David J. Jones

The one named craftsman behind the physical molds — every “3 RIVERS ★” mark variation in the collection passed through the mold shop he worked in. He is listed as “David J. Jones, Mould Maker, 1928” and later of Beeville, Texas.

Two attestations, both within the Lindholm marker-research binder lineage: the worker-contact list (“MOULD MAKER 1928”, Beeville address) [ev-0041] and 1973 unveiling coverage naming “David Jones, mold maker, now of Beeville” among the former workers who performed the marker unveiling. [ev-0041] No independent corroboration has been found on the open web to date.

The binder’s dates disagree internally: the worker-contact list says “MOULD MAKER 1928,” but Jones’s own information sheet in the same binder states he was “EMPLOYED in the THREE RIVERS GLASS FACTORY: April 1929 through September 1930. Returned to work there, 1932 through 1934.” Both are within the binder lineage; the self-reported dates are likely the more reliable. Either way, his late-1920s start aligns with the industry tipping-point pattern: after 1925 mechanization, mold repair, lettering-plate, and re-cutting work moved in-house at serious plants.

Jones’s information sheet also preserves two other contributions: he recorded the roster of factory personnel (general manager through mould makers — the list that names R. A. Ellerman as secretary/treasurer and lists Jones himself among four mould makers), and he claimed a specific design credit — he said he designed a Big Chief soda bottle. [ev-0041] That makes Jones the only named individual in the record with a first-person Three Rivers bottle-design claim.

Open Questions

• Independent corroboration is still needed: a Beeville-area obituary, Find a Grave entry, or 1930 census line (Three Rivers, Live Oak County, occupation “mold maker”).

See Also

• R. A. Ellerman — listed as secretary/treasurer in the personnel roster Jones recorded