Two nice young men came by today with probes and shovels, a pail and some rope. They had old maps of this neighborhood, which showed this house has been here since the 1880's or so. (It's hard to date precisely when old homes were built here because most of the records were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire.
They explained they collected old bottles from the Civil War period to the end of the 19th century by using a simple method. From the old land maps, they identified properties that have not been significantly reconfigured since that era. Plumbing arrived slowly in these areas of town, so everyone had privies dug in their backyards.
By the turn of the century, when the houses got inside plumbing, the outhouses were carted away and the privies were filled with dirt. First, however, most people "sealed up" the aromatic "night soil" with a layer of bottles and other trash.
They said they typically found what they were looking for about four and a half feet below the surface. So they went around the perimeter of our backyard, probing for glass about that far down. They quickly identified the spot -- it's about halfway back the rear property line on the left side of the yard.
They roughed out the likely dimensions of the old privy and set to work. When they were about four feet down they hit the first glass -- shards and some whole bottles from the Prohibition era. They were ceramics, liquor bottles and other machine-engineered bottle pieces.
Then they hit layers of a new kind of dirt -- the fine ash from fireplaces. This indicated a dry hole, where not much corrosion was likely to have occurred.
On and on they dug -- five, six feet -- now finding bottles from right around the year of the earthquake. Other items emerged -- a corroded half of an old pistol, the remains of what looked like a toy train, a piece of a pipe (for smoking). Down another foot and we were into the 1890s.
They brought up an almost complete brown teapot. The ceramic handle for a dresser drawer, an old button.
At eight feet they hit pay dirt: A whole cache of bottles, many inscripted with manufacturer's names like Dr. J. E.Plouf's Rheumatism Cure, and Lengfeld's Prescription Pharmacy, San Francisco. These were all from the 1880's and 1890's, and thanks to the ash, in surprisingly good condition.
My 8-year-old, Julia, helped comb through the pile of dirt excavated shovelful by shovelful. When the pit got too deep, the guys lowered the pail and then hauled it up, like miners:
Piso's Cure for Consumption
Paul Rieger's Jamaica Ginger, S.F. Cal (for hangovers)
California Fig Syrup Co.
Tillman's Extract
Dr.King's New Discovery for Consumption
Enterprise Sodaworks S. F. (soda bottle)
Lots of bottles of petroleum jelly, including Vapo-Cresolene Co. All in all, the haul was about three dozen bottles -- including a red bitters bottle, milk and cream bottles, as well as an exquisitely painted purple candlestick fragment.
That pit knows more about who lived here and how they lived than anyone alive today. After extracting these treasures, the guys (aided by Julia) refilled the pit and let the rest of the shards rest in piece.
NEWSLINKS:
Pelosi won’t seek leadership role, plans to stay in Congress (AP)
Control of Congress is split. Can a divided government make progress? (WP)
McConnell reelected Senate GOP leader (AP)
McConnell holds back challenge in precarious moment for his leadership (WP)
Republicans capture control of the House after falling short of midterm expectations. (NYT)
House GOP makes clear it's going after Joe Biden via Hunter (Politico)
Voters in Great Lakes states deliver election deniers a stiff rebuke (WP)
Abortion Was Always Going To Impact The Midterms (538)
Republicans are projected to win a slim majority of seats in the House of Representatives, less than the red wave the party hoped for but enough to stymie President Joe Biden’s agenda for the next two years. The speaker’s gavel will likely pass to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R) in January, but the slimmer-than-expected majority means the party will have a bit less leverage over Democrats for any major policy concessions. [HuffPost]
Lake refuses to concede in Arizona governor’s race she lost (AP)
Cheney hits back as Pence says January 6 committee has ‘no right’ to testimony (Guardian)
Trump’s early 2024 launch fails to rally GOP around him (WP)
Rep. Karen Bass becomes first woman elected mayor of Los Angeles (NBC)
Donald Trump's decision to jump into the 2024 race could help give Joe Biden a second term in the White House, the president and his aides believe, viewing his Republican predecessor as a vulnerable and defeated politician even as they fret about the impact a bitter campaign could have on America. (Reuters)
Allen Weisselberg testifies at Trump Organization’s N.Y. fraud trial (WP)
Same-Sex Marriage Rights Bill Clears a Crucial Senate Hurdle (NYT)
The Senate advanced new legislation that would codify protections for same-sex marriage, a major procedural hurdle that required the support of 10 Republicans. The bill, the Respect for Marriage Act, would formally repeal the Defense of Marriage Act that was overturned by a 2015 Supreme Court decision. [HuffPost]
A member of the far-right Oath Keepers told a jury that she got "swept up" in the moment when she stormed the Capitol, comparing it to the same feeling shoppers get on Black Friday. (Reuters)
The principal chief of the 440,000-strong Cherokee Nation said he expects Congress to live up to its promise to allow a Native delegate in the House of Representatives. Chuck Hoskin Jr. spoke before a House committee hearing, saying he expected the delegate to be seated before the year’s end, honoring a 187-year-old treaty. [HuffPost]
2 Russians, 1 Ukrainian get life sentences for downing 2014 Malaysia Airlines flight, killing 298 aboard (Fox)
Poland, NATO say missile strike wasn’t a Russian attack (AP)
Russia launched more missile strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure and its forces pressed attacks in the eastern Donetsk region, reinforced by troops pulled from Kherson city in the south which Kyiv recaptured last week. (Reuters)
Anger on the front lines and anxiety at home as Russia’s mobilization is mired in problems (CNN)
Regional Nations Urge US to Unfreeze Afghan Assets (VoA)
UK finance minister announces tax hikes and spending cuts, says country is in recession (CNBC)
U.K. Unveils Largest Tax Increases and Spending Cuts in a Decade (WSJ)
Fired by tweet: Elon Musk's latest actions are jeopardizing Twitter, experts say (NPR)
Split control of the U.S. Congress following the midterm elections may provide a tailwind for stocks at the end of a bruising year, but inflation and the Federal Reserve are likely to remain the market’s main drivers, investors said. (Reuters)
The Precarious Future of Sanibel Island (New Yorker)
Mars' clouds are strangely Earth-like, despite wildly different atmospheres (Space.com)
NASA Blazes a Path Back to the Moon With Artemis Rocket Launch (NYT)
Universities focus on athletes’ mental health after crises (AP)
The FBI alleges TikTok poses national security concerns (NPR)
Lab-grown meat moved closer to your dinner plate. The FDA said it’s safe to eat. That paves the way for products made from real animal cells — but that don’t require slaughter — to be sold in stores in the coming months. (WP)
Has the next COVID surge already begun? (SFC)
Kamala Harris Picks Up Seasonal Job At Macy’s (The Onion)
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