ABM: This stands for Automatic Bottle Machine. This is where the cut-off point begins for most bottle collectors, **[APPROXIMATELY]** 1900-1915. It is a machine oriented manufacturing technique that was the turning point from hand-crafted bottles to automated productions. ABM bottles are easily detected by the presence of a mold seam running through the TOP of the bottle.

APPLIED TOP: This was a manufacturing technique used from around 1830 to 1875 that attached the top (or lip) of a bottle to the rest of the body as a separate piece. This can be felt from the inside of the neck as a rough transition mark. We use this as an indicator to quickly estimate the age of a bottle.

AQUA GLASS: The color of (old) glass. This is the natural color of early (pre-1880) glass . Clear glass as the norm came about later in the 19th century. This is another quick way to estimate age.

BENNINGTON: Identified by a brownish patchy appearance, this was a generic term used to describe an early (pre-1870) type of pottery like plates, pitchers, teapots, and such. When this type of pottery is found in a privy, one can assume artifacts to be found from the Civil War era.

BITTERS: A 100 proof or greater herbal concoction that was sold in highly competitively shaped bottles. They are highly prized among collectors, and so reflected in the dollars paid for rare examples.

BLOB TOP: A description of a large rounded BLOB of glass on top of mostly beers, sodas, and mineral waters between the years of 1840-1880.

BLOWN: This word refers to the manufacturing technique used to make a bottle. It pre-dates the ABM, placing its timeline before 1915. The bottle was simply BLOWN into a mold by a worker. This type of bottle is easily identified like the ABM bottles by observing the MOLD SEAM. Unlike the ABM bottle, the "blown" bottles mold seam stops BEFORE it gets to the top.

BOTTLE BOX: These are what we use to put our newly excavated bottles into at the dig site. They are new liquor and beer bottle boxes, with many slots in them.

BRICKER: This is a slang term privy diggers use to describe a privy that was lined in red brick below the outhouse structure. The pit was dug, then a rectangular box of brick was assembled in the hole to hold the contents in.

CACHE: A term used to describe an abundance of one particular brand or shape bottle found in a privy. Also described as having many duplicates (20-30) of the same kind of bottle in a pit.

CASE GIN: A classification of bottle with a signature shape. These gin bottles were designed to fit into a case for easy shipment, hence the name case gin.

CISTERN: Typically used before the turn of the century for capturing rainwater. These were brick lined structures usually round or square in shape built into the ground at varying depths, usually around 10 feet.

CLAY CAP: A one to two foot layer in a privy that is void of any bottles or even fragments. Caps were made by throwing clay or sand into the privy to keep the odor down in the summer. Below this CLAY CAP layer more artifacts are usually found.

COBALT: A dark almost purple color used to describe some bottles. This color is also highly coveted among collectors as king.

CONE INK: A classification of ink bottle denoting its shape, in that of a cone. Very common, and manufactured in several colors.

CROWN TOP: The shape and top design of all modern bottles, after 1900. The current shape of a beer bottle top, and designed for a crimped on cap.

CURE: A sub-category of the patent medicine bottle category. Many cures were produced from 1830 to 1906, at which time the inception of the pure food and drug act brought a close to the patent medicine era. Cures were sold to remedy a plethora of diseases, from deafness to alcoholism.

DIGGING CLAW: This is a plastic garden tool, used to gently sift dirt with in search of bottles.

DRUGGIST: A bottle category created by local city drug stores of the past. These bottles where distributed just as prescription drug store bottles are today, except instead of a paper label being glued on the front, the physician's name and store location was actually embossed on the bottle. Thousands of these were produced from around 1870 to 1910.

EMBOSSED: A term that refers to the pronounced lettering on the front of most older bottles.

FILL: All the material above the USE LAYER in a privy is called fill.

FLASK: A classification of bottle strictly containing whiskeys, most all of which had a signature shape.

FLEA-BITE: A pin-head sized nick in a glass object.

FLINT GLASS: This glass produced in the early 1870's had a special ingredient used in the firing process that rendered the glass clear. This would stand out at the time because the majority of glass was aqua.

FLOW BLUE: This was an early (1850's) form of English transferware exhibiting a dark blue flowing pattern on a white background. Many privy excavations produce fragments, and some times whole pieces of this beautiful pottery.

GROUND TOP: A bottle or jar that is physically ground down on the top leaving the surface rough to the touch. This process was used on mostly fruit jars before 1880, and on some bottles right before the invention of the Automatic Bottle Machines of the 20th century.

HAIR BOTTLE: A sub-category of the cosmetic bottle category. Many products were produced for the hair, starting as early as the 1850's, and that has created a whole specialized area of collecting in the field.

HONEY DIPPER: A very descriptive word used to describe an occupation that involved ridding an outhouse of its contents when its max capacity was approaching. These "honey-dippers" as they were called, are directly responsible for depleting many an out house of its precious cargo, I.E. BOTTLES! Since no pictures exist of the original dippers, the modern equivalent is shown.

HUTCH: This is a category of the SODA family. It has a signature shape, and millions were produced from 1880 to 1900, containing America's favorite flavor of soda pop.

IRON PONTIL: This is an identification mark, or a scare if you will, denoting its manufacturing technique. During manufacturing, an iron rod was affixed to the bottom of a bottle in order to remove it from the furnace. This left behind a smooth black iron mark. (1800-1865)

KICK-UP: Many pre-turn of the century bottles were pushed up several inches on the bottom producing a "kick-up" on the bottom. Some present day wine bottles still employ this tradition.

