late 19th century north side chicago dumpsite yields hundreds of largely intact bottles

rose's product was advertised to contain nearly five pounds of fresh, lean beef in the form of a heavy syrup, priced at one dollar per pound. preston b. rose moved to chicago, where he used his chemistry knowledge to concoct a new health elixir, that was advertised in physician and surgeon magazine as early as 1885. in 1886, he filed another patent for a "food compound," that salvaged nutritional value from the waste water in meat rendering tanks that produced lard, tallow or other fats. in the 1890's peptonized beef was mixed with ale by another manufacturer as a medicinal food product said to contain concentrated nutritional elements.

the jobsite was strictly an excavation, so there was little reason for me to make a visit and document a partially exposed limestone foundation and piles of dirt. in fact, i had no idea what stood on the site until i began doing research. i quickly made my way to the site after a giant "pocket" of bottles were being pulled from the ground.

chicago maps from the 1880's offered "snapshots" with little to no development. it wasn't until the turn of the century that commercial building first appeared on the site. meanwhile, the pocket containing bottles and household refuse began to multiply with every additional scoop as the lot was further excavated.

with my interest fully peaked, i reviewed the maps again and sure enough, several wood and brick houses dotted the surrounding area, which likely meant this was a site that was meant to both dump and/or burn trash dating from the late 1880's to the early 1890's.

note: the dig is ongoing, so additional updates with further artifacts and insights will be posted soon.