# Found stone bottle



## dygger60 (Aug 4, 2013)

Came across this bottle over the weekend out by Lake Ontario....Sackets Harbor area at a flea market....

    David K


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## epackage (Aug 4, 2013)

Nice stonie, congrats on finding it...


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## beendiggin (Aug 4, 2013)

Looks nice...good find!


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## myersdiggers1998 (Aug 5, 2013)

THEY SELL ON THE BAY REGULARLY TOP END VALUE IS USUALLY AROUND SIXTY BUCKS.


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## RICKJJ59W (Aug 5, 2013)

> ORIGINAL:  dygger60
> 
> Came across this bottle over the weekend out by Lake Ontario....Sackets Harbor area at a flea market....
> 
> David K


 

 Love Sackets we just ate up there a few weeks ago.Nice stoner []


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## diggerdirect (Aug 7, 2013)

Hey David, Great find! The condition on that one looks super? I dug one whole & several broken in a dump up that way years ago but it was pretty beat up.

   Here's some info on the bottle from Don & Elizabeth Yates reference book 'Ginger Beer & Root Beer Heritage 1790-1930'

 ..."The Nortz wholesale beer business was started in 1894 in Croghan,NY (Just North of Lowville), by Michael Nortz and his two sons Henry J. & Fredlin Nortz. The bottling works was run by Henry Nortz from 1894 until 1933. It was called M.Nortz & Sons. Henry had been selling beer, mostly by eighth & quarter kegs, as did his competition. Henry realized that there was a market for bottled beer and began bottling it himself along with soft drinks, including ginger beer in stoneware bottles.This operation included transferring beer from kegs to bottles. The full bottles were hand sealed with lightning stoppers. These were later replaced with crown caps. Labels were put on by hand. Along with this operation Henry was the first bottler in the entire North country to pasteurize bottled beer. Henry's bottling works were located at 2 State Street in Lowville, NY. This building is still there and now occupied by the Snowbelt Housing Company..."

  Three variations of the Nortz Stoneware ginger beer exist, identified as NY-52, NY-53 & NY-54, with yours being the NY-52, also the rarest of the three, altho none could be considered 'common' by any means in the list of New Yorks stoneware Ginger Beers.

  These American stoneware Ginger Beers do fluctuate in price the same as with many categories of bottles, whats hot & whats not at any given time. I'm apparently not paying close enough attention to the bay, I would snap up every example of this bottle for cheap (in the condition yours appears to be in) that I could find!

 An excellent piece of North Country New York history!











 I would recommend the reference book above to anyone interested in these types of bottles. The listed prices, while accurate for the time, are like any price guides, but do indicate relative rarity.

 Al


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