Our house was the original farm house for this entire hill; it was built in the 1930’s. Now, we just own the surrounding 1.5 acres. In our landscaping excavations and rooting around on top of foundations etc., we have run across some interesting stuff.
Well, tonight was one more! We were taking little’un for a walk around ‘the perimeter’ in his wagon, and I saw something small and round on the ground. At first we were going to dismiss it as a slug from an electrical box, but it didn’t look quite like that to me.
I picked it up and cleaned it off a bit, and it turned out to be a Missouri Sales Tax Receipt. Apparently they were issued during the Great Depression, because sales tax was usually a fraction of a cent.
Totally excited about this! I just love when little things like this pop up. Amazing to think that it has floated around the yard for more than 80 years…Thought I’d share
Very cool, I own an old house too. In my garden I unearthed an old spoon, now flattened. But my neighbour was digging a new garden and found a very old bottle dump. It was very cool.
I wish we could! This place was a rental for many years before my wife found it in 2001. Two of the tenants ruined our chances of successful metal detecting…one ‘worked’ on cars…we have found everything from springs to transmissions buried. Another had dogs, and would just cut the top off of a can of food and throw it into the yard.
So, while I’m sure there is good stuff out there, you’ll find alot of junk along with it.
Elbows, where is your place?
Favorite find to date: We were disposing of an old brick oven in the back yard by throwing it down the old disused cistern (sounds fun, huh?). In the base/foundation, there were a ton of glass shards. Found 5 fully intact glass bottles, ranging from 2.5" to 4". I have identified a couple for sure, one is an aspirin bottle and the other contained chili powder.
Old bottles are collectibles. I went out with a hippie who looked for old bottles various places in the woods, and some of them were valuable. There were collectors shows we went to.
I am really hearing you - great timing on your OP! I just bought 60 acres, with a drop-log cabin on it. The cabin was originally built in 1863 as a general store, then expanded 30 years later into a home.
We moved in 6 days ago and have been discovering cool little things here and there! So cool, isn’t it I can’t stop grinning!
Our house isn’t that old (50s era), but before it was built the land across the street was the city landfill. We find interesting things in the backyard fairly often. Old silverware, glass, metal, etc.
New England, here. I resisted doing that because my own house is only ca. 1930, but the oldest inhabited house in town is about 1742 and there is a piece of one from 1680 or so that was built by the son-lin-law of one of the Pilgrims.
Old houses are very cool. At my last home elsewhere in town I dug up the bowl of an 18th century clay pipe and other treasures. I’ve found neat stuff inside the present house, too, in odd nooks in the cellar and in the attic.
Just finding an old newspaper stuffed in a wall or pages of a magazine if it hasn’t fallen apart, even from the 30’s, 40’s or 50’s, is an interesting find. (I speak as one who gets excited over wadded up newspapers stuffed in a package that comes in the mail.)… It must be even more interesting to live in the country in England, where you might find an old Roman mosaic underneath the crops in one of your fields.
even after county government (USA) landfills, many are closed now, were created they were far away for many. rural town roads could have been paved as recent as half a century ago. a special or side trip to the landfill wasn’t worth it.
health and zoning laws may not have applied until the township accepted them, which could be recent.
it was easier for many to dig a hole and fill it with garbage. glass or ceramic might last even if the pile or pit was burned. old farm implements and auto parts could have rusted and been overgrown in place.
I lived along the Saint Lawrence in Kingston, Ontario in an old house on a very old property. We used to regularly find hand made nails and old bottles. Lots of bones and one time I found a pair of ladies button up boots like this http://www.1860-1960.com/xb951p0.html . Some of the bottles still had liquid in them.
My house is just over a hundred years old. In the basement, three years ago, a drain backed up and I had to call a plumber. He tried to pull up the grated drain plug but it defeated his best efforts, so I consented to let him break it with a sledge hammer. It appeared to be cast iron, or something similar. The plumber said he’d never seen one like that, iron, and so old. It could very well have been original to the house. He asked permission to take the pieces back to the shop with him, to show the other plumbers in his company, and I said sure, since he replaced the drain grate with a newer type for free.
I’d actually think that metal detecting would be a good thing, even if you don’t find anything good… finding and removing that old debris will make the property a lot healthier. Heaven knows what leaky batteries and sharp metal cans are just waiting to endanger people :(.
I can’t stop grinning!