I thought I'd share this with everyone... Several years ago, I was wandering through a flea market and ran across this old promotional piece for Oertels '92 beer. It's all glass and hollow inside. It's pretty heavy. My guess is that it originally had a base it sat in and probably had a light inside the "ice block" for effect. I still harbor dreams of building such a base for it. I have no clue how old it is, but I'd guess it's from the 40's or 50's. The labels on the bottle are obviously in rough shape (I'd love to find a more pristine bottle of the same vintage to replace it with) but it's nonetheless a fun, eye-catching addition to my bar. Hope you enjoy! Front view Side view, to give you an idea of the size And, a closeup of the Oertels 92 logo molded into the glass
Nice find. The bottle looks like it could still have beer in it. Yes? It doesn't look like it would be very difficult to make a nice wooden base for it, especially if you have a router to sink it a little bit into the wood. Electrifying it might not be too difficult either.
My wife bought me this for my birthday a few years back. It's from my little town and also from the same time period, l believe. Another great use for a bottle in a promo piece! This guy is lucky l found the same cap separately or he might be hatless!
Doesn't appear to originally have had a base, nor an interior light (is it hollow or any evidence of a missing lamp?) based on this Tavern Trove Breweriana auction image:
The block of "ice" is about 1/4" thick (or more) and completely hollow. There is no bottom to it, either. My thought that it may have once been lit from inside is just something I came up with. I've worked in advertising/marketing (on the creative side) and, when I look at the thing and imagine it sitting on the shelf of some tavern, I think about how to draw the patron's attention to it (it's an advertisement, after all) and I can easily see it meant to be lit from within. Not overly bright, but enough to give the bottle a nice soft glow. At least that's how I would do it. That picture is great, jesskidden! That's the only other example I've ever seen. I'd love to have a bottle that pristine.
