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some of our bottles

diggerduo

Elite Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2012
Messages
790
Location
Here there and everywhere
well, not only do me metal detect we also love to go bottle and privy digging.
here a few of our discoveries.... we literally have about 20 of those large plastic tubs overflowing with bottles and such that has been dug my my husband and a few by me:D there are so many have never gotten aroung to cleaning them all would take forever..... so enjoy the pics and HH:D
 

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very cool... Do you just collect them or sell them?
 
few of mine..still have tons more, this is just a few of them...
some dug, some given to me etc..

The Nik's is ultra rare. Couldn't believe Koolade was a soda! small squirts.
 

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One more post...the above ones are all dug...I haven't gotten around to cleaning them yet, but considering how long they sat in the ground at the family farm, they're in amazing shape. Especially after being cleaned.

Bah...pics are too small and get too fuzzy blown up..thus the reason I have to retake pics of everything!

Left is the tall squirt with back label, sunrise, sweet 16, werbelows....also quite a few aqua mason jars with zinc lids, small masons with bail/glass lids...
 

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Privy digging can be the most desirable digging to do because they usually hold older items and they have less amounts of trash to dig through. Plus they're not spread out everywhere and you know your "limit" of where you'll be digging.

A privy dig can be dangerous if you're not careful. some go 15-20feet deep. Normally you can map out where the shoring starts to form a box. Start digging there, make sure to have a place to put your dirt so you can sift. Normally you'll hit different layers of soil. Nice rich soil, ash (where they may have burned the "fertilizer"), sand, more soil. The shoring/lining can be anything from rocks/bricks/stones/wood..

very old privy sites can date back to the 1700's. Alot of the guys on the bottle forum I'm on are like some of the southern/eastern guys/gals on this forum. Tons of civil war sites, colonial sites, plantations.

Back then, people would toss bottles and garbage in the outhouse hole. marbles,animal bones,bottles,coins..the list goes on..anything that could fall out of a pocket. I've found intact cow jaws, marbles, chicken bones, clothes, shoes, bottles and a bunch of other stuff in just one privy at wife's grandma's farm...(our hunting camp now). And this is the newer privy. The others are from mid to late 1800's. Going to take awhile to get the "new" one done and hit up the old ones.
 
wow, Im suprised at that. Dont take this the wrong way, but who the heck was the first person to say "hey I'm going to dig in that old !!!! hole and see what is in there?" Its kind of like the first person to say "let's drink that white stuff dripping out of the cows/goats teet." Doesn't make sense to me but it turned out ok. What would you use to see where an old outhouse used to be? unless there is a foundation or remains of a building how would you know the whole is there?
 
we use quad sheets..... and basically if the house is at least victorian or later it most likely had a privy..... and if you dig one that was in back of say an old juke joint you can find lots of coins,jewlery etc.... gotta love drunk drops:laughing:
 
yah drunk drops are sweet!! or early morning/late night i'm tired uh oh that chili didn't agree with me drops.

Most old houses like that had a privy. Heck around here, some houses had a privy til the 1970s!!!

Most outhouses were located where the wind would blow downwind so as to not make your house smell. Also, they weren't very far from the house. "usually" 50' or so. (don't want to run out in the snow at night 100yds to go bathroom)...

If you scout around 50' or so around the back/sides of the house, you may see a slight depression in the ground...stick your probe in and if you hear a ping, or you pull it out and it has ashes on it...start digging.

Also, look at Sanborne maps. Most local libraries have free access to them. There used to be links on here, but the passwords no longer work I believe.
They show garages, house, privy locations, barn locations etc..

look for hunks of brick/cut logs/boards just lying on the ground. Sometimes people tear the liner up a bit to replace it, or the shift of the ground will cause it to break up.

Google maps. I love Google maps for finding MD spots also. if it's not overly tree covered and you can see the ground from the air, look for faded spots on google maps. That's how I found the turn of the century pavillion at the small lake park behind our house. First coin dug was the coin in my avatar...

those are just a few ways to find. Another good way: ask someone. Find someone who's lived there for years or someone who's property you'd like to "retrieve/harvest" bottles from...just like MD..never say dig...alot of people will think your nuts and let you do it just to see if you'll really shovel manfertilizer...

I've always firmly believed the best local history comes from the "ol'timers". Sit and converse and start asking some questions, you'll never get them to stop. It makes their day to have someone converse with them that actually listens and is fascinated by their knowledge, and it helps you too...
 
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