# Fun Early Texas Dig



## nhpharm (Feb 22, 2016)

A few weeks ago I went out to a vacant lot here in Texas that, according to the maps, had some age to it.  Did some probing and the lot probed real strange...couldn't get a good read on it anywhere.  I decided to punch a test hole in one area that felt a little strange; the hole ended up being pure sand with bottles scattered in it starting about 3' down and going about 8' down.  The first bottle out was a slick round open pontil puff...that got the blood flowing!  We don't dig pontil stuff in Texas often.  Second bottle was a pontiled Davis Pain Killer, followed by two smooth-based early slicks, followed by a pontiled Radway with New York misspelled "New Yok".  There was a "Patent" whiskey...looks to be a British example.  Deeper in the hole and off to the side were 6 stoneware beers and several black glass bottles and early wine bottles.  Sadly, these sandy holes are almost impossible to dig deep as they tend to be wet and the sand just comes in and comes in.  I ended up abandoning the hole where it dove down deep...probably more stuff in it but will have to come back when it is a bit dryer.  I was caving in the top of the hole when the find of the day popped out...a "E. Priester/Richmond/Tex." soda...was very excited to find something local!  I filled in the hole (found a pontiled umbrella ink in the process), then dug two additional "dry" holes.  The fourth hole I dug ended up being a barrel privy just packed to the brim with smashed blackglass bottles and wines...in the very bottom of the privy there were three early wines and that was it.  I probed around the exterior of the privy and found an area that felt like there might be some glass...sure enough, in a space only about 2' square, there were 4 Gilkas (one with the fancy embossing on the side panels and three of the early ones that just are embossed "J.A. Gilka"), 6 Hostetter's Bitters (all L&W base-embossed, in several shades of amber), a couple of squat blackglass bottles, and some more wines.  It petered out quickly but still capped off a great day of digging early Texas stuff...the Richmond bottle is probably the newest bottle I found and most of the stuff dated 1860's-1870's.  My favorites (besides the Richmond bottle) were the misspelled Radway and the great lady's leg blackglass bottle with the crooked neck.


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## junkmansitch (Feb 22, 2016)

Awesome finds!! My recent privy dig was a bust, so I'm hopeful the next will produce something. Thanks for sharing.


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## RIBottleguy (Feb 22, 2016)

Nice dig!  It's always a great feeling when you get some good age.


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## andy volkerts (Feb 22, 2016)

great dig!! Always good to find bottles in the hole when you dig! You sure have got to go back to that sandy hole again, don't lose track of its location!!!!!.......Andy


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## Nevadabottles (Feb 22, 2016)

Interesting story and awesome finds!


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## Bass Assassin (Feb 23, 2016)

That is a good day in my book! Awesome dig and thanks for sharing with us. It's a good day when you find pontiled glass


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## sunrunner (Feb 23, 2016)

you win! nice combination of bottles. Thou the Spanish were there in the early years , they left very little in the way of artifacts . the stuff your digging is from the early years of the American occupation .


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## botlguy (Feb 23, 2016)

WOW ! ! !   Since I live / dig vicariously through you guys I appreciate these kinds of stories and pictures. Nice presentation. THANX


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## GLASSHOPPER55 (Feb 23, 2016)

Nice Digs!


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## truedigr (Feb 23, 2016)

Very nice and early for Texas. That New Yok is killer as is the Priester. Those are some early Hostetters and Gilkas. RC


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## cannibalfromhannibal (Feb 25, 2016)

Great dig in my book! Kicks ass on last 6 months of digging finds for me! My favorites are the Radway and the Ballard as they look super crude & funky. And I know how tough it is to find pontiled stuff that far west! Super nice going! Just don't tell the arkies! HA! Jack


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## cannibalfromhannibal (Feb 25, 2016)

PS- the Radway's apparently is a double misspelling. The abbreviation for 'according' should only have one "C" embossed and is the rarer of the variants......


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## Lordbud (Feb 28, 2016)

The Radway looks kind of small...? Might it be a sample size? That would make sense then, for the missing letters trying to fit the embossing on a smaller size bottle. I would definitely go back to the sandy pit when it is safe to do so.


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## RICKJJ59W (Feb 28, 2016)

Nice digs man


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## nhpharm (Feb 29, 2016)

The Radway bottle is the standard small size...I have seen them with the corrected lettering (two c's in accord and the r in York).  I got into one side of the sandy pit yesterday but it is definitely too wet.  Will try again this summer.  Pulled out a beautiful crude 3-mold amber whiskey and a few slick wines before the hole became quicksand.


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## CreekWalker (Mar 2, 2016)

That's the way, we say New York, down here. Great group of bottles!


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## sandchip (Mar 6, 2016)

Great dig!  That had to be a blast.


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