The History of the Paul Wentworth House through Glass Bottles

The Paul Wentworth house dates from the early 1700s and has a myriad of glass artifacts. A majority of the glass fragments found are flat and relatively thin, characteristics of window glass. While window glass is extremely common the occasional deposits of bottle glass give us great insight into life at the Paul Wentworth house. 

While most bottles remain single shards unable to be pieced together, a few were found that fit. The oldest bottle that I worked on assembling was an olive green casing bottle. Case bottles began to be made in the 16th century to easily and efficiently transport alcohol. This olive bottle has a sharp and large pontil mark dating it to pre 1820. Case bottles were hand blown bottles that tapered outwards with a short and stubby finish. This bottle is significant in the history of the Paul Wentworth house because it shows that the Wentworths had the means to buy imported alcohol.

    Another interesting selection of glass bottle fragments found on the site was a colorless piece that featured embossed lettering. While I was unable to piece all the fragments together, I was able to piece one full side together. The one side reads “FULL MEASURE” this helped me identify it as an extract bottle for baking. The front also has embossed lettering though no full words, using the letters however I suspect that baker and company is spelled out. This bottle would have been from the Bakers Extract Company, a company, that as the name suggests, made flavouring extracts for baking. The company was founded in 1879, so the bottle dates from after then. The bottom of the bottle also features a number 8, though I have yet to find this number useful, I am currently emailing an eBay seller to see if their complete bottle matches my fragments. Another fragment found that has the mark of Putnam on the bottom. When researching I found that this fragment was likely the base of a fruit jar. If the theory of the fruit jar is to be believed then two more fragments of glass found are also a part of this jar or a similar one. Both the bottle and jar are examples of glass containers found in the pantry of late 19th and 20th century homes, this is evidence of cooking in the Wentworth home. 

    The final glass fragment I decided to look like is a single piece with embossed lettering. The only letters on the piece read “POUND” and on the second line “F TAR.” Through diligently searching eBay I suspect the full piece is from a product called Compound Syrup of Tar, this product was used as medicine and used to treat many kinds of coughs. Medicine bottles are some of the most common and distinctive bottles found. They are particularly noticeable because of their embossed lettering and shape; medicine bottles tend to be square or other irregular shapes. 

Works Cited

“Artifact.” Thehenryford.org, 2026, www.thehenryford.org/collections/explore/artifact/257712?AssetId=THF300658. Accessed 25 June 2026.

“Demonstration Case of Baker’s Flavoring Extracts - Baker Extract Company | Springfield Museums.” Pastperfectonline.com, 2026, springfield.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/3C31863A-C5F3-457A-BF02-760398183371. Accessed 25 June 2026.

“Putnam Fruit Jar Aqua Quart Fruit Jar Trade Mark LIGHTNING Putnam Pat Apr 25 82 | EBay.” EBay, 2025, www.ebay.com/itm/185271049296. Accessed 25 June 2026.

Sutton, Mark Q., and Brooke S. Arkush. Archaeological Laboratory Methods. Third edition, Kendall Hunt, 2002.

Woods, Chris. “Case Gin Bottles - Historic Glasshouse.” Antiquebottles-Glass.com, 3 Sept. 2010, www.antiquebottles-glass.com/case-gin-bottles/. Accessed 25 June 2026.