959 Pepsi Cola bottle from Roanoke, VA. Knowing that L. L. Rice owned the Johnson City, Tenn. Pepsi Cola bottling company, I wonder if he owned the company in Roanoke, VA as well.

Frankie's Beverages bottle from the Frankie's Bottling Company of Roanoke, VA. According to the information given me by one of the owner's relatives, this company is the same one that was bottling the Orange Crush bottles pictured above.

You don't see too many of these mid 60's with town names, but here is one from the Double Cola Bottling Company of Roanoke, VA.

Oak Lane Dairy opened in Roanoke, VA in 1935, which is about the right time period for this early ACL (Applied Color Label) Mission Orange drink bottle.

Still don't know the source of this 1941 Fruit Beverage Company bottle from Roanoke, VA; however, it could be associated with the Mission above or the Bireley's below. All three would have been non-carbonated fruit flavored drinks.

There is a photo of downtown Roanoke, VA out there with a billboard ad for Bireley's Orange Drink, and here is the bottle.