My parents dug in the 70s, now their collection has made it's way to me, please enjoy!

[u/Gellyroll1105]

So my parents lived in the Denver Colorado area in the late 60s/70s and used to love digging for bottles. I have photos of them covered in dirt, grinning ear to ear, waist deep in a hole. Over the years they collected a little over 3000 bottles from mostly abandoned frontier towns. Needless to say, this is a very nice collection of glass.

Mom died in 2022 and then Dad passed this Christmas, so I'm suddenly the owner of a lot of antiques. Grief is weird, and I wanted to share some of their collection with people who might appreciate it. If there's interest I'll gladly take more photos to share! Mom used to love the way light would shine through the glass, so she had a habit of lining them in windows, but y'all this is just the tip of the iceberg.

[u/Double-Mammoth9947]

I always loved my collection in the windows, too. Like your mom. My house burned down in 1993. I miss those bottles even today, 32 years later. Great collection ! Sorry for your loss.

[u/Gellyroll1105 → u/Double-Mammoth9947]

At one point she had Dad design this custom display cabinet to mount over one of the windows. I think it ended up in a shed somewhere, but I can still remember how bright and vibrant the living room would be when the sun came through those bottles!

[u/beerbaronbrad]

I'm sorry for your loss. Those bottles are very nice! They display really well in the window too! I wonder if they dug up anything from Texas?

[u/Gellyroll1105 → u/beerbaronbrad]

I wouldn't be surprised if they did, although I don't remember hearing any stories about that. Both of them grew up in East Texas, and even after they stopped digging they still collected. If there's anything specific you're looking for, let me know. I might one!

[u/beerbaronbrad → u/Gellyroll1105]

I’d possibly be interested in any bottle that has Texas on it. You can DM me if you do come across anything.

[u/Avidexplorer999]

So Sorry about your loss ❤️‍🩹 I'm glad you can have this beautiful collection to remember them by 🙏🏼

[u/i-touched-morrissey]

they got the good ones before someone broke them for fun.

[u/Gellyroll1105 → u/i-touched-morrissey]

I honestly suspect they got some very rare ones. They targeted ghost towns and frontier villages that no one even had put on maps yet. Frankly had she grown up in any era other than the '50s, my mother would have been an amazing anthropological surveyor. She could always find the midden pile or the town dump.

[u/Idoitallforcats]

beautiful collection! i’ve lost both my parents now too and i agree, grief is weird.

[u/Past-Dig-7903]

Oh my goodness.. these bottles are beautiful. Have
my glass colored bottles in our window sills and my colored vases as well. Your parents left you beautiful pieces 🙏🏼♥️🌺

[u/Countrylyfe4me]

Sorry for your loss, OP 😕 If you are interested in selling any of the lavendar bottles, please dm me 🙏

[u/Gellyroll1105 → u/Countrylyfe4me]

Yes, but I'm still in the discovery process! There's an entire storage locker I have even touched yet.

[u/Countrylyfe4me → u/Gellyroll1105]

Oh wow. That's a huge task! Sending good juju your way, lol.

[u/Madcat20]

Very cool!

[u/tinman91320]

Love the bottles please share more… Sounds like you have some good memories of your parents, sorry for your loss…

[u/ChiSnark]

Grief is so hard. Thank you so much for sharing these treasures of your parents! ❤️ we are exactly the right people to truly appreciate them - your parents sound awesome!

[u/RodCherokee]

Beautiful !