Dug a second barrel privy.....

[attachment=IMG_0954-001.JPG] [attachment=IMG_0954-001.JPG] Well, went digging on Sunday with my newbie helper. We hit a demo site where they were tearing down a house on the earliest Sanborn map for Hannibal in 1885, but being so close to the downtown, I was fairly sure we might hit a pre civil war pit. Probed out a funny feeling hole, funny as there seemed to be no glass, but looked like lime on the end of the probe, and was easy peazy goin' in. So we proceeded to open it up and after a good amount of old pottery and a base to a broken Hurley's Syrup of Sarsaparilla with iron pontil, I concluded we were in a construction overthrow. The lot next to us held 2 pre civil war houses and one structure looking like a privy on the 1854 map appears near where we were. I figured when the building that is there now was built, they dug down deep enough to hit the privy and just dumped it along the other side of the property line. We frustratingly filled her in and called it a day after finding hardly any bottle glass and zero bottles whole. It was brutal digging as we were in direct 90+ degree sunlight most of the dig. Can anyone say sunbrella? HA! Well, checked the maps again a little closer and realized the house that was being torn down said "unfinished" on the map! I had overlooked that and hoped it had been there since the 60's, but nooooooo! Well, 85 works for me I thought, so I returned today to probe out the late pit. Found it pretty quick, but was struggling with the thought of another brutal dig in the heat & humidity, being high noon and 97% humidity. So I returned home and made the executive decision to return around dusk when it would be cooler. I got all comfy on the couch and settled in to watch some tv, when I decided to check the weather. We were forecast for severe weather but not until late tonight. I checked the hourly forecast and looked to be rain at 8 o'clock likely at 60%! "Damn it" I thought! So I rolled my tired butt off the couch and headed back to dig.....

Interesting story, at least it looks like you were rewarded for coming back. BTW, what exactly is a barrel privy?

The one shot is the back of the lot looking where the house was. Next shot was a nice teal color is all I could tell t that point and turned out to be a deeper than usual Rumford Chemical Works. Next shot was the round, small, wood lined barrel privy. It was shallow, even for around these parts and ended about the 5 foot level. Near the bottom I pulled out a beautiful yellow amber Acker's Blood Elixir// WH Hooker & Co/ Sole Agents/North & South/America//For all Blood Diseases. I had only dug the cobalt lungers before! Never heard of this one before. I even joked to myself before I headed home, "Knapp probably has it listed for $20, if I'm lucky!" NAILED it! HA! Oh well, so it ain't rare but I didn't have one before and now I do! And I really like it, which is all that matters in the end.

Some shots of the color of the Acker's, as well as a large piece of a dish that was a deep violet with what I can only describe as mica flakes in the glass. Never seen anything like it except mica marbles. Oh, and I just realized the Acker's is 7" tall, a larger version than listed in the book. Might add another five bucks to the value, never know. Jack

2find, I had never heard of a barrel privy myself until moving here to the Midwest. I was told it was a fairly common practice in these parts to dig a round hole and stack barrels with the ends knocked out and stacked on top of each other, or in some cases just one large ass barrel. Usually the wood is long gone, and unlike a "normal" woodliner, they are round with no corner posts to survive, and somewhat limited in depth, around 5 foot has been my experience. The barrel hoops are about the only surviving clue, but depending on age, even those can disappear. Jack

cannibalfromhannibal said:

...And I really like it, which is all that matters in the end.

Click to expand...

Dang right, man. Nice bottle.

Here in Texas it seems that barrel privies were the norm before about 1870...anytime we get into a barrel privy we know it will probably be early. Here the wood is usually still perfect but the barrel hoops are usually gone.

Hey cannibal, its like i told my son. We can't control what's in the holes all we can do is find them. Still a good dig in my book. The sarsaparilla would have been awesome, and qualifies as yesterday's big cryer. I like the acker's as well. Are you done with that lot or could there be something left. Thanks for the story and the photos.

nhpharm, the barrel privies here seem to produce later stuff from the 80's on, but can be older as well, though sadly short on bottles with those earlier ones. They all seem harder to find, as the openings can be as narrow as a mans shoulders, as was the one before this one. (I ended up digging that one almost standing on my head!) And Bass, this whole block is vacant, (with exception of a newer building on one corner side) with old homes dating to the civil war and earlier now long gone, and likely hit by diggers of days gone by. But one never knows what has been missed, yesterday's dig being a perfect example. Problem is a large parking area topped with cement covers much of the back side where the privies are most likely. Owner plans to enlarge & expand the parking, so something might get exposed. The terrain looks and probes out like a lot of fill over the years found its way to that part of the block. Jack

If fill dirt was brought in it sure makes it difficult to find the pits. What length rod do you use? I use a 5 footer here and have only seen 1 or 2 instances where i could have used a longer one. May not hurt to punch a few holes along that parking lot in the back. You never know. Good luck to you sir.