jgas
Silver Member
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- Apr 23, 2008
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- Midwesterner
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- DFX, Pro 6000XL, SunRay Probe, Centech Pinpointer
From 1870 to 1900, Planning our next "PIT" attack!
Now this has been a real treasure hunt for sure. Got permission to do some privy digging in an older section of the city that they call "historical." Heck I call all older homes historical
These are our digging grounds for us "Pit Diggers." So after some research of the area with our maps Don and I found out that there were two homes on the current lot back in the late 1800's. Now there is one home here that has been refurbished and looks great. It was moved here just a few years ago from another lot that was due for a supermarket 
Kinda reminds me of how civil war areas are disapearing faster than we blink for the sake of parking lots! But at least they put this house on two lots and the redevelopment people were gracious enough to allow us the chance to preserve some history from down below 
So Don and I started to probe around and Don came across the first pit. I took some photo's of the probe in the ground. It's true that the probes don't lie, but some times they fool around with ya and play jokes on your mind
This one turned out to be an 1870's privy. Complete with wood walls that were decayed away, chamber pots, meat pots, plates, glasses, tumblers, and 1 clay marble. I have to say that 99% of the stuff in this pit was broken 
But yet we continue to dig 
Finally at the base at around 5 feet or so Don pulls out the killer Turtle Ink and then a small Cathedral type bottle. Not sure if thats a pepper sauce or perfume 
Then it was my turn and I finally pulled out a hinge mold square ink. The heartbreaker was the Union Clasped Hands 1/2 pint amber flask that was shattered into little pieces. After this terrible sight we finished up with a clay marble and moved on to the next pit. Don found another one that felt good with the probe so we figured it was going to be the 1880's or 90's pit. Wrong!!!!!
It turned out to be a turn of the century privy about 6 feet deep that was absolutley loaded with shattered glass. Like they broke everything before dumping it in the pit.
Man I hate that. But we did manage to pull out a few keepers. A nice saphire/ cobalt hock wine, some local crown beers, the handle to the privy door, unembossed medicines and then we hit it!
Are you ready for it? The scary/ nasty/ gross finds of the day ended up being the Embalmers Fluid bottles. All but one were shattered. The pit was loaded with them and some other freeze fluid stuff. Must have been a dude here at this home that was a mortician or something. All I could think of is that they will never sell this house I was just waiting for the mumified remains of some poor chap to be staring back at me from 6 feet down. Thank God that never happened. I still have my fake skull to scare people away So it was a good day to dig with some strange finds and some old stuff. Now we must continue our search and find those darn 1880 and 1890 pits. We know they are there somewhere and we of course will stop at nothing to locate them. It is a sickness of course 
Until next time, I hope you enjoy all the pics as there are quite a few. Goodluck and be carefull out there. Ps. The lock came from a pit we dug a couple weeks ago and we forgot to show you all. jgas
Now this has been a real treasure hunt for sure. Got permission to do some privy digging in an older section of the city that they call "historical." Heck I call all older homes historical
These are our digging grounds for us "Pit Diggers." So after some research of the area with our maps Don and I found out that there were two homes on the current lot back in the late 1800's. Now there is one home here that has been refurbished and looks great. It was moved here just a few years ago from another lot that was due for a supermarket Kinda reminds me of how civil war areas are disapearing faster than we blink for the sake of parking lots! But at least they put this house on two lots and the redevelopment people were gracious enough to allow us the chance to preserve some history from down below So Don and I started to probe around and Don came across the first pit. I took some photo's of the probe in the ground. It's true that the probes don't lie, but some times they fool around with ya and play jokes on your mind
This one turned out to be an 1870's privy. Complete with wood walls that were decayed away, chamber pots, meat pots, plates, glasses, tumblers, and 1 clay marble. I have to say that 99% of the stuff in this pit was broken But yet we continue to dig Finally at the base at around 5 feet or so Don pulls out the killer Turtle Ink and then a small Cathedral type bottle. Not sure if thats a pepper sauce or perfume Then it was my turn and I finally pulled out a hinge mold square ink. The heartbreaker was the Union Clasped Hands 1/2 pint amber flask that was shattered into little pieces.
After this terrible sight we finished up with a clay marble and moved on to the next pit. Don found another one that felt good with the probe so we figured it was going to be the 1880's or 90's pit. Wrong!!!!!It turned out to be a turn of the century privy about 6 feet deep that was absolutley loaded with shattered glass. Like they broke everything before dumping it in the pit.
Man I hate that. But we did manage to pull out a few keepers. A nice saphire/ cobalt hock wine, some local crown beers, the handle to the privy door, unembossed medicines and then we hit it! Are you ready for it? The scary/ nasty/ gross finds of the day ended up being the Embalmers Fluid bottles. All but one were shattered.
The pit was loaded with them and some other freeze fluid stuff. Must have been a dude here at this home that was a mortician or something. All I could think of is that they will never sell this house I was just waiting for the mumified remains of some poor chap to be staring back at me from 6 feet down. Thank God that never happened. I still have my fake skull to scare people away So it was a good day to dig with some strange finds and some old stuff. Now we must continue our search and find those darn 1880 and 1890 pits. We know they are there somewhere and we of course will stop at nothing to locate them. It is a sickness of course Until next time, I hope you enjoy all the pics as there are quite a few. Goodluck and be carefull out there. Ps. The lock came from a pit we dug a couple weeks ago and we forgot to show you all. jgasAttachments
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