Post your Garage Sale/Flea Market/Antique Mall Finds Here 59 59

[Aweandlorder]

So you guys are pretty much a bunch of hoarders

[revat]

totally off topic, but i have just discovered that there is a market for empty liquor bottles. this boggles my mind. my wife was going to throw something out that she had emptied that apparently sells for $20-$25. the booze itself was like $35 when we bought it. it is some sort of limited edition bottle.

 

As the owner of a distillery, I am always watching for antique whisky bottles.

 

this isn't an antique! This was bought at the liquor store last year! i have two bottles of absolute brooklyn limited edition (they still have vodka in them though), apparently, when empty, those sell for good money. people turn stuff into lamps and stuff i guess. i have no idea. my wife just polished off some really good scotch i bought her..small batch, $100 a bottle (Aberlour abunadh), and apparently the empties sell for like $10. it is a pretty bottle, sure.

 

I know, shipping this will be a PITA, but I'll survive

 

Check out the prices for empty Crystal Head Vodka bottles. I used to work at a casino that carried this stuff and I would always check out the trash cans filled with empty liquor bottles to see if any were thrown out, but never found any.

 

One of my hobbies is metal detecting and I try to get out as much as I can between spring and fall, before the white stuff starts flying anyway. Back in May, I got a solid signal for what sounded like a metal signature of "copper/brass." It was in the forest, and the thought of an old token or coin began running through my mind. After a bit of digging, I began to see a bottle. My first impression when I saw it was it was one of those modern plastic bottles they use to stock mini-bars at hotels, so I tucked into one of the pouches I use to collect trash not realizing that the bottle was my target. When I noticed there was nothing else in the hole I had dug, I went back to look at the bottle and noticed the top on it was what set my detector off.

 

It turned out to be a circa 1910 E W Hoyt perfume bottle. It has raised letters on the glass that read: E.W.Hoyt & Co. Perfumers Lowell Mass. USA. The incredible thing is that it has it's original two-piece cap - brass topper, with cork bottom. The top has a hollow pin that pokes through a hole drilled through the center of the cork, and I'm assuming at one time when this contained perfume, that pin was used to collect fluid and dab it. When I began researching it, I noticed almost none of the examples I found online had its original cap - usually they are sold with replacement cork cap or with no cap at all. I can't remember if I had posted it in one of the forums I frequent where finds are shared with community members, but I almost immediately recieved several offers by email. I couldn't believe people paid this kind of money for such items, but apparently there are collectors for it.

 

That is pretty fricken cool !

 

I used to do the metal detecting thing. Keep EVERYTHING until you get the chance to look through it all carefully. Its gotta be easier now I suppose with smartphones and internet access, but still. The funnest part is finding the 1 or 2 treasures in 300 pieces of junk. Like going through comic longboxes at a garage sale.

 

It's funny you mention about keeping everything. You know a hobby gets out of hand when you buy a vehicle just for it. Anyhow, if you look at the back of my trunk, you'll see how quickly and easily the idea of keeping everything gets out of hand.

 

One last story that goes right to your point about checking everything carefully - late October, I was working a really old forested area. It was tough terrain because of the amount of over growth. I found an old foundation site in a very unusual area - it was literally at the bottom of a dense forested valley. I'm not sure how anyone lived there, but the foundation site looked to date from the late 18th to early 19th Century just by the appearance of the stone work.

 

I get a solid signal for copper. I dig it up and it looked like a worn out penny with the dirt still around it. So I threw it in my find pouch. When I got home, the dirt had dried and could be blown of with compressed air. In hand appeared a flat button with it's shank still intact, marked with very fancy type "Treble Gilt Standard." Anyhow, it may not seem as that big a deal of a find and it probably isn't if you compare it to a find from the Colonial period or earlier, but this button dates to around 1810, which is roughly 50 years before people first settled in the area where it was found. To me the hard value pales in comparison to how historically cool it is and the stories such finds tell.

 

 

So you guys are pretty much a bunch of hoarders

 

Actually the one thing my dad made sure I knew was that while its important to look carefully at everything before dismissing or discarding, its equally important to check things out in a timely manner and discard trash IMMEDIATELY. Because most of what you find is actually just TRASH.

[MetalPSI]

So you guys are pretty much a bunch of hoarders

 

Hey look, it's Captain Obvious

[comicwiz]

totally off topic, but i have just discovered that there is a market for empty liquor bottles. this boggles my mind. my wife was going to throw something out that she had emptied that apparently sells for $20-$25. the booze itself was like $35 when we bought it. it is some sort of limited edition bottle.

 

As the owner of a distillery, I am always watching for antique whisky bottles.

