[Ads-l] 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall - about flies?

[Peter Reitan]

Very nice find. Thank you.
________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Saturday, November 5, 2022 3:39:31 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall - about flies?

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall - about flies?
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Fascinating theory, Peter! Here is a citation in 1924 that strongly
supports the theory that the =E2=80=9CNinety-nine blue bottles=E2=80=9D son=
g was about
fire extinguisher bottles. The singing described in the passage below
occurred at a convention held in Toledo, Ohio in 1903.

Date: November 1924
Periodical: The Painters Magazine and Paint and Wall Paper Dealer
Article title: The Gazing Globe
Article subtitle: Reminiscences of Half a Century of Paint, Painting
and Painters, and Paint Manufacturers Recalled by a Former Editor of
The Painters Magazine
Author: Edward Hurst Brown
Installment number:  Six
Start Page 39, Quote Page 39

https://books.google.com/books?id=3DdqjmAAAAMAAJ&q=3D%22blue+bottles%22#v=
=3Dsnippet&

[Begin excerpt =E2=80=93 double-check for typos]
The Toledo Convention began with the Blue Bottle song, which lasted
for several years and was never concluded. It started on an evening
trolley ride with

"Ninety-nine blue bottles hanging on the wall,
Take one blue bottle down from the wall
Leaves ninety-eight blue bottles hanging on the wall."

They were the fire extinguisher bottles so commonly used in those
days. One was removed with each verse, and the object was to bring the
song to a conclusion by taking down the last blue bottle. Year after
year some were taken down, but so far as I know, the last blue bottle
is still hanging on the wall.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Thu, Nov 3, 2022 at 8:40 PM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> I revisited my 99 bottles research and uncovered one more, perhaps more s=
atisfying possible origin story.
>
> There were glass hand grenade fire extinguishers that were mass-marketed =
starting in late-1883, and into 1884, at about the same time the song, =E2=
=80=9C99 blue bottles hanging on the wall=E2=80=9D appeared in print.
>
> Many of the grenades were made of blue, bluish green or green glass.  The=
 largest manufacturer even trademarked blue or bluish-green as the color of=
 their glass bottles.  The grenades were frequently hung on walls, sometime=
s in great quantities.
>
> I updated my post with information about the =E2=80=9Cblue bottle=E2=80=
=9D grenades hanging on walls.
>
> https://esnpc.blogspot.com/2022/10/blue-bottles-green-bottles-and-flies.h=
tml
>
> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=3D550986> for Wind=
ows
>
> From: Peter Reitan<mailto:pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Friday, October 14, 2022 5:15 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ads-l at listserv.uga.edu>
> Subject: 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall - about flies?
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------=
------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Peter Reitan <pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall - about flies?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
------
>
> I researched the history of 99 bottles of beer on the wall and learned se=
ve=3D
> ral things.
>
> It dates to about the mid 1940s.
>
> There is a well-known British analog called =3D93Ten Green Bottles Hangin=
g on=3D
>  the Wall=3D94 which I had never heard of.  It dates to the late-1920s.
>
> Both British and American troops sang an earlier version of the song duri=
ng=3D
>  WW I, which the Brits may have picked up from the Americans.
>
> There was an earlier American version, usually sung as =3D9399 (or 49) Bl=
ue B=3D
> ottles Hanging on the Wall,=3D94 which appears to have had the same tune =
as t=3D
> he modern British version.   The earlier American version dates to about =
18=3D
> 84.
>
> When I tried to figure out what =3D93blue bottles=3D94 referred to, the o=
ne thi=3D
> ng that seems to have been in common use at the time related to flies =3D=
96 =3D
> =3D93blue bottle flies,=3D94 commonly called simply =3D93blue bottles=3D9=
4 at the t=3D
> ime.  That might explain why the bottles are hanging on the wall, which d=
oe=3D
> sn=3D92t seem to make much sense.
>
> https://esnpc.blogspot.com/2022/10/blue-bottles-green-bottles-and-flies.h=
tm=3D
> l
>
>
> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=3D3D550986> for Wi=
ndow=3D
> s
>
>
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>
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org