# New bottles found in yard anyone know what they might be



## Burris5 (Aug 18, 2021)

I have tried looking into it but unable to find anything would anyone happen to know what these are or what time frame they are from?  They were found in my yard which the house was built in 1840 so am not sure what/where it came from.  Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all.


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## zsmith333 (Aug 18, 2021)

First one id say is a perfume/cologne bottle, second would probably be a (possibly fairly old) wine or liquor bottle. First one maybe 20s-turn of the century, second, possibly mid 1800s? Im not an expert by any means on those bottles, there are far more knowledgeable people here for those


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## willong (Aug 18, 2021)

zsmith333 said:


> First one id say is a perfume/cologne bottle, second would probably be a (possibly fairly old) wine or liquor bottle. First one maybe 20s-turn of the century, second, possibly mid 1800s? Im not an expert by any means on those bottles, there are far more knowledgeable people here for those


I'd agree with you on the likely contents of the bottles, though I don't think the wine bottle is nearly that old. Most likely both are late-19th to early 20th century in my opinion, especially so if they were found in context with each other.


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## willong (Aug 18, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> I have tried looking into it but unable to find anything would anyone happen to know what these are or what time frame they are from? They were found in my yard which the house was built in 1840 so am not sure what/where it came from. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all.



If I were you, I would definitely be probing the yard in search of old privy pits!


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## zsmith333 (Aug 18, 2021)

willong said:


> I'd agree with you on the likely contents of the bottles, though I don't think the wine bottle is nearly that old. Most likely both are late-19th to early 20th century in my opinion, especially so if they were found in context with each other.


Good point. The wine bottle was a shot in the dark on my part.


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## Burris5 (Aug 18, 2021)

willong said:


> I'd agree with you on the likely contents of the bottles, though I don't think the wine bottle is nearly that old. Most likely both are late-19th to early 20th century in my opinion, especially so if they were found in context with each other.


Oh they were found in different areas I have several more bottles we have found I need to get pictures of them all and get them on here so maybe someone could let me know more about them.  Thank you so much for your reply.


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## Burris5 (Aug 18, 2021)

willong said:


> If I were you, I would definitely be probing the yard in search of old privy pits!


I apologize I am new to this what exactly are you talking about


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## Mailman1960 (Aug 18, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> I apologize I am new to this what exactly are you talking about


Where the outdoor bathroom used to be, privy. When Plumbing came around they filled up the hole with whatever garbage they had. Yesterday's garbage, today's Treasures.


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## willong (Aug 18, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> I apologize I am new to this what exactly are you talking about


An outdoor pit toilet is know as a privy. With a property having had a house on it in 1840 you could could potentially have some very collectible antique bottles and other items such as porcelain chamber pots--some even potentially valuable--buried on your land. The potential is greater if your home is, or was throughout the 19th century, located on rural land. (In urban locations, privy pits were often lined with bricks, stones or wood to produce a more enduring structure, which would be periodically emptied by a "honey dipper" who would dispose of the material at another location.) On a rural property, one is more likely to find multiple filled-in pits, often without any lining, because the residents were not as limited for space in which to dig a new pit after a previous site reached capacity.

An experienced digger can locate the old pits by systematically probing the ground with a metal probing rod. If the task is not something that appeals to you personally, I'm sure there are bottle diggers in your area, likely several who participate in this forum, more than willing to explore and excavate an 1840's property for a selection share of any finds. I know I would be! Unfortunately, an occupied property that old is not likely located anywhere near my home in the Pacific Northwest .


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## willong (Aug 18, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> I have several more bottles we have found I need to get pictures of them all and get them on here so maybe someone could let me know more about them.


We are all looking forward to seeing those photos!


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## hemihampton (Aug 18, 2021)

Digging a 1840's or 50's or 60's Privy sounds perfect to me. what State do you live in? Good Luck. LEON.


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## K6TIM (Aug 18, 2021)

zsmith333 said:


> First one id say is a perfume/cologne bottle, second would probably be a (possibly fairly old) wine or liquor bottle. First one maybe 20s-turn of the century, second, possibly mid 1800s? Im not an expert by any means on those bottles, there are far more knowledgeable people here for those


The first one hard to tell,but looks like a house hold cleaning bottle from the 50's. the second one


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## K6TIM (Aug 18, 2021)

The first one looks like a perfume bottle,or cologne bottle possibly from the 40-50's. The second bottle is a green wine bottle with a packer lip,and a kick up base found on most wine bottles probably 1950's?


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## Burris5 (Aug 18, 2021)

hemihampton said:


> Digging a 1840's or 50's or 60's Privy sounds perfect to me. what State do you live in? Good Luck. LEON.


Mo


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## hemihampton (Aug 18, 2021)

To far away for me but there was a Guy in here from Hannibal Mo that would dig Privy's all the time & post his finds in here but he kinda went AWOL. MIA lately. LEON.


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## Burris5 (Aug 18, 2021)

willong said:


> We are all looking forward to seeing those photos!


These are a few of our findings... If anyone has information on any of them please feel free to let me know cause like I said we are new to this.


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## Burris5 (Aug 18, 2021)

hemihampton said:


> To far away for me but there was a Guy in here from Hannibal Mo that would dig Privy's all the time & post his finds in here but he kinda went AWOL. MIA lately. LEON.


Not sure I want anyone like that digging around our house


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## hemihampton (Aug 18, 2021)

Any Bitters Bottle is usually a good find but the Hostetters is the most common one out there. But that's a good sign, if that is there the Potential for much better Bottles is Possible, especially if you could find the Privy. LEON.


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## hemihampton (Aug 18, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> Not sure I want anyone like that digging around our house



Like what?


