my favorite bottle - any ideas?

[milliondpi]

This is a bottle I found nearby our family farm in Jefferson County, Ohio. I greatly enjoying digging and scrounging any type of artifacts and also have a crazy fascination with local history. This bottle was found near a very old foundation where I believe one of the original settlers of our area lived. I'm not sure about the age or what it may have been used for, since there are no markings on the bottle anywhere.

It's clear, but has turned a slight purple. The bottle stands about 8" tall, the bottom is indented slightly, but not the pontil style I see on very old bottles (i'm just learning about all of this), there is a tiny scar that has been smoothed over on the bottom, there are two seams, on either side - one being much more faint than the other. The seams end .5"-.75" from the lip of the bottle, which is uneven and thick, but smooth. The whole thing is riddled with bubbles and scars that seem to be from it's creation, not the elements. I'm not sure what else to say about it other than it truly is my favorite because it was probably used by the people who once lived here. My parents' barn was built sometime between 1830-1850 and I wondered if it could be that old.

I absolutely adore searching for artifacts of any kind and can not wait to share some of the cool stuff I've found!! There are 3 dumps located on my parents' property and the property I live on, which all belonged to one large farm. Obviously most of the surface trash is from the 1950's-70's, but there are a lot of 1930's-1940's soda bottles in one dump and we've even found inkwells and a perfectly intact piece of beveled glass from the old victorian style picture frames.
I've made a little page about this on my history site at
http://www.ellienighman.com/hist/artifacts.html

Here is a close up of the top of the bottle (i must sheepishly admit I am a photographer but these aren't very good pics)

 

[milliondpi]

Here's a shot of the whole thing. If it helps, I can photograph the side seams and bottom.

 

[cordilleran]

You've ventured into the right place as this site is regularly visited by scores of well-meaning and very knowledgeable people who specialize in many types of collecting. I learn something new from my associates daily. As for your bottle, it's a medicine made no later than 1918 or thereabouts due to it changing to an amethyst color upon exposure to light. A glass clearing agent (manganese) was used in clear glass up until this time and this is why much clear glass (but not all) will turn purple.

From your brief description of the property where you and your parents(?) reside, it sounds as though there's still much exploration (and digging) to do. You mentioned an outhouse site. This would likely be one of the first locales I would investigate further. In any event, good luck on your salavage attempts and congratulations in finding Antique Bottles.Net.

 

[cobaltbot]

Cool website, welcome to the forum! If I had to guess I'd say your bottle is from 1890's to 1910. Could be from the last occupants of that foundation and that would make it cool to me!

 

[cc6pack]

ellie

I took a look at your your sights, very nice. Looks like the old bottle bug has bitten you. Sorry to say there is no known cure.[]

From your description you have an early ABM whiskey bottle, the seam lines should go all the way to the lip. Vist the photo category on the main page for some helpful tips on taking photos of glass, as you have discovered there are certain tricks you need to pick up.

Here's a site that will help you determine what type glass you have, lotta info there take it a little at a time.

Almost forgot, welcome and ask or contribute to any of the posts you see here.

http://www.sha.org/bottle/index.htm