Capping Really Old Bottles?

Hello,
I am about to bottle some brew and am looking to use really old bottles that I have found in my grandparents basement.

Now, this question is for people who know a little about bottle history.

Can you use a modern day bottle capper on bottles from say, the 50's? Does anyone know when we "switched" to the current design?

I have been trying to do some research myself, Or just like, a generic bottle.
Unfortunately I do not have a camera atm, but I have been comparing the heads, and they seem to be the same diameter, with the modern beer bottles being thinner walled, so the space between the inner walls is larger. The outer lips look similar enough.

Thanks guys!

have you tried capping a dry bottle?

that would only be the most sensible thing to do, but I am going to the store tomorrow to get the capper and caps, and wanted to get started cleaning/soaking (a lot of cleaning) the bottles tonight. Did not want to go through all the trouble of cleaning only to find out that they do not fit. I suppose I COULD wait another day.....

Edit: from my reading it seems that the current "crown cap" has been around since the turn of the last century, but the current 21 toothed version came about in the 30's. Looks like I'm safe either way. Perhaps.

As with most other things, the older ones are probably stronger than the new ones available today.

my capper is about 50 years old and works on modern bottles, FWIW

I have been using bottles from the neighbors' garage. They appear to be from the 60s or 70s, and my capper and caps work just fine.

I have found that I can't cap even some modern bottles with my Red Baron capper, including the green Stella Artois and some brown bottles (unknown brand). The shape of the neck just doesn't work with the capper.

thanks guys, most should end up being cappable!

I have some old bottles that came with their unused caps that had have the old style cork in them. I don't know how old that makes them, but my mother in law thinks they were pre-war. I've used them with no problems.

acefaser said:

have you tried capping a dry bottle?

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put a pair of gloves on and try it??? first try it with the cap, just the capper