Hey guys, just wondering what you all do with the miscellaneous bottles you find that are really not noteworthy as far as age/ value. Such as non embossed medicines, extracts etc. Do you try to sell them, toss em back in the pits, give them away
The reason I ask, is that I just gave a boatload of them away to a neighbor. Just too darn many for the wife to stand anymore so I had to make some space. Let me know what you guys do with all the extras. Thanks jgas
You could donate them to any organization that has 501(3)(c) tax status such as GoodWill which may be able to sell some of 'em in their shops.
Check to see the tax status of your area bottle club. You might be able to donate to that group, which may give away a free old bottle with every admission to their next show.
Anyway, if you pick the right organization, you can take a tax deduction for the donation -- value without actually selling them yourself.
“A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.”
--Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle) in "The Sign of Four"
I have several collecting friends who have placed all of their extras in a big pile in the back yard, and it really looks cool. And one guy I know puts them in an old rusty wheelbarrel for display. I like the wheelbarrel one best. Plus it's fun to watch some of them change to an amethyst color over the years. (But if you do something like this, be sure and remind the kids they are not for "target practice" with their BB guns).
If you can't think of nothing else you might do what Hoss Blackmon did down in Aussie land one time. He was guiding a group of nuggethunters from
the States on some private land (as usual) and came upon a pile of discarded
bottles. Seeing a group of camp robbers in all the trees he stuck several dozen
on the bare branches.
Well the property owner showed up demanding to know what the intruders
were up to. Hoss gave her a strory and about then she noticed all the bottles
up in the trees. "Who put them bottles up there?" she inquired. Hoss removes
his helmet and begins rubbing his balding head. "Well?" she says. Looking up
Hoss points at the birds and says "Well Maam, we put them up there to give the
Jays something to look at."
Speaking of bottle trees, the photo below is just a portion of "Elmer's Place," which is located on old Route 66 just south of Barstow California. Elmer is a cool dude and welcomes visitors. I'd say there is a good acre of this sort of display, and it is truly a sight to behold. Elmer's Place is just off of Highway 15 about 100 miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada. Check it out the next time you are in the area.
And here's a photo of Mr. Elmer Long himself, and a little info on his amazing "Ranch." Also, the ranch is actually located near Helendale, Calif., on old Route 66 about 10 miles south of Barstow. The link below shows a map of the location.
When Elmer Long inherited his father's bottle collection, he didn't know what to do with it. He thought and thought, "What should I do with these hundreds of colorful old bottles?" And then one day he decided to make a bottle tree by welding "branches" onto an iron rod. And then he made another and another until a forest of bottle trees grew in his front yard, which sits on Route 66 in California's Mojave County.
Great stuff! Instead of Dueling Banjos, we'll call this "Dueling Bottles." Lol
The photo below is of the "Bottle House" at Calico Ghost Town, which is in the same Barstow, California area as Elmer's Place. Only keep going east of Barstow on Highway 15, and watch for the signs. I forget exactly how many bottles are in the house, but it's in the hundreds. The link is to a variety of other bottle houses across the country.
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Those are some great ideas though. Thanks for the input. 
jgas
