Another DC bottle hunt

Fossil_adult

Jr. Member
Apr 9, 2021
86
329
Detector(s) used
Got a Chinese knockoff brand off Amazon. Now I don’t know how to use it or where to even begin.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Since being booted out of my best spot (again) I’m back to finding machine made bottles. Don’t get me wrong, I like them, but at this place, it’s extremely rare to find anything blown in a mold that isn’t broken. And I know it gets older the farther I dig, but then I hit water. Anyways, I’m gonna stop complaining. I’m sure I’ll find another blown in a mold site at some point. Until then, here’s some pretty cool machine made bottles found today:

The complete haul:
E5939024-230E-492A-9062-C12352755021.jpeg

I don’t know about y’all, but I really like finding things that aren’t bottles. It’s interesting to find things like plates, cups, and other artifacts that show what life was like back then.

Slick bottles:
43DBE1D7-D54E-4F22-895C-17BE032C7E63.jpeg


Even though they don’t have anything on them, they’re still fun to find!

HUGE wine bottle:

414C6D18-7986-442D-AAB9-DC7F5E2C5D90.jpeg

It’s slick, but my biggest bottle to date. No chips, no cracks, and machine made (but that’s ok). I’m running out of shelf space so idk how I’m going to fit this monster there.

Embossed bottles:
9155B634-11EE-43E7-B022-8E89A0263E20.jpeg
Cool little milk bottle from Bethesda, md. It’s unfortunately got a lot of cracks in it.

6B71BBEE-8EEE-4E2E-A0FE-E3A0C55D1B3A.jpeg
Really pretty Davis OK baking powder. Out of all the Davis bottles, this ones my favorite. Nice color on it of course, I’ve noticed every Davis bottle I get has a different top on it. No Davis bottle is the same, despite having 6 of them.

83693B20-AEF9-4E20-9B2B-67EDC5F273E4.jpeg
Other side of Davis OK baking powder bottle.

D08CA3C6-F52F-4F7C-8FB5-DE593CBE9E6E.jpeg
Really nicely embossed AG Herrmann bottle. My guess is it’s a soda, but I love the design on the neck and I’m glad to report it’s in excellent condition, with no chips or cracks.

56F68753-18C5-4266-9043-78F615A53B1A.jpeg
Other side of AG Herrmann bottle. This would be my favorite embossed bottle, but that’s going to go to the next one…

3604E13D-D514-432B-9CEE-8CC90807CC90.jpeg

White House Vinegar bottle. This one is in really nice condition, with one very minor chip on it. Otherwise, I’m really nice condition, it’s probably my favorite bottle find from today.

Two jars:
FD2B466B-B85B-4911-803A-AC993539A9B1.jpeg

Yup. It’s just a jar that’s been multiplied by two.

Iron Lock:
DF79969D-9F42-4325-BE0E-53504D602D8F.jpeg
This one’s cool, it’s an old iron lock! Not much to say about it but it’s my first old iron lock and I love it!

Pretty soap tray:
FCD94617-6926-496D-8755-33A7C2F8187D.jpeg
This one is my favorite find. I turned over a bunch of styrofoam and almost left it because I thought it was more styrofoam. Nope, it’s one of the nicest condition relics I’ve come across here. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it, and I may use it for my own soap bar.

I really don’t know how this piece survived intact like that with all the bricks laying around, but I’m sure glad it did. Every time I’ve come here I always find things like this broken and it’s a nice change of scenery to find something complete. I hope you guys enjoyed this, and I hope one day I’ll be able to find a place where blown in a mold bottles are plenty again like the past. Until next time y’all.
 

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Upvote 21

Digger RJ

Gold Member
Aug 24, 2017
19,312
33,445
SW Missouri/Oklahoma
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX 3030; Minelab Equinox 800;
XP Deus 2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Since being booted out of my best spot (again) I’m back to finding machine made bottles. Don’t get me wrong, I like them, but at this place, it’s extremely rare to find anything blown in a mold that isn’t broken. And I know it gets older the farther I dig, but then I hit water. Anyways, I’m gonna stop complaining. I’m sure I’ll find another blown in a mold site at some point. Until then, here’s some pretty cool machine made bottles found today:

The complete haul: View attachment 2005990
I don’t know about y’all, but I really like finding things that aren’t bottles. It’s interesting to find things like plates, cups, and other artifacts that show what life was like back then.

Slick bottles:
View attachment 2006004

Even though they don’t have anything on them, they’re still fun to find!

HUGE wine bottle:

View attachment 2006005
It’s slick, but my biggest bottle to date. No chips, no cracks, and machine made (but that’s ok). I’m running out of shelf space so idk how I’m going to fit this monster there.

Embossed bottles:
View attachment 2006006 Cool little milk bottle from Bethesda, md. It’s unfortunately got a lot of cracks in it.

