BellwoodBoys
Well-Known Member
What I call the lake dig was really about 20 trips to a local lake of mine during their "lake restoration" project. It started when I was walking back from my job in Ocean Grove. I took my normal walking route over the wooden foot bridge on Fletcher lake. That's when I found it, a huge mound of dirt, probably 7 feet high, was placed on the bulkhead. I decided to investigated and found a plethora of acl sodas. The lake muck preserved the labels very well and I kept some of the nicer ones. This was just the start.
Over the next 3 weeks, I went to the lake almost on a daily basis. I spent my time talking to the restoration manager, who fully supported my quest to find old glass, although there was little to be done in rescuing most of it, for big scoops of lake muck went into a dumpster as soon as it left the water.the positive is that the did pile it on the shores at the end of the day, where I spent most of my time looking. I started to actually find GOOD bottles for the first time!! Such as a unlisted tin top milk, as well as an extremely rare Bradley beach milk. The construction also lowered the lake level, which allowed me to investigate areas such as right below the bulkhead, which I found some of the oldest bottles.
After about 3 weeks, the project was done, leaving Fletcher Lake muckless and bottleless. I still go back on weekends hoping to catch sight of any more old glass, even have a secret spot where I've found some older stuff. All in all it was my best "dig" to date. Pictured below are some of my best/oldest findsThe Tin Top Asbury Park milk is 1 of 2 known and the Bradley beach milk is one of the rarest NJ milk bottles. The Asbury Park Croce is from 1916.
Over the next 3 weeks, I went to the lake almost on a daily basis. I spent my time talking to the restoration manager, who fully supported my quest to find old glass, although there was little to be done in rescuing most of it, for big scoops of lake muck went into a dumpster as soon as it left the water.the positive is that the did pile it on the shores at the end of the day, where I spent most of my time looking. I started to actually find GOOD bottles for the first time!! Such as a unlisted tin top milk, as well as an extremely rare Bradley beach milk. The construction also lowered the lake level, which allowed me to investigate areas such as right below the bulkhead, which I found some of the oldest bottles.
After about 3 weeks, the project was done, leaving Fletcher Lake muckless and bottleless. I still go back on weekends hoping to catch sight of any more old glass, even have a secret spot where I've found some older stuff. All in all it was my best "dig" to date. Pictured below are some of my best/oldest findsThe Tin Top Asbury Park milk is 1 of 2 known and the Bradley beach milk is one of the rarest NJ milk bottles. The Asbury Park Croce is from 1916.