 

this isn't an antique! This was bought at the liquor store last year! i have two bottles of absolute brooklyn limited edition (they still have vodka in them though), apparently, when empty, those sell for good money. people turn stuff into lamps and stuff i guess. i have no idea. my wife just polished off some really good scotch i bought her..small batch, $100 a bottle (Aberlour abunadh), and apparently the empties sell for like $10. it is a pretty bottle, sure.

 

I know, shipping this will be a PITA, but I'll survive

 

Check out the prices for empty Crystal Head Vodka bottles. I used to work at a casino that carried this stuff and I would always check out the trash cans filled with empty liquor bottles to see if any were thrown out, but never found any.

 

One of my hobbies is metal detecting and I try to get out as much as I can between spring and fall, before the white stuff starts flying anyway. Back in May, I got a solid signal for what sounded like a metal signature of "copper/brass." It was in the forest, and the thought of an old token or coin began running through my mind. After a bit of digging, I began to see a bottle. My first impression when I saw it was it was one of those modern plastic bottles they use to stock mini-bars at hotels, so I tucked into one of the pouches I use to collect trash not realizing that the bottle was my target. When I noticed there was nothing else in the hole I had dug, I went back to look at the bottle and noticed the top on it was what set my detector off.

 

It turned out to be a circa 1910 E W Hoyt perfume bottle. It has raised letters on the glass that read: E.W.Hoyt & Co. Perfumers Lowell Mass. USA. The incredible thing is that it has it's original two-piece cap - brass topper, with cork bottom. The top has a hollow pin that pokes through a hole drilled through the center of the cork, and I'm assuming at one time when this contained perfume, that pin was used to collect fluid and dab it. When I began researching it, I noticed almost none of the examples I found online had its original cap - usually they are sold with replacement cork cap or with no cap at all. I can't remember if I had posted it in one of the forums I frequent where finds are shared with community members, but I almost immediately recieved several offers by email. I couldn't believe people paid this kind of money for such items, but apparently there are collectors for it.

 

That is pretty fricken cool !

 

I used to do the metal detecting thing. Keep EVERYTHING until you get the chance to look through it all carefully. Its gotta be easier now I suppose with smartphones and internet access, but still. The funnest part is finding the 1 or 2 treasures in 300 pieces of junk. Like going through comic longboxes at a garage sale.

 

It's funny you mention about keeping everything. You know a hobby gets out of hand when you buy a vehicle just for it. Anyhow, if you look at the back of my trunk, you'll see how quickly and easily the idea of keeping everything gets out of hand.

 

One last story that goes right to your point about checking everything carefully - late October, I was working a really old forested area. It was tough terrain because of the amount of over growth. I found an old foundation site in a very unusual area - it was literally at the bottom of a dense forested valley. I'm not sure how anyone lived there, but the foundation site looked to date from the late 18th to early 19th Century just by the appearance of the stone work.

 

I get a solid signal for copper. I dig it up and it looked like a worn out penny with the dirt still around it. So I threw it in my find pouch. When I got home, the dirt had dried and could be blown of with compressed air. In hand appeared a flat button with it's shank still intact, marked with very fancy type "Treble Gilt Standard." Anyhow, it may not seem as that big a deal of a find and it probably isn't if you compare it to a find from the Colonial period or earlier, but this button dates to around 1810, which is roughly 50 years before people first settled in the area where it was found. To me the hard value pales in comparison to how historically cool it is and the stories such finds tell.

 

 

So you guys are pretty much a bunch of hoarders

 

Actually the one thing my dad made sure I knew was that while its important to look carefully at everything before dismissing or discarding, its equally important to check things out in a timely manner and discard trash IMMEDIATELY. Because most of what you find is actually just TRASH.

 

True enough. I usually seperate all the metals at the end of the year and take it over to the metal recyclers. Last year I think I managed a couple of hundred and it went straight into buying more equipment and/or paying for gas.

[Buzzetta]

This is something I'd enjoy doing, but with two rug rats, an ebay empire i need to build, a 60 hour a week job, and endless assignments from my wife, I don't know where the time would come from. The public dirt around NYC is incredibly well picked over, I'd have to venture to interesting areas. There is action in former sh*t shack shafts, but those are buried under lord knows what. Apparently a lot of interesting stuff could fall down them or be hidden aside from what was intended (they were called a "privy"):

 

http://www.glswrk-auction.com/006.htm

 

After riding the subway I have come to the conclusion there is nothing worth digging around for.

[underthebigw]

This is something I'd enjoy doing, but with two rug rats, an ebay empire i need to build, a 60 hour a week job, and endless assignments from my wife, I don't know where the time would come from. The public dirt around NYC is incredibly well picked over, I'd have to venture to interesting areas. There is action in former sh*t shack shafts, but those are buried under lord knows what. Apparently a lot of interesting stuff could fall down them or be hidden aside from what was intended (they were called a "privy"):

 

http://www.glswrk-auction.com/006.htm

 

After riding the subway I have come to the conclusion there is nothing worth digging around for.

