Screwtop
Well-Known Member
So two weeks ago I was up in Pennsylvania digging in a massive dump. I mean this thing is huge, being in use from the 1860s, through the 1960s. The town dumped all of their garbage in a 200 yard long swath of hillside, and then dumped in another area for about 30 yards and then stopped again. There is no dirt, at least I didn't hit any. It's all ash. It would literally take me half a lifetime to dig it out when I get back. You can walk anywhere in that woods, dig down, and hit bottles.
It is also a wacky dump with no rules. In one shovel full you can dig up half of a peace flask, and a Coca Cola hobbleskirt at once. Unfortunately all of the really old stuff is obliterated, but there did seem to be pockets where some things were in better shape than others. Stuff is laying on top of the ground everywhere you look. Most of it is the undesirable plain beer and ketchup bottles from the 1960s, but there can be gems hidden in there as well.
These are the non-bottle finds of the dump. As you can see, there are spoons dating from the mid 1800s, through the 1920s. All of these were dug at varying depths, with no rhyme or reason apparently.
My dad found this pipe bowl only a few inches from the surface. It's a dandy one, but I don't know how old it is.
I found many local sodas and milks, but I left those at my grandmothers house in Pennsylvania. I couldn't bring them all back to Kentucky. Not to worry though, because I'm moving to Pennsylvania this year.
I'm not 100% sure how old the Peppers bottle is, but if I had to give my best guess it would be from the 1940s. The milk bottle is embossed J.H. Brokhoff / Pottsville Pennsylvania / Tumbling Run Dairy. Pottsville is a small town in Schuylkill county Pa, most well known for Yuengling beer.
These two are the gems. These are the only two known bottles from Knapps. My great uncle who has been digging bottles in the area since the 1960s, has never seen, nor heard of any Knapps bottles. It's hard to find any mention of the pharmacy online either. I have been able to find that the pharmacy opened in 1911, and closed in the mid 1960s. These date to about 1915-1920. These are the first complete, embossed druggist bottles I ever found. The cleaner one was laying right on top of the ground which is really odd, considering I dug the other one at nearly three ft. down.
Ashland is a very small town, that was built for the mining operations that existed there in the 1800s. My grandmother lives just a short walk from the town, and every time I'm up there I just walk there and order a burger from the diner and walk back, lol!
It is also a wacky dump with no rules. In one shovel full you can dig up half of a peace flask, and a Coca Cola hobbleskirt at once. Unfortunately all of the really old stuff is obliterated, but there did seem to be pockets where some things were in better shape than others. Stuff is laying on top of the ground everywhere you look. Most of it is the undesirable plain beer and ketchup bottles from the 1960s, but there can be gems hidden in there as well.
These are the non-bottle finds of the dump. As you can see, there are spoons dating from the mid 1800s, through the 1920s. All of these were dug at varying depths, with no rhyme or reason apparently.
My dad found this pipe bowl only a few inches from the surface. It's a dandy one, but I don't know how old it is.
I found many local sodas and milks, but I left those at my grandmothers house in Pennsylvania. I couldn't bring them all back to Kentucky. Not to worry though, because I'm moving to Pennsylvania this year.
I'm not 100% sure how old the Peppers bottle is, but if I had to give my best guess it would be from the 1940s. The milk bottle is embossed J.H. Brokhoff / Pottsville Pennsylvania / Tumbling Run Dairy. Pottsville is a small town in Schuylkill county Pa, most well known for Yuengling beer. These two are the gems. These are the only two known bottles from Knapps. My great uncle who has been digging bottles in the area since the 1960s, has never seen, nor heard of any Knapps bottles. It's hard to find any mention of the pharmacy online either. I have been able to find that the pharmacy opened in 1911, and closed in the mid 1960s. These date to about 1915-1920. These are the first complete, embossed druggist bottles I ever found. The cleaner one was laying right on top of the ground which is really odd, considering I dug the other one at nearly three ft. down.
Ashland is a very small town, that was built for the mining operations that existed there in the 1800s. My grandmother lives just a short walk from the town, and every time I'm up there I just walk there and order a burger from the diner and walk back, lol!
