Started a privy today,lots of goodies on top of the first cap*

[RICKJJ59W]

RE: MORE GLASS ON TOP THEN BOTTOM BUT GOT A FEW

ORIGINAL: baltbottles

ORIGINAL: Staunton Dan

ORIGINAL: baltbottles

I find it amazing the number of "common" TOC bottles posted on this site that I have never even dug a piece of. Many bottles are more widely distributed then others. I've easily dug 1500 privies and have only dug about 4 or 5 Warners safe cures. baltimore had such a large amount of local druggists it seems many of the national patent meds wern't as popular here.

Chris

Chris, 1500 privies blows me away. How many years have you been at this? If I counted all of the privies that I have dug, I would count all of my fingers and probably only have to take one of my shoes and socks off. Out of the 1500, how many would you say were 1880s, 1870s, 1860s, etc.? I know that you specialize in the earlier privies but was it always that way and do you ever or have you ever dug in dumps before? You don't have to answer all of the questions or any of the questions for that matter. I was just curious and I know that inquiring minds also may want to know.

Dan,

I started privy digging in the spring of 2002 so about 9 years now. My 2nd year digging I dug 227 pits and that wasn't my year of heaviest digging.

Honestly the age of the pit and age of the use layer doesn't always match up. You can dig an old pit that was cleaned out in 1890 and the reused until 1910. so you get an 1890-1910 layer in an 1850s pit. its not uncommon to get a decent sized TOC layer and then a small pontil layer the dippers left in the very bottom.

As for average age of pits I have dug I would say 95 percent of them were behind houses older then 1880 and I would say 75 percent were behing houses that are pre 1860. I just don't have much interest in newer bottles and ceramics. So to me digging behind newer houses is something you do when you can't get behind a pontil age house. More or less as a last resort just to dig something.

When I started privy digging I was interested in pontiled bottles and that's what I focused on. I studied early maps and books on architexture. Made friends with local diggers and learned where the old sections of town were and how to date the houses so I would increase my chances of digging early stuff.

I dug some local dumps as a teenager and never really found much of anything good. Local druggists and blob beers and sodas but nothing that really floats my boat today.

The 1500 is just my low estimate of the number of privies I have dug It could easily be a few hundred more But I doubt its less then 1500. But of all the privies I have dug I have learned one thing this is a numbers game....The more you dig the more stuff you will find...

And Dan I know you like your local dumps but I have been through Staunton before and the town looked good for privy digging. I think if you dug 40 or 50 pits there you would hit one that is loaded with killer stuff. And pontil age Va stuff is not easy to find..

Chris

I just love to dig privy's,I don't care if they are 1850 60 70 80 or 90 its all about the "act" of digging up the past for me, be it 1840 or 1890,the last time I checked all of the above was the past []
Don't get me wrong I would rather dig the older ones,but there are only so many 1850 houses in a smaller town.
Now the big city's, that's another story,there you have the construction lots to explore.All the pontil age houses are gone,but all the pits are still there.So if you cant get a permission just look for the lots.I wish I had that option,I have to get permission or I won't be digging privy's.

 

[RICKJJ59W]

RE: MORE GLASS ON TOP THEN BOTTOM BUT GOT A FEW

ORIGINAL: Alaska

i've been probing behind houses in the hampton roads area of virginia for almost 6 months now, and havent found a single privy. heck, i've only found 1 dump in the area that has toc stuff and before, and that stuff is 15 feet down and under the water table. i dont know how you guys do it in the norther states.. it seems like you guys have out houses falling from your ears, and dumps to boot.

i hope i dont have to probe for 9 years to hit a pontil embossed with VIRGINIA..

If the house is old enough ,there HAS to be a outhouse hole in the yard some where.If it is a farm house they could be anywhere.
What type of area are do you live in.
Put it this way they all craped in holes in the ground with little houses on top of them.[8D]

Look at this yard I just found 2 pits in.(they are there) somewhere keep probing !

 

[Alaska]

RE: MORE GLASS ON TOP THEN BOTTOM BUT GOT A FEW

i live in newport news virginia, the hub of all places in the USA. i know they are there, its just finding them. each of the 7 cities that make up hampton roads area have charters in the 16/1700's, and so do all the towns around them.

 

[keithstanfield]

hey,rick....im a noob to the forums,but ive been visitng abn and your website for a year or two now,,,,,,,keep up the good work i love seeing all your finds

 

[RICKJJ59W]

ORIGINAL: keithstanfield

hey,rick....im a new to the forums,but ive been visiting abn and your website for a year or two now,,,,,,,keep up the good work i love seeing all your finds

Thanks Keith
I was reading your other post about looking for places to dig.Keep going out there and searching around for dumps if that's your thing.You can't find a good dump sitting on your couch.[8D] Sooner or latter you will find a decent one.

