Shapes of (ceramic) beer bottle caps

Shapes of (ceramic) bottle caps:

During the last century there were used manny different types of beer bottle caps. This site gives a short overview of these bottle stoppers.

Manny countries had their preferred types of bottle caps at a given time. So the shape of an unknown bottle cap can already tell a lot about the country of origin and also about the approximate age of that specific cap. Besides this different types of bottle caps were also an important factor in the economic development of the brewing industry. Hence there were filed many patents on bottle caps and these patents are interesting historic documents telling us even more about the history of these bottle stoppers, who invented them and which company manufactured these stoppers.

For some of the bottle caps depicted I obtained the corresponding patents. Links to pdf-documents of these patents are provided below the picture of the corresponding stopper.

In case you know further patent numbers, which for example often are printed at the bottom or at the side of these bottle stoppers, I would be very much interested in hearing from you. Please let me know the patent numbers you identified on some of the stoppers in your collection. Also pictures of the stoppers would be very much appreciated. You can easily contact me using this Form.

DE, NL, AT, CH,FR
Porcelain & Plastic

DE, NL, FR, CH, AT, Europe
Porcelain or plastic

DE, NL, FR, CH, AT, Europe

Until cir. 1945 ?
Very rare: FR

Until cir. 1970 ?

Very rare: DE
square-shaped stopper

Porcelain
Pat.:

Rare: RU, UA, BY, LT, TR
Very rare: DE

Until cir. 1920
Very rare: US
Landenberger type

Very common: USA
Rare: South Africa

Until cir. 1920

Common: USA

Dreyfuss type, Porcelain
Pat.: US547878

Dreyfuss variant,
Porcelain
Patent:

Still used today,
2 or 3 liter Magnum (compared to normal stopper)

Common: DE, NL
Porcelain or plastic

Still used today

Common: DE, AT

Syphon, Porcelain
Pat.: ?

Still in use today
Rare: DE
Syphon, plastic
Pat.:?

Until cir. 1970
Common: DK, SE, FI
"lät ol", Porcelain

Kannenbier-Verschuss, vor 1945, Deuschland

Until cir. 1910
Rare: DE; GB, RU
"Kannenbier-Versand"
Earthenware & Metal
Pat.: DRP1895-88333

Until cir. 1970
Very rare: DE

Common: DK, FI, Europe

Rare: DE, PL
Porcelain

Until cir. 1920
Very rare for breweries: DE, PL

Until cir. ?
Very rare: DE
Glass
Pat.: ?

Until cir. ?
Very rare: DE
Porcelaine
Pat.: DRGM89288
E.R. Schmidt, Leipzig

Very rare: DE
Threaded cork

Very rare for breweries:
USA

Until cir.

Rare: DE

Threaded cork
Porcelain & Cork

Pat.: ?

Until cir. ???

Rare: DE
Porcelain
Pat.: ?

Until cir. ???

Very rare: USA
"Slip Seal" Closure

Metal & Rubber
Pat.: ?

