One man's trash...

What do you think we found in the hole we dug in the backyard? A manila folder full of eyebrow clippings? Someone's dead pet rabbit? Gold?

Well, it wasn't gold in the traditional sense, but it was gold to us!

As Andrew starting digging holes for the fence posts, he found a clue that we had stumbled onto what we suspected may be on the property somewhere: the early owner's trash pit. 

The bottle in the picture above turned out to be a Ritter's catsup bottle, from Bridgeton, NJ. We found a lot of broken bitters bottles and some really nice intact bottles such as this one which says "Geo. L Garwood Mt. Holly, NJ" on it. 

We found a broken cup and saucer from the Johnson Brother's, marked Royal Ironstone Ware. 

When we pulled this out, I shrieked! WHITE HOUSE! THE PRESIDENT LIVED HERE!?! Turns out White House vinegar was a popular brand in the early 1900s.

We spent all day with our heads in this hole pulling out broken glass and exclaiming things like "a pickling jar!!!"

Sadly, as the sun started to set, and no fence had been erected, we had to make the adult decision to stop digging our way to China and redirect our efforts towards the fence (pictures of that to come). 

Do you think the folks who threw out these things could have anticipated the joy we'd feel at discovering them? Could they ever have imagined that we'd proudly display their trash as treasures?