The sad thing is though , they are very short lived once they are exposed to the air and one single wipe destroys the label in an instant and ends up being a colourful smudge and gone forever . We have tried all sorts to preserve them , leaving them in the heat of the sun to dry off and even spray glue which just about disintegrates them , nothing appears to keep them intact not even the warmth of a summers day . It is a shame really as they are quite nice and all original but once the fresh air gets to them then its all over and they are gone in an instant .
The saving grace tends to be bottles that have survived the test of time in dry conditions , away from the elements and over the years I have not been able to resist temptation while scouring the flea markets and car boots , any little bottle with its detailed label catches my eye and they can be picked up relatively cheap . There are other options and labels can be re reprinted and aged to look old but personally that isnt for me although others are quite happy to do this but I much prefer to find a bottle with the original label intact .
Labelled bottles are also a good reference source if you wish to date them just going by the telephone numbers and how many digits although this isnt a sure fire way of being exact but gives you a rough idea . the next option is the address and sometimes the proprietors name and with some archive research you can usually find the dates from when they were in business and for how long .
Despite the World at War , the competition and many others no doubt took place , to give a sense of normality to an otherwise dire situation far greater than anyone could possibly imagine
The winning prize was a staggering £25 a lot of money back in those days with 2nd at £15 , third at £10 and fourth £5 and eleven runners up with a consolation prize of £1 one of whom of the eleven was Mr Andrew .H. Paton .
but i make it with hot milk, absolutely lovely and beats any other coffees...... 
