Some of the best treasures are found when you least expect them. Recently, our boys took their grandfather on a hike through the main ravine at Caboose Falls. While exploring, they spotted a glint of glass half-buried in the earth. Finding bits of glass isn’t unusual here, but this time it was more than a fragment; it was an entire bottle.
Everyone was thrilled by the discovery. Though time had worn away the label, the bottle itself was full of clues. It was a sturdy, one-pint clear glass flask, still crowned with a metal red cap. Its’s the kind of bottle that was commonly used for whiskey, brandy, and other spirits. The bottles most interesting detail was molded right into the glass:
“FEDERAL LAW FORBIDS SALE OR REUSE OF THIS BOTTLE.”
Following prohibition (which ended in 1933), federal law mandated this phrase be embossed on bottles to prevent bootleggers from refilling legitimate bottles with homemade or unregulated (untaxed) alcohol for sale to consumers. The law remained on the books until 1964. So our bottle dates from somewhere within that 30-year window, making it at least as old as our cabooses.
It’s fun to imagine the journey this little bottle took and how it found its way to Caboose Falls. It may have been resting in our ravine for more than 6 decades, silently waiting to be rediscovered by a grandfather and his three curious grandsons. This neat piece of history will be preserved as a little connection to the past and a wonderful souvenir of a special day together.