# $1 Find Thrift Store



## neatthings (May 3, 2016)

Hey Everyone, I'm new to collecting always wanted to start. So I found some bottles at a local thrift store and would like some insight please. Each of these bottles were a buck a piece. I'm also curious about the Fletchers bottle mark on the bottom. I've seen them online with "p" in a circle but the one i have just looks like a plain p almost a backwards 4 with U.S.A. on it. Any help would be awesome. Thanks!


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## greenacres (May 3, 2016)

I can see ones a Bixby ink. The one below the ink is made in England.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk


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## CanadianBottles (May 3, 2016)

The Bixby was a good find for a dollar.  The other three are worth about what you paid for them, though by no means are a bad start to a collection.  Most of them date to around the 1920's, except the Bixby which is older.  I'm afraid that I can't tell you about the bottom of the Castoria, though I can tell you that Castoria was a brand of castor oil.

Here's an article on your E.R. Durkee bottle https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/ERDurkee&Co.pdf  Yours may be a sample size, I'm not sure.


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## neatthings (May 4, 2016)

Thanks for the help guys. I'm hoping to find some more good deals and ,hopefully, finding some good dig areas or find someone in So. Cal who knows where to dig.


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## RCO (May 4, 2016)

I haven't found many bottles at thrift stores over the years , one local store often has bottles but they always put them in there " silent auctions " and go for way more money than I'd ever want to pay for them , you wouldn't believe what some people would pay for bottles at such auctions here 

don't imagine there'd be a lot of places to dig in southern California , isn't it mostly built up or desert ? but you never know


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## Houdini (May 4, 2016)

Very nice finds for a dollar!


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## neatthings (May 4, 2016)

Thank you Houdini! Yeah there is a lot of "mom and pop" charity thrift shops around here. They get donations from all walks of life and they usually sell everything(not just bottles) for very good prices. I'm kicking myself for not getting started earlier because they have had some really nice ones, now that I've found this site, for around the same price. As for dig sites in Cali RCO, what do you think about old abandoned mining spots. The ones where they'd have actual buildings and such.


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## RCO (May 4, 2016)

what do I think about abandoned mining sites ? one word Dangerous 

I'd imagine most would have no trespassing signs up anyways , sites like that are a great unknown you don't know what there is and where the old mind shafts or wells are . 

there might be like flea markets or antique stores in that area that would have bottles , you'd think there'd be some . 
old farms might be a digging option if you can get permission from owner or find one so abandoned no one cares


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## neatthings (May 4, 2016)

There is a really good antique/collectible swap meet in Long Beach every 3rd Sunday. http://www.longbeachantiquemarket.com/ Awesome deals but I'm worried about buying for the right price and not buying reproductions. Oh I'm sure there are old farms, especially old citrus orchards.


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## CanadianBottles (May 4, 2016)

Most of the old ghost towns are on federal or state land, which means if you're caught digging there you get arrested.  So I wouldn't recommend ghost towns.  Also the ghost towns were mostly dug out in the 70's.  You're unfortunately in what I would consider to be the single worst area for bottle digging in North America (with the exception of Nunavut).  Bottle digging first became popular in California back in the sixties, and lots of diggers dug up everything that's easily accessible.  You might be able to find something by asking permission from local farmers, those are probably the only dumps left in the area that a novice digger would have a chance at.  That or make friends with some local privy diggers, because I know there's still privy digging going on down there.


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## andy volkerts (May 4, 2016)

The best area to dig in Los Angeles is the old historic downtown area, you will need to keep track of new construction in that area and get permissions from the contractors working the lots that are being redeveloped. The same goes for San Diego, most of the old mining sites and towns are on federal or state land, so digging is out. There are a few areas in the mountains east of San Diego that have old towns in them where new construction is going on.


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## neatthings (May 5, 2016)

Thanks for the advice CanadianBottles, you wouldn't happen to know any groups of privy diggers I can apprentice with? Or how to go about finding or asking about digging? Any help would be appreciated.


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## neatthings (May 5, 2016)

hey andy, do you happen to know any groups in inland empire area?


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## CanadianBottles (May 6, 2016)

I unfortunately have no idea what groups there are down there, as my username suggests I'm up here in Canada.  But there are some users on here from California who might be able to help you.


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## ScottBSA (May 7, 2016)

Nice finds for a dollar each.  I have found several nice bottles in the thrift stores in my area.  Mostly folks know that they are old but that's it.  Check out estatesales.net.  They will list estate sales in your area.  Craigslist is good too.  I once bought a bottle worth $100 from an ad.  The bottle came with 70 other bottles.  I kept 5 or 6 and sold the rest for $100 to a vendor at an antique mall.  Free Tippecanoe bottle as a result.  Remember, it's the hunt.

scott


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