JUNE 27th Digging Results
*********WHERE'S DANO?**********
Hello again, all you history buff bottle-loving friends out there around the world. Let me start off by saying that Dan and I have really dug bottles through quite a range of temperatures now. This day posted heat index numbers of 105+ degrees Fahrenheit. This puts our digging range in about an 85 degree operating parameter. Needless to say it was hot as H--- out there that day! The setting here was a pre-Civil War Greek Revival abandoned home, unfortunately being reclaimed by the earth. The first privy (pit) we found was a turn of the century pit that happened to be located next to a 150-year-old black walnut tree. We excavated around the roots the best we could without damaging them, and retrieved a couple of bottles. A couple of local druggist 1890's bottles and some other very common ones were about it. This pit was soon covered and the search for the older one began.
Actually, while Dan was still in the first pit I was hunting for the second...a good way to spend time while waiting for your turn in the hole. It turned out to be about 3 feet in front of the turn of the century pit towards the house.
The first piece to come out of the fill was a great harbinger of things to come: real early bottom half of an aqua hinge mold hair bottle. When we got to the use layer it started giving up a lot of bottles. Dan was in and pulled out a cool flat bottom clear,(maybe flint glass) DEAD SHOT FOR BED BUGS bottle. Next was a hand full of little sample-sized cure bottles called WHITTLESEYS CURE, almost pontiled era. As usual, there were a lot of broken pieces that would have been nice, like a giant graphite pontiled dark green aqua PETAL JAR. Still good enough for the pick pile, just to put on the crying shelf.
Dan here is holding up an 1860's large crude mustard jar. He also brought up an L&W HOSTETTERS STOMACH BITTERS in,... oooooohh amber, and a RUSH'S SARSAPARILLA.
We also found quite a few nice pipes, and a solid GOLD coin. No, just kidding. Just making sure you're still awake. The next best thing to come out was a fabulous graphite pontiled DR. MEYER'S WILD CHERRY DANDELION SARSAPARILLA. This is the second one we found so Dan got that one. I got the first one last fall.
We had a good time digging these pits even though we both got heat stroke exaustion as a consequence. But what we bottle hunters WON'T go through to add some bottles to our collection is beyond me. Till next time, Scott.
******PONTILED DR. MEYER'S WILD CHERRY DANDELION*******
