New and looking for info...

[jrzboy]

Hello all!

New to the forum and new to the world of bottles. I've been visiting the site for a couple of weeks now and reading many great posts. I first learned about bottle digging and collecting by way of a book called "The Urban Treasure Hunter".

Although the book is geared more toward the metal detectorist, it provided some basic info. on bottle hunting and included a great story about two guys who paddled up a river (in Texas, if I remember correctly) and discovered a bottle dump site which turned out to be the remains of a Prohibition era Speakeasy!

I'm looking to do some reading on digging and collecting. Any book and/or website advice would be greatly appreciated.

If I do get into this great hobby, I think I'll wind up going after poisons and heavily embossed, ornately designed stuff as my glass of choice. I love that skull poison!

Thanks for looking and good hunting!

-Jeff

 

[KBbottles]

Welcome! I've been collecting for years and find this website to be one of the best resources yet! Also, there are a number of bottle shows each year across the local region. I'm assuming your in NJ? The next show here that I know of is one in may in Brick township. It's a great chance to meet other locals in the hobby, learn about all the awesome bottles out there and also score a few good deals for your collection. I wish I had picked which type of bottle to collect before I did, but I started out young when I found a small 30s farm dump behind my house and so kept all sorts of stuff, sodas, milks, meds, etc... Now I focus mostly on inks, colored meds, and pontiled material. My favorite bottle out there are those by rumford chemical works and so after learning that they come in a ton of rare colors, I am on a mission to find them all. I'd have to say the longer you keep at this hobby, the more your "palate" changes. Your collection over the years will grow and evolve. For a while I was hoarding, but now I can let bottles go that I don't have displayed. Anyway, hope this helps!

 

[jrzboy]

Hey KB.

You are correct - I am a Jersey boy. I live in Hillsborough, up in Somerset County. Thanks for the warm welcome. If I get a chance, I'll definately be checking out some shows. I'm going to have a look at what materials my county library system has to offer. There should be at least a book or two. I want to do some research on the hobby before I make any seroius investments. So far I like what I see. Thanks again!

-Jeff

 

[buzzkutt033]

hi Jeff,

welcome to our little corner of the world. i'm in eastern pennsylvania, about 20 miles north of allentown.... not sure what part of jersey you're in, but theres a good chance you're in prime bottle digging country. no need to make any " serious " investments right off the bat. dip your toes in the water for a while. it's a great hobby for me. fresh air, lots of local history, meet new people and get exercise. all that and once in a while we actually find neat stuff!!

good luck to you jeff, whatever path you choose,

jim

 

[KBbottles]

Hey Jeff,

Small world! I'm right over in Franklin Park bordering South Brunswick area. I haven't found any digging sites yet in our area but I bet there are some. Let me know how you make out at the library. I did contact the local historical society which was very friendly, but they didn't seem to know of any good sites, but suggested looking out for old farmhouse estate sales. There has to be a couple of big farm dumps in our area especially with all of the old homes along South Middlebush or so. I got started on this hobby when I was very young... like 10 years old LOL Basically I discovered a small little turn of the century dump in my old hometown of Monmouth Junction and so I pretty much dug out the whole thing. It was only about a foot deep at the most. Found some cool stuff, got hooked, connected with other fellow diggers and then when I went away to school, the digging stopped for a while. I've been out of school for a few years now and so finally just got back into it. Check out my posts in the digging section on one of the local dumps I've been digging. This dump site is enormous and not too far away. When I was there yesterday, I met another digger who is there a lot and he gave me another site location a little further away toward the shore that supposedly yields some cool poisons from time to time. Hopefully I'll try that one out too.

 

[jrzboy]

Hey Guys,

Thanks again. I am under the same assumption. With all the old farmland, creeks, rivers, and such, there's got to be something to dig around here... I recall being a kid and riding trails through the woods in the Bridgewater/North Branch/Branchburg area and coming across a dumpsite near the Raritan River. With all the housing developments that have all but wiped out my old childhood stomping grounds, I wonder what's still there to find?

-- Jeff