What was that first bottle you found that got you hooked?

[whiskeyman]

The one that got me "interested" I found while seeking out a cave to explore. It was a Paul Jones, FedLawForbids flask...with the fellow in the Tri-corner hat...ships,etc.
The one that "hooked me" was an amber BIM St.Andrews Wine of Life Root...a local bottle for me.

 

[BRIAN S.]

Well for me ..... It was a 3 piece mold , sun colored amythest , unembossed Whiskey . That I found while looking over some small islands in Tampa Bay.
But I was always around bottles ..... as my Grandfather had been collecting even before I was born. So really I guess I should thank my Grandfather for the Bottle Bug !!!

 

[southern Maine diver]

Hey Alan...

Mine was a pink coraline algae encrusted 1/2 pint Stoddard "Double Eagle" from 22' of water in Kittery, Maine[8D]

It got me more than hooked... I then became obsessed and I still am[&:]

Wayne

 

[zanes_antiques]

For me it wasn't just one bottle but a whole collection of milks. I stopped at a yard sale one day and they had over 500 milks set up all at $10 each. I knew some milks brought good money so I asked if they'd sell the whole collection for one money. I ended up paying about $3 each for around 2000 bottles. Once I got the bug though it spread to all other types of bottles and then digging. Thank goodness for that yard sale!

 

[unclenutsy]

Unfortunately this was mine

 

[zanes_antiques]

Now that's funny!

 

[Precious Little]

My 6" brown BIMAL Cabot's Sulpho-Napthol, dug on the family homestead in Maine, 1972. I was 9, I think. My brother, sister, and I were hunting frogs or digging clay or something, and I happened to see this strange, rectangular brown bottle base in the streambed. Half an hour of excavation later, I had my first bottle and the bug. Happy to report I still have both.

 

[lexdigger]

When I first got interested in collecting antique bottles I had found alot of newer stuff exposed on a construction site. I brought alot of it home and began to research to only find out that it was "junk" newer stuff. After a little more research I began to discover the world of privy diggers and bottle collectors. I was is awe of all the early glass they were digging. I made it a goal to try and find a place to dig bottles like that (toc and earlier). It took me about a year, but I finally found a dump with bottles sticking out of the ground. I didn't have a probe and had never dug, so I surface hunted it for many weeks finding marbles, stoppers, and small unembossed bottles laying around after a rain. I asked the property owner for permission to dig the site and was given the go ahead. On my first dig ever I created what would be equivalent to a test hole now. I only dug two keepers that day, but I was so happy to finally see some old bottles in my hands. The first keeper of the day was a nice little Turlingtons Balsom of Life. I also dug a Dr. Otto's Spruce gum Balsam along with several unembossed druggists and meds. I spent about six months digging in that dump. It ran about two blocks and went about 15 feet deep. There's a warehouse sitting on top of it now. I've dug thousands of bottles since then, some good and alot of junk, but to this day that first little med is still one of my favorites. I've only been digging for three years but have dug in many dumps, privies, and cisterns. I've also got a couple of friends hooked as well. I've been very lucky and had alot of fun! Chris

 

[CrewelaDeVil]

Mine was an aqua strap sided flask-no embossing. My mother and I found a victorian age dump for our town while hiking. We dug it and got a lot of cool bottles out of there-nothing spectacular but we liked them. Then 5 years back I bought a farm and found the dump. My fave is a little bottle with a horse head embossed (screw-top) and the flasks and inks and meds lol Mine are all packed away at the moment (moving). Can't wait to open those boxes. I will post some pics when I do.

 

[akronmarbles]

Here's mine - I found it at my grandparents farm in NY - latet my grandfather took me to the Batavia auction barn where he worked and he hooked me up with about 4 big boxes of bottles - all common stuff but I was in heaven.
I have always wanted to find one like this that is pontiled - I love the shape of this bottle and how it gets wider at the very bottom.