Molded Glass

• Ancient Phoenicians began creating the first glass bottles around 700 B.C. by wrapping strands of glass around clay molds. Since the finished bottles were full of clay, crafters then had to scrape them clean before use.
  
  

Blown Glass

• By 100 B.C. the Phoenicians had developed glass blowing, a technique using air blown through a metal pipe. Thanks to this new, cheaper technique, glass production became common among the Romans, who shipped their products as far away as China.
  
  

Mass Production

• For thousands of years glass blowing remained the sole method for forming bottles, but in 1904 Michael J. Owens patented the first automatic bottle machine in Toledo, Ohio. His invention made glass far more accessible to bottlers and revolutionized the beer and soft drink industries.