zanes_antiques
Well-Known Member
Well this adventure started out on Saturday but when you dig with a 74 year old and a guy with a bad back you may need two days. I'm not putting down our "Senior Citizens" but I'd much rather dig with the able bodied. Now that I got my whining out of the way, here's the story.
I went to Wheeling W.Va. and we peeled up a little black-top in a parking lot. It was a 4'x8'x12' hole. we dug a common Wheeling hutch a few John C. Baker Bottles from Philly and a few druggists from Wheeling. There was a lot of broken bottles in the hole from the weight of the 4 feet deep clay cap. there were a couple of cracked and broken squat sodas and a broken Pikes peak flask.
We got about half the hole dug and it was getting late. the guys I was digging with wanted to fill it back in but I wasn't having no parts of that idea! They both had plans for the next day so I begged my brother to help me finish it. So 6AM yesterday morning CraigC90 showed up at my house all bright eyed and bushy-tailed. We made the 35 minute drive down river and opened the hole back up. I spent the first two hours filling buckets with clay from the undug side of the hole. when we had enough uncovered I thought it only right to give my brother the use layer. Not much good came from it though as we only dug two more druggist and a broken Henry Daub Squat Soda from Wheeling. A good bottle when found intact.
My brother thinks it may have been some type of eatery because of all the broken condiment and castor set bottles we found. I think maybe some type of boarding house. One odd thing he found was a 100 plus year old latex condom. Go figure. Notice the F&J Heinz Bottle that had the lip missing. It would've been a nice find.
One great thing about the dig was that I got several more permissions in the area and will be starting a new hole ASAP. Maybe this will be the one that bags me a green or yellow "Old home Bitters" or a nice cobalt blue "Dr. Hennig's".
I hope I haven't rambled on too much so I'll just close by saying...Enjoy the photos.
I went to Wheeling W.Va. and we peeled up a little black-top in a parking lot. It was a 4'x8'x12' hole. we dug a common Wheeling hutch a few John C. Baker Bottles from Philly and a few druggists from Wheeling. There was a lot of broken bottles in the hole from the weight of the 4 feet deep clay cap. there were a couple of cracked and broken squat sodas and a broken Pikes peak flask.
We got about half the hole dug and it was getting late. the guys I was digging with wanted to fill it back in but I wasn't having no parts of that idea! They both had plans for the next day so I begged my brother to help me finish it. So 6AM yesterday morning CraigC90 showed up at my house all bright eyed and bushy-tailed. We made the 35 minute drive down river and opened the hole back up. I spent the first two hours filling buckets with clay from the undug side of the hole. when we had enough uncovered I thought it only right to give my brother the use layer. Not much good came from it though as we only dug two more druggist and a broken Henry Daub Squat Soda from Wheeling. A good bottle when found intact.
My brother thinks it may have been some type of eatery because of all the broken condiment and castor set bottles we found. I think maybe some type of boarding house. One odd thing he found was a 100 plus year old latex condom. Go figure. Notice the F&J Heinz Bottle that had the lip missing. It would've been a nice find.
One great thing about the dig was that I got several more permissions in the area and will be starting a new hole ASAP. Maybe this will be the one that bags me a green or yellow "Old home Bitters" or a nice cobalt blue "Dr. Hennig's".
I hope I haven't rambled on too much so I'll just close by saying...Enjoy the photos.
