Featured Nothing quite like 150+/- year old glass in a sunny window.

Just a few quick pics I took for fun. Been collecting bottles for 40 years (used to dig them up here in MA as a kid/teen) with my older brother.
Here are a few examples of my display.
I used to have some gorgeous historical flasks and colorful umbrella inks but I needed some money years ago and sold them .
Most of the current collection are somewhat common examples but the colors and whittled glass are gorgeous.

 

Beautiful! I never knew you collect glass bottles.

 

Yes Fig, they were the first thing I seriously collected from a young age. We lived in a great area for digging them up, lots of old homesteads with privies and dumps. It was always a treasure hunt.

 

Nice! I likey!

 

Thank you Mansons.

 

I still grab them if I see one at an antique store for a decent price or happen to find one in a thrift store. Just last week I found a gorgeous citron color demijohn at a TS for $2. That's still waiting to be cleaned.

 

I love the look of bottles in a window! I like old bottles too but the darn things get all dusty and then they don't look as nice sitting in a window.

 

Very true SIS, it's a labor of love.

 

Very attractive. Thanks for sharing. I love the fall view in the background, too!

 

Hi,
Really nice. I collected bottles until the First Divorce. Started years ago when I was a kid. During the proceedings I asked the lady if I could pick up my collection. She said sweetly" I'll send them to you including your Grandmother's antique Christmas ornaments". I thanked her and two weeks later I got a large box full of smashed bottles and ornaments. Hell have no fury like a Sicilian American Princess.
greg

 

two weeks later I got a large box full of smashed bottles and ornaments

!!!

Wow... just wow...

 

Thank you Lucille and Greg.
Damn Greg, I think my heart just broke a little. That's terrible.

 

Any tips or hints on how to clean "dug" bottles?

 

Hi Rayo,
I used to soak mine for a week in ammonia and water, then a few days in vinegar.
Then I would decide what else needed done. I used to use old BBs or dry rice and shake like crazy to really get them clean clean. Some which were too cloudy I used to pour in heavy mineral oil and then turn them upside down to drain. Then cork them. It really hid a lot of flaws.
greg

 

Hi Rayo. It really depends on what the residue or stain is. If it's just dirt that's caked on then I soak them in a solution of dishwasher detergent and water then wash clean. Stubborn residue can sometimes be swished away with rice and a bit of water, denture tablets can help too, just break them up and put into the bottle, add water and let sit, then rinse.
I will sometimes take a straightened coat hanger with a small scraper pad to get into the corners but only if I'm VERY careful of the neck and lip.
If the glass is 'sick' from being in the ground then nothing I have ever tried will get it out. It's a chemical reaction to the glass from the soil and permanent, unless you get it tumbled, which I've never had done.
There are lots of tried and true methods out there, some will work and some won't, depending on the stain.

 

Over the weekend, I went to an antiques mall with my daughter. One booth had a TON of bottles - some of them really cool, and some even marked "recently dug".

The problem, for me, at least, is that none of them had been cleaned - at all! There were not only leaves and sticks, but live bugs & worms crawling around in some of them! I backed away, rather quickly.

 

I'm sorry I missed it.

 

What a beautiful display

 

Very nice and displayed well too!

 

Love it!!!!!!