A Strange Sink Hole Opening by a Creek Leads to the Find of a Lifetime from the 1880s

[@harryrainey6212]

I am envious of your bottle digging. I dug a vacant lot in Leesburg, Fl that belonged to a 1880 Lumber Baron. My best finds were several Warner Safe bottles. The late Roy Singer said normally a digger may find one and we dug 8. His prized finds were two pottery jugs that were in perfect condition. Normally these were found broken. The Baron was wealthy, jugs were emptied and discarded. I found a couple pharmacies bottles and presented them to the local historical society. They had photographs of the pharmacies and I donated two bottles for those two photos. You’d thought I handed them 2 bars of gold. I did that dig when in my 30’s, now I am in my 70’s and crippled. Keep doing those videos, love them.

[@karenillingworth4937]

I’m envious of the lovely earth, wish my garden was as good.

[@almightyyt2101]

You know you can buy manure from farmers or topsoil from Home Depot - maybe the channel owner could sell the byproduct of his hobby for some Gs - or go looking for old lost privy holes -

[@almightyyt2101]

Living in the city we had a little patch of dirt for a yard - some friends and I wanted to see how far we could dig but at about waist - ribs level came upon a layer of glass - dont know how far down this went - nothing but broken glass and a few intact bottles, plates and anything made from glass, ceramics, pottery - I never in my life thought it might be a privy hole - I thought the neighborhood might be on top of an old rubbish tip w the only thing surviving decomp being glass - watching this channel gives me an appreciation for history - hope he pulls out an old forgotten Oak Island type treasure one day - heard privy holes were a common hiding place but maybe that secrets been figured out centuries ago

[@I_am_smiling]

thank you for donating to the historical society. I don't dig up antiques lol, I just buy . I plan on donating most of my antiques if not all to historical society in my will.

[@taylormeli]

That’s awesome Harry, I’m local here lived in Eustis area my whole life. Cool story, I love arrowhead hunting and looking for “items” as we call it

[@ColemanRG]

I would like to thank you for the presentation of information, in the frame of your discovery, displayed long enough to read, and then look at the artifact. Your channel should be the gold standard for all the others.

[@HeirOfNothingInParticular]

Agreed!

[@JulesUS8386]

Maybe a fire/trash pit

[@ZERODESTRUCTION]

Yes! Great videos to watch, although your digs are so fruitful that we're all envious!!😅

[@Wonkzzilla]

These pits had the most variety of any other pit I've seen you dig, and with the most intact glassware of any other pit too. Cool to get a glimpse into life in America over 100 years ago!

[@653j521]

Can you hear the yelling and crying when something broke?

[@philipcoston5993]

P]]]p00pppp0pp00p]pppp

[@clambroth1923]

Glimpse is all you really get out of the dig. Don't make the mistake of carting home any of that trash. There isn't a single item of any value in that pile from the trash pit. Fun hobby, but the notion that you're going to find something of value (that isn't broken) is a pervasive myth.

[@SledDog5678]

He literally hit "pay dirt"!

[@BTW...]

Some things haven't changed.

[@PeppieP]

What amazing pits you dug this time - I loved the milk glass bottle but I was so amazed that someone could have thrown down an electric light bulb around 100 plus years ago and it remained intact. Thanks for this amazingly historical haul through our history. x

[@davidaa2521]

I dug for bottles and jars in old dumps when I was a kid, still have a lot of them on my mantle - great hobby and good memories. I'm back home in North Texas now and I can recognize the great treasure in this video is the fertile black soil he's digging in. If my property here had soil like that, I'd be rich now, I'll bet it would grow anything.

[@user-SgHDr217]

First time here. Your channel is better than PBS’s “Antiques Roadshow Show”. Could call it the Apothecary Pit. Such fertile soil, too. Makes for a very happy tree! Fun!! Thanks for sharing!

[@BelowthePlains]

haha wow! thank you! that is so nice! we really appreciate that!!!

[@justwondering1967]

Polk county is situated in the Red River Valley and was once the ancient lake bed of Lake Agassiz which deposited a thick layer or organic material that makes it some of the most fertile soil in the world.