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Aug 19, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> I have tried looking into it but unable to find anything would anyone happen to know what these are or what time frame they are from?  They were found in my yard which the house was built in 1840 so am not sure what/where it came from.  Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all.


Wine bottle appears turn molded. If seamless.
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## Burris5 (Aug 19, 2021)

hemihampton said:


> Like what?


You had said he went awol sorry may have taken it the wrong way


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## Burris5 (Aug 19, 2021)

zsmith333 said:


> First one id say is a perfume/cologne bottle, second would probably be a (possibly fairly old) wine or liquor bottle. First one maybe 20s-turn of the century, second, possibly mid 1800s? Im not an expert by any means on those bottles, there are far more knowledgeable people here for those


Would you happen to know anything about this bottle it was purchased from antique store because of the purple color and 14 k gold around it.


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## K6TIM (Aug 19, 2021)

hemihampton said:


> Any Bitters Bottle is usually a good find but the Hostetters is the most common one out there. But that's a good sign, if that is there the Potential for much better Bottles is Possible, especially if you could find the Privy. LEON.


The clear one looks as if it's a perfume bottle.Check yo see if it has sprinkler lip (small hole in the bore/lip of that bottle? The green bottle is a wine bottle why it has a bottle base that "kicks-up"The lip looks to be a packer lip.Where the wine for the coke to keep it in is wired to the bottom edge of the lip!
K6TIM-TIM


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## Burris5 (Aug 19, 2021)

K6TIM said:


> The clear one looks as if it's a perfume bottle.Check yo see if it has sprinkler lip (small hole in the bore/lip of that bottle? The green bottle is a wine bottle why it has a bottle base that "kicks-up"The lip looks to be a packer lip.Where the wine for the coke to keep it in is wired to the bottom edge of the lip!
> K6TIM-TIM


How old do you think we are looking at?


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## willong (Aug 19, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> Not sure I want anyone like that digging around our house


By AWOL, I'm sure Leon just meant that the Missourian privy digger hadn't been posting on our forum lately. Privy diggers typically don't tear up a yard with indiscriminate digging. They locate the privy pit(s) first via probing. Then, the considerate ones, which any should be when seeking permission to dig 19th century sites, carefully cut and save the sod over the pit area in order to restore any lawn areas after the excavation.


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## willong (Aug 19, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> How old do you think we are looking at?


What I see among the bottles that you have posted so far all appear to be late 19th to early 20th century examples. Like Leon noted, the bitters bottle is a good sign that better things might be lurking underground.

TIP: When photographing, try to focus as clearly as possible on the surface features of any bottle for which you would like more information. If the bottle is embossed and your photo doesn't capture all the information, transcribe to writing and include with the photo posting. In addition to embossing, details of the the neck and lip area and the base are usually the most helpful in determining age and other features.

For example, we could have told you a little more about your Dr. J. Hostetter's Stomach Bitters bottle had you included a detailed photo of the neck of the bottle. That particular product was sold from 1853 until the 1960's. Other than changes in the embossing over the life of a product (partners added or dropped, company address change, etc.), pontil mark and type (or absence) and the mold marks with evidence of applied lips, blown in mold with tooled lip, or machine produced bottle are what we look for to determine the approximate age of the bottle.

If you enjoy learning and would like to learn how to age and identify the probable use of the bottles you find I highly recommend this site, though you might find it a bit overwhelming at first: https://sha.org/bottle/index.htm


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## Jeffsattic21 (Aug 19, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> I have tried looking into it but unable to find anything would anyone happen to know what these are or what time frame they are from?  They were found in my yard which the house was built in 1840 so am not sure what/where it came from.  Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all.


Howling have you lived there? Are there any large Oak trees that stand out more than the others? If so there could have been an old house or church there back in the day and you’ve stumbled across their old 100+ year old trash pile that Mother Nature has hidden over the years.. Not to mention maybe an old well and a few old foundation rocks. Check your local historical society, court house and library for old maps, plats and deeds.


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## willong (Aug 19, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> How old do you think we are looking at?


Here's an example of the type of detail that helps us determine whether a bottle was machine made or blown in a mold by a person and finished by the glassblower or his assistant with a lip-forming forming tool:




In this case it is a detail from a photo I just shot of a J. Hostetter's Stomach Bitters bottle which I dug ages ago. It is a machine made example, thus the bottle is newer than 1903.

I've noticed that some of the newer and less-experienced members of this forum when describing mold seams such as this will say: "Seam ends below the lip." That is incorrect and misleading. The seam actually transitions from a vertical seam to an annular seam that forms the bottle's lip. Note that there are no annular striations or smear above that annular seam as would be left by the turning of a lipping tool.


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## willong (Aug 19, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> Would you happen to know anything about this bottle it was purchased from antique store because of the purple color and 14 k gold around it.


It's a decorative liquor glass. Likely make in Venice or some similar glass-blowing center.

Here's example from a set of six shot glasses (came with matching decanter) that my parents bought in Venice in 1964:


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## hemihampton (Aug 19, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> You had said he went awol sorry may have taken it the wrong way




All I meant was he has not been in here posting much any more. But he would be a great help to help you find the Privy's. LEON.


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## K6TIM (Aug 19, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> How old do you think we are looking at?


I can't tell by the picture.Most wine bottles they erase the seam line in a by spining the bottle in a paste mold.This for appearence for wine bottles of that era!


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## Burris5 (Aug 21, 2021)

Burris5 said:


> I have tried looking into it but unable to find anything would anyone happen to know what these are or what time frame they are from?  They were found in my yard which the house was built in 1840 so am not sure what/where it came from.  Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all.


I have another glass jar am looking for information on  says Phenix Trade Mark on bottom


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