While bottle diving, Sean often stumbles across oddly shaped glass bottles, this one was stamped with the name Evangeline. This bottle came from Governors Lake in Timberlea. Digging a little deeper, he learned they came from Evangeline Beverages, a regional company with bottling plants in Halifax, Moncton, and Bridgewater. The company produced its own sodas—ginger ale, club soda, and orange—alongside well-known international drinks like 7-Up.
The Evangeline name traces back to Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem about the Acadian Expulsion, a story deeply woven into Nova Scotia’s history. Historical images preserved in the Nova Scotia Archives reveal a busy bottling operation and offer a snapshot of everyday work and industry in wartime Halifax.
Photographs preserved in the Nova Scotia Archives reveal the inner workings of Evangeline’s busy bottling plant, offering a window into local industry and everyday routines in Halifax during the wartime years. Bottles like this were once common household items—refilled, reused, and passed along until they were finally thrown away.
At the time, Nova Scotia and the wider Maritimes were home to numerous small, independent bottling operations, long before large national brands came to dominate the beverage market.
Glass bottles like this were once ordinary objects—washed, reused, passed from hand to hand, and eventually thrown away. At the time, Nova Scotia and the wider Maritimes were home to many small, independent bottlers, long before large national brands came to dominate the shelves.
Operating out of Robie Street in Halifax, Evangeline Beverages bottled its own line of soft drinks as well as international brands such as 7-Up. The exact date when Evangeline Beverages ceased production remains unclear. A brief review of listings aimed at bottle collectors on eBay shows these bottles typically offered for sale ranging from $19.99 to $30.00.
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