Lightning-type of old bottle stopper from the US

Until cir. 1910

Rare: USA

"Lightning" type,

Metal & Rubber
Pat.: US158406

Common: GB, ZA, AU
Rare: DE, BE, USA

Very common: world-wide

Shapes of (ceramic) bottle caps: During the last century there were used manny different types of beer bottle caps. This site gives a short overview of these bottle stoppers. Manny countries had their preferred types of bottle caps at a given time. So the shape of an unknown bottle cap can already tell a lot about the country of origin and also about the approximate age of that specific cap. Besides this different types of bottle caps were also an important factor in the economic development of the brewing industry. Hence there were filed many patents on bottle caps and these patents are interesting historic documents telling us even more about the history of these bottle stoppers, who invented them and which company manufactured these stoppers. For some of the bottle caps depicted I obtained the corresponding patents. Links to pdf-documents of these patents are provided below the picture of the corresponding stopper. In case you know further patent numbers, which for example often are printed at the bottom or at the side of these bottle stoppers, I would be very much interested in hearing from you. Please let me know the patent numbers you identified on some of the stoppers in your collection. Also pictures of the stoppers would be very much appreciated. You can easily contact me using this Form.
Still in use today DE, NL, AT, CH,FR Porcelain & Plastic Pat.: EP1094010	Still in use today DE, NL, FR, CH, AT, Europe Porcelain or plastic Pat.: ?	Still in use today DE, NL, FR, CH, AT, Europe Porcelain or plastic Pat.: ?	Until cir. 1945 Common: DE, PL, Europe Porcelain Pat.: ?	Until cir. 1920 Rare: DE Porcelain Pat.: ?
Until cir. 1945 Common: DE, BE, FR Porcelain Pat.: ?	Until cir. 1945 Rare: GB, Common: AU, DE, PL Porcelain Pat.: GB1906-7172	Until cir. ? Rare: FR Porcelain Pat.: ?	Until cir. 1945? Very rare: DE Porcelain Pat.: ?	Until cir. 1945 ? Very rare: FR Porcelain Pat.: ?
Until cir. ? Rare: DE, FR Porcelain Pat.: ?	Until cir. 1945 Rare: DE, FR Porcelain Pat.: ?	Until cir. ? Very rare: DE Porcelain Pat.: ?	Until cir. ? Very rare: DE Porcelain Pat.: ?	Until cir. ? Very rare: DE; ZA Porcelain Pat.: ?
Until cir. 1970 ? Very rare: DE square-shaped stopper Porcelain Pat.:	Until cir. 1940 Rare: RU, UA, BY, LT, TR Very rare: DE Porcelain Pat.: RU11322 DRGM73835 FR389693	Until cir. ? Very rare: DE Glass Pat.: ?	Until cir. 1920 Very rare: US Landenberger type Glass Pat.: US665689	Until cir. 1900 Very rare: DE, FR Porcelain Sping mechanism Pat.: FR349229 FR349535 GB1904 13526
Until cir. 1920 Very common: USA Rare: South Africa Hutter type Porcelain Patent: US491113 GB1892-14801 GB1875-4438	Until cir. 1920 Common: USA Dreyfuss type, Porcelain Pat.: US547878	Until cir. 1920 Common: USA Dreyfuss variant, Porcelain Patent:	Until cir. 1920 Very rare: USA Dreyfuss variant, Porcelain Patent:	Until cir. 1920 Rare: USA Globe type Porcelain Pat.: US725505 US821456
Still used today, 2 or 3 liter Magnum (compared to normal stopper) Common: DE, NL Porcelain or plastic Pat. ?	Still used today Common: DE, AT Syphon, Porcelain Pat.: ?	Still in use today Rare: DE Syphon, plastic Pat.:?	Until cir. 1970 Common: DK, SE, FI "lät ol", Porcelain Pat.: DE896016 SE81344	Until cir. 1910 Rare: DE; GB, RU "Kannenbier-Versand" Earthenware & Metal Pat.: DRP1895-88333
Until cir. 1970 Very rare: DE Common: DK, FI, Europe Porcelain Pat.: DRP58602 DRP59915	Until cir. 1920 Rare: DE, PL Porcelain Patent: DRP58602 DRP59915	Until cir. 1920 Very rare for breweries: DE, PL Porcelain Pat.: DRP79821	Until cir. 1920 Very rare for breweries: DE, PL Porcelain Pat.: ?	Until cir. 1900 Very rare: DE, PL Grauel type Metal & Porcelain Pat.: DRP1685 US217425
	Until cir. ? Very rare: DE Glass Pat.: ?	Until cir. ? Very rare: DE Porcelaine Pat.: DRGM89288 E.R. Schmidt, Leipzig	Until cir. ? Very rare: DE Threaded cork Porcelain & Cork Pat.: ?	Until cir. ? Very rare: DE Closure with valve, Metal & Porcelain Pat.: ?
	Still used today Very rare: DE Plastic Pat.: ?	Still used today Very rare: FR Plastic Pat.: ?	Until cir. 1960 ? Rare: FR Plastic, various colors, embossed Pat.: ?	Until cir. 1960 ? Very rare: DE, PL Plastic Pat.: ?
Until cir. 1920 Very rare for breweries: USA Porcelain & Cork Pat.: ?	Until cir. ? Very rare for breweries: DE, PL Porcelain & Cork Pat.: ?	Until cir. Rare: DE Threaded cork Porcelain & Cork Pat.: ?	Until cir. ??? Rare: DE Porcelain Pat.: ?
Until cir. ??? Very rare: USA "Slip Seal" Closure Metal & Rubber Pat.: ?	Until cir. ??? Very rare: USA Root Beer Metal & Leather Pat.: ?	Until cir. ??? Rare: USA, GB Hutchinson type Metal GB1883-1770 Until cir. 1945 ? Common: FR,DE,PL Porcelain Pat.: FR245687	Until cir. 1910 Rare: USA "Lightning" type, Metal & Rubber Pat.: US158406	Until cir. ??? Rare: USA Root Beer, rare Metal & Rubber Pat.: US624363
Until cir. 1960 Common: GB, ZA, AU Rare: DE, BE, USA Vulcanite Pat.: GB ? US230605 ? US589505 ?	Until cir. 1960 Common: GB Vulcanite Pat.: ?	Until cir. 1960 Rare: GB Vulcanite Pat.: GB12942	Until cir. ??? Rare: GB Wood Pat.: GB ??? US230605 ?	Until cir. 18xx Rare: GB Earthenware Pat.: ?
Until cir. 1960 Common: GB Vulcanite Pat.: GB1924-213852	Until cir. 1960 Common: GB Very rare: BE, ZA, ZM Riley form, Vulcanite Pat.: GB1885-8198	Until cir. 1960 Rare: GB Vulcanite Pat.: GB12942	Until cir. ??? Rare: GB Riley-Form, wood Pat.: GB1885-8198	Until cir. 18?? Rare: Scotland Earthenware Pat.: ?
Still used today Very common: world-wide Crown Cork: Painter Pat.: US468258 DRP68350	FR370178 FR516241 DRP9962 Still used today Common: USA Twist-off Crown Cork Pat. from 1988: US4782969	Until cir. 1910 Common: Europe, USA Cork Likely no Patent	Still used today Common: BE Cork & Wire Likely no Patent	Until cir. ? Rare: USA "Kork and Seal" Pat.: US1130783
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