View attachment 2006007 Really pretty Davis OK baking powder. Out of all the Davis bottles, this ones my favorite. Nice color on it of course, I’ve noticed every Davis bottle I get has a different top on it. No Davis bottle is the same, despite having 6 of them.

View attachment 2006008 Other side of Davis OK baking powder bottle.

View attachment 2006009 Really nicely embossed AG Herrmann bottle. My guess is it’s a soda, but I love the design on the neck and I’m glad to report it’s in excellent condition, with no chips or cracks.

View attachment 2006010 Other side of AG Herrmann bottle. This would be my favorite embossed bottle, but that’s going to go to the next one…

View attachment 2006012
White House Vinegar bottle. This one is in really nice condition, with one very minor chip on it. Otherwise, I’m really nice condition, it’s probably my favorite bottle find from today.

Two jars:
View attachment 2006011
Yup. It’s just a jar that’s been multiplied by two.

Iron Lock:
View attachment 2006015 This one’s cool, it’s an old iron lock! Not much to say about it but it’s my first old iron lock and I love it!

Pretty soap tray:
View attachment 2006014 This one is my favorite find. I turned over a bunch of styrofoam and almost left it because I thought it was more styrofoam. Nope, it’s one of the nicest condition relics I’ve come across here. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it, and I may use it for my own soap bar.

I really don’t know how this piece survived intact like that with all the bricks laying around, but I’m sure glad it did. Every time I’ve come here I always find things like this broken and it’s a nice change of scenery to find something complete. I hope you guys enjoyed this, and I hope one day I’ll be able to find a place where blown in a mold bottles are plenty again like the past. Until next time y’all.
Nice!!! Congrats!!!
 

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OP
Fossil_adult

Fossil_adult

Jr. Member
Apr 9, 2021
86
329
Detector(s) used
Got a Chinese knockoff brand off Amazon. Now I don’t know how to use it or where to even begin.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Nice finds! I'm in the Annapolis area. You must be putting in a lot of work with this frozen ground!! haha
There was ice everywhere, and it was 26 degrees. The good thing with this site is very little digging here, the bottles are all exposed at the surface. Anytime I try to dig deeper for older stuff, I run into water.
 

alloy_II

Hero Member
Dec 24, 2021
629
1,028
Even broken glass has a use.

From a farm dump I was finding plenty of old bottles many with unmarked bottoms before identification marks were being added by the manufacture.

Also finding a lot of colored glass, I had intended on using to make kaleidoscope's. Just one of those projects that I never got around to completing..

Scopes are easy to make, three long mirrors, both back plated and surface plated work with the latter being the best.

Surface plated mirrors are also used in laser technology, you'll find these mirrors in old copy machines.

The bits of colored glass, brass filings gold flake are put in a small chamber filled with mineral oil, this chamber fits at the end of the scope where light is allowed to enter as you turn the scope you get these beautiful images.

You can use a paper tube or on the wood lath make something spectacular. With this project I got as far as saving an assortment of colored glass and making a couple of tubes from wood.

Sometimes living outside of the US has its limitations, obtaining the chambers fro the oil fill was problematic at the time. That was 20 years ago.

I love these scopes and may give them another go.

To make a really large scope one could use a plastic petri dish add the junk and oil them cement the clear cover onto the dish.

A scope this size would have to be tripod mounted.

gimp_kaleidoscope.jpg
 

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Fossil_adult

Fossil_adult

Jr. Member
Apr 9, 2021
86
329
Detector(s) used
Got a Chinese knockoff brand off Amazon. Now I don’t know how to use it or where to even begin.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Even broken glass has a use.

From a farm dump I was finding plenty of old bottles many with unmarked bottoms before identification marks were being added by the manufacture.

Also finding a lot of colored glass, I had intended on using to make kaleidoscope's. Just one of those plans that I never got around to completing..

Scopes are easy to make, three long mirrors, both back plated and surface plated work with the latter being the best.

Surface plated mirrors are also used in laser technology, you'll find these mirrors in old copy machines.

The bits of colored glass, brass filings gold flake are put in a small chamber filled with mineral oil, this chamber fits at the end of the scope where light is allowed to enter as you turn the scope you get these beautiful images.

You can use a paper tube or on the wood lath make something spectacular. With this project I got as far as saving an assortment of colored glass and making a couple of tubes from wood.

Sometimes living outside of the US has its limitations, obtaining the chambers fro the oil fill was problematic at the time. That was 20 years ago.

I love these scopes and may give them another go.

To make a really large scope one could use a plastic petri dish add the junk and oil them cement the clear cover onto the dish.

A scope this size would have to be tripod mounted.

