Questions

[Holindaze]

I am getting married next month and a lot of my collections will be trashed, sold or stored but thats the price for letting someone into your life sometimes. But these are some questions that I have been wanting to ask but was afraid to ask as I thought I would be banned from the site.
A lot of people say they dig for bottles and other treasures to "save history" but how many of you keep records of where you found your bottles and other finds. I have not found a lot of stuff but I have forgotten where and how I found most of it.
What would you do if you found a major historical site? In my area, there are old stories about an old stone house that was built before the civil war but nobody knows where it was. If it was found, it would be an great find for local history but it would also contain some valueable items, so if you found something like that, would you keep it secret or tell somebody and risk getting nothing except your name in the local paper?

 

[Holindaze]

If you found something a local museum wanted but could not pay as much as you would get on ebay, would you sell it or donate it?

 

[towhead]

If you need the money, sell it. Maybe the rich person, who buys it, can donate it to a museum. -Julie

 

[suzanne]

No offense please but you said you would have to give up some of your stuff which makes me wonder if you are a compulsive collecter. (hoarder) My mom was like that. I would pick up some piece of rusty junk and ask her what it was and she would say nervously, "I don't know but don't throw it away". She had a special love for fences and barbed wire. I am always getting caught in it trying to get rid of it. Last time everyone was yukking it up in the house and no one heard my wails of agony. It was all I could do to extricate myself. She was like this with everything. My fashion model sister came to visit from LA a couple years ago and stood in the sunny yard surveying the mountains of crap. "It's nothing that 80,000 dollars and a bulldozer can't fix", she said, trying to smile. It has finally gotten to the point where I can mow the yard and be reasonably assured I'm not going to hit something that will deal the mower it's final death blow. It is a John Deere I got a couple years ago and it is battered and beaten from these bloody yard battles. And then a tree fell on it. Anyway, I didn't know hoarding was a mental disorder, I just thought it was caused by a lack of common sense, and I made monumental efforts to explain to Mom why you shouldn't keep stuff around that you hadn't used in years and didn't even know what it was. To her, each of these worthless items was precious in it's own way.

A co-worker of mine was the same way. He was going to move in with his girlfriend. He was a pretty nice guy, really, but a packrat. He came into work one morning and said she had kicked him out. I said, "Dennis, you have barely started moving your stuff in! (according to him)

 

[glass man]

It is a fine line between "hoarding" and "collecting" sometime...I hope you can help or get help for your mom Suzanne!Sounds pretty tough...I have a loved one that gets really mad if you try to get rid of some of their stuff...at least what they have want hurt you...so very hard when it is some one you love..they feel you are trying to hurt/controll them and are convinced they may need the things one day.[when?]Then again Andy Warhol and many others were like that and years later some were glad they were..like I said"a fine line".

Holendazed...my first wife hated me collecting bottles or pretty much any thing that took away from...HER!When we would get into anargument the first thing she would go after was my bottle collection..[&o]I finally sold them to "make her happy" then she left with another man...not saying this will happen to you...my "sweet wife" accepted me collecting then got into it herself!

As I told her after we 1st got married..this is more then collecting it is an investment..she has learned this since we have needed money...of course I have bought and sold all types of stuff...it is usually way easy to buy then to sell..especially at a profit,but then how much is any body gonna get for all the crap they buy at wal-mart?Their are plastic tubs bought at wal mart filled with crap for wal-mart round here..not our junk but kin folks..

Any way my rule of thumb is usually...do I really need this? or can I sell this and get at least"something" for it...pretty fast?

I have never known any one keeping a journal of their digs [cept video...look under Rick Weiner-best entertaining digging vids I have ever seen!] cool idea though.

I was the 1st one to "loan" our museum things in 1977...they are still there...for now..can be a good place to keep things cause others get to enjoy them ..while they stay pretty safe and hopefully go up in price!Example: a local drug store bottle I gave 2 bucks for in 1976 is worth maybe 50 bucks round here...for now.Do not donate!This has nothing to do with being selfish !You may need the stuff for money one day or as sometimes happens the museum breaks up and the things you donated may go to some one else for little or nothing!JAMIE

 

[blobbottlebob]

I have never known any one keeping a journal of their digs

I thought it might be apropriate to respond to this Jamie. I keep a log of all of my finds but it is scuba journal. I usually draw my favorite bottle or item and then relate what happened during the trip. I doubt that I will find a submerged area of major historical significance, but it is fun to look back and remember what I found and what I was doing.

 

[mr.fred]

ORIGINAL: Holindaze

I am getting married next month and a lot of my collections will be trashed, sold or stored but thats the price for letting someone into your life sometimes. But these are some questions that I have been wanting to ask but was afraid to ask as I thought I would be banned from the site.
A lot of people say they dig for bottles and other treasures to "save history" but how many of you keep records of where you found your bottles and other finds. I have not found a lot of stuff but I have forgotten where and how I found most of it.
What would you do if you found a major historical site? In my area, there are old stories about an old stone house that was built before the civil war but nobody knows where it was. If it was found, it would be an great find for local history but it would also contain some valueable items, so if you found something like that, would you keep it secret or tell somebody and risk getting nothing except your name in the local paper?

Can't help but Wonder!----did you already find something?[8|]

 

[blobbottlebob]

As far as the hoarding goes, it is an aweful sickness. If you've seen the show hoarders, these people will not only reject their safety for the sake of their possesions but they will also readily turn aside loved ones, friends, and family members (especially if those people are trying to help them get cleaned up). Every time I watch the show, I throw out more junk. I am fairly confident that I am more of a disorganized person than a hoarder, but I sure bring a lot of finds back which have a tendency to pile up. Most of it is junk but some of it is nice. I don't mind throwing it out but what I need to do is bring less of it home.

For example, I used to bring back almost every piece of metal that I found. People will use anything heavy for an anchor. So, I'd find rusty weightlifting rings converted into makeshift anchors sitting on the bottom. I'd take it home. I'd get rusty steel anchors that had not been coated. I'd take 'em home. I had a three foot high pile of rusty metal in the garage that was becoming annoying. I took it all to a salvage yard where I got a penny a pound for the rusty steel. (I think the price has since gone up). They gave me $8.56 for eight hundred and fifty six pounds of hard earned, dragged from the bottom, rusty metal. Cured me of the rusty metal problem that instant.[]

 

[Wheelah23]

If your future wife is making you get rid of your bottle collection... She probably isn't the right person for you. Just my opinion.

Anyway, I think any truly significant finds should at least be mentioned to the historical society people. Dig up all the stuff while you can, then have them write an article about it, with your input about the bottles of course. Make sure they include a bit about how to contact you for people that have an old house. This sort of karma would come back to help you later, I should think.

I've been collecting over a year, and I still remember where I got most of my things. Of course, 90% of it has been dug from the same huge dump, but still... [8D]

 

[blobbottlebob]

I still remember where I got most of my things.

Hey Wheelah,
I'm going to have to agree with you about the fututre wife thing. If she loves you, accepting your hobbies should be no big whoop.

Funny about remembering where you found things. In the beginning, I could pick up any bottle and tell you right where I found it and in which lake and what I thought when I first pried it off the bottom. Now, many many many bottles later, I probably would guess the lake right but no way I would even be close on the year or location - unless it was an unusual find - (in which case I would remember most of the specifics).