A COOL pulltab! (Believe it or not)

[SeaninNH]

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I found a COOL pull tab the other day.

Does anyone know how old this is? I'd have to guess quite old because I've never seen one before.

 

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[chrisplay2004]

Well I know for sure it was not off a cone top can.
1960: last cone top cans filled for rice lake brewing company
1962: (March) Iron City Beer tests first Pop Top (Pull Tab) cans in Virginia
1963: Schlitz starts using pop top cans
1965: Ring top cans appearI really need to date this pop top pull tab before my wife finds out...

 

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[Bigcypresshunter]

.

Although inconclusive, the following patent is the earliest one I have been able to find with what is described as a "Ring-Shaped" tab. I believe this is the first patent to incorperate a "Finger-hole" and that any pull-tabs that followed would have been a variation of this ... including the one in question. (Maybe). Thus, I'm thinking the one in question is 1965ish or later. (Maybe).

The earliest date I can find for when removeable pull-tabs were considered illegal in the U.S. was around 1972. Thus, I'm suggesting a date range for the one in question from about 1965 to 1972.

SBB

"Filed" and possibly first produced in 1965

Ziptabs were used 62-64 but I dont have the patent. As was said, Iron City was the first. You may be correct ziptabs didnt have a finger ring. We could change the title to "All you ever wanted to know about pull tabs, but were afraid to ask."

 

[SeaninNH]

LOL this is by far the MOST work put into researching a pulltab EVER

You guys rock!

 

[SeaninNH]

I really need to date this pop top pull tab before my wife finds out...

I can see the conversation now...

"honey, what are you doing"

"Researching a pull tab"

"What?"

"researching a pull tab"

"No, really, what are you doing?"

"Never mind.. you wouldn't understand"

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Well I know for sure it was not off a cone top can.
1960: last cone top cans filled for rice lake brewing company
1962: (March) Iron City Beer tests first Pop Top (Pull Tab) cans in Virginia
1963: Schlitz starts using pop top cans
1965: Ring top cans appearI really need to date this pop top pull tab before my wife finds out...

I think its 65-66 and was short lived because I dont remember drinking any and so few are excavated. Maybe we could send it to the Smithsonian.

Good work Chris and Bob!

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Big Cy said ...

We could change the title to "All you ever wanted to know about pull tabs, but were afraid to ask."

I say ... That sounds good to me! So I'm not afraid to ask ...

"Has anybody ever seen one of these?"

Neither have I. At least, not yet. It was filed in 2007, but just granted a patent a few months ago in November of 2011. Keep your eyes peeled for them, they might just be the latest craze.

SBB

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

I believe this is the one in question ...

( Which may have been slightly modified prior to production )

Patent Number 3,380,609

Filed April 14, 1966 ~ Approved April 30, 1968



SODABOTTLECAPBOB

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

And as a little bonus, here's the one Big Cy pictured in post #4

Patent Number 3,425,580

Filed Jan 6, 1967 ~ Approved Feb 4, 1969

 

[chrisplay2004]

Wow I think SODABOTTLECAPBO nailed it.
I found this one yesterday and brought it home.
My wife is really going to flip if she finds I am not only trying to date a pull tab but I brought one home...

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

I thought I'd add this last bit of information. Or, if you prefer, just consider it another ...

"afraid to ask" contribution.

The thing with patents is that one inventor often borrows ideas from another inventor, thus resulting in what is often referred to as an "improvement" patent. Apparently this was the case with the bottle cap in question, as follows ...

If you will refer back to Big Cy's post #4 again you will see a patent he posted with a 1962 filing date and a 1964 approval date. And please be reminded the one I posted that matches the cap in question is dated 1966 and 1968. (Which, by the way, was invented by Vinson S. Potts who was an Assignor for the "Crown Cork & Seal Company" which was founded by William Painter in 1892-93. Painter was the very first inventor of the Crown Cap Closure in 1892).

With my point of emphasis being, that the specific type of cap in question, which is a pull-tab type, seems to first appear on July 6, 1961. (See below). The interesting thing about this 1961 patent is that it was invented by three individuals who were associated with "The American Can Company" who was a competitor of "The Crown Cork & Seal Company."

