Big Boys Hobbies

Ever heard of a pumpkin brick?

C

Country Dirt Kid

Elite Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2016
Messages
625
Location
Erie Illinois
Jg5XMBzPvqyEKba19


https://goo.gl/photos/Jg5XMBzPvqyEKba19

I think that this might be called a pumpkin brick. It's really soft and wet feeling. You can dig into it with your fingernails and it's a bright orange color like canned pumpkin. It also draws on concrete like sidewalk chalk? Does anyone know anything about pumpkin bricks? I found it 2 feet down on a failed privy dig. I was digging bricks, broken glass and coal. I thought for sure I found a privy with bottles in the bottom. I dug 3 feet down and the man made stuff disappeared with nothing but clean hard sand. So what about pumpkin bricks?
What's their story? Anyone know?
 
I was digging around in an old cellar hole with an orange brick chimney, and told that whatever they made bricks with back then (1700s?), made that color. Maybe they still do today, not sure.
 
It looks to me essentially like burned clay. Classic find in privies/around homesteads. I wouldn't say it's a brick per se, but more just clay that was fired, maybe not even intentionally.
 
I bought a house in Muscatine Iowa about 10 years ago and was encouraged to do a video inspection of the sewer tile out to the main because it was apparently common in the 1910s-1930s or so to use "Orange Brick" which was later found to fail in 50 to 60 years requiring the homeowner to replace it all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

scoundrel
Last Four Bottle Hunts
Replies
9
Views
137
LovestheShiny!
L
aviationgale
Been thrifting but not posting....
Replies
0
Views
62
aviationgale
aviationgale
scoundrel
What Would Have Been My Second Best Bottle Find.
Replies
0
Views
72
scoundrel
scoundrel
wolf-n-wa
Coin star done me good today
Replies
8
Views
311
hoser
hoser
C
The History Channel
2 3
Replies
52
Views
1K
treasureguy56
T
Back
Top Bottom