Privy specialists help please!

cellrdwellr

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Joined
Jul 20, 2014
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19,263
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Dirt Cellar, MA
So I've been digging bottles since I was ten and it's always been a passion of mine. When I found a metal detector it took a back seat. Now I'm interested this time. I read somewhere that near 90% of pontil bottles come from privies. I know what to look for and how to locate them with my probe but once you get down so far how do you remove the soil out? A bucket and pulley system? Any advice would be great. Thank you and HH!
 
So I've been digging bottles since I was ten and it's always been a passion of mine. When I found a metal detector it took a back seat. Now I'm interested this time. I read somewhere that near 90% of pontil bottles come from privies. I know what to look for and how to locate them with my probe but once you get down so far how do you remove the soil out? A bucket and pulley system? Any advice would be great. Thank you and HH!

A member of my md club in Kansas also does this, really into it too does it more than the detector thing and is extremely successful.
Talked to us about it at a meeting once and showed off a huge amount of great bottles and other treasure and says he learned from and does this with a few other guys that have been doing it for decades...they only target pre 1900 locations.
The number one rule they have is safety first so they always dig these things with at least 3-4 people on site...never alone.
Since they go down to between 10-25 feet cave ins are always a real and huge possibility.
Doing it the correct and safe way if you plan on going deeper than just a few feet where you can throw the dirt up on top with a shovel, buckets, ropes and a couple of other guys is all you need.
I would say if you think you are going deep enough to need a bucket pulley system by yourself plan on digging a hole extremely wide or better yet just don't do it at all till you can recruit some help.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privy_digging
 
Thanks digger! I've watched countless videos and have done tons of reading so I'm familiar with most of the common rules. I just want to start digging lol ...I'm not sure how big it is in my area I think we could find a bunch of untouched honey holes. HH!
 
just wondering what a privy was after reading this so I looked it up on line.it says from what I understand that these where outhouses..? as in old toilets. just wondering what kind of treasures are we expecting to find here. not judging don't get me wrong just curious :?:
 
just wondering what a privy was after reading this so I looked it up on line.it says from what I understand that these where outhouses..? as in old toilets. just wondering what kind of treasures are we expecting to find here. not judging don't get me wrong just curious :?:

Read the link in my post above, lots of interesting info.

Bottles, coins, toothbrushes, toys, old dentures, eyeglasses, watches and a million other things from everyday life.
The display table set up at our meeting was filled with way more than just bottles.
About the dentures I saw in the display...the guy said he was scraping a wall when he noticed a set of teeth smiling back at him, that was funny.

Not only could people lose personal things accidentally while using them most were used as household dumps and garbage pits...that's why there are so many bottles in these things.
Sometimes they had these cleaned out from time to time as mentioned in that link, lots of times they just covered up the hole when it got filled with a layer of dirt and just dug another hole in a different location then moved the outhouse over the new hole.

Having the city collect your garbage at your curb weekly is a modern service and nothing like this was available in the early days.
 
More interesting info about these things.
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-outhouse2.html

There were all kinds built in the old days, many had two holes in the outhouse, one for adults, a smaller one for kids.
Multiple sitting areas were common.
One hotel had 12 in one building...high class, wonder what that thing smelled like.

There were double deck types built too.
They were called "skys-crappers". :lol:



THE OUTHOUSE POEM
Author Unknown

The service station trade was slow
The owner sat around,
With sharpened knife and cedar stick
Piled shavings on the ground.

No modern facilities had they,
The log across the rill
Led to a shack, marked His and Hers
That sat against the hill.

"Where is the ladies restroom, sir?"
The owner leaning back,
Said not a word but whittled on,
And nodded toward the shack.

With quickened step she entered there
But only stayed a minute,
Until she screamed, just like a snake
Or spider might be in it.

With startled look and beet red face
She bounded through the door,
And headed quickly for the car
Just like three gals before.

