http://bubbajunk-asmalltownboy.blogspot.com/2010/06/plum-orchard-carriage-house.html
Back then, The National Park Foundation had been recently established by Congress for the purpose of purchasing "collecting" property on Cumberland Island for a possible future of a national seashore under the jurisdiction of the NPS. The well established non-for-profit Andrew W. Mellon Foundation contributed to the NPF roughly $5.5 million to purchase Fraser's two tracts towards the possible seashore. My Uncle Joe had caught wind of that fact and retained permission from Charles Fraser for my family to visit and camp on his southern tract.
Being the avid antique bottle hunters that they are, my family while camping descended upon the old Dungeness household dump site. Below are a few photos of some of the antique bottles dug from the old household pit.
Torpedo Bottles
The bottles above are known as torpedo bottles. The molded bottles were designed with rounded bases to ensure that they rested on their side so the wired down cork in the blob would not dry out. The torpedo bottles were used for ginger ale, soda, and mineral waters.
The majority of the bottles that are dug or found in this country date from the 1870's to the 1910's and were imported from the United Kingdom. The most common type were ginger ale bottles.
The company that dominated the market in the late 1800s was the firm Cochrane and Cantrell.
The bottles above are worth very little.
If your fortunate, $10.00 a pop.
Tinted aqua or green torpedo bottles with no embossing are very common. Torpedo bottles that are colored amber, emerald green, or cobalt blue are worth more.
Ceramic Jam Crocks
The crocks have the same inscription stamped on the bottom. Only one has a label applied before glazing that is decorated with acorns and leaves bearing the inscriptions: GRAND MEDAL OF MERIT VIENNA 1873 - JAMES KEILLER & SONS - DUNDEE MARMALADE - ONLY PRIZE MEDAL FOR MARMALADE LONDON, 1862 - Great Britain.
It is great that the torpedo bottles and crocks have survived for over a hundred years. We will donate the many torpedo bottles and ceramic crocks to the CUIS.
