bottlebugs
Well-Known Member
I started collecting as a young boy. I dug artefacts in the Dakota Territory of south-western Manitoba. When my family moved to Ottawa, artefacts were only found in museums. I turned to bottles. In my quest I encountered neat objects that could be had for a song. Flea markets, thrift shops and antique stores were my favourite haunts. Bottles became sought after by others thanks to the surge of memorabilia and nostalgia of the 1970s. Then the pickings became lean. Prices surged.
As a young man I slowly added artefacts to my bottle collection. They were lesser known by the glut of new collectors of memorabilia. I found revolutionary and civil war flags, flasks and belt buckles. The advent of the American bi-centennial and the 1980s saw the rise in popularity of war reenactments. Much of these items became reproduced. Originals were very pricey. I returned to bottles. I collected early American figural flasks.
Early American flasks became mass produced by historical glass companies, thus ending a relatively cheap supply of finds. I would meet with friends to share our discoveries, as they were now a rarity and seldom turned up anywhere. By the 1990s even garage sales were being gleaned by antique hunters.
Vintage mid century items like denim and sports memorabilia swamped the new internet sites everywhere. The world demanded such items and soon they disappeared into the hands of rich collectors, especially from Japan. Reproductions flooded the market driving up prices yet again.
One of my fellow collectors noted my rapidly degrading quality of discoveries. I was asked what I really wanted to find. I wished for the hardest sought after objects of the time. Pre-Columbian pottery, colonial red ware and ancient Celtic amulets were my first choice. The holy grail and a map to El Dorado were offered up in a humorous tone as well. As if! How about the love of my life while we're at it? I was divorced after a 20 year marriage and in the middle of raising my teenaged daughter all by myself.
The next day I found 5 pieces of pre-columbian pottery at a antique market. The vendor had no idea what these chipped and broken pieces were. One day later I found a big jar at a garage sale for 50 cents. It turned out to be a yellow slip glazed piece of colonial red ware from Nova Scotia. On the third day I went a local flea market. A man was researching Celtic brooches from a book at his side. He asked me what I was looking for. I laughed and pointed to his book. He fished a dull metal pendant from under his shirt. I remembered all the savings I had made and the crisp 50 dollar bill still hidden my pocket. He asked for 50 bucks. I laughed and said sure!
I was initially disappointed with my third find. It cleaned up beautifully and turned out to be a silver Berber fibula after much research. Not Celtic?
I had the last laugh. In the 14th century a ship sunk off the Barbary coast of North Africa. The Berber tribesmen were known to be "barbarians" that killed all outsiders. A single survivor made it to shore but was spared. He was a Scottish silversmith that seems to speak and understand these Berber warriors. Their language was surprisingly similar to Gaelic. He taught them silver smithing and was honoured. The Berber fibula was indeed a Celtic amulet. The tree of life was its theme. The open work matched the constellation of Orion, should one have gotten lost in the desert at night.
As for the holy grail and the map fo El Dorado...well that's another story.
As a young man I slowly added artefacts to my bottle collection. They were lesser known by the glut of new collectors of memorabilia. I found revolutionary and civil war flags, flasks and belt buckles. The advent of the American bi-centennial and the 1980s saw the rise in popularity of war reenactments. Much of these items became reproduced. Originals were very pricey. I returned to bottles. I collected early American figural flasks.
Early American flasks became mass produced by historical glass companies, thus ending a relatively cheap supply of finds. I would meet with friends to share our discoveries, as they were now a rarity and seldom turned up anywhere. By the 1990s even garage sales were being gleaned by antique hunters.
Vintage mid century items like denim and sports memorabilia swamped the new internet sites everywhere. The world demanded such items and soon they disappeared into the hands of rich collectors, especially from Japan. Reproductions flooded the market driving up prices yet again.
One of my fellow collectors noted my rapidly degrading quality of discoveries. I was asked what I really wanted to find. I wished for the hardest sought after objects of the time. Pre-Columbian pottery, colonial red ware and ancient Celtic amulets were my first choice. The holy grail and a map to El Dorado were offered up in a humorous tone as well. As if! How about the love of my life while we're at it? I was divorced after a 20 year marriage and in the middle of raising my teenaged daughter all by myself.
The next day I found 5 pieces of pre-columbian pottery at a antique market. The vendor had no idea what these chipped and broken pieces were. One day later I found a big jar at a garage sale for 50 cents. It turned out to be a yellow slip glazed piece of colonial red ware from Nova Scotia. On the third day I went a local flea market. A man was researching Celtic brooches from a book at his side. He asked me what I was looking for. I laughed and pointed to his book. He fished a dull metal pendant from under his shirt. I remembered all the savings I had made and the crisp 50 dollar bill still hidden my pocket. He asked for 50 bucks. I laughed and said sure!
I was initially disappointed with my third find. It cleaned up beautifully and turned out to be a silver Berber fibula after much research. Not Celtic?
I had the last laugh. In the 14th century a ship sunk off the Barbary coast of North Africa. The Berber tribesmen were known to be "barbarians" that killed all outsiders. A single survivor made it to shore but was spared. He was a Scottish silversmith that seems to speak and understand these Berber warriors. Their language was surprisingly similar to Gaelic. He taught them silver smithing and was honoured. The Berber fibula was indeed a Celtic amulet. The tree of life was its theme. The open work matched the constellation of Orion, should one have gotten lost in the desert at night.
As for the holy grail and the map fo El Dorado...well that's another story.
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