Two days of finds - Detecting the old home site!

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I’ve been away on holidays and it rained here this past weekend, so it’s been a while since I last had any finds to post. Last Friday and again on Sunday I got back to the c1870 home site for a few hours. This site has yet to produce any old coins or any finds dating prior to 1900. But what I have found has still been interesting. Upon close inspection of the wood and the way the windows are constructed, I'd say the side entrance with the long windows was added sometime in the 1920s or 30s. The house also has a field-stone foundation and large hand-hewn beams supporting the inner structure. I definitely think this house dates to the mid-late 1800s, but has undergone some 'updating' renovations over its lifetime. I'm going to head back for a few hours this afternoon if it's not too hot. I'll try and get some close-up pics of the nails used on the interior. There are also large hand-hewn beams visible that supported the upper floor, if I could get access to the basement I would, but the structure is just to far gone for me to risk venturing inside.

My theory that these folks may very well have been the 'working poor'. I guess I has just hoping that if this had been the owner of the Woollen Mills' house that the finds would've been of higher quality. But maybe this may well have been a boarding house for the mill workers and the owners house is still in the ravine waiting for me to find it this fall.

My first find of interest on Friday was a silver-plated spoon stamped ‘GECO’. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any information about it. My next find was the fishing lure marked ‘Gibbs Bear Valley 6’, which has an interesting history with Rufus Gibbs having ties to Ontario and British Columbia. The little red beads are actually made of cut glass, so this must be and early lure. I've found several fishing lures over the years, but none with glass beads. I was thinking it might date to the 1920s based on the quality. The stream that powered the Woollen Mill is literally 300' from the house site. The next finds were a tag marked ‘50’, an early bronze sleigh bell and a large horse buckle.
On Sunday, I was only able to spend a few hours here. My first find was an early wind-up toy truck, marked ‘Made in Canada’, followed by a lady’s sash buckle. I also took some close-up pics of what remains of the old house and I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on when you think it dates from. I also found a strange piece of metal protruding from the side of an old tree next to the house.

Thanks very much for looking!
Dave


Gibbs Tool & Stamping Works - Vancouver, BC (Gibbs Bear Valley #6 Spoon Lure)

Rufus Gibbs arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia from Peterborough, Ontario in 1908. By trade Rufus Gibbs was a tool and die maker, having served his apprenticeship with the Canadian General Electric Company in Toronto. The Gibbs Tool and Stamping Works was established in 1908 on Main Street in Vancouver, BC. The Gibbs Tool and Stamping Works was destroyed by fire in 1912. Not one to give up, Rufus Gibbs soon had re-established business south of False Creek at 56 Dufferin Street. Once again, the Gibbs Company was manufacturing in full force.
Because metal-working was his main business, Rufus Gibbs had a distinct advantage when it came to developing fishing tackle. Gibbs was able to focus on creating lure patterns and machines that made the lures, as his company was manufacturing other products such as pipe-hangers and metal hunting tags in the same plant. As the Gibbs Company was a metal working business, inventors and patent-holders turned to Gibbs to manufacture their lures, and for partnership possibilities. These partnerships succeeded in creating some of the most famous salmon lures on the West Coast. Examples of those spoons include: the Clendon-Stewart and the Stewart Spoons.
The Gibbs line of fishing tackle was soon well-known across British Columbia and in Eastern Canada. It was the success of the lures that made them famous. Fishermen on the fishing grounds were quick to tell Mr. Gibbs what worked, and what didn't. Modifications suggested by the fishermen who used the lures led to newer, better versions of the Gibbs Spoons. Rufus Gibbs listened to the people who used the lures and took their comments seriously. The combination of Rufus Gibbs' understanding of the properties of metals and his ability to work with metals, plus his knowledge of fishing produced what every fisherman wanted: Lures that catch fish!
George Whatley purchased the Gibbs Tool and Stamping Works in the late 1960's, from the Gibbs Estate (Rufus Gibbs left no heirs). Whatley had his own company, the Northwest Tackle Company, which had been successful out of Kamloops since 1962. Hence the new name: Gibbs-Nortac. Two of the most famous lures to come out of this company were the Koho and the Kit-A-Mat Lures. Under Whatley, Gibbs-Nortac prospered, becoming Canada's largest fishing tackle manufacturer.

