Large 1940's Dump Discovered - Advice?

Slightly off-topic, but I found two new dumps today.

The first one is in a location I've been curious about for a while. It appears to have been a gravel pit at one time, so I figured a dump would be the next logical step in its evolution. I actually pass by it on my way to the main dump where I've been digging, though it's several miles away. I hadn't stopped to look before because there's normally a lot of traffic on that street. Anyway, I barely step off the shoulder of the road and I'm already seeing glass shards, and an intact milk glass jar sitting out in the open. The trees here are pretty thin, and I see mounds everywhere with cobalt glass scattered around, along with some intact but uninteresting bottles. I checked the dates on a few, and the general age of the stuff appears to be similar or slightly newer than where I'm digging now. But this dump is much smaller and more spotty. I notice that a few holes have been dug, but they don't appear to be recent. The local kids have turned part of the place into a BMX park, but no one was there at the time. This place doesn't appear to be an actual "dump", but more of an opportunistic dumping ground.

I left my digging tools in the car, but I did pull this somewhat older-looking jar from the side of an embankment. Not sure how old it is... it's machine-made, but check out the size of that bubble! The lip is also a little wonky.








The second dump I found is just half a mile down the road from my main dump, in a very similar-looking area. I actually found this dump in a report on closed landfills, which strangely had no mention of the dump I'm currently digging. Part of the dump is underneath the road, while the rest is in a narrow strip adjacent to the road. The part not covered by the road is covered with a layer of fill. What little glass I did find, didn't seem very old.





I checked the 1949 aerial photos and there was no evidence of this dump at that time. The report suggested the dump was last active in the early 70's, which seems accurate judging by what I could see. I also found a few of these Pepsi cans.




It was a pretty interesting day all in all, even though I doubt I will return to either of these places anytime soon. I have been back to my main dump twice since I last posted, and I've found some decent stuff. I will make another post about that sometime soon.

The jar looks older than what you've posted so far, maybe 1910s or 20s? But those things were used for years so that doesn't mean anything else around it will be that old. I agree that the first dump still looks like it has the most potential.

CanadianBottles said:

The jar looks older than what you've posted so far, maybe 1910s or 20s? But those things were used for years so that doesn't mean anything else around it will be that old. I agree that the first dump still looks like it has the most potential.

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Yeah, you're right. According to my research, the jar dates between 1915 and 1925 and was made with a semi-automatic machine.

It's pretty funny that the oldest thing I've found in weeks was just sitting on the surface like that, but I agree it's not indicative of anything else I might find there. Meanwhile, I'm digging four foot deep holes in the other place and still pulling out 1940's stuff... lol. I know older isn't necessarily better, but it never hurts.

I'd be Interested in the pepsi can or any other cans you found but I'm afraid the shipping to U.S. could be more then they are worth? LEON.

hemihampton said:

I'd be Interested in the pepsi can or any other cans you found but I'm afraid the shipping to U.S. could be more then they are worth? LEON.

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For a single can it probably would be more than it was worth. What I could do is save them up until I have enough to make it worthwhile. I may want to keep some, but where there's one there's usually more.

There were at least three of those Pepsi cans. I haven't found any beer cans that I could identify.

I'm not sure what else you like. I tend to find very random or unusual stuff. I found several of these last week at an unrelated dump...

Here is probably the nicest ACL I've found in this dump...



Back...



Here's an advertisement from 1945 (this bottle also dates from 1945): https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/shanahans-shano-advertisement-painted-on-side-of-building

The photo makes it appear that some paint is missing, but none is. However, the paint did dull in some spots.

After experimenting with a few cleaning methods, I'm convinced that straight vinegar is the safest (for the ACL) and fairly effective.

I cleaned up those North Star bottles. The ACLs on these are very fragile. Two of them turned out decent, with only a small amount of paint loss mainly on the backs. The third bottle was already too far gone to save.






Also got this Perfect Seal jar. The lid is not the original lid -- it's much older than the jar. (It wasn't found on the jar either, but within a few feet of it.)







Does anyone know how to roughly date jar lids? It has no markings of any kind.
Just for curiosity sake, as I know it has no value.


Also found this nice Coke from Bellingham, WA.

still not bad for having been in a dump so long , had bottles turn out much worse . the damage on the back might hurt the value a little

not surprising to find a coke from Bellingham Wa as its so close to the Canadian border

Nice find on the Shano, never seen that one and it's marked from BC no less! Fruit jar lids can be hard to date if you don't know what jar it went to, but I'd guess that that one dates from the late 19th century up to maybe 1920 or so.

RCO said:

still not bad for having been in a dump so long , had bottles turn out much worse . the damage on the back might hurt the value a little

not surprising to find a coke from Bellingham Wa as its so close to the Canadian border

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Yeah, I can't really complain given how bad the conditions were. I was really worried about cleaning them in the condition they were in... verging on leaving them alone. Unfortunately, that rust wasn't going to come off without taking the paint with it. The paint was flaking off the third bottle with just my finger.