Hey ya'll! First post here, so go easy on me haha. My good friend Keith and I recently had the opportunity to do some bottle digging in a Union Civil War officer's hut site here in Virginia. The thing was loaded with brick and stone, including a cool "82" date brick for 1782 from whatever structure they raided for brick to build the hearth. The rocks did a number on the glass underneath, with most of it being broken, but what didnt smash in 1863 was probably saved from the plow by those same stones on top of them.
Anyways, I'll try to be brief, I tend to be a bit longwinded. For whole bottles, we ended up with 6 total. Keith got a champagne and a "lop top" whiskey(?). I know yall would call that one broken but we dont, as it was most likely opened by the soldier that way, so that's good enough for us. I got two champagnes. And we each got one of these cool sodas that I have questions about. There was a ton of broken stuff, and we saved as much of it out as we could to try some reconstructions. Included in the broken were several dinner plates and a drinking glass, which are quite cool from a CW hut. There would have been a total of 5 of those pottsville sodas if they werent broken, but we were thrilled to find one whole for each of us.
The soda is a blue "C. T. Bowen & Co. Pottsville". Mold seam, no pontil. There's a bit of stubborn dirt in the bottom, but the sides cleaned up nice. There's a small crack in the lip, and a bit of scratching from the chimney rocks. The mark below the S on pottsville isn't a chip, but an open air bubble right at the surface. But I'm not complaining, its a pretty sweet bottle in any condition, and definitely my best one yet. Anything more i should do for those light scratches? If I were going to post this bottle by itself in another sub-forum to get more opinions, where would you suggest? I haven't really been able to find much info about it online. Does anyone know anything about this one? Any history on the manufacturer or contents? I'd be curious to get a rough idea on value in its current condition, too
Thanks for looking yall, I hope you enjoy the pics!
Anyways, I'll try to be brief, I tend to be a bit longwinded. For whole bottles, we ended up with 6 total. Keith got a champagne and a "lop top" whiskey(?). I know yall would call that one broken but we dont, as it was most likely opened by the soldier that way, so that's good enough for us. I got two champagnes. And we each got one of these cool sodas that I have questions about. There was a ton of broken stuff, and we saved as much of it out as we could to try some reconstructions. Included in the broken were several dinner plates and a drinking glass, which are quite cool from a CW hut. There would have been a total of 5 of those pottsville sodas if they werent broken, but we were thrilled to find one whole for each of us.
The soda is a blue "C. T. Bowen & Co. Pottsville". Mold seam, no pontil. There's a bit of stubborn dirt in the bottom, but the sides cleaned up nice. There's a small crack in the lip, and a bit of scratching from the chimney rocks. The mark below the S on pottsville isn't a chip, but an open air bubble right at the surface. But I'm not complaining, its a pretty sweet bottle in any condition, and definitely my best one yet. Anything more i should do for those light scratches? If I were going to post this bottle by itself in another sub-forum to get more opinions, where would you suggest? I haven't really been able to find much info about it online. Does anyone know anything about this one? Any history on the manufacturer or contents? I'd be curious to get a rough idea on value in its current condition, too
Thanks for looking yall, I hope you enjoy the pics!
