PhilaBottles
Well-Known Member
hey everyone. just in case you didnt see Georges post about his listings...HERE ARE THE AUCTIONS i really cant wait to see what the EC WARE pony sells for. I remember poopin my pants when he pulled it out. Any predictions? I have the same exact MB ROBERTS bottle. It was virtually next to his, it just rolled toward me calling my name [
].
todays adventure sucked. sorry no pics, but ill be descriptive. we found out about a place called dinosaur lake.
Dinosaur Lake was a swimming hole located on the border between Philadelphia and Bensalem, Pa.
Standish Forde Hansell was a pleasant man with a playful imagination. He was known for his many "eccentric" ideas around town.
When he decided to build a pond on his family's farm, he had the idea to drive an old fire truck out into the field where he wanted the pond and "dig the pond around it". When asked why, he replied "So people will always wonder how I got it out on the island !"
Well, Mr. Hansell did dig the lake on his property, right next to the Poquessing Creek. Then he built a lock between the creek and his pond, so he could fill or drain his lake as needed.
As planned, he left an island in the middle of the lake, but, while the fire truck idea never worked out, he came up with another idea, just as unique.
Mr. Hansell placed two 8-foot tall dinosaurs out on the island, facing each other. And, then, around a tree, he wrapped a snake.
The dinosaurs and snake were made of cement. They were first shaped from wire mesh and then covered in the cement.
The lake isn't big; roughly a city block in size and 4-5 feet deep. It is more on the scale of a large pond. The island is roughly 50 by 100 feet.
The small size of the island made the size of the dinosaurs that much more impressive.
It is said that Mr. Wanamaker, of department store fame, used to bring some of the underpriveledged children from Philadelphia to the lake, for an afternoon of sun and swimming.
Entrance to Dinosaur Lake used to be from a dirt road that came off of Hulmeville Rd., at it's intersection with Cornwells Ave. in Cornwells Heights. Two 4-foot high brick pillars used to mark the entrance.
The dirt road ran straight back to the Poquessing Creek and ran alongside it until it came to the lake. The road and the fields it ran through have now been turned into the Village Green neighborhood.
Mr. Hansell's family farm is now the Bensalem Country Club, and the lake is still there, on the property.
the only place where you can hope to catch a glimpse of the dried up lakebed that was once Dinosaur Lake is from the back of the Franklin Mills Mall parking lot. Go behind what was once the movie theater building and look over the guard rail, into the woods. If you look hard enough, you might see it between the trees.
I picked george up then shot over to the location. When we got there, i parked behind the old movie theater and we headed on down the slope in hopes of finding the big dinosaurs and bottles the dinosaurs used. at the bottom of the slope was a creek polluted with trash. we decided to go left along the creek to look for dump sites and dinosaurs. we walked through brambles [] and over empty beer cans. after about a 1/2 mile, i realized there were no bottles or brachiosaurs. and since i didnt have a lighter to light my ciggs, i wanted to walk back. so on the way back, we walked on the other side of the creek. we came across a tire dump with a bunch of old slag in it. no bottles. so we made it back to the spot we started at, and i wanted to go check my truck. i dropped my gear and told george ill be two seconds. i hiked up the hill and when i got to the top, i saw the cop car pulling up. i had encounters with other police officers before, and didnt think nothin of it. i walked over and the two officers asked the question in a philadelphia manner, "watcha doin". i told them me and my buddy were lookin for old bottles. all i got were blank stares and "license and registration." so i went in the truck pulled everything out and they started to grill me to no end. are ya huntin? are ya puttin kegs down there for later? are ya diggin graves? i showed the officers a map, and Gem Trails of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. they said they never heard of anything so crazy in there lives about diggin up old bottles. I told the officers to come back in an hour and ill give them a bottle. the one just replied "only if its full". we laughed and as he pulled away he saw the Bush Cheney sticker on my truck and asked me who i voted for. i replied George W. and he wanted my license back to write me a ticket. they just drove off. i lit up my cigg and went back down. this time we went right instead of left. as we walked i told george about my encounter and we made fun of the non bottle folk. through brambles and over trash, the thought of giant dinosaurs from the turn of the century and the bottles the builders left were getting closer. we walked probably a mile of nothingness along the creek and then realized we are not finding anything anytime soon. walked back (another mile) and got in the truck. i pulled away and off we went. It is unknown if the dinosaurs still stand on the island.
circa 1970
me and george are headin out to a new dump tomorrow that might have some promise. it is extremely close to the pontil one. its actually on the same road. im gonna post some pics tomorrow even if we dont get down to the good stuff, this way you can see it start to finish. the only problem might be gettin permission.
