Renaissance Woman

Ring Seal Beer / Champagne Bottles from False Creek Flats in Vancouver  Champagne is considered one of the most exclusive wines in the world. It is a sparkling wine that comes from the Champagne region of France grown by Champenois  vine growers. The true Champenois growers grow grapes in the Champagne district on expensive land with expensive ground conditioning practices and are sold to Champagne producers.  In 1900, the Victoria Daily Times (July 6, 1900 p.7)  had an add from Pither & Leiser in Victoria – wholesale agents:  Within this ad it clearly shows that Champagnes were doing well in North American prior to weather problems that started in the growing season of 1902. Mumm’s did especially well in 1899: By the beginning of the 20th Century, the cost of being a Champenois grower had made it prohibitive for most growers. The process of making Champagne was also expensive given the long labour-intensive process of producing Champagne, and loss due to ex...

John Lumb & Co Bottles recovered from False Creek Flats in Vancouver. John Lumb & Co. Ltd. of Castleford, Yorkshire, was one of the first companies in England to embrace semi-automatic bottle machine technology. As early as 1904 they had decided to dispense with mould-blown operations and concentrate on their machine line. The Simpson-Bradshaw was in commercial use by 1905 (Turner 1938:254, 256). They started out with 8 machines. By 1907 they had 23 machines, and by 1914 had 38 (Ibid). Turner (1938) does not mention which machine they started with, but it was likely the Simpson-Bradshaw machine , which they developed in house.  By 1915, John Lumb & Co. was being taken over completely by Walker’s Whisky (Johnnie Walker’s) (Morgan 2021:125), possibly ending their beer bottle production (I have no evidence of this, just guessing). Four John Lumb & Co Ld C bottles from False Creek – all semi-automatic machine made. #121 (19.4 cm tall), #122, 123, 124 The Simpson-Bradsha...