All Quiet On the Western Front

I sure haven't received any digging reports lately so I thought I might as well go out and try to make some news myself.

Even though up here in the mountains we received over 50 inches of rain this season the ground up this way is about the consistency of concrete. Probing concrete like soil, as you know, is not a lot of fun and when you finally realize its fruitless and decide to haul out the pounder - things can go from optimistic to dismal, depending how much smoke you have in your shorts

Back in the day when I was a bit younger (and had some smoke in my shorts) the pounder was my friend. I am not saying we were good buddies but with a little hard work the pounder and I found some decent privy's and a few bottles that were keepers.

 Up this way a lot of the privy's have the tops of the holes filled with boulders and it took a pounder or some fancy probing to tell the difference between the natural ground and a man made filled hole.

 

 Boy, after dragging it from the truck to the site the other day, it seemed to be heavier than it was the last time I used it. As a matter of fact after dragging it on site I wasn't sure if I even wanted to use it. After a couple six or seven slams I was on my way back to the truck with the pounder in tow.

Deep blue umbrella dug in Nevada

As hard as it is to find bottles to fit in my collection at the western bottle shows, in my opinion, it is a lot easier than pounding my brains out on ground the consistency of hard pan.

 

On to another subject: Did you get to read the latest issue of the Federations Bottles and Extras magazine. I was  looking forward to reading the article on the Twiaba bottle. After a very enjoyable and informative read I was very impressed by the amount of research Eric McGuire did to put together this account of the marketing of Twiaba.

And how about the larger than life Ben Fitch that was behind the Twiaba product. Fitch was a true man of the west. A 49er, bartender, Sheriff of Elko Nevada, contractor, a builder of landmark western buildings and lord knows what else.

If you enjoy western history don't miss reading the May-June issue of Bottles and Extras.

Green umbrella from a Petaluma dig-
digger and digging spot to remain a mystery
unless, or course if the digger wants to spill the beans

 



Don't forget we have the San Diego Bottle Show coming up on Saturday June 8th. For information on the show contact Jim Walker at: 858 490-9019 or email Jim at  jfw@internetter.com

 

And the Reno Bottle Show has an earlier June date this year. The 50th anniversary of the Reno Show will be held on 28th & 29th at the Grand Sierra Resort. Here's one show you don't want to miss this year. Information: Helene Walker for Contracts, P.O. Box 1061, Verdi, Nevada 89439,

 

Other than these few things I have mentioned it seems "All's Quiet on the Western Front -

rs