Collecting Old Bottles, China, Other Things

[landtracdeerhunter]

Woolys bottle posting started me thinking of all the neat stuff I have seen while into the shed hunting mode. Not into it much, but did find some cool items ( I guess). I have to take some pics of some of it. Back in March, I nearly stepped onto a saucer, that I researched dating back into the 1890'S made by Royal Ironstone China company of England. Still in pretty good shape. One other was a Bally Improved green glass canning jar with a star cover. Many other medicine bottles, some partially cracked or broken. Any other people like collecting these items?

[wooly]

I like to raid any old surface dumps I can find while out hiking. I get just as excited to see a big pile of glass or rusty metal as I do an antler,lol

I've got an old abandoned town dump just up the road from me where I pulled a nice late 1800's bottle from last fall. I gotta bring a shovel with me there and actually do some digging, but just like antler hunting, the competition is fierce here and it is getting picked over pretty good by the locals.

 

I've accumulated quite the pile of "junk" already. Most of my finds are worth little to nothing value wise, but I still enjoy the history attached to these old relics. I'll get some pics together myself and post them up when I get a chance later.

[Paula]

I don't fine too much, i have brought home a couple bottles. I have found a dogs toy out in the middle of the field and i put it on a branch and the next week it was gone.

I collect rocks, i have 4 rocks that are shaped like a heart and clam or oyster rocks. goofy

[genesee_mohican]

I've been picking up bottles from old dumping grounds for many years now. I usually come across them while hunting, scouting or fishing. I have some of the old milk bottles and beer bottles that were made locally. They sure don't make em like they used to.

[skeets716]

I've come across a few neat items over the years while hunting or hiking during the annual canoe trip.  Nicest thing I found so far was a purple colored "coffin" bottle that used a cork, might have been for either liquor or medicine.

[Pygmy]

I  have scored a few treasures over the years in my travels.

 

My latest find was a " Union Pint" flask that I found while rabbit hunting last year.

 

For years when I found an interesting treasure I would give it to my Mom and she would clean them up and display them.

 

Mom's been gone a few years now and I don't know what happened to her collection...

[Nomad]

Lots of little piles of glass and rust, in most farm woods,I've grabbed a few bottles here and there. A friend dives in the finger lakes,he's got a ton of old bottles and can talk for hours about the age,how it's made,what it was used for and on and on.

[ants]

I have a couple boxes full of old bottles that I have found, over the years.

[catskillkid]

I have collected old bottles that I have found in the woods for over 40 years. Now have quite a collection and have them displayed. The prior owner of the land that I have now had shown me where up on my hill there was an old shack that is pretty much rotten down to the ground now. He said the owner before him told him it was used to house a still to refine potent potables during the prohibition days. I found a beautiful whiskey bottle 10 yards from it 2 years later. My wife thinks I'm nuts bringing home the old bottles, but it is history to me.

[Paula]

There are bottles where I hunt but if I brought all of them home I wouldn't know what to do with them

[wooly]

I just got into this bottle hunting stuff not too long ago so my collection is still lacking some desirables! Most of my finds are random as the dumps I find them in and usually coincidental finds while primarily looking for antlers.

Like Pygmy stated, I also pass some of mine along to my 74yo mother. She loves the old colors and embossing for flower vases, and I think they take her back to the olden days,lol

 

Here's a typical surface dump I'll dive into around here. Usually don't find anything better than a few old Ball jars if I'm lucky, but the thrill of the hunt is always worth it!

 

 

I got quite a few of the old canning jars, but nothing of any color yet. The local beer bottles are what I'm always looking for as those are my favorites!

 

 

 

This is the local closed down town dump that I'm sure still holds some old beauties.

The glass is literally melting out of the earth here!

 

 

 

My oldest bottle to date goes back to 1890's-1900 and was dug up from there.

 

 

 

Few old metal trucks and jars I found on the edge of some farm field where all this junk got plowed over the edge.

 

 

An improved Mason lid which was also a good find for me.

 

 

 

These are just a couple of my other favorite bottles mostly because I never heard of them.

Bear Springs water bottle in light blue glass.

 

 

 

"Scuffy's" shoe polish.

 

 

 

Every now and then I'll grab hold of some rusty metal and yank it from the earth!

I only saw about a 3"x5" section of this lunker while out hunting one day before deciding I needed to see the rest of it.

2 man 5ft crosscut saw, but no handles. I passed this one along to my sister who's going to have it painted for display.

 

 

 

...and here's a group shot of my bottle finds thus far. I've still got some bigger items out there waiting for me to get the motivation to rescue them.

A Western Flyer 2-man bicycle, and an old 10 gal crock that wedged between two trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pygmy]

VERY cool, Wooly... And your picture presentation is excellent as always....Well done !

 

 

[PREDATE]

I've got a few dozen bottles. I only keep the cork stopper type, not screw tops.

 

My best and favorite farm dump of bottles is on our land that has been in the family since the mid 1800's. I look it over every year and am usually able to muster up 1 or 2 whole bottles from the 1000's of broken ones.

[PREDATE]

If you're really serious, look into doing a privy dig or at least check out some videos online. Some beauties are scored doing this.

My brother and I plan on digging some privies when we get the time. I've already made up some bottle probes from the trunk springs of a 1970's car that I found out in the woods.

[wooly]

If you're really serious, look into doing a privy dig or at least check out some videos online. Some beauties are scored doing this.

My brother and I plan on digging some privies when we get the time. I've already made up some bottle probes from the trunk springs of a 1970's car that I found out in the woods.

 

I've got a buddy that posts a lot of pics on another site who hunts them this way.

Definitely not a technique you'll find your average ordinary bottle enthusiast attempting.

He's got a heck of a collection though, with some very rare collectibles.

 

I know of a few old privys that have long been covered up. I'm still not sure what approach to take to get permission to dig some up.

Heck, my parents have one on their property and they've already denied me,lol

[PREDATE]

 

I know of a few old privys that have long been covered up. I'm still not sure what approach to take to get permission to dig some up.

Heck, my parents have one on their property and they've already denied me,lol

Hopefully the landowners can appreciate some local history. Maybe you can offer to show them how you researched it's location and let them tag along on the probing. Once you can prove that you've found a privy, they'll be hooked and want to see what lies below. Maybe offer to put together a nice photo journal of the whole process

[landtracdeerhunter]

Wooly, that Mason Improved Top  is like mine, but mine came with the bottle and most of the metal band in tack. Can you or anyone else shed any historical facts about'em?

[G-Man]

I find quite a few bottles including some stonewear dating to the 1600's , my friend is an avid collector and i usually just give him the ones i find but every so often he gives me some cash for an extraordanary find. english stonewear, and a colbolt blue medice bottle from the 1860's. i know where a few old homestaeds use to be and their dump areas. its fun when i have time and my friend gets more excited than i do when i bring them over to him.