Scored an antique glass carboy today!

So I found someone that was selling a "big old glass jug" online and I went to take a look at it out of curiosity. It ended up being a 5 gallon glass carboy that looks like it might be pretty old and definitely very cool! So I took it for a measley 20 bucks. Anyway, the glass is slightly green and a little bit bubbly all around and on the bottom is has the numbers 95, 1925, and a symbol of an oblong rhombus with a 1 or I or something in the middle of it. Has anyone seen one of these? I'd really like to find out how old it is!

Can you post a pic?

i'll take 1925 ftw.

+1 on the likelihood that it was made in 1925! This is pretty cool...it's like the brewing version of Antiques Roadshow!

I have a very old 10 gallon acid carboy, but i cant ever use it for beer (its HUGE and would look soooo cool bubbling away).

It was used AS an acid carboy, and even if I ever did get the stains and crusties out of it, I dont want to risk it. good luck, lather rinse repeat.

Yeah, I'll certainly clean it, but the woman I bought it from said it had been in her husband's family for a long time and he'd used it to make wine a couple of times. So after a bit of disinfecting I'm confident it'll be fine!

Yeah, I'm really hoping it's from 1925 too. I'll try to snap a couple of pictures tomorrow and post em up!

Do you have the link to the site/page they sold it on if it's still up? Maybe there were a few pics there?

I would like yo get antique demiijohns when I finally get a dedicated brewing area for beer and winemaking. There is something that is so cool about the different colored glass and shapes.

Did a little research and it could be a form of an old demijohn. These things were EXTREMELY popular to have during prohibition for basement winemakers. No doubt that it's from 1925, made in America, and has seen a lot of U.S. history. Won't be worth much (however it IS worth more than you bought it for at least 3x - 5x more), unless it was made in the 1800s or 1700s in either Italy or other parts of Europe, or one of the Asian nations (India, Far East - although anything from there is more likely to be ceramic). You pull one from those periods and we're talking several hundreds to several thousands of $$$. Even more more for Renaissance era European blown glass.

Demijohns these days are encased in plastic "wicker". If I'm imagining your carboy correctly, yours would have had a more traditional wicker encasing around it, and could have even had a handle as well.

I would love to see pictures of it! My guess is that someone in her husband's family decided to make their own alcohol during the middle of the Prohibition era.

Now you got my curiosity up. I got my 5 gallon carboy from an old wine maker over 30 years ago and I'm sure it wasn't close to new then. Can't check for dates cause right now it's fermenting some American wheat.

Dad's got what looks like a 10 gal glass carboy. I have no idea how old it is, but it is the blueish/greenish glass. It has a few inches of pennies in it right now!

All of my carboys are old ones I have picked up at flea markets. Got my 1965 6.5 gallon for free and only paid 10 for a 1919 one. It's green/bluish glass and is larger than 5 gallon but smaller than 6. I Also have a 1928 that came with a nice metal stand that it sits in that can rotate to pour. That one was only 15

Is it thick or thin? I had a pretty old one and it was surprisingly thin. Mine was probably 40 years old... I ended up breaking it

someone in my area was selling a 15 or 30 gallon glass carboy on craigslist for under $50. i wish i had the space for it.

I just bought a bunch of carboys and one of them has no date but has the rhombus and the I you were talking about.

There's nearly no information on the web which is why I'm posting on a 4 year old thread.

The father of the man who I bought them from came to america in 1915 and brewed much wine in Italy and in america. I have no doubt it's old because the others are from 1920s and 30s but theres no date on this particular one, just a 9 and two 7s with the i inside the rhombus.

Would be amazed if you replied, any info would be appreciated.