View attachment 2006452
That's really pretty! What a spectacular pattern for real dude. I might try that!
 

alloy_II

Hero Member
Dec 24, 2021
629
1,028
That's really pretty! What a spectacular pattern for real dude. I might try that!
Caught one on youtube this evening the guy used a dry cell, the difference is that an oil cell ( glycerine ) lets the pieces fall much slower. Giving the viewer a much better visual effect.

Have fun and enjoy your scope, give them as presents and leave one on the coffee table as a curiosity item.
 

HunterMF

Sr. Member
Feb 17, 2016
476
790
Maryland
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro/ Garrett Pro Pointer AT
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
There was ice everywhere, and it was 26 degrees. The good thing with this site is very little digging here, the bottles are all exposed at the surface. Anytime I try to dig deeper for older stuff, I run into water.
I see! how fast does the hole fill? would a small battery powered ejector pump help any?
 

crashbandicoot

Gold Member
Sep 27, 2020
12,129
27,098
Dumas,AR
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Even broken glass has a use.

From a farm dump I was finding plenty of old bottles many with unmarked bottoms before identification marks were being added by the manufacture.

Also finding a lot of colored glass, I had intended on using to make kaleidoscope's. Just one of those projects that I never got around to completing..

Scopes are easy to make, three long mirrors, both back plated and surface plated work with the latter being the best.

Surface plated mirrors are also used in laser technology, you'll find these mirrors in old copy machines.

The bits of colored glass, brass filings gold flake are put in a small chamber filled with mineral oil, this chamber fits at the end of the scope where light is allowed to enter as you turn the scope you get these beautiful images.

You can use a paper tube or on the wood lath make something spectacular. With this project I got as far as saving an assortment of colored glass and making a couple of tubes from wood.

Sometimes living outside of the US has its limitations, obtaining the chambers fro the oil fill was problematic at the time. That was 20 years ago.

I love these scopes and may give them another go.

To make a really large scope one could use a plastic petri dish add the junk and oil them cement the clear cover onto the dish.

A scope this size would have to be tripod mounted.

View attachment 2006452
Seems you,re more than just a pretty face alloy II!
 

OP
OP
Fossil_adult

Fossil_adult

Jr. Member
Apr 9, 2021
86
329
Detector(s) used
Got a Chinese knockoff brand off Amazon. Now I don’t know how to use it or where to even begin.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I see! how fast does the hole fill? would a small battery powered ejector pump help any?
It’s a whole shoreline. It wouldn’t help any. I’d have to pump out the whole anacostia.
 

DCMatt

Gold Member
Oct 12, 2006
10,356
13,478
Herndon Virginia
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 600, EX II, & Musketeer, White's Classic
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Since being booted out of my best spot (again) I’m back to finding machine made bottles. Don’t get me wrong, I like them, but at this place, it’s extremely rare to find anything blown in a mold that isn’t broken. And I know it gets older the farther I dig, but then I hit water. Anyways, I’m gonna stop complaining. I’m sure I’ll find another blown in a mold site at some point. Until then, here’s some pretty cool machine made bottles found today:

The complete haul: View attachment 2005990
I don’t know about y’all, but I really like finding things that aren’t bottles. It’s interesting to find things like plates, cups, and other artifacts that show what life was like back then.

Slick bottles:
View attachment 2006004

Even though they don’t have anything on them, they’re still fun to find!

HUGE wine bottle:

View attachment 2006005
It’s slick, but my biggest bottle to date. No chips, no cracks, and machine made (but that’s ok). I’m running out of shelf space so idk how I’m going to fit this monster there.

Embossed bottles:
View attachment 2006006 Cool little milk bottle from Bethesda, md. It’s unfortunately got a lot of cracks in it.

View attachment 2006007 Really pretty Davis OK baking powder. Out of all the Davis bottles, this ones my favorite. Nice color on it of course, I’ve noticed every Davis bottle I get has a different top on it. No Davis bottle is the same, despite having 6 of them.

View attachment 2006008 Other side of Davis OK baking powder bottle.

View attachment 2006009 Really nicely embossed AG Herrmann bottle. My guess is it’s a soda, but I love the design on the neck and I’m glad to report it’s in excellent condition, with no chips or cracks.

View attachment 2006010 Other side of AG Herrmann bottle. This would be my favorite embossed bottle, but that’s going to go to the next one…

View attachment 2006012
White House Vinegar bottle. This one is in really nice condition, with one very minor chip on it. Otherwise, I’m really nice condition, it’s probably my favorite bottle find from today.

Two jars:
View attachment 2006011
Yup. It’s just a jar that’s been multiplied by two.

Iron Lock:
View attachment 2006015 This one’s cool, it’s an old iron lock! Not much to say about it but it’s my first old iron lock and I love it!

Pretty soap tray:
View attachment 2006014 This one is my favorite find. I turned over a bunch of styrofoam and almost left it because I thought it was more styrofoam. Nope, it’s one of the nicest condition relics I’ve come across here. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it, and I may use it for my own soap bar.

