Sporting Button IH Penny Bits & Pieces

[ANTIQUARIAN]

These are all finds from my last three hunts at various sites. Most days, the daytime temps are now below -2c in my area, so this may very well be my last ‘Finds Post’ of 2020. All of these came from farm fields that had recently been disked of their corn and bean crop, so just walking through the fields was a real challenge with all the stalk trash and mud sticking to my boots. I found a worn US Indian Head Penny, a few flat buttons, a small ‘Sporting Button’ missing its shank, what I feel is an iron ‘Jews Harp/Mouth Organ’, the brass Barnett & Fils label is from a bottle of cognac, the top portion of a brass candlestick and a Keen's D.S.F. mustard tin top. Since these sites had recently been disked and we’ve had quite a lot of rain lately, the glass and porcelain fragments were numerous.

Barnett & Fils label c1869 - 85
“Founded in 1869 in the Cognac district of France, initially had its office on the Place de la Corderie, which nowadays no longer exists, but it was located roughly on the site of the current Allée de la Corderie. In the years 1877-1885 they built distilleries and a chai and associated buildings on the Avenue Paul Firino Martell Nr. 58. In 1895, Louis Elichagaray bought the company and continued under the name Barnett & Elichagaray.”

Keen's D.S.F. mustard tin top c1900
"Keen's Mustard has a history extending back to the 18th century. The first mustard factory in London was opened by Messrs Keen & Sons at Garlick Hill in 1742, and in the 1890s the chimes of the Royal Exchange, set to the well-known song 'The Roast Beef of Old England', could be heard, during a lull in the traffic, at Keen's factory. Part of the factory was sealed off for manufacture of washing blue, because everything, including the workers, bore a shade of blue. Mustard tins too were made, and there was a penny tin packing room. Thomas Keen was born in Camberwell, south London, in 1801, but the family subsequently moved to Croydon, Surrey, and ran the 311-acre Welcomes Farm at nearby Coulsdon. In 1825 Thomas married Harriett Toulmin, whose family lived at The Elms, 61 High Street, and the couple moved in 1831. In 1862, Thomas Keen died on 17 February at the age of 61. In 1862, Keen & Sons amalgamated with Robinson & Belville, manufacturers of patented groats and barley, to become Keen Robinson & Company. In 1903, Keen Robinson & Company was acquired by J & J Colman, the mustard producer based in Norwich. Colman's merged with Reckitt & Sons in 1938, becoming Reckitt & Colman. In 1998, Keen's Mustard was bought by McCormick Foods Australia. Keen's asked Australians to search their homes for nostalgic Keen's memorabilia. The search uncovered historic advertisements and even an original mustard powder tin dating back to 1904. In 2000, Keen's Mustard took the memorabilia on tour to share with the rest of Australia.”

Thanks very much for looking,
Dave

 

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[Digger RJ]

Nice!!!!! Congrats!!!!!

 

[Randy Combs]

Fantastic finds

 

[CRUSADER]

If thats a fly fisherman on that sports/hunts button that would be really cool, never seen that before & being a fisherman its all the better. Nice.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Very nice finds and great preservation as usual! What is that nice item with the script "C" on it?

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice!!!!! Congrats!!!!!

Thanks Randy.

Fantastic finds

Thanks for your post Randy... I love your cousin Luke's music too!
Sorry buddy, I'm sure you get that all the time now, but I couldn't resist.
Dave

If thats a fly fisherman on that sports/hunts button that would be really cool, never seen that before & being a fisherman its all the better. Nice.

Thanks very much for this Cru, this is the second 'Sporting Button' I found at this site, although this example is smaller than the first.
I'll post a pic of the first example I found in 2019 at the bottom of this thread.

Hope you and your Dad are both doing well.

Very nice finds and great preservation as usual! What is that nice item with the script "C" on it?

Good morning Eric.
Funny that you should notice this, because when it first popped up I thought it was the front of a horse rosette.
Once I got it cleaned up though, I found it was made of plastic and is likely the face of a cold water tap.

Hope you're still able to get out there my friend,
Dave

 

[islamoradamark]

nice collection of good stuff like a couple of the old bottle tops they look old bet you find some good ones

 

[VTColonialDigger]

Those are some awesome finds, congrats! Looks like a fun hunt!

