Advertising on Milk Bottles

Advertising on Milk Bottles Compiled by Alan Edwards In 1981 an advertising campaign for Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate appeared on Unigate Milk Bottles, this was the beginning of an era which continued through the '80s and on into the '90s. In the year 2000 advertisements still appear on milk bottles, but in a much smaller scale, many of the larger dairies now use very plain embossed bottles. This comprehensive listing of all known Milk Bottles that carried advertising and other slogans totals well over 1,500 examples with subjects ranging from Antiques to the Millennium 2000. In these web pages the memories live on. When you are ready to see the listings, please click on the yellow section at the bottom of this page, in fact to make life a little easier, there are links to the contents lists at the bottom of all pages. Best viewed at 800 x 600
The column listings are explained in the following notes : - It may be a good idea to print these notes for future reference while browsing the listings
First column ADVERTISEMENT Details of wording on bottle, showing as much detail as is possible in the space available. Where lower case lettering is used, it is shown for explanatory notes only. The larger company advertisers, such as Cadbury's, Kelloggs and Nescafe etc' are listed in the order the bottles arrived on the doorstep (To the best of my memory, they were delivered quite a few years ago !)
Second column COLOURS The first and last letter of each colour represents the various shades as seen on the bottles.
BE = BLUE	BK = BLACK	BN = BROWN
CM = CREAM	EL = EGGSHELL	GD = GOLD
GN = GREEN	GY = GREY	MN = MAROON
OE = ORANGE	PE = PURPLE	PK = PINK
RD = RED	TE = TURQUOISE	WE = WHITE
YW = YELLOW	L/BE = LIGHT BLUE	D/BE = DARK BLUE ...etc'
Where two shades of the same colour appear they are shown as follows :- BE.BE. = LIGHT BLUE and DARK BLUE GN.GN. = LIGHT GREEN and DARK GREEN
Where a ? appears = Information not supplied, details required please.
Third column TYPE Denotes the type of Milk Bottle 12 = 12oz "Tall Pint 38mm foil cap" (Where a 40mm cap appears it is shown in lower case lettering as an explanatory note) 15 = 15oz "Tall Pint 44mm foil cap" P = Pintie BP = "Birmingham style" Tall Pint ST = Sterilised Pint Where a ? appears = Information has not been supplied, details required please.
Fourth column DAIRIES Dairies reported to have used Milk Bottles for each entry are shown, and seperated with a "/". Where a ? appears = Information has not been supplied, details required please.
Fifth column AD Y/N Y = The word "ADVERTISEMENT" is printed on the Milk Bottle N = The word "ADVERTISEMENT" is NOT printed on the Milk Bottle Where a ? appears = Information has not been supplied, details required please.
Coward Bros (Donhead) Ltd, Shaftesbury Milk Bottles with Advertisements for HARTS, Sturminster Newton and J.H.ROSE AND SONS, Gillingham. Hambledon Dairy, Marnhull Milk Bottles also carried these two advertisements.