The discovery last year of a century-old soda water bottle during an archaeological survey of a rubbish dump left over from the late-19th-century construction of the Tai Tam Tuk Reservoir provides more clues to early Hong Kong life than a long-discarded “empty” might at first suggest.
Aerated or soda water was invented in 1767 by British scientist Joseph Priestley – and almost by accident. A bowl of water suspended over a vat of fermenting beer in the British city of Leeds was found to have absorbed carbon dioxide; abundant fizz was the direct consequence. A method of replicating naturally occurring sparkling mineral water, which the wealthy travelled to spa towns from Harrogate, in Britain, to Baden-Baden, in Germany, to “take” for its reputed health benefits, had been discovered.
Once the process became commercially viable, aerated-water factories sprang up globally, and particularly in tropical Asia, where water contamination was a major problem. Water was distilled first, which rendered it safe to drink, then carbonated; sterile bottling processes ensured that contamination risks were greatly reduced.
Throughout the first half of the 19th century, most aerated waters, along with fortified beers, ginger ales, lemonades and other proprietary drinks, were exported from Britain in stoneware bottles. Less prone to shattering than glass, and able to withstand changing internal pressures as the carbonated drinks were transported from temperate to tropical regions, light-brown stoneware jars, usually patterned with a distinctive two-tone glazing, were manufactured by the million in Britain.
Sturdy and durable, stoneware jars were recycled across tropical Asia for storing fresh water. Even after cheap glass bottles became commonplace for water storage, stoneware jars were prized items in households that produced their own ginger ale, lemonade, barley water and other cordials.
Until recent decades, most long-established households from India to the Philippines, living in everything from mansions to rural peasant dwellings, had a few stoneware bottles standing around somewhere. These gradually transitioned from practical domestic heirlooms to sought-after “heritage” items; good examples fetch attractive prices in antiques shops.
Along with hygiene, taste – or the lack of it – was a factor in the rising popularity in Asia of aerated waters by the early 20th century. Distilling processes rendered fresh water flavourless, an important consideration in tropical places where, despite thorough boiling and drip-filtering through charcoal, sand or limestone filters, drinking water still tasted muddy, chalky, tainted by vegetation or otherwise unpleasant. Distilling also removed minerals, making bacteriologically safe water less healthy to drink over prolonged periods than minimally treated alternatives.
By the 1880s, locally bottled aerated water had become an export item from Hong Kong. Plentiful supplies of potable water, access to the latest industrial techniques and a ready supply of locally manufactured glass bottles meant Hong Kong products became popular elsewhere in East Asia, especially in places – such as pre-war British North Borneo (modern Sabah) – where the urban population was too small to support a bottling industry.
As time went on, aerated-water manufacture branched out into soft-drink bottling, and the industry remains important today. Hong Kong had been a regional sugar-refining centre from the 1860s, when Jardines opened a refinery at Causeway Bay; Sugar Street marks the location of this early production facility. Butterfield & Swire later opened another refinery, at Quarry Bay; Taikoo Sugar remains a well-known local brand. Abundant supplies of white sugar are essential for soft-drink manufacture. Rising living standards in Hong Kong in the post-war era meant that locally bottled Green Spot, or some other popular soft-drink brand, became an affordable, widely enjoyed treat.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51kuqKzwLOgp52jZL2wv9NmpJqfka%2B2r7GOrJ%2BoqqRiv6atw6xmmqqknrCtsY5sZ2lsZm2EcK%2FEp6uuqqlivK2wjKymnZldl7y1wMueZJ%2Bhnpl6s7HCmqOlq12dvK%2BzjKSmp5%2Bj