Digging for bottles? Just harvest them!

[Xaquin]

Enclosed is a step by step tutorial on how to make a bottle hunter jealous (all in good humor) (story after the tutorial).

Step 1: Pick up your trusty digging shovel!

Step 2: Put it in your trunk. You will not need it.

Step 3: Locate a ripe Southeastern Bottle Tree (Bottleus Rootinicus).

Step 4: Pick the sweet sweet glass fruit that the bottle tree is famed for!

Step 5: Take Pictures of the spoils and make a thread!

In all seriousness, I was out scouting for a Metal Detecting place that I suspected may have some good civil war artifacts (that part was a huge failure) when I found a bunch of trees that fell during Hurricane Sandy. The root bulb of these trees is over 10 feet high and is peppered with bottles from the first half of the 20th century. It's easily the most unique and strange thing I've ever come across whilst metal detecting.

I have a lot of work if I want to get more, but the easiest fruits I was able to pluck were 3 Chero Cola Soda Water Bottles (1 was broken slightly), 1 Chero Cola Bottle, 1 Renz Cola Bottle, 1 old Orange Crush Bottle, 1 Bottle Stopper, 1 McCormick Co Bottle, and one White Jar

There were a few I left that were unmarked and an old Schlitz bottle too

all in all, a fun and unique experience!

All of these are for sale as I am not a bottle collector (though if I had the space ....)

If anyone is interested, please PM me!

 

[NyDigger1]

you should go back and dig deeper, in the crater, there might be older stuff further down, HH

 

[luckiest]

Very cool, you gotta get back there and get more!

 

[Asterx]

Haha, bottle-tree... Does the fruit taste good over cereal?

Enjoy the dig and share more pictures with us if inclined

 

[TJSJHART]

IT'S HARVEST TIME...RINSE THEM.. THEN PICS ..GIVES YOU AN IDEA WHAT IS THERE AND CONDITION .

 

[Xaquin]

ORIGINAL: TJSJHART

IT'S HARVEST TIME...RINSE THEM.. THEN PICS ..GIVES YOU AN IDEA WHAT IS THERE AND CONDITION .

the condition of the ones I pulled are so-so (I suppose) (I'm no bottle grader)

all of them seem to have very minor chips or scratches.

Once I've cleaned them, I'll post more pics. The white jar and bottle stopper cleaned perfectly. The jar is flawless as near as I can tell and the bottle stopper has a few chips at the bottom.

 

[splante]

ive always checked quickly as Ive gone by down trees, but never noticed. WIll have to take a closer look..awesome find

 

[sandchip]

Looks like some southern pieces there. What cities do you have in the bunch?

 

[Xaquin]

ORIGINAL: sandchip

Looks like some southern pieces there. What cities do you have in the bunch?

almost exclusively Washington D.C. with one of the Chero Cola Soda Waters being from GA

 

[Xaquin]

ok, latest finds from this morning were:

1 Pabst Blue Ribbon
1 Schlitz
1 Anheuser Busch
1 Chero Cola
1 S. LEFAS (which looks to be an early Orange Crush bottle)
1 DR. S. B. H. & CO. PR Registered 89
1 Coca Cola Nevember 16 1915 with the number '2' on the bottom

all are in pretty decent condition (pics forthcoming).

I left about 10 or so bottles that were in good condition but had no markings what-so-ever on them.