P.J. Ritter Company

07/25/2026

07/24/2026

This plant produced many of the glass containers for Ritters.

The Owens-Illinois Glass Company had plants in Glassboro and Bridgeton. The glass plant in Bridgeton was originally the Cumberland Glass Manufacturing Company and was purchased in 1920 by the Illinois Glass Company. The plant in Bridgeton was given the name Owen-Illinois with the merger of the Illinois Glass Company and the Owens Bottle Company in 1929. Owens-Illinois was a pillar of industry in the community from 1929 until it closed in 1984. At Owens-Illinois, they specialized in the beverage, food, and pharmaceutical industries. During World War II, the factory began to focus on essential packaging of atabrine and sulfa drugs, which were used to treat malaria and secondary bacterial infections. By the 1970s, the Owens-Illinois Company began downsizing their plant operations and the Bridgeton factory was saved from these early steps to downsize. In December 1981, alongside the North Bergen plant, started a recycling program that turned recycled glass bottles into cullet, waste glass that is ready to be remelted to make new glass products. However, by February 1984, the Bridgeton factory closed due to inadequate profits and high operating costs. Another major factory in the downturn of Owens-Illinois was that in surrounding states the sale of returnable glass bottles dramatically fell.

Source:
Watson, Penelope S. “Bridgeton, New Jersey.” Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Accessed July 14, 2026. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/locations/bridgeton-new-jersey/.
Lockhart, Bill, Russ Hoenig, Beau Schriever, Bill Lindsey, and Carol Serr. “Owens-Illinois Glass Co.. Part 1 – History.” Owens-Illinois Glass Co. Part 1 – History. Accessed July 14, 2026. https://secure-sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/OwensIllinois2018Part1.pdf.

07/22/2026

05/20/2026

Ritter Products

02/21/2026