On Saturday, November 15th I finally had a chance to do some digging. I have been taking graduate courses at the University of West Florida and have very little free time. I work in downtown Pensacola, so during lunch time I often cruise the streets looking for potential dig sites. I noticed on one street that they were beginning to clear some lots for new construction. There was one old house left that looked like it was doomed for demolition. I got the address and went to work (using Eddie's county tax auditors web assess technique) for locating property owners. I spoke with the owner who gave me the OK to look around. I showed up early the following Saturday and found the bulldozer and back hoe going to work on the house. I stood around and watched awhile but realized that the 2 man crew was in no rush, so I talked to a neighbor and got permission from him to look around behind his house. I probed for awhile,  only finding good shards but nothing whole. About that time a fellow named Chris showed up. I had run across Chris in the past but had not done any digging with him. He filled me in on the past digging that had taken place in the neighborhood and we agreed that the only area that had evaded the probe was under the house that was being torn down and one side of the neighboring lot. We worked the neighboring lot for  awhile without any luck. Chris had noticed that my probe was quite worn and offered to sell me a one of his. He said he had several and didn't mind selling me one. He offered to take mine and have a new tip welded on. We talked for awhile and then I headed home. The next day I decided to go in to work for a few hours to get caught up on a project. I threw the probe and shovel in the truck just in case I had a chance to stop by the lot. Well, as you have probably guessed, I found time to cruise by the lot and see how far the 2 man  demo crew had gotten. The house was torn down but most of the debris still covered the  prime area. I decided to give my new probe a test anyway, so I looked for a clear spot near one  of the brick footers. First time down I hit glass. All-righty then. I dug down and pulled out two Pensacola Dairy bottles. Not bad. I dug down a foot or so more and pulled out a  straight sided  Coca-Cola from Hygenia Bottling Works Pensacola. Just the day earlier I was telling Chris I had not yet dug a straight-sided Coke. Cool. The last bottle to come out of the hole was the jewel. It was the notorious Escambia Bottling Works Hutchinson style Pepsi Cola. Jack Pot!

Now that's what I call "Breaking in a probe". Thank you Chris!  When I left on Saturday to go digging I had told my Wife I was due for a find. Ah hell, I tell her that every time I get a chance to dig. But this weekend the bottle god was good to me. Dig on !!! The reason this particular Pepsi is valuable is that it was the only Hutchinson style bottle embossed with the Pepsi Cola icon and was only produced from 1908-1910. All 5 bottles were in great condition. The Pepsi  has a bit of case ware and  inside staining.  

-Boyd