There is very little documented history on the Ginther Bottling Works. Research indicates the business began in 1905, with John C. Ginther and William Ginther both associated with the purchase of another bottling works.

In the July 15, 1905 issue of The American Carbonator and American Bottler, the Michigan City Dispatch reported that “the A. J. Dick Bottling Works in that city have been sold to John C. Ginther, and Mr. Dick will move to Valparaiso, Ind., to take charge of his bottling factory there.”

A later article in the September 15, 1905 issue stated that “William Ginther, who recently purchased the A. J. Dick Bottling Works on East Michigan Street, met with a rather unusual accident last month” when a pop bottle exploded in his hand, severely injuring it and leaving him unable to use it for some time.

The J. C. Ginther Bottling Works appears on the December 1905 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map at 1016 Michigan Street, shown at the bottom of this page.

Because there is no 1906 city directory or Sanborn map available, it can only be estimated that Ginther was in business in 1905 and possibly into 1906.

However, A. J. Dick still appears in the 1907 Michigan City directory as a bottler at 1026 Michigan Street, the next plot to the east of 1016, with no mention of Ginther. This inconsistency makes the history of the Ginther operation difficult to trace with certainty.

It is not known when the Ginther Bottling Works closed, but it does not appear in the 1905 or 1907 Michigan City directories. The bottling business may have been very short-lived, which would help explain why Ginther bottles are rarely found today.

According to U.S. Census and burial records, John Carl Ginther was born on January 5, 1877, in Michigan City. He died on October 2, 1954.