Of all the antique bottles, the Codd bottle in my opinion is the most interesting. In 1886, British inventor Hiram J. Codd designed a unique closure for the bottle using a glass ball and a rubber ring. The bottles were filled upside down, and the carbonated liquid would force the glass ball against the rubber ring, creating a closure. To open the bottle, you would simply press down on the glass ball, which would fall into the bottle's signature "chamber" and remain there for the duration of consumption. These nifty bottles are hard to come by since many of them were destroyed by children who broke the bottles to get to the "marble" inside.
I recently found a Japanese store in NYC that sells flavored waters in a contemporary plastic version of the Codd bottle. So maybe the Codd bottle is making a comeback!
Fun Fact: The word "Pop" was derived from the sound the glass ball made when pressed down into the chamber.
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