# Where Oh Where Do I seek?



## EdsFinds (Jul 29, 2020)

Hey. During the fall time (too hot for me now), I'd like to start looking for new places to find old bottles or whatever. The question I have is this: How likely is it that you would find old bottles aways off the side of the road, deeper into the woods than the immediate shoulder. My thinking is that the more time goes by, the "old" trash gets pushed back into the woods (the stuff that survives that is). Please tell me your thoughts about this. I do not really see any other place around me to look. Need some ideas.


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## DlPsocialcirclega (Jul 29, 2020)

EdsFinds said:


> Hey. During the fall time (too hot for me now), I'd like to start looking for new places to find old bottles or whatever. The question I have is this: How likely is it that you would find old bottles aways off the side of the road, deeper into the woods than the immediate shoulder. My thinking is that the more time goes by, the "old" trash gets pushed back into the woods (the stuff that survives that is). Please tell me your thoughts about this. I do not really see any other place around me to look. Need some ideas.


You don't ever know I always look at the base of large oak trees an one like that as they grow they will push any thing in the ground  to the top. If you see slot of broken glass then chances are there's a dump near by.


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## CanadianBottles (Jul 29, 2020)

The trash doesn't move, it stays where it was dumped.  But often things were more open in the past, so what is today forest off of the road would have been easier to access for dumping in previous decades.  One of the most likely places to find dumps are the edges of rivers and in ravines, so those would be good places to start with.


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## EdsFinds (Jul 29, 2020)

CanadianBottles said:


> The trash doesn't move, it stays where it was dumped.  But often things were more open in the past, so what is today forest off of the road would have been easier to access for dumping in previous decades.  One of the most likely places to find dumps are the edges of rivers and in ravines, so those would be good places to start with.


Yeah, guess that does make sense. I will start my search on my favorite road(s) this fall. I have an old brick mfg plant nearby where I found stuff, but mostly its all just valueless junk. I just know that there have to be a lot of old bottles on the sides of our roads and highways that have just gotten buried over time, just waiting for someone to find them I guess. This is my thinking. I see all the trash built upon the shoulders of the road between the shoulder and the edge of the woods. I know for certain there are decades worth of trash there, probably back further in the woods. Any advice on searching? I mean, other than the obvious of just getting down and dirty and looking.


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## CanadianBottles (Jul 29, 2020)

EdsFinds said:


> Yeah, guess that does make sense. I will start my search on my favorite road(s) this fall. I have an old brick mfg plant nearby where I found stuff, but mostly its all just valueless junk. I just know that there have to be a lot of old bottles on the sides of our roads and highways that have just gotten buried over time, just waiting for someone to find them I guess. This is my thinking. I see all the trash built upon the shoulders of the road between the shoulder and the edge of the woods. I know for certain there are decades worth of trash there, probably back further in the woods. Any advice on searching? I mean, other than the obvious of just getting down and dirty and looking.



Depends on what you're looking for, but in general it's not worth looking for individual bottles that were tossed on the side of roads unless you're looking for ACL soda bottles.  Anything older than that and it's just too difficult to find one-offs in the woods because there just weren't anywhere near as many of them tossed a century ago as there are now.  You'll have much better luck looking for old bottle dumps.


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## EdsFinds (Jul 29, 2020)

CanadianBottles said:


> Depends on what you're looking for, but in general it's not worth looking for individual bottles that were tossed on the side of roads unless you're looking for ACL soda bottles.  Anything older than that and it's just too difficult to find one-offs in the woods because there just weren't anywhere near as many of them tossed a century ago as there are now.  You'll have much better luck looking for old bottle dumps.


Well, I never really tried to find the really old bottles, since there are very few places where they could be. However, I am looking for the 1950s up dairy and soda bottles...figured there are plenty of places they'd be. I'm sure if I keep my eyes peeled, I may find some old dump sites. How about along an old abandoned railway and trestle?


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## CanadianBottles (Jul 30, 2020)

Soda bottles will for sure be possible to find along roadsides, because they were tossed out of cars.  Milk bottles will not be, since pretty much no one drinks a bottle of milk while driving and then tosses it out the window.  Abandoned railway lines can definitely have bottles as well, and where they crossed through towns would often be popular dumping areas a century ago.


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## am_digging (Aug 26, 2020)

So, I've had great luck with reviewing old maps and comparing them to newer for older towns and on outskirts of populated areas and looking for "abandoned" or "moved" roads. I hit the jackpot last year and discovered an entire road, hidden away in the woods on the other side of a creek, where the once "shoulder"/ravine leading towards creek was filled with pre-prohibition bottles. I also found a Model-T hubcap and rim that were STILL discernable after being in the round for a long, long time. I'm sure I'll be working this dump for a while. Best of luck in your searching!


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