Dirt Discovery

[Cory Wolfe]

What do you suppose you would find, if you were to do some landscaping in your yard?

Well, as I've told you guys before, I live in the village of Ramsaytown, not actually Brookville... I just have a Brookville address. Ramsaytown, as I've said, was started as a coal mining town about 200 years ago. Between then and the early 1900s, it had reached its peak and was a full blown town, like Brookville. It had everything that a small town in that era consisted of. Well, shortly after, coal mining which was the heart of this town, basically tore it apart into what it is today. Houses were destroyed or moved and the landscape was torn up. All in the name of greed, from coal mining. Today, remnants of yesteryear can be found all throughout the area. Bits of coal are scattered everywhere, including my yard. The mined landscape lays unchanged. You can see where railroads use to be. The bases of houses can also be seen. Mining machinery has been carelessly left behind. I always wonder what is like back then... When Ramsaytown was serene town located along the Green Valley. A Green Valley Grange still stands as is now used a Race shop. Other than that, only houses are left as well as a few churches. Everything else is left buried underground or simply not there anymore, like the gas station/garage/store that used to sit in my yard... or the house that was inbetween it and my house... or the hotel that was across the street from it. Because of that, when you dig into the ground, you are bound to something... anything. While doing some landscaping to our yard, we found lots of interesting tidbits. An old horse shoe, some glass bottles (one from the now non-existant Jefferson County Bottling Co.), hundreds of pieces of glass, a glass chandelere (sp?) crystal, and most interesting of all (as well as most in tact)....

A "White Crown Cap" that also says "PAT-11-22-10". I searched Google for any information regarding this, but I could only find similar specimins for sale on Ebay

Ebay item 1

Ebay item 2

[balthazar]

So you get how they were used, right? Mason jar lids (actually, the rings) used to have these milk glass centers. How the 2-piece metal & glass lids sealed better than a 1-piece lid, I don't know, but that's what you got.

About 2 years ago I was working in PA west of Doylestown, on a site where 3 houses were being built next to each other. I found a 'bottle dump' where a farmer (assumedly) tossed all his glass. I brought home a good 3 dozen old glass milk bottles along with a bunch of others, including some mason jars with these type of glass/metal lids.

[Cory Wolfe]

Yeah... I eventually figured it out. It just didn't make sense to me that it was used for that. I knew it had to be some sort of bottle lid, but why a two piece one and glass at that? As you said, I can't see how it'd be any better than a 1 piece lid.

[balthazar]

Must've had something to do with the nature of canning, which is heating the jars after filling them, putting on hot lids and tightening them. When they cool they contract and vacuum seal the contents. Now- this is the way it's done with current 2-piece metal lids, which feature a sort of rubber-esque coating on the center round portion that seals against the jar top. Also, the metal centers flex in when cooling, like the caps on a Snapple bottle that pop up when you break the seal. Glass isn't going to do that.

I don't know that the milk glass tops had rubber rings too or what. But more curious to me is, why glass lids and why milk glass?

You've got lots of time- research it and report back.

[Sixty8panther]

Back in Andover when working landscaping I dug up

a part of the backyard that had not been touched

since the late 50s... I discovered a valve stem out of

some car from probably the 30s that was all pretty

much looking like the Smokestacks on the Titainc in

terms of corrosion & a great-condition silver spoon.

[Brandon Lutz]

There is a place where I hunt near my home that I always find interesting pieces of yesteryear. Old Mason jars, old washpans, dishes, glasses, steel plates, bed springs, window frames from the old houses, etc.

There are also about 8 sisterns out there that I've marked so no one falls in them. Basically, back in the late 1800's thru the 1940's there was a small highway that ran thru the woods and crossed over a man made canal. You can still see the remnants of the bridge in the canal as all that is left is the legs of it.

There were several old houses from the old town of Gold Dust in the woods, and there are all sorts of relics left behind from them. The area is all solid woods now, and you can't really tell there was a small town in there unless you are from the area, and know the history.

Edited May 24, 2006 by Brandon Lutz

[Sixty8panther]

Since we're on this topic...

Back in Slovakia my garndfather and I had a tradition

of doign the same hike every spring. It was up a

mountain side and about 2 kilometers off the end of a

dirt road. As a little kid it seemed more like 20 KM but

I never complained. For at the end of the journey at

the top of the mountain there was a 13th century

burned down castle. It was 1/2 way falling down and

most of the interior had trees & weeds where once

people inhabited but it was about as cool as it got for a

little 5/6/7/8 year old kid.

Back when the Turks/Mongols would try to seige it they

would pour melted tar onto the attackers just like in

those movies from the dark ages. I'll never forget

that Castle as long as I live and the fun I had spotting

deer, warthogs, Pheasants, Falcons & Mountain Lions.

Never found an artifact though...

[Cory Wolfe]

I've found some more... an old medicine bottle as well as another milk glass cap of some sort. It's definitely different. About half the size and more like a bottle caps of today, but without threads. Oh... I also found a marble.