DIGS- MILKMAN COMETH

MILKMAN COMETH

“Milk, does a body good.” This slogan was written decades after the one on this awesome sign we dug the first week of June but the meaning is the same. Milk producers years ago waged a successful campaign to convince the public milk was beneficial and it worked. Today most people believe in the health benefits of a tall glass of milk.

The B on the sign is roached because it was used  for target practice years ago. Cone shaped damage on the opposite side tells us it was shot at- probably a .22 since  the bullet did not penetrate the metal.

NEW DUMP PRODUCES

Our new Connecticut dump is producing this spring.  This Mobil Gas sign (pictured) came out of the dump in great condition. All it needs is some light cleaning.

Two more signs recovered from the sign dump.

It’s the end of July and week 2 of Hat City Diggers New York dig. We are   50 miles from Danbury deep in the Harlem Valley. Above are a few keepers from our July 31 first dig. The dig started slow but then we hit pay dirt and we recovered close to a dozen bottles. Hopefully more will come as we open up this embankment dump.

With one hutch in the bag we are ready to pull two more.

Like triple sevens on a slot machine the address on this odd hutch symbolizes the kind of  day we were having- one of outstanding luck!

After the clean-up, the name of this obscure bottler is revealed.

WAFFLE IRON BLUES

This American No. 8 waffle iron was pulled from the mud along a brook in a New York town.

We have pulled a number of Hutches during our recent Digstock event, including this B. Smith (above).

This H. C. Creamer cleaned up nicely in this before and  after pic. H. C. Creamer died suddenly in the spring of 1898 when a severe cold turned to pneumonia.

Opening up a hole.

SUMMER DIG 2020

The history of this dig site is quite fascinating. It’s a crude stone-lined septic tank over 100 years old. It’s all that remains of an institution that once stood on the property.

Pictured is a large chemical bottle that may have contained carbolic acid. We’ve pulled two from this dump along with several medicines and whiskey flasks. The tank is huge and deep so this is a long term dig.

PRIVY NUMBER ONE

Hat City Diggers recently discovered three privies in New York State. Here we are digging out privy number one.  Privy one appears to be a “two bottle privy.” Bummer!

The stag’s skull we found hiking to the dig site. One of two bottles we found in this privy.

UNDER THE BARN!

From under an old barn in Danbury, Hat City Diggers discovers more treasure.

There are plenty of artifacts to recover under this dilapidated barn in Danbury, like this metal toy telephone from the 1950s.

Child’s toys weren’t the only artifacts we recovered. There was drinking going on at this site and the inhabitance weren’t drinking milk evidenced by this Red Cap Ale imported from Canada Ca 1960.

M-I-C-K-E- Y- M-O-U-S-E

This Mickey bank dates to the 1950s when Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club was at its height.

THE DREGS OF EARLY 20TH CENTURY DANBURY

From the muck and mire of White’s Pond come four more bottles.

Ice skating was common at White’s Pond. This skate may date to the turn of the century.

Digging for artifacts at White’s Pond.

From the muddy depths of White’s Pond in Danbury comes this remarkably well-preserved ice skate which we believe is turn of the century.

It has been so dry in Danbury that water levels in the area once known as White’s pond have dropped exposing the bed. Because of this, we are able to dig for the first time.

More artifacts from White’s Pond. We removed these from the upper level of the muck.

BLUE BEAUTY

From the depths of the use layer comes another epic find.  This cobalt William R Warner out of Philly is quite rare. So when we pulled one today we were rockin’ at the dig site.

EPIC FIND

SUNDAY, JUNE, 23, 2019– If you collect Danbury bottles, this is one you have to have.  After 3 weeks of digging nothing but junk, we dug our first M. McPhelemy whiskey- a bottle we’ve been looking for- for years!  The dig started off uneventfully. We were finding tons and tons of broken glass. I soon changed tactics and started digging toward one of the test wells in the dump. Again everything was busted then suddenly I hit something solid. It took some time to pull it out but it was worth the wait. The rest is history. (above) Still covered in dirt the M. McPhelemy whiskey rests at the top of the hole. Michael McPhelemy was one of Danbury’s best-known bottlers and grocers during the last half of the 19th century. Michael McPhelmey is buried in St Peters Cemetery on Sherdon St in Danbury.

