It’s not only us that live in a ‘throw-away’ society. This is something that has been happening for hundreds of years.
The Victorian’s were particularly good at this, filling old quarries & abandoned spaces with anything from food waste to unwanted furniture & daily waste. A vast wealth of social history still lies undiscovered in these places and even at the backs of some people’s gardens. There is a fascinating side to this rubbish... old bottles & pot lids!
The 1970’s saw a massive interest in this genre of collecting, with people digging into the depths of these old rubbish dumps, unearthing a wealth of history. Most towns and villages had their own brewers of beer, mineral waters & ginger beer, makers of meat pastes, dairy products, cold creams, tooth paste & assorted chemists potions. All of these products were sold either in glass or stoneware containers & bottles. Once used, people just threw them away into rubbish dumps, hedgerows or ponds to be forgotten for a hundred years or more.
A large number of manufacturers produced bottles & pot lids in their thousands, so many are quite common, but there are also new and unheard of brewers and manufacturers being unearthed on a yearly basis. However, some of them were so short lived, it is hard to research them, but that is where the fun begins! As the towns and surrounding areas are being redeveloped at a quickening pace, old rubbish dumps, from cottage garden tips to community dumps are unearthed & destroyed in hours, as time is money, meaning that this vast wealth of history is lost forever. It is really now only the digger drivers & site workers that have an opportunity to save these wonderful objects, whether it be the bottles or other items of interest like clay pipes, buttons, horse brasses & other ‘daily life’ historical things!
There are many people (who’s parents collected in the early days) that still have collections that have been relegated to attics or the garden shed, unloved & unwanted. I’d be keen to see what is still around! If you have any West Sussex, or indeed any bottles, pot lids or flagons, I’d love to hear from you. Likewise, if you know of any areas that contain old tips, I’d be equally keen to know. I’ve been passionate about this genre of collecting for over 40 years. To me, it isn’t trash, it really is treasure!
Henry, Henry's Antique Bottles
