Sometimes a buried treasure can be more than gold or silver locked away in a wooden pirate's chest. For two McKees Rocks brothers, it came in the form of glass bottles.

Last summer, when Tom Radoycis and Nick Radoycis Jr., were replacing a front porch at the former's residence on Munson Avenue, they uncovered a dozen old bottles, some lying under the porch, and the rest buried about 9 to 15 inches below the surface.

As they carefully brushed away the dirt, they found the bottles revealed a unique glimpse into life in McKees Rocks in the early 20th century.

Among the containers salvaged were ones from First National Bottling Co. and Ondek Brewing, both former McKees Rocks' businesses. There were also bottles from the West Park Dairy in Stowe , Fisher's Bottling Co. in Pittsburgh and the May Drug Co., also in Pittsburgh. There was one in particular, though, that caught their attention -- a translucent bottle with raised lettering that read, "A Repack Bottling Works."

The bottle seemed older than the rest, and the color and raised lettering made it stand out.

The brothers showed the bottles to a mutual friend, Sandy Saban, who is active with the McKees Rocks Historical Society. She took the bottles to a historical society meeting in February, where the members "oohed" and "ahhed" over them as they triggered memories of a time when almost every major town in Western Pennsylvania had its own local soft drink company, dairy and brewery.

Usually, that would be the end of the story. The relics would end up being displayed on a historical society shelf or gathering dust in someone's personal collection. But this time was different.

Someone at the meeting sent an e-mail to Bill Repack, who lives in Moon and teaches management classes at Robert Morris University, telling him about a bottle found in McKees Rocks with the name A. Repack imprinted on it.

Dr. Repack, who grew up in McKees Rocks, immediately recognized A. Repack as Alex Repack, his grandfather, who had come to this country from Slovakia in 1892.

He said his grandfather, after arriving here at age 16, settled on Pittsburgh's North Side and found work in the local steel industry.

After working in the mills for a number of years, he moved to McKees Rocks, where he established the A. Repack Bottling Works on Ella Street with his wife, Mary.

"The first floor of the building housed all the bottling equipment, and the family lived on the third floor," Dr. Repack said.

His grandfather's company bottled a variety of products, including cherry, orange and grape soda, ginger ale and seltzer water.

Alex died in 1939, and the company closed five years later.

All that Dr. Repack had left as a memory of the once-thriving family business was a 2-foot-by-4-foot sign bearing the company's name. When he was told about the bottle, he asked Ms. Saban if he could have it.

She talked to the Radoycis brothers, who agreed.

"It was like part of my family coming home," Dr. Repack said..

The bottle had added significance to the professor because it was one of the first bottles used by his grandfather's business. He traced the bottle to 1912, and said the raised lettering and translucent quality meant that it was an expensive bottle to manufacture and one rarely used for soda pop. Later, the company moved to a less expensive, painted bottle, like the one produced by Coca-Cola, he said.

Dr. Repack is planning a family gathering at his home in Moon on July 12 for relatives from around the country. He expects the bottle will trigger a lot of memories.

One, in particular, may be the time in the 1930s when a new company in Purchase, N.Y., was looking for a local bottling company to become the exclusive distributor for its soda pop in Allegheny County.

His grandmother and grandfather considered the offer, Dr. Repack said, but decided against it because they couldn't believe one flavor would generate enough income to make the business sustainable.

"That firm was Pepsi-Cola," Dr. Repack said with a chuckle, adding that he uses the anecdote from his family history in his management classes at Robert Morris University as an example to consider all business opportunities carefully.

As far as how the bottle came to be buried under the porch at the Radoycis home, Tom Radoycis has a theory.

He believes workers building the house and porch drank the contents of that bottle, and the others. When they were finished, they threw the bottles near the foundation and covered them with dirt.

He said he sees construction workers doing the same thing today.