# Odd Find in the San Rafael Swell, UT



## wudscrasher (Jul 3, 2007)

Hi folks, I'm not really a bottle collector or anything, but I was out riding the Swell in May, and came across an old bottle in one of the large sand washes.  It seemed cool, so I put it in my pack and forgot about it until now.  I found this forum, did a search, and couldn't come up with any info on it, so I thought I'd post up and see if anyone can tell me about it (sorry, no pics yet, camera broken).  On the bottom, it says "ELLENA BROS." (a winery, I know) and "ETIWANDA, CALIFORNIA" around the perimeter.  In the center, it reads, "REFILLING PROHIBITED", then, "CUCAMONGA DISTRICT", then, "20", a Saturn-looking symbol, "50", then, "1509-W".  It is a 4/5 Quart bottle with the EB insignia where the neck tapers.  The screw-cap is rusty, but still functional.  This area of the Swell was teeming with Uranium mines during the early nuclear age, so I assume it belonged to a mineworker who <maybe> made the trip to Utah from California.  Anyway, how it ended up in that particular wash on that particular day this past May, at precisely the point I decided to take a break under the only tree for miles around is beyond me.  

 Who knows, maybe you don't find the bottle, it finds you.  The Swell IS creepy, after all 

 Thanks in advance for any information on my neat find!

 --Chris


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## cowseatmaize (Jul 3, 2007)

Hi and welcome. 


> it ended up in that particular wash on that particular day this past May, at precisely the point I decided to take a break under the only tree for miles around is beyond me.


 Do you have a built in Geiger counter? Maybe it's radio active. The "REFILLING PROHIBITED", screw cap, rusty (tin, not zinc or aluminum), and the 50 may all point to the year 1950. The Saturn gets me, if it could be an I in an O it should be post '54.

  The winery is supposed to be haunted by Joseph Filippi, who died in the 1970`s. In the tasting room of the winery you can hear low, eerie laughter and the sound of glass breaking. In the souvenir shop, you can hear a ghostly piano playing when in reality there isn`t any piano inside the souvenir shop. Also in the souvenir shop door open and close by themselves and lights flicker on and off. A woman who was working in the shop in the late 1980`s heard these noises so frequently that it drove her to the brink of insanity. Even after she quit she could hear the sound of laughter and piano playing. She was eventually committed.

 The original house and wine cellar was built in 1908. The Ellena Bros. operated their winery until the 1970`s. The name was changed to the Regina Grape Products Company and would become the home of Regina Cucamonga champagnes and gourmet wine vinegars. It was also home to California`s first winery restaurant, built in 1967. Since 1993, the City of Rancho Cucamonga and the Joseph Filippi Winery have worked to restore and protect the winery cellars and vineyards. The tasting room staff at the winery told me that wine glasses have fallen off the tasting room shelves and they have heard music when locking up after a late night event.


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## wudscrasher (Jul 4, 2007)

Thanks, Eric, for the interesting history (and related spookiness) of the winery!  Though my find is probably not as historic or valuable as others I've seen while perusing this forum, I'd like to think my find would have quite a history considering where I found it.  I managed to get a few low-quality photos of the bottom of the bottle (but can't figure out how to embed it <grrrr>)

 --Chris


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## wudscrasher (Jul 4, 2007)

Huh.  I guess I did figure it out.  Pic #2:


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