A Barrel of Fun

A Barrel of Hutchinson History?

Like it? It’s really a big (and empty) load of old bottle caps

By Ralph Finch

Offered recently by the A-OK Auction Gallery of Abingdon, Va., was Lot 0108, a 7-Up Wooden Bottle Cap Barrel described (edited) as “Manufactured By W.H. Hutchinson & Son, Chicago, Barrel Holds 100 Gross Bottle Caps, Hand Painted 7-Up Logo For John G. Epping Bottle Co.,” in good condition and 23 1/2 inches tall.”

It required a starting bid of $10, plus a buyer’s premium of 13 to 20 percent, although the auction house estimated its value at $600-$800. Other similar barrels have been known, but rarely (if ever) in such good condition.

Interesting. For those of you who haven’t had a math class since 1907, a “gross,” as explained by Wikipedia, means “a group of 144 items (a dozen dozen or a square dozen, 122). A great gross refers to a group of 1,728 items (a dozen gross or a cubic dozen, 123). A small gross or a great hundred refers to a group of 120 items.” 100 gross is 14,400 bottle caps. Now, don’t you feel smarter? My little brain is completely exhausted.

My question is: Years ago I knew many collectors of Hutchinson items — remember the great Bob (and Barbara) Harms of Chicago? Bob was president of the 1st Chicago Bottle Club back in 1986. Are there Hutchinson collectors still out there? Email me at rfinch@twmi. rr.com and let me know.

The A-OK barrel sold for $577 plus $42 shipping. Wow! To me! What luck. This barrel of bottle caps had been on my bucket list for, well, a few days anyway.

However, once I received the barrel I realized that with all our other wooden boxes — for ketchup, and even one for old toilet paper — that there is no more room at the Finch inn, and decided to have John Pastor put this into one of his upcoming American Glass Gallery auctions. NOPE! We changed our minds (see the photo of our cluttered dining room next page). Editor’s note 1: The internet states: ‘’In 1927, the John G. Epping Bottling Works of Louisville acquired the NuGrape Bottling Co. of Lexington, bottlers of NuGrape and Orange Crush. Their plant was located at 210 Clark St., with Hilary Bell the General Manager.” Also: “7 Up was created by Charles Leiper Grigg, who launched his St. Louis-based company, the Howdy Corp., in 1920. Grigg came up with the formula for a lemon-lime soft drink in 1929.”

Noted Peachwood Glass: “Charles G. Hutchinson, the son of William H. Hutchinson, a long-time Chicago soda bottler and equipment manufacturer, patented his ‘Hutchinson’s Patent Spring Stopper’ April 8, 1879. This stopper gained widespread popularity with bottlers and consumers, rendering other closures obsolete, and revolutionizing the soda bottling industry. Several factors combined to prompt bottlers to shift to crown seal bottling equipment by World War I.”

LEFT: Barrel Bottom – 100 Gross Bottle Caps on the wall, 99 gross bottle caps on the wall, sounds like a great song, and a great Hutchinson go-with. On the barrel’s bottom is: “Manufactured By W.H. Hutchinson & Son, Chicago, Barrel Hold 100 Gross Bottle Caps, Hand Painted 7-Up Logo For John G. Epping Bottle Co.” Editor’s note 2: A-OK auction claims that “diversity is the key in this business. We’ve sold everything from $2 antiques to helicopters!” It is the kind of smalltown auction house that sells items from $10,000 down to a dollar. It’s a place where you never know what is coming up next. Win a lot and put it carefully in your car and drive it to a museum, or throw it into the back of your pickup and haul it to the nearest dump.

Editor’s note 3: Abingdon’s population was 8,191 at the 2010 census. The region was long the territory of varying cultures of indigenous peoples, including the Chisca and Xualae. From the late 17th century, it was occupied by the Cherokee Nation, whose territory extended from the borders of Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky through the spine of North Carolina and later into Georgia.

In 1760, famed frontiersman Daniel Boone named the area Wolf Hills, after his dogs were attacked by a pack of wolves during a hunting expedition. The site of the attack is on “Courthouse Hill.” In the 21st century, the town sponsored a public art event, in which artists created 27 wolf sculptures.

The town also is noted for “The Barter Theatre, designated as the ‘State Theatre of Virginia’ in 1946 and is one of the longest running professional regional theatres in the nation. In 1940, Gregory Peck, before becoming a major star, worked in exchange for food and performed at the Barter Theatre.”

Editor’s note 4: After a few weeks in the Finch Funhouse, we fell in love with the barrel. Janet rearranged the furniture and found room for it. We ordered a round piece of glass and made a table of it.

MIDDLE: The John G. Epping building. BOTTOM LEFT: An Epping soda bottle. BOTTOM RIGHT: The Finches’ dining room with barrel. Watch your step. The painting is the first piece of art I purchased 55 years ago, showing my favorite city. (No, it’s not Toledo.)

CANCELLED