After the slaves were freed in the mid 1860's, many that were well treated stayed with their former owners on the plantations, farms, wood mills, potteries, etc. and were known as free slaves. A lot of the families left, and traveled to other areas in the region of the mid South, for similar...
In 1962 I made my first bottle probing rod and having nothing but problems I continued to develop this rod for the next 5 or so years. I finally designed the perfect rod for finding bottles and privies and it has rewarded me with many fantastic bottles, not only single but with it sounding the...
While waiting for a traffic light to change in a near by community, I noticed to my left an excavator was dumping its bucket on a hill of previously dumped dirt from the basement of an old building being torn down. Rolling down the dirt was this stoneware canning jar with a stuck on lid still...
I haven't been a member of this site but for a short time, but I really enjoy this bottle site as being a collector, digger, book contributor and researcher for more years than I willing to say. I came across this very informative general knowledge site that will help with new-comers to the...
The glass goblet that survived! Pictured are 3 views of a very rare Holloware (not associated with the Co. that produced metal items) goblet. This goblet is one of the Cobalt pieces from a full place setting including dishes of various styles and are traceable back to the mid 1800's. It was...
Fulgurite......what the heck is that? That by the way, is an irregular glass rod created by lightning strikes to the earth. While bottle hunting the white sand dunes in Southern Fl along the East Coast for old homesites over a period of about 30 years, I'd occasionally spot these fragments left...
HISTORIC INDIAN TRADE BEADS
A small cache of colored glass beads were found near present day Ft. Myers, Fl. in an area where a trading post was once located during the Seminole Indian Wars of 1835 thru 1838.
A detachment of about 30 Dragoons under the command of Lt. Col. William S. Harney were...
Wanted: Any bottle embossed "G.M.Smith's Celebrated Club House bitters" or his other bottle embossed "Young Tom Gin." Either bottle may or may not say "Erie, Pa". Came in various shades of green and amber. Willing to pay up to 4 figures for undamaged near mint condition bottle.
It is lunchtime in the early oil fields of Pa. and shortly after, one might likely have heard a single "pop" or maybe several more soon after. If you guessed these guys were opening their soda bottles you'd be right. In 1864 a Mr. Matthew's patented a glass stopper with a band of rubber held...
A feature all bottles and glassware has is color. There needs to be a standardization of colors, such as agreed upon painting artists and/or long time knowledgeable bottle collectors, identifying colors and hues of those colors. Presently, an artists color scale is closest in terminology and...
I see so many ads, articles, and questions about "bubbles" in bottles and other glassware. Many collectors of these items associate bubbles with age. I assure you, bubbles have NOTHING to do with age of any glassware whether it was made during Roman times up to the present. Admittingly, modern...
Yes I know...old porch chair needs scraped and repainted. The subject of this post however is the huge pickle jar in the shape of a barrel. This came from out of a damp dirt floored building about to be demolished. It was made by the famous Illinois Glass Co. somewhere between 1915 and 1929 as...
Just as a challenge, I decided to resurrect this doll head I found and I thought you might enjoy seeing the steps. Digging privies from Victorian period and earlier I've found lots of dolls and doll parts as the one picture shows.
While metal detecting a new area (to us), my buddy and myself, of the ocean beach South of Ft. Pierce, Fl. my buddy and I was calling it a day and headed to my car. About halfway to the car, I hopped over a small ravine that had formed from the high tide and my detector sounded off. I thought...
I have many antique bottles, tools, etc. I'm selling this summer. These are all pre 1900 with many dating prior to 1880. NO junk bottles but a couple repros that were given to me..marked out with blue line. Stop by and visit, prices will be very reasonable. I have hundreds of pieces. I'm in...
About 15 years ago my wife and I were digging a rocky and bushy bank which was only about 30 ft high. We were finding shards of early pottery and bottles but everything was broken. We continued to dig into the bank and came across a layer of small rocks we could roll or flop out of the way. We...
I'm going to start liquidating my bottle collection and start with what I feel are the best first. This early 1800's 16 +/_ rib Pitkin is ultra light in weight but yet in perfect condition other than light interior haze. The sheared lip has been fire polished and the tubular pontil is...
I never realized a soda/mineral water bottle could stand 14" high with blob top. I've seen many jars and other glass containers much larger but not in the soda/mineral water category. I found this large bottle in a gully about 1 mile from my home and my research showed that a bottling co...
If you're a collector of anything, you have a favorite. I have a favorites in several categories but with my small soda collection my favorite is the center pictured slug platted squat "JAs Gallagher-PHILADa" It has a graphite pontil and has only manufacturing flaws, to be expected, in a...
One of the most unusual items my wife and I ever found while privy digging was this early salt-glazed stoneware item pictured. It was found in my hometown of Pleasantville, Pa. This town formed as a result of two potteries starting in 1840. After years of thinking this was just a whimsy and the...