In May, 2005, several of us from our local metal detector club met in Tonopah, Nevada to search for stuff in the old dump. It's a HUGE dump but no longer being used for trash. I got there at the same time as another club member and we set up our trailers on the edge of the dump itself. As the week progressed, more club members arrived and we had a great time, especially when we'd get together for dinner and show each other what we'd found. The Tonopah dump has been hunted hard by many people for many decades. The bottle hunters got all the good bottles years ago, but people with screens can sift the soil and sometimes find the small objects that the bottle diggers either didn't see or didn't want. So a sifting screen is a must-have if you go to Tonopah and dig the dump.
I made some little trips to various ghost towns and almost-ghost-towns in the vicinity of Tonopah and found a few interesting things. Didn't find anything terribly exciting and/or valuable but some of the other people down there did. There were people there that week from all over the country and some of those folks found old coins, watch fobs, tokens and all kinds of other interesting things.
Here's the first of my posts relating to that trip. I'll post one or two more threads with photos as I get the time.
The first photo is a clay marble I found at one of the sites. It was lying right on top of the ground and its paint was completely gone. When new, it was probably painted a primary background color (red, blue, yellow) with contrasting stripes.
The next photo is a nickel plated belt buckle. It was buried but remained in fairly good condition, probably due to the nickel plating. It's a small buckle and probably belonged to a young boy.
The 3rd photo is a small bottle that was found in a dump about 30 miles from Tonopah. This little 2 1/2" bottle has 10 sides (which can't be seen in the photo) and is turning a pale lavender. It's one of my favorites because of its size, shape, and color.
The next two photos depict a badly rusted and somewhat bent cap lifter (bottle opener). It is made of cast iron. I haven't been able to make out the lettering on the thing, but it is probably some type of beer brand.
The final photos show an ornate drawer pull, probably from a lady's dresser.
These items may not seem like much to most people, and they don't have any monetary value, but they were fun to find and they serve as reminders of the way things used to be in west-central Nevada.
Oh WOW! That'd work great for keeping me out of the casinos out there.
As for the name on the bottle opener, I was wondering if either using a light dusting of flour and silly putty to press over it and then reading it through a mirror or possibly a light rubbing of a pencil and paper. As long as there's not too much oxidation in the lettering, you might make it out.
Oh WOW! That'd work great for keeping me out of the casinos out there.
As for the name on the bottle opener, I was wondering if either using a light dusting of flour and silly putty to press over it and then reading it through a mirror or possibly a light rubbing of a pencil and paper. As long as there's not too much oxidation in the lettering, you might make it out.
Thank your for the suggestions. I can see by the photo that the last three letters are: ST L which probably means St. Louis. With a little more effort, maybe I'll be able to figure out the whole thing!! I think I'll try your idea...rubbing.
Re: TONOPAH, NEVADA and nearby ghost towns, PART 1
I did a rubbing of the other side of the caplifter and made out the word "BUDWEISER" I still can't make out the first letter on the side pictured here.
Re: TONOPAH, NEVADA and nearby ghost towns, PART 1
Just as an interesting side note, Tonopah is the only place in the world where white turquoise is found. As well as where billionaire Howard Hughes got married in 1957. There's more history, too, and worth exploring, if you can resist the one-armed bandits!
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Originally Posted by stoney56
