Owens Illinois

Most glass collectors have most likely heard of Owens-Illinois, Inc.  In 2005, the company changed its trade name to O-I.  About a half of every glass container in the world is made by either O-I, its affiliates, or its licensees.

The company has a rich and fascinating history.  It was founded in 1903 by Michael J. Owens, inventor of the machine which automated the process of bottle-making.  The machine revolutionized the glass making industry, being the most significant advancement in over 2,000 years.  Michael J. Owens was a visionary who formed the Owens Bottle-Machine Company and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2007.

The Owens Bottle-Machine Company merged with the Illinois Glass Company in 1929.  The result was called the Owens-Illinois Glass Company.  The legal corporate name was changed to Owens-Illinois  Inc., when the company began doing more than just glass, such as manufacturing plastics.

Owens-Illinois changed its trade name in 2005 to O-I.  This was done to make the company more of a global company since O-I can easily be understood by anyone in any country.

The year 2005 was also important to O-I because that is when it opened the world’s most modern facility to manufacture glass in Windsor, Colorado.  Before then, there had been no new glass container manufacturers in North America for 25 years.

The trademark of O-I is the letter “I” inside the letter “O” superimposed on a drawn out diamond.  This is sometimes referred to as the diamond IO mark.  To the left of the mark you can find a one- or two-digit number which identifies the plant that manufactured the bottle.  You can find the date the glass item was produced by looking to the left of the mark, where you can find a one- or two-digit date code.  When you see a bottle marked like that, it most likely dates to the 1930s.

In the 1940s, the marking changes so the date was to the right of the diamond with a period after it.  The period is apparently meant to represent the 40s.

Today O-I produces glass containers in a variety of shapes in sizes for food, beer, wine, spirits, and other non-alcoholic beverages.  Their North American publication LookingGlass includes news about glass manufacturing, industry trends, and other information.  Like its founder Michael J. Owens, O-I is a visionary company constantly seeking new and better ways of improving its products.