Pikes Peak, Robacks Bitters, Citron Ink and More, 130 Years Old time to see the light

jgas

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Apr 23, 2008
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Hello all, Here's my story......

It's been quite awhile since we were able to finally dig some glass that made us both say "WOW." :headbang: But today is that day. You see, for all of us diggers out there we occasionally get tired of seeing the same things. The same medicines, beer bottles etc. :BangHead: But we just keep doing what we do and nearly break our backs doing it. Don and I have been counting the pits we have done and we were on a streak of bad ones. :icon_scratch: Couldn't figure out why we were not hitting any "Use Layers" and were just coming away empty. We were up to 7 now and nothing. ??? All ash pits, trash pits with post 1900 stuff. Couldn't turn the century at all. And we are digging in spots that were dated to 1875-80. But like I say and Don agrees, we have to pay our dues every now and again. Sometimes that makes the current finds just that much sweeter. :thumbsup:

So onto another house dating to 1875. A smaller skinny type yard but longer and deeper that most. So I had to probe a bit to find the first pit. Well as you know by now, the dues were still being paid. :thumb_down: Nothing but bricks, broken meat pots! That was a 6 footer. Nothing to show so fill her in and move on. I probed an ash pit that had all wood ash which is normally a good sign for "Oldness." But after chopping through a root the size of a telephone pole, we discovered nothing again. Ugh, so I moved about 25 feet closer to the house and found another privy. Our hopes were up of course but reality is what it is. The very first thing to pop out was a skirted Coke bottle! Pretty cool but not really what were were looking for. So we kept digging passing the 6 foot mark with not much action.

Then at around 6 and 1/2 feet down I broke into the Use Layer. The next two things were awesome and told us the date of the pit. A stoneware ink and the beautiful Citron cone ink. WOW what a color! :headbang: So now it was Don's turn. As soon as he got in the pit he pulls out a great looking Bell Top Ink in perfect shape. Never seen or dug one of these before but it was cool and crude. :icon_thumright: After he dug a ton of broken plates, glasses and the usual household stuff he was burnt out and needed a rest. So I jumped in and continued to go for China! :tongue3: I started in and immediately saw a pile of glass towards the back of the pit so I used my rake and pulled some out. Then more glass fell onto the rake from above. Low and Behold out pops the 1/2 pint Pikes Peak Eagle Flask WooHoooo! :headbang: We were both stoked now. And new we were in for some special finds. I no more than handed Don the flask and bent over to use my light and saw the base of what I thought was a common glass cup. So I reached in and grabbed it and pulled it out. It just kept coming and as it hit the light I saw that it was a Barrel shaped bottle. Then I saw the top was intact and then the light hit the embossing just right. Bammo, CW Robacks, Stomach Bitters, Cincinnati O. :headbang: :thumbsup: Holy Cow Wow!!!!! What a day. I have only seen a piece or two of one but now to have a whole one in my hands is just crazy. After that Don was back in. He pulled out numerous plates and broken pieces of medicines, including a Lindseys Blood Searcher :BangHead: But what the heck we were back in the game finally! A nice pile of great glass after a skunking for so long feels great.

I took some photo's along the way and then did some light cleaning for the after pictures. Hope you enjoy. I know we did while it lasted. Hope to get back and possibly find another pit, maybe older, but that's up to the bottle Gods and after we pay our dues again! :tongue3: But we are up to the challenge! Be safe out there and good luck on all of your treasure hunting.
 

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Upvote 15
first, as always, love love love your posts! and Cincinnati representing! very cool to see that. congrats.
 

Nice post and excellent finds. Love the barrel bitters. Always nice to see other guys digging the deep holes. Keep at it.
 

man when are you getting your TV show? You 2 are serious urban archaeologists:notworthy:...
 

Superior post!
Well done.
Glad you've again hit pay dirt. Incredible glass!!!.
Peace ✌
 

Great inkwells and bottles:headbang: lot of work but a great payoff:thumbsup:
 

Man oh man, what a great pit! I LOVE reading your posts. What My Wife and I wouldn't give to stumble onto a pit like that here! Congrats!!