Thus, one inventor "steals" an idea from another inventor and the cycle goes on and on.

Consequently ... The 1961 patent below is the earliest date I have been able to find for anything even remotely related to ...

"A Pull-Off Bottle Cap"

( And it might just be the granddaddy of them all! )

[ Anything to follow this patent would be considered an "improvement/copycat" ]

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Final P.S.

If I ever find a pull-off bottle cap patented earlier than 1961, I will post it here. (And please do the same if anybody else finds one).

Thanks for allowing me to indulge myself. Its what I do best!



SBB

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

chrisplay2004 ~

If you really want to drive your wife crazy, I say bring'em all home! You might just end up as ...

"The King of pull-off bottle caps"

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Lot of good information on this thread. Good work Bob and Chris. We will look back to this thread for future reference and identification of unusual cappers and pulltabs.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

And as a little bonus, here's the one Big Cy pictured in post #4

Patent Number 3,425,580

Filed Jan 6, 1967 ~ Approved Feb 4, 1969

I would say spot on. This picture was in my files but its not mine. It was found by another member (I forget who) but never identified as far as I can recall. If you could search back a few years, you may find it to green check it a rare lift tab closure.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Big Cy ~

I found that other bottle cap thread and posted the patent info on it. Here's the link ...

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,231704.msg1688038/topicseen.html#msg1688038

Bob

 

[chrisplay2004]

I think it's time to have a special section on TN just for pull tabs, bottle caps, zip tabs, ect. Or combine all these into one thread.
MD'ers are the only people besides the people who make them that come across them all the ime.

 

[SeaninNH]

WOW Lots of info and great research. Thanks guys. I think that SODABOTTLEBOB wins the resarch title for this one.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

seaninNH ~

Thanks. But I really wish I were the researcher I'd like to be. Case in point ...

A couple of years ago I was involved in some research regarding the identification of the earliest "Crown Closure" soda bottle, which was on a different website I am a member of. To date that thread has had over 12,000 hits/views. We knew William Painter invented the closure in 1892, but finding an actual example of one of those early bottles became a challenging task. But finally, after several weeks of combined research, another collector posted a crown closure soda bottle with a 1895 date embossed on it. We weren't sure if it was the earliest, so I submitted a picture and information about it to an organization called "The Bottle Research Group" (BRG) for their evaluation. The end result was a confirmation from the organization that the soda bottle pictured below is ...

"The earliest known Crown Closure Bottle"

Murdock & Freeman ~ Portland, Maine ~ 1895

I was acredited with the find, but naturally shared the credit with the other collector.

However ... and this is the part where I wish I were a better researcher. To date we have searched and searched, but have been unable to "confirm" which bottle "cap" was actually the earliest. It would be easy to assume the earliest cap was also a Murdock & Freeman, but since the BRG doesn't allow assumption/speculation, and requires empirical "proof" of an actual example, the search continues for the earliest known "Crown Bottle Cap." Even a Murdock & Freeman cap has never been found and photographed that I know of. The problem with bottle caps is that they are rarely if ever marked with a date. In fact, it is also rare to find a pre 1900 soda bottle marked with a date like the one below. By the way, the bottle pictured below is mine which I purchased on eBay some time ago for $20.00.

SBB

Here's the bottle ~ But where's the cap?

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Pictured here is the earliest crown bottle cap I am aware of. But even it is not confirmed and is only "believed" to be from around 1900 ...

"Moxie" ~ Circa 1898-1900 ?

(Plus a picture of just about every bottle "Moxie" used ~ Includng a few pre-crowns)

[ I have not been able to confirm "exactly" when Moxie introduced their first Crown Closure ]

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

WOW Lots of info and great research. Thanks guys. I think that SODABOTTLEBOB wins the resarch title for this one.

SeaninNH,

If you feel this is solved,

Go back to your original post,

Click on Modify,

Click on Message icon down arrow,

Click on Solved,

The Green Check will appear


Here is a photo tutorial to help you through that process.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,259097.0.html

Thanks