 

Go diving off what's left of the piers.

 

Seriously, bottle collectors especially, often learn to dive so they can hit every lake, pond or river where garbage was dumped. If I had to guess, it's probably the biggest single source of antique bottler.

[Gatchaman]

I found one of these this summer at a yard sale.

 

[iggy]

[the blob]

This is something I'd enjoy doing, but with two rug rats, an ebay empire i need to build, a 60 hour a week job, and endless assignments from my wife, I don't know where the time would come from. The public dirt around NYC is incredibly well picked over, I'd have to venture to interesting areas. There is action in former sh*t shack shafts, but those are buried under lord knows what. Apparently a lot of interesting stuff could fall down them or be hidden aside from what was intended (they were called a "privy"):

 

http://www.glswrk-auction.com/006.htm

 

After riding the subway I have come to the conclusion there is nothing worth digging around for.

 

Go diving off what's left of the piers.

 

Seriously, bottle collectors especially, often learn to dive so they can hit every lake, pond or river where garbage was dumped. If I had to guess, it's probably the biggest single source of antique bottler.

 

That is a great way to die. The undertow is bad around here and the water is dark and muddy from lord knows what. The water isn't nearly as polluted as it once was though, which is a plus.

 

I found the privy article interesting...I understand people tossing their old bottles down the sh*t shaft, but shouldn't they be broken?

[W16227]

coming soon.....

 

 

[Real Elijah Snow]

This is the only good thread left in CG. I didn't have any interest in this bottle/metal stuff before reading the last few pages, but now I want more

[Shadow Images]

This is the only good thread left in CG. I didn't have any interest in this bottle/metal stuff before reading the last few pages, but now I want more

 

 

Thats because you have the collectors disease bad.

[underthebigw]

 

That is a great way to die. The undertow is bad around here and the water is dark and muddy from lord knows what. The water isn't nearly as polluted as it once was though, which is a plus.

 

 

That is true. People often forget how treacherous the waters surrounding Manhattan and the ports are. Lot's of horror and shipwrect stories. Makes the building of all the bridges 50-150 yrs ago even more impressive.

Edited December 9, 2016 by underthebigw

[Moondog]

I found one of these this summer at a yard sale.

 

 

Any value to these due to the Star Trek connection? I have an unopened one.

 

Yes, it's full!

Edited December 9, 2016 by Moondog

[MK Ultra]

I found one of these this summer at a yard sale.

 

 

Any value to these due to the Star Trek connection? I have an unopened one.

 

Yes, it's full!

 

Sorry to hear it's still full.

[Buzzetta]

 

That is a great way to die. The undertow is bad around here and the water is dark and muddy from lord knows what. The water isn't nearly as polluted as it once was though, which is a plus.

 

 

That is true. People often forget how treacherous the waters surrounding Manhattan and the ports are. Lot's of horror and shipwrect stories. Makes the building of all the bridges 50-150 yrs ago even more impressive.

 

The waters around this area are still pretty gross. There is still a slick, greasy feel to the water.

[Aweandlorder]

 

That is a great way to die. The undertow is bad around here and the water is dark and muddy from lord knows what. The water isn't nearly as polluted as it once was though, which is a plus.

 

 

That is true. People often forget how treacherous the waters surrounding Manhattan and the ports are. Lot's of horror and shipwrect stories. Makes the building of all the bridges 50-150 yrs ago even more impressive.

 

The waters around this area are still pretty gross. There is still a slick, greasy feel to the water.

 

[the blob]

I got a bid on the first bottle I put up (for $15.99!). I don't have a bid on any of the 40 or so comic auctions I'm running right now. And, unlike the bottle, none of the comics I'm selling were salvaged out of recycling.

[Junkdrawer]

My favorite bottle I own. Amazingly it still has its original label. You just don't dig the up in this condition and they ain't at the bottom of the Hudson.

[comicwiz]

Sweet bottle Junk!

 

I do ok with the time I've put into metal detecting. And I bring this up because water hunting can be very productive. Of course, it matters you avoid places that are chemical cesspools, but places people have used for swimming for hundreds of years that are still safe to swim should not be overlooked.

 

Anyhow, for those inclined to see how people get it on with working rivers and streams, you should check out Aquachigger. I tend to be more selective with my sites, but I'm just going to make it clear that seeing what this guy does is not as easy as he makes it look. He's a real pro, and he has found some incredible stuff. I believe his best find was a hoard of silver coins. Just browse the video thumbnails and choose something that catches your eye. I know there's a few bottle finds in the mix. He's extremely resourceful too, and even though the approach I use is very different, I have refined some of my methods just observing how he does his thing.