Sharp pontiled crude black glass bottle.

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willong

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Sweet bottle love black glass stuff

Ditto on the love of black glass. One of my first decent dump finds, site of a late 19th C. sawmill, contained a fair amount of black glass. For a new digger in 1970 in western Washington State, where there are very few locations that harbored early settlements (our oldest incorporated town only dates to 1851), all black glass bottles appeared ancient to me at the time. That the site was not previously dug--I found several bottles lying on the grassy surface of what had once been the millpond bottom--contributes to my fond memories.

On a different topic, I notice your vintage photo avatar. I am the grandson of a Great War veteran, and the son and nephew of several WW2 vets. My father was a heavy machine gunner, 605 MOS, in 163rd Engineer (C) Battalion from shortly after its formation through to his discharge the day after Christmas, 1945. It was the 163rd who blew up the Nazi eagle and swastika emblem at Nuremberg, a bit of historical film that frequently features in WW2 documentaries.

Do you happen to participate in any of the history of war forums on Quora?
 

Harry Pristis

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Thank you so much Harry! wow what a wealth of pertinent information! I'm 55 and made a new wrinkle in the wet, smoked grey matter today! so, to clarify... "improved, refired, graphite pontil" is erroneous info? I'm trying to clarify and/or correct my bottle knowledge. :)
~Fred

I'm not sure your black bottle finds are pontil-scarred. Do they have adherent grit that shreds a fingernail? They appear to be british ale or stout bottles from the mid-1800s.

An "improved pontil" is a bare iron pontil which left a black (sometimes reddish) patch on the bottle base. These black patches were mistakenly identified by some collectors as "graphite pontils."

Pontil scars were not fire polished. Production was the goal, and an extra step (fire polishing) would slow production, not to mention the "wasters" lost to distortion of the bottle bottoms in the polishing.

I don't have a pic of a mid-century bottle, but here is a somewhat earlier version of your stout bottles.

black_ale_1815-25.JPG
 
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ROBBYBOBBY64

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Love all your black glass bottle. Harry amazing wealth of knowledge as always. Thanks Fred, I love when you personalize/add to a thread. Great stuff everyone.
ROBBYBOBBY64.
 

ArmyDigger

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Ditto on the love of black glass. One of my first decent dump finds, site of a late 19th C. sawmill, contained a fair amount of black glass. For a new digger in 1970 in western Washington State, where there are very few locations that harbored early settlements (our oldest incorporated town only dates to 1851), all black glass bottles appeared ancient to me at the time. That the site was not previously dug--I found several bottles lying on the grassy surface of what had once been the millpond bottom--contributes to my fond memories.

On a different topic, I notice your vintage photo avatar. I am the grandson of a Great War veteran, and the son and nephew of several WW2 vets. My father was a heavy machine gunner, 605 MOS, in 163rd Engineer (C) Battalion from shortly after its formation through to his discharge the day after Christmas, 1945. It was the 163rd who blew up the Nazi eagle and swastika emblem at Nuremberg, a bit of historical film that frequently features in WW2 documentaries.

Do you happen to participate in any of the history of war forums on Quora?
thats cool to know i mainly have vietnam and more recent war veterans including one who served on the first us nuclear submarine. My great grandfather however served in the 8th air force 91st bomb group 324th bomb squadron alongside the famous Memphis Belle. he was what they called an old dog because he served with the unit from its formation as a unit until the end of the war. Do to them suffering some of the highest casualties of an bomber unit and more than half of the the us armys ground force divisions he lost a lot of friends and comrades. No I do not participate of quora as my main specialty is the epuipment so the firearms, artillery, tanks, vehicles, and planes. you also interested in military history.
 

willong

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thats cool to know i mainly have vietnam and more recent war veterans including one who served on the first us nuclear submarine. My great grandfather however served in the 8th air force 91st bomb group 324th bomb squadron alongside the famous Memphis Belle. he was what they called an old dog because he served with the unit from its formation as a unit until the end of the war. Do to them suffering some of the highest casualties of an bomber unit and more than half of the the us armys ground force divisions he lost a lot of friends and comrades. No I do not participate of quora as my main specialty is the epuipment so the firearms, artillery, tanks, vehicles, and planes. you also interested in military history.

