Found memory card, so here is a sweet dig from May!

[Plumbata]

Here are the photos covering a very excellent dig my father and I had at the TOC dump on Mother's Day. It's almost blasphemous for a digger to say, but I was getting pretty sick of all the stoneware, lol. Fun to dig, but the big beasts it need to be hauled back too.

Father passing through the gates to an alternate universe...

...A mysterious cosmos comprised of nothing but old garbage!

2 jugs hanging out together:

The haul, including a sparkly BIM slugplate SS coke:

Wasn't expecting to dig a Texas hutch here!

And... Totally unrelated pictures from when some friends and I decided to clean-up a beautiful natural area with the most striking small canyon I've seen anywhere in the area, which also is home to a lovely micro-biome full of rare plants and other interesting things. One does not think of this when one thinks of Central Illinois (typically a sea of flat cornfields). Anyway, some #@%!ing stupid inbred bumpkins decided to spray-paint the rock walls with the uninspired filth that they pass off as an expression of their devotion to the Insane Clown Posse, and we got pissed and decided to scrub off what we could and cleanse the area of the putrid corruption that is anything which even remotely relates to the ICP. The heathens also left tons of trash, including 9 spray paint cans. Disgusting. The spot had been a meeting place for secret coal miners unions back in the day, and though largely forgotten now the place was a "park" of sorts in former times, with carvings on the rock going back to the 1870s. Sweet carvings are fine and enhance the aesthetics of the place in my opinion, but the painting has gotta stop.

Childhood friend Bill in frame:

What Bill sees when he looks down over the ledge:

A cool grotto formed over the centuries by the flow of water from a little ravine way up (and sullied by the ignorant vandals):

I feel protective of the spot, as I found it years ago, before any of that spraypaint crap showed up. Seeing how carelessly people can treat something so beautiful, especially in a region where such formations are so scarce, makes my blood boil.

 

[RICKJJ59W]

Its cool your dad digs with you. Nice Jugs.

 

[THE BADGER]

sweet digs plum,love the stoneware,although if way back in the woods could understand how it would be tough to get those babies home.just call 911 and when the chopper lowers the basket just fill it with the jugs. hahaha badger

 

[GACDIG]

Nice pull Plum. It is neat to see that much stone come out of one dig. Good stuff.

 

[MNJars]

That zinc lid on the right looks like a nice one. Is it in rough shape?

 

[Plumbata]

Thanks folks, this dump is very productive in terms of stoneware. I'm just hoping to get a stenciled local jug instead of more of these common pieces. Local jugs may be pretty plentiful out east but around here they are extremely hard to come by, and tend to be prohibitively expensive if available. Normally the rule of thumb my father and I use is when excavating dumps is "if you find a jug or a hutch it was a good dig" so this spot is a real gem according to our standards, as it produces plenty of both with regularity.

Also in the pics of the finds are 2 sizes of the small "Smith's Bile Beans" bottles, a cathedral peppersauce identical to one I dug in '07, and assorted locals, including the scarce amber cylinder from Allaire Woodward & Co, a local bulk drug supplier.

ORIGINAL: THE BADGER

just call 911 and when the chopper lowers the basket just fill it with the jugs. hahaha badger

Hahaha! [] Man that'd be a riot, might have to try that sometime. [8D]

And MNjars, the lid with rosette was in OK shape, but my father collects the inserts and i guess he didn't know I wanted it as-is, so the zinc was all ripped off. The band to the Mason's Improved (i think) is in great shape though.

 

[treeguyfred]

Awesome dig and awesome pics, plumb! Looks like a really sweet spot! I also appreciate the last few pics and comments. I have the same feelings about our local historic sites. The senseless tagging and other crap is disrespectful and damaging, both to demean the site so that it loses its important impact and that removing it changes the surface of the stone.
Good work, good lookin out,
Fred

 

[deenodean]

ORIGINAL: Plumbata

Thanks folks, this dump is very productive in terms of stoneware. I'm just hoping to get a stenciled local jug instead of more of these common pieces. Local jugs may be pretty plentiful out east but around here they are extremely hard to come by, and tend to be prohibitively expensive if available. Normally the rule of thumb my father and I use is when excavating dumps is "if you find a jug or a hutch it was a good dig" so this spot is a real gem according to our standards, as it produces plenty of both with regularity.

Also in the pics of the finds are 2 sizes of the small "Smith's Bile Beans" bottles, a cathedral peppersauce identical to one I dug in '07, and assorted locals, including the scarce amber cylinder from Allaire Woodward & Co, a local bulk drug supplier.

ORIGINAL: THE BADGER

just call 911 and when the chopper lowers the basket just fill it with the jugs. hahaha badger

Hahaha! [] Man that'd be a riot, might have to try that sometime. [8D]

And MNjars, the lid with rosette was in OK shape, but my father collects the inserts and i guess he didn't know I wanted it as-is, so the zinc was all ripped off. The band to the Mason's Improved (i think) is in great shape though.

Sweet finds !! [sm=thumbup1.gif]

 

[deacon_frost]

nice finds plummy really love all the stoneware, I would assume none of it was marked?

 

[epackage]

Nice pics and good job cleaning the ICP junk. What's the scoop on this bottle?