Ginger Beer Stoneware Bottles
A century ago, it was very common for most regions to have their own selection of breweries. These provided products for their local shops and pubs, including ginger beer. This popular drink, which was originally alcoholic, actually originated in Yorkshire. With a very distinctive ginger taste, it was made by fermenting ginger, yeast and sugar.
A popular material
Stoneware bottles like this were produced in large numbers and would not have been expected to be perfect. You can often see smudges on the labels. They were used to store a variety of drinks and liquids. Created in all shapes and sizes, they were often stamped or imprinted with the place names. Wherever you live in Britain, it’s likely that there’s a bottle featuring the name of a place near you!
However, during the 1920s, concerns over the cleanliness of the bottles were raised since the contents couldn’t be seen, and ginger beer started to be sold in glass bottles. This helps us to date them. This example from Ryedale Folk Museum (pictured) was likely produced between 1890 and 1920.
Stoneware bottles were refilled many times, so they make good objects for discussing changes to consumer habits and the best materials for the soft drink industry today.
Exploring stoneware far and wide
Lots of museum collections have stoneware bottles from their locality. This reflects how commonplace they were. Explore examples from range of places in the gallery below.
Click on the photo to enlarge it.
Ryedale Folk Museum, North Yorkhire
Malton Museum, North Yorkshire
Richmondshire Museum, North Yorkshire
Woodhams Stone Collection, North Yorkshire
Watch the video – to explore the bottle from Ryedale Folk Museum further and discuss the best materials for bottles today
Watch The Video With Subtitles
Talking Points
How do you think the bottle would feel to touch? Do you think it would be cold or warm to touch, rough or smooth?
Do you have any similar products around your house? How does it compare to other fizzy drink bottles nowadays?
Do you like ginger beer? Have you tasted it?
Nowadays, the market town of Kirkbymoorside has a ‘k’ in it, but it was spelt both ways in the past, as shown on the featured ginger beer bottle. Why do you think that is?
Why do you think the writing is slightly smudged on some of the bottles?
What lessons can we learn from products like this as we try to protect the environment? Do you think we should be making more efforts to wash and reuse objects nowadays? Why don’t we?
Vocabulary
Stoneware: the name given to a wide range of pottery which is ‘fired’ or baked at a very high temperature.
Fermenting: a natural process through which microorganisms like yeast and bacteria convert carbohydrates (eg: starch and sugar) into alcohol or acids
In the Classroom
Compare
Compare this bottle with the penny lick ice cream glass on this site. Both items stopped being used because of concerns about hygiene. Would you use either?
Role play
Role play making a telephone call to complain to the manufacturers, explaining your hygiene concerns about one of these products, or act out the scene of complaining in a café.
Associated Objects
