Bottles, Buttons, Buckle, Gutta Percha Comb and Sunburn

[FoxHound0985]

Hello all,
Yesterday a friend and I went to a couple of old home sites near my father's house, one dating back to the late 1700s. They bulldozed the area recently, so there was glass laying everywhere. With the metal detector all I found was this colonial(?) shoe buckle, a horse bit and the small brass object pictured and he found an interesting token. I also found 5 glass bottles, 2 inkwells, 6 glass stoppers, 3 buttons and a really neat Gutta Percha double sided comb marked "UNBREAKABLE". I also got a pretty bad sun burn and a slight case of dehydration, but it was well worth it! Does anyone know anything about this comb? I tried researching it, but could not find much about it. Please let me know what you think.

HH!

Fox

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Upgraded Night Vision Monocular Digital Infrared Monocular Telescope for 100% Darkness with 8X Zoom - Grab it through Amazon!

[John (Ma)]

Nice finds.

 

[Montana Jim]

Awesome bottles & stoppers, finds & bits!

About the Rubber & Gutta Percha:

Natural rubber and gutta percha are both latex saps which are gathered from certain trees indigenous to tropical climates. Although closely related in molecular structure, there are distinct differences between these two materials. Natural rubber is an elastomer: it can be stretched out of shape, then will spring back to retain its original form. Gutta percha is pliable but not elastic in nature; it was often heated and poured into cold molds for forming. Unfortunately, untreated natural latex objects have not survived time well because exposure to air causes structural degradation, resulting in hardening, cracking and crumbling. For this reason cast-molded gutta percha and rubber artifacts are practically non-existent.

Apparently a popular material in last half of the 19th century... another source says it was introduced in the 1840s.

Combs with that shape have been made since though, and those fine teeth remind me of an 'ole lice comb...

 

[Montana Jim]

Just found one extreamly similar... you have an mid 1800s lice comb... check out the link:

http://www.yankeerebelantiques.com/servlet/Detail?no=113

Cool find!

 

[FoxHound0985]

Just found one extreamly similar... you have an mid 1800s lice comb... check out the link:

http://www.yankeerebelantiques.com/servlet/Detail?no=113

Cool find!

Thanks for the info! I figured that this comb would date to the mid 1800s, because Gutta Percha was very common back then, but I was not sure. That comb in the link is very similar. Thanks again!

HH!

Fox