Thread: Been a while.

Pretty interesting Frank. How do you age the pieces?

In general, the smoother and more rounded the piece is, the older it is, but that isn't always the case because it depends on what sort of bottom the lake has. Those with a lot of gravel and rocks will wear the glass quicker than lakes with a marl or soft bottom. The real thick glass is usually older because these days most bottles are much thinner than they used to be. Also, some of the pieces still have marks on them that help identify what they are. The marble I found for example was a bottle stopper from a Cobb bottle and they only existed in the late 1800s through the earlier 1900s, so we know it is about 100 years old. I found a large piece of green glass that I was able to identify through a couple marks on the bottom which told me it was 1 of 5 particular manufacturers and was from 1967.One piece of brown my wife found on the shore of Lake Huron had the letters FED on it. Through a bit of research I learned was part of the stamp, “FEDERAL LAW FORBIDS SALE OR REUSE OF THIS BOTTLE” , and was placed on alcoholic bottles from 1935 - 1964, so we know that is from a bottle at least 52 years old.The last time I was down to Wixom Lake fishing I found a few nice pieces of very thick, dark green. I have always been into history so this is right up my alley. We sure do enjoy the search and trying to figure out what we may have actually found. Of course a lot of it is simply guess work, but as you can see, some of it is a bit more specific.Some times you just never know. Just last week I found a prehistoric tooth in great condition, just lying there on the shore waiting for me to come along and find it.
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Pretty interesting Frank!

Awesome. I found a piece of green glass on Onslow beach when I was stationed at Camp Lejeune. I carry it in my truck to this day. I used to go to the beach and collect sharks teeth. At one time I had enough to fill a coffee can.

It sure has been fun. I never thought I would find something I like doing almost as much as crappie fishing. I guess the big plus of beach glass picking is that my wife likes to do it, and she doesn't like to fish, and, believe it or not, I actually like to spend time with her. Hahahahahah. We only started picking beach glass this July and from what I have been reading, we've done quite well. So far we have found just over 1000 pieces, with some being quite rare. Just the other day my wife found another complete bottle. After a bit of research I was able to determine that it was made by the Owens-Illinois Glass company in 1964. What was really cool about it is that we picked the same section of lake shore just two days prior and the bottle wasn't there, so it had just was up. Pretty amazing to think that after 52 years it makes it's way to the lake shore in perfect condition, not a chip on it. That same day, on that shoreline, we picked 157 pieces of glass as well with one of them being the rare cobalt blue. Now I guess I have enough to start a few projects with it.

As a kid, I always liked combing through old farmstead dump sites. Found tons of really cool and rare complete bottles.

I have a dumpsite at my farm and also one at the neighbors. Tons of complete cobalt bottles. Finally got a full intact 1 gallon crock jug. Even holds water. Found tons of pieces. Also finally got a complete 1 gallon moonshine jug. Found tons of partials of those too. I got some old milk jugs, whisky jugs, and several other interesting pieces.

Funny the things we find to be interesting. I have a new site I found last week while cutting in a new farm trail for the neighbor. Can't wait to investigate that one

I worked with a guy who used to make some money finding old canning jars in those farm dumps. He had some knd of cleaner he soaked them in. Very interesting.

With Slapsrus artistic talent, it seems like a glass mosaic would be a project for the long Michigan Winter.