I was totally stoked! Yes!

Diggers face many dangers bottle hunting- a psycho digger, however, is one of the least likely hazards. Nevertheless, this new dump we at Hat City Diggers are excavating possesses several risks. Many times I have fallen face-first walking in and out of the dump and there is always the risk of a hole collapsing or a tumbledown an embankment, then there are the parasites I’ve had to remove several ticks but nothing ventured nothing gained and we’ve always come back with keepers!

4711 Cologne- nothing to write home about-but a find we never heard of.

We had to hack our way in!

This small monogrammed bottle probably contained pills- aperient or quinine possibly.

MIND-BLOWING DUMP

Hat City Diggers just discovered a mind-blowing dump this morning. The car pictured above is one of at least three that dates to the 1940s or 50s.

This jug fragment from the Bridgeport Distributing Co may be an indication that older artifacts are buried beneath the layers of trash from the 1940s and 50s.

The rear of a late model car juts from the embankment.

IN SITU

With the lip still covered, we have no idea if this master ink is in one piece.

After a few tense moments, this blue beauty enters the modern world whole.

PRIDE OF PA.

The fluting at the heal of this beer is so irregular we thought it was a catchup at first.

The Hillside Spring Water Co. produced soft drinks in New Milford, Ct

MEDLICOTT DAIRY

Medlicott milks like this date to the early 1920s.

” KAISER’S HOLE”

Kaiser’s Hole was located in Connecticut along the Danbury to Stamford rail line. Though we never got to dig this semi-mythical dump that no longer exists, we have an idea what it must have looked like.  Hidden deep in the New York State woods this farm dump is a stark reminder of man’s impact on the ecology and it may resemble Kaiser’s Hole.”The entire area is like this.” says a member of Hat City Diggers, ” A few hundred yards away are three abandoned cars. It reminds you of a scene from Deliverance.”

In this shot, a tree has grown up through the dump. Nature, ever resilient, is reclaiming the land from man.

This whale oil lamp recovered from the New York Dump is a heartbreaker we just had to bring home- it’s just too beautiful.

NEW DUMP 2019

Eight years of digging and we are still finding dumps in Danbury. This new dump is producing some excellent finds like the Michael McPhelemy blob (below).

DIGGING DANGER 

Sometimes the hazards of bottle digging include more than broken glass and poison ivy. The addict that disposed of this needle was smart enough to replace the safety cap. This isn’t always the case, however, and it isn’t just the needles of heroin addicts we have to be careful of. One dump we were digging a few years ago contained a number of needles. Addicts didn’t discard these however, a diabetic did and they weren’t kind enough to cap the syringes.

This mailbox bank we got on a recent dig needs a little electrolysis to make it as good as new. Cast iron banks like this can date as early as the 1800s. This one, however, is likely from the 1920s or 30s.

PAWLING DIG 2018

Hat City Diggers found more than bottles during their latest dig. They recovered this ancient fossil millions of years old!

Hat City Diggers unearthed this HaarWasser bottle which dates to the   1910s or 1920s. “We think it’s some kind of hair tonic.” said a member of the Hat City Diggers digging team.

A heap of junkers sits next to a team member as she inspects a glass shard she just unearthed.

BEFORE THE PLUMTREES LANDFILL THE CITY AND its RESIDENTS DUMPED RANDOMLY

Before Danbury created the Plumtrees dump in the 1930s the City and its residents dumped trash indiscriminately. for example, Sanborn maps of Danbury for the 1890s tell us the City was using a large trash vault in the back of Main St adjacent to where the Palace Theater is today. In addition, the City dumped near Rose St as well. A large dump is also located in Rodgers Park under the little league fields.  Workers recovered Hundreds of bottles when the City updated the little league concession stand. Sources are reliable regarding this story and Hat City Diggers saw bottles that were taken from this dump by city works. Now Hat City Diggers may have found another large dumping ground. The location will remain a secret except for the few pictures we released here.

