HutchBook.comHutchinson Bottle Directory
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Quick-Links (click to navigate to the indexed topic):
Introduction
Welcome to the Hutchinson Bottle Directory portal to the Hutchinson bottle database, the heart of HutchBook.com! Gathering data to build and open this huge database to the public was over 36 years in the making. In addition to acknowledging everyone who has worked on this initiative since its founding by Joe Nagy in 1976, we extend a major THANK YOU to the Hutchinson Specialists, Hutchinson Bottle Collectors' Association members, and all others who have contributed time, energy, and bottle data to bring this dream to fruition. The significant contributions of Tod von Mechow, founder of www.SodasAndBeers.com, are particularly appreciated. Besides providing a ton of bottle data, Tod designed and built the Hutchinson Search engine, and is our go-to guy for all computer-related issues. Thank you, Tod! Ron F.
Hutchinson Search
Many conventional books are outdated before they complete the printing process and the ink has dried. By comparison, HutchBook.com is essentially a "live" book because the site content is constantly changing and the HutchBook database is continually updated! If you are seeking information about one or more of the over 21,000 Hutchinson bottles catalogued thus far, the Hutchinson Search page is your doorway to accessing the database. Here are brief descriptions and links to the search options:
Hutchinson Search
Considerable time and energy has been devoted to designing and building the "Hutchinson Search" front-end to our very powerful search engine. Click the link directly below this paragraph to navigate to the Hutchinson Search page. Key data into one or more of the search fields and/or select from the numerous dialog boxes, click the "Find Hutchinsons" button, and the requested information will be returned:
We are continually refining the Hutchinson Bottle Directory data guidelines in order to constantly increase and improve the quantity and quality of information being catalogued. Here are detailed definitions of the substantial quantity of data we are gathering about each Hutchinson bottle:
The Hutchinson Search field labels are important clues to the highly-detailed information contained in the database. The labels were designed to be self-explanatory, but if you desire additional details, here is a link to a page designed to help you better understand how to use the "Hutchinson Search" page:
Hutchinson Lists
For several years we periodically produced pre-defined, printable, .pdf lists of Hutchinson bottles from each country, state, territory, and province. These lists were "snapshots" of the HutchBook.com database as of a specific date, did not include bottle images, were infrequently updated, and received very little usage. It made no sense to continue producing these separate lists when one can easily always view totally current data and bottle images by simply navigating to the Hutchinson Search page and searching on the country, state, territory, or province of interest. The Hutchinson Search pages are, of course, printable. Consequently, the Hutchinson Lists option is no longer available.
Mavericks
Hutchinson bottles that do not bear embossed city, state, province, or country names are referred to as "mavericks." During the process of gathering data for the Hutchinson Bottle Directory we have confirmed the origin of over 600 maverick bottles. Identified mavericks have been assigned to their correct city, state, province, and/or country in the master database. Keying a maverick bottle's embossing into the "Primary Name" field or the appropriate "Embossing" field on the "Hutchinson Search" page and clicking the "Find Hutchinsons" button will return information about that bottle if it has been catalogued. Searching the "Unknown Country" listings returns a list of those Hutchinson bottles whose origin has yet to be determined. Please EMail us at HutchBook@yahoo.com if you can provide information about any of these as yet-to-be-identified bottles:
New Listings
The Hutchinson Bottle Directory database is continually updated by adding newly identified bottles, additional information about existing listings, corrections, etc.
Thinking About Contacting Us?
Contact Guidelines:
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We do not do appraisals;
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We are intentionally not tracking or cataloguing dollar values. They are too dependent on the condition of individual bottles, and cataloguing nearly 21,000 bottles is more than challenging enough;
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We are not a source for historical information about specific bottlers. We suggest you start your own research process by contacting historical societies, public libraries, and/or collectors in the area where the bottler was located;
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We do not have any bottles for sale or trade; and
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We do not entertain telephone inquiries due to calls at oh-dark-thirty from people who don't understand the concept of time zones.
If you need to communicate with us, please click this Contact Us link, or the Contact Us button in the navigation panel located in the left hand margin of all HutchBook pages.
HutchBook Bottle Data Submittal Form
The accompanying e-form is the initial step toward automating submission of new and/or corrected bottle data for the Hutchinson Bottle Directory. Clicking on the page link posted below opens a HutchBook Bottle Data Submittal Form in a separate window. Until we facilitate fully electronic submissions, please key data directly into the form (tab from field-to-field), print the form, and either send the completed form to our snail mail address, or scan and EMail the form to our EMail address:
HutchBook Bottle Data Submittal Form
Hutchinson Bottle Directory Images
Our primary objective is to provide images that clearly communicate bottle details. An extensive survey of long-time Hutchinson collectors indicates many prefer line drawings to photographs, because accurate drawings often show far better bottle details, e.g. punctuation, plate mould shapes, pictures, monograms, etc. The Hutchinson Bottle Directory database accommodates photographs, scanned images, and computer-assisted drawings. As technology improves, we envision the implementation of 3-D and/or video bottle images, and expect to convert to such methodology as deemed practical and affordable. Initially, the Hutchinson Bottle Directory images include a combination of photographs, scanned images, pencil rubbings, and drawings.