Augusta, Georgia "Big Dig" PICTURES

[IloiloKano]

The "Bromo-Seltzer Bucket"

 

[IloiloKano]

Some of the broken bottles, pottery and jugs will be repaired if they are valuable enough to warrant the effort. Oops, there I go offending the purists again. Sorry.

 

[IloiloKano]

Though this was broken, I found it to be interesting, small, perhaps 2 inches wide, and ceramic with blue lettering.

 

[surfaceone]

They found one jug that was determined to be "Slave Art", and even though it was broken, I believe my brother said they got ... for it.

Hey Steven,

I was just reading about the work of "Dave the Slave," or Dave the Potter. He was from South Carolina, and lived prior to the War of Northern Aggresion. I'd be interested to learn more on this piece, if you hear back from the boys.

"Horses, mules and hogs-
all our cows is in the bogs-
there they shall ever stay
till the buzzards take them away
29 March 1836" From Dave, The Verses.

Thanks again for starting this thread and showing the diggings, even though you're not a digger or collector of old glass. Was there Civil War era stuff in there? Very cool to have Bill Baab as official scorekeeper.[8D]

"If you collect cures, then the 1884 River Swamp Chill & Fever Cure, with embossed alligator, is probably your heart’s desire, unless one is already in your collection.

There are two sizes – large and small – of the amber bottle from Augusta, Georgia. Noted cure collector John Wolf, of Dayton, Ohio, said the small size measures 6-3/8 inches tall by 2-1/4 by 4-1/4 inches. The large size measures 7 by 2-5/8 by 3/4 inches, he said.

The small size is the most common, with an estimated three dozen located in collections around the country. There are fewer than 1-1/2 dozen of the larger bottles known.

French emigre and pharmacist Louis A. Gardelle developed the concoction, with the patent medicine first advertised in The Augusta Chronicle in 1884. It was said to cure “dumb chills, chronic chills and chills and fever...

There are two varieties: On one, the “swamp†grasses stand straight up. On the other, the grasses are bending, as if in a strong wind.

The Frog Pond Chill & Fever Cure and the later tonic also came in amber bottles. It was first advertised in the local newspaper in 1887 and was developed by Augusta druggists F.A. Beall and J.B. Davenport.

The small size occasionally shows up in auctions and sells for more than $2,500. The last large size was sold in one of Jim Hagenbuch’s Glass Works Auctions and brought $15,000. It was in super mint condition with a heavy strike." From FOHBC.

I'm all confused, how did this dig get started? Is this your brother's business? Was he / they aware the dump was there before bringing in the backhoe?

I'm busy armchair digging here, so pardon the questions. It sounds like this has been a long running dig. Did the backhoe do a big "starter" hole and the hand diggers took over? I'm a non-mechanized digger, but have enjoyed the work of various mechanical digz in the lovely piles and holes they leave in their wakes. I'm always amazed at what survives being wrenched from the ground by a big steel toothed bucket and then dropped in a pile to the side.

I always wonder what is lost to those teeth and the rapid dig / dump / dig cycle.

I looked around to see if I could find something online about Mr. Baab's take on this dig, but no luck, so far. If you could point us to an article or publication, that would be wonderful.

 

[IloiloKano]

I really liked this ceramic pipe!

 

[IloiloKano]

This was the last picture I took before going home, but the diggers continued working until near sunset. The hole had to be filled before they left.

 

[loris19]

Super Cool! Keep the pics coming.

 

[IloiloKano]

ORIGINAL: Wheelah23

If you're into this for money though, I suppose the overall profit is more important than thoroughly digging the place.

Or if you run a business, that makes a living for you, your family, and several dozen other families, that would be severely disrupted by people digging random holes, (practically forever), then maybe you feel you are being generous enough by simply allowing the first dig of ANY of the properties that sit over the old Augusta dump in four decades. And maybe if you are a bottle collector that realizes everyone does not share your passion, like the current group of serious collectors doing the digging, then maybe you simply say "Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Branum" and then get on with taking and making the most of whatever opportunity you are given.

Sheesh!

 

[IloiloKano]

ORIGINAL: lexdigger

They might wanna consider a night watchman at this point. I wonder if these guys wanted the location of the dig disclosed before completion?

There is a security fence along with rather frequent traffic nearby, and the holes are always filled in before they leave. Most people don't wish to travel to an industrial area near a major city late at night in order to jump a fence and dig holes in the dark.

 

[IloiloKano]

ORIGINAL: RICKJJ59W

ORIGINAL: JOETHECROW

I believe my brother said they got $6,000 for it. Another thing they found that brought a significant amount of money was a "Monkey Jug", .................. I wasn't there for the last pick, and my brother sold most of his picks back to the diggers, ....... 

Steven,...welcome to the forum,...and I'm glad you could share your dig here....Looks like some potential for some really good stuff, having said that, I mean no offense to you, but it leaves me kinda cold, hearing the dig repeatedly referred to in such accounting terms,...and with the emphasis on money.[]

Hes a coin collector,that's all he cares about is $$$$$ [8D]

Yea, you are morally superior. Sigh.