Sunday September 9^th. 2007

Back to Covington.

Last night, after talking to Mike and Steve, and with their approval, I put a call in to Rob Davis to see if he and Chuck would like to go digging with us. Rob said he was ready to go and that he would inform Chuck, and that he would also be eager to join us. The plan was to meet in Covington at the Frischs. About halfway there, my cell phone rang and it was Mike, stating that he had some weird popup rash and he was itching like a hound on an anthill. He said he would show up a little later if the scurvy made a retreat. I pulled into the parking lot and found Chuck, waiting for Rob to bring out a breakfast sandwich. Steve showed up a minute later and we headed off to the dig site. We were within a half mile of the dig and it took us an hour to get there. I had forgot my property list, and Steve had likewise left his at home in his other car. Mike knew exactly where the property was but Mike was not in our 3 car convoy. After a few attempts, I called Mike and got directions by landmark. Big church, round window, two blocks up, or down, or over from there. Finally, there it was. An 1850 brick next to the railroad tracks. We were all mighty glad to arrive, and began unloading equipment. An older man motioned for me to come over to him on the opposite side of the street. He stood behind his gate and informed me that he was asked to call the police if anyone went into the house or yard where our dig was scheduled. We informed said older man that we did indeed have official permission. I told him as soon as Steve walked around the corner I would have him show him the papers that proved it. This seemed to make the older man agitated. It appears his hobby of being a big Nosy-Parker and cop caller was going to be trumped by our hobby of digging for bottles, with included official permission. Steve walked up and I broke down the situation, whereby he told me and the older man that he did have permission but had forgot his papers at home. “Well, I wouldn’t go over there if I were you”, said the man, now smiling again. “Well we’re not going to if you're going to call the cops”, I told him. This pleased him greatly. He was once again enjoying his hobby immensely, while we would have to take our hobby to the next dig. It will be fun to return with the official paperwork at a later time.

Steve mentioned that he recognized another of our prior-probed permissions as we were looking for this one. It was only two blocks away so we loaded up and moved out. We wheeled up to the next place and piled equipment into the backyard where last weekend we had located a stone lined pit and did a test hole. We tossed down plastic and re-affirmed the location of the walls and started flingin’.

Below, left to right; Steve, Chuck, and Rob.

At four feet we encountered a large pipe coming in from the direction of the house. The fill was all TOC and we had a large pile of crown tops on one corner of the tarp.

Just under the pipe was a brick laid floor. I was glad to see it, as it probably meant that when converting this pit into a septic tank, they had not cleaned out the original contents any lower than the brick floor they laid, and we would soon be pulling up bricks and getting into some better age. Well, the bricks were pulled up and 5 feet of probe told us there was nothing under this brick floor but clay. Our longest probe was 5 feet long, and a longer probe might have proved this clay to be a very thick cap. We decided to bail out and try the lot next door. This lot was behind a solid 50’s place and a subtle pit was located in the hidden corner. Once again, we flung, we flang.

This pit had a stiff clay cap about a foot thick under a couple of feet of ash. Under the clay cap was more ash. At 6 feet I mole holed down one corner of the pit and right into a nest of pontiled glass. Chunks of yellow ware, open pontiled bases, and a topless Jno Postel pontiled sided soda showed us the sign we were craving.

The first intact bottle found was an iron pontiled Brutche & Tuchshmith aqua soda from Newport KY.

Near it were two intact I. Sutton iron pontil sodas. We took turns in the pit and all handed up a few things. Steve was in the pit and cornered a large salt glaze chamber pot which came out nicely intact.

We found a few slick open pontiled meds, a couple of marbles, 5 broken scroll flasks, a Katharion for the hair, two black glass ales, a few wines, and some broken embossed meds, one that reads in part, “-ury smith’s -ssingen waters“. Two more I Sutton sodas were found intact, pleasing everyone, as we would all get a pontiled soda before the day was over.

We finished up around 8 pm and did our pick. Steve went first by a drawing of the straws and chose the Brutche. Chuck, Rob, and myself each chose an I. Sutton. My second pick yielded the big salt glaze potty, while Chuck and Rob chose pontiled meds. We had a blast and it was really nice getting into something old and pontiled. The pit contained zero smooth bases, so somewhere nearby is another pit with 60’s and 70’s stuff in it. We will return again soon for some more probing and flinging of the poo. Thanks to Steve and Rob and Chuck for making the dig such a good time. Seeya in the pit !!!