Old Whiskey bottle with a letter in it.

[Roger Mn.]

I went to the woods detecting and noticed part of a bottle sticking out of the dirt. We have had a lot of rain lately.
I pushed the digging tool down and pried up hoping the bottle was in one piece.
I picked it up and saw a cork inside and some paper shaped like a cigarette with string wrapped around it. When I got home I washed the outside of the bottle and took the cap off and dumped out the rolled paper with string wrapped around it that crumbled when I pulled at it.
I took pictures of each step as I opened the paper and this is what was inside. The paper also looks burnt on the edges and is two different pieces of paper.
I could not find out anything about the bottle. It says in the little circle " The House Of Quality ".

roger

 

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[ANTIQUARIAN]

I tried to read it Rodger . . . what do you think it is?

I can't quite put it all together, but it looks to date from WWI?

Dave

On there is Hennessy Boss 1894. Out side Mothers House , C.A.Ja, Come clean from B Me want a old house from state hospital.
Next paper says as pay for works or in on a long time friend Hennessy come there at lot leave for the Hennessy he said take him. (I cant make out some of the words } and not leave

Thanks for the update Rodger!

I like your theory as to how it got into the bottle as well!

Very interesting post,
Dave

 

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[{Sentinel}]

Very interesting find, not too many people can say that they've ever really find a genuine 'message in a bottle' but you can, very cool. The handwriting is definitely indicative of the earlier 20th century. Nice and mysterious find...I'm wondering if someone was a patient in that hospital and it was some kind of release or evaluation paper? Either way very cool.

 

[Roger Mn.]

The bottle was made between 1932 and 1964, based on "federal law prohibits..." wording. Nice find.

Thanks DougF. So the bottle is probably 1968 and the F & 5 could be February 5Th. Making the bottle 43 years old.
The bottle has a steel screw cap.
roger

 

[ModernMiner]

RD,
First off, what an amazing find. This type of unusual find is what really sparks my interest. Congrats and I hope to see more updates.
You really caught my eye with this post because it reminded me of my great-grandfather Charlie. He was into many things in his day (a big collector, taxidermist, started and built the towns first humane society, etc.). Back in the 1930's, one of the things he used to do was to put numbered letters in bottles and drop them into the Little Kankakee River in Northern Indiana. Basically the note would have his address on it, tell when & where the bottle was dropped into the river, and ask that the finder reply back. Out of about 15 bottles he dropped in, around 8 of them received a reply. Most were found in parts of Indiana one to five years later, but one bottle was found recovered 35 years later (1960's) in a town in Illinois! I still have the note cards that were returned and the letters back & forth between Charlie and the finder. I remember my Dad telling me about this as a kid, and when my Dad died, I found these note cards & letters from Charlie's bottle experiment. I guess people back then had to make up their own fun things to do since there was no TV's, video games, etc.
Sorry for the long-winded reply.
-Doug-

 

[jgas]

Wow, that is what kinda stuff I search for when digging bottles. That is a cool find and the research is splendid to say the least. Keep at it and the whole story may come to light. Keep us posted. jgas

 

[Roger Mn.]

RD,
First off, what an amazing find. This type of unusual find is what really sparks my interest. Congrats and I hope to see more updates.
You really caught my eye with this post because it reminded me of my great-grandfather Charlie. He was into many things in his day (a big collector, taxidermist, started and built the towns first humane society, etc.). Back in the 1930's, one of the things he used to do was to put numbered letters in bottles and drop them into the Little Kankakee River in Northern Indiana. Basically the note would have his address on it, tell when & where the bottle was dropped into the river, and ask that the finder reply back. Out of about 15 bottles he dropped in, around 8 of them received a reply. Most were found in parts of Indiana one to five years later, but one bottle was found recovered 35 years later (1960's) in a town in Illinois! I still have the note cards that were returned and the letters back & forth between Charlie and the finder. I remember my Dad telling me about this as a kid, and when my Dad died, I found these note cards & letters from Charlie's bottle experiment. I guess people back then had to make up their own fun things to do since there was no TV's, video games, etc.
Sorry for the long-winded reply.
-Doug-
Thanks Doug for putting this up about your great grandfather Charlie and his notes in a bottle.
It must have been very exciting for him to have gotten letters from the finders.
roger

 

[Generic_Lad]

Wow, how many people can say they have found a message in a bottle

An excellent find no matter how old/valuable it is, something that I'd love to dig

 

[Nana40]

Ditto G_Lad. That is such a cool find, Rog!

