Treasure Hunt: Bailey Island

The Destination


We decided, after a bit of internet research, that the Orr's and Bailey Island area would be an ideal locale for our next beach-combing excursion; in addition to the obvious conclusion that islands happen to have a lot of beachfront, this particular set has claim to several coves, places that nautical knickknacks have a tendency to wash up in. As a counterpoint, one consideration we had to make was just how much of a tourist destination the islands are. This means lots of pedestrian traffic on the beaches, which inevitably leads to the inadvertent crushing under-foot of otherwise good pieces, as well as a thorough picking-over of anything that made it's way far enough up the shore to be noticed.



To offset the tourist impact on the area, we decided to focus more on the shoreline under and around the Bailey Island Bridge. The idea here was to pick a spot that your average beach-lounger would not choose to plop a chair down on, due to the overhead noise of traffic and the proximity to very large granite stones that (thanks to low tides) smell an awful lot like a latrine.

Yes, it's pretty. It smells, however, like fish butts.

To maximize our picking area, we consulted the tide charts for the area to ensure we would be there during low tide. With our timing information ready, day bag packed, and treasure satchels strapped on, we embarked.

No seaside treasure hunt is ever complete without some wonderful surprises and hilarious mishaps; this one was no exception. For example, an extremely pregnant crab:

400 BABIES!

And Katie nearly losing her flip-flops to the vicious mud pits of Bailey Island:

It's hard to tell from the picture, but her feet and legs are COVERED in what I can only assume is a healthy mix of sea floor and sailor dung.

In all seriousness though, if you plan to head out on the beach at the Bailey Island Bridge, I'd recommend not having a complete disregard for posted signs and closed gates.

The Haul

All in all, we came back with a respectable amount of loot:

As expected, the majority of the pieces we saw were your average brown beer bottles, followed closely by green. We did, however, fish up some nice pieces of ceramic, terracotta, and porcelain. We found that it was a bit tough to spot pieces, as much of the area was heavily covered with barnacles and shell fragments.

Notable Finds

Amongst the run-of-the-mill sea glass, there were a number of pieces that stood out to us, either for their color qualities or distinctive markings. Those with traces of markings required some detective work on our behalf to discern their origins.

This was the only piece of glass we found that was not brown, green, or clear. Colored glass like this is often rarer to find washed up on beaches, simply because people don't tend to toss out decorative glassware like they do empty bottles.

 This one stood out from the rest of the green glass due to it's clear markings. The logo says "Bottled At The Spring", with a stylized "GS" in the center. Operating under the assumption that this once held bottled water, we found only two spring water companies with the initials "GS": Grand Springs in Virginia, and Giant Springs in Montana.

Thanks to Clorox's handy Historical Bottle Guide, we were able to place this fragment as belonging to a cork-top bottle of Clorox bleach from 1929 - 1930. Another shot of the whole bottle fragment can be seen here.

This is roughly a fourth of what was once a decorative glass bowl. This took quite a bit of digging to identify, but we concluded that it is American Depression-era yellow glass, produced by the Federal Glass Company from 1933 to 1937. This piece showcases a "Spoke" pattern, also known as a "Patrician" style. Technically, this is amber-colored glass, and was marketed as "Golden Glo". Depression-era glass is highly collectible today.

 This one is a surprisingly large piece of a milk glass egg cup. It's hard to place what time period this is truly from, as these type of pieces have been produced continuously (and with little variation) since the 1600's. Our best guess is this particular piece is from the 1920's or 30's.

 Here's another example of milk glass, this time in a shade of seafoam green. If I had to wager, I'd say this was the bottom of a bowl.

This one was interesting for a couple of reasons. Firstly, notice the large flat ridge just above the protruding lip, along with the rounded top. This indicated that it was a cork-top bottle. Second, the bottom of the piece shows that the midsection of the bottle had many flat surfaces, all topped with a semicircular arch (a closer shot of this here). This design suggests that it may have been a glass ketchup bottle, though the evidence of a cork-top suggests otherwise.

 Though it's a bit hard to make out in the photo, this piece has distinct measurements tics running along its length, with what appears to be the word "meters". Our research concluded that this is either a remnant of a glass baby bottle, medicine bottle, or some manner of scientific flask. We think it would have said "millimeters".

This is an example of olive green sea glass, a color that is rated somewhere between uncommon and rare.

 Here we have an example of red bone china, probably made in England around the 19th or 20th century. The pattern along the edge of the piece is indicative of what is known as the "Blue Willow" pattern.

We wanted to include this shot because many people will overlook pieces of terracotta like this because they have mistakenly assumed them to be simply brick fragments.

This is a very large piece, roughly the size of a dinner plate. Thanks to a very distinct maker's mark on the bottom of the piece, we identified it as the base of a storage jar manufactured between 1902 and 1956 by the Hazel Atlas Company. This jar had a metal lid, and was most likely used in penny candy stores and kitchens.

Finally, we have a textured piece with the word "PURITAN" repeated along the bottom. Not much came up in our search for this one, but our best guess is it was made by the Puritan water bottling company, founded in the 1970's and served areas in Iowa and Arkansas.






Wrap-Up

Without a doubt, we considered this excursion a resounding success. We'll be keeping the Bailey Island area on our radar for future visits, and suggest you take a trip out there as well, if only to take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the Maine coast at it's finest.