Any San Francisco Bay Area Bottle Diggers?

[miss415]

I don't like to dig alone so hoping to find some local diggin buddies~ I'd want to you to tell me a good digging story before we meet up though! I'm in SF but I have a car.

 

[mf150]

I'm looking, too. Maybe we can form a local (SF) group that researches places to dig, etc. I have zero experience, but I have networked with a few local diggers/collectors via ebay and this forum, so, with their help, I have started down the path.

Most of the digs in SF happened in the 1960-70s during the manhattanization of the city. It was easier to get permission to dig on major contruction sites during that that period. They pulled out hundreds of artifacts and bottles from the gold rush and were able to keep them. I wish I was alive back in the 1970s!

Nowdays it's much harder to secure permission to dig unless you know someone who has property in an old area. That is where there is need for research.

Most of the neighborhoods are too new to find anything 19th century unless it was used for decades then discarded. I've found milk shards from the 1940s in our backyard. Nothing whole. Most of the houses in the neighborhoods we built with indoor plumbing. No privies.

There are a few diggers in the Bay Area and Northern California, but I'm not sure how active they. Anyway, I'm interested, too.

ORIGINAL: miss415

I don't like to dig alone so hoping to find some local diggin buddies~ I'd want to you to tell me a good digging story before we meet up though! I'm in SF but I have a car.

 

[miss415]

I know of some places outside of SF~ 1 in particular that is about 45 mins-1 hour away by car.

 

[Lordbud]

I'm in San Jose and the "digging club" in the Bay Area is quite exclusive. If you need someone to help dig and fill in the holes let me know. San Francisco is the place to dig. There is still more under the ground in the City.

 

[sodetraveler]

ORIGINAL: Lordbud

I'm in San Jose and the "digging club" in the Bay Area is quite exclusive. If you need someone to help dig and fill in the holes let me know. San Francisco is the place to dig. There is still more under the ground in the City.

If you're referring to the SJABCA, I got to meet them and attended their Christmas party last year. I just happen to work with the daughter of a member and had given her a few bottles I dug in Hawaii.

They are nice folks, but it's a very old club and many of the founding members have already died of old age - or are getting close! I've tried to stay in touch with them, but it doesn't seem like I'm going to find any digging partners there.....

I've been digging solo in the foothills around Saratoga. I've had a bit of luck, but come home empty handed as often as not - like today!

However, I pulled a couple dozen bottles Friday afternoon - although about half of them were blank screw tops from the 20's and 30's. Those went back in the hole, but here's a picture of them in situ and a shot of the dozen ones that came home - about half of which were BIMAL.

Ooops! Don't have those pictures loaded on this computer - how about a few bottles from last week then!!!

 

[sodetraveler]

Owl cleaned up

 

[sodetraveler]

Darn! It looks like most of the pictures I took with my cell phone are too large to upload here.....

I'm new here and don't know the rules, but I'm guessing that directing people to some other website might be frowned upon! Well, if you just happened to be on another website (that will not be named by me) and noticed some posts and pictures by someone called sodetraveler.....you can assume that's probably me!

Anyway, happy digging!!! []