How to find old bottle dumps and bottle in structures.

Ok, you know how to dig bottles ,and which ones are worth money, but where to dig? This article will tell you how to find the best places to look for bottle digging and where to find antique bottle in other places too, like houses or barns.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• shovel
• gloves
• bucket
• camera
• maps of the area

1. my bottles First locate a place that may have been a site that was occupied in the time period you wish to find antique bottles from. Driving around in your car and looking for abandoned houses is a good way to start. Another great way to start is to find the old town maps in your local court house and see which places were occupied during the time period you are looking for. this second method is good when you are looking for sites older than 100 years or so ,as there may not be any visual clues left on the surface from that long ago.
2. After you have found an old house site, look to see if it has been upkept or not. If the grass or brush is below waist hight then there a good chance that the owner is still alive and or cares about the property. In most cases if it looks like this ,it is a good idea to try to find the owner and ask them if its ok to dig around before you actually do. 9 out of 10 times if you just go ahead and start digging the owner will arrive just as you are carrying buckets of bottles back to your car and the drama that ensues when they found out you put a 5 foot deep hole in there yard is NOT worth it. Not to mention that is trespassing and legally they can call the police on you. So its better to ask first. On the other hand, if the site is covered with 15 foot trees and thorn bushes worthy of a movie torture scene then most of the time it is abandoned and you are ok to look around.
3. outhouse ,and bottles everywhere. Now it is time to start scouting. If the site you are on is a farm, look for a creek/swampy area. A lot of time the owners threw there trash in the swamp or on the side of the creek, on the idea that it would slow down erosion of the land. Another popular place is within 300 feet or so of a building in what is now a low area with bushes about 10 foot tall and trees with trunks about 6 inches around. mostly becouse this area was too muddy most of the year to grow anything good. they tossed the bottles and then decided not to mow it. however one of the best places to find bottles is in or around outhouses. if the land is too old for an outhouse to still survive ,then look for depressions in the ground about 3 or 4 foot around. they often have a pile of rocks in them, these are where the outhouse used to be and are almost always full of medicine bottles dropped down there in the middle of "digestive distress" out houses were also popular places to dispose of poison bottles, bitters, whiskey bottles and about any other thing that you did not want others finding, or kids playing with.
4. now its time to start digging. if you see rusty metal on the surface, or ball jars sitting about, theres a good chance that theres plenty of antique bottles waiting to be dug there. dig in the outhouse, poop form 50 years ago is not any different from dirt and can give you the best pieces for your collection.
5. As for finding antique bottles in buildings, The best places to look are in the attic, crawlspace and behind things, any in easy view will probably have been broken by someone for a thrill along time ago. Within throwing distance of windows you are also likely to find bottles outside ,but most of these are broken from there trip there.

Tips & Warnings

• think "if i lived here ,where would i leave the trash?"
• don't trespass, ask permission.
• watch out for snakes.
• WEAR GLOVES, this author has seriously stained a good shirt and pants a wonderful horror movie shade by picking up a broke bottle barehanded.
• don't trespass, if someone asks you to leave ,do it.