So I'm new to this group and bottle collecting...

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Dan-o Diggs

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I've always liked old bottles and have only recently stumbled upon a couple spots and started digging. I don't know what I'm finding or when it's from... Here's some of what I've found the last couple times I've been out... Any advice is appreciated.
 

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Mailman1960

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I've always liked old bottles and have only recently stumbled upon a couple spots and started digging. I don't know what I'm finding or when it's from... Here's some of what I've found the last couple times I've been out... Any advice is appreciated.
First off, if you're interested in continuing with bottles you came the right place. Welcome aboard but be careful, 3 years you could end up like me.
Seams is a good place to start. Where they end, how many and it gives you a crude time frame. That picture was this summer. Like you had a nice spot, without seeing them better I'm thinking 1910 1940 dump but you'll have more knowledgeable people welcoming you aboard. Giddy up
 

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willong

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I've always liked old bottles and have only recently stumbled upon a couple spots and started digging. I don't know what I'm finding or when it's from... Here's some of what I've found the last couple times I've been out... Any advice is appreciated.
Welcome to Antique-Bottles.net!

Scanning your posted photo, I see an assortment of types that indicate the site you've been digging likely dates to early 20th century. As Mailman1960 noted, mold seam marks on the individual bottles will tell much more than that large array on the table. (Nice finds by-the-way.)

While there is so much information available that it might seem daunting at first, I do not think you can find a better single, comprehensive source of information at any price, let alone free for ready access at any time, than the following website: https://sha.org/bottle/index.htm

I will tell you that a produce box full of antique bottle collecting books from the 1970's and early 1980's did not contain nearly the volume of useful information (and few even had as many pretty pictures)!

If you pursue your interest enough to develop a specific focus, you will find that there are plenty of other specialized references on select topics such as canning jars, Hutchinson sodas, bitters or whiskey bottles and etc.

Select bottles that most intrigue you, take sharply-focused and detailed photos of the overall item, base, neck and shoulder area and the lip finish and post them to digging and finding and/or the what is it forums to solicit additional information. (If you'll look at the sha.org site's dating info first, you'll have a clue as to whether before or after 1900 is the appropriate forum.)

I'd say have fun, or good luck; but it looks like you've already got that covered!


WL
 

Dan-o Diggs

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First off, if you're interested in continuing with bottles you came the right place. Welcome aboard but be careful, 3 years you could end up like me.
Seams is a good place to start. Where they end, how many and it gives you a crude time frame. That picture was this summer. Like you had a nice spot, without seeing them better I'm thinking 1910 1940 dump but you'll have more knowledgeable people welcoming you aboard. Giddy up
Hey thanks and lol, I've already realized the potential problems associated with bottle digging. So I have to ask, what's the proper procedure for culling bottles? Is it wrong to just leave them lay there in the field after you've dug them up? Is it better to set them somewhere they will be easily found by someone else? I've noticed that any bottles of even modest age I've left sitting along the river bank after finding them are usually gone within a day or two. Or is it considered sacrelig to discard old bottles after finding them just because you don't like them, don't want them, or have several others like it already. Id say that, "you obviously can't keep em all!" But then imagine there's probably people on here who swim in their collections like scrooge McDuck.
 

Mailman1960

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Hey thanks and lol, I've already realized the potential problems associated with bottle digging. So I have to ask, what's the proper procedure for culling bottles? Is it wrong to just leave them lay there in the field after you've dug them up? Is it better to set them somewhere they will be easily found by someone else? I've noticed that any bottles of even modest age I've left sitting along the river bank after finding them are usually gone within a day or two. Or is it considered sacrelig to discard old bottles after finding them just because you don't like them, don't want them, or have several others like it already. Id say that, "you obviously can't keep em all!" But then imagine there's probably people on here who swim in their collections like scrooge McDuck.
I prefer leaving them where you find them. If you are finding good ones or not bury them, so as not to attract attention. I'm in Chicago land area it can get pretty cut throat.
 

Mailman1960

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Hey thanks and lol, I've already realized the potential problems associated with bottle digging. So I have to ask, what's the proper procedure for culling bottles? Is it wrong to just leave them lay there in the field after you've dug them up? Is it better to set them somewhere they will be easily found by someone else? I've noticed that any bottles of even modest age I've left sitting along the river bank after finding them are usually gone within a day or two. Or is it considered sacrelig to discard old bottles after finding them just because you don't like them, don't want them, or have several others like it already. Id say that, "you obviously can't keep em all!" But then imagine there's probably people on here who swim in their collections like scrooge McDuck.
You will see a lot on this site and different opinions. Some people prefer bottles being left the way they are I prefer beers painted some don't.
 

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Dan-o Diggs

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Welcome to Antique-Bottles.net!

Scanning your posted photo, I see an assortment of types that indicate the site you've been digging likely dates to early 20th century. As Mailman1960 noted, mold seam marks on the individual bottles will tell much more than that large array on the table. (Nice finds by-the-way.)

While there is so much information available that it might seem daunting at first, I do not think you can find a better single, comprehensive source of information at any price, let alone free for ready access at any time, than the following website: https://sha.org/bottle/index.htm

I will tell you that a produce box full of antique bottle collecting books from the 1970's and early 1980's did not contain nearly the volume of useful information (and few even had as many pretty pictures)!

If you pursue your interest enough to develop a specific focus, you will find that there are plenty of other specialized references on select topics such as canning jars, Hutchinson sodas, bitters or whiskey bottles and etc.

Select bottles that most intrigue you, take sharply-focused and detailed photos of the overall item, base, neck and shoulder area and the lip finish and post them to digging and finding and/or the what is it forums to solicit additional information. (If you'll look at the sha.org site's dating info first, you'll have a clue as to whether before or after 1900 is the appropriate forum.)

I'd say have fun, or good luck; but it looks like you've already got that covered!


WL
Thanks, I've been looking into the dating stuff but it's not as definitive as I'd have hoped it would be and before or after 1900 is kind of the line that the old bottles here in this part of Kansas lay along. The area really only dates back to the 1860s at the earliest (but really the 80s or so until is was populated enough to really leave any findable bottles). I guess it's all preference really, but I'm wondering what tactics people use to limit the number of bottles they keep? Give em away, leave em in the field, set em on a fence and pull out the six shooter...?
 

Dan-o Diggs

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You will see a lot on this site and different opinions. Some people prefer bottles being left the way they are I prefer beers painted some don't.
Oh yeah, those are cool. I got these a couple days ago.
 

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