I really don’t know how this piece survived intact like that with all the bricks laying around, but I’m sure glad it did. Every time I’ve come here I always find things like this broken and it’s a nice change of scenery to find something complete. I hope you guys enjoyed this, and I hope one day I’ll be able to find a place where blown in a mold bottles are plenty again like the past. Until next time y’all.
Lots of nice ones!

August G. Herrmann had a bottling plant on 10th St. in SE from early 1900's to the early 30's. A 1906 newspaper article says, "Their specialties are ginger ale, tonic beer, lemon soda, sarsaparilla, cream nectar, cider and seltzer, all of which possess uniform excellence. "
 

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Fossil_adult

Fossil_adult

Jr. Member
Apr 9, 2021
86
329
Detector(s) used
Got a Chinese knockoff brand off Amazon. Now I don’t know how to use it or where to even begin.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Lots of nice ones!

August G. Herrmann had a bottling plant on 10th St. in SE from early 1900's to the early 30's. A 1906 newspaper article says, "Their specialties are ginger ale, tonic beer, lemon soda, sarsaparilla, cream nectar, cider and seltzer, all of which possess uniform excellence. "
It's probably been destroyed by now, but there were so many bottling plants in DC in the late 1800's-early 1900's. This place I collect doesn't seem to be a privy I did research on it and it's a large city garbage dump with almost the entirety of DC's southwest being covered in century old garbage. It's crazy how this huge portion of DC is covered in so much history, and almost no one knows or cares about it :/
 

DCMatt

Gold Member
Oct 12, 2006
10,356
13,478
Herndon Virginia
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 600, EX II, & Musketeer, White's Classic
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
It's probably been destroyed by now, but there were so many bottling plants in DC in the late 1800's-early 1900's. This place I collect doesn't seem to be a privy I did research on it and it's a large city garbage dump with almost the entirety of DC's southwest being covered in century old garbage. It's crazy how this huge portion of DC is covered in so much history, and almost no one knows or cares about it :/
Yes. Destroyed now. It was between H & G St.
The western edge of DC was the trash dump for the city. They threw everything into the Potomac.
compare the 1792 map with the 1893 map. When construction began on The Octagon House in 1799 at 18th & NY Ave NW, the lot was waterfront property.

1792_DC_map.jpg

1893_dc_map.JPG
 

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Fossil_adult

Fossil_adult

Jr. Member
Apr 9, 2021
86
329
Detector(s) used
Got a Chinese knockoff brand off Amazon. Now I don’t know how to use it or where to even begin.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Yes. Destroyed now. It was between H & G St.
The western edge of DC was the trash dump for the city. They threw everything into the Potomac.
compare the 1792 map with the 1893 map. When construction began on The Octagon House in 1799 at 18th & NY Ave NW, the lot was waterfront property.

View attachment 2007201
View attachment 2007202
I wonder if I should go look on the potomac as well? I've been finding these on the anacostia down at buzzards point I wonder if they got it over on the potomac as well?
 

pepperj

Gold Member
Feb 3, 2009
36,993
136,876
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Deus, Deus 2, Minelab 3030, E-Trac,
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Nice recoveries and your only a few years off in getting out of the machine made era.
Liking the repurposed milk glass soap dish:headbang:
Every time I see glass posted up I get the urge to get dirty.

From digging for years at a ghost town site that was under the water basically we learnt a few tricks on recovering bottles.
Get down and get wet and dirty was the end result.
#1 Item was the Probes
#2 was a long handled garden scratcher that we used many times when the bottle was out of arm reach.

Digging in muskeg, water basically coming off a glacier was cold.
The rewards of great memories of the recoveries still live with me today.
 

OP
OP
Fossil_adult

Fossil_adult

Jr. Member
Apr 9, 2021
86
329
Detector(s) used
Got a Chinese knockoff brand off Amazon. Now I don’t know how to use it or where to even begin.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Nice recoveries and your only a few years off in getting out of the machine made era.
Liking the repurposed milk glass soap dish:headbang:
Every time I see glass posted up I get the urge to get dirty.

From digging for years at a ghost town site that was under the water basically we learnt a few tricks on recovering bottles.
Get down and get wet and dirty was the end result.
#1 Item was the Probes
#2 was a long handled garden scratcher that we used many times when the bottle was out of arm reach.

Digging in muskeg, water basically coming off a glacier was cold.
The rewards of great memories of the recoveries still live with me today.
Yup. The only thing that worries me is if all the bricks cave in while I'm digging. Anytime I see something above my head shift, I'm quick to move out the way. I will continue to search for another site with much older bottles, I've found it once, I can do so again. I would especially love to get some civil war-1850's-1840's bottles as well. Maybe even some complete colonial artifacts would be nice. Wishful thinking on my part, but I plan to buy an old house (not in HOA) and dig like hell.
 

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