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Most bottle collectors who are
familiar with the history of James Eves know that he was a bottler of soda
water in Toronto during the 1860s. This is indeed true - at least, it was
true by the second half of 1862 when Mr. Eves set up his business at 7
Ontario Street (near King) in Toronto C.W.
It is from this location that Mr. Eves undoubtedly ordered his first batch
of bottles that are now known as the "1862 Eves" squat soda. The front of
this style of bottle is embossed: J. EVES / SODA WATER / MANR and the back
is embossed: THIS BOTTLE / IS NEVER SOLD / 1862. While there are a number
of variations of this bottle, it is fairly undisputed that they can all be
considered "Toronto bottles". From that point onward, Mr. Eves remained in
Toronto and he was last listed as a confectioner on Yonge Street in 1881.
This is the story most people know and although accurate, it leaves untold
the exploits of Mr. Eves before he arrived in Toronto.
Upon digging deeper, it was discovered that James Eves heralded from
Brighton, England and, if his own advertising can be believed, he
originally established his soda water business in 1845. What is certain,
however, is that James is listed as a grocer in Belleville C.W. in the
1857 Canada Directory. By December of that year, he was advertising soda
water for "wholesale and retail at his factory in Belleville". Then in
July of 1859, James decided to move to Kingston C.W. where he set up
business on Princess Street. From his notice placed in a Kingston
newspaper, we learn that he was not only providing soda water to the
surrounding area but that his wares were also sent by steamboats and
railways in boxes containing 10 dozen bottles each. In early 1862, James
again gets wanderlust; this time leaving Kingston for London C.W. where
his name appears in an April advertisement for "J. Eves & E. Bilton".
Nothing is known of this brief partnership, but it can be assumed that it
failed to meet the expectations of at least one of the partners. James
then moved to Toronto in time to be included in the 1861-62 Business
Directory of the Great Western Railway Gazetteer.
In addition to getting
to know James a little better, this history also suggests that the iron
pontilled versions of James's bottles (the ones without the date embossed
on the back) were not made for his Toronto operations. This is not to say
that James did not bring examples of these bottles with him to use in his
Toronto operations - instead it seems likely that these bottles were
originally made for his business when it was located in Kingston or
Belleville.
The information
contained in this article is an excerpt from the upcoming book on Kingston
Sodas & Ginger Beers by John Goodyer and David Dobing. The book will
provide a historical account of the bottlers as well as photographs and
descriptions of the known Kingston bottles from 1850 to 1920.
Contact
John Goodyer
416 237-1942 613 377-6475
Dave Dobing
613 376-6144 |
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