[@user-SgHDr217]

@@justwondering1967 sounds like the Nile of North America, minus (or, maybe thanks to) the privy pit(s), perhaps.

[@beckyszilagyi1697]

Thank you for the Lake bottom comment of fertile soil. Very insightful knowledge

[@justwondering1967]

@@user-SgHDr217 I wouldn’t quite give it Nile status ( I would reserve that for the Mississippi that has its headwaters only about 60 miles East). I will say this, however, it is one of the few rivers that flows north like the Nile.

[@pameladowdell8571]

Boy, you really know so much about these bottles. I wish I knew even a little bit about them, but I'm learning more from you. Thank you. I really love watching you Tom. Again, Thank you.

[@deloradeabel8487]

Seemed like the family that lived here were fairly wealthy by the items you were digging out,great dig guys!

[@MynewTennesseeHome]

If they only knew in a 100 yrs someone would be digging up their privey pit.😊

[@tricitymorte1]

My mom grew up just a couple hours drive away from this site. I would love to go dig up their refuse pit. I'd be willing to bed I would find the French Doors she took down and tossed as a pre-teen. 😆

[@rainbowranddy]

How did it smell in that pit?

[@letsdothis9063]

​@@rainbowranddyit doesn't really stink. Lol At least not from the reasons you would think. Most biological waste has long been taken care of by nature. I used to think about that when people would dig up intact poop chutes in cities like New York. What's funny, is that old guns and knives are a common find in those places. Criminals would just toss the evidence down the hole. Also they find a lot of watches. Just thinking about all of the guys that accidentally tossed their watches cracks me up. 😅 definitely something I would do.

[@aicirtkciub9167]

I raised my kids in a turn of the century farming and fishing village where the tiny downtown core was left mostly intact. I can imagine walking into those stores and seeing these items on shelves.

[@noturcinderella]

"A strange sink hole opening by a creek" is a slightly misleading way of describing the pit from an outhouse! By the time I realized I was watching you dig in poop it was too late. I was hooked. This is my idea of a good friday night though. For real. Thanks for the experience!

[@HistoryStillThrives]

Jackpot Tom! Incredible finds and so many. I dug up that same Watkins bottle 3 days ago. Great work 👍

[@onalos1271]

Incredible! This is what "television" should have been instead of wall to wall commercials with garbage in between.

[@wanttopreach]

you mean lies don't you?!!!!

[@KarenStringer-e9k]

The REAL that should be in “reality” TV instead of just the ITY ( little , tiny ) almost nothing TV

[@NancyYoung-yu9jv]

@@wanttopreach

[@janetbeebe1785]

I absolutely love anything milkglass. You are very knowledgeable about your finds. Happy digging!

[@ravenred201]

I find your channel fascinating. Your knowledge is far and wide. I'm so happy you put the actual historical info in the upper right corner as you go through your finds. It helps us learn too! thanks for doing that! What i find interesting is that from what i gather by living here in the deep south, people that had outhouses never put "trash" in their outhouses. They had another pit/area for all the breakables and they burned all burnables. I was told that all the trash put in an outhouse would contribute to it filling up faster so they didn't do that. I wonder why up north it was done differently? Great channel....fun fun, digging for history.

[@Hamingja6266]

So friggin happy to see a new episode AND it's over 48+ mins long!!!! Thank you! Thank you! Made my week!!!!!!!!😊

[@danielnln]

The detail that you include in this video is appreciated. I thoroughly enjoyed watching.

[@zenithcoinsandhobbies]

24:50 Green pigment at the time was either Paris green or Scheele's green, both toxic. They both contained arsenic and were used in both paints and insecticides. Lead paint is mostly red, yellow, or white.

[@Stacey505]

I wish they made lead paint still especially with the radiation flying around, people have made feraday cage protectors

[@JsgHair71]

Came here to say this. I think that was definitely Scheeles green but it would have to be tested to be sure. I wish Tom would wear a respirator mask sometimes. He's literally digging in poop.

[@zenithcoinsandhobbies]

@@JsgHair71 You're probably right on that. It's cool to dig them, but I'd imagine the chances for getting some pretty serious diseases are higher.

