Dug and sifted 3 yards of dirt for this! Oops! Also found a miners tag?

[halfdime]

Dug and sifted 3 yards of dirt for this! Oops! Also found a miner's tag?

Today I finished searching privy #3 in our ghost town, and it was slightly deeper than the other two. Measuring 3x4 feet, and 8 feet deep, it holds a volume of whatever product of 96 cubic feet. Since it was only filled to a foot from the top, it still required the removal of 84 cubic feet of soil to reach bottom. That's just over 3 cubic yards if that matters to you, and I sifted every inch of it. Among maybe a half dozen other bottles, this one yielded this small Bromo-Seltzer bottle, three clay marbles, a regular marble and this wheat penny which just won't give up a date. In three privies, Kiros32 and I have found a grand total of two wheats . The bottles have more than made up for the lack of coin, however. The sad find of the day was the broken remains of a green mason jar with the hole for a carrying wire and the patent date of July 14, 1906; figures I would find a clear jar intact . I managed to refill the hole about halfway before a violent wind/thunderstorm hit; I managed to get myself and my important equipment out of the woods before I was too soaked. We'll be looking for (hopefully) another older privy next; this was concrete, the first was block and the second brick.
While cleaning more artifacts this afternoon, I came across this 2" piece that I believe is a miner's tag. This was a mining company town.

 

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[Mr Ripley]

Re: Dug and sifted 3 yards of dirt for this!

Hi halfdime.

Your finds have been terrific so far, marbles are great too! Keep digging them!

What era do you suspect that this ghost town was inhabited? So far it looks like your finds are approx. ca. 1920-1930. I love early century glass, but the real treasures are older. If the town predates that timeframe, the older BIMAL and pontiled bottles were dumped somewhere...

Perhaps you are digging stone liners that were dug to replace wood liners that are holding the really old glass...Maybe an older surface dump in the woods??

Easy for me to say, I am in a warm recliner while you and Kiros32 are busting your behinds in the cold...

Mr R

 

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[halfdime]

Re: Dug and sifted 3 yards of dirt for this!

Hi halfdime.

Your finds have been terrific so far, marbles are great too! Keep digging them!

What era do you suspect that this ghost town was inhabited? So far it looks like your finds are approx. ca. 1920-1930. I love early century glass, but the real treasures are older. If the town predates that timeframe, the older BIMAL and pontiled bottles were dumped somewhere...

Perhaps you are digging stone liners that were dug to replace wood liners that are holding the really old glass...Maybe an older surface dump in the woods??

Easy for me to say, I am in a warm recliner while you and Kiros32 are busting your behinds in the cold...

Mr R

Mr Ripley, believe it or not (sorry, couldn't resist) this town is probably just early 20th century. The houses were Sears houses; I suspect they were an early 1900's product. My mother went to 3rd and 4th grade within sight of this town and she knew kids who lived there; this was in the mid to late '40's. On the other hand, my cousin, who was born in 1945 and grew up on the farm adjacent to the town, never knew it as occupied. I suspect that things closed down in the late '40's. I would love to dig older privies, and someday I will, but right now this is too easy to pass up. We may not hit the older bottles, but other relics (coins) can still be significant. This town is certainly "gold coin era."

 

[Mr Ripley]

Re: Dug and sifted 3 yards of dirt for this!

It is very cool that you have such an intimate knowledge of the sites you are digging, that makes it all the more interesting!

I will admit, I always think glass first and then coins and relics. I would imagine a coin find (especially gold) would be significant.

I will have to invite you two up for a hike in the spring to a dump that has so many 20s-30s bottles that you could sink in over your head. By the way, keep me in mind if you ever decide to unload that green Reese bottle.

Mr R

 

[halfdime]

Re: Dug and sifted 3 yards of dirt for this!

It is very cool that you have such an intimate knowledge of the sites you are digging, that makes it all the more interesting!

I will admit, I always think glass first and then coins and relics. I would imagine a coin find (especially gold) would be significant.

I will have to invite you two up for a hike in the spring to a dump that has so many 20s-30s bottles that you could sink in over your head. By the way, keep me in mind if you ever decide to unload that green Reese bottle.

Mr R

In distributing the bottles, Kiros32 got the green Reese bottle; somehow, I get the idea that it's a keeper!

 

[Lookin]

Re: Dug and sifted 3 yards of dirt for this!

Wow, people swallowed stuff like that back then, too, eh?

 

[Mirage]

Re: Dug and sifted 3 yards of dirt for this!

Henry,
I think privy digging is overrated. True?

Of course I have no experience....

Bob

 

[halfdime]

Re: Dug and sifted 3 yards of dirt for this!

Henry,
I think privy digging is overrated. True?

Of course I have no experience....

Bob

Bob, I'm finding that every privy is different; the way finds were coming in the first dig was incredible! I only have a small sample size (3), but I'm enjoying the experience. AND...when the ground is too frozen to detect, privies might still be an option! If you get the chance, give one a shot; just make sure it's been out of service for a while!

 

[Kiros32]

Re: Dug and sifted 3 yards of dirt for this!

It is very cool that you have such an intimate knowledge of the sites you are digging, that makes it all the more interesting!

I will admit, I always think glass first and then coins and relics. I would imagine a coin find (especially gold) would be significant.

I will have to invite you two up for a hike in the spring to a dump that has so many 20s-30s bottles that you could sink in over your head. By the way, keep me in mind if you ever decide to unload that green Reese bottle.

Mr R

Yeah that one will be staying in my collection lol. Let me know if you ever decide the unload the BLUE Reese bottle haha.

 

[halfdime]

Re: Dug and sifted 3 yards of dirt for this!

It is very cool that you have such an intimate knowledge of the sites you are digging, that makes it all the more interesting!

I will admit, I always think glass first and then coins and relics. I would imagine a coin find (especially gold) would be significant.

I will have to invite you two up for a hike in the spring to a dump that has so many 20s-30s bottles that you could sink in over your head. By the way, keep me in mind if you ever decide to unload that green Reese bottle.

Mr R

Yeah that one will be staying in my collection lol. Let me know if you ever decide the unload the BLUE Reese bottle haha.

Sometimes I'm a little slow...what is the significance of the Reese bottles?

 

[Mr Ripley]

Re: Dug and sifted 3 yards of dirt for this!

In my opinion the Reese bottles are probably the most collectible medicine bottles from that time frame. They combined great colored glass, tons of embossing and stuck with a cork stopper after everyone else went with a threaded cap. The blue one is considered a poison, the green was not because it was for internal use.

Both colors fluctuate wildly pricewise on sites like ebay, right now there are two dlue ones that are buy it now. One is less than $30, the other is over $70. The greens typically get a fraction of that, but I have seen them do pretty well. The blue Reese is the only bottle in my medicine collection that dates in the 20th century, just thought I would enquire about a companion for the youngster... If the blue Reese goes you guys have dibs.

I think that there are probably many more "keepers" in you guys' near future...looking forward to seeing your finds.

 

[{Sentinel}]

Re: Dug and sifted 3 yards of dirt for this!

I can appreciate the privy digging as I love it myself. But it DEFINITELY is a grade above surface hunting and only those who've delved into a privy or trash pit know what Im talking about....I can relate to filling all that dirt back in with only meager finds...thats how it goes sometimes unfortunately. Still good effort and some pretty cool old marbles.