About four years ago, I was in pursuit of old bottles South of Sacramento in the Delta region....I found a little dump with a few items showing promise....After digging around for a while & finding a Pacific Soda Water bottle (a blob top) & a Nabob whiskey...I came across a very rusty concreted metal box (12"" x 8" X 4" tall....Through the rust, lime & rock hard concretion I could see the slight curve of a brass coin...matter of fact, there were several coins all in a row in the end of the box. Everything was compacted together...I gathered up the box with contents intact & took them to the car.....The more I looked..... the more curious I became....What lay in the box concealed ? At home I slowly took the metal box apart being careful to protect the contents....
It took three weeks to conserve the interior contents....but I was able to preserve the whole thing.....The metal box had contained a complete set of Tien Gow....from the very small ivory die...to the small blue & white game pieces & a complete set of Ebony dominoes.....It was all there....I can only date it by the bottles around it : circa 1880 to 1890....
I check on the items every so often, but my conservation technique seems to have worked....I mean hours of meticulous labor...hand rubbed oil to preserve the Ebony & Ivory....(sounds like a Paul McCartney song)
The Chinese were very present in the Sacramento delta....They built the levees & worked the crops...They eventually went to the Central Pacific to build the railroad....The Chinese people were a very important part of early California history....In the delta, Tongs were a way of life...gaming was the rule.
It took three weeks to conserve the interior contents....but I was able to preserve the whole thing.....The metal box had contained a complete set of Tien Gow....from the very small ivory die...to the small blue & white game pieces & a complete set of Ebony dominoes.....It was all there....I can only date it by the bottles around it : circa 1880 to 1890....
I check on the items every so often, but my conservation technique seems to have worked....I mean hours of meticulous labor...hand rubbed oil to preserve the Ebony & Ivory....(sounds like a Paul McCartney song)
The Chinese were very present in the Sacramento delta....They built the levees & worked the crops...They eventually went to the Central Pacific to build the railroad....The Chinese people were a very important part of early California history....In the delta, Tongs were a way of life...gaming was the rule.