 

[pepperj]

At least you managed a few outings of late. It's a challenge to navigate the fields now that they don't dry up at all.
Now you have a bone-a-fide harmonica reed to add to the collection-field certified-a first I might add.

The iron Jews harp/mouth reed-I think is a piece of something else-it just clicked-I dug one yesterday but threw it in the scrap pile/brush at the site. It's was the same but 6" long with a small bolt joining the two sides, but it escapes me what it came off of.
I'll send you a pic in the spring when I return to the site-or when we get together for a site hunt.

 

[releventchair]

Lots of goodies!

Looks like food , music , and even some sporting recreation were going on.
The pipe stem pieces suit the era well too.
I used to think they were dropped/broken by accident , until reading of tavern pipes where the stem was broken off shorter each time for hygiene's sake between users.
Not sure what they were trying to avoid sharing as far as germs or virus. But better safe....Lest the music stopped!

The lamp piece might have witnessed some music after dark on special winter holidays when oil could be most cheerfully afforded. (Or , I have too much imagination....)

Congrats on the recoveries. An olde site for sure.

 

[Wildcat1750]

Always love reading about your finds, seeing the maps, and the historic background that goes with it!
We are all facing the impending freeze...

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

nice collection of good stuff like a couple of the old bottle tops they look old bet you find some good ones

Thanks for your post Mark.
I keep all of the old complete bottlenecks/tops that I find, although I'm not sure why.
Best of luck to you,
Dave

Those are some awesome finds, congrats! Looks like a fun hunt!

Thanks for your post VTCD.
I find the end of every detecting season frustrating, it almost seems like I'm in a panic to find just one more 'keeper'.
Hope you had a good year in Vermont.
Dave

At least you managed a few outings of late. It's a challenge to navigate the fields now that they don't dry up at all.
Now you have a bone-a-fide harmonica reed to add to the collection-field certified-a first I might add.

The iron Jews harp/mouth reed-I think is a piece of something else-it just clicked-I dug one yesterday but threw it in the scrap pile/brush at the site. It's was the same but 6" long with a small bolt joining the two sides, but it escapes me what it came off of.
I'll send you a pic in the spring when I return to the site-or when we get together for a site hunt.

Jim, I compared this iron piece to the brass jews harp I found on the site you and I detected in 2015 and it looks similar.
You can see where a metal piece was attached to the middle of it, but I too have my doubts as to what it might be from?

Lots of goodies!

Looks like food , music , and even some sporting recreation were going on.
The pipe stem pieces suit the era well too.
I used to think they were dropped/broken by accident , until reading of tavern pipes where the stem was broken off shorter each time for hygiene's sake between users.
Not sure what they were trying to avoid sharing as far as germs or virus. But better safe....Lest the music stopped!

The lamp piece might have witnessed some music after dark on special winter holidays when oil could be most cheerfully afforded. (Or , I have too much imagination....)

Congrats on the recoveries. An olde site for sure.

Thanks for your post WP.
Very interesting theory about the clay pipe fragments, especially fitting with the ongoing pandemic.
The pipe stems came from the same site as the 'jews harp' and the lamp burner came from another site.
Take care my friend,
Dave

Always love reading about your finds, seeing the maps, and the historic background that goes with it!
We are all facing the impending freeze...

Thanks Nick, hope you had a good year as well.
If anything, the winter gives up a chance to clean up all of those ferrous finds and research for new sites to detect in the spring.
Have a great Christmas!
Dave

 

[thrifty76now]

Great finds ,and photos.

 

[WannaDig3687]

Looks like some good hunting, Dave. Quite a variety of nice finds. Thanks for adding the history of your finds. I like reading that. Congratulations.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Great finds, and photos.

Thanks very much for your post and support buddy!

Looks like some good hunting, Dave. Quite a variety of nice finds. Thanks for adding the history of your finds. I like reading that. Congratulations.

Thanks for taking the time to read what I posted WD, like me I'm sure most folks just look at the pictures.

I find some of the most utilitarian finds interesting, like the top to the mustard can.
Here's a pic of the site where the house stood.

I can't help but think about the times these people lived in and how different and yet similar it is to today.
They had no vaccinations and could easily die from a bad cold, which makes me appreciate how far science has come since the early 1900s.