50s dump worth digging?

Ruchman

Ruchman

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Mar 14, 2013
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50's dump worth digging?

At my home you can't go 2 swings without hitting an old can. There's a lot of ketchup bottles and this Vicks bottle I thought was pretty cool. Are there any items from this era to oooooo&ahhhh??? The dumps go 4'+ deep.






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Internet says about 2-3 hours per batch. It might be more prudent to use a flat bin instead of a 5G bucket, you can fit more into a bin than a bucket and you could also watch the process easier. BBQ tongs might also be handy for adding/removing items from the solution. Just thinking out loud here, I have a trash pit I'm working over myself that I'm considering this for.
 

I used to smush all the rusty cans as I went...now I pay more attention to those....the amount of improvement you can get can be striking.....Ive even found paint on old cast iron toys...hiding under the rust.....citric acid or electrolisis would never reveal this......its almost amazing the first time you try......
 

Just because the top stuff is 50's, doesn't mean the bottom stuff is. The dump could have been started 50 yrs before that. Hope you find some old milk bottles.
 

This stuff is amazing!!!! I got a few cans soaking and in just 30min the rust is falling off. One can was solid rust and now it has coca cola all over it. I'll post em when there finished,any one know if a good rinse of water will nutralize the process?image.jpg
 

There's a dump on my place going back to the 40's. Loads of rusted canned milk tins. A few semi interesting clear bottles. One very interesting brown bottle with an standing man holding a huge fish on his back, cod liver oil bottle. The man and fish were raised, embossed?
 

Heck yes ! 50's sights could be older by many years and then became the standard county or town dump sight in the 50's just because it was already used in the first place . Also think about some of the stuff chucked back then that was already old in that time . I'd hit it in a heartbeat ! IMHO , Woodstock
 

Cans are in the same order in original picture, the green Vicks jar is the one from my original post. Didn't know it was green? This was after 2.5hrs in oxalic acid I got at the paint store, $9.20 makes 2gallons the coke can made a huge transformation!image.jpg
 

looks good...that Olympia can is good enough to sell...for sure.....the trick is finding some weird brands...or 30s cans..but....it is fun soaking stuff huh ..I especially like finding some little brown random tin and soaking it to find out what it is.....you might want to mix the acid a little stronger.....when I soak cans in the first batch....they usually go pretty quick.....
that Coke can was a total mystery can (?)....the caps on the jars look good too....
to neutralize....some water with a little baking soda....did the acid eat into the aluminum lids on the tab top cans (the other ones are called flat-tops...and there are some that look like brake fluid cans called "cone tops") - good job!
 

Thanks for the tips, how long is the mix good for? Also does the hot of the water help remove the rust or just the acid? Did eat the alluminum lid on one can where it was pitted.
 

you should post those pics on the rusty can board - they always like digging stories -that little 10 oz can is neat -
the water being hot makes it work faster....but sometimes it can fade the cans.....you can usually do a few batches....you can leave the really gnarly cans in overnight -once you have done a batch or two....looking good though - that Ranier Ale can might be a sleeper can - ale cans are a mostly east coast thing....the opening on that one looks around 1965-68 - the other Rainier has a "dog bone" opening which was the first type - 1962..63..64.....the can guys know more than me though...
 

I have a 50's era dump located on my property. Most of the items are about 2-3" down and only 4-6" thick, so it looks like the stuff was graded over at some point. Cool items I have found thus far (area excavated is 20x20):

- A lot of broken glass (I will have to remove so I can replant grass. Argggg!)
- A dozen small amber glass bottles, some with droppers and solid glass tubes
- Six green medicine type bottles
- Six blue Vicks bottles and one Phillips bottle
- A dozen white cream bottles (contained shampoo/deodorant/unknown), one is double sided, kind of cool, some with lids
- A misc toys (two toy guns, a couple of cowboys, a checker piece, a few marbles)
- A very small silver fork
- (ETA) - Compact (mirror goin), but hinge is still in good shape, and a few lip stick tubes.
- A PISTOL, just the barrel portion. It is all rusted, I am going to do electrolysis and then a oxalic acid wash to see if I can make out an ID

Since most of the stuff is small, I am sure that it was graded and that is why all I am find are small bottles.

I am going to use my sieve box to hopefully locate the small stuff that I did not see the first run (like old coins??).
 

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