This past week I had the opportunity to Scuba Dive up in New Jersey with my Instructor and friend Chet at a favorite dive site in the Atlantic Highlands of New Jersey. We have been diving this river for 15+ years and continue to find bottles from the 1850's era and this was an interesting find....
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We had very poor visibility underwater 18-24" and at 20 feet down it was almost total darkness. many of the bottles found in this area are "encrusted" with marine growth such as sponge, etc. and while searching I came along this bottle covered with growth. As I moved it I felt the shape of a bottle so took a look. At first I saw the color and then cleaned off the neck to see the "blob" top which told me it was old. But the length was very short so I expected it to be a broken bottle like many we find in this area. (many people would throw broken bottles in the water to get rid of them) I then found that it appeared to be intact so kept it to look at it on the surface....
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Turns out this is a bottle from "W.W. Parrish Jersey City N.J." and has "Porter and Ale" on the backside. It is 6-1/2" tall and no chips or cracks with little sand scratches. It is from the 1860 period (civil war era) and called a "Pony" bottle.......
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