RARE Bottling Antique Moxie 1 Gallon Duraglas Concentrate Jug Labels BOSTON 1930 for Sale

RARE Bottling Antique Moxie 1 Gallon Duraglas Concentrate Jug Labels BOSTON 1930 For Sale

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RARE Bottling Antique Moxie 1 Gallon Duraglas Concentrate Jug Labels BOSTON 1930:
$424.00

This isn’t a bottle that sat on a shelf—it worked for a living. A genuine one-gallon Moxie concentrate jug, straight out of the bottling world, where this exact vessel once held the syrup that became one of America’s oldest soft drinks. With both original labels intact and that unmistakable industrial presence, this is a rare survivor from the back rooms of soda history—not the front counter.

Full Label TranscriptionFront Label

MOXIE
Trade-Mark Reg. U.S. Pat. Office

REGULAR CONCENTRATE
FOR BOTTLING USE ONLY

Contains plant extractives, essential oils,
colored with caramel.

CONTENTS ONE GALLON

THE MOXIE COMPANY
Boston, Massachusetts

Back Label

REGULAR MOXIE CONCENTRATE
For Bottling Use Only

DIRECTIONS
10½ gals. Water
78 lbs. Sugar
1 gal. Concentrate

Makes 17 gals. Syrup
Finished Syrup to be 26.2° Baume

90 cases 7 oz.
or
45 cases 26 oz.

Throw 1 oz. of Syrup to 7 oz. bottle
Throw 4 oz. of Syrup to 26 oz. bottle

Carbonate at 3.8 vols.

Let’s talk about that sugar (because… wow)

78 pounds of sugar.

For one batch.

That’s not a typo—that’s industrial soda math. This jug wasn’t for sipping—it was for production scale. You’re looking at a formula designed to crank out 17 gallons of syrup, enough to fill 90 cases of bottles. Early soda makers didn’t mess around—they built sweetness like they were insulating a house.

Dating (tight and honest)

This lands circa late 1930s to mid-1940s, most likely ~1940–1945.

Here’s why:

“Duraglas” embossing → Owens-Illinois trademark introduced in the mid-1930s
Screw cap finish → standard by late 1930s (earlier would be cork)
Label typography + phrasing (“For Bottling Use Only,” Baume scale usage) fits pre/post-WWII industrial bottling era
Boston address aligns with Moxie Company operations before later corporate transitions

So this is right in that sweet spot: industrial pre-war / WWII-era soda production

What this actually is (and why it’s special)

This is a factory-use concentrate jug, not retail:

Shipped to bottlers, not consumers
Used to mix syrup before carbonation
Usually discarded, reused, or destroyed

Which is why:
👉 Most did not survive
👉 Most never kept their paper labels
👉 Most show heavy wear or staining

This one?

Clean glass
No chips or cracks
Both labels present (huge)
Only light water staining

That’s the difference between “old bottle” and collection-grade industrial survivor

Rarity & desirability

This checks multiple collector boxes:

Early American soda history (Moxie = 1876 roots)
Maine/New England regional cult following
Industrial bottling artifact (harder to find than retail bottles)
Full label survival (big multiplier)

These don’t surface often in this condition. When they do, they tend to disappear quickly into:

soda advertising collections
New England ephemera collections
serious bottle collectors

Little extra flavor

Moxie wasn’t just a soda—it started as a “nerve tonic” in the 1870s, riding the line between medicine and refreshment. By the time this jug was in use, it had evolved into a full-blown soft drink—but still carried that slightly medicinal bite from gentian root.

Which makes that 78 pounds of sugar make even more sense… they were trying to sweet-talk something inherently bitter.

RARE Bottling Antique Moxie 1 Gallon Duraglas Concentrate Jug Labels BOSTON 1930 For Sale

RARE Bottling Antique Moxie 1 Gallon Duraglas Concentrate Jug Labels BOSTON 1930: $424.00

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RARE Bottling Antique Moxie 1 Gallon Duraglas Concentrate Jug Labels BOSTON 1930:
$424.00