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Digging for Baker’s Premium Bitters bottles on Venable Street
Submitted by Ann on Venable Street:
About a month ago I answered my front door to a stranger who immediately told me, before telling me anything else, “We’re not selling anything.” Tom, first to the door, is from Newport News; Chris from Baltimore; and Robert from northern Virginia and they are ‘privy diggers.’
On the back of their card, which is as big as a postcard, is the claim that they restore the yard to the way they found it “…or in some cases in improved condition.” In my case the yard was improved – they removed an old tree stump and I gained enough garden space for two more rows of vegetables.
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Elijah Baker House / 2239-41 Venable Street (mid-1930s)
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Elijah Baker and his family were the first people to live in my house on Venable Street. From 1840 until the late 1890’s Elijah lived in and worked from home, making and selling “E. Baker’s Premium Bitters,” a “universal family medicine” with “Testimonials from well-known Richmond people” (the book Old Richmond Neighborhoods dates the house at 1850 but a date of 1837 is also recorded, substantiated by advertisements for the Premium Bitters as early as 1840).
Today Elijah couldn’t carry on his business in Union Hill without at least a ‘special use permit.’
Baker’s Bitters bottles are highly sought after by bottle collectors if the bottles are in good condition – sometimes bringing hundreds of dollars. Although Tom, Chris, and Robert have dug up several Bitters bottles in excellent condition, the only one they’ve uncovered in Richmond was from a privy on Clay Street near VCU; and they had to dig sixteen feet to get that one. The three hoped for Baker’s Bitters bottle from Elijah’s own house.
They began their search near the back end of the yard close to Burton Street where they located a promising site actually in the shed; but all they found were oyster shells…big oyster shells…bigger than any I’ve ever seen. The one I kept is about eight inches long and Chris described one that he had uncovered on a dig in Baltimore that’s nearly a foot long.
The site in my shed wasn’t what they were looking for: it was too small, too shallow, and didn’t have much of anything in it except the shells.
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They speculated that Burton Street might not have even existed when the Baker family moved to Venable Street; and that the Bakers probably wanted a privy closer to the house anyway – the far end of the yard where the shed is located is a long way to walk on a cold night.
So, since Tulip Street, or some form thereof probably existed when the house was built, the side of the yard near the street was a much more sensible location. So Tom and Chris and Robert moved into my vegetable garden and were almost immediately successful.
These three have been a digging team long enough to be able to determine, by sound and feel alone, whether or not the probe was into something interesting; and, of course, since the probe is hollow, what it brings up tells them even more. About two feet down, Chris found a brick wall that appeared not to have been mortared, typical of privies they said: privy walls were left un-mortared so that liquids could seep through them.
Tom, Chris, and Robert have a language all their own..no matter what came up, they commented immediately and knowledgeably: reverse painting on glass, types of glazes on pottery, and dates and stories behind the bottles, broken or otherwise.
But only one Bitters bottle came out of the hole and it was broken even though the hole they dug ended up being deep enough to bury Robert who’s barely visible in the picture below. And the brick wall turned out not to be a privy after all but most likely part of a summer kitchen…the mortar had simply disintegrated over time.
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When they were finished digging, filling, and cleaning up, I could hardly tell they’d been in my yard but there was proof in what was left behind for me. Here are just two of the unbroken finds. Anyone interested in having their yard experience this sort of thing, give Robert a call at the number on the card.
More information about the Bitters bottles can be found at Peachridge Glass (as well as a picture of Tom looking happier than he was at the end of the dig in my back yard).
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Great story. I’ve found lots of broken bottles over the years in my back yard while gardening. My best find was a “Tiny” soda bottle from the 50’s or 60’s and small brown glass bottle. I’m not sure what the small brown glass bottle held.
