Keeping the Fizz In

How to keep the fizz in fizzy drinks was a major challenge that faced aerated water manufacturers during the 1800s. In 1872 Hiram Codd, a soft drink maker from Camberwell, south east London, invented and patented a bottle design that was to prove extremely successful for well over 30 years.

Known as a codd or marble bottle, his design involved using a glass marble in a specially designed neck. The bottle was filled under pressure and this forced the marble into the neck of the bottle where it became seated against a rubber seal. To open the bottle the marble was pushed back into the bottle. These bottles were expensive to manufacture and had a low survival rate as children would break them to retrieve the marble.

Most towns had, at one time or other, their own aerated water manufacturers. The codd bottle shown here was used by Oscar Albert Mullon, who operated between 1906 and 1917 at Opunake. His distinctive trademark featured “Mt Egmont”.