Tom Hitches his Wagon to Find Old Glass Across the Country Ralph Finch notes that Thomas Askjem of Buxton, N.D., whose great stories of impressive finds — and impressive books — have appeared in past issues of AB&GC, is still moving back into America’s past. Slowly. Ralph recently alerted Tom that Houser Auctioneers of Pennsylvania was going to offer old farm horse-drawn wagons. (Old farm wagons, and massive holes dug in search of old glass, are just two of Tom’s many interests.)
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om, in return, alerted us to his current plans, writing: “Hey, thank you, it’s always good seeing some old horse-drawn stuff. All has been good. I’ve actually been in the process of writing a potential article for you to review.
“We dug from a ten-foot hotel privy three of North Dakota’s best Hutch bottles. Only one was known prior and we dug two different color shades. It was a long process finding the Hutches once we chose an area of the state to dig. We were on our third town in the area when they finally surfaced. “Aside from that I’ve been hard at work photographing bottles for my next book, the one that documents the earliest bottles used west of the Mississippi. Here
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
are a few samples. I’ll try getting that story on the N.D. Hutch dig to you in the next week or so. “I’ve got many very serious collectors on board from all across the western U.S. It would help to familiarize the others with my project. Here’s what I’ve photographed thus far: Every known Dakota Territory, Arizona Territory, Montana Territory and Wyoming Territory sodas plus nearly all the Idaho Territory sodas (I’ve got the missing ones lined up), plus a good portion of the early New Mexico bottles. “All the Colorado blobs, ales and Hutches have been photographed plus all the known Kansas blobs, ales and bitters. All the Texas blob sodas. A good portion of all the pre-1880 Iowa bottles including
inks, sodas, ales, bitters and meds. I’ve got all the pre-1880 Minnesota bottles lined up plus a good portion of the pre-1880 California sodas. “I’ve also photographed an example of nearly every type of USA Hospital department bottle and in many colors. “I’m also hoping to include the more well-known bottles that ended up on the frontier including cabin bitters, etc.” Editor’s note: And in an upcoming issue, Tom will update us on the latest of the 1,200 privies he has dug! TOP: Hospital Department Bottles. These bottles will pick up the spirits of any collector. FOLLOWING PAGE: An arrangement of early Budweiser bottles. Tom certainly has a great taste in colorful bottles.
