Bottle digging in the news

[JayBeck]

I usually read the new posts on here everyday even though I have not had much to contribute to this particular forum since I am lacking a good dump to dig in recent times. So today I went a little further & started looking for recent news articles regarding bottle digging & found more than I thought so I figured I would share them here all in one place. Depending on the interest in the thread I will update weekly or every other week just so there is one easy place to go to read all the latest in bottle news stories from around the world. Feel free to add links to any recent interesting articles you have read as well.

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/8461499.Volunteers_needed_to_dig_into_East_Oxford_s_past/

This article is dated 10-21-10 and talks about residents of East Oxford finding old bottles in their yards which led to a project with hundreds of volunteers and 330,000 pounds in funding. Put me on a plane to the UK and I will gladly volunteer! Very interesting article.

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1349482_scavenging_human_moles_dig_up_trouble_at_beauty_spot
This article is dated 10-28-10 and also from the UK but this article features some bad press in regards to bottle digging. Calling the diggers "human moles" the local residents are trying to put a stop to 2 decades of digging. Quite interesting, make sure to read the comments too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-11641413

This article is dated 10-28-10 and features a different take on the same story as above. A great example of how a few disrespectful diggers can ruin it for everyone.

http://www.metrowny.com/news/572-BOCES_students_get_a_history_lesson.html

This article is dated 10-31-10 and talks about a group of high school students who had a chance to dig up some history at the former New York Central Hotel in Niagara Falls. I wish they had a program like that when I was going to school!

http://blog.oup.com/2010/10/witchcraft/

This article is dated 10-28-10 and although it does not deal with bottle digging persay, it is a very interesting article about an anti Witchcraft bottle dug up in 2004 near London. I remember reading about these types of bottles somewhere in an old thread on the forum so post the link if you remember or can find where that thread was posted.

 

[mr.fred]

Welcome Jason!!!!------very interesting reading---thank you for taking the time to show us[]-------Chime in here anytime you feel the need-----you don't need a dump to post on here[]-------Thanks Again[]---------Fred.

 

[ruccello]

Jay, thanks for the great post. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the articles, especially the one about the students in Niagara Falls. What a great way to teach history, and to appreciate it!

Richard

 

[RICKJJ59W]

I don't have time to read it right now,but I will. Looks like some messed up laws are about to be reviled .Thanx

 

[JOETHECROW]

Thosse are some interesting reads! Thank you very much!

 

[cadburys]

What a great thread. I will say, sometimes this forum gets a little dry for my taste. It would be nice to see what's going on around the globe. I'd say keep them coming JayBeck.

Ant

 

[JayBeck]

Here are some more recent articles from the end of October and beginning of November. When I first posted this thread there were quite a few recent news articles about bottle digging out there. This time I found a few more which mostly focus on bottles but there are a couple regarding bottles and art as well as one article on sea glass which has piqued my interest in the last couple of years. Lot's of interesting stuff to read here so enjoy and I'll be back with some more in a week or two.

http://kuow.org/northwestnews.php?storyID=130977936

This first article is about a highway project in Idaho where they have uncovered more than 500,000 objects from the original town site. Very interesting article, you don't hear much about bottle digging in Idaho.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2010/11/06/rare_flasks_bottles_reflect_century_of_nh_glass/

Here is a great article about early New Hampshire glass, specifically about a dig at the Temple factory and a subsequent exhibit opening soon that I would love to go see.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/s_708078.html

This next article is about a Pennsylvania relic hunter, mostly regarding prehistoric and war relics, but nevertheless an interesting article and he does mention he collects bottles.

http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/Hertfordshire/Progress-of-Much-Hadham-PoW-camp-dig-charted-online-for-history-buffs.htm

This article is about a guy in the UK who discovered items in his backyard left over from a World War II era POW camp that once existed on the site. Very cool article and make sure to click at the bottom to read the original article as well.

http://www.northjersey.com/community/house_gardening/106812118_The_Older_Home__When_renovating_is_a_little_like_archaeology.html

This article is a little off the subject of digging but rather focuses on all objects that can be found in an older home during renovation.

http://bignews.biz/?id=934663

This article is similar to the one above, it features a contractor who focuses on foundations and crawl spaces in houses and of course he collects the old bottles, cans and other items that he has found in those spaces.

http://newsminer.com/bookmark/10184270-Fairbanks-archaeologist-creates-a-field-guide-to-coffee-cans

This Fairbanks, Alaska archeaologist focuses on coffee cans and the differences in designs over time as a means by which to date and better understand early miner sites in Alaska. He says he could talk for hours about the bottles he has found but this article focuses on the coffee cans.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/science/19glass.html?_r=1

If you have even a slight interest in sea glass you should read this article. It is amazing to me what some people are willing to pay for a piece of broken glass.

http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/sculpture %26 installation/art312285

Lastly for this installment, here is an interesting article on an art exhibit in the UK that features mainly disposable objects, such as bottles, being re-made and re-modeled. Part of the exhibit features some bottles that were broken, put back together and the artist made drawings as sort of a road map of the cracks in the glass.

 

[Lordbud]

I really enjoyed reading these articles. Hope to see more posted as they come up in the news.

 

[surfaceone]

Hey Jason,

Thanks for all the articles. I enjoyed them.

Your story on the big Idaho dig has a special quote from the Anthropologist who should be sitting on the dunce stool:

"University of Idaho anthropology professor Mark Warner says this dig stands out in the Inland Northwest... Mark Warner: “We’re learning somebody from Sandpoint, Idaho really needed to drink Florida water from Murray and Landman’s druggists, manufactured in New York. And this made it all the way across the country.†From.

 

[Plumbata]

Nice job scouring the web for those articles!

The article about house renovation brought to mind and interesting item I saw come out of a roofing job in Glasford, IL, a rural Peoria county town, a few days ago. A buddy and I were collecting nonferrous scrap out of a ravine dump (wound up being 329.24 in that load) and while there I found a Canton, IL hutchinson with the top knocked off in that ravine, along with plenty of crockery pieces, so it may offer some good digging after the scrap is removed. On the way out we stopped at his uncles place where they were overhauling the roof. Immediately my eyes were drawn to a weathered old board leaning against the fence, approximately 2 feet by 4.5 feet, which was attractively hand-carved with:

"Bateman School
District 135"

I excitedly told the homeowners to not throw the piece away, and that judging from the font I would estimate that it is from no later than the early 1910s and would be worth several hundred to the right person. They told me the building was built in about 1910 as a schoolhouse which corroborated my age estimate, and that they certainly wouldn't throw it away knowing that it was worth something. Truly an excellent find as far as they go.