# 1870s U.S. Navy Mustard...



## Staunton Dan (Jan 13, 2009)

I've had one of these before but have never dug one. You can imagine my surprize when it showed up in yesterday's dig. It has an inward rolled lip, hinge mold, lots of whittle and is believed to date to the 1870s. Pretty good seeing is it's coming from an 1880s -1890s dump. I also found another OP bottle, possibly a cruet, that had a busted handle and lip.


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## Wilkie (Jan 13, 2009)

I love it!  Looks clean.  If you want to sell it let me know.  Congrats on your digs.


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## GuntherHess (Jan 13, 2009)

Nice food bottle. I would guess it may be earlier than the 70's


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## div2roty (Jan 13, 2009)

Nice!!!


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## GuntherHess (Jan 13, 2009)

I have seen hinge mold ones dug in Civil War hut sites so they were around in the first half of the 1860s. 
 As far as I know it was a commercial product not affiliated with the military. Not to say the military didnt buy a lot.


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## Staunton Dan (Jan 13, 2009)

> ORIGINAL: GuntherHess
> 
> Nice food bottle. I would guess it may be earlier than the 70's


 
 That would explain finding the OP cruet in the same area. Thanks Matt. Like I said in another post, most all of the bottles in this dump are from right around 1890 but occasionally an older one will show up.


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## Staunton Dan (Jan 13, 2009)

> ORIGINAL: Wilkie
> 
> I love it!  Looks clean.  If you want to sell it let me know.  Congrats on your digs.


 Thanks, but I think that I'll hold onto this one for awhile. I don't keep much but sometimes a bottle will speak to me and that is the case with the mustard. Another one may show up in my digs and if it does I'll be glad to pass it along.


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## GuntherHess (Jan 13, 2009)

Maybe you will find the pepper to complete the set.


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## beendiggin (Jan 13, 2009)

That's a cool bottle. I dug a big dump out a couple of years back that was loaded with 1880's 1900 era stuff, I got hundreds of bottles and I got one pontil out of it. An aqua inward rolled lip food bottle.  It's weird how pontilled stuff just shows up in later dumps.


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## Stardust (Jan 13, 2009)

LOVE USN,  brings back memorys of my loving Dad. []


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## Staunton Dan (Jan 13, 2009)

> ORIGINAL: GuntherHess
> 
> Maybe you will find the pepper to complete the set.


 
 I thought that I used to have the mustard but actually I had the pepper but sold it. I wish that I had it back as I would now have the set. Well, now it's something to look forward to digging.


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## GuntherHess (Jan 13, 2009)

oh man, they were destined to be together and you sold its brother down the river[]


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## Staunton Dan (Jan 13, 2009)

> ORIGINAL: beendiggin
> 
> It's weird how pontilled stuff just shows up in later dumps.


   Think of everything that we keep for many years, then we decide to one day clean up and throw the stuff out. It's only 20 years or so from the pontiled era to the 1880s. Not long at all when you think about it.


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## Staunton Dan (Jan 13, 2009)

> ORIGINAL: GuntherHess
> 
> oh man, they were destined to be together and you sold its brother down the river[]


 It's interesting that you said "Down the River" because the pepper showed evidence of being in the water for a long time. I didn't dig it but bought it, so it was fitting at the time that I sold it. I know that I will dig a pepper from the same dump soon and then they will truly be "destined to be together" once again after all these years. [] Sounds like the lyrics to a popular song.


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## GuntherHess (Jan 13, 2009)

Think how important pepper and mustard must have been in the PRA (pre refridgerator age)


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## phil44 (Jan 14, 2009)

I recall reading about a salvage of a Civil War Ironclad that was loaded with these bottles, off the coast of Va.


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## Wilkie (Apr 28, 2009)

> ORIGINAL: phil44
> 
> I recall reading about a salvage of a Civil War Ironclad that was loaded with these bottles, off the coast of Va.


 I read an article several years ago about the steam ship "Arabia" that sank in 1856 and was discovered in the '80's in a farmers field (the river changed it's course).  It showed pictures of these bottles, still laleled and full of contents, looked good enouph to eat.  I was trying to find something online referencing this and the best one I could find was here:  http://www.glswrk-auction.com/102.htm  I'll have to go back through my bottle magazines and see if I can find the article.


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## GuntherHess (Apr 28, 2009)

They built a whole museam around that find.
 Nver been there but I'd like to see it some day. 
 I just find it hard to envision myself in MO. for any other reason[]
http://www.1856.com/


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## CWBookAuthor (Apr 28, 2009)

Your bottle is identical to ones I have dug in Civil War sites! I have no idea how they become mixed with 1880's dump sites, but I would do some more digging there. It may be that the 1880's material was dumped on an older site.

 Mike


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## kastoo (Apr 29, 2009)

Great find, I wish I was so lucky!


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## cordilleran (Apr 29, 2009)

Missouri's back east. I can't envision why anyone would venture beyond the Mississippi River eastward unless they were lost.


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