Bottler: David Smith with part of his collection ahead of this weekend’s show. Picture: Tommy Ritchie 55128
Andrew Mathieson
FOR Geelong’s most-avid bottle collectors, history is as clear as glass.
Geelong Bottles and Collectables Club president David Smith is just one who can see right through to their value.
“I was intrigued by them,” David said of discovering his passion for antique glass vessels.
“They were made in an era when glass-making was an art, so the object itself was desirable. Some of the early jars were works of art; beautiful chunks of glass.”
The club will display some of its finest bottles and collectables at Geelong Showgrounds on Saturday. As well as bottles dating back to the 1850s, the show will also feature collectables ranging from classic Matchbox toys through to antique rabbit traps.
David said club members regarded themselves as “caretakers of history”.
But like most artefacts, bottles were becoming harder to find, he lamented.
The days of fossicking rubbish tips or even digging up grandpa’s backyard for a rare find had nearly gone the way of, well, glass bottles themselves.
“All the bottles that were easily dug up are gone,” David lamented.
“There are more collectors but only the same amount of old bottles.”
