Cataloguing the BT 51 and BT 50 registered designs

Dan Rylands and the screw-top bottle design

Between 17 February and 1 March 1886, Dan Rylands of the Hope Glass Works in Barnsley registered three designs, all variants on the mouths (tops) of glass bottles. While these designs seem simple, they provide fascinating insight into a family business that created something many of us take for granted today: the screw-top bottle.

The first in this series of design registrations by Rylands is a bottle with ‘three external circular projecting rings around the mouth’, the second is one with ‘two external circular projections’, and the last with ‘[one] external circular projection’. I have transcribed each of their entries in the Design Registers, as seen below:

Dan Rylands’ designs from 1886

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During this period, designs were registered in classes, according to the material objects they were to be applied to. All three designs were registered by Dan Rylands in Class 4: ‘Articles composed wholly or chiefly of glass, earthenware or porcelain, bricks, tiles or cement.’

The changes between these three designs reflect Rylands’ career in 1886. By this time, he was in sole control of the company started by his father, Ben Rylands, and seemed eager to make an impact. Rylands’ extensive work to develop the innovative screw-top bottle is reflected in our records of registered designs, as shown above.

In addition to these design registrations Rylands also applied for patents, which protect how a product works, rather than how it looks. Clearly, he wanted to protect his invention and recognised its potential. Thanks to Rylands’ work, the screw-top bottle is still a part of our everyday lives today. 

Before the bottle top: Rylands and Codd

Rylands’ business practices appear to have caused frequent dramas throughout his working life.

In taking control of his father’s glass-making business, he also took over Ben Rylands’ partnership with Hiram Codd, inventor of the Codd-neck bottle. Created in 1872, it was the most popular method of containing carbonated drinks for over half a century. It worked by containing a small marble or ‘globe’ just below the neck, held in place by the pressure from the liquid. The National Archives holds several designs registered by Codd (Catalogue references include BT 45/28/5622, BT 45/28/5749 and BT 45/28/5665). Ben and Hiram began collaborating in 1873, and by 1877 Codd owned 20% of Rylands’ business, then named Rylands & Codd.

After his father’s death in 1881, Rylands took control of his father’s share of the company. To do this, he had to pay to keep his father’s partnership with Codd due to the legislation regulating inheritance and partnerships at the time. This marked the beginning of a strained business relationship and conflicts over intellectual property. For instance, Rylands once filed an improvement on a shared patent without Codd’s approval. On another occasion, Codd took Rylands to court over his use of a tool Codd invented. Ultimately, Rylands and Codd ended their partnership in 1884. This gave Rylands the freedom to develop his own bottle designs.

Rylands’ independence

By 1888, after Codd’s death, only Rylands’ name was attached to the company, which he renamed to Rylands Glass Works. Codd’s death also meant Rylands controlled the exclusive rights to various patents. This included the British patent for the screw-top bottle.

In 1889, he filed for a further patent, an ‘Improved means of forming and closing the mouths of bottles or jars’, which refined earlier patented bottle mouth designs. This became the method that allowed the screw-top bottle to be put into mass production.

When it was first mass-produced, Rylands’ screw-top bottle seemed like a unfinished invention. For instance, one of its intended uses was on wine bottles, noted in the patent specification (now found at the British Library). This failed due to a reaction between the acidic wine and the lid. It did, however, work for storing whisky, which was also listed as an intended use on the patent.

A downward turn

Unfortunately, Rylands’ business and personal life suffered over time. He lost money from bad investments, and a fire in his factory severely impacted production output, and with it, his personal wealth. In 1893 he was declared bankrupt, which seemed to greatly affect his mental health. The same year, he survived a suicide attempt and then spent a short period in a mental health facility. After these events, he moved to live with his sister in Battersea, stepping down as head of the company.

Rylands’ legacy through design registration

While Rylands’ early retirement could have limited our memory of his career, The National Archives’ records highlight the significance of his work. The designs he registered in 1886 demonstrate research and development at an important turning point in his business.

His registrations were interesting in particular because of the number of them filed within just a few months of each other, almost identical in appearance and description but each featuring minor tweaks. To me, this is indicative of the often forgotten labour behind the final product, and the dedication to the process necessary for inventing.

Memorandum of Association

of

DAN RYLANDS, LIMITED

1. The name of the COMPANY is DAN RYLANDS, LIMITED.
2. The Registered Office of the Company will be situate in England.
3. The objects for which the Company is established are: -

(I.) To acquire the lands, works, wharves, railways, plant, stock-in-trade book debts, patent rights and goodwill of the business and undertaking carried on by Dan Rylands, at Stairfoot, near Barnsley, at Wombwell, near Barnsley, and at Blake Street, Manchester, of a Bottle, Box, Wire-twisting, and Mineral Water Machinery Manufacturer, and to undertake all the engagements made in connection therewith, and with a view thereto to enter into the agreements mentioned in Clause 3 of the Company’s Articles of Association, and to carry the same into effect with or without modification.

(II.) To carry on the business of Bottle, Box, Twisted-Wire, and Mineral Water Machinery Manufacturers, machinists, smiths, carriers by land or water, and any other business which can conveniently be carried on by the Company in connection with the same in England or elsewhere.

(III.) To purchase or otherwise acquire the right to use any patents which the Directors may deem advisable or necessary for the carrying on of the businesses, and to grant licenses for the use of the said patents or any of them, and to assign or otherwise dispose of the same.

Along with Rylands’ registered bottle neck designs, there is so much to learn about modern everyday items from registered design records. Rylands’ designs, and others, have left me wondering: how many other stories are waiting to be found within these records?