Grapettes Soda Bottle, advice on lettering?

[Renaebri]

Cleaned this up a bit better on the inside and was wondering if there was a way to restore the lettering or atleast preserve it if needed? I discovered a bottle dump while metal detecting and sorta just got into this.


sorry for the rotation, they are normal on my phone but go sideways when uploaded

And this is what is would have looked like (not my images)

 

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[NJKLAGT]

Unfortunately there's no way to 'restore' it or bring it back naturally. 99 percent of the time that people dig up these types of bottles the paint will come off veeery easily. All of the hot/cold, wet/dry, plus the soil acting on it, loosens up the paint tremendously. The lightest touch will wipe it away forever. So rather than wiping the dirt off when they find it, they will lightly run water over it when they get home in an attempt to remove the dirt. Some will then put clear tape over the label to protect it, or even spray it with clear shellac or something to give it a protective coating - methods like these are controversial with many collectors. A last resort would be to get some washable paint markers and essentially recreate the image, paint it right back onto the bottle using a better looking specimen as a reference. This takes time and skill though, and rarely redeems the bottle's value. But if you've got a steady hand and you like to paint, it could be a lot of fun!

 

[sunrunner]

if the label is going to come off , it well do it in a few mints after it comes out of the ground . just flack off. now if it is still in tacked after it dries let it set for a few days . clean it cool water and a nylon covered sponge and bar keeps friend . it may nervier look like it did but if you have 90 % of the label good enough. it' a good idea to clear cote it.

 

[epackage]

The lettering that remains is basically etched into the glass during the process in which it was baked on, no further loss of lettering should occur to the "ghost" lettering you see. I know guys who use white shoe polish on acid etched bottles to highlight the lettering, not sure if it'll work with missing pyro glazed lettering...

 

[Renaebri]

Thanks ! Hey the white shoe polish thing is interesting.. I might give that a try someday... If it was a rare bottle I'd leave it be but it could be nice to see the lettering. Im pretty sure it was already like this when I dug it up but I'll keep this all in mind if I dig up any more with labels, I appreciate all the info!

 

[Rookster]

I like um.

 

[birdman]

I found d one of those in Mobile Bay when I was a teenager. Still have it.

 

[A2coins]

Great finds Ive found one or two while detecting I love digging them Well done hope you can restore them like you want Tommy