Archaeology? Can I assume these men take detailed notes on the site they’re digging – background history of the land, notes about soil composition, any material culture (not just bottles) found within each stratigraphic layer, etc.; then publish their findings, or at least make their notes available to the public? This city unearths a great deal of history and introspect about the everyday lives of past people, archaeologists try to give this perspective back to the present-day community (via theories and interpretation). I don’t mean to sound snarky – do these diggers have a website or, at least, a mission statement? Are they selling the artifacts they dig up?
Very cool. My wife and I found a couple dozen bottles during a recent renovation including two large Richmond dairy bottles, perfume bottles, an old French’s mustard jar, a liquor bottle, a soda bottle with the cork still in the top and even an old pair of leather children’s shoes. Each find is so exciting and makes you think of all the items buried in these parts. Very interesting article, thank you for sharing.
As far as privy digging, after being contacted in December 2012, I was burned by this team in February 2013. A crew came which included these three people along with one more. They had been striking out finding a privy with anything in it in Richmond but was successful with ours and even finding a second smaller one. A tagalong named Matt who worked/works for Old Town Golden Treasures in Mechanicsville took all of the smaller items recovered and per the agreement was supposed to have cleaned them up and return them to us to make a decision of keeping them or letting them go. Unfortunately this person never came back, refused to hand the items over, and I hope this crew had distanced themselves from using him. I lost many 18th and 19th century items which included household items, jewelry, buttons, and rare pottery pieces specifically related to the person who once owned the house. I wish to still recover these items or be compensated for them but to no avail a year and a half later. So please beware and be cautious.
Eric- Lets set the record straight. First, I have never been empolyeed with Old Town Golden Treasures in Mechanicsville. Second, I have never refused to return anything found in the hole in your backyard. Feel free to contact me at ynpto804@yahoo.com and arrangement can be made to return the objects found (the items have no monatary value). Third, the verbal argeement made the day of the dig with the two other gentlemen who would return a few pieces of reconstructed pottery. That is only agreement that was made. I feel you sorry misunderstood this agreement. After a year and a half I thought that there was no issue and this dig was done. I have never had this problem with another land owner but will do my best to make it right.
What is the background on this company “Urban Archaeology”?
Do these people actually have degrees in Archaeology?
Do they write and document about each site they go to??
Are they in this only to collect value items?
What do they do with the native american and african american items they sell?
I would really like to know the answers the these questions!!
Matt,
First, if I have offended you by association with the business I mentioned, please know it was unintentional and one reason why I was a bit vague anyway about it. The only reason I did tie the two was by an email I received from Tom Leveille dated October 30, 2013 who said that Fred Lange from this business brought you to the dig so I made an assumption you either work or worked there?
I was first confronted by John Whitworth about the team who he was promoting and asked if I would be interested.
On February 21, 2013 – Tom stated “We show the homeowner everything that comes out of the hole, and if anything interested them, they are welcome to it”. In other words the homeowner has first right of refusal. Of course the focus on the digs was for bottles and there were only a few at our house. Most of the small items were placed in a tin and while I stood to watch in the cold, every time I reached to look I was basically pushed away or the item taken from me and told I would get them back after they were cataloged and cleaned. This never happened. I was informed again by Tom:
On February 24, 2013 – “…different people took different things home that day, Chris (Chris Rowell who first contacted me to coordinate the dig) took the broken things to be cleaned and put back together while Matt, the other person who had came with us took the smaller items. Matt did not come with us last (when Chris came and brought me a glued together bottle and chamber pot lid) therefore was not able to provide you to have a look at the other things”
Tom made several attempts to contact you and said you had refused to give the pieces up and made different excuses as to why. He even went so far as to tell me on April 29, 2013 that he would drive to Maryland to get them for me if he had to because this was an embarrassment for him.
So, what I did see come out of the hole I wanted associated with the house was: buttons – various types including military. A piece of silver and semi precious stone jewelry in a bow pattern dating from the 1700s. A Indian Head pipe. A complete (minus bristles) bone toothbrush. Vintage marbles. I also noted an entire chamber pot in flow blue coming out of the hole mostly intact but only got back the lid which was not that broken when it came out and no base. There was a piece of very bright (yellow and red/blue glazed) pottery cup from the 1700s and some pieces of stoneware pottery (gray with cobalt blue pattern) made by Stephen B. Sweeney c. 1860 – the father of one of the previous owners of our house.
