Cool Bottle Find & A Story

[Valley Ranger]

While waiting for some farmers to harvest corn so I can do some Civil War relic hunting, I stopped by a colonial site I've hunted for about 3 years yesterday and, while digging out a bunch of square nails from a hole, my digging tool struck glass. I thought for sure I had broken or cracked it. But it came out in perfect shape - no chips, cracks, etc. It's embossed with: "Hughes Druggist Staunton VA."

This farm is only about 2 miles from Staunton and, from the 1890's or so until the early 1900's, there was a "B.F. Hughes Druggist" on Augusta Street in Staunton. (See reference here.) This is the 2nd early 20th century item I've found at this farm that dates to that period and references Staunton (See child's bank cover plate here.)

 

[Valley Ranger]

Hello Stonewall,

That's a tooled lip. You're quite close on the dates with your estimate. Is there a WT on the base, for Whithall Tatum Glass Co.?

Mr Hughes had an earlier partnership with Mr. Robinson, View attachment 884244

and I think a subsequent one with Mr. Bell. View attachment 884245

I thought you might enjoy this story of a Hughes Drug show window gone wrong: Aligator no match for hungry frog, 1912.

When we bottle diggers hit glass, we keep on digging.

View attachment 884247​

Surf - yes, I'd seen those images of the other bottles and, yes, there is a "W.T." on the bottom. Thanks for the link!

 

[johnnyblaze]

Thanks JB. Here ya go - can you see enough? The seam "fades" as it comes off the shoulders of the bottle.

View attachment 884236

Thats earlier than 1890 i would say certainly 1880's..

Blaze

 

[Plumbata]

That's a great find! With the metallic junk plus glass in the hole you may have stumbled upon a trash pit or dump area. That bottle may have been the tip of the iceberg so it could be worth going back and digging a larger and deeper hole. It looks like a 1900-1910 era piece. Dating tooled lip bottles based upon proximity of the terminus of the seam to the lip is so exceedingly inaccurate that the practice should be abandoned, IMO. Anyway, where there is one there may be many more intact bottles. Hope you can find some more.

 

[Valley Ranger]

Thanks JB. Plum - thanks, yes, I may do that.

 

[surf]

Stonewall,

You might be able to learn a better timeline, if you contact the local Staunton River Historical Society, or the Augusta County Historical Society, perhaps the HISTORIC STAUNTON FOUNDATION.

 

[Valley Ranger]

Thanks Surf. Yes, I'm a member of the AHS. But Staunton River is actually in south central VA. Thanks for the info though.

 

[ModernMiner]

Way cool find Richard. I love old bottles like that.
Congrats to you.
-MM-

 

[pigeonman]

nice find, im not far from you here in Verona. I would like to do some detecting here but the ground is full of rock and hard to dig.