[@SilvaDreams]

​@sumofme1 Lol, you do know radiation has ALWAYS been around us. The sun baths us in it every day, it comes from the ground because it's part of the earth itself. Stop being so paranoid. The only thing a feraday cage blocks is the long wave radiation that we call radiowaves.

[@lambdatempest]

Who knew that Outhouse Archaeology could be so interesting!

[@countermoonman]

Lmao 😂 still lol. Classic. 😎🇺🇸✌️

[@primitivetennesseechicks8740]

I love how long your videos are!! Enjoy every minute

[@missieyoung3643]

My in-laws dug bottles during the 70s&80s Both very recently passed. There are hundreds & hundreds of bottles in their estate. Many were dug in downtown Portland, Oregon during major building. Many early buildings were torn down to make way for new high rise buildings. The amount of collectibles is staggering. Yes the sites of old out houses were always a treasure trove of old bottles. May they both rest in peace.

[@traceytan7171]

Wow ! I happened upon your video. Such a large amount of stuff ! I used to visit the ghost towns out here in Nevada. I found some stuff. But this incredible amount of such perfect items ? So jealous, and impressed. Definitely going to be watching from now on. Excellent find.

[@Looter8TreasureHunter]

Love the milk glass bottles. Amazing finds! That pit was definitely loaded.

[@DianaSwi]

So glad I found you again!!

[@helnbak9372]

I love watching you dig up the past. Just brilliant

[@dannovello1577]

I dont know why, but im captivated by your video's, lol. I grew up, and worked in San Francisco, as a commercial carpenter. Every once in a while i would find old bottles, (dug up by the backhoe), in the old buildings we were retrofitting. One of my prize bottles was a water bottle i found under a stage like flooring. It had a double lable, so the under label is mint, from 1911 I believe. I saved them, but just stuck in a box in the shed now, ha.

[@mikeam3871]

Worked at embarcadero center in SF around the early 70s. So much stuff was turning up they told the equipment operators if they got off their machines to pick up another bottle (or stack of pottery from a rotted crate) they’d be fired. The local university got permission to come in at night and get what they could before it got crushed the next day. Sad. I heard that the area was part of the bay during the gold rush where ships were abandoned and later used as land fill.

[@karenwright8556]

Great dig. Now that the weather is getting better...new digs perhaps? Looking forward to more,this one was a good one,more history of a family, can't get too much more intimate than digging in their old poo. What a way to make a living,hard work,too. It's really interesting and I get excited with you when you dig up something historic!🌈☺️ Keep up the good diggings! Hope you had a lovely weekend wherever you are today.🌷🌷🌷

[@twindiggersminnesotapamandpat]

Tom you found a beautiful assortment of bottles and glassware. Not so many liquor bottles like past videos. With that many children, there must be more privies there. Great video, loved that old tree.👍👏😀

[@GregJensen1]

@Below the Plains - The small glass lid at 3:23 goes to the bottle at 10:25. Thanks for the great vids.

[@jsharp1776]

This is quite the find. Thanks for sharing this adventure with us.😎

[@MarkTreharn]

I admire how you cherish each little artifact.

[@amyfraser6964]

I myself would watch you from picking out the sight all the way through the dig and would love to see the cleaned items what an adventure you bring us on thank you. Oh yes and than you for all the time you spend on putting up more details in the corners of the video. Thanks again

[@modemmama100]

I appreciate the information you show on screen about the products. Love this show!

[@cherylstraub5970]

I am living in NC and am so jealous of the dirt you were digging. We pay good money for dirt like that in small bags.

[@byranjohnson5931]

Just started watching your channel. I really appreciate the extra detail you put in with the manufactures labels, dates, etc. Keep up the good work!

[@bdw9096]

I had a barber and his hobby was to go into abandoned gold and silver minds in Nevada. He would tell me that he would go deep into these minds scared to death by himself and recover incredible things like tonic bottles, whisky bottles, buckets, a colt revolver, a Winchester rifle, a shaving kit, lanterns, maps, canteens. He said he would research an area then go into these mines terrified but it was so exciting he would continue on. Crazy. I don’t think I could do it.

[@jamesrey4275]

Thank you!

