Pontiled at last!

[cobaltbot]

I know this is April Fool’s day, I still can’t believe it was real, but it was, and this is one fool who couldn’t be happier. Celebrate with me my friends for today I found my first whole pontiled bottle. Like Ryan before me, I’ve dug for many years without this happening. In my case this was from about age 12 to age 19 during the late sixties, early seventies, and then I started up again about seven years ago. Today was probably my best bottle day ever, and all because of finding just one whole bottle. That’s of course, because it is pontiled, is whole, is embossed, and is local. This story really began yesterday when I slipped into the woods on the way home from mowing my Aunt’s place in Havre de Grace, Md. I found the super crude pontiled base pictured below in a creek bed, but try as I might I couldn’t find the source, only a couple huge piles of sixties bottles. I went home empty handed except for the great shard I will from now on call the omen shard.

 

[cobaltbot]

Woke up this morning and was disappointed it was already light out as I wanted to get out and go bottle hunting before church. Hurried downstairs and just after I went out the door, two wild turkeys flew over my head! I had a place in mind I wanted to scout as I had driven by many times thinking you need to check that out some day. Shortly I was parked and in the woods. Seeing little green leaves forming on the sticker bushes and little yellow flowers on the spicebush trees I was thinking to myself the time for scouting is coming quickly to an end and I need to find someplace good to dig before the woods really jungle up. I quickly came upon some shallow broken old glass scattered on the slopes, did some digging but nothing whole seemed left except one fancy glass stopper, so in the interest of time moved on. I decided to go along the deer trails near the top of the hill and turned right into a hollow. Couldn’t see anything down in the new valley but decided to head near the top and follow the stream down to the main creek. Almost to the main stream I came across a foundation I’d never been to before. I was thinking to myself (again) that I should take some pics of the place before it’s obliterated by some future housing development. I didn’t see a lot of glass but some metal and probed along the walls hoping to get lucky. The slope below the foundation appeared to hold some shards so I went down there and found some crock shards that I later took this picture of back home:

 

[cobaltbot]

Moving over a little I pulled the bottom half of another bottle that’s on my wish list because I’ve never dug a whole one. I also took this pic back home of the bottle half, a common Warner’s Safe next to a stove part I dragged home last month.

 

[cobaltbot]

Next I saw the broken half of a Baltimore Brewery beer I’d never seen before and thought, great another place with killer broken stuff. My time was running out but I probed near the shards and tapped on glass just a couple inches down so I got out the rake and found more good shards. I saw something a couple feet higher up the slope and took one leaf off the bottle and saw my prize, what appeared to be a possibly whole little med sticking out of the dirt. Here’s my first pick taken while praying to the Great Spirit for this baby to be whole, Pleeeeaaassseeee!

 

[cobaltbot]

This could hardly be called digging, I held my breath as I pulled it out and turned it over, it looked perfect, THANKYOU! I breathed and not remembering yet it was April Fool’s day, but knowing it was Palm Sunday I felt like yelling Halleluiah! but did it inwardly as I didn’t want to draw attention to the place! Sorry for all the teasing and making such a big deal over one little bottle but here’s what I got:

 

[cobaltbot]

one side

 

[cobaltbot]

other side

 

[Jim]

Sweet find, Steve! That is something to be happy about. I hope that spot is loaded with pontiled treasures for you. If that one came out whole, there are others. ~Jim

 

[LC]

I have collected bottles for years, and every time I find one, it still excites me. Same way as for hunting fossils (Trilobites), When I find one, it never comes out, oh, here is one............It still comes out,,,,ALL RIGHT!

 

[cobaltbot]

base

I knew when I saw the name it was listed as rare in the York book, and couldn't wait to get home to see what else the book said. E.T. Miller was in business in York between !850 and 1866. The book mentions these are one of two york meds known to be pontiled It says there's a 4 and 1/2 inch aqua pontiled med like mine and a similar smaller size. Mine is a little over 5 and 1/2 inches!! I know this is silly but usually I scrub up my bottles right away to post and enjoy. This bottle is still wrapped up in my cold basement. I'm afraid to wash it and if I do I'm thinking of letting it soak for a couple days first. I at least wasn't going to screw with it on April Fool's Day! I think I've found a place to dig as any previous diggers would never have left that sitting on top of the ground. Now I have to find another whole pontil. I don't want to be known as the origin of the saying: Any fool can find one pontiled bottle![]