Plumbata
Well-Known Member
Well, I was back in Peoria picking up necessary items from home, and after takin' care of business I had the itch to go get my dig on, so I decided to scratch it.
I went to my main dump to see if I had missed anything, and apparently all I had missed in the area was a small ABM bromo seltzer and a few other crappy bottles. It was a waste of a few hours. I had spoken to the GF and she wanted me to shower before heading to a favorite Vietnamese restaurant later in the afternoon, so before wasting more time so i packed up and left.
On a whim on the way back, I decided to check out a place that often has small piles of bottle-laden dirt dumped. I drove by and saw shards and a few bottles laying near the base of the pile, so I parked and investigated. Much to my surprise, I was looking at a handblown embossed Peoria bottle laying face up on the side of the pile, and immediately I knew that it was one I had not found yet. It was a "Jobst Bethard Co. Peoria, ILL" flavoring extract bottle from the TOC, and even though it isn't a mindblowing find I was really happy about adding a new one to the collection. I haven't dug a shard of one before, so woohoo!
I walked on the other side of the pile and saw a blown soda completely exposed, so i picked it up and it was a slugplate from St. Louis. I wished it was a local but you can't always win this game. Hadn't found one of em before so all it did was make me wonder what treasures were lying in wait within the dirt pile.
I went and got my shovel from the truck, and started slicing away at the pile. About 5 minutes into it, I hit my first dug bottle from the pile; a clear, whittled, blown olive or pickle or vegetable medley bottle. Blank and worthless, but what can ya do.
Then I came across a shard of a handblown SS Peoria coke of the extremely attractive style not used by many bottlers. The good ones i've sold in the past went for 110+ each so I lamented its condition, but didn't think much of it.
As I was carefully peeling away the dirt pile with my spade, I heard the clink of another bottle. I quickly expose the base, and see that it appears to be the same kind of SS coke represented by the shard I had found a moment before! I pull it out of the loose clay, and sure enough, it is complete!! I wipe away the clay, and see that it has no cracks or chips, so I happily took my bounty back to the truck. [
]
I went back, and after digging for a few minutes without any sign of glass, I feel another clink of the shovel blade on the unmistakable sound of a (more-or-less) intact bottle. I exposed the bottle more and immediately processed the profile of the base as another SS coke! I pulled it out, wiped it off, and sure enough it was another SS coke without chips or cracks! I wasn't even halfway done with the pile and at this point I was completely stoked, knowing that i didn't deserve such easy pickin's but not complaining either. I figured that i had paid my dues earlier by wasting far more energy finding a bromo, so these finds were somewhat well deserved. I decided that I would have a good reason to take the gal out to Red Lobster for mountains of crab legs, with these finds paying the way.
I continued digging with no signs of more glass for a while, but yet again i hit the unmistakable sound and feel of a complete bottle, so I carefully exposed the piece and saw that it was a milk! I pulled it out thinking that it would be a blank SP, but it ended up being an extremely rare 1st generation pre WWI "Roszells" milk. I've found one before, but accidentally knocked it off a table onto a piece of fossilized wood... I would have much preferred that wood to have been recent and not many millions of years old when I heard the sound of broken glass. Ugh. This one came out looking great with no chips, but after washing I found a small stress crack in the backside. It is hard to see and detracts little from the visual appeal, though certainly much from the value. Regardless, I don't mind since it looks alot better than the one I broke and will (re)assume a proud place in my Peoria milk accumulation. The one I broke had a conchoidal ding near the front which was distracting, but this one looks fantastic! The base has a great deal of wear so it must have been used quite a bit.
So overall, I added 1 new bottle to my collection, replaced one I broke, and got 2 great cokes to sell to pay bills and get the girl her fill of king crab. For a 30 minute jaunt, I couldn't have been happier.
