It’s Been Three Long Weeks…

[ANTIQUARIAN]

It’s been three weeks since I last posted a hunt, mainly because I’ve been busy rebuilding, sanding & staining my front porch. You can see the before and after pics at the end of this thread if you’re interested. I finally got back to the old woollen mil site last Sunday and made a few recoveries. Just to recap the history of this site for those who missed my earlier finds from this site. This is one of two c1870 homes that were located close to a c1860 woollen mill. The second house is located somewhere in a heavily treed ravine approximately 500’ from this house.

Based on my finds from previous hunts here I tend to think this may have been a boarding house for the workers. As most of my finds to-date have been the usual relics that one finds at an old home site. The finds have been of little monetary value and I have not found anything dated before 1900 or any coins dating before 1940. This house was likely abandoned sometime in the early 1950s, as I’ve yet to find anything after this date. Some of my more interesting finds were a 1940s General Motors employee I.D. badge. I found a similar example that was recently sold on eBay. I also found a beautiful blue marble, a couple of pennies from the 40s, a squished wind-up toy car, an old tanker truck from the London Toy Company, part of a clay pipe stem and a c1910 glass bottle.

History of Oshawa and it’s Industries

Oshawa began as a transfer point for the fur trade. Beaver and other animals trapped for their pelts by local natives were traded with the Coureurs des bois (voyagers). Furs were loaded onto canoes by the Mississauga Indians at the Oshawa harbour and transported to the trading posts located to the west at the mouth of the Credit River. Around 1760, the French constructed a trading post near the harbour location; this was abandoned after a few years, but its ruins provided shelter for the first residents of what later became Oshawa. Most notably, one of the fur traders was Moody Farewell, an early resident of the community who was to some extent responsible for its name change.

Oshawa’s roots are tied to the automobile industry, specifically the Canadian division of General Motors, known as General Motors Canada. Founded in 1876 as the McLaughlin Carriage Company, General Motors of Canada's headquarters are located in the city. The automotive industry was the inspiration for Oshawa's previous mottos: "The City that Motovates Canada", and "The City in Motion". The lavish home of the carriage company's founder, Parkwood Estate, is a National Historic Site of Canada, and a backdrop favoured by numerous film crews, featured in many films including It, Billy Madison, Chicago, and X-Men.

Once recognized as the sole "Automotive Capital of Canada", Oshawa today is an education and health sciences hub. The city is home to three post-secondary institutions (Durham College, Trent University Durham and University of Ontario Institute of Technology) and to Lakeridge Health Oshawa, Lakeridge Health and Education Research Network (LHEARN Centre).
Thanks very much for looking,
Dave

 

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[Hawks88]

Nice to see you back. Lots of nice saves. Great story on the history of Oshawa. Thanks for sharing all the beautiful pictures with us. You really made up for your absence with all those nice relics. I like the old truck. That front porch looks fantastic. Congrats.

 

[dirtdigginfool]

Awesome hunt, awesome pics and your porch looks great!! Alot of very nice keepers, I'm drawn to the brooch and other piece with the Web design, that's the stuff that truly keeps me going. I find its ok to not find any or many coins when pulling relics like those! Ddf.

 

[A2coins]

wowza I would love to detect there great post

 

[Whyme]

That's a lot of really nice finds! Really like the marble and the truck!

 

[BenVa68]

I love finding relics like these. Although I certainly don't mind finding coins or jewelry i do think relics of everyday life in a different time are much more interesting.

 

[MDKamper]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing

 

[Rookster]

Awesome relics. Thanks for the pics.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice to see you back. Lots of nice saves. Great story on the history of Oshawa. Thanks for sharing all the beautiful pictures with us. You really made up for your absence with all those nice relics. I like the old truck. That front porch looks fantastic. Congrats.

Thanks very much for your post and for your kind words Hawks.
I appreciate your words of support on my handy work on my front porch too.

Best of luck to you in the Niagara Region,
Dave

Awesome hunt, awesome pics and your porch looks great!! A lot of very nice keepers, I'm drawn to the brooch and other piece with the Web design, that's the stuff that truly keeps me going. I find its ok to not find any or many coins when pulling relics like those! Ddf.

Thanks for your post and words of support DDF.
This site has been frustrating to say the least due to it's lack of coin finds, but finding the GM badge felt good.
I've since cleaned it up and have given it to the landowner as a thank you.
Dave

wowza I would love to detect there great post

Thanks very much Tommy, I really appreciate your support!
Dave

That's a lot of really nice finds! Really like the marble and the truck!

Thank you Whyme.
I love finding these old toys as they're almost always solid, except when they're flat as a pancake.
Dave

I love finding relics like these. Although I certainly don't mind finding coins or jewelry i do think relics of everyday life in a different time are much more interesting.

Hi Ben,
You're so right with your statement above.
Most of these finds are not all that special, except for maybe the toy tanker truck, the child who lost it must have been upset when this was lost.
Dave

Very cool! Thanks for sharing

Thanks for your post MDkamper.
Best of luck to you!
Dave

Awesome relics. Thanks for the pics.

Thank you Rook.
A picture says a thousand words... hence the need for lost of pics.
Dave