Rare 1920's Shell Oil Bottle, Three 19th C. Blob Bottles, and Two Milks

[UnderMiner]

Went on a big adventure today in a muddy swamp. Five hours of constant walking, all mud, all new, likely never hunted by anyone before. The results, a couple hundred dollars in rare bottles including an original Shell Motor Oil, three late 19th C. blob tops - small, medium, and large, and two early 20th C. milks.

From left to right: Willow Brook Dairy, Reid's Union Dairy Ice Cream Corp., Shell Motor Oil, G. Wm. Meyer, August Bay Bottling Co., and the mini Blob is from the Union Bottling Company "UBC".

Blob bottles in situ:

Bottom embossing of mini blob:

The mini blob has no embossing on the sides but it does have a three-letter "UBC" logo on the bottom. Took an educated guess that "BC" stood for Bottling Company and what else could "U" be but Union - and that's what it turned out to be - the Union Bottling Company. Cross referenced the logo with the logo of the company and it was a match. Found their address, years of operation (1873-1904), as well as this newspaper ad from the 1870's:


Shell Motor Oil:

In situ:

The oil bottle was the first find of the day, and the good finds only continued from there.

 

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[Digger RJ]

Went on a big adventure today in a muddy swamp. Five hours of constant walking, all mud, all new, likely never hunted by anyone before. The results, a couple hundred dollars in rare bottles including an original Shell Motor Oil, three late 19th C. blob tops - small, medium, and large, and two early 20th C. milks.

View attachment 2043298
From left to right: Willow Brook Dairy, Reid's Union Dairy Ice Cream Corp., Shell Motor Oil, G. Wm. Meyer, August Bay Bottling Co., and the mini Blob is from the Union Bottling Company "UBC".

Blob bottles in situ:
View attachment 2043299
View attachment 2043300
Bottom embossing of mini blob:
View attachment 2043302
The mini blob has no embossing on the sides but it does have a three-letter "UBC" logo on the bottom. Took an educated guess that "BC" stood for Bottling Company and what else could "U" be but Union - and that's what it turned out to be - the Union Bottling Company. Cross referenced the logo with the logo of the company and it was a match. Found their address, years of operation (1873-1904), as well as this newspaper ad from the 1870's:
View attachment 2043301

Shell Motor Oil:
View attachment 2043304
View attachment 2043305
In situ:
View attachment 2043303
The oil bottle was the first find of the day, and the good finds only continued from there.

View attachment 2043306

View attachment 2043307

Very Cool!!!! Congrats!!!!

 

[WannaDig3687]

Wow wow wow! That Shell bottle is super cool! All great finds! Congratulations!

 

[Gare]

Nice finds VERY nice job of cleaning them up !!!

 

[pepperj]

GEEZ!
What a day you had trudging through the mud.
Well worth the effort as you got some really nice keepers.
The Shell Oil stands out, though all the embossed ones are top shelf recoveries.
Congrats and well done.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Very nice !

 

[UnderMiner]

GEEZ!
What a day you had trudging through the mud.
Well worth the effort as you got some really nice keepers.
The Shell Oil stands out, though all the embossed ones are top shelf recoveries.
Congrats and well done.

Yes, the Shell Oil is definitely the top find of the week and has already taken its seat on the top shelf. The blobs go on the middle shelf, simply because I have too many now.

 

[oldmxrat]

Fantastic recoveries, congrats!

 

[Centsless Detecting]

Wow what a haul. That shell bottle is fantastic. Congratulations underminer!

 

[Rhapsody]

Went on a big adventure today in a muddy swamp. Five hours of constant walking, all mud, all new, likely never hunted by anyone before. The results, a couple hundred dollars in rare bottles including an original Shell Motor Oil, three late 19th C. blob tops - small, medium, and large, and two early 20th C. milks.

View attachment 2043298
From left to right: Willow Brook Dairy, Reid's Union Dairy Ice Cream Corp., Shell Motor Oil, G. Wm. Meyer, August Bay Bottling Co., and the mini Blob is from the Union Bottling Company "UBC".

Blob bottles in situ:
View attachment 2043299
View attachment 2043300
Bottom embossing of mini blob:
View attachment 2043302
The mini blob has no embossing on the sides but it does have a three-letter "UBC" logo on the bottom. Took an educated guess that "BC" stood for Bottling Company and what else could "U" be but Union - and that's what it turned out to be - the Union Bottling Company. Cross referenced the logo with the logo of the company and it was a match. Found their address, years of operation (1873-1904), as well as this newspaper ad from the 1870's:
View attachment 2043301

Shell Motor Oil:
View attachment 2043304
View attachment 2043305
In situ:
View attachment 2043303
The oil bottle was the first find of the day, and the good finds only continued from there.

View attachment 2043306

View attachment 2043307

nice photo layout on the coloration spectrum of those beauts, well done awesome hunt I'd be keeping that shell bottle (amazing it wasn't broken) for meself!

 

[UnderMiner]

nice photo layout on the coloration spectrum of those beauts, well done awesome hunt I'd be keeping that shell bottle (amazing it wasn't broken) for meself!

Thanks! Yes, it's very unusual to find an oil bottle like this in such good condition, especially since it is a very thin type of glass compared to the others.

 

[CoilyGirl]

Great assortment of bottles! That Shell one is so unusual and cool looking.