George Otto / Ross & Otto
Company Names, addresses, dates1:
Ross & Otto, 6th west cor C North (1864)
J.W. Ross & Otto, B north cor 11th west (1865-1867)
George Otto, 11th w cor B n (1868)
George Otto, Mass Ave near 6th street NE (1877-1879)
George Otto, 618 Mass Ave NE (1881-1886, 1888)
Elizabeth Otto, 618 Mass Ave NE (1887)
Notes:
John W. Ross (b: 1842 in Maryland) and
George Otto (b: 1842 in Bavaria, d: 1883)
started this company as "Ross & Otto".
The 1870 census Listed John Ross as living in the same house with
George Otto. In the 1880 census, they were living in separate
households, although there was a Nicholas Ross in George Otto's
house listed as a son-in-law, so there seems to have been a
marraige between the Ross & Otto families.
The December 9, 1865 Daily National Republican newspaper has an article that
says George Otto shot an African American man. Based on Otto's comments in that
article, it appears he was quite a racist.2
1868 is the first year that the city directory listed the company
name as simply "George Otto".
George Otto and George Bauer invented an improved bottle fastener and
patented it in 1871 (US patent # 116742).
George passed away on April 11, 1883, after which time his wife
Elizabeth Otto took over the company. The company seems to have
kept George Otto's name after he died. The city directories list
the name "George Otto" in 1884, 85, 86, and 88, with the name
"Elizabeth Otto" showing up only in the 1887 directory.
Historical & Commercial Sketches of Washington, compiled by E.E. Barton
in 1884, says that the dimensions of the building were 20 x 40 feet,
and that about 7 hands were employed and 3 wagons used to deliver the
products. It also says that they bottled soda, porter, sarsaparilla,
cider and Capitol ginger ale. 3
I'm not sure if/how George Otto is related to
Henry Otto
, another
DC bottler. The 1880 census lists Henry as the son of Frederick
Otto, however Frederick & family were living in the same house
as George Otto. My guess would be that George was Henry's nephew.
Henry Otto
was a foreman at George Otto's bottling establishment (owned
by Elizabeth Otto at the time), when he left to form his own company4.
Ross & Otto Bottles:
|
book # 611 This is a dark green 7" squat blob top bottle embossed: front: ROSS & OTTO / WASHINGTON / D. C. back: THIS BOTTLE IS / NEVER SOLD |
|
book # 612 These 3 bottles are different colors, but they're all about 7" tall and embossed the same. From left to right, they are dark green, aqua, and blue/aqua. They are embossed: front: ROSS & OTTO / WASHINGTON / D C back: R&O / THIS BOTTLE IS / NEVER SOLD |
|
book # 469 This is an aqua 7.5" blob top bottle embossed: front: GEO. OTTO / WASHINGTON / D.C. back: G O / THIS BOTTLE IS / NEVER SOLD |
|
book # 469 This is similar to the bottle above, except it's shorter (7") and has a different shaped blob top. It is embossed: front: GEO. OTTO / WASHINGTON / D.C. back: G O / THIS BOTTLE IS / NEVER SOLD |
|
book # 469 This is similar to the bottles above, except it's color is an unusual shade of aqua, or maybe even citron. It's a 7" blob top embossed: front: GEO. OTTO / WASHINGTON / D.C. back: G O / THIS BOTTLE IS / NEVER SOLD |
|
book # 471 This is an aqua 6.6" Hutchinson with a cigar-band slugplate, embossed: cigar-band slug plate: GEO. OTTO / WASHINGTON / D.C. base: No 2 I photographed it from an angle to show-off the unusual slug-plate. |
|
book # 472 This is an aqua 6.1" Hutchinson bottle embossed: round slug plate: GEO. OTTO / WASHINGTON / D.C. The word "WASHINGTON" is embossed in a wavy pattern. |
This is a copy of Geoge Otto's Patent
from July 4th, 1871. It's for a bottle stopper.