Found this on a hike today. It’s the oldest bottle I’ve ever found but I’m trying narrow down a date range

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PlaneDiggerCam

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one reason I'm not finding old bottles on the surface here might be tree growth , my area had been largely deforested in the 1880's due to logging and attempts at farming . most of these lots are now entirely forested again

so a bottle from 100 years ago might be a lot harder to find in such conditions

I do check roadway embankments and places people don't go often and do find things here but a lot of modern bottles and cans from the 60's till now

Same with me. However if you research where old roads were only in the 1800s sometimes old bottles were pitched off these roads. I've found some pre-1910 bottles, especially BIM stuff, by walking these old roads.
 

willong

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Same with me. However if you research where old roads were only in the 1800s sometimes old bottles were pitched off these roads. I've found some pre-1910 bottles, especially BIM stuff, by walking these old roads.
Likewise for old railroad grades. Check especially near significant cuts and old trestle sites. Remember that, despite steam shovels and blasting technology, much of the nineteenth century construction was still done by hand. Stands to reason that if a project took awhile, then workmen were in the area to discard bottles emptied during their lunch breaks.

3555298d128c692795ff442f88c2276e.JPG
See the gully descending the hill behind the V of the cut? In the 1970's, I found BIM bottles on the uphill bank of the fill that crosses that gully. They might have been discarded by the men excavating the cut or those constructing the bridge. I'd be willing to bet that more were likely tossed into Sheep Creek itself--it's an impressively deep drop to the water in that narrow gorge!

I also stumbled across the remains of a tiny log cabin on a flat above the background of this historic photo. I suspect that it had been inhabited by tie hacks during the RR construction phase. Their small surface dump was still untouched when I found it. Unfortunately, the inhabitants appear to have been teetotalers--there were no whiskey, beer or bitters bottles evident.
 
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PlaneDiggerCam

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Likewise for old railroad grades. Check especially near significant cuts and old trestle sites. Remember that, despite steam shovels and blasting technology, much of the nineteenth century construction was still done by hand. Stands to reason that if a project took awhile, then workmen were in the area to discard bottles emptied during their lunch breaks.

View attachment 213685See the gully descending the hill behind the V of the cut? In the 1970's, I found BIM bottles on the uphill bank of the fill that crosses that gully. They might have been discarded by the men excavating the cut or those constructing the bridge. I'd be willing to bet that more were likely tossed into Sheep Creek itself--it's an impressively deep drop to the water in that narrow gorge!

I also stumbled across the remains of a tiny log cabin on a flat above the background of this historic photo. I suspect that it had been inhabited by tie hacks during the RR construction phase. Their small surface dump was still untouched when I found it. Unfortunately, the inhabitants appear to have been teetotalers--there were no whiskey, beer or bitters bottles evident.
Lots of bottles were also pitched from the train too. Sometimes they wouldn't break from the pitch. But yeah, definitely walk old roads, abandoned rail lines, etc.
 

ROBBYBOBBY64

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one reason I'm not finding old bottles on the surface here might be tree growth , my area had been largely deforested in the 1880's due to logging and attempts at farming . most of these lots are now entirely forested again

so a bottle from 100 years ago might be a lot harder to find in such conditions

I do check roadway embankments and places people don't go often and do find things here but a lot of modern bottles and cans from the 60's till now
Too close to the roads and people throw them from their cars. Lots of 50s, 60s stuff. The occasional 20s or 30s. Any old attractions that closed down? Resorts or parks. Usually a slew of surface trash. Around a lake or any place you can legally go that wasn't clear cut. The last place I found was an area that is 2 1/2 hours way and that is one way. Actually 3 seperate spots. Sometimes you have to travel. Spots i have searched 20 times at least always seam to find something i missed. It is really weird like that. No matter how hard I try there is always something I missed, some amazing stuff too! Always worth another look or two.
ROBBYBOBBY64.
 

ROBBYBOBBY64

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Kings highway is i believe one of the oldest highways in the country. I have walked some stretches but no revolutionary stuff yet. Also I don't know that the highway hasn't moved so. One of the best surface find I ever had was an old road that was re-engineering. The old stretch of roadway was left in the woods... it was like a time capsule of old bottles all over the surface due to an old rest area that obviously sold refreshments. It too was just a foundation in the woods.
ROBBYBOBBY64
 

RCO

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Too close to the roads and people throw them from their cars. Lots of 50s, 60s stuff. The occasional 20s or 30s. Any old attractions that closed down? Resorts or parks. Usually a slew of surface trash. Around a lake or any place you can legally go that wasn't clear cut. The last place I found was an area that is 2 1/2 hours way and that is one way. Actually 3 seperate spots. Sometimes you have to travel. Spots i have searched 20 times at least always seam to find something i missed. It is really weird like that. No matter how hard I try there is always something I missed, some amazing stuff too! Always worth another look or two.
ROBBYBOBBY64.

I have found items at spots I've been to many times before , the flat top 7 up can was found on a woodlot I had checked many times before

there are some old pioneer roads here but there pretty remote , its also hunting season now so its best to avoid those areas until that's over

I usually find bottles in the water at old hotel sites , not so much on the ground , although it might depend how much the site has been cleaned or grown in

our search season is nearly over here although sometimes I can still find stuff in November if we don't get a lot of snow
 

EdsFinds

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I'm doing the same thing here in South Jersey. I'll either walk the wooded embankments off the roadsides for old sodas, or there are abandoned old factory/building sites that have since been reclaimed by nature. I find a lot of surface bottles in these areas. Ha, my favorite site right now is an old brick factory. The funny thing is that they demolished the buildings and there are tons of bricks and debris all around the site and yet somehow these bottles have survived amidst and through all the demolition and time! Go figure...bricks + bottles = smashed glass, right? Not entirely!
 

GLASSHOPPER55

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Around 2005 I found a rare local hutch bottle just laying on the surface behind where an old house once stood. It was gone but some old outbuildings still stood. I still can't believe it happened and though I've probed the place to death I never found anything else like it.
 

sunrunner

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NJ. has plenty of old dups left. there just harder to get to . when i lived there back in the 1950s 60s and 70s junk was all over .
 

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