FINALLY... It Took Me Over 20 Years to Find One! Rare Local Whiskey Jug!!

FoxHound0985

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Feb 5, 2005
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Garrett AT Max/AT Pro
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Relic Hunting
Greetings all,

I haven't been metal detecting much over the last few years, so it's been a while since I've posted anything. Well a couple years ago I started getting really interested in bottle digging. I have a small group of friends who are also into it, so we all get out and dig at turn of the century dumps from time to time. We went to a small town dump a few days ago that I had been to a few times before. There's been some really good bottles dug there including rare local meds, sodas, and an incredibly rare ale bottle. The finds are rather few and far between though. Three of us can dig for most of a day and not find any keepers. As can be the case with metal detecting, it's the occasional gem find that keeps us going back. In 20+ years of digging (both metal detecting and bottle digging), one thing I've had on my bucket list was a complete whiskey jug. It didn't matter if it was marked or not. Well I FINALLY dug one!! And to make things even better, it was a local scratch jug! It was made somewhere between 1885 and 1889 for the firm of Wunderlich & Michel. It reads as follows:

Wunderlich & Michel
Wholesale Liquor Dealers
New Albany, Ind.

I never would have imagined that my first jug would be such a rare piece of local history! I'm glad my friend Aaron decided to record the moment on his phone. This will be a centerpiece to my collection for a very long time! Anyway, thanks for looking and happy hunting!

FOX

 

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Upvote 52
Greetings all,

I haven't been metal detecting much over the last few years, so it's been a while since I've posted anything. Well a couple years ago I started getting really interested in bottle digging. I have a small group of friends who are also into it, so we all get out and dig at turn of the century dumps from time to time. We went to a small town dump a few days ago that I had been to a few times before. There's been some really good bottles dug there including rare local meds, sodas, and an incredibly rare ale bottle. The finds are rather few and far between though. Three of us can dig for most of a day and not find any keepers. As can be the case with metal detecting, it's the occasional gem find that keeps us going back. In 20+ years of digging (both metal detecting and bottle digging), one thing I've had on my bucket list was a complete whiskey jug. It didn't matter if it was marked or not. Well I FINALLY dug one!! And to make things even better, it was a local scratch jug! It was made somewhere between 1885 and 1889 for the firm of Wunderlich & Michel. It reads as follows:

Wunderlich & Michel
Wholesale Liquor Dealers
New Albany, Ind.

I never would have imagined that my first jug would be such a rare piece of local history! I'm glad my friend Aaron decided to record the moment on his phone. This will be a centerpiece to my collection for a very long time! Anyway, thanks for looking and happy hunting!

FOX


Awesome!
 

Greetings all,

I haven't been metal detecting much over the last few years, so it's been a while since I've posted anything. Well a couple years ago I started getting really interested in bottle digging. I have a small group of friends who are also into it, so we all get out and dig at turn of the century dumps from time to time. We went to a small town dump a few days ago that I had been to a few times before. There's been some really good bottles dug there including rare local meds, sodas, and an incredibly rare ale bottle. The finds are rather few and far between though. Three of us can dig for most of a day and not find any keepers. As can be the case with metal detecting, it's the occasional gem find that keeps us going back. In 20+ years of digging (both metal detecting and bottle digging), one thing I've had on my bucket list was a complete whiskey jug. It didn't matter if it was marked or not. Well I FINALLY dug one!! And to make things even better, it was a local scratch jug! It was made somewhere between 1885 and 1889 for the firm of Wunderlich & Michel. It reads as follows:

Wunderlich & Michel
Wholesale Liquor Dealers
New Albany, Ind.

I never would have imagined that my first jug would be such a rare piece of local history! I'm glad my friend Aaron decided to record the moment on his phone. This will be a centerpiece to my collection for a very long time! Anyway, thanks for looking and happy hunting!

FOX


Love it 👍
 

You did good z:) Glad your happy
 

Greetings all,

I haven't been metal detecting much over the last few years, so it's been a while since I've posted anything. Well a couple years ago I started getting really interested in bottle digging. I have a small group of friends who are also into it, so we all get out and dig at turn of the century dumps from time to time. We went to a small town dump a few days ago that I had been to a few times before. There's been some really good bottles dug there including rare local meds, sodas, and an incredibly rare ale bottle. The finds are rather few and far between though. Three of us can dig for most of a day and not find any keepers. As can be the case with metal detecting, it's the occasional gem find that keeps us going back. In 20+ years of digging (both metal detecting and bottle digging), one thing I've had on my bucket list was a complete whiskey jug. It didn't matter if it was marked or not. Well I FINALLY dug one!! And to make things even better, it was a local scratch jug! It was made somewhere between 1885 and 1889 for the firm of Wunderlich & Michel. It reads as follows:

Wunderlich & Michel
Wholesale Liquor Dealers
New Albany, Ind.

I never would have imagined that my first jug would be such a rare piece of local history! I'm glad my friend Aaron decided to record the moment on his phone. This will be a centerpiece to my collection for a very long time! Anyway, thanks for looking and happy hunting!

FOX


Very Cool!!! Congrats!!!
 

Greetings all,

I haven't been metal detecting much over the last few years, so it's been a while since I've posted anything. Well a couple years ago I started getting really interested in bottle digging. I have a small group of friends who are also into it, so we all get out and dig at turn of the century dumps from time to time. We went to a small town dump a few days ago that I had been to a few times before. There's been some really good bottles dug there including rare local meds, sodas, and an incredibly rare ale bottle. The finds are rather few and far between though. Three of us can dig for most of a day and not find any keepers. As can be the case with metal detecting, it's the occasional gem find that keeps us going back. In 20+ years of digging (both metal detecting and bottle digging), one thing I've had on my bucket list was a complete whiskey jug. It didn't matter if it was marked or not. Well I FINALLY dug one!! And to make things even better, it was a local scratch jug! It was made somewhere between 1885 and 1889 for the firm of Wunderlich & Michel. It reads as follows:

Wunderlich & Michel
Wholesale Liquor Dealers
New Albany, Ind.

I never would have imagined that my first jug would be such a rare piece of local history! I'm glad my friend Aaron decided to record the moment on his phone. This will be a centerpiece to my collection for a very long time! Anyway, thanks for looking and happy hunting!

FOX


That is an awesome find! Congrats! I spotted a large, 10 gal, open top crock one time and spent about 3+ hours carefully digging it out only to find the whole bottom was a gonner! 😱
Jim
 

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