She missed the foot log - jumped the stream
The owner gave a shout,
As her silk stockings, down at her knees
Caught on a sassafras sprout.

She tripped and fell - got up, and then
In obvious disgust,
Ran to the car, stepped on the gas,
And faded in the dust.

Of course we all desired to know
What made the gals all do
The things they did, and then we found
The whittling owner knew.

A speaking system he'd devised
To make the thing complete,
He tied a speaker on the wall
Beneath the toilet seat.

He'd wait until the gals got set
And then the devilish tike,
Would stop his whittling long enough,
To speak into the mike.

And as she sat, a voice below
Struck terror, fright and fear,
"Will you please use the other hole,
We're painting under here!"
 

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Read the link in my post above, lots of interesting info.

Bottles, coins, toothbrushes, toys, old dentures, eyeglasses, watches and a million other things from everyday life.
The display table set up at our meeting was filled with way more than just bottles.
About the dentures I saw in the display...the guy said he was scraping a wall when he noticed a set of teeth smiling back at him, that was funny.

Not only could people lose personal things accidentally while using them most were used as household dumps and garbage pits...that's why there are so many bottles in these things.
Sometimes they had these cleaned out from time to time as mentioned in that link, lots of times they just covered up the hole when it got filled with a layer of dirt and just dug another hole in a different location then moved the outhouse over the new hole.

Having the city collect your garbage at your curb weekly is a modern service and nothing like this was available in the early days.
good to know this funny how we take modern conveniences for granted
 
What DIGGER27 said. He is absolutely correct.

Massachusetts is privy heaven, BTW (as is New England).

I know of quite a few cellar holes and everyone has at least one privy on them. I'm just trying to figure out, when I get down so far where I can't throw the dirt out of the hole with a shovel, how do people usually get the dirt out?

Digger thank you for your input. You seem very knowledgeable in this matter and your feedback is welcomed and appreciated!
 
I know of quite a few cellar holes and everyone has at least one privy on them. I'm just trying to figure out, when I get down so far where I can't throw the dirt out of the hole with a shovel, how do people usually get the dirt out?

Digger thank you for your input. You seem very knowledgeable in this matter and your feedback is welcomed and appreciated!

Thanks.
I have never done this myself but I listened when a guy who had spoke about it.

As far as finding them I guess there are all ways but what this guy says they do is target neighborhoods with older homes going back to the 1800's because most all houses had them back then, and then go door knocking for permission to hunt in their backyards.
With permission in hand they use a long 4-5' metal probe to search the most likely areas in these yards where these things were usually built.
Most times when these were full only a foot or two of dirt was thrown in the hole to cover them up so by probing and feeling around they listen and feel for the familiar clink of metal on glass, (familiar to them with decades of experience), and then they know where to dig.

Sounds really interesting, wouldn't mind trying on a cool day overcast with no sun in easy digging dirt.
Thinking about it I am probably to picky and delicate to be successful at this stuff.
 
I've tried finding these online but never get anywhere...I'm thinking it may be more of a library trip. Thanks for your input!

Several libraries have a ton of Sanborn maps online for free if you are a member.
Not everywhere in the country but many places...you just have to research major libraries in your state to see.
When I lived in KC, near KC anyway, the big library had plenty for the exact counties I hunted.
 
Thanks.
I have never done this myself but I listened when a guy who had spoke about it.

As far as finding them I guess there are all ways but what this guy says they do is target neighborhoods with older homes going back to the 1800's because most all houses had them back then, and then go door knocking for permission to hunt in their backyards.
With permission in hand they use a long 4-5' metal probe to search the most likely areas in these yards where these things were usually built.
Most times when these were full only a foot or two of dirt was thrown in the hole to cover them up so by probing and feeling around they listen and feel for the familiar clink of metal on glass, (familiar to them with decades of experience), and then they know where to dig.

