That the Coca-Cola bottle I unearthed Sunday had been buried about a foot beneath the surface of the frontyard for a minimum of a decade was a given, since that’s when Susan bought the house and nothing’s been dug up or buried there since then.
But of course I wanted more specifics as to how old the registered trademark might be, so I consulted The Google and after a couple deadends found myself on the Bobby’s Coca-Cola® On The Web site where I posted a cry for help and provided all the details I could find on the bottle:
Hi Bobby,
I had the pleasant surprise of digging up an intact 8-ounce Coca-Cola bottle this afternoon while working in the front yard of my house. I can say for certain it’s been underground a minimum of 10 years, but there are a couple of factors that make me wonder how old it might be, and so I got on the internet and found your site in hopes you might have some insight.
The glass itself is greener than other bottles I’ve seen and what little was left of the logo’s script was white. Unfortunately it came off when I cleaned the bottle up.
The bottom of the bottle is embossed with “Fresno, Calif.,” and in the center of that it reads “® Bottle Trademark.” In the center of the bottle’s bottom is a logo that looks like and anchor centered over an “H”, and below it is the number 10.
Embossed on the lower bottom of one of its sides is “65-36.”
Any help in solving the mystery will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Will
This morning I found the following response from Bobby:
That’s awesome that you dug a Coke bottle!   The embossed numbers below the waist of the bottle “65-36” indicates that it’s from 1965.  The Coca-Cola script on this bottle was painted, also known as applied color label (ACL) — from your photo, none of the painted label remained. The base plate however is in very good shape!
Thanks for sharing!
Happy Collecting,
Bobby
Point of order: That the bottle is 44 years old isn’t to automatically say it’s been underground that long. Sure there’s a chance its burial occurred the year of its creation, but I’d wager the actual interring could have been a few years later.