]. todays adventure sucked. sorry no pics, but ill be descriptive. we found out about a place called dinosaur lake.
Dinosaur Lake was a swimming hole located on the border between Philadelphia and Bensalem, Pa.
Standish Forde Hansell was a pleasant man with a playful imagination. He was known for his many "eccentric" ideas around town.
When he decided to build a pond on his family's farm, he had the idea to drive an old fire truck out into the field where he wanted the pond and "dig the pond around it". When asked why, he replied "So people will always wonder how I got it out on the island !"
Well, Mr. Hansell did dig the lake on his property, right next to the Poquessing Creek. Then he built a lock between the creek and his pond, so he could fill or drain his lake as needed.
As planned, he left an island in the middle of the lake, but, while the fire truck idea never worked out, he came up with another idea, just as unique.
Mr. Hansell placed two 8-foot tall dinosaurs out on the island, facing each other. And, then, around a tree, he wrapped a snake.
The dinosaurs and snake were made of cement. They were first shaped from wire mesh and then covered in the cement.
The lake isn't big; roughly a city block in size and 4-5 feet deep. It is more on the scale of a large pond. The island is roughly 50 by 100 feet.
The small size of the island made the size of the dinosaurs that much more impressive.
It is said that Mr. Wanamaker, of department store fame, used to bring some of the underpriveledged children from Philadelphia to the lake, for an afternoon of sun and swimming.
Entrance to Dinosaur Lake used to be from a dirt road that came off of Hulmeville Rd., at it's intersection with Cornwells Ave. in Cornwells Heights. Two 4-foot high brick pillars used to mark the entrance.
The dirt road ran straight back to the Poquessing Creek and ran alongside it until it came to the lake. The road and the fields it ran through have now been turned into the Village Green neighborhood.
Mr. Hansell's family farm is now the Bensalem Country Club, and the lake is still there, on the property.
the only place where you can hope to catch a glimpse of the dried up lakebed that was once Dinosaur Lake is from the back of the Franklin Mills Mall parking lot. Go behind what was once the movie theater building and look over the guard rail, into the woods. If you look hard enough, you might see it between the trees.
I picked george up then shot over to the location. When we got there, i parked behind the old movie theater and we headed on down the slope in hopes of finding the big dinosaurs and bottles the dinosaurs used. at the bottom of the slope was a creek polluted with trash. we decided to go left along the creek to look for dump sites and dinosaurs. we walked through brambles [
] and over empty beer cans. after about a 1/2 mile, i realized there were no bottles or brachiosaurs. and since i didnt have a lighter to light my ciggs, i wanted to walk back. so on the way back, we walked on the other side of the creek. we came across a tire dump with a bunch of old slag in it. no bottles. so we made it back to the spot we started at, and i wanted to go check my truck. i dropped my gear and told george ill be two seconds. i hiked up the hill and when i got to the top, i saw the cop car pulling up. i had encounters with other police officers before, and didnt think nothin of it. i walked over and the two officers asked the question in a philadelphia manner, "watcha doin". i told them me and my buddy were lookin for old bottles. all i got were blank stares and "license and registration." so i went in the truck pulled everything out and they started to grill me to no end. are ya huntin? are ya puttin kegs down there for later? are ya diggin graves? i showed the officers a map, and Gem Trails of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. they said they never heard of anything so crazy in there lives about diggin up old bottles. I told the officers to come back in an hour and ill give them a bottle. the one just replied "only if its full". we laughed and as he pulled away he saw the Bush Cheney sticker on my truck and asked me who i voted for. i replied George W. and he wanted my license back to write me a ticket. they just drove off. i lit up my cigg and went back down. this time we went right instead of left. as we walked i told george about my encounter and we made fun of the non bottle folk. through brambles and over trash, the thought of giant dinosaurs from the turn of the century and the bottles the builders left were getting closer. we walked probably a mile of nothingness along the creek and then realized we are not finding anything anytime soon. walked back (another mile) and got in the truck. i pulled away and off we went. It is unknown if the dinosaurs still stand on the island. circa 1970
me and george are headin out to a new dump tomorrow that might have some promise. it is extremely close to the pontil one. its actually on the same road. im gonna post some pics tomorrow even if we dont get down to the good stuff, this way you can see it start to finish. the only problem might be gettin permission.