As you may have guessed from the previous line, I finished the pile in about 30 minutes, and aside from the surface finds, the aforementioned 4 bottles were the only ones i dug, 3 of which were just plain awesome. It blew my mind that I could dig 100 bottles in a day, none of which would be as good as one of those 3 out of 4. I would kill a village to have at it in the spot where the dirt came from... []
Oh yeah. []
I went to my main dump to see if I had missed anything, and apparently all I had missed in the area was a small ABM bromo seltzer and a few other crappy bottles. It was a waste of a few hours. I had spoken to the GF and she wanted me to shower before heading to a favorite Vietnamese restaurant later in the afternoon, so before wasting more time so i packed up and left.
On a whim on the way back, I decided to check out a place that often has small piles of bottle-laden dirt dumped. I drove by and saw shards and a few bottles laying near the base of the pile, so I parked and investigated. Much to my surprise, I was looking at a handblown embossed Peoria bottle laying face up on the side of the pile, and immediately I knew that it was one I had not found yet. It was a "Jobst Bethard Co. Peoria, ILL" flavoring extract bottle from the TOC, and even though it isn't a mindblowing find I was really happy about adding a new one to the collection. I haven't dug a shard of one before, so woohoo!
I walked on the other side of the pile and saw a blown soda completely exposed, so i picked it up and it was a slugplate from St. Louis. I wished it was a local but you can't always win this game. Hadn't found one of em before so all it did was make me wonder what treasures were lying in wait within the dirt pile.
I went and got my shovel from the truck, and started slicing away at the pile. About 5 minutes into it, I hit my first dug bottle from the pile; a clear, whittled, blown olive or pickle or vegetable medley bottle. Blank and worthless, but what can ya do.
Then I came across a shard of a handblown SS Peoria coke of the extremely attractive style not used by many bottlers. The good ones i've sold in the past went for 110+ each so I lamented its condition, but didn't think much of it.
As I was carefully peeling away the dirt pile with my spade, I heard the clink of another bottle. I quickly expose the base, and see that it appears to be the same kind of SS coke represented by the shard I had found a moment before! I pull it out of the loose clay, and sure enough, it is complete!! I wipe away the clay, and see that it has no cracks or chips, so I happily took my bounty back to the truck. [
]
I went back, and after digging for a few minutes without any sign of glass, I feel another clink of the shovel blade on the unmistakable sound of a (more-or-less) intact bottle. I exposed the bottle more and immediately processed the profile of the base as another SS coke! I pulled it out, wiped it off, and sure enough it was another SS coke without chips or cracks! I wasn't even halfway done with the pile and at this point I was completely stoked, knowing that i didn't deserve such easy pickin's but not complaining either. I figured that i had paid my dues earlier by wasting far more energy finding a bromo, so these finds were somewhat well deserved. I decided that I would have a good reason to take the gal out to Red Lobster for mountains of crab legs, with these finds paying the way.
I continued digging with no signs of more glass for a while, but yet again i hit the unmistakable sound and feel of a complete bottle, so I carefully exposed the piece and saw that it was a milk! I pulled it out thinking that it would be a blank SP, but it ended up being an extremely rare 1st generation pre WWI "Roszells" milk. I've found one before, but accidentally knocked it off a table onto a piece of fossilized wood... I would have much preferred that wood to have been recent and not many millions of years old when I heard the sound of broken glass. Ugh. This one came out looking great with no chips, but after washing I found a small stress crack in the backside. It is hard to see and detracts little from the visual appeal, though certainly much from the value. Regardless, I don't mind since it looks alot better than the one I broke and will (re)assume a proud place in my Peoria milk accumulation. The one I broke had a conchoidal ding near the front which was distracting, but this one looks fantastic! The base has a great deal of wear so it must have been used quite a bit.
So overall, I added 1 new bottle to my collection, replaced one I broke, and got 2 great cokes to sell to pay bills and get the girl her fill of king crab. For a 30 minute jaunt, I couldn't have been happier.
As you may have guessed from the previous line, I finished the pile in about 30 minutes, and aside from the surface finds, the aforementioned 4 bottles were the only ones i dug, 3 of which were just plain awesome. It blew my mind that I could dig 100 bottles in a day, none of which would be as good as one of those 3 out of 4. I would kill a village to have at it in the spot where the dirt came from... [
]
Oh yeah. [
]
