About 400 antiques bottles thankfully finding new home.

[Limitool]

Around 35+ years ago I made a prob to look for old privy pits at this home I owned and lived in. I found A LOT OF THEM. This home was in Constantine MI. and was a very old structure. I never got around to digging even half of them. I think I dug 6 of them and found hundreds of unbroken bottles and items. I found the bottles, ceramic doll heads, 2 pistols and many old household items. I found many medicine bottle both very large and very small (tiny).

Now I am not a bottle collector but I did have fun seeing what I could find. But never did I expect to find so many in just 6 pits. There were still 15 or more privy pits I knew of but didn't dig up. I can't imagine how many I would have ended up with. When I moved to Tennessee in 94' I brought the bottles with me for some reason. I was always going to clean them up and see if any were worth a dollar. But I never did. So I made the decision that I was going to try and find a new home for them. So I asked just 2 folks here on Tnet (PM'ed) if they had any idea what I could do with them all. One of them wanted all of them...! So he's coming to get them soon. And I am very grateful for it. I thought it would be very hard to pass about 400 bottles along and probably is. I believe I just got lucky somebody was interested in them all. Here's some pics of them after I got them out of the old boxes they were in. Only 1 bottle was broken. It was a "Patented in1858 mason jar" into 3 pcs. The jar broke clean and can be glued but it sucks it was broken.

 

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[achanceforgold]

That's fantastic dude!
One day I'm going try this. Privy pitting, lots of old houses near me.

 

[Limitool]

That's fantastic dude!
One day I'm going try this. Privy pitting, lots of old houses near me.

Here's what I did and it worked out great. I got a 1/4" steel rod about 5-6ft long and tack welded a T-handle on one end. I added wood handles later over the T-handle. The other end I ground to a sharp point. The soil I had was sandy and soft and easy to penetrate. But it would NEVER work here in Tennessee. When you push the rod in and the tip hits a piece of glass you can easily hear it resonate on the rod. Many times it took many tries in the same area / spot to rule it out. When I usually hit something it was when the pit was getting full at about 2-3ft. But many times I hit something at 4-5ft. Good luck...!!!!

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Wow ... that's a lot of great looking old Bottles - well done !

 

[UnderMiner]

Neat! I dig bottles all the time but not from privies, only river-side dumps and the like. I currently have permission to dig around a house from 1750, how do I find where the privy is?

 

[achanceforgold]

I watched a couple youtube videos of guys digging up privy's.
They were finding all kind of stuff. Bottles, watches, rings, etc.

Do you know when they started putting bathrooms in public buildings.
I own an old courthouse from 1875.

 

[The Rebel]

Great finds, l'm sure you enjoyed every minute of it.

 

[KYgotGOLD]

So people buy these? We call it a bottle dump when you find a large amount it one area.

 

[Limitool]

Neat! I dig bottles all the time but not from privies, only river-side dumps and the like. I currently have permission to dig around a house from 1750, how do I find where the privy is?

Well it would surely help if you had a map of the area at the time. I'd think they'd put the outhouse near a property line or out away's from the building but not near another building. Maybe you could "stare" from an open door and asked yourself.... Where would you put it...? And remember there won't be just one at an old site. When one got close to full they'd dig next to it and just move the outhouse over to the new hole. They'd stay away from wells to prevent leeching also.

 

[Limitool]

So people buy these? We call it a bottle dump when you find a large amount it one area.

If you have the right one and it cleans up good I guess people do. These were not found in a bottle dump but I know what you mean.

 

[robertk]

Well it would surely help if you had a map of the area at the time. I'd think they'd put the outhouse near a property line or out away's from the building but not near another building. Maybe you could "stare" from an open door and asked yourself.... Where would you put it...?

I've been trying to figure that out at my old house site. I know (roughly) where the house was. I know where the cellar was(I'm digging it up). I know where the well was II dug up the pipe). But the privy eludes me. And unfortunately, there are so many rocks here that the probe trick won't really help.

