Worlds Best Milk Bottle Collection

Steve Wheeler is one man who's got a lotta bottle - after collecting more than 17,500 historic MILK BOTTLES. Madcap Steve, is in a glass of his own after spending more than 30 years scouring farms and scrap yards around the world in his quest for unusual glass pint bottles.
His collection is now so large that it doesn't fit in his home in Malvern, Worcs - forcing him to build an 80ft shed in his back garden to house his collection. Steve, 61, has been collecting the glass bottles since the mid 80s - and his hunt for rarer and more unusual bottles has taken him all over the world.
But amazingly, there's nothing Steve hates more than a nice cold glass of the white stuff. Retired businessman Steve said: "I found my first glass milk bottle on the side of a hill I had climbed in the mid 1980s. "It was an unusual shape and I decided to keep it - and I haven't stopped collecting since then.
"The milk bottles are all completely individual - there's a fascinating history behind each and every one. "They're becoming more important in terms of social history, because everyone just gets their milk in plastic or cardboard containers these days. "When I got to 150 bottles I thought it was getting out of control - but that was nothing compared to what I have now. "I have them all logged on a computer database, so I can access any bottle and know where it is exactly when I want it. "But I really think there's nothing worse than semi-skimmed milk splashed on cornflakes. "Milk is children's stuff - I don't really like it. It's the glass bottle that I love."
Steve was forced to build a separate outbuilding for his bottle collection in the late 1990s - after it grew too big for his two-bedroom bungalow. And he is forced to rope in long-suffering wife Sue when he starts the yearly spring clean. Quirky Steve travels all over the world to collect the bottles - and has just returned from a trip to Australia, returning with new bottle for his collection. He swaps bottles with fellow collectors on online auction sites and at collectors' fayres - and now boasts a collection that weighs more than 14 tonnes.
His massive collection of bottles include dozens dating back from the early 19th century - and one that was made in 1890. Some have pictures, advertisements and even poems inscribed in the glass. A fellow enthusiast recently offered Steve £80,000 for the whole collection - which he flatly turned down. He added: "I'd never sell my collection - it means too much to me. "It's worth a lot of money but I don't even have it insured. If the bottles get broken or stolen, they can't be replaced - and no amount of money could take their place. "The most I've paid for a bottle is £150 for a 19th century glass bottle that I bought from Sydney, Australia. "But I've probably found a few that are worth more than that by rummaging around in old barnyards. "It's not just the bottles I love, it's the finding of them and people I meet when I'm collecting them."
Steve spends his weekends driving the length and breadth of Britain, scouring farm yards and wasteland for bottles. His long-suffering wife, Sue, 61, claims she enjoys the trips - but admits that she stays in the car with a book while her husband is out looking for bottles. Sue said: "I've been to parts of Great Britain I'd never have seen otherwise and met some lovely people going on bottle hunts. "But although I can't say I've grown to love them, I do admire them. "He's always assured me that if it really got too much for me, he would get rid of them but I'd never ask him to do that. He wouldn't be the same man without his collecting. "I don't really like clutter though."
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[@TreasureByMeasure]

That is a very comprehensive collection!! Thank you for sharing

[@vintagemuseum4363]

Hello, you have a fantastic collection. God bless you

[@ronsbeerreviewstools4361]

That is a good collection.

[@toni4729]

Smart arse. "We ain't go any milk"😂

[@mdwadud9471]

Your a legend 👍🏽

[@craigdutton6072]

Best two iv had as just a bottle collector was a ford milk bottle 🍼 with advertising on in in Australia 🇦🇺 and a slightly purple nursery milk bottle from Melbourne aus with a Maltese cross on it 👌I love any purple natural bottles👌

[@richiec9077]

That's interesting I've a good few old milk bottles from various farms local to where I live in Scotland, been collecting them for years

[@reddenjaytv3362]

Very nice collection...

[@MerkabaKid]

Hey Steve, nice collection! I've just stumbled upon an old bottle site near Brighton. I found my first old milk bottle. It's pretty old, wide necked, big lipped with HDHD Holes & Davigdor Hygienic Daries Ltd written on it. Are you interested?

[@isaac7175]

I got a milk ad while watching this

[@jaygonztx]

Might be a dumb question, but if cleaned and sanitized thoroughly - could one of these (or any vintage milk bottle) be used/reused to put milk into?

[@blackburn1223]

Very nice collection. I do have a question though. I have an old milk bottle from Well's Dairy. I did a bit of research and found out that Well's Dairy later became Blue Bunny brand dairy products. Any idea of the potential value for this bit of history?

[@WilliamL1988]

Hi, your collection is so amazing, I absolutely love. So do you have a lot of bottles from the united states? I'm just curious, I live in New Orleans, Louisiana. Do you have any bottles from around here? I collect medicine bottles and lots of other antiques.

[@wolfspiritoutdoors9294]

hi there Steve nice collection. I just started a small collection of milk bottles my self. The ones I have I think there 60s to 90s not sure I only have about 7 of them . I just wondering if you could tell me How To date them properly. thank

[@sh-mufc]

I've got bottles from Mossgiel farm with Robert burns on them from Glasgow if you want one

[@joegruber4g]

I have some vintage milk bottles and need to put them on display. Any suggestions on what to put in them that looks like milk but would remain stable over time?

[@chrisbrown8028]

google "milk bottle fill" ... It's little Styrofoam pellets, looks really good inside them

[@Drpepper7916]

I could tell you where there are lots of old milk bottles that have been dumped since an old dairy closed down many moons ago

[@fredrik2035]

So.. his first milk bottle was found on the brackabricka in brackon luckily it's a bottle from whichchuch in chopcher

[@rosellamafatau810]

I have a bottle that i can not locate pics of for anything searched and searched

[@animhaxx]

Imagine an earthquake

[@Cookiebrooker]

do you have a one pint milk jar with the words Mass T Seal on the bottle and these words One pint liquid under the seal,on the bottom of the bottle it has the letter L and the number 23

[@vintagemuseum4363]

Hello, you have a fantastic collection. God bless you