BottleDragon
Well-Known Member
I came across a pretty massive bottle dump in the woods the other day. I found the site using an aerial photograph from 1949. I've included the aerial photos and a LiDAR hillshade image depicting the dump area, so you can get a decent feel for it.
The dump area is roughly 60x100 feet, and is absolutely filled with bottles. I could feel the crunching of glass and metal underfoot with every step. What surprised me the most was how many intact bottles were just sitting on the surface. The edge of the dump is only about 50 feet from a well-trafficked street; and while the forest is dense, it's not impenetrable. I could see no obvious signs of digging, so I suppose most people just don't care about bottles, or maybe 1940's dumps are just passe.
I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of bottles in this place! There were so many just sitting there partially exposed that I didn't even bother digging. I have no idea how deep the dump is, but I reckon I could spend every weekend for the rest of my life digging if I felt like it.
I grabbed a few (mostly small) bottles that I could easily carry, but there were hundreds more I left behind.
- Puroform Bleach; amber cork top with horse ACL (example: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Puroform-Bleach-Bottle-White-Horse-Logo-wolc-/401590146212?oid=401545518125)
- Woodbury milk glass jars; screw top
- Phillips Milk of Magnesia Tablets; embossed, screw top
- Unknown screw top, marked "Mutual" on the bottom -- Bitters? Soy sauce? An online search turned up no examples of this bottle.
- Waterman's Ink, 2 oz screw top
I'm under no illusions that any of these are valuable. I know the Phillips bottles can fetch a few dollars, and they're so pretty I just can't pass them up. There could be dozens or perhaps hundreds of that bottle alone in this dump. I'm not sure about the exact dates of these, so please correct me if you think these are newer than 1940's.
Naturally, I'm curious how far back this dump might go. I didn't see anything that looked especially old, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything -- it's usually further down, right? There's also the potential for embossed sodas, ACLs, milk bottles, etc.
This is where my request for advice comes in. Does anyone have a strategy for tackling a dump of this size? Start at the furthest end and work towards the road, pick a corner, or dig test holes throughout? Do the photos offer any clues I might be missing? The topography is pretty flat in the vicinity of the dump. I didn't even notice any elevation changes, but the LiDAR managed to pick out the dump nicely.
This area was settled and logged in the late 19th or early 20th century (let's say between 1870 and 1920, since it varied). The darker areas in the 1949 image are coniferous regrowth that still exists today, so I would imagine those trees are between 100 and 150 years old now. The dump site itself is covered by a mature deciduous forest, so it hasn't been used as a dump in at least 50 years, probably longer. I saw no signs of plastic.
The dump area is roughly 60x100 feet, and is absolutely filled with bottles. I could feel the crunching of glass and metal underfoot with every step. What surprised me the most was how many intact bottles were just sitting on the surface. The edge of the dump is only about 50 feet from a well-trafficked street; and while the forest is dense, it's not impenetrable. I could see no obvious signs of digging, so I suppose most people just don't care about bottles, or maybe 1940's dumps are just passe.
I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of bottles in this place! There were so many just sitting there partially exposed that I didn't even bother digging. I have no idea how deep the dump is, but I reckon I could spend every weekend for the rest of my life digging if I felt like it.
I grabbed a few (mostly small) bottles that I could easily carry, but there were hundreds more I left behind.
- Puroform Bleach; amber cork top with horse ACL (example: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Puroform-Bleach-Bottle-White-Horse-Logo-wolc-/401590146212?oid=401545518125)
- Woodbury milk glass jars; screw top
- Phillips Milk of Magnesia Tablets; embossed, screw top
- Unknown screw top, marked "Mutual" on the bottom -- Bitters? Soy sauce? An online search turned up no examples of this bottle.
- Waterman's Ink, 2 oz screw top
I'm under no illusions that any of these are valuable. I know the Phillips bottles can fetch a few dollars, and they're so pretty I just can't pass them up. There could be dozens or perhaps hundreds of that bottle alone in this dump. I'm not sure about the exact dates of these, so please correct me if you think these are newer than 1940's.
Naturally, I'm curious how far back this dump might go. I didn't see anything that looked especially old, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything -- it's usually further down, right? There's also the potential for embossed sodas, ACLs, milk bottles, etc.
This is where my request for advice comes in. Does anyone have a strategy for tackling a dump of this size? Start at the furthest end and work towards the road, pick a corner, or dig test holes throughout? Do the photos offer any clues I might be missing? The topography is pretty flat in the vicinity of the dump. I didn't even notice any elevation changes, but the LiDAR managed to pick out the dump nicely.
This area was settled and logged in the late 19th or early 20th century (let's say between 1870 and 1920, since it varied). The darker areas in the 1949 image are coniferous regrowth that still exists today, so I would imagine those trees are between 100 and 150 years old now. The dump site itself is covered by a mature deciduous forest, so it hasn't been used as a dump in at least 50 years, probably longer. I saw no signs of plastic.
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