Cant find really old bottles

[diggerbutt]

Can't find really old bottles



I dug up more bottles from a burn pit, but they are not the holy grail bottles I want to find. They are late 1800s to 1940s. The best one was a volcanic oil marked clear bottle. Happy with my finds, however, I want to find the rare ones. Where do I look?

 

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[Gaspipe]

Well first of all old bottles and by old I mean USA old are not easy to find . As a bottle collector for many years old is a matter of interpretation. For me in New England old would be pontil era bottles, meaning those made pre Cival War and having some form of pontil mark on the base. Dump sites for pontiled bottles are a challenge to find and many people find privy digging is the way to go for the old stuff. And remember that bottle digging has been a hobby since the 1960's therefore finding undug sites is a big challenge. I take it you are from Texas so it is a big challenge to find very old stuff simply because Texas has not been settled anywhere near as long as New England and the northeast. In Texas old may be 1880's in many areas. As for where to look find the parts of your area that have been inhabited the longest and do what you've been doing. People used to dump on the edges of rivers, in ravines ,swamps etc . But if you are looking for really early stuff in Texas that may not happen . Good luck

 

[Tnmountains]

View attachment 957944 I dug up more bottles from a burn pit, but they are not the holy grail bottles I want to find. They are late 1800s to 1940s. The best one was a volcanic oil marked clear bottle. Happy with my finds, however, I want to find the rare ones. Where do I look?

Have you tried the bottle section here on T-Net? I only find the age of bottles as you. I need to be in a more colonial area. Good luck!

 

[RelicDude]

Welcome to the t net basement. In my own experiences I have most luck at river banks in old mill towns. The rare stuff is hard to come by but it's out there. You just have to keep digging. You post some pictures of your late 19th century stuff you never know you might have something good. But if you want the real old stuff New England is the place but even here it's not easy to come by.

 

[Bass]

Hey buttdigger, gaspipe and relicdude have given you some good advice. I would start with the local library and find the oldest settled area in El Paso. Some of this research can be done on the internet but i find a ton of information in the old dusty books of the library. Familiarize yourself with the maps both old and new. When you have the older settlements figured out, start going to those places and looking around. From there you might be able to find a few places that are accessible to hunt..another good resource is any local bottle clubs and bottle shows. Joining a club can definitely boost your chances of getting into some older sites to search for bottles. Good luck to you and don't be a stranger in this forum.

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[diggerbutt]

Thanks for the advice ass bassassin, ha, just kidding. You made me laugh with the buttdigger reference. Yes, I have the maps, old and new. I have been digging around New Mexico ghost towns along the old Southern Pacific Railroad. I've had some neat artifact finds, but I love bottles. It might be that the New England states are the place to find the really old bottles. And I think I will take your advice on joining a bottle club. Thanks again!

 

[diggerbutt]

I agree, I need more learning and experience to find the privies, if I'm going to find older bottles around these parts. Thanks for the advice!

 

[RelicDude]

You could also find a lot of western bottles they have some good values also.

 

[Bass]

Hey diggerbutt, i'm sorry i got your name backwards. I promise it was not intentional!!! Keep us posted please and hang around this site cause there are some experts on here you could learn from.

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[gunsil]

It's not just the northeast, but any of the original 13 colonies. Many fantastic colonial era bottles come from Virginia and the Carolinas. But all the info listed here by others is quite true. I imagine there wouldn't be much good hunting in El Paso proper, I'm sure urban sprawl has claimed most of the old dumps from the early days of the town. Look in more rural areas and follow the instructions in the previous posts about research and where to look. On the bright side, I would imagine that you don't get the problem of ice breaking old bottles like we do in the northeast. Keep at it and good luck!!

 

[MuckyBottles]

Welcome to the t net basement. In my own experiences I have most luck at river banks in old mill towns. The rare stuff is hard to come by but it's out there. You just have to keep digging. You post some pictures of your late 19th century stuff you never know you might have something good. But if you want the real old stuff New England is the place but even here it's not easy to come by.

I second river banks. Bottle dumps are located in un-farmable or useless land. However, I disagree with RelicDude, there is an article (looking for it) where one of the shipwrecks dated from the 1700's still contained a potato from that time period. This occurred due to the sealing effect of the Hudson river mud. If the mud/sand/silt preserved a potato from the 1700's, imagine the plethora of bottles in and around the Hudson? One of my best bottle finds was a "Lithia Water" bottle that dates back to the 1880's in a approx. half gallon size that was found enveloped in mud with just the top sticking out. Remember, older the bottle does not mean its more valuable.

(not my picture, just used as example)

 

[surf]

Hello Mucky,

I'm not sure about what you disagree. Most of the earliest glass manufacturies were located in the original 13 colonies. I'm sure the Hudson's mud contains any number of glass delights. Unfortunately, one would have to immerse oneself in the Hudson to recover them…

Gallery For Hudson River Pollution​

 

[gunsil]

The Hudson isn't all that bad for swimming these days. I grew up near it and have enjoyed swimming in it for over 50 years. I don't do it often these days, but I did a lot of swimming, snorkeling, and relic hunting there in the 1970s, and I don't seem to have developed any problems from such immersion. Lots of folks water ski and jet ski in it. Hopefully Mucky will find some colonial glass there, but it isn't easy finding the really early goodies anywhere. There are public beaches where lots of folks swim, and they are crowded in the summer. I prefer swimming in pristine mountain lakes for sure, but the Hudson relic hunting can be sooo good.

 

[MuckyBottles]

Tough couple days, I misspoke

 

[MuckyBottles]

I'll pass on swimming in the Hudson unless they have a water tight Mopp suit. lol

 

[bottlehunterofcoscob]

The Hudson isn't all that bad for swimming these days. I grew up near it and have enjoyed swimming in it for over 50 years. I don't do it often these days, but I did a lot of swimming, snorkeling, and relic hunting there in the 1970s, and I don't seem to have developed any problems from such immersion. Lots of folks water ski and jet ski in it. Hopefully Mucky will find some colonial glass there, but it isn't easy finding the really early goodies anywhere. There are public beaches where lots of folks swim, and they are crowded in the summer. I prefer swimming in pristine mountain lakes for sure, but the Hudson relic hunting can be sooo good.

It might depend on where in the Hudson you're swimming, and you can't always see some of the potentially harmful or nasty substances in the water.

 

[MuckyBottles]

Its all in the muck, mud and mire...