Over the years milk has been packaged in a wide variety of different types of milk bottles. While nearly all of them are collected to some extent, there is one specific sub-niche that attracts the most collector interest and that sub-niche is 1 quart pyro milk bottles with diary, town, and state names on them.

Pyro refers to the method by which colored graphics were applied to the bottles. Pyro bottles are found with various colored graphics, but mostly in red, green, blue, orange, and black. They were made in several sizes and shapes but our focus here will be on a very narrow sub-niche of these bottles.

The only ones you should initially consider will have ALL the following characteristics:

• They must be 1 quart in size
• They must have a round body
• They must be at least 8″ tall
• They must have both a town and state name on them
• They must have a dairy, creamery, or farm name on them
• These town, state, and dairy names must be in colored (pyro) graphics

If even one of these six requirements is not there, don’t even consider the bottle unless you are very knowledgeable about collectible milk bottles.

These bottles were used by literally thousands of dairies across the country making it nearly impossible to catalog all the varieties that exist. Because of this, the value of individual bottles can range from only $10 upward to $500 and more.

Additionally, because of the large variety of bottles made, it’s been impossible for anyone to really do the research to determine values for them all.

Due to this factor, if you’re interested in this sub-niche it’s necessary that you be willing to take somewhat of a shotgun approach that involves some risk and this should be considered before making a final decision. Here’s what I’ve been doing for several years.

I buy any milk bottle that meets the above six requirements if I can buy it for $30 or less. Over the years I’ve found that, on average, for every ten of these bottles I purchase I’ll get the following results:

• Three of them will sell for hefty prices that allow me a profit of $100 to $150 or more each
• Five of them will sell for prices that allow me a profit of $20 to $100 each
• Two of them will sell for prices at which I either break even or loose $10 to $20 each

As you can see, there are times when I loose a small amount of money on some of the bottles I purchase. However, I’m willing to take those losses due to the much larger profits I make on some of the others. In the end, I make money overall.

It’s important to understand that if you are going to take some small losses on some of the bottles you buy if you choose to get involved in this eBay sub-niche. You can reduce your risk by initially setting a limit of $20 rather than $30, but if you aren’t comfortable with a little risk and taking a small loss of some of the bottles you buy, then this is a sub-niche you should avoid.

Here are some general hints when purchasing these bottles:

• Never buy a bottle that has any chips or cracks no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.
• The condition of the pyro design is extremely important - avoid any bottles that have chipped, faded, or scratched pyro.
• These bottles were meant to be returned to the dairy where they were cleaned and reused. After extended use and cleaning some developed numerous small scratches to the glass. You should avoid bottles that exhibit severe scratching.
• Don’t let the fact that a bottle is from a state that is known as a diary state dissuade you from buying it. Many of the bottles from these states are rare and command high prices.
• Bottles with more than one color will usually bring higher prices.
• Bottles with attractive graphics on their reverse side will often bring higher prices. Things such as babies, war related themes, patriotic themes, and herds of cows are some things to look for.

One word of caution. In the last two to three years reproductions of some milk bottles have begun to appear. Fortunately, the vast majority of reproductions are of other types of milk bottles, but there are a few repros of some of this type also. You can find some good information regarding how to identify reproductions here along with some pictures of known reproductions.

If you are interested in learning more about these bottles there are two books currently available that provide some excellent information about how they were made and used along with some basic pricing information. They are “Udderly Beautiful” and “Udderly Splendid” by John Tutton. Both give some rarity and pricing information, but because of the large number of bottles produced they don’t cover even a small fraction of the bottles produced. Both can be found for sale on either eBay, Amazon, or in some antique shops.

Other sources of information are The National Association Of Milk Bottle Collectors and the individual web sites many of their members maintain. If you are going to buy and sell these bottles even semi-seriously the price of annual dues for the Association is well worth the money.

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