quick question

[judu]

i was wondering if there are such things as 1800s dumps....i am digging in a 1900- 1940s dump site.....were bottles older than this always tossed in privys or back yard holes or were there such things as dump sites in the mid to late 1800s?...

 

[surfaceone]

Hey Dan,

The short answer is; "Yes, indeedy and much, much older, too." Dumping did not begin at the dawn of the twentieth century. There would be no great archeology otherwise...

 

[cyberdigger]

The problem is, as the years passed dumps became more numerous, in proportion with the ever-ballooning population here.. so the 1900 dumps outnumber 1870 dumps 10 to 1 easy, and 1930 dumps are 10 times more.. and so on up until the 1960's, and then the Native American in the canoe finally cried on TV..
Older dumps are out there, but you need to look in older places.

 

[glass man]

then the Native American in the canoe finally cried on TV

[][][] LOVED THAT COMERCIAL! MADE A LOT OF SENSE,BUT NOT MANY GAVE A DANG! JAMIE

 

[judu]

thats good to know, i could only imagine the fun of digging in a mid 1800s dump site. im thinking of checking google earth for some good spots to check, does any one do that?..does it ever work?.......thanks all!

 

[RED Matthews]

Helllo, I had to stick my 2 cents in here. People didn't have any special dumps or trash pick-up when I was a kid. We had a privy and fortunately my Dad was not a drinker. However, my Grand Father was, and he was reputed to drink only beer. On the sly, he had his nippin juice hidden in the barn and put the empty whiskey bottles in the out house, so his wife wouldn't realize that he was drinking hard stuff. We did have two family dumps along the edge of a creek and along our woods near the railroad tracks.
I know there are at lease three or four hundred glass insulators in that woods dump, I just got to old to dig for them. I also know they aren't more than four or feet under the surface. weeds and bushes.
When I was really small there were two hermit friends, that my Dad always visited. I am sure their priveys would have whiskey bottles in them. We didn't get trash hawlers there in NY untle about 1955. Each farmer just found a hole or a creek to put it in on his own farm. RED Matthews

 

[glass man]

This was in the late 19teens-early 20s,but my wife's grandmother told me how a man would come by in a horse drawn wagon to pick up the trash. The wagon had a bottom that when a lever or something was pulled the bottom would collapse in half and the trash would fall out and that was how the trash was dumped. The only town dump known here starts at the early 1900s,but this town was good sized by the 1870s. got to be an older dump here some where,man I have always dreamed of finding it. JAMIE

 

[judu]

yea, thats what i mean jamie..im pretty sure there was no such thing as a town dump in the 1870s (i could be wrong)..but i figured not every single person only put trash in his or her back yard...i was thinking maybe they had neighborhood dump sites or something like that. i just didnt want to go on a wild goose chase after something that didnt exist, thats why i was asking...cause i sure would love to find one too

 

[deep digger]

There are many older dumps out there. You may need a short probe with a wooden handle. Thats what i used to use. Just hold it in one hand and do a grid pattern you would be suprised what lies 6 to 8 inches below the forest floor.Alot of times there will be no visual signs of an older dump. The first pontil dump I ever dug was found this way. That dump yielded 4 pontil umbrella inks 3 green sodas 10+ op meds and a townsends. I was only 14 that was very exciting for a young beginner.If you cannot make a probe a 1 tine pitch fork may work as well. Hope this helps Kev

 

[deep digger]

Sorry meant to say three tine pitch fork. Kev