yesterdays family digs

[green dragon]

Well, snuck off from the familt Memorial Day party / birthday for my mom and did some digging.

Party was at my uncles place he bought from my grandfather - modern house but on the property is three old foundations.

my uncle is an avid metal detector and has found hundreds of square nails, wagon wheels, hubs, an old iron, couple horse harness tags but no coins or truly valuable stuff ( he digs everything on his own place cause it;s historically interesting to him ) .
around one small foundation about 8 x 8 feet ( we think maybe root cellar or storage as it sits right on the creekbank ) . there is TONS of glass shards.
he dug one medicine slick and a small ( 1.5" dia x about 3" tall ) jar ( food or med ?) , about 8-10 years ago, but never went deep.

I've been digging it when I can visit, so far down about 2 feet. ( cept one spot I need to hack some wild rosebushes out of ) . and still shards by the boxful - forgot to take my camera with me or would get a pic of the shard pile.

found a few Atlas jar pieces I could read/ identify, a slick med that was about 75 % intact, and a few embossed shards undicipherable.

only shard I brought home was this crier - heck from a aqua strap side flask ....

I'm still hoping there's something unbroken under there, that would be great for sentimental and intrisic value, I'm still on the hunt.

~ AL

 

[green dragon]

the other bottle is the ' Harris Pure Flavors, Binghamton, NY

did not dig that one, bougth at a local antique mall for 1.50 .. since it's local. cleaned up ok so I'll keep it for under two bucks.

any info on this one ?

~ AL

 

[the ham man]

hey green dragon i think in your first post you meant to say neck of a strapside flask, not heck. Lol. its ok. i hope you find some whole bottles down deep. i would also love to hear more about that property. sounds like you should know quite a bit from your uncles finds and also seeing as it has been in the family for quite some time.Where is it located?

 

[green dragon]

Neck, heck ..... I CAN spell, honest, it's the typing that kills me ... fat finger syndrome.

I'll have to get pics of his finds.

As for the history - don;t know a lot, my grandparents bought it in the 80's, iirc.... and built a house there. thier retirement home. ( Little Meadows, PA )

the outbuilding foundations are a huge barn ( stone foundation ) , and the small building - both at bottom of a hill right on the creek.

there was to have been a house - a third small foundation was filled in as part of the septic system , my uncle wants to dig some of that out and etect it better, we'll see )

I have to remember my camera, cause the foundations themselves are real neat, the one I'm digging is caved in and messed up, but the huge barn one is mostly intact.

rumor has it the guy went nuts one day, packed a bag, set the house on fire and disappeared - so the old timers in the area say.

not 100% sure the age but the harness tags he found were 1923.

will see what I can turn up.

~ AL

 

[swizzle]

If that one foundation is only 8' x8' it could be a combination of different things. Ice house, root cellar or a small cellar below a larger house. Back in the day not all houses matched their cellar hole size. Generally it was meant to be an over sized refrigerator as it was always cooler under the house and more difficult for larger critters to get to it. Keep on digging. Shard dumps can be good for smalls and sometimes make a good cover for older bottles hidden below. Good Luck. Swiz