[@jennieB1973]

I recently moved to a farm from 1929. I don’t think there was an outhouse here (unless there was a home here prior to the 1929 house and barn) but there was an outdoor cistern. They dug most of the stuff out and filled it in so I’ve been digging in the pile of junk. They also burned/buried a bunch of stuff in the woods behind me. I’ve found some early glass bottles along with iron farm stuff. It’s so fun!!!! I love this channel!!!!! There’s two properties near me that is now MNDNR land and I’m going to go see if I can tell where the houses had been and look for where the old poopers were 😁

[@lucydavis1477]

I love your finds. The flow blue was likely from England; the Brits considered them seconds and sold them to the US.

[@Mistapetey67]

Your enthusiasm toward this pit shows early on. I always love when you pull up bottles from my home town, Lowell, MA. It was a major city in the early industrial age and the products that came from that Merrimack valley MA area. I’m almost positive the house I grew up in was a 100+ year old manager mill duplex with a pit house at one point. I remember doing Renos when I was young in the 90s and taking out the tin ceilings and horse hair slats.

[@kimwaxman9690]

Nice finds! I share your passion, especially for old bottles! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻❤️

[@VintageJunker]

Thrill of the Hunt, Nice research! Nice Time Capsule

[@Stacey505]

Good job, these old bottles are amazing, I grew up in Yankton South Dakota

[@JuannyRum23]

Absolutely love the digging through layers of a lifetime of trash

[@lindaingram2213]

Just a simple thank you !!! I enjoyed your video❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@victorialambert8146]

Thanks for taking this 67 year old lady on a trip back thru history! I’ve found some nice pieces in my lifetime.❤

[@johnnywright5236]

now you stop talking about your love life lol

[@victorialambert8146]

@@johnnywright5236 gotta have one first!😂

[@franceshurt3517]

Hi Tom, great finds but you missed a button at 5:23- 5:27 . I'm always impressed by your knowledge of your finds, I still think it would be a great experiment if someone tried to grow those undigested seeds, cheers!!🥰💗👍👍👍💪

[@taxiridefun]

Yes grow the seeds please! Or send them to us we want to know could be heirloom seeds!

[@Jennifermcintyre]

Interesting how every pit is a picture into who once lived there! Even down to finding unbroken useable items vs all busted pieces. So many intact pieces in this pit makes me think they were financially able to toss usable items and buy new instead of using things until they were destroyed.

[@LaurelLewis-k6t]

When a person would get sick in the home many times their plates etc. were thrown away.

[@Jennifermcintyre]

@@LaurelLewis-k6t interesting! I guess they were dealing with some sicknesses we thankfully haven’t… we live in such a disposable society now… unlike then.. that it must have been really something to push them to that point

[@warrenmink2429]

Killer haul man ! Congratulations

[@BelowthePlains]

Thank you! yeah it was a fun one!

[@ramenoodle7853]

I'm so hooked on these videos. Great work all around bro

[@sarahtalbott4025]

Very enjoyable dig to watch. Thank you

[@BelowthePlains]

Thank you! glad you had a good time!!!

[@rogergadley9965]

You mentioned the wire embedded in and overgrown by the oak tree. I couldn’t actually see the perspective you saw the wire from, but you implied that when the wire was attached the attachment point was much lower. That’s not likely. A tree generally gets bigger around and it grows taller, but it grows taller by adding to the very top only. Each point on a tree stays at the same height throughout its life. If you attach a wire to a tree today, it will be at the same height 100 years from now.

[@johnlogan5152]

No it won’t . I’ve got barbed wire sticking out of a tree 11:11 that’s at least 80 years old. 4 strands sticking out, the lowest wire is 6 feet from the ground.

[@missouri_dave]

@@johnlogan5152 The wire will NOT RISE over time.

[@johnlogan5152]

@@missouri_dave you believe that. I know what I see on our farm.✌🏻

[@missouri_dave]

@@johnlogan5152 Yes. Tree trunks grow outward not upward. When I worked for a surveyor, we used nails in tree trunks for elevation references. Google answer: You will find the nail at the same height. Trees grow by a) adding to the tips of their branches (sometimes sprouting new branches at nodes), and 2) adding to their diameter. (Only a thin layer inside the bark actually grows, forming the annual growth rings.)

