The TA Snider Preserve Company

I was out digging a while back, and to my surprise I pulled out 3 bottles with original labeling! Even better, it was still legible to an extent! This is an exciting moment for diggers. Below are the 3 bottles. Side note: I would also like to thank my mother for bearing with me as I bring home dirty bottles and refuse to clean them because they are labeled.


Depending on where the bottle was buried, decomposition must have been slowed for some reason. I dug it underneath a metal sign, so I'm guessing the metal protected the bottle's label from decomposing over the years. The decomposition process is very interesting to me, and is something I will definitely look into one day.

The Research/Identification Process
I've been digging 20s-30s dumps for over a year now and I have spent some time studying old glass catalogues, so I would consider myself pretty experienced when it comes to identifying shapes of bottles from this era. I know for sure that this bottle was a ketchup, also known as "catsup", and dates late 20s early 30s. Below is a screenshot of a 1933 Owens-Illinois Bottle Company catalogue depicting a round unembossed ketchup bottle. Note how it was labelled as "Catsup", rather than ketchup.


The hard part about this search was figuring out what company produced this bottle. The base is not embossed, so I didn't have any hints there. I had to rely on what was remaining of the label.

"N, I, D, and E" were visible.

The ingredients were listed here.

Something about preservatives was listed here.
I guessed that the label was advertising how the company omitted preservatives from their ketchup.

I definitely had enough evidence to find the original bottle. Now, all I had to do was search.
I searched different keywords until the search "Nide Catsup antique bottle" resulted in an advertisement for "Sniders Catsup". Below is the advertisement.

I think I had a match! The company was correct, but the labeling of the bottle didn't completely match up. I did some more research and found 2 exact ads.



This bottle was produced by the TA Snider Preserve Company.

The TA Snider Preserve Company
In 1879, 2 men, Thomas A Snider and Robert T Skinner formed a canning business based in Cincinnati, Ohio. According the the book Pure Ketchup, their tomato ketchup recipe was derived from Thomas's wife's tomato recipes, a woman well known for her excellent preserved food.
TA Snider Preserve company was later formed after Skinner and Snider dissolved the canning business. The TA Snider company was known for their use of all natural ingredients. The company often advertised the fact that the brand lacked preservatives to appeal to consumers who were looking for a healthier ketchup. TA Snider also sold canned tomato soup as well as canned beans, relish, and oyster sauce. His products were distributed around the United States and Canada. TA Snider was one of the most popular tomato ketchup brands in the United States.




Other Pictures
An old advertising crate

Vintage advertising postcard

TA Snider Co Canning Jar

Ad for Pork and Beans


That's it on the TA Snider Preserve Company! Thanks for reading! If you know anyone who would be interested in my blog, please send them a link, I'm trying to expand.