Nana

 

[mountainplayer]

Cool find, Roger. Looks to me like a mining claim marker.

MP

 

[Roger Mn.]

Ditto G_Lad. That is such a cool find, Rog!

Nana

Thanks Nana.

 

[Roger Mn.]

Thanks everyone for the nice replies.
The only thing I can make out is that he was filling crocks with ice.
When he writes Mother House he is more than likely referring to Assisi Heights.
I talked to a friend into bottles and I asked him about the 68 on the bottom of the bottle and he said it might not be a date.
roger

 

[JW15]

That's a really neat and interesting find!

 

[Erik in NJ]

Here's my transcription of the message. I'd need some higher res scans to make out a few of the words I can't see. The person was obviously affiliated with the State Hospital (Asylum)--as an inmate. The contents of the printed form may be more revealing than the note which is now the third of three you have found by the same individual with connections to Linn County Iowa. My best guess is that he was born ca 1880. Was in Iowa in his "informative" years ca 1894 in Czeck Jewish community. He and several contemporaries (Frank Hubachek, b. Iowa,1877, opened saloon at 23 ca 1900, m. at 28 ca 1905, in 1895 he was 18) ended up in Wisconsin ca 1908/09 for whatever reason. Contrary to another post, the author and most of his contemporaries were too old to be in a CCC camp.

My best guess is the author worked at the hospital in the quarry/farm fields as an inmate and had access to bury these bottles. The prose is disjointed and the ravings of someone who is either mad or inebriated (the latter is probably what he was committed for). A lot of paranoid delusions about crooks/robbery/"crazy"/"kook"/fear of being killed across all three notes. No reason not to believe the author drank the whiskey in the bottles perhaps as "under the table" compensation for the quarry work.

The OP should be given another Banner for all three finds as they are a remarkable piece of Depression Era history. There's a lot more to this story. Bramblefind did some accurate geneological research and I was able to garner more from it. There's more to be done and I hope he or someone will work with me on unraveling more.

Hennessy
Boss 1894
out side
Mother’s house
C. R. Ia (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
come clean
from Big (?)
Man (?)
me want
a old home
from state
hospital

as pay for
crooks in
on a long
time from
___ crooks
found
Hennessy
come there
next day for
the Home
he said [to]
take him ___
of work
not leave
him ___

 

[Erik in NJ]

How did you determine that it's a medicinal whiskey bottle? Thanks.

odd that it looks like it was written/wrapped up in cigarette rolling paper? i see Tobacco Co. on the label of the bundled paper
also interesting that it is a hospital related note inside a 'medicinal' whiskey bottle

 

[Gaspipe]

Your bottle dates after 1930. It is machine made .

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks for the add'l info! Based on the other notes RodgerDodger found we believe these notes date to ca 1936 which is corroborated by your date. Is there any way to tell what plant the bottle was made in or the exact year? Also what it was used for? We believe the person was Rochester, MN State Hospital at that time used as an asylum for the inebriated. There was an attached quarry/farm and inmates worked there as well as possibly CCC during that timeframe. I assume a whisked bottle--someone said medicinal whiskey but provided no add'l info. The writing sounds like the guy may have been an inmate to me, especially after reading all three found messages--the other two are in remarkable shape for their age.

Your bottle dates after 1930. It is machine made .

 

[Gaspipe]

Yeah it’s likely a whiskey flask . As far as “medicinal “ ; all drunks say booze is medicinal. Yours is interesting because of the backstory. From a value perspective just as a bottle ; it really has none to speak of . Maybe a buck or two at an antique shop.

 

[A2coins]

Great find thanks for sharing it

 

[scruggs]

Very interesting find and one to remember!

 

[Digger RJ]

I went to the woods detecting and noticed part of a bottle sticking out of the dirt. We have had a lot of rain lately.
I pushed the digging tool down and pried up hoping the bottle was in one piece.
I picked it up and saw a cork inside and some paper shaped like a cigarette with string wrapped around it. When I got home I washed the outside of the bottle and took the cap off and dumped out the rolled paper with string wrapped around it that crumbled when I pulled at it.
I took pictures of each step as I opened the paper and this is what was inside. The paper also looks burnt on the edges and is two different pieces of paper.
I could not find out anything about the bottle. It says in the little circle " The House Of Quality ".

roger

Nice!!! Congrats!!!