reconstructing chicago's past by unearthing everyday objects left behind

the small collection of bottles featured in this entry were recently found scattered on an interlocking pine wood floor of a privy pit exposed during the excavation of a west town chicago city lot that days earlier had been occupied by a wood-framed workers cottage - a building that remained largely unaltered since its construction in 1889. when the cottage was handed its death sentence, the ominous green fence quickly appeared in advance of the wrecking machine. the following day, the cottage was razed and hauled away to the landfill.

not all was lost, however, and the excavation turned up a privy pit with bottles, several fragments, and other household artifacts that were recorded "in situ" and then photographed in my studio after being lightly cleaned. looking over the forgotten remnants, i cannot help but think about the day to day life of the chiagoans who resided in the cottage during the late 19th and early 20th century (the approximate time period the bottles were made and used).

the small assortment of glass represent a cross-section of products commonly found in households across chicago, including, but not limited to: "medicinals" for a wide array of ailments, an unusual and heavily embossed "utility" or food jar likely used for storing capers or olives, and self-medicating concoctions in the form of beer and hard liquor (the latter was stored in the amber-colored flask with ring lip). additional bottles and/or identifiable fragments found at the site held contents used for polishing potbelly stoves, storing pepper sauces and pickles, and consuming carbonated soda and mineral water.

recording unearthed refuse left by chicagoans from the past is a critical factor in "connecting" with the occupants that once lived in the workers cottage long ago. the collection of artifacts i pulled from the ground not only provide tangible evidence of their existence, but shed some light on the way of life a century ago. no matter how many artifacts are found, i consider it an obligation to bring their long-forgotten narrative back to life.