Plumbata
Well-Known Member
Well, I stumbled upon what appeared to be a privy pit near my residence, so I spent yesterday digging it out when I should have been working on my 15-25 page paper due Tuesday. I'd rather be in seeds than a book any day anyway! It was an unlined 4X6.5 and about 6 feet deep pit at the deepest. Probably 1880s to right around the TOC; there were no crowns (just blobs) and no ABM bottles. Most of the good stuff was broken, like a Warners safe nervine, a normal Warners Safe, a presumably rare amber blob from Henderson, and no less than 5 busted Hostetters amongst other things. Beh.
Thankfully, my favorite class of bottles; embossed pharmacys, made a small showing but they represented perhaps 5% of all the slick pharms that came out. It was pretty annoying, I want more!!! [
] The people who used the pit were huuuuuge drinkers, the pit was totally loaded with slick flasks, many broken and many in great shape, which I took back. There was tons of ironstone china and windowpane dumped in there too, along with many many broken masons which made the process of excavation more like deconstructing than digging. No stoneware aside from a few broken mixing bowls.
All in all I would say i am pretty happy with my first privy digging experience; now I know what all the fuss is about and will hopefully get myself into some more in the future.
The total haul, including a horsford's baking soda, a lea&perrins, a maltese cross 1858, a castoria, and a ground-top Larkin which are not pictured again for good reason :
Unembossed stuff:
2 dark glass beers, 1 somewhat iridescent aqua beer, 1 applied lip pickle, 3 pumpkinseed flasks, 6 oval flasks, 10 coffin flasks, 3 ornate swirl flasks, and 2 inks. I accidentally broke 2 additional nice pumpkinseeds, since they were as thin as lightbulbs, as well as plenty others. Not a single embossed alcohol bottle came out, though I kept wiping the dirt off in hope [].
Some embossed:
A sample Kodol Dyspepsia cure (attractive little guy), a Hamburger Trophen, a "Burks Med. Co. Sole Agents Quincy, ILL" medicine or pill bottle (anyone know anything about it?), a local pharm, and a Foley's honey and tar from Steubenville, Ohio. I've dug the Chicago ones but not one from ohio, anyone know when the Foley Co. was located there?
My favorite from the dig, a "E.H. Cushman & Co. Druggists Corner Drug Store Urbana, ILL." 8 ounce pharm, filled with gunk but still a nice one. It is my first pharm from Urbana; it seems that the Champaign druggists are better represented where i've dug.
The other Pharm, a "Maxwell & Mollet Druggists Champaign, ILL." with an acorn as the makers mark on the base. I love pharms!
More embossed: A Scott's Emulsion, Mexican Mustang Liniment, 2 Piso's cure for consumption, an "Ely's Cream Blam Ely Drug Co. Owego, NY Hay Fever Catarrh" bottle. I've dug a bunch of these but this one looks a tad different. I don't have the others here so I can't quite put my finger on what the variation is though. Also got a "John Linden's Improved Oleum Baunscheidt II Cleveland O. Pat. 1877" with some of the contents still in there, and an interesting bottle shaped like a keg barrel embossed "Schuyler's Alden Pure Cider Vinegar" on one side and "Apple Juice Only" on the other side. It has a nasty chip but is still pretty darn cool.
Of the 10 coffin flasks, this is the only one with this lip treatment. Actually, out of all i've ever seen it is the only one with this treatment. Pretty nifty:
1858 with HGCo embossed on the back.
Despite the lack of any intact major discoveries and the crappy rainy and cold weather, I had a blast digging yesterday and got a few new bottles for the collection. I was going a little crazy because of the lack of any good digs lately and the stress of impending finals, but i am cured now thanks to bottle-digging-therapy and all is good in my world once again! []
Thankfully, my favorite class of bottles; embossed pharmacys, made a small showing but they represented perhaps 5% of all the slick pharms that came out. It was pretty annoying, I want more!!! [
] The people who used the pit were huuuuuge drinkers, the pit was totally loaded with slick flasks, many broken and many in great shape, which I took back. There was tons of ironstone china and windowpane dumped in there too, along with many many broken masons which made the process of excavation more like deconstructing than digging. No stoneware aside from a few broken mixing bowls.All in all I would say i am pretty happy with my first privy digging experience; now I know what all the fuss is about and will hopefully get myself into some more in the future.
The total haul, including a horsford's baking soda, a lea&perrins, a maltese cross 1858, a castoria, and a ground-top Larkin which are not pictured again for good reason :
Unembossed stuff:
2 dark glass beers, 1 somewhat iridescent aqua beer, 1 applied lip pickle, 3 pumpkinseed flasks, 6 oval flasks, 10 coffin flasks, 3 ornate swirl flasks, and 2 inks. I accidentally broke 2 additional nice pumpkinseeds, since they were as thin as lightbulbs, as well as plenty others. Not a single embossed alcohol bottle came out, though I kept wiping the dirt off in hope [
].
Some embossed:
A sample Kodol Dyspepsia cure (attractive little guy), a Hamburger Trophen, a "Burks Med. Co. Sole Agents Quincy, ILL" medicine or pill bottle (anyone know anything about it?), a local pharm, and a Foley's honey and tar from Steubenville, Ohio. I've dug the Chicago ones but not one from ohio, anyone know when the Foley Co. was located there?
My favorite from the dig, a "E.H. Cushman & Co. Druggists Corner Drug Store Urbana, ILL." 8 ounce pharm, filled with gunk but still a nice one. It is my first pharm from Urbana; it seems that the Champaign druggists are better represented where i've dug.
The other Pharm, a "Maxwell & Mollet Druggists Champaign, ILL." with an acorn as the makers mark on the base. I love pharms!
More embossed: A Scott's Emulsion, Mexican Mustang Liniment, 2 Piso's cure for consumption, an "Ely's Cream Blam Ely Drug Co. Owego, NY Hay Fever Catarrh" bottle. I've dug a bunch of these but this one looks a tad different. I don't have the others here so I can't quite put my finger on what the variation is though. Also got a "John Linden's Improved Oleum Baunscheidt II Cleveland O. Pat. 1877" with some of the contents still in there, and an interesting bottle shaped like a keg barrel embossed "Schuyler's Alden Pure Cider Vinegar" on one side and "Apple Juice Only" on the other side. It has a nasty chip but is still pretty darn cool.
Of the 10 coffin flasks, this is the only one with this lip treatment. Actually, out of all i've ever seen it is the only one with this treatment. Pretty nifty:
1858 with HGCo embossed on the back.
Despite the lack of any intact major discoveries and the crappy rainy and cold weather, I had a blast digging yesterday and got a few new bottles for the collection. I was going a little crazy because of the lack of any good digs lately and the stress of impending finals, but i am cured now thanks to bottle-digging-therapy and all is good in my world once again! [
]