So far the artifacts Hat City Diggers are recovering from this large dump are damaged. (Above left) porcelain pitcher ca. 1900. (Right) Ornate biscuit jar with blue glazed flowers ca. 1910.

Mud covering a glass cemetery spike vase dries quickly in the late summer sun.

Dozens of artifacts, like this pressed glass vase, have been recovered.

A Hat City Digger has fun with an old New York license plate found during an excursion to one of the group’s many dig sites.

PAY DIRT- AGAIN!

After three years, Hat City Diggers’ secret dump is still producing.

U.S. Life ad card from the 1900s pulled from a layer six feet down.

TALES FROM THE SWAMP DUMP

A stone’s throw from the Hat City Diggers’ headquarters is the swamp dump. We’ve been digging this dump on and off for several years and during that time it has always produced. Although nothing to get excited about, the Milshire Dry Gin from Hartford, Ct. is interesting for one reason: Even though the gin is a post-prohibition bottle it doesn’t have the “Federal law forbids…” phrase embossed on it. This is because the phrase wasn’t implemented until 1935 and this bottle dates from 1933 or 34.

PRIVY DIG- THE FINAL PHASE

Just extracted from the privy this beautiful pressed glass whale oil lamp is still covered with moist earth.

After cleaning, the elegance of this lamp is clearly obvious. Because whale oil became so expensive, only the well-off were able to afford it by the end of the 19th century.

Privies were the waste bins of the time. Everything discarded from the home went down the hole, such as this turn of the century douching syringe.

MOTHER LOAD (PRIVY DIG PART 3)

Dispatch from North Salem: In the third part of the series: privy dig 2018, Hat City Diggers recovered more treasure from deep within the farmhouse privy  (pictured above) a Newport R.I. pharmacy recovered from the deep end of the outhouse. (Below) An early snap case ink (1860s or 70s) sees light for the first time in over 100 years

It took a while but after digging through a layer of night soil, we pulled out this 19th-century umbrella ink.

Emil Blumenkranz (quite a mouth full) pharmacy after a quick cleaning.  According to Rhode Island digger and amateur historian Taylor McBurney:

Emil Blumenkranz (1870-1949) was a pharmacist in Newport. His family emigrated from Russia in 1883. He started a string quartet and orchestra in Newport, in which he played the violin. He was apprenticed by James T. Wright, who employed him for ten years. He opened his own pharmacy in 1894. His store was located in the Langley building at the corner of Thames & Mary Streets. (or 176 Thames St.). He was still in Newport in 1897. By 1901 his store was located at Angell, cor. So. Angell Streets. in Providence, RI. It appears he didn’t immediately close his store in Newport as he was offering California Prune Wafers there in 1903. He was still located in Providence in 1916. The building still stands at 501 Angell St.

(Above) Empire -finger lamp- possible whale oil lamp ca 1890s.

After cleaning, the oil lamp’s embossing is quite clear. This lamp’s burner may have been topped with a glass globe.

THE PRIVY TAKES SHAPE

The rectangular shape and stone walls are clearly visible in this photo.

A F. N. Bliss and Co taken from the privy. This gem was found at the six-foot level.

Robinson and Son pharmacy from New York City (Manhattan).

The Bliss and Robinson after a quick clean. They will display nicely. F. N. Bliss was located on Henry St in the Carroll Gardens district of Brooklyn not far from Governor’s Island. At this time nothing is known about F. N. Bliss or his business. An in-depth write- up on the Robinson and Son establishment can be found on the great website Bay Bottles

PRIVY DIG PART 2

A delighted Hat City Diggers team member shows off a Lyon’s Powder they dug minutes ago from a farmhouse privy. Depending on the age and color Lyon’s powder bottles can realize prices in the hundreds of dollars.

