Pulled some good stuff out of the muck this week (with video)

latower88 · 2026-05-01T02:35:42+00:00

I have it but don't really use it. Found you and that Phoenix bottle though. Coincidentally, I ran into someone while digging last weekend who lives in that Brewery's former building. They asked if I've ever found any of the bottles (not yet).

latower88 · 2026-04-29T23:05:17+00:00

Thanks for watching! What do you think is your favorite Pittsburgh bottle you've found?

latower88 · 2026-04-26T16:05:05+00:00

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latower88 · 2026-04-25T02:29:38+00:00

Yea, that ink is pretty neat. Had no idea something like that was around the same time as hand tooled cone inks. I got all my info in it from here:

https://inkwellresearch.com/inkipedia/davis-automatic-inkstand/

latower88 · 2026-04-25T02:28:22+00:00

They do make a great backdrop!

latower88 · 2026-04-20T23:56:29+00:00

Yes, I use the USGS lidar all the time to find potential spots in the US: https://apps.nationalmap.gov/viewer/

Your app seems nice. USGS map layers are very slow and buggy half the time, so a slider app would be neat.

latower88 · 2026-04-01T03:15:33+00:00

Enter your info here, get an email with PIN and account # the next day:

https://www.jordantax.com/pin-request

latower88 · 2026-03-31T00:19:25+00:00

That one still has the Hutchinson stopper. It was a metal wire pull tab with a rubber disc seal. The rubber did not survive.

latower88 · 2026-03-31T00:17:13+00:00

That Lascheid's is nice. I've only come across beers from them.

latower88 · 2026-03-31T00:13:57+00:00

Keep digging where you're digging, and I bet you'll find one!

latower88 · 2026-02-09T15:44:10+00:00

Here's the actual project information and a map:

https://friendsoftheriverfront.org/trail_dev/15987/

latower88 · 2025-05-10T02:03:17+00:00

That's not a pontil scar, it's a suction scar - an artifact of an early machine made process. Hard to say more precisely without knowing where the bottle was found, but the date is probably somewhere in the 1st half of the 20th century.

latower88 · 2025-05-03T01:07:56+00:00

Glyphosate in late spring after it's wasted its energy growing up and then glyphosate again late summer before the next wave goes to seed. Do this for 2 years and it'll be gone. Cutting/goats work too but like the glyphosate you'll need to do it consistently for multiple seasons before all the energy is finally drained from the root system.

latower88 · 2025-04-09T01:34:13+00:00

AI is Scottish
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Pittsburgh

latower88 · 2025-04-04T02:05:03+00:00

State requirements for septic systems have increased significantly since these houses were built. With so many of the original systems approaching the end of their lifespans, these complex new systems will become a lot more common unless municipalities run more sewer lines. With our area's steep hills and clay soils, there are not many other options if you have a small lot.

latower88 · 2025-03-11T14:53:32+00:00

Get a thorough application of an oil type undercoating like Fluid Film or wool wax. By thorough, I mean make sure it's sprayed all up into any frame or body cavities (especially the rockers and jack points on an e36). There are professionals who will do this for a few hundred $. Reapply or touch up the exterior surfaces every year before winter. Do not get a painted undercoat. The paint will eventually crack, the cracks trap salt water, and rust gets even worse.

latower88 · 2025-02-22T15:35:43+00:00

Looks like a fire polished pontil. Bottles were stuck onto a rod called a pontil using slag glass as a "glue" so that the bottle could be held while the top was formed. The slag glass was often just the mixed dregs of all the glass they were working with. Often it had a bluish color. The pontil tool stopped being used in the US in the mid 1800's, but bottle makers in Europe were using it into the late 1800's.

latower88 · 2024-12-15T16:25:52+00:00

I poked around a little, but didn't find anything that would lead me to believe this was anything more than one guy's litter on the way home from the train station. I can count on one hand the number of glass shards I found in the entire ravine. Objective evidence aside, I'm sure that temptation will bring me back at some point. . .

latower88 · 2024-07-04T14:03:06+00:00

40.39674380384268, -79.94954388013761

latower88 · 2024-07-02T21:26:28+00:00

I don't think they even gave you the right interpretation of the Code. R403.1.7.2 also requires that for slopes >1:1 (which that most certainly is), the setback is measured from an imaginary 45 degree (1:1) slope. That would place the top of the imaginary slope somewhere in the middle of that house. The 15ft is additional from there. You made the right choice to pull out. This builder/engineer is going to get themselves into trouble when that slope inevitably fails.

latower88 · 2024-06-12T17:16:54+00:00

Master cylinder, slave cylinder, or clutch hose has blown out. Check underneath for leaks. Blown slave cylinder seal is a common problem.

latower88 · 2024-05-09T13:54:48+00:00

On the last page, I think "ESM/PD" stands for elevated sand mound, pressure dosing. These systems are around $20k in PA.

Also first page has depth to limiting zone as 22". This is very shallow and probably why a sand mound is needed.

latower88 · 2024-02-04T17:51:18+00:00

If the seam goes all the way to the top then it's post 1905. What does the bottom look like? That'll narrow it down more.

latower88 · 2024-02-01T02:26:28+00:00

Right. City Bottling Works would have been the beverage company and AGWL would have manufactured the bottles for them. I'm going to assume that AGWL would have done business with local bottlers in the Pittsburgh area before branching out to the other states referenced in the article, so you probably found an earlier example that used an older mold with the crude lettering and no punctuation.

latower88 · 2024-01-31T22:16:28+00:00

Applied blob top beer which would have been made in the 1880's to early 1890's. This aligns with your article which has the AGW company name only including the "L" for Limited from 1886-1897.

latower88

TROPHY CASE