I was super excited when I found the first one. Now they are just pissing me off! Anyone know how common these Germantown Bottling Works Sodas are?

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Slowmovangogh

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I've been continuing to dig my new found dump. I'm still not entirely sure where the boundaries are and I've been trying to poke around to see if any areas seem older than others. I started digging a new spot the other day and started finding these art deco soda bottles. Funny thing is, in that particular area, they are all that I am finding. They aren't the oldest or the coolest but they are nice looking and local so I was super excited when I pulled the first whole one out of the ground. I'm now up to 23 of the one type and 4 of the other less sexy looking ones (in about 4 hours worth of digging). Not that I'm complaining but it's starting to feel a little silly.
Does anyone know how common they are, (or were before I found the mother load)? I say that only half in jest. I would assume they are very common given how many I just found, but I have only found one other example online (the clear variant).
 

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CanadianBottles

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Sounds like you may have found the spot where a bottler dumped their stock of bottles when switching over to a new style or going out of business. Finding a massive amount of the same bottle in one place doesn't necessarily mean they're common (or at least weren't common until you found them). Also possible that it was a hotel dump and that was the brand of soda they carried, in which case they're more likely to be common because small bottlers didn't often get contracts with hotels.
 

Bottle 2 Rocks

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I have never seen the Germantown but have seen many other companies using this fancy mold pattern, usually dating in the 40's and into the 50's most being from NY and Penn towns
 

Bottle 2 Rocks

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The other plain style with the petals on the shoulder had a paper label and looks like it dates to the teens. Being from a major city like Philly I would assume that there was quite a bit of both bottles made for a high populated area.
 

Slowmovangogh

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I had similar thoughts about it being the bottlers dump but it is a little far from the address on the bottle. Those are the only bottles I've been finding in that part of the dump but there has been plenty of rusty metal and old cow bones in that spot too. A few feet away it turns back into mostly household stuff. These ones I'm pretty sure are from the 1930s. I have pulled a few turn of the century bottles out from a different pocket but the vast majority seems to be 20s and 30s. The latest conclusive date I have identified was 1939 which makes perfect sense. The dump is in the woods at the edge of a highway that was build in 1940. I think it was a farm dump because there are large parts of an old carriage or cart scattered around. My thoughts are that the highway went through the middle of where the farm once was.
 

Slowmovangogh

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I also would assume common, but like I said I can only find one other example. Not that that means there aren't plenty of others out there, just that I couldn't find any.
 

Bottle 2 Rocks

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Can't always date a dump based on older content, sometimes people just hold onto junk for a while before dumping it later. Cleaning out a barn or outbuilding to get rid of decades old junk.
40 years ago I found a few 1880's bottles in a small farm dump right beside acl's and newer 50's bottles at same depth undisturbed since time they were dumped, threw me for a loop at the time but makes plenty of sense now.
 

Len

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Indeed, there are always variables. That is: A) part of the fun B) " " " learning process C) the reason we spent a lot of time online and in libraries D) why we joined this club E) (Nah, too easy...)

Efforts well executed Fishnemesis. Wise archaeological advocate (and still smiling after 40+ years), Bottle 2 Rocks.

CT Len
 

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