Victorian Whitall Tatum Manganese Glass Co. Acme Nursing Murder Bottle

While many of us already know about uranium glass, there is a lesser known UV reactive glass called manganese glass.  You may find many glass pieces from the 1950s and before containing manganese, particularly clear glass.  But why?  Manganese dioxide was often added to the glass making process to achieve clearer glass.  Iron is a common impurity in the glass making materials causing a greenish tint, the manganese dioxide reacts with the iron causing the greenish hue to turn more pink.  The result is a much more clear glass.  You will also find in large quantity, manganese dioxide will turn glass purple which was another common practice pre-1930s.

Manganese is a little different than uranium glass in that it takes a different wavelength to glow.  Be sure to use a 365nm black light to see the full effect of the manganese in the glass.

Manganese glass, while still available today, became less popular after the 1950s because of the toxicity and health effects. 

The Whithall Tatum Glass Co. was a well known New Jersey based glass manufacturer from 1806-1938.  They primarily made insulators, pharmacy and chemical bottles as well as baby bottles.  This particular bottle was likely made ca 1885.  It has the classic "turtle" shape that was very popular at the time.  These bottles easily laid down flat with a cork bottle top containing a small hole.  A small tube fed through the hole with an attached baby nipple.  

Unfortunately, there was a major design flaw with these bottles.  They were very difficult to clean.  Milk residue often formed on the bottom of the bottle.  The rubber tubbing used and the nipples were porous and would essentially suck up bacteria that formed within the bottle.  This caused major gastro distress for many babies that would quickly lead to dehydration and death.  Luckily advancements in science led to the discovery of germs allowing for safer bottle designs.  Today we refer to these bottles as "murder bottles" to forever remember the sad and unfortunately history of these bottles.