There were other items as well but since it was cold and there were half a dozen people in the yard digging, sifting, and consulting (and a girl who also came who was supposed to be taking pictures), I was in and out of the house and did not offered the chance to look at everything else that may have come out of the larger double privy.
Now, I know it has been a year and a half but attempts have been made for me to contact you and I even emailed Fred at one time with no response so… I am asking where are my items and what can we do to rectify this situation?
Eric
I’d like to see the answers from #6 and #12.
Matt, since you appear to be some sort of a spokesperson for the group, can you answer the questions for #6 and #12?
I implore anyone reading this article to never let these people dig on your property. They are out for personal gain at the expense of the shared history of our great city. They are not archaeologists, they are relic hunters/looters. Real archaeologists have degrees in anthropology (often graduate degrees as well), their excavations are meticulously documented, creating a paper record of the site for future generations. Archaeologists never sell what they find (in fact, doing so would get you would get you kicked out of any and all professional archaeological organizations). If you find something in your yard and you are interested in finding out more about it call the department of anthropology at a local university or better yet, the Department of Historic Resources in downtown Richmond. If you do decide to let these men in your yard, don’t be fooled by the card that says “urban archaeology,” these men are stealing from you and worse, they are stealing your kids, your neighbors, those who used to live in your house, and those who will live in it in the future (and really anyone who cares about the history of our city). Your yard is your property and only you can protect it–please don’t let these guys steal our history!
@16 Exactly, Chris. Well said.
Well, my experience with these guys certainly isn’t what’s reflected in many of these posts. I learned a lot from their work and their presence, although I didn’t question their academic credentials before giving permission for them to enter and dig on my property. Further, everything that came out of the two holes they dug is still in my possession. I suppose if I had been truly concerned with what previous inhabitants of my house had thrown into the hole in an outhouse, I would have sought out and paid for a ‘credentialed’ academic. We weren’t opening a time capsule or uncovering the remains of an ancient civilization…we were digging up, we thought, what had been thrown into a privy. And they didn’t steal from me nor did they steal my kids or my neighbors….
Each time you excavate and find artifacts, or any evidence of human history, you’re opening a time capsule – just because it might not be “ancient,” does not make it any less worthy of study. It’s the trash that holds the greatest information.
Ann, I meant to say they are stealing *from* our kids/neighbors–just forgot a word. To be fair, professional archaeologists are partly to blame for not doing a better job at letting the public know what we do. Over the past half century Historical Archaeology has become a well respected academic sub-discipline–archaeologists are not just interested in the ancient/exotic but also in societies of the more recent past. If you want to know more you can go to http://www.sha.org (this is the Society for HIstorical Archaeology website)–they have information about the types of questions historical archaeologists ask and how they go about answering them through the archaeological record.
ann, did you take possession of everything on the spot or did they take everything with them as what happened with me supposedly to clean the items and return them?
I was curious to find out what was in my privy and did so under a recommendation by John Whitworth after he was given basically a “sales pitch” but things didn’t quite work out as they outlined to them – or for us.
I find it funny that you all are complaining about something you never knew was there. Perhaps you should have dug the yards yourselves.
Archaeologists need to back off and relax. This is a very well documented era with mountains of trash to excavate. Unless these are protected historical sites they are fair game for anyone with permission from the PRIVATE landowner. So what if they decide to sell these items? At least they are saved from future development and preserved in a collection that might actually be shared. The archaeologists keep their millions of artifacts in storage for decades only to write trivial papers and argue with each other over highly subjective theories.
When I purchased my house, all of the ones in my row still had the privies attached. One day some guys showed up and said John Whitworth told them they could dig in my yard. They did the same to my other neighbors.