The only houses here that I visited while they still had outhouses standing (not on my property, just in the area), the outhouse was less than a hundred feet from the house. Close enough you could make a mad dash in winter without freezing off anything important. But still, a hundred foot circle is a pretty big area to hunt if you don't know where it was.

 

[KYgotGOLD]

If you have the right one and it cleans up good I guess people do. These were not found in a bottle dump but I know what you mean.

I gathered so many out of a place that’s still putting out. Most of the big bottles were broken so it was fun to find them intact but I ended up with 2 I never seen a mechanical grease jar that was almost like carnival glass in color and a ball jar with a odd shape like a vase couldn’t find info on either jar but I got them at my moms house still. She use to love them old bottles I’d bring home for some reason.

 

[ToddsPoint]

I bought a probe but it’s just not possible here in Central IL. Once the privy was filled and farmed over our soil is just packed too hard to penetrate. It seems like the privy’s were “behind the house and to the left” at the few houses I knew of that still had them. There were still a few in my small town in the late 50s and early 60s. They were a favorite target for the rowdy’s on Halloween night.

 

[Limitool]

Well my entire old bottle collection is now gone. We had a great visit and got each bottle wrapped up in a sheet of bubble wrap and packed in a plastic tote for trip to new home. Many of the bottles (about 400) are the same or very close but there's probably around 300 different ones to research in this collection.

 

[robertk]

It seems like the privy’s were “behind the house and to the left” at the few houses I knew of that still had them.

Interesting. The ones I recall still standing here, the outhouse was "behind the house and to the right". The house in my yard, though, "behind the house and to the right" is where the well was. Behind and center is the cellar. Perhaps I just need to go to the left and start digging random holes.

 

[ToddsPoint]

Interesting. The ones I recall still standing here, the outhouse was "behind the house and to the right". The house in my yard, though, "behind the house and to the right" is where the well was. Behind and center is the cellar. Perhaps I just need to go to the left and start digging random holes.

Before my great grandparents bought their house, it was the local whore house. By the time I came along, my grandparents had taken it over. I know exactly where the outhouse was, at least the last one, and would love to dig it. It’s in another town far from here and no longer in my family. I think it would be an interesting one to dig!

 

[robertk]

Well my entire old bottle collection is now gone.

Not gone, just re-homed.

I don't have them all unpacked yet, but so far everything is safe and sound. I'm sorting and grouping as I unpack, and already running down rabbit trails searching them. There are a few duplicates but not that many really. Definitely lots of research to be done! I'll start a thread (or threads) with details as I uncover them. There are definitely some unusual ones.

We had a great visit

Yes indeed and thank you so much for the hospitality.

And for anyone reading this, @Limitool 's woodworking skills are off the chart, IMO. The pictures he posts of the toy boxes he makes and donates don't do them justice at all -- they're really something to see in person. He is very talented! (And he fooled me with woodwork that I thought was cast iron!)

 

[robertk]

I know exactly where the outhouse was, at least the last one, and would love to dig it.

I know where three are, including two that were at an old school house. But I'd have to move some concrete to be able to dig them now.

 

[Limitool]

I know where three are, including two that were at an old school house. But I'd have to move some concrete to be able to dig them now.

Funny you say this as the home I had in Mich. where your new bottle collection came from has a concrete pad with 3 privy pits I found under them with the prob. There the ones closest to the house. The pits I dug were the furthest away from home near an ally. But I found a line of them bordering the neighbors house also. We'd have a field day still digging in that old yard. It was never MD'ed while I was there either.

 

[smdog66]

So people buy these? We call it a bottle dump when you find a large amount it one area.

Yes some old bottles are worth thousands. I bought a hoard of 60 boxes 10 years ago, I estimate about 2000 bottles. While I did not have any worth thousands, i had lots in the $50-100 range. The lot cost me 300.00 and i made over 10 times that. The most valuable are the embossed and colored ones. The guy who bought these will probably make a good amount of profit