 

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[Rookster]

Awesome hunt.Congrats. I like the Rufus pic the best.

 

[Relicific]

Awesome finds and great post Dave.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratualtions on the very productive hunt!

 

[Kurios1]

Kudos on the great post mate! I think Rufus Gibbs is a fine Canadian man. Congrats on the fantastic hunt and write up.

 

[Gridwalker306]

Hey ANTI, cool finds! And are you a professional photographer? Those are some nice shots [emoji328]

 

[Argentium]

I really like that buckle ! The cigarrette lighter is great too !

 

[glass half fool]

Some really nice conversation pieces in all those different items .I like the bell, the buckle, the tag with #50 on it and the lady's sash buckle. The spoon ,the toy truck and the thing stuck in the tree are cool too.

 

[Hawks88]

Nice assortment of finds. I like the old truck and players lighter. Congrats

 

[Brendan75]

Hi, nice hunt with some really nice finds. Congrats

 

[Whyme]

I like the bell. Mary found a Seasons Greetings bell a few weeks ago. She's way ahead of me with bells. The score is Mary 2 and Me 0! LOL

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Awesome hunt.Congrats. I like the Rufus pic the best.

Thank you for your post Rook... I couldn't get over the size of that salmon!
Dave

Awesome finds and great post Dave.

Thanks buddy, I'm heading back again tomorrow morning.
I'll post anything of interest,
Dave

Congratulations on the very productive hunt!

Thank you Professor, it certainly wasn't boring that's for sure.
Dave

Kudos on the great post mate! I think Rufus Gibbs is a fine Canadian man. Congrats on the fantastic hunt and write up.

Sounds like you're a fisherman to me Kevin?
I like the fact that this piece was made here in Canada, today that's a rare thing.

Thanks very much for your support,
Dave

Hey ANTI, cool finds! And are you a professional photographer? Those are some nice shots [emoji328]

Thanks buddy, I guess I've just had lots of practice out-in-the-field... not too bad for an old guy like me.
You well know that any loser with a cell phone camera can be a "professional photographer" just like me!
Dave

I really like that buckle ! The cigarette lighter is great too !

Thanks very much Arg, we're missing you over on the Canadian site.

Hope your keeping cool in Santa Fe,
Dave

Some really nice conversation pieces in all those different items .I like the bell, the buckle, the tag with #50 on it and the lady's sash buckle. The spoon ,the toy truck and the thing stuck in the tree are cool too.

Thanks for your post GHF.
I too like the variety of finds coming out of this site, mainly everyday items, but find the bell was definitely a bonus.

The piece of iron stuck in the tree is a real mystery that will likely never be solved.
Dave

 

[A2coins]

did you detect the walls disc out the nails looks like fun

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice assortment of finds. I like the old truck and players lighter. Congrats

Thanks for your post and for your support Hawks!
I'm actually going to be in the Niagara area Tues. & Wed. for a couple of days this week.
Unfortunately, I'll be too busy with work to detect.
Dave

Hi, nice hunt with some really nice finds. Congrats

Hi Brendan,
Thank you for your post and your kind words mate.

Best of luck to you,
Dave

I like the bell. Mary found a Seasons Greetings bell a few weeks ago. She's way ahead of me with bells. The score is Mary 2 and Me 0! LOL

Hey buddy, you need to get back out there and find more bells!
You can't let Mary top you on the bell count!
Dave

did you detect the walls disc out the nails looks like fun

Thanks for the suggestion my friend, unfortunately the building is just too unstable for me to consider venturing inside.
What I would like to do is crawl around in the basement, but then I'd need to get a tetanus shot.

Best of luck to you,
Dave

 

[Carolina Tom]

Very nice post, as always sir.

The fishing lure is sweet. I also like the buckle. Keep at it, and just maybe some coinage will appear.

Best of luck to you!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Very nice post, as always sir.

The fishing lure is sweet. I also like the buckle. Keep at it, and just maybe some coinage will appear.

Best of luck to you!

Hi Tom, thanks very much!
I've yet to find a coin here, but one member reminded me that a lot of these folks were literally 'dirt poor'.

Hope you're having a great year,
Dave