Sometimes bottles come out of the ground still containing their original contents like this citrate magnesia pictured above. This bottle is an undisputed keeper since it is loaded with dozens of seed bubbles.

Early morning sun erupts above this digger’s back. Digging starts before dawn and ends just before breakfast.

PRIVY DIG 2018

At first glance, the bottle above looks slick but, in fact, it’s an Indian Sagwa from the late 19th century with embossed Indian on the sunken panel.

From the depths of the privy comes a Seabury’s Cough Balsam.

The sharpness of a bottle’s embossing was determined by the amount of force used by the gaffer when he blew air through the blowpipe into the mold. If the gaffer was ill with a lung infection, he may not have had the lung power to force as much air into the mold to create well-defined embossing. This may be the case with the Indian Sagwa bottle (above) since the profile of the Indian on the front of the bottle is poorly defined.

HAT CITY DIGGERS AND SPECIAL GUESS, CHRISTINA, DIG APPALACHIA.

Christina Mahoney of Patterson, N.Y. has been collecting all her life then two years ago she caught the digging bug when she found cobalt glass and depression ware in the woods by her work-  ever since she’s been hooked.  (Above) Christina digs through piles of broken china at the Appalachia dump looking for buried treasures like the Samuel Hustis milk she discovered (below) from White Plains, N.Y.

Christina shows the camera a glass stopper she’s just discovered.  The Appalachian Mountains stretching from northern Alabama into Canada are probably home to thousands of trash dumps.

SAUGERTIES DIG- PART TWO.

Pulled from a brook minutes ago, this large Henry K. Wampole is tinted green by algae. Wampole bottles are very common and almost unsellable.  You’d be lucky to get $5- and that’s on a good day. This bottle dates to the turn of the century. Wampole died in 1906.

A last-minute find, Hat City Diggers pulled this rare C.T. Montgomery M. D. bottle from the same Saugerties brook as the Wampole.

STOCKING STUFFER

20 plastic rattle blocks like the one pictured sold for $1.39 in the 1955 Spiegel Christmas catalog.

Looking steeper than it is, this embankment is opened up revealing its goodies.

MAGIC MUSHROOM

Baby’s toys aren’t the only things we found at the dig site. This large puffball mushroom is quite edible.

MILKMAN.

A 1940s- 1950s  dump produces a rare 1920s late- throw Carl Williamson milk from New Milford, Ct.

DANSE MACABRE.

Embalming bottles, like this Dodge Chemical Co. from the 1930s, are highly collectible.

HAT CITY DIGGERS’ RESCUE PICK.

Hat City Diggers rescued history in a daring pick at a condemned farmhouse.  The house is located in New York State is in the process of being demolished. The demolition stopped when an endangered turtle species was discovered inhabiting the property. The work suspension gave Hat City enough time to save a few artifacts.  The basement in the picture above contains dozens of fruit jars.

A member of the Hat City Digging team comes into the light with a handful of fruit jars.

Two fruit jars see light after years in the cellar. The one (left) contains peaches. Anyone hungry?

What’s a farmhouse without crocks!

BREAKING NEWS: HAT CITY DIGGERS TURN OVER GUN TO POUGHKEEPSIE POLICE.

The Hat City Diggers gave the Poughkeepsie police the gun they recovered the other day during their creek walk. Stephen  Crowe one of the digging team members discovered the gun while creek walking. The gun is a .22 caliber bolt action rifle.

SACRAMENTO EAGLE HEART BREAKER!

Creek walking ended with an utter heart breaker in Danbury. The bottle (center) is an 1850s iron pontil soda commonly called a Sacramento Eagle. It’s a long way from the Golden State and regrettably, far from mint!

CREEK WALKING THE HOOD.

