cobaltbot
Well-Known Member
Yesterday` was a little cooler at lunchtime but I still got sweat soaked through, mosquito bit and stung by yellow jackets on the back and the thigh ( they don't like probes) but I was still happy to be out digging. We certainly are a different sort. The wasps made me move to the other side of this small dump and they kept sending out scouts that would buzz me but not sting. About the only thing worth keeping this day had been a little 3-in-1 bottle. I kept it because when we dropped our oldest off at college last Saturday one of the things she brought with her was a tiny three-in-one bottle I had given her when she was a little girl. Right before leaving I exposed one more base and said to myself this is it, the last one for today. I figured it was just another slick med or broken flask and was surprised when I turned it over and it wiped into a large embossed med:
DR THOS WM SPRANKLIN'S
ANTI-FEVER MIXTURE
A quick search on our site turned up nothing (good I thought). A google search for Thomas William Spranklin turned up only five hits (still good I thought), interestingly one was a preview of a list of New York College alumni with a Thomas William Spranklin D.V.S. On a hunch I checked my Baltimore book hoping there was a Spranklin that had bottles without Baltimore or a Baltimore address on them. There were two, no mention of Baltimore and the best part was that this one was not listed! The first one listed is DR. T.W. SPRANKLIN'S/COLIC MIXTURE, FOR HORSE a clear 8" Philadelphia oval the other a Dr. THOs. Wm. SPRANKLIN/MARYLAND VETERINARY/HOSPITAL an aqua 9 3/4" Hub oval both listed as rare. It washed up mint, but on drying appears to have developed a little flake on the lip but no glass is missing.
Still I was psyched! There are scant times we diggers get to add to the historical record, but in this hobby it's always a possibility and to me those moments are golden. I found these two horseshoes at the same dump.
DR THOS WM SPRANKLIN'S
ANTI-FEVER MIXTURE
A quick search on our site turned up nothing (good I thought). A google search for Thomas William Spranklin turned up only five hits (still good I thought), interestingly one was a preview of a list of New York College alumni with a Thomas William Spranklin D.V.S. On a hunch I checked my Baltimore book hoping there was a Spranklin that had bottles without Baltimore or a Baltimore address on them. There were two, no mention of Baltimore and the best part was that this one was not listed! The first one listed is DR. T.W. SPRANKLIN'S/COLIC MIXTURE, FOR HORSE a clear 8" Philadelphia oval the other a Dr. THOs. Wm. SPRANKLIN/MARYLAND VETERINARY/HOSPITAL an aqua 9 3/4" Hub oval both listed as rare. It washed up mint, but on drying appears to have developed a little flake on the lip but no glass is missing.
Still I was psyched! There are scant times we diggers get to add to the historical record, but in this hobby it's always a possibility and to me those moments are golden. I found these two horseshoes at the same dump.
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