Restoration Project

[Jim]

I had another decent dig this morning. I met up with my new local digging buddy, Gene, and we spent a few hours throwing dirt. No embossed milks today, but I did get three Lewistown pyro milks, all of which needed restored. This dump is BRUTAL on anything that is pyroglazed [>:] My favorite find of the day became my first try at a toothpick-painting restoration. It took about two hours, but looks pretty decent. This is a black pyro quart from the Goss Pleasant View Dairy in Lewistown. It's a scarce one [] The other two were a Royale cream-top and a Lewistown Pure Milk, both orange pyro quarts. Those will have to wait, my eyes are fried after doing this one [] Here is the Goss. Not 100% perfect, but not bad for my first time! Jim

 

[Bottleman]

That’s pretty good for your first repaint. Tomorrow I will take a picture of the most recent milk I repainted. You can’t even tell it’s repainted unless you hold it up to the light so you can see the different thickness of paint. It’s a $150 Aulworth Dairy State College, PA. I only did the front though because it’s a pint and the farm scene on the back to detailed for me.

~~Tom

 

[Jim]

Thanks, Tom. I started working on another one and it's looking pretty good so far. I would like to see your Aulworth when you get a chance to post a pic. I hope to find a few more embossed milks, everything from my last dig was pyro. Jim

 

[Bottleman]

Here’s the picture of the Aulworth I repainted. The color is a little off from the original but it still displays nice. It took me a while and the biggest problem I had was letting the acrylic paint dry when I was half done on a letter. That would leave a distinctive line so I would have to scrape it off and redo it. I decided to leave it the way it is and not attempt the back.

 

[Jim]

Looking good, Tom. I painted the back of the Goss, it's OK but could be better. The small milk bottle pictured on the back actually has GOSS DAIRY in microscopic letters, but they were too small for me to paint. The one I'm working on now is a very tough Lewistown Pure "Creami-Rich" that has a huge ice cream ad on the back with two people eating from a giant dish of ice cream. It's a very cool-looking bottle, I hope the rest of it turns out as nice as what I have done so far. I'll post a pic when it's done, hopefully by the end of the week. I can only work on them so long, then I have to take a break. Again, nice job on the Aulworth. Jim

 

[Haldy]

Jim and Tom:

Good job on the paint jobs guys! I have a couple cheap pyro bottles I may experiment on myself. How do I determine what the original color was? If I'm going to paint, I might as well try to use an original color or at least as close as I can get. Any input will be appreciated.

Denny

 

[Jim]

Hi Denny, The best way to determine original color is to see one of them with the original paint. If this is not possible, I look for traces of the paint that may have survived. This can be tricky, because faded red may look orange or pink. Other than that, you can make a good guess or just pick a color that you like if you just want the bottle to look nice for display. Good luck with your projects. Jim