I didn't clarify my statement earlier.I meant to say,nationwide the oldtimers haven't put a dent in much.Illinois is probably one of the heaviest dug states anywhere in relation to it's population in the mid 1800's.Places like Quincy,Alton,Peoria,Springfield,have been hammered for years.People in the east don't understand this because millions of people lived there and there are endless places to dig.I am now in Ohio and it is alot easier to find undug locations.You will hear me routinely go off on a soapbox about keeping spots quite and if others dug farther west they would understand what I am talking about.As far as Tique being in the Mecca of all things pontilled.Don't be fooled.I have lived and dug in New England and Illinois and if you told me I had a day to go out an dig a pontilled bottle I'd take Illinois every time.Privy digging is where it is at,you will find this out.If you think the dumps have been dug,just wait.But there are plenty of spots left and the pits can be very productive.I lived further South near St.Louis so I never was a member of the Pekin Club but it seemed like an active one.Supporting local bottle clubs is a great way to keep the hobby going and learn.A friend and I both 34,comment at every show how few folks younger than us are in the crowd.Get your buddies involved they will get hooked.Beats the hell out of video games,atleast until they invent a privy digging game that gives off the smell of methane as you dig deeper.Good luck in your collecting.
Was wondering if you or a club member can help me with this one.I plan on repairing it,if it is as rare as I think it may be.It is a S.M. Hickey pontilled soda from Lasalle.I have dug several Hickey squats from Peoria but had never heard of one from LaSalle.LaSalle and Peru are killer old towns too.I dug this one last year here in Ohio.I couldn't believe my eyes.Thanks for any help
none of my friends liked it for a while, they were always like why do u do that. but then i met 3 people that were as crazy as i am (carly, perry + annie). but look on the bright side, u dont have to split anything like i do[&o].
Killer stuff!! and welcome to the forum!! Im 18 and have been digging since i was around 14. I kinda stumbled into a dump while fishing so when i started i had no idea what was what i was just having fun. Since i started i uncovered two unknown bottles from my town and have found a couple of other good pieces. None as nice as yours i must say [] Heres my personal best..an unlisted toc beer
Cool Digs. I love digging unknown variants or rare local bottles. They might not mean much to others, but to the diggers in that area they are something special. I'd rather be digging local stuff than anything else. Yeah, some of the older national brands are nice, but they are kind of generic after you've seen a hundred of them! We dig alot of ss cokes down here in Ky. For some reason we dig them from Peoria every once in a while. Do you all ever dig them from Ky. up there? Chris
No, I've only dug ones from Chicago and one from Decatur Il with a baad crack. I dug a medicine from such-and-so's rexall store in Petersburg Florida though, which is pretty far away. I don't know what would account for the peoria coke being down there. Perhaps a wholesale liquor buyer from peoria brought it on the train he took down there to arrange the pick up of 200 barrels of kentucky's finest? Maybe it was just recycled by the bottling company down there by some deposit-hunters. There were too many chicago bottles in the peoria dump for there not to have been liberal sharing of the bottles by adjacent bottlers, so you probably benefited from their lack of packaging uniformity I guess. The peoria one of the style you have is better than the Chicago one, in case you ever come across more.
I do wish I had some peers as crazy about it as I, but then, Keeping all the finds is nice, and in digging at a dump with others i'd say finders keepers, to each his own hole, but the privys are different. I've proven to myself that I can dig a nice 9-10 foot hole through dirt and clay by myself and get out of it too, so maintaining such a fair split of the finds should be manageable when I hit the privys I've lined up for spring. []
If I hit a 20 foot brickliner I will need to rething things....
And Tony, that Nehring & Sons is super awesome, I'd kill for a unique beer from here with that incredible fluted base and strong blob. Definately a prime item to hold on to, or at least until you hit the bigger dump a half mile away []
Plumbata, you have some nice stuff there, but I was talking bottles... of course some of the local stuff is awesome, some of my most desired bottles are local, but you mentioned some dandy and globe jars, and I figure you must have pulled a few cures and what not out of that dump... Anyway I was just messing with ya, seemed appropriate since you started your post with a statement about avoiding confrontation...
I bet you theres few kids your age digging right around you, just got to find em... throw some bottles in your local antique store with a phone number for anyone interested in buying more... it will ring off the hook for few weeks! And you'll meet some digging partners quick... just make sure they want to share more then your dump!