I have that same Westerholm hutch. It's actually far less common than the Hayes Bros. Westerholm wasn't in business as long and are harder to find. The Hayes Bros with the horseshoe and mug base is one of the coolest looking Chicago hutches and pretty common. Without seeing an individual picture of it, it looks a slight bit different than the ones I've seen.
You speak the language! Did you get the lime green Montag or the amber, or maybe both? Just the few bits of your found collection is impressive, and far beyond where I am at currently. I celebrate you and your success.
I really appreciate the heads up on somewhere to go. As far as I can tell there are no really good area to go creek stomping in downtown Denver. I watch the forums and see the guys doing it anywhere farther east than Colorado, and I envy them. Especially when it is 100 degrees and I am digging through five feet of clay and coal compressed by a bunch of heavy equipment. I have looked it up, and think I will try to get out there in the next couple of weeks. If I ever find a Montag or a Meuman then I owe you a good dig!
Is your collection in Canon with a private collector or in one of the museums? I go through there all of the time and would love to see it.
Thanks for the info, cmulligan! I never would have guessed that the Westerholm is anything more than super common. I figured there must be about 20 billion of them made for one to float all the way out here. But stranger things have happened. Apparently more people than I would have initially imagined packed in a large supply of hutch sodas for a cross country train trip!