[@taleandclawrock2606]

Im sorry, thats not always true. My folks had a temporary phone wire strung a couple metres off the ground across a Eucalypt tree sapling, and by the time the company came back to do the permanent line over a year later, they needed a cherry picker to reach it.

[@terry4O]

Awesome find! We used to dig thru our great grandparents dump from mid 1880's which was on the creek bank 20 yards from the old house.

[@MeagainIA2011]

Look at that rich black earth left by the last ice age that can be found throughout Iowa too. When a little girl, I loved getting between the deep furrows after my dad plowed fallow ground. The smell of the earth, the big fat earthworms, I will never ever forget the rich aroma of fallow ground.

[@Highplainsprospectors]

That is a heckuva good pit that turned out some really cool finds. Good work!

[@stellalush4547]

Dig this... Love it, BIG THANK YOU. ♥️

[@CarrieHackler]

WOW !! Absolutely Awesome. Thank you so much for all the Historical Info on all of these Wonderful items ❤❤

[@randybutler4772]

Very interesting finds. Thank you for sharing.

[@kathycameron7625]

You never disappoint me with your digs! My son in love and my Grandson dig at friends old farm sights when they can! I did that same thing as a kid at my Grandparents farm.

[@TheJazzy254]

A fairly new subscriber here, I love watching your digs! If I was younger I would love to do this! I live in old farm country and behind my land is an old farm dump that used to be part of my property. If only I had the stregth.

[@BluegrassBottleDigger]

I can smell the dirt when I watch your videos😂 I go through plenty of laundry detergent myself from all of my digs. Just found a nice pit of my own today at an old farm that predates 1909. Working the area of one of the barns. Pulling out tons of veterinarian med bottles. Some still have the vial cap attached with dry rotted rubber stopper inside.

[@conniepritchardreinhardt9978]

I have watched you tube channel for so long. You have really gotten good at identifying things as you dig. Great job young man.

[@PraiseGod428]

I really enjoyed this! I used to live in an old house in Atlanta , Georgia and found a spot like you’re digging from while looking for roots. Such fun! I found a lot of old coke bottles which I put in the basement, this was in the 70’s, and when I sold the house I forgot about them and left them. I still have some of the old medicine and lotion bottles.

[@AuntieIsDabbling]

I’d love to smell the perfume originally in the Laird New York milk glass bottle. Love your videos! So do my folks!! You don’t need a gym, this is a workout!!❤

[@anthonybasile5035]

Thanks for the videos. I could watch this for hours. History is something that everyone should learn 😊❤

[@Beanieweenieable]

Oh my good golly that earth is black and so wonderful! I know its compost too but still very rich soil!

[@noradaniels8802]

I was noticing the same thing. Looks like very rich soil.

[@melindawargowsky8176]

Me 3. I have greenhouses and garden. It looked amazing.

[@kerrycabrera9218]

Same! Looking at that soil thinking...man that's some good dirt.

[@sharrontaylor4744]

Wonder where he is digging, thinking the same as dirt is black. Some good finds there !!!

[@very5ick112]

pure poops

[@phatnana4665]

I truly enjoy watching your videos. My father was an antique dealer specializing in glassware so it is always very fascinating to me to see what you pull up out of the ground. I have a question though, how did you know to dig on your property

[@bernadettecrawford3656]

Thanks for sharing your interesting work best wishes from Australia

[@Lisa_Isom]

OMgosh, what a find!! I'm a little jealous, actually 😂

[@brainbomb9482]

In 100 years, someone is gonna be super stoked to find all our used yogurt containers.

[@KenFullman]

As per usual, no animal bones, discarded clothing or wooden artifacts. Just glass and pottery. Because glass and china was the only stuff that people threw away back in the 1800s. Such strange behaviour. 🤔

[@deniselanders2585]

😂

[@bwilliams463]

And they won't have to dig DOWN for it, either. They'll have to climb the majestic landfills that we leave for posterity.