-Buck
 

You guys are the Champions of the Underworld of Glass ! --- Way to go !!! I love em all. As a kid living in Helena , Montana
I used to dig an old bottle dump which yielded bottles from the 1870's - 1910 or so .
 

I see JGAS you found a pit full of glass and some nice inks at that. Neat collection of bottles,vanzutphen
 

Hello all, Here's my story......

It's been quite awhile since we were able to finally dig some glass that made us both say "WOW." :headbang: But today is that day. You see, for all of us diggers out there we occasionally get tired of seeing the same things. The same medicines, beer bottles etc. :BangHead: But we just keep doing what we do and nearly break our backs doing it. Don and I have been counting the pits we have done and we were on a streak of bad ones. :icon_scratch: Couldn't figure out why we were not hitting any "Use Layers" and were just coming away empty. We were up to 7 now and nothing. ??? All ash pits, trash pits with post 1900 stuff. Couldn't turn the century at all. And we are digging in spots that were dated to 1875-80. But like I say and Don agrees, we have to pay our dues every now and again. Sometimes that makes the current finds just that much sweeter. :thumbsup:

So onto another house dating to 1875. A smaller skinny type yard but longer and deeper that most. So I had to probe a bit to find the first pit. Well as you know by now, the dues were still being paid. :thumb_down: Nothing but bricks, broken meat pots! That was a 6 footer. Nothing to show so fill her in and move on. I probed an ash pit that had all wood ash which is normally a good sign for "Oldness." But after chopping through a root the size of a telephone pole, we discovered nothing again. Ugh, so I moved about 25 feet closer to the house and found another privy. Our hopes were up of course but reality is what it is. The very first thing to pop out was a skirted Coke bottle! Pretty cool but not really what were were looking for. So we kept digging passing the 6 foot mark with not much action.

Then at around 6 and 1/2 feet down I broke into the Use Layer. The next two things were awesome and told us the date of the pit. A stoneware ink and the beautiful Citron cone ink. WOW what a color! :headbang: So now it was Don's turn. As soon as he got in the pit he pulls out a great looking Bell Top Ink in perfect shape. Never seen or dug one of these before but it was cool and crude. :icon_thumright: After he dug a ton of broken plates, glasses and the usual household stuff he was burnt out and needed a rest. So I jumped in and continued to go for China! :tongue3: I started in and immediately saw a pile of glass towards the back of the pit so I used my rake and pulled some out. Then more glass fell onto the rake from above. Low and Behold out pops the 1/2 pint Pikes Peak Eagle Flask WooHoooo! :headbang: We were both stoked now. And new we were in for some special finds. I no more than handed Don the flask and bent over to use my light and saw the base of what I thought was a common glass cup. So I reached in and grabbed it and pulled it out. It just kept coming and as it hit the light I saw that it was a Barrel shaped bottle. Then I saw the top was intact and then the light hit the embossing just right. Bammo, CW Robacks, Stomach Bitters, Cincinnati O. :headbang: :thumbsup: Holy Cow Wow!!!!! What a day. I have only seen a piece or two of one but now to have a whole one in my hands is just crazy. After that Don was back in. He pulled out numerous plates and broken pieces of medicines, including a Lindseys Blood Searcher :BangHead: But what the heck we were back in the game finally! A nice pile of great glass after a skunking for so long feels great.

I took some photo's along the way and then did some light cleaning for the after pictures. Hope you enjoy. I know we did while it lasted. Hope to get back and possibly find another pit, maybe older, but that's up to the bottle Gods and after we pay our dues again! :tongue3: But we are up to the challenge! Be safe out there and good luck on all of your treasure hunting.

Nice inks and bitters...I'm a jealous man..I have to wait until next weekend to dig my first privis of the season (7 on property from the 1850's )
 

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My dad was right, hard work does pay off :thumbsup:

Great write up and super finds! :notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:
 

Thanks for the replies everyone. It sure was a blast to finally hit some great stuff. Not sure if we will ever see a barrel bitters like that again but we are going to try! Thanks again for checking out the post. jgas
 

Man it would be nice to be able to dig that far down & not hit rock as we do here in Texas.
 

Great post, love the bitters and the flask!
 

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