LAID ON RING: This phrase describes the top lip of an early bottle. The lip was APPLIED after the rest of the bottle was made, hence the term LAID ON RING. (1800-1865)

LADY'S LEG: Referencing the shape of a lady's leg to the shape of a bottle neck, as seen on many western whiskeys.

MANGANESE: Used in the manufacturing process between 1850-1905 to decolorize natural aqua glass to clear. This is the agent that makes clear bottles turn amethyst when exposed to ultra violet light.

MILK GLASS: When tin is added to glass during manufacturing, an opaque white colored glass is produced. Many cosmetic bottles where made this way back in the 1800's an still are to this day.

MOLD LINE: As referenced in the definition for ABM, the mold seem can be used to differentiate a modern bottle (1905) from a pre-turn of the century bottle. Mold seam through the top = after 1905. Mold seam half way up the neck = pre-1905.

MULBERRY: This is an early (1830) English transferware pottery, exhibiting flowing dark purple patterns on a white background. Like FLOW BLUE, pieces of this pottery can be found during privy excavations pre-dating the civil war.

NURSER: These were the equivalent to modern day baby bottles, however they had quite a different shape. Privy diggers frequently find these during excavations, and are specifically collected by some.

OPALESCENCE: Bottles oxidize when in the ground. This is caused by minerals reacting with the glass and produces an iridescent flaky coating on the bottle. The coating can be compared to rust on ferrous metals.

OPEN PONTIL: During the manufacturing process of a bottle, a metal rod was affixed to the bottom with a glob of molten glass so as to be able to maneuver the bottle around the work station as the neck and top was being attached. At its completion, the rod was snapped off this glob, and a round OPEN mark, or scar was left behind. (1800-1865)

OUTHOUSE: A small wooden or brick structure built outside a dwelling stationed over a pit that served sanitary waste disposal needs. Commonly in service in all back yards until the 20th century.

PATENT MEDICINE: Medicines were produced by the thousands in the 1800's, each boasting impossible claims. Of course none of these medicines were actually patented, this term was adopted from early English times when Kings granted patents of royal favors. Any concoction that was sold for the purpose of healing would fall into this category. Most were filled with habit-forming narcotic substances.

PIT: Privey diggers refer to the hole in the ground were a privy once sat as a "pit". When excavating a privy, it can be refered to as , "digging a pit".

POISON: This is a category of bottle that contained a lethal substance, such as strychnine. They have a signature style in that they always exhibit raised dots on the surface to warn the user (by touch) of its contents.

PONTIL: A metal rod used in early bottle manufacturing that was attached (several ways) to the bottom of a molten bottle to manipulate the piece around during craftsmanship.

PRIVY: French for private, this word is also synonymous with the word outhouse.

PRIVY SEEDS: This is a descriptive term invented by privy diggers. Privy seeds are found in the USE LAYER of many PITS and simply are indigestible seeds, like strawberries, and raspberries, from the user's diet.

PROBE: A spring steel device used to locate privies. They are generally available in varying lengths from 3 feet to 7 feet. The user can identify anomalies in the soil by repeatedly pushing the probe in the ground .@@@CLICK HERE FOR TIP PICTURE@@@

PUFF: This is a small, delicate, always PONTILED utility bottle, commonly seen in civil war era privies.

PUMPKIN SEED FLASK: A very common whiskey flask that has the shape of a pumpkin seed. Millions of these were made from around 1880 to 1905.

SARSAPARILLA: This is a category of bottle that was sold as a cure-all elixir from around 1840 to the turn of the century. Contents were as all snake oil and PATENT MEDICINES of the times, high alcohol, and mystery ingredients.

SHEARED TOP: This denotes the absence of a top or lip on a bottle. This was a manufacturing technique seen on bottles mostly around the 1860's but some were produced until the turn of the century.

SLUG PLATE: Beers and sodas mostly fall under this description. A circular embossing with the name of the business and location would be stamped heavily on the front of the bottle from this SLUG PLATE.

SQUAT: This term refers to a classification of sodas that has a signature shape and size. These sodas were produced as early as the 1840's and up until around 1870. They are highly appreciated by collectors and come in a myriad of fantastic colors.

STONE LINED: This is similar to the term BRICKER with the exception of stones lining a privy hole instead of red brick. Stone lined holes are generally the oldest types of privies encountered by privy hunters in the United States.

TEST HOLE: A small shovel-sized shallow hole, dug in an effort to date the fragments prior to opening the pit up to its full size. Created to make sure the privy is old enough to dig.

UMBRELLA INK: A classification of ink bottle denoting its shape, like that of an umbrella. Umbrella inks pre-date cone inks, 1880.

USE LAYER: During a privy excavation, most of the material removed is dirt and ash. However, near the bottom, a layer containing the bulk of the artifacts exists. This is affectionately called the use layer.

WOOD LINED: Most privies excavated in the United States were of this design. Unlike the BRICKER and STONE LINED privies, these outhouse pits were lined with planks of timber to hold the surrounding dirt from caving in, and to keep the contents contained. Wood lined pits were generally the most common types, and would have been seen as far back as colonial times, to present day outhouses.

YELLOW WARE: This is a type of pottery popular in the years of 1850 to 1880. Many CHAMBER POTS were made of yellow ware.