We sent them packin!
Joel,
These guys are claiming to be legit archaelogists, and they are not. If you knew nothing about the field, you would definately be misled….
Wow Joel, bitter much? No one said it was ILLEGAL for treasure hunters to ask property owners if they can dig up their yard. If these men from “Urban Archaeology” are selling the artifacts, then they should not represent themselves as archaeologists. They’re not. Property owners need to know the difference. Anyone can make an appointment at the Dept. of Historic Resources and ask to search through their artifact collection (for free!) and speak with the curator about their interpretation and applied theories. They even sponsor public archaeology digs in the summer! Can we say the same for people that keep artifacts in their garage or living room display case?
Hey there Ann. I enjoyed reading your article! My husband and his family also lived in the Baker home for a while during the early to mid 70’s and his father ran a hardware store on the bottom. My husband swears Mr. Baker still resides there . Thanks for posting! Cindy
I was contacted by the guy holding our artifacts. Said he could give them back to me but swears that I gave them free range to take whatever and what he has is worthless. That is not how I was approached nor their advertised ethics and methods of digging which was to give the owners first right of refusal “after” everything had been cleaned so the owner can make a determination. But to this day they still have everything (as far as I know) and I still want it back. They were supposed to be looking for bottles and they took those, no problem. I just want the rest back.
It isn’t a matter of never knowing what was or wasn’t there but a matter of items taken from personal property and principals.
These guys are not legit archaelogists, they treasure hunters, for profit.
Look at Eric and Jean’s experience. Two bad experiences and lack of established credentials is more than enough to make my opinion on these guys….
In Jean’s experience, if true, they would have been attempting to loot.
In Eric’s experience, they downright stole and left him with only some distrupted lawn soil.
Church Hillian… This was a group of guys, one having an antique bottle store of something like that in the Baltimore area. He hooked up with other friends scattered from Baltimore to Virginia Beach and started digging Richmond. As I was told at the time, it was a big bust for them in Richmond and so several of the guys got discouraged having to dig, sift, and fill in holes. It was a day like today when they did our yard and think there were 5 or 6 people there including a woman who was supposed to be documenting the dig on camera. She went and got the camera but never took the first picture. I watched periodically since it was too cold to stay outside for me. They dug 6 to 8 feet deep and found a double privy full of small items, some pottery, jewelry, buttons, an Indian Head pipe, and lots of broken window panes but few bottles. The dates were late 1700’s to circa 1865 which is when indoor plumbing was installed in our house (one of the first). The ½ address wing of the house that was separated in 1904 did not have indoor plumbing until 1965! There was a pull chain flush toilet hooked to city lines in the back yard as with much of Church Hill at one time.
I think when these guys got discouraged they became greedy and ended up disbanding due to differences of opinions about how things should run. I just happen to be in the middle of this debate. But that was almost 2-years ago now and I still have not received the small items promised back but one of the diggers but not by the one holding them who was supposed to have cleaned and returned the items. The also found another smaller privy on the property but it had little in it and think that may have been the slaves privy? And then the ground sunk in after they filled the hole so had to purchase topsoil to fix that problem.
#26, Cindy…would enjoy hearing stories and/or seeing pictures. When I purchased the house all the bins and shelves and labels for the hardware store were still there! As for the guys who dug in the yard, it was a fun experience, they never claimed they were anything but privy probers (despite their card), and I got to keep everything they took out of the ground. As for Mr. Baker, your husband may be right about his still being in the house!
John, was looking for pictures and one of the shots of the Elijah Baker house was linked to this post on CHPN and I re-read all the objections to digging up an outhouse. I had to laugh a bit because when we dig holes at my place in Nicaragua, we dig up pre-Mayan stuff. I save the pieces and hope one day for something intact or enough pieces to put something together. The pieces are so common, everybody else just tosses them: http://falsebluff.blogspot.com/2014/11/shards.html