Sounds really interesting, wouldn't mind trying on a cool day overcast with no sun in easy digging dirt.
Thinking about it I am probably to picky and delicate to be successful at this stuff.
I think most of the privies I will dig will be in the woods next to cellar holes. I have a 4ft probe I bought awile back that has a tip on it that will bring a sample of the soil up with it. If your in a privy I hear it will usually come up with gray ash on it and not just regular soil. I might buy an old barn pulley and create my own tripod. Then buy some rope and a bucket for removing unwanted dirt. When I get the soil out of the pit it will go through a sifting process to make sure I'm not missing coins and other small relics. Some of these privies go to 20' from what I've heard. After I feel like I've reached the bottom and checked all the sides ( I also heard alot of artifacts could get stuck in the sides from when the "honey dipper" cleaned the pits) I'll start replacing the soil and move on to the next privy.
 
We had a four-seater (two doors) on the family property. I would have loved to dig it up, but they built it maybe 12 inches above the waterline. Would have needed to move the structure, bring in a pump, and even then it wouldn't be safe to go very deep. I hope the new owners restore the building, as we never got around to it. The only 4-seater I've ever seen still standing.

More interesting info about these things.
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-outhouse2.html

There were all kinds built in the old days, many had two holes in the outhouse, one for adults, a smaller one for kids.
Multiple sitting areas were common.
One hotel had 12 in one building...high class, wonder what that thing smelled like.

There were double deck types built too.
They were called "skys-crappers". :lol:



THE OUTHOUSE POEM
Author Unknown

The service station trade was slow
The owner sat around,
With sharpened knife and cedar stick
Piled shavings on the ground.

No modern facilities had they,
The log across the rill
Led to a shack, marked His and Hers
That sat against the hill.

"Where is the ladies restroom, sir?"
The owner leaning back,
Said not a word but whittled on,
And nodded toward the shack.

With quickened step she entered there
But only stayed a minute,
Until she screamed, just like a snake
Or spider might be in it.

With startled look and beet red face
She bounded through the door,
And headed quickly for the car
Just like three gals before.

She missed the foot log - jumped the stream
The owner gave a shout,
As her silk stockings, down at her knees
Caught on a sassafras sprout.

She tripped and fell - got up, and then
In obvious disgust,
Ran to the car, stepped on the gas,
And faded in the dust.

Of course we all desired to know
What made the gals all do
The things they did, and then we found
The whittling owner knew.

A speaking system he'd devised
To make the thing complete,
He tied a speaker on the wall
Beneath the toilet seat.

He'd wait until the gals got set
And then the devilish tike,
Would stop his whittling long enough,
To speak into the mike.

And as she sat, a voice below
Struck terror, fright and fear,
"Will you please use the other hole,
We're painting under here!"
 
Privy digging. The other dirt sport

So Ed from the Kansas MD club that was mentioned earlier in this thread digs priveys with me all the time. Along the MO river in the old river towns on the bluffs these pits are regularly 12-16 feet deep. Unlike metal detecting which can be a pleasure alone and you can learn by yourself, privy digging must be performed with one to two others. For safety and for practical reasons. We use a tripod with reinforced buckets when digging the deep ones. A day out digging is an intense workout considering you always want to refill those deep holes the same day you dig them. It is an extremely rewarding hobby that I have done for almost 20 years now. I now enjoy metal detecting equally. It has just been one year for me detecting. Between the two hobbies I am able to discover interesting things if I have a full day and two friends or just a half hour to burn alone. Anyone that can line up privy digging permissions in the Midwest in an old urban setting, feel free to contact me. I'm always up for a dig. Have shovel will travel!
 
We had a four-seater (two doors) on the family property. I would have loved to dig it up, but they built it maybe 12 inches above the waterline. Would have needed to move the structure, bring in a pump, and even then it wouldn't be safe to go very deep. I hope the new owners restore the building, as we never got around to it. The only 4-seater I've ever seen still standing.

Nothing like some nice Privy Prose! :yes:
 
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