[@Openhearted2024]

Loved seeing your channel come up on my feed. Haven’t seen you in a while. Still wearing light coloured pants to dig in the dirt I see. They looked spotless when you started. What is your laundry detergent secret? I learned how to write cursive with a nib pen and ink bottle for one year at 8 I think. The next year we had pens with ink cartridges. Made us slow down to practice our penmanship. Thank you for a fascinating dig and your wealth of knowledge.

[@curiousgeorge8438]

I found a Mrs. Winslow soothing syrup bottle, a blue bromo seltzer bottle and a clay ink flask from England when I was working construction at the beach one time. Awesome find that day

[@siredward2146]

Love the research you did, I looked for bottles in the old plantations in Hawaii. Found things from all over the world. Now I’m 72 years old and don’t hunt any more. So I’ll join you on yours TY

[@mrsman2006]

Is anyone else screaming there's a bottle right there??? I love this how he explains what they are

[@fireflyidaho1]

I love the household pits the best! So much variety. Thanks for a great, great dig and video!!

[@karynbrown7519]

What an awesome dig. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing!

[@Moxieman]

Seeds galore ..wow

[@mr.mcewan9261]

Very nice video with great narration and precise descriptions. One thing about the wires in the tree. They are where they were on the day they were wrapped around the tree. Trees grow outward and upward by adding cells but have very little, if any, upward movement.

[@xXairanskyeXx]

I am 3/4 Cherokee and I live in Arkansas along the Trail of Tears. A large encampment was in Wing, Arkansas. We saw items in the banks of a creek and explored. If you ever get the opportunity to dig, it is easy see the lesser footprint they left.

[@louisaziz1235]

What an interesting channel. So many amazing finds. The blue "tea kettle" was actually called a " boiler" as it was always kept full of water on the old stove. My grandmother had one that she used up to the early fifties. I remember her making "cowboy coffee" for my grandfather. My aunt finally bought her a percolator and had to teach her how to use it. Lots of good memories.

[@susanbrown7898]

I enjoyed watching. See ya next time😊

[@georgegouvas27]

very knowledgeable guy,

[@christinalogan311]

How absolutely fabulous. 🇬🇧

[@ValerieDee123]

Love the "Heirloom" seeds!

[@KarenEdwards158]

So beautiful cleaned up,I love it, me and my x dabbled some in digging for hobby in the end I loved the bottles it is addictive there are so.e beauties out there.

[@janetsavage5496]

My parents bought an old farm, 150+ years old...in Windham, Maine. Original deed late 1600s, early 1700s. Every farm had its own dump. We stumbled upon ours by accident. Great stuff, some intact.

[@jerrysadventures8952]

very enjoyble video this week

[@kimmathis694]

This was my first time watching a video like this and I loved it! So interesting seeing what you dig up

[@fyrekrystaal27]

Watkins is still going. I used to live within 5 to 6 blocks away from the Watkins factory and offices in Winona MN

[@heatherarthur6232]

That’s an amazing pit.

[@bgierat]

Another great dig! Love it!

[@lisacox8109]

This is some really neat stuff

[@deborah2063]

You do an excellent job describing the items. I'd give about anything if I could go with someone like you. I don't have the strength to dig my own hole. However, this older lady sure could sit with my trowel and unearth items!

[@joannachampagne3836]

You struck GOLD with that pit!! Every diggers DREAM!!! Let me know when ur taking tourists to join you!!!!

[@michaelhargis7036]

He found a "cream-ola" in the "crap-ola" which is down right exciting.

[@19bishop56]

I can’t believe the treasures you found! Your heart must have been racing, but your voice is so calm, lol. I use the small bottles as a vase to put miniature flowers in.

[@andrewowens9382]

Hi tom and jake another fantastic bottle pits 😊it's amazing when you see these different types of bottles and you realise how the evolution of bottled manufacturing change 😀 i surpose it's the history of the bottles 😊 happy Easter 🐣 tom and jake and your families 👪 Andrew south wales uk 👌 👍 👏 😀 🇬🇧

[@geoffwalters6055]

I enjoyed this. Thanks.

[@Micismine_]

Beautiful finds.

[@EasyBaker13]

If you ever find anything from The Berdan and Co Toledo Ohio id be interested in it as my grandma was a Berdan. Great finds here!