Augusta, Georgia "Big Dig" PICTURES

[IloiloKano]

I also have one like this DIXIE, and though people suggested it was from Dixie Glass Works in Tallapoosa, GA, I'm wondering how people know it isn't from Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Augusta, GA.

 

[IloiloKano]

I received a reply from Bill Baab regarding the magazine in which the dig will be documented.

He also provided more information on the pot that was originally estimated to be worth in the range of $6,000 to $8,000.

I believe people here will find this of interest, so I am quoting from his email below.

From Bill Baab

The magazine is Bottles and Extras, publicatiuon of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors. The Big Dig of 2011 is in two parts. The first will run in the March-April issue, the conclusion in the May-June issue.

The pot found a foot below the surface was manufactured by the Rev. John Landrum, who died in the late 1840s. It is in near perfect shape. I really don't know what it will bring. We are going to advertise for sealed bids from a number of collectors.

What's this early 19th century stuff doing in a late 19th century dump? Conjecture is the previous owners held onto them until the 1880s-90s or even longer before discarding them for one reason or another.

 

[surfaceone]

ORIGINAL: IloiloKano

I also have one like this DIXIE, and though people suggested it was from Dixie Glass Works in Tallapoosa, GA, I'm wondering how people know it isn't from Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Augusta, GA.

Hey Steven,

Since I was the one doing the suggesting in that earlier thread, let me direct you to This Site, which has this listing for DIXIE Glass Co:

"DIXIE.................Dixie Glass Company, Tallapoosa, GA (1898-c.1906)"

Maker's marks are generally, not always, on the base of the bottle. Sometimes they are on the heel, or reverse side. The glass makers get second billing, as it was the bottlers, Like Dixie Coca-Cola Co. who were specifying and ordering the glass bottles.

 

[surfaceone]

The pot found a foot below the surface was manufactured by the Rev. John Landrum, who died in the late 1840s. It is in near perfect shape. I really don't know what it will bring. We are going to advertise for sealed bids from a number of collectors.

Hello Steven,

Thanks for keeping us updated. Here's a bit about The Reverend Landrum's work.

Looks like he might have known Dave...

"Dave was born into slavery in about 1801. Records show that he was "country born," which means that he began life not in Africa but in this country. His first known owner was Harvey Drake, a young man of Edgefield District, South Carolina. Harvey was in business with his uncle, Dr. Abner Landrum, who had opened a pottery factory just a mile outside the town of Edgefield. Dr. Landrum created a village, which he called Pottersville, around the enterprise.

Dave was put to work in the factory while he was still in his teens and taught how to turn stoneware vessels —jugs, pitchers, churns, storage jars—all in great demand on plantations across South Carolina. Though Pottersville has since disappeared, the spot where Dave fired his pots is still visible at the site." From.

 

[lexdigger]

I have personally infiltrated fences and spent entire nights digging by headlamps on construction sites in some of the worst neighborhoods. It's not out of the question for diggers to do this on ANY property... especially when you're talking about sites LOADED with bottles and 6-8 thousand dollar jugs being found just a FOOT below the surface. Experienced diggers can find large pottery vessels with a Probe and only dig out Tags that feel good and are shallow. It's naive, to say the least, to think that this site won't be riddled with potholes in the near future. I wasn't being a smartass about the night watchman... that was Real talk. In some cases diggers will even bribe security guards with cases of beer or other desires. I suggest a good Bull Terrier. They work for cheap and usually discourage people from even attempting to enter... but not always. Security cameras aren't too expensive.

P.S. Those cokes should sell WELL on eBay. They usually bring good prices, even damaged.

 

[CALDIGR2]

We are going to advertise for sealed bids from a number of collectors.

I don't ever play that game, it only serves to alienate REAL collectors. Establish a desired price and go from there. [8D]

 

[IloiloKano]

ORIGINAL: CALDIGR2

We are going to advertise for sealed bids from a number of collectors.

I don't ever play that game, it only serves to alienate REAL collectors. Establish a desired price and go from there. [8D]

The moral superiority schtick is going a bit over the top, don't you think?

If I were you, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for an invitation to submit a bid, which you could then rebuff in a most sanctimonious fashion, since they obviously aren't trying to strike deals with REAL collectors like you.

 

[andy volkerts]

[] Many thanks to you Steve, for sharing a exciting dig with us, many who dont get all that many chances to dig any more. I for one will state that however your family member and his cohorts are doing the digging, keep at it as I am sure many more good bottles will come out. Carry on, and please keep us posted if you will....Andy

 

[sandchip]

Is there a picture posted of the Landrum pot or did I miss it?

 

[CALDIGR2]

The moral superiority schtick is going a bit over the top, don't you think?

No "moral schtick" at all, just experience in just such a situation. I am not familiar with you, or anyone else on your project, but I have been digging and collecting since the middle of the last century, so do have a smidgeon of history in the hobby.

Some not too few years ago a local "collector" approached the widow of another early day collector about a rare flask the was in his collection. He offered her an envelope containing a sum of cash amounting to the lower end of $$$$. Needless to say, she accepted his offer, which happened to be about 1/10th of the bottle's value. Of course, she was unaware of that fact and happily passed the bottle on to him. Some few weeks later he offered the flask to the highest "sealed" bidder. At least one of the "bids" was in the $$$$$ range, but he did not accept any of them. Instead, he let it be known that if they wanted the flask another higher bid would have to be submitted. Needless to say, no further bids were received.

I sincerely apologize for my intrusion into your business, as well as for my brusque reply to your post. My point was that if you offer what you have to the highest "sealed bid" you are morally obligated to accept, it even if it is not what you had personally perceived to be it's value. I wish you the best of luck in this sale and hope that you are satisfied with the result.