This afternoon's privy dig 7/17

[logueb]

Doug, I'm from the Sunny South (Georgia). I just don't believe that there were too many deep privies here in the south. I believe they were shallow and cleaned fairly regular due to the heat and humidity. You just don't see any posts of privy digs from cities in the south.

 

[RICKJJ59W]

Ohhhh the rainnn that leaves the camera out then, got ya, what you where saying about finding newer stuff at the top,and filling pits in, your right, but there are some pits if we filled them in when we found screw tops, we would have filled in a cobalt mine, that pit with 35 IP sodas and beers had a bunch of screw tops 4 foot down, but you know the story there are no rules, people did weird chit back then and we are still doing it today [8D] Rick.

 

[PhilaBottles]

Good Job and Great Finds!

Matt.

 

[downeastdigger]

Wow, what an early hole. You consistantly get in to those early privies, thats awesome. I've had to back off digging for a bit, as real life has distracted me. Hopefully I'll have a post of a great dig one of these days.
I bought a great soda the other day , smooth base dark olive " J. HARVEY / PROVIDENCE , R.I." Got it at a fair price.. That will have to hold me over til I can dig.
Thanks for the post, I always enjoy them

 

[baltbottles]

Doug,

I know exactly what you mean by not digging every privy you find. If i can probe bottom and there isn't any glass. If its a shallow pit i'll do a test hole to see if there is anything in a corner. But like you i believe my time is better spent in search of those early pits that have trashey layers. I save those pits that don't feel great for days when theres nothing better to dig.

Chris

 

[zanes_antiques]

It's funny this subject has come up today because we had a similar situation arise on Friday's dig. We were near the bottom of a post 1900 hole and my brother and Meech wanted to fill it in before we hit bottom because it was getting late. They said they couldn't feel anything in the muck. I told them to not worry about it and that I'd go back in the morning to finish digging and fill it in. To make the long story short. I found a pretty scarce 1858 Mason and also a broken amber Coke. The mason was the best find of the hole if a certain Chero-Cola, from Seneca, S.C. doesn't dethrone it.
If it's a privy I dig every last cubic inch of it
Here's the Mason.

 

[druggistnut]

I try to dig them all the way, too. My thought is that one good find will pay for the effort.
Most times, it doesn't. My buddy Sam (from Missouri) and I probed the crap out of two vacant lots where I've dug a couple. We hit a 4 X 10 X 5 foot deep wood liner. ONE bottle came out of it and it was a Seeley perfume. Arggg.
The houses were on the 1872 map but the older privies are evading me.
The Taraxine from Indi came out of one, with a lot of broken yellow ware, so I know there is good stuff waiting to be dug.
We probed the line where we found two, we probed the back line, we probed everywhere. Any thoughts?
Bill

 

[bottlenutboy]

if a certain Chero-Cola, from Seneca, S.C. doesn't dethrone it.

the jar definately was a better find, seneca is a pretty good chero, but for some reason chero's dont get the respect they deserve, i watched a one of a kind yellow chero sell for a measly $60, and i just bought a one of a kind(as far as i know) teal chero for $9.99 + shipping, so they definately are under-rated that teal one should have went higher, in a local market maybe at a show it would have done better, ebay kills the value of good bottles

 

[LC]

I believe you are pretty much correct right as for the bottles selling for prices deserved on eBay Richard, I have been truly surprised as to what some of the bottles I have listed on eBay have brought, but I can not say that for other areas of collectables of interest I have sold and seen sold on ebay. I have sold off and on on eBay for about six years. I believe that a good item regardless of whether it is a bottle or a toy, or some other item, will not always bring the price it deserves, mainly because I have seen this happen so many different times, not only to me, but other sellers as well. I think it has to do with the right people being on line at the time the item is listed for sale that are truly wanting the item in question.
For example, I listed a M. A. S. K. toy N.O.S. in its original box on eBay. I listed it at a starting bid of $9.99, thinking , this is a dam good item, and it will take care of its self as for what it will end up bringing at the end of the auction, and I will save some money in listing fees by offering it at a low starting bid. WRONG!! It went off for around twenty four dollars if I remember right. Anyway, I packaged it, notified the buyer as to total owed for the item. After waiting for over a month for him to send payment for it, I finally came to the conclusion that he did not intend to pay for it. The toy which was packaged accidentally ended up getting buried under some other plunder I had sitting around, and I completely forgot about it. About another month later, I came across it by accident,,,THANKFULLY. I relisted it on eBay for the second time, and it went off at sixty some dollars, pretty much where it should have sold the first time around had the serious collectors been aware of its presence at the time it was on there. My thoughts as for eBay ,,, it should be called a Yard Sale, not an Auction, because I believe that so many times a good piece will go off for little of nothing, when it should have brought a respectable price. Again, I believe that is because of timing, the right people were not on line at the right time for the item to bring a fair price it deserved. I have since learned, if you intend to list an item on eBay list it at a fair starting bid, for if you don't, you will most likely come up on the short end of things. Then too, if you have little money invested in the item, then it doesn't really matter to begin with.
One last example concerning this issue, I bought a very hard to find metal lunchbox on eBay for fifty bucks, and was shocked that I ended up for it at that price. I figured it would bring a hundred + easy. I had never seen it before, and believe me I have seen many of them over the years. Actually, I have a collection of around 130 or more vintage metal lunchboxes at present that I am getting ready to try and sell being I have lost interest in collecting them. But anyway, I sold the same box I bought off eBay a week later for $110.00. Again, wrong people , not the right people viewing this particular lunchbox at the time it was offered up for sale. Just my thoughts, could be wrong, but I am sticking to it........[/align]

 

[appliedlips]

Great input on the digging to the bottom topic.Chris,atleast somebody sees it my way.I have nothing against digging 1900-20's stuff but I know dumps full of it and that is not why I dig privies.For me I get no thrill out of it.Sure I might dig to bottom and hit a one of a kind milk or something but this would be the exeption.I would sell that bottle and if someone asked me a week later if I had been digging anything good I would have forgot about it.If I dig a rare and desirable bottle out of a pre 1870 hole I will never forget it.If I dig an average bottle out of the early hole it will probably be as good or better than the rare exception in the newer hole.Again I will not give up on a loaded turn of the century hole,or one that seems to have a bunch of Coca-Cola's or milks.Averages is what it is about for me.Anybody that hunts knows you won't ever shoot a big buck if you shoot the little doe that walks by your stand first.Doug