I always relished conversations with my father about his wartime experiences, and I enjoyed viewing and handling the souvenirs and war trophies that he retained (several other pieces, including one of significant historical interest, were stolen before Dad was discharged--he'd shipped them home from European theater). However, I was not enough of a military buff to realize that I should record names, dates, battles and locations until it was too late.

My father saw a lot of action and was remarkably open and candid in discussing his experiences and observations. Having grown up in his presence, I did not realize how unusual he was in his candor until after he was gone. Dad's tone and demeanor would indicate his mood; but I never witnessed him choke up, cry or refuse to discuss a topic.

There is considerable discussion and debating on military equipment topics on Quora. I can't usually contribute much to those topics as I am not enthusiastic enough to research, learn and remember details of nomenclature, model variants and etc. Occasionally, I will contribute a general observation resulting from my father's experience. For instance, Dad witnessed a very unique tank duel in Bitche France, in which an inferiorly armed and armored American tank crew defeated a superior German tank by using ingenious tactics. (The German tank crew met a horrible end, but I can't tell you which tank model they burned within.) "Field expediency" and innovation were favorite topics of my father, something he was proud to think contributed to American victory.

I bought a property in Montana from an 8th AAF veteran. I rented it back to him for years, but never had a long conversation about the war--I was more interested in the extraordinary elk rack that sat in a corner of his shop. I do know that Bub survived the required number of missions (25?) to go home--he did not enter the war late.

Well, I'd best close this since it is well off the antique bottle topic. Hope other members don't mind too much.
 

Nickneff

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I was wondering because i don't know black glass that great,, is there anyone who might know what age bracket this type is from. I got this crude super dark amber black glass. Loads of bubbles. Bottom is wavy and the bottle wobbles like crazy. It has a very sharp pontil on the bottom. Hope you like.
ROBBYBOBBY64.
I would have to say late 17 to early 1800 very crude plus it's very cool I like it I would love to dig some stuff like that thanks for showing
 

ROBBYBOBBY64

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I would have to say late 17 to early 1800 very crude plus it's very cool I like it I would love to dig some stuff like that thanks for showing
Harry said 1850's actually. I have no idea, but he said it is a half bottle.
ROBBYBOBBY64.
 

Mjbottle

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I always relished conversations with my father about his wartime experiences, and I enjoyed viewing and handling the souvenirs and war trophies that he retained (several other pieces, including one of significant historical interest, were stolen before Dad was discharged--he'd shipped them home from European theater). However, I was not enough of a military buff to realize that I should record names, dates, battles and locations until it was too late.

My father saw a lot of action and was remarkably open and candid in discussing his experiences and observations. Having grown up in his presence, I did not realize how unusual he was in his candor until after he was gone. Dad's tone and demeanor would indicate his mood; but I never witnessed him choke up, cry or refuse to discuss a topic.

There is considerable discussion and debating on military equipment topics on Quora. I can't usually contribute much to those topics as I am not enthusiastic enough to research, learn and remember details of nomenclature, model variants and etc. Occasionally, I will contribute a general observation resulting from my father's experience. For instance, Dad witnessed a very unique tank duel in Bitche France, in which an inferiorly armed and armored American tank crew defeated a superior German tank by using ingenious tactics. (The German tank crew met a horrible end, but I can't tell you which tank model they burned within.) "Field expediency" and innovation were favorite topics of my father, something he was proud to think contributed to American victory.

I bought a property in Montana from an 8th AAF veteran. I rented it back to him for years, but never had a long conversation about the war--I was more interested in the extraordinary elk rack that sat in a corner of his shop. I do know that Bub survived the required number of missions (25?) to go home--he did not enter the war late.

Well, I'd best close this since it is well off the antique bottle topic. Hope other members don't mind too much.
Dont mind at all, thank you for sharing your stories.
 

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