In October 2002 I learned of the location of an old dump located behind an old farm house. I stopped at the farm house and spoke to the owner. He was a very nice person and granted permission to dig in the old dump. He warned me that somebody already dug thru it and probably nothing left in it, but I was optimistic that the dump was not totally played out. It did not take long to grab my digging tools and head out to the dump and this time I brought the family with me. The dump was located off a dirt road, and it was very enjoyable walk, probably a little less than a mile from where we parked the car. I have included a picture of the dirt road we walked on.
The dump appeared on our right, we saw broken glass, rusted farm equipment, and remains of old barrels and we knew we were there. I also could see this place had been dug before and we might not find much.

We started digging and we instantly hit bottles but unfortunately the bottles were screw tops and probably from the 1940's. Because the dump was located among a grove of pine trees which included an extensive root system the digging was pretty difficult. Persistence pays off and few good bottles popped out of the ground. We found some bottles from around 1880's / 1890's. It appeared that this dump was used from from the 1880's to the 1940's. Compared to other dumps I had been in this was a safe place to bring kids because there was no dangerous "cliff walls" to dig in or deep pits. The dump was located on level ground and the holes were we digging did not go that deep.

MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER DIGGING IN THE DUMP

ITEMS FOUND IN THIS DUMP

  • 1940'S Orange Crush Bottle
  • Hood's French Cologne Bottle Boston, circa 1880's
  • Tappan German Cologne Bottle NY, circa 1880's
  • Murine Eye Remedy Bottle Chicago, circa 1890's
  • Johnson's American Anodyne Liniment Bottle , circa 1880's
  • Amber Medicine bottle, circa 1900
  • Brass Skeleton Key, about 3 inches long - PICTURE ABOVE -
  • Bone Button - PICTURE ABOVE - (bone buttons were used from colonial times to the early 1900's. I don't know how to date this item).
  • Spoon,- PICTURE ABOVE - real interesting. The top and the bowl of the spoon is embossed ARMOUR'S EXTRACT OF BEEF. I did some research on this and in the early 1900's the Armour Beef Company held a promotion and if you sent in a dime with a box top of Armour's Extract of Beef they would send you one of these spoons.
  • Telephone Insulator
  • Axe Head

1