Heard it through the Grapevine

Spring Antique and Bottle Show Combines with a Classic Car Show

Several years ago, Batsto Citizens Committee, Inc (BCCI) joined with Cruisin’ Classic Car group for a spring antique, glass and bottle show. It seemed that a show with antique and classic cars should have something else for visitors to enjoy. What better than antiques? Taking place in the heart of Wharton Forest at Batsto Village, where glass and bottles were produced after the iron industry financially could not survive, also seemed appropriate.

Iron is no longer produced at Batsto Village. The idea of the British coming up the river to end the production of shot and cannonball at the Village no longer exists. But the history can be seen at the monument at Chestnut Neck and whispers of such at Batsto. May 17 will be a day to enjoy the quiet of a once noisy iron producing town. A chance to walk around and remember some of American history. Not only can the history of the Colonies before America was America be enjoyed, but some of our more recent history as well. Think of toys without batteries, tin toys (not plastic), records that were analog and not digital sounds produced on your phone, and bottles that were returned for two or five cents, not throw-away plastic.

New Book Release

There will be food trucks to satisfy your hunger and quench your thirst.

It is a rain or shine event, but let’s hope for sunshine. Hope to see you on May 17 at Historic Batsto Village from 9 to 3.

Long-time bottle digger and diver, Bram Hepburn, of Eliot, Maine, has just released a new book titled A Field Guide to American Trash. The book is a comprehensive guide to finding dumps, digging privies, and locating underwater trash sites dating back to the Civil War. The book has been in the works for years, and is a labor of love, explains Bram. Watch for a short teaser article from Bram’s book in next month’s issue of AB&GC. You may also visit his website, https://thedowneastdigger.com/business/

Heard it through the Grapevine

Flush with Money? You Can Also Flush a Bobwhite

By Ralph Finch

A while back, two items brought back a sound of my childhood. It was the twill of a bird that brightened my days more than sixty years ago, the bobwhite. One item was the May cover of AB&GC magazine, and the other was a cardboard sign for a brand of toilet paper. The connection? Hold on, and I’ll make it …

On May 10, Showtime Auctions of Woodhaven, Mich., offered Lot 0211, a Bob White Toilet Tissue Die Cut Cardboard Sign, estimated at $150-$300. Back when I started to write this, the bidding was at $150 with five bids (including mine, at $150. I have a patient wife.).

First, meet the bobwhite. Wikipedia notes that “The northern bobwhite, Virginia quail or bobwhite quail is a ground-dwelling bird native to Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. It is a member of the group of species known as New World quails. The name ‘bobwhite’ derives from its characteristic whistling call. Despite its secretive nature …”

Secretive? If one landed on my beak, I couldn’t identify it. But its sound? As a child, if I heard the whistle calling out, bobwhite, bobwhite, I’d feel like a budding ornithologist. “There’s a bobwhite,” I would proudly tell my grandmother (who had the thankless job of raising me), although I don’t recall ever actually seeing a bobwhite.

As I grew, I continued to like birds (and the Finches always visit the National Aviary in Pittsburgh) but as an ornithologist? I have a friend who claims to be able to identify 300 different birds, while I am an expert only in the colored birds (is that politically correct?). I know a blackbird, a red-winged blackbird, a blue bird, a goldfinch, a cardinal, and oh, yes, a purple something. Right. A purple martin, which Wikipedia claims to be the largest North American swallow (but some of my stories are hard to swallow). And I know a Baltimore Oriole when I see one, because there is orange on their baseball team’s uniform.

The W. Hartman whiskey company of Schuylkill Haven, Pa. must have seen one, and made the bird its logo for the firm’s Bob White booze brand. (Maybe it was to indicate, if you think you see a bobwhite, it’s time to stop drinking.)

The important thing to remember is that the cardboard sign is not part of the infamous Finch toilet paper collection. It sold for $500, with eight bids, plus a 22 percent buyer’s premium. My last bid was $450 on this bird. When Janet heard that, she said, “We've got a spot for it.” (If you could see our walls, you’d know what a challenge that is. Also, I have the best wife in the world.) But we were outbid.

FYI1: Schuylkill Haven is also known for its coal (found around 1790), several floods (the last big one in 2006), and a shootout (1934) between Republicans and Democrats where several were killed.

FYI2: Want to collect something new? How about living Bobwhite Quail? On the internet I found a firm that sells “the Northern Bobwhite Quail.

“These wonderful little birds are great flyers, delicious eating, excellent for training your hunting dog, and just fun to raise. They mature in 16 weeks and dress between 7-9 oz. They will have started laying eggs by 24 weeks and are prolific layers. Your order must total 100 or more birds. Unsexed.” Unsexed? Do sexy quail lay more eggs?

This Bob White sign took wing, sailing away at $500 (plus 22 percent buyer’s premium). Note, I found nation-wide advertising for this product, selling from 1916 to1926 for three cent to five cents a roll. It was made by the APW Paper company “from wood pulp.” The next time you have to go to the men’s room and are pining for something new, consider wood pulp.

These three rolls of toilet paper were offered at the last year's Indianapolis advertising show. Friend Mark McNee of Kalamazoo called me about them — to which I said YES! — but by the time he got back to the booth they had been sold. (Hand me a tissue. I’m sad.)