RIBottleguy
Well-Known Member
This story is actually a few weeks old. The week before my dismal scouting that produced the pot lid I scouted out some spots in southern RI. The first spot was the most productive. Downstream from an old mill, the river was wide but shallow enough to use waders. I found tons of bottles, but the 1960-80s vintage left much to be desired. As I went upstream, I noticed a stronger concentration of shards. Soon I was looking at a nice riverside dump. The dump vein was less than a foot thick, but went on for 15 feet, and was surrounded by nice soft sand. Almost immediately I found a handful of Dr. Hayne's Arabian Balsams, a very common quack medicine from Providence, RI. I had my fingers crossed for more local stuff, but figured I shouldn't get my hopes up. Suddenly a soda bottle base appeared, and out comes an intact soda! It was embossed J.H. Blackler (American flag) Westerly, RI. Not a rare bottle, but a nice looking one for sure! I was delighted to find out it was an unlisted version. Having used up most of my energy, I took the scenic route home, stopping at other suspect areas where I could wade for bottles. This wandering eventually brought me upstream to a mill that had burned down, but was recently rebuilt. Below a stone retaining wall was a healthy mound of dump, but it mostly consisted of brick, metal, and other nasty mill waste. I saw a green bottle base sticking up very close to where I had dug last year. It had that beer bottle or ACL look to it. I was completely surprised to discover it was an embossed crown top! It said Havens Bott. Wks. Westerly, RI. This is a common soda from Westerly, but it is scarce in green, and scarce to find the abbreviated embossing. Needless to say those two sodas made my day!