Inner-city neighborhoods can be excellent places to find old glass. We pulled The bottles (above) from a creek that courses through a ghetto. The one (left) is a Dutchess Brand Beverages from Verbank Village, N.Y.  The dark bottle (right) is a Societe Hygienique a 19th-century liquid contraceptive.

Bottles aren’t the only objects we found. We discovered this rifle on our return journey (we think it’s a .22). Why the rifle was discarded in the water is unknown, but the bolt is clearly missing.

This Dutchess Brand Beverages is easier to read after removing some of the grime. Verbank Village is a small hamlet about 15 miles from the city of Poughkeepsie , N.Y.

THE SAUGERTIES DIG LATE SUMMER 2017.

The ash layer is no match for Hat City Diggers and a long-handled rake.

Pictured: a nice example of a Saugerties, N.Y. Van Buskirk druggist.

Early 20th-century dry cell batteries like the one above were used as igniters in early automobiles. We found close to a dozen in this dump.

B. W. Gifford M. D. a common find in Saugerties’ dumps.

“When there’s no more room in hell, the dead shall walk the earth.”

GRAY GHOST.

Looking almost gray against a weather-beaten railroad tie, this Colgate & Co Perfumers bottle dates to the 1880s. Found in New Milford, Ct a woodchuck dislodged by a digging out his hole.

CREEK WALKING JULY, 2017.

This R.F. Baker Berkshire Gate brand soda (above) is mint even after being in the water for eighty plus years.  Even though the bottles were supposed to be returned to Baker many were discarded after use leaving Baker to swallow the cost. This bottle dates to the late 1920s.

JUNE 4TH, 2017 DIG.

First find of the morning is a keeper a Fred Krisch blob ca 1880s out of New Milford.

Riverbanks can be outstanding spots to find bottles. This site has produced from time to time but today we found nothing.

THE BROADVIEW DIG, APRIL 2017.

We dug the artifacts pictured at the former location of Danbury’s Town Farm (poorhouse). The poorhouse was demolished in the 1960s to build a school. In addition to mold-blown bottles, the site contained bones, hand-forged nails, porcelain buttons, clay pipes, clay marbles (not pictured) and much, much more.

GERM WARFARE IN A BOTTLE.

Pasteur Laboratories of France was on the cutting edge in rodent control in the 1910s and early 1920s with the product pictured. The bottle contained a live virus deadly to rats. All you had to do was bait the product on a little oatmeal and dead rat, yeah. We dug the bottle from a site in Danbury over the fall.

RECONNOITERING.

I discovered this Dr. A. Trask’s Magnetic Ointment while scouting for dumps. A very common find but an indication there may be more mold-blown bottles in the area. There was nothing, “magnetic” about Trask’s, the ingredients were: tobacco and-oddly-raisins.

EIGHTY YEARS OLD.

Part of a concert foundation or driveway at the Carlucci dig site. Note the year, “1937” written into the concert when the cement was still wet. This is a great way to date objects coming out of the dump- especially the milks.

LOADED DUMP.

The Vito Carlucci dig site near Belmont Circle, Danbury. I discovered this new site while exploring a gully in the area.  This dump is loaded with bottles from the 1910s, 20s and 30s. As you can see, it’s near someone’s backyard so I’ve got to be discreet.

JEEPERS KEEPERS!

Three Carlucci milks dug this morning (two quarts, one pint.) The site is loaded with milks, Not only have I unearthed three Carlucci bottles but I’ve found a Danbury Creamery, a Norwalk Dairy, two Moody Dairies and a Marcus Dairy. They all date to the early 1930s.

An abandoned 19th-century farmhouse in the early morning looks foreboding in this late fall photograph. The house is located near Brewster N.Y. and sits on 72 acres which may have been part of a dairy business 100 years ago. The site, overgrown with goldenrod and brambles probably for years is still easily accessible from the road.  A barn on the property appears to contain several milking stations. Beside the barn, there is one other outbuilding and in the back of the house, there appears to be a privy. Stonewalls meander through the property and a pond sits at the properties’ north end. The farmhouse is at the end of a lonely dead-end street and it’s amazing the home hasn’t been torched by a firebug.

