This final group of bottles and jars have nothing in common except their
date. The two clear glass bottles at left are standard desktop ink
bottles made after the 1904 introduction of the Owens bottle machine and
before screw top inks replaced the corked variety around 1930 (Fig. 25).
The conical ink in the center was one of the earliest shapes for
desk-top ink bottles, introduced when ink was first bottled in small
individual containers in the 1840s. The contents of the ointment jar at
right, made after 1916, are unknown. Patent records indicate that the
May 15, 1916, date was neither a trademark registration nor a patent
issue. It may be a false patent date, put on the bottle to lend the
contents an air of legitimacy.
Although other artifacts, such as the Austrian porcelain in Figure 11
and the beef extract jar in Figure 24, may have been manufactured in the
twentieth century, these three containers were the only items in the
privy pit that were definitely made after Susan Middleton’s 1900
abandonment of the plantation. As such, they were the only evidence
archeologists had that these nineteenth century objects were probably
deposited in the twentieth century. All three are items likely to have
been in use at the time of the Smith family’s 1925 move to Middleton
Place, and they were probably discarded at that time.
[Illustration: Figure 25. Twentieth century bottles. A. Cylinder ink
bottle, machine-made, c. 1904-1930. B. Cone ink, machine-made, c.
1904-1930. Embossed on base, CARTER’s MADE IN USA. Carter’s Ink
Company began bottling ink in Massachusetts in 1858. C. Screw top
ointment pot, white pressed glass. Embossed on base, AUBREY SISTERS
MAY 15, 1916.]