Finally dug something to write about!

[cannibalfromhannibal]

Well, the month of May was not kind to me & my shovel! After digging two promising early pre civil war wood liners that turned out to be virtually void of anything whole, I went for a couple weeks where I couldn't probe anything out! Felt lucky to find me arss with both hands wrapped around it! Been hunting a recent demo lot consisting of two homes dating to the 60's, with one always being a duplex of sorts, and another house long gone that backed up to same property that should have totaled at least 4 privies, yet nada! So I got disgusted and decided to return to the home from a month earlier where I dug the JS Mason pontiled ink, thinking there had to be at least one newer privy. I happened to be driving my car instead of my usual digging truck and had a new probe only used a couple times in my car. As I re-hunted the yard, Wham! I hit a good feeling spot about 3 feet over from the older privy. Not believing my luck, I continued on and Wham! I hit another one even better feeling about 8 feet away! Still not buying into my luck, I angle probed for a wall and found what felt to be a stone wall. Well, maybe my luck has changed, I thought. So I pulled out my short shovels and decided to do an exploratory hole mainly to see if indeed I found a wall. I dug only a couple hours that first eve as I started digging about 6 pm and quit at dusk. I was happy to discover it was indeed a stone liner and appeared round, unlike the previous rectangular one from before. I returned early the next day to get serious on it and dug for 9 hours. The hole turned weird fast. It rounded at the end but straightened out, sort of. It took on an hour glass shape and circular on each end, stretching out 8 feet. It was about 3 feet wide in the middle and a bit wider on the ends. I got to about the 9 foot level where I hit what I thought my probe bottomed out on stone. On rare occasion I have encountered a stone line bottom, and I thought this was one. But noooooo! Turned out to be a couple feet of limestone chunks used for a foundation somewhere, as they were a good bit larger than what were used for the privy walls. Some were so big I had to lump them to the side and "deal" with them in the hole. Not fun. But just under them was.....glass! And the date was right on, from the 70's-90's. Problem was, there was only about a foot and a half of use layer until the hard clay bottom at 12 foot! I came away that eve with only a small handful of bottles but the nice teal ink with the nice triple monogramed W made it all better! I decided I needed some help on this one and called my digging buddy and he was free the next day to lend a hand.......

 

[cannibalfromhannibal]

Pics of the next day (day 3) with digging buddy in the hole showing the weirdness of shape.

 

[cannibalfromhannibal]

The dig continued into day 4 and 5 mainly due to rain washout, but was still an epic beast to dig! Deepest privy in Hannibal I have dug so far. These are my finds and I came away with over a dozen inks. The nice forest green Carters cone ink is embossed Carters on the shoulder. Last photo is a fancy inkwell I though was a lamp font at first until I guessed it correctly. It has a twist pontil on the base and easily the fanciest ink I have ever dug. The Hannibal soda is a variant that is always misspelled Hannibal with one N. This is the exceptionally tough one to find spelling it correctly. The Hero jar, though not rare was found sandwiched between two ginormous lime stones with no damage! Go figure! The amber med on far right had a hole in shoulder but brought it home as I thought it was a size I didn't have but turned out I did, so wasn't too bummed. It did date the hole to the 70's, as this pharmacy was only in business in the 70's and moved to Texas by 1880. Dug a common Hoyts German cologne, but along with it were 2 I never heard of. One has a diamond shape cut panel and embossed Kidder's/German/Cologne, and one Dean's/New/Floral Cologne/W D Freeman/ Sole Agt. USA. All in all, it was at least productive. I must admit I nearly gave up several times before hitting glass near the bottom as I didn't dig anything whole until then, and only a smattering of 90's pieces near the top of the cap. Persistence paid off, but it cost me! I couldn't move for nearly a week! Returned and dug the other likely pit and was an ash pit with one bottle.......another INK! Who wudda thunk? HA! Jack

 

[botlguy]

The ink is AWESOME Jack, not listed in the Watt White auction catalog as far as I could see. With those initials it would have been a natural for him. Jim

 

[Nevadabottles]

Great finds, I really like the first ink bottle.

 

[sandchip]

Great digs, Jack! How do you decide if the hard clay at the bottom is actually the bottom or a plug?

 

[cannibalfromhannibal]

At 12 foot deep, it is certain to be the end around here. That aside, I probe the bottom. Also, I'm usually digging the use layer with a sturdy screwdriver. If I can't jam the screwdriver more than an inch or two into the floor, it's natural clay. Much the same consistency of the sides to a wood liner when the wood is all gone....Jack

 

[cannibalfromhannibal]

The ink is AWESOME Jack, not listed in the Watt White auction catalog as far as I could see. With those initials it would have been a natural for him. Jim

Only listing I could find is the Covill's "Ink Bottles & Inkwells" from 1971. I also confirmed the fancy inkwell by locating one very similar in this book.....a good reference and ID for inks. Jack

 

[hemihampton]

Some nice bottles. Looks like alot of work. Luckily they seem to average no more then 6 feet here in Michigan. LEON.

 

[sunrunner]

I don't know , out houses can be a real pain in the glass .