This picture of the front of the house clearly shows the porch has collapsed into rubble.

The back of the farmhouse is a disaster. The roof has collapsed and buckled the back of the house.

WHAT A FIND!

We found this Hutchinson soda, at the farm site, resting in a field like it was tossed there just minutes ago when, in fact, it probably sat there for years!

The sloppy applied finish is clearly visible in this photo of our farm find. The glass looks to drip down the lip like candle wax. At present, we have no information on this bottler, B. Siegel, from Port Chester N.Y. The bottle dates to the 1880s or 90s.

DEADLY POISON.

The remains of a Bowker Insecticide Company jug ca 1910s found at a farm dump we discovered October 2, 2016.  Bowker’s Insecticide was put out by the Bowker Company of Boston Mass.  It contained mostly water with 15 percent arsenic and 34 percent lead. Farmers would spray it onto their crops from the back of a wagon. According to a Bowker ad it, “kill[ed] most chewing insects.”

ROORBACH HEAVEN.

Pictured, an impressive Roorbach dump I found in New York State. There are literally hundreds of them!

From below looking up- bottles, bottles, everywhere! Beyond the ridge is someone’s back yard. Quiet! please!

This James H. Comeskey from Brewster N. Y. is one of the rarer finds from the Roorbach dump.

NEW YORK DIG, 2016.

A total crier! Barry’s Tricopherous for the Skin and Hair- made with a tincture of Spanish fly!

Close- up of the Barry bottle’s open pontil.

Where animals go to die? A fox or dog skull.

SUNRISE OVER THE DUMP.

During the summer we’d get to the dumpsite before the sun came up.

FRUSTRATION DAY.

Everything busted or everything junk, a terrible morning at the dump. The red goblet (bottom right) would have been a keeper, but obviously, the stem is broken. The T. W. Bartley (middle) is a mess along with the Moxie Nerve Food (left). Two tires are blocking our way into another hole. I managed to dig one out  (it’s an Altas Polycron from the 1970s). We are not sure about the other tire but when we pull it we’ll have full access to the 1890s/1900s junk layer 3 feet below.

MORE ACTION DOWN AT THE DIG SITE.

Working away at the junk layer, summer 2016.

END RESULTS.

P&J Arnold master ink from London. It will display nicely.

Close- up of the debossing on the P&J Arnold. It’s a very common master ink but still a nice find.

UTTER DESTRUCTION.

An early morning shot of the dumpsite. We’ve been digging the site since May. We dug the hell out of this site and it still keeps producing.

MORE HARDCORE DIGGING!

Chipping away at the embankment.

Hardcore digging is a very dangerous job.  We collapsed The tunnel pictured after this photo was taken it was just too unsafe. Note the junk layer.

A Mitchell Dairy from Washington, Ct. It would have been perfect if not for the broken top. Better luck next time.

JUST PULLED FROM THE GROUND.

A W. E. Henebry is pictured wet with mud. Bottles like this date to the 1890s or early 1900s and are very common to this site.

DOWN AND DIRTY AT THE DIG SITE!

Can it get any worse!

SOMEWHERE IN DANBURY.

Early morning preparation at our secret dig site.

JUNE 18, 2016 DIG.

Two stone beers, a couple of inks (one cobalt) and a Dr. Kilmer’s Swamp Root are a few of the bottles we found. One of the beers is a Danbury  D. P. Brown.

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IN SITU.

A stoneware jug ready for extraction.

WHAT A CRIER!

Alexander’s Asthma Cure from Portland Maine. An awesome bottle- unfortunately broken.

NO TIME TO BREATHE.

Head first in a hole.

BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME.

Another cool find but the jug lacked writing. Jugs with actual writing are rare finds in Danbury.

BIG BROMO!

We’ve dug large Bromo Seltzers over the years but they have always been broken. This one’s mint.

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Stephen Crowe

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