# Smoke-filled bottles



## cyberdigger (Dec 18, 2008)

Hey folks.. most of my collection came from brackish riverbanks, and they are mineralized to varying degrees.. (that's fancy talk for 'sick') ..but some of them are perfectly covered inside with an irridescent smokey haze, which changes color as the light angle changes.. here is an example:


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## cyberdigger (Dec 18, 2008)

..


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## cyberdigger (Dec 18, 2008)

..does anyone else have specimens like this and appreciate them for it?? -Charlie


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## woody (Dec 18, 2008)

That's a new one on me.
 I've never seen that before.


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## cyberdigger (Dec 18, 2008)

NO WAY.. I'm not shoving anything inside her!!! I like things just the way they are with her, and any cleaning out would make her just another embossed flask from Brooklyn..anyway once I stand up again, I'll post another pic of a smoke-filled specimen..


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## cyberdigger (Dec 18, 2008)

It's a 30's or so ketchup with a "rainbow effect"


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## GuntherHess (Dec 18, 2008)

you can find attic bottles like that. All it takes is for there to be some contents that leave a film when they evaporate very slowly over a long time.
 I usually fill them with a hand full of sand and water and shake vigorously[]


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## cyberdigger (Dec 18, 2008)

..looks perfectly magical on a window sill!!


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## cyberdigger (Dec 18, 2008)

Uhhh.. Matt. .thank you for the almanac!! Got it today, read it, pleased to see it's what I suspected it was.. -Charlie


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## pyshodoodle (Dec 18, 2008)

> ORIGINAL: cyberdigger
> 
> NO WAY.. I'm not shoving anything inside her!!! I like things just the way they are with her, and any cleaning out would make her just another embossed flask from Brooklyn..anyway once I stand up again, I'll post another pic of a smoke-filled specimen..


 
 That would be a boy bottle if it were mine. Most of my bottles are boys...


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## cyberdigger (Dec 18, 2008)

Kate, I know what you mean, but I can't bring myself to call a bottle "him".. awwwggghhh!![:'(][:'(]


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## RedGinger (Dec 19, 2008)

> ORIGINAL: cyberdigger
> 
> NO WAY.. I'm not shoving anything inside her!!! I like things just the way they are with her, and any cleaning out would make her just another embossed flask from Brooklyn..anyway once I stand up again, I'll post another pic of a smoke-filled specimen..


 
 I think I have one too, let me take a pic


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## RedGinger (Dec 19, 2008)

Nevermind, doesn't work


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## appliedlips (Dec 19, 2008)

It definately looks mineralized on the inside and not like content stain.It looks pretty cool as is.It must have been something in the contents that reacted with the glass.Here is one that I dug a couple weeks ago that is very white (sick)inside and out.It is aqua glass but looks more like milkglass.I'll never clean it.


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## cyberdigger (Dec 20, 2008)

Thanks, Doug.. the bottles I dug with this effect were found in a bed of oysters, and I thought at the time that this opalescence must be from the oysters.. it was nice to think they were covered with mother of pearl! Here's another..


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## RedGinger (Dec 20, 2008)

> ORIGINAL: cyberdigger
> 
> Thanks, Doug.. the bottles I dug with this effect were found in a bed of oysters, and I thought at the time that this opalescence must be from the oysters.. it was nice to think they were covered with mother of pearl! Here's another..


 
 That's a really cool thought!  I wonder if that's what happened.  Was the bottle in water with them?


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## cyberdigger (Dec 20, 2008)

Yes, all of them were in the water, just behind this bulkhead.. hey, did you get your TV yet!? 
 I used to wait until low tide, and go in with a shovel and a pair of waders, and just poke around for glass.. found hundreds of bottles, lots of other stuff, too, including thousands of oyster shells, some of them still living.. those I threw back, I prefer scallops!


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## blobbottlebob (Dec 28, 2008)

Hi Cyberdigger. I can confirm that the bottles from the water (here in Wisconsin) have similar mineral deposits. I call it irridescence or opalization. When it's nice and uniform in a bottle, it can transform acommon bottle into a pearl. I totally agree that this adds to the character and the history of the bottle and doesn't need to removed.


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## blobbottlebob (Dec 28, 2008)

Hey Appliedlips,
 That is a very cool ink. Was everything coming out like that?


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## capsoda (Dec 28, 2008)

Smoke like that usually comes from hydros iron in the water. It is common where the water is more acid.


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## blobbottlebob (Dec 28, 2008)

Here's an example of one from an inland Lake. First the whole bottle then a closer look.


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## blobbottlebob (Dec 28, 2008)

. . .


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## cyberdigger (Dec 28, 2008)

YEP!! Another fine opalescent!! And do you see how it stops right about where the lip finishing tool would have been used? I wonder if that finishing maneuver smoothes out the glass to make it less "sticky" for the opalescence to adhere to it?? Hmmm..


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## blobbottlebob (Dec 28, 2008)

That's an interesting observation. You do see those tops un-opalized fairly often. I always thought that it was because mud or sediment had blocked up the opening and prevented the mineral deposit from forming correctly. Who knows? I'm going to check for a crown example.


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## cyberdigger (Dec 28, 2008)

In my collection, it appears to be the rule, but there are exceptions..


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## blobbottlebob (Dec 28, 2008)

That first bottle I showed was a loop seal blob. This thing has the typical 'applied' or 'tooled' crown. I suppose that they might have had a similar finishing process on the inside, though.







 (By the way. I'm kind of new here. What bottle are you looking for? Or is that like a U2 bottle collecting song?)


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## Stardust (Dec 28, 2008)

NEAT....
 NEVER KNEW THIS. WOW [8D] LEARNED SOMETHING NEW. THANKS.


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## cyberdigger (Dec 28, 2008)

Thanks, Star, but remember someone here will come along soon and tell us the REAL story about this phenomenon! I hope.. and Bob, yeah, I got that from the Joshua Tree, but it indicates the fact that I don't seek a specific bottle or type, I just "dig what I dig" ..my other option is to say "Looking for any antique bottle of any kind from anywhere!"


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