Yesterday's outing with pa dirt - nc sand and High VDI

[Steve in PA]

Yesterday, I met up with Thad (pa dirt-nc sand) and John (High VDI) for a little cellar hole digging at an old home site that Thad and I have been hitting lately. The place is littered with late 19[SUP]th [/SUP]to mid 20[SUP]th[/SUP] century junk, but has also given up some earlier finds including a 1749 KG II, an 1854 LC, a 1840s store token from Pittsburgh, some early flat and tombac buttons, and an early keg spigot key.
I didn’t find any early stuff yesterday, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. I did earn a new nickname, that being The Spoon King for my outstanding 5 SPOON DAY.
Here are my finds, most of which are bound for the brass and copper scrap buckets. The buttons and broken crotal bell are from Friday.


I also found a deer skull and a vintage frying pan with blue enamel. I offered to whip up a batch of fried deer skull for the boys, but they weren't interested.


Here are some of the smalls I dug this weekend.


I did find my first complete 1880s gas lamp fixture. I have found plenty of valve bodies and valve keys to these things, but never a complete assembly.


Some close ups of the gas lamp fixture.


That's all folks, thanks for looking!

 

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[VOL1266-X]

Steve, most folks would be excited about your finds. The gas light fixture is not a relic I have seen before. WTG & HH, Q.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Hunts like that are a nice change of pace, and sometimes some cool stuff can show up. My favorites are the gas fixture and the frying pan. And I'll pass on the fried deer skull too please ....

 

[K1DDO1979]

Sweet hunt! [emoji2][emoji106]

 

[WaterScoop]

Cool finds!

 

[Carolina Tom]

Cool gas light parts. I found an ornate valve key the other week. I was amazed at how heavy duty it was, compared to the light weight junk they make today.

Well done Steve, congrats.

 

[pepperj]

Liking the complete gas valve, never see the attached line posted up ever.

 

[Tpmetal]

sweet hunt, thats the type of detecting I thrive on

 

[against the wind]

It's nice that you guys were able to get together for a TNET Social Dig.
Some really nice finds. Those spoons will be good for practicing how to make a spoon ring.
Congrats on the complete gas light fixture.

 

[Steve in PA]

It's nice that you guys were able to get together for a TNET Social Dig.
Some really nice finds. Those spoons will be good for practicing how to make a spoon ring.
Congrats on the complete gas light fixture.

Lol, the plated brass spoons are already in the scrap brass bucket. My copper bucket is full, but my brass and lead buckets have a ways to go yet.

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

So when we invited John to meet us for the first time ever the coordinates we gave him where the end of an abandoned road near the city an hour from his home. He told me that his wife made him call when he got there and was safe in case we were ax murderers. Then you proceed to dig a 6' deep x 6' long hole in the bottom of the cellar hole and then set up your ritualistic skull frying pan cutlery thing. I'm sure he was freaking out just a little, but this will suffice for his initiation ceremonial experience. BTW, I would be tempted to take a wire wheel at that complete gas lamp fixture to make the old brass shine, I bet it would be killer.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratulations on the nice relic hunt!

 

[Steve in PA]

So when we invited John to meet us for the first time ever the coordinates we gave him where the end of an abandoned road near the city an hour from his home. He told me that his wife made him call when he got there and was safe in case we were ax murderers. Then you proceed to dig a 6' deep x 6' long hole in the bottom of the cellar hole and then set up your ritualistic skull frying pan cutlery thing. I'm sure he was freaking out just a little, but this will suffice for his initiation ceremonial experience. BTW, I would be tempted to take a wire wheel at that complete gas lamp fixture to make the old brass shine, I bet it would be killer.

I dug a little 3 foot long test hole in the cellar hole and now you have exaggerated it into a full size grave
Actually, I was just thinking the same thing about the gas lamp fixture, except I was going to use fine grit polishing cloth on it and shine it up by hand. I have another broken section that I can practice on.

 

[Garrett424]

Nice pile of finds. Cool old stuff.
Looks like a nice,
fun spot...

 

[dirtlooter]

pretty awesome finds, oh, better luck pressure cooking that skull then add spam... and a lot of BBQ sauce

 

[Scrappy]

Sometimes you’re the squirrel, sometimes you’re the nut. Then again sometimes you’re the pan, and sometimes you’re the deer (skull). Either way, all are better options than myself sitting on a ship unable to detect. Lol

Nice digs

 

[Relicific]

The gas light fixture is pretty cool

 

[Steve in PA]

Hunts like that are a nice change of pace, and sometimes some cool stuff can show up. My favorites are the gas fixture and the frying pan. And I'll pass on the fried deer skull too please ....

Bill this site has given up a few pre civil war and even a couple of 18th century items. But the early occupants were not nearly as messy as the later occupants (unfortunately).

Cool gas light parts. I found an ornate valve key the other week. I was amazed at how heavy duty it was, compared to the light weight junk they make today.

Well done Steve, congrats.

Yes I have found several of the fancy valve keys and a few of the ornate valve bodies. I have even found sections of the tubing. But this is the first time I have found (or seen) a complete fixture.

Liking the complete gas valve, never see the attached line posted up ever.

It was a first for me too. Surprising that it wasn't mutilated.

 

[grasshopper]

Nice assortment of finds! People don't believe me when I tell them my most common finds are spoons.

 

[Steve in PA]

Sometimes you’re the squirrel, sometimes you’re the nut. Then again sometimes you’re the pan, and sometimes you’re the deer (skull). Either way, all are better options than myself sitting on a ship unable to detect. Lol

Nice digs

And sometimes you are stuck on a boat, and sometimes you are snowed in. The things that prevent us from detecting

Nice assortment of finds! People don't believe me when I tell them my most common finds are spoons.

Yes, I have no idea how many spoons are in my scrap brass bucket right now. I think the reason we find more spoons than forks is because little kids used them to dig in the dirt.