Does anyone post vintage glass bottles found while MD'ing?

JB Hunts

Full Member
Dec 21, 2023
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I'm starting to pay attention to old 1800's/early 1900's vintage glass bottles found MD'ing over the last year during my beach hunts. Most bottles are broken and are just washed up and found while I'm hunting. A few bottles however are found completely in tact!

A couple of bottles have been wedged into the sand, but a most bottles I'm finding right after major storms..

The designs and shapes are endless and offer an up close illustration of early Americana that I think is very adjacent to digging old coins...

Some of the more interesting glass bottle finds are a late 1800's /early 1900's "Formamint Tablets" amber bottle used for dust and throat irritation/bacteria, with cap still in tact... Zaney old medical cures for sure which was likely cutting edge at the time!

Another bottle is one that I dug a few months ago while swinging the coil, which from what I understand is the gold standard for vintage bottle Americana-- the cobalt blue apocatherpy medicine bottle-- this one from Squibb Medical Division with a "patent 1925" mark at the bottom.

And this Weekend I found a vintage condiment bottle with a unique loop design at the top of the bottle that just screamed vintage as soon as I found it laying on the sand.

I've also posted some other vintage glass bottles designs-- some with brand names that of course no one has heard of as 99% of these companies are no longer in business! One bottle is for malted milk, and another cobalt blue bottle is a late 1800's Milk of Magnesia bottle.

While not as exhilarating as finding old coins, many of these bottles that I've found are really neat snapshots into the era of quirky medical cures, extinct Americana products, and great industrial design!!

Just like coins, these are creative designs which are really cool to look at from he "I've never seen this" category!

Please share your thoughts on if anyone else has found these great glass bottle slices of early Americana while MD'ing!

Photos attached for more comments!

HH! JB
 

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Last edited:
Upvote 33
I'm starting to pay attention to old 1800's/early 1900's vintage glass bottles found MD'ing over the last year during my beach hunts. Most bottles are broken and are just washed up and found while I'm hunting. A few bottles however are found completely in tact!

A couple of bottles have been wedged into the sand, but a most bottles I'm finding right after major storms..

The designs and shapes are endless and offer an up close illustration of early Americana that I think is very adjacent to digging old coins...

Some of the more interesting glass bottle finds are a late 1800's /early 1900's "Formamint Tablets" amber bottle used for dust and throat irritation/bacteria, with cap still in tact... Zaney old medical cures for sure which was likely cutting edge at the time!

Another bottle is one that I dug a few months ago while swinging the coil, which from what I understand is the gold standard for vintage bottle Americana-- the cobalt blue apocatherpy medicine bottle-- this one from Squibb Medical Division with a "patent 1925" mark at the bottom.

And this Weekend I found a vintage condiment bottle with a unique loop design at the top of the bottle that just screamed vintage as soon as I found it laying on the sand.

I've also posted some other vintage glass bottles designs-- some with brand names that of course no one has heard of as 99% of these companies are no longer in business! One bottle is for malted milk, and another cobalt blue bottle is a late 1800's Milk of Magnesia bottle.

While not as exhilarating as finding old coins, many of these bottles that I've found are really neat snapshots into the era of quirky medical cures, extinct Americana products, and great industrial design!!

Just like coins, these are creative designs which are really cool to look at from he "I've never seen this" category!

Please share your thoughts on if anyone else has found these great glass bottle slices of early Americana while MD'ing!

Photos attached for more comments!

HH! JB
Digging bottles up while detecting is like 2 peas in a pod.
I'd take a bottle over a coin most days as glass is glass-can never find enough of it.
Here's a bit of history on the Horlicks Malted Milk
 

HeyJB
Nice bottles! I've been beach hunting but never found old bottles there. I've only found them at old dump sites in ravines or creeks along old properties, some while MDing but most while bottle hunting. What state are you in?
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Some really nice looking bottles
2nd photo being the square lime green with the floral design on the sides, and the crocked neck one beside it, so cool.
The syphons in the first picture are nice.
 

Nice bunch of 1930s era bottles. I don't beach hunt but have often gone bottle digging in the old farm dumps when I can't metal detect. Usually farmers would dump their trash in ravines to prevent erosion which is why so many end up in the water after storms.
Any where there was a hole/ravine it was a natural dumping spot.
Some from my property.
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Little perfume from a permission.
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Last year I finally rooted out the bottles that were in storage for a decade+.
Still have a few boxes of ones that need cleaning up that have been dug while detecting.
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Some really nice looking bottles
2nd photo being the square lime green with the floral design on the sides, and the crocked neck one beside it, so cool.
The syphons in the first picture are nice.
Thanks pepper. Real nice collection you"ve got there! The green one still has perfume? in it. The topper broke off clean and I can't open it to get a whiff.
I too would take old bottles over coins any day.
 

Last year I finally rooted out the bottles that were in storage for a decade+.
Still have a few boxes of ones that need cleaning up that have been dug while detecting. View attachment 2131159View attachment 2131160View attachment 2131161View attachment 2131162View attachment 2131163View attachment 2131164
Whoah!!! Now that's a stash of old bottles!! I'm thinking that there are people who get as deep into the glass bottle hobby as the MD coin hobby. Outstanding collection, and thanks on the Horlick's history!!
 

Wow!! Ever look into the history of each of these bottles with company ID on them??
I do usually the day I bring them home, just to get a date range and learn some history. My wife boxed up most of my bottles and MDing stuff before Thanksgiving guests arrived. Go figure!
 

Any where there was a hole/ravine it was a natural dumping spot.
Some from my property.
View attachment 2131152View attachment 2131153View attachment 2131154View attachment 2131155View attachment 2131156
Little perfume from a permission.
View attachment 2131157View attachment 2131158
Those are some beautifully designed bottles. It seems that this was an artform back in the heyday. I'm guessing because these unique shapes were expensive, and just like the turn from 1964 silver to 1965 clad, cost cuts had to be made and most bottles became boring...
 

Those are some beautifully designed bottles. It seems that this was an artform back in the heyday. I'm guessing because these unique shapes were expensive, and just like the turn from 1964 silver to 1965 clad, cost cuts had to be made and most bottles became boring...
Most are from the 1880-1900 date range.
It's like everything styles change, and not for the better most times.
 

Nice bunch of 1930s era bottles. I don't beach hunt but have often gone bottle digging in the old farm dumps when I can't metal detect. Usually farmers would dump their trash in ravines to prevent erosion which is why so many end up in the water after storms.
You nailed the ages on these bottles. 1920' to 1940's from the little reading that I've done. I'll be picking these bottles up more often while swinging the coil....JB
 

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