DAN'S PAPERS, August 27, 2010 Page 30 www.danshamptons.com (continued from previous page)
researcher Jean Held; Hampton Library (Bridgehampton) History Librarian and archivist Julie Greene; her father, Charlie Brennan, a neighbor/history buff and participant in archaeological digs; Tony Garro, local history enthusiast and VP of Southampton Trails Preservation Society; Dan Koontz, composer and history buff, and husband of Stacy Dermont; plus me and Hudson, the boy who put the whole thing in motion. The Hendricksons were the first to arrive, followed by Dan and Stacy, then Dorothy Zaykowski and Jean Held. Garro, Green and Brennan followed. Richard Sr., fresh from a vacation at Virginia Beach, arrived whiskbroom in hand, with Richard Jr. First stop was the stoop, where the bottles were set up. They looked at the two tall, flat bottles—one with seed still in it. Richard Sr. posited that it was for cough syrup, to which his son answered with a smile, “That’s a big bottle for cough syrup—that would’ve been an awful lot of codeine.” The Hendricksons identified the “bud vase” as a soda bottle, then after considering and marveling over the others, made their way to the structure. But before we get to that, here are the theo-
Photos by Susan Galardi
Bricks
Far left, Garro and Held examine bricks; Above left, Richard Sr. and Held categorize bricks; Above right, the group: Brennan, Richard Sr., Garro, Greene, Hudson, Zaykowski, Dermont, Richard Jr.
ries on the bottles. Dorothy pegged the short, wide mouth bottle as a hand-blown canning jar from the mid 1800s. Koontz thought remnants on the top indicated wax, which was used in canning at the time. Dorothy identified the tall flat ones, without a doubt, as ammonia bottles from the 1890s, reused for birdseed. Googling around later proved that, as we found a bottle of the same shape with a label that read “ammonia.” Dorothy also said the “Mocking Bird Food” bottle was an early screw-top variety. Googling later revealed an almost identical bottle that read, “F.E. McAllister’s - Mocking Bird Food – New York.” A blogger reported that it was actually for canaries, to make them sing like mocking birds. Richard Sr. thought the small “J. Bidmead Wright” bottle may have been used for vanilla extract. On line research revealed that Dr.
Bidmead did have a pharmacy in Brooklyn that was disbanded in 1890. An account in the Pharmaceutical Record, May 5, 1890, read: “J Bidmead Wright has disposed of his drug store on Beford Ave and intends going to Seattle Washington to locate.” So the little bottle could’ve held any type of tonic. The Hendricksons were right about the first find. It was indeed a soda bottle, from bottlemaker John Lumb & Co, of Castleford, England. JL & Co Ltd was the name from 1905 and 1937, when the company was bought by United Glass. After examining the bottles, we moved to the structure. “What was this?” Richard Sr. wondered aloud, looking at the symmetrical structure. “A shed?” said Richard Jr. (continued on page 36)
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