What a start to the new season!

[jgas]

Hello all you glass hounds out there. It was indeed time to dust off the equipment. Get the tarps ready and the probes sharpened up to find some privies. Sure felt like a long winter. Although of course it was really the same amount of time. It was brutally cold here with a record low of minus 25 during the polar vortex. But alas we made it to spring and Don and I were wanting to get out and discover some treasure.

So I got permission to do a very small yard that was riddled with telephone poles and underground wiring. But there was one section of the yard that was undisturbed. So we started right there and 3 pokes later we found a pit. Rather large. About 5 feet wide and 4 feet deep. Maybe a 2 seater. And we also found another one right next to it. A bit smaller but still with what felt like a lot of glass.

Out come the shovels and tarps. Removed the grass layer and set that aside. Found some brick and stone pieces within the first foot or so. Then we hit a layer of really dirty coal ash. Whew, at least we know it hadn’t been dug yet. It sure felt like a bunch of glass with some pretty loose void areas. That usually means whole bottles.

So down we go towards the 3-4 foot level and out pops the first find of the day. A tiny Medicine. Unembossed of course. We were thinking hey, it’s whole at least. Ha ha. But soon after that out pops the first good find. A quart blob beer. Pretty common one but what the heck. On we went. Found some slicks and a couple local embossed meds. Which we haven’t seen in a couple of seasons. Then out pops another beer. Then more and more. It was crazy. We never find this many whole beers. But I’m not complaining. This was awesome stuff. The pictures of the bottles insitu were pretty cool. Stacked like cord wood. It was turning out to be the best season opener of all time.

After all was said and done we were at the 6 foot level. Finished up with some nice keepers. Twenty one beers!!! Several meds and a killer cup from Germany. What a way to start the season. Gonna take some time to clean em all but I have a few days before we tackle the pit right next to this one. Hope you enjoy the pics. Good luck out there everyone. We sure had it on our sides today! Be safe out there people. Jgas

 

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[NJKLAGT]

You guys pretty much dug a whole frigging two-four of blob beers, haha. Congratulations! That's a good start, to say the least!

Can't wait to see what comes out of the adjacent pit...

 

[sandchip]

Tear it up!

 

[glass half fool]

That does not look like a once in a life time find .Rather like more than I have found in my entire life time .I am looking forward to see them all cleaned up and standing tall

 

[jeff of pa]

Cool Cup

Nice Load of Finds

 

[PikesPeakCharlie]

What a great pit !!!!! Congrats on all those local beers !!!

 

[Bass]

Glass galore. Great way to start your season. They really were stacked in there like wood. I really like the cup, it has great color. Thanks for all the great photos. Keep slinging dirt

 

[NJKLAGT]

Hey jgas it'd be cool to see a list and tally of what they all are (11 Brown and Son from South Bend, 6 Geugner and Beugner from South Bend, etc). That way we can tell what their favourite beer was! If you dug a super rare one and don't want to mention it, that's okay, but it'd still be interesting to know the frequency of each. It'd be cool to see a few of your favourites cleaned up, too!

"I 'member when I's growin' up, Daddy always fancied the Brown beer. Brown was a skillful brewer, yessir, but he was also a second cousin of my Ma's, and family come first, don't ya know. One July weekend, ours neighbours came over for a picnic and they was nice enough to bring some provisions. The missus had a basket under her arm, and under the cloth cover I could see some apples, a pint of jam, and a loaf of pumpernickel. The gentleman was a totin' a case of beer, and stenciled on the crate in black fancy letters was 'Geugner and Beugner'. Now, as it was, my Daddy didn't like the Geugners, but he could just manage toleratin' 'em. But oh boy, did he not loathe those Beugners! You shoulda seen the fire in his eyes. That was a very quiet picnic..."

 

[jgas]

Thanks for he replies guys. It’s very unusual to find so many whole quarts in one pit. This dude must have not cared when he was drunk. I will get to cleaning them soon. As far as the embossing on them we are very familiar with the more common ones and the not so common ones. I think in this tally we ended up with 6 William Martin ones. Which are pretty common. An Earnst Krueger. Which is desirable for sure. His son Charles Krueger was one in there too. I’ve only found a couple of those in 10 years. The Muessel ones which we found several were the predecessor to Drewrys Beer locally here. Dating back to 1853 or so. I have one with a mustache style embossing which is the more rare variety and one with the H embossing. That too is a more desirable one. The amber ones are not too common like the Oberle and the Ferstl. There was a shattered super rare one in there too. A crier for sure. It’s the John Grams agent for the Kamm and Schellinger Brewing co. That’s indeed a very hot commodity in these there parts as it were. In any case I will clean them up soon and post some more pics. Jgas.

 

[NJKLAGT]

I hope you didn't take offence to that, jgas. I don't know how people talk in Indiana, those are just the things I think about when I'm digging. Feel free to blast me with some Canadian jokes. Funny how I said Geugner and Beugner and there actually was a Krueger, haha! Thanks for the tally and more-in-depth description of these beautiful bottles!

NJ

EDIT: Did you plan on tumbling most of these? Some of them have such nice patinas...

 

[jgas]

No offense taken at all NJ. Quite funny actually. Lol. I don’t tumble them. My buddy does that now and again. If it’s a super hot one I will have him do it. Funny thing is is that I really don’t collect the beers. My buddy does. I do however as my avatar suggests collect some flasks. So we make trades and such. He gets what he collects and I get what I collect. Kinda why I was hoping the pit next to this one goes a little older and has some whiskeys in it. Ha. I just clean em by hand with some copper shot usually. I like the older look most times. Jgas.

 

[NJKLAGT]

Alright, well get on that next pit and bring us a historical flask, would ya?

 

[jgas]

Here are some new pics of some cleaned up bottles.

A couple of criers found while cleaning. The blob popped off one and a full blown crack on an amber Ohio one. In all I think we did pretty darn good. I will make cups out of the ones with the tops that are missing. Jgas

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

Somehow I missed this post until now, KILLER!
That many intact quarts is odd defying!
And the one picture with the four bases showing is just plain porn.
Damn!
Kudos,
Carl

 

[A2coins]

Amazing finds those are really cool I gotta say I love that cup the most I collect those I have dug many pits and dumps and have yet to find a whole one like that absolutely awesome . Thanks for sharing your finds. Tommy