 

[keithstanfield]

ck i usually walk a few miles alomg the river,snoop around in ghosttowns,and search in the hills and quarrys around my house.ive been trying to get permissions for the last year,and ive gotten 3,but nothing really panned out on 2 of them.ill be probing the 3rd one out tommorow,and theres another awesome property im working on getting permission from that ill be posting picks of soon

 

[baltbottles]

RE: MORE GLASS ON TOP THEN BOTTOM BUT GOT A FEW

ORIGINAL: RICKJJ59W

ORIGINAL: baltbottles

ORIGINAL: Staunton Dan

ORIGINAL: baltbottles

I find it amazing the number of "common" TOC bottles posted on this site that I have never even dug a piece of. Many bottles are more widely distributed then others. I've easily dug 1500 privies and have only dug about 4 or 5 Warners safe cures. baltimore had such a large amount of local druggists it seems many of the national patent meds wern't as popular here.

Chris

Chris, 1500 privies blows me away. How many years have you been at this? If I counted all of the privies that I have dug, I would count all of my fingers and probably only have to take one of my shoes and socks off. Out of the 1500, how many would you say were 1880s, 1870s, 1860s, etc.? I know that you specialize in the earlier privies but was it always that way and do you ever or have you ever dug in dumps before? You don't have to answer all of the questions or any of the questions for that matter. I was just curious and I know that inquiring minds also may want to know.

Dan,

I started privy digging in the spring of 2002 so about 9 years now. My 2nd year digging I dug 227 pits and that wasn't my year of heaviest digging.

Honestly the age of the pit and age of the use layer doesn't always match up. You can dig an old pit that was cleaned out in 1890 and the reused until 1910. so you get an 1890-1910 layer in an 1850s pit. its not uncommon to get a decent sized TOC layer and then a small pontil layer the dippers left in the very bottom.

As for average age of pits I have dug I would say 95 percent of them were behind houses older then 1880 and I would say 75 percent were behing houses that are pre 1860. I just don't have much interest in newer bottles and ceramics. So to me digging behind newer houses is something you do when you can't get behind a pontil age house. More or less as a last resort just to dig something.

When I started privy digging I was interested in pontiled bottles and that's what I focused on. I studied early maps and books on architexture. Made friends with local diggers and learned where the old sections of town were and how to date the houses so I would increase my chances of digging early stuff.

I dug some local dumps as a teenager and never really found much of anything good. Local druggists and blob beers and sodas but nothing that really floats my boat today.

The 1500 is just my low estimate of the number of privies I have dug It could easily be a few hundred more But I doubt its less then 1500. But of all the privies I have dug I have learned one thing this is a numbers game....The more you dig the more stuff you will find...

And Dan I know you like your local dumps but I have been through Staunton before and the town looked good for privy digging. I think if you dug 40 or 50 pits there you would hit one that is loaded with killer stuff. And pontil age Va stuff is not easy to find..

Chris

I just love to dig privy's,I don't care if they are 1850 60 70 80 or 90 its all about the "act" of digging up the past for me, be it 1840 or 1890,the last time I checked all of the above was the past []
Don't get me wrong I would rather dig the older ones,but there are only so many 1850 houses in a smaller town.
Now the big city's, that's another story,there you have the construction lots to explore.All the pontil age houses are gone,but all the pits are still there.So if you cant get a permission just look for the lots.I wish I had that option,I have to get permission or I won't be digging privy's.

Rick we dig behind far more houses then construction sites... And when you only collect pre 1870 bottles digging the later pits doesn't put much on the shelf for me. I will dig them when there is nothing older to dig but always start the day with an old pit on the menu.

Chris

 

[RICKJJ59W]

ORIGINAL: keithstanfield

ck i usually walk a few miles alomg the river,snoop around in ghosttowns,and search in the hills and quarrys around my house.ive been trying to get permissions for the last year,and ive gotten 3,but nothing really panned out on 2 of them.ill be probing the 3rd one out tommorow,and theres another awesome property im working on getting permission from that ill be posting picks of soon

Good Luck*

 

[RICKJJ59W]

RE: MORE GLASS ON TOP THEN BOTTOM BUT GOT A FEW

Its all about fun for me,if I had to do this for a living the fun part would fly out the window.[8D]

 

[Wangan]

ORIGINAL: RICKJJ59W

The Cuticura System Of Curing Constitutional Humors

Who knows what this was???? Never saw this one,weird.To bad it was busted.

We some of that to dump on Congress.[8|]