Ice is gone - Time To Dive!

[DeepSeaDan]

With the river free of ice and the current running fast with the early Spring melt-water, we hit the water for the season's first dive. I'm always amazed by the changes in the underwater river topography, created by the fast currents of Spring. I was exploring an area I'd been to many times before, but the sands of last year had shifted, revealing a long buried 'Beehive' style crock, of the 'squat' variant. Unlike all the other pottery I've found while diving, this one was mint - no chips, cracks or missing parts - I was thrilled! How long had this crock lay hidden in those river sands? Others more knowledgeable than I estimated it was made sometime in the 1870's.

 

[BoltSnap]

What did they use this crock for way back then?

 

[rob.mwpropane]

What did they use this crock for way back then?

Moonshine... what else was there?

 

[DeepSeaDan]

What did they use this crock for way back then?

Moonshine? Probably! Also - whiskey, molasses, other kinds of 'spirits', at least initially, then re-use it for whatever fluid, after the original contents are 'drunk'...

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Moonshine? Probably! Also - whiskey, molasses, other kinds of 'spirits', at least initially, then re-use it for whatever fluid, after the original contents are 'drunk'...

Pretty cool find.

I've managed to find some older milk bottles in the quarry I go to. Nowhere near as exciting. Something like these;

 

[DeepSeaDan]

Pretty cool find.

I've managed to find some older milk bottles in the quarry I go to. Nowhere near as exciting. Something like these;

View attachment 716454

Now there's a fine example of "mint" condition! Where might "St. Albans" be?

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Now there's a fine example of "mint" condition! Where might "St. Albans" be?

Lol... that's just an example.. mine don't say that. I'll have to pull one up next time and clean it up.. I have a small pile in the quarry. I haven't brought any up because I'm not sure what I would do with them.

 

[DeepSeaDan]

Lol... that's just an example.. mine don't say that. I'll have to pull one up next time and clean it up.. I have a small pile in the quarry. I haven't brought any up because I'm not sure what I would do with them.

Hah! I was gonna say that for a rookie bottle hunter, that was a stellar find, lol. Anyway, if you get the bug, you'll end up like this ( with tons more in boxes ):

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Hah! I was gonna say that for a rookie bottle hunter, that was a stellar find, lol. Anyway, if you get the bug, you'll end up like this ( with tons more in boxes ):

Awesome pics! Gosh I have the diving bug, I really can't afford to catch the bottle collecting bug. Pretty cool collection though!

 

[DeepSeaDan]

Awesome pics! Gosh I have the diving bug, I really can't afford to catch the bottle collecting bug. Pretty cool collection though!

Thanks Rob! Here's another cool item to look for & collect - old clay smoking pipes. These were hugely popular back in the day and manufactures got pretty creative in designing pipe bowls. As I understand it, people would smoke the pipe and nip off segments of the stem as it got saturated with spit, that's why they're often found with partial stems, or no stems at all.