During the archaeological investigation of the Emeryville
shellmound, an historic trash dump containing a large number of bottles, drinking glasses,
drinking mugs, and rifle cartridge casings was encountered in the excavation units along
the western edge of the site. Clearly, items of this sort were not associated with the
Native Americans known to have occupied the site so many centuries ago.
These bottles, mugs and cartridge casings were the discards
of Shell Mound Park, the Emeryville "pleasure resort" or "picnic grounds" first established in 1876
as a 200-yard rifle range. In the period from 1876 to the park's closing in 1924,
numerous rifle ranges, a pistol range, shooting gallery, dance pavilions, amusement facilities, and related restaurants and bars were added to the park.
The vast majority of bottles recovered from the site
contained beverages. The amber-brown whiskey bottle
was common. Other common bottles included the equally
classic aqua soda bottle, some of which were identified by embossing to have contained ginger ale.
Whether the examples described in the following paragraphs represent goods purchased
at the park or brought by visitors has not been determined. Given the number of bars and
restaurants at the park they are assumed to represent disposable packaging of goods sold
at the park.
Among the whiskey and rye bottles a number of examples
were embossed with the names of local distributors and agents, such as "SIEBE BROS. & PLAGEMANN. S.F.
ROSEDALE OK WHISKEY SOLE AGENTS," manufactured in San Francisco between 1891 and 1907
"PEERLESS BOURBON/WOLF, WREDEN AND CO. SOLE AGENTS SAN
FRANCISCO," a partnership between 1891 and 1898 and "OLD CAMPE RYE," a product of
Henry Campe & Co., manufactured between 1906 and 1915. Even
more specific as to origin, and clearly indicating use of the park by San Francisco residents, are
whiskey flasks with embossing such as "B.F. Jellison WINES AND LIQUORS 10
-3rd
STREET NEXT TO THE CALL BUILDING S.F.," (ca. 1896 - 1900), and "N. AHRENS MARKET
AND STEUART STS GOODS AS REPRESENTED." N. Ahrens is listed at 2 Market in the 1903 to 1906 Directory
of Liquors compiled by Eric McQuire. A similar bottle places Nicolaus Ahrens at 19 Market, corner of Steuart
Street between 1890 and 1892.
A single bottle is embossed "J. H. Cutter Old
Bourbon". This was bottled and distributed by A.P Hotaling of San
Francisco, and represents the local distribution of bourbon manufactured in Louisville, Kentucky, the proverbial
"Kentucky Bourbon."
A bottle embossed with an eagle surrounded by the words
"RASPILLER BREWING CO. WEST BERKELEY provides an example of locally brewed beer. Joseph
Raspiller, a emigre from France, established the Raspiller Brewery in Berkeley in 1881. In 1900 the
brewery's name was changed to the American Brewing Co.; thus it appears that the bottle
dates between 1881 and 1900. Additional local breweries represented by examples of
embossed bottles include the "ENTERPRISE BREWING CO. - S.F. CAL" and the
"AHRENS BOTTLING CO OAKLAND CA." The single example of a bottle thought to
contain brandy is embossed "EAGLE VINEYARD WM. GOLDMAN PROP. S.F.",
probably manufactured between 1910 and 1918.
By far the greatest number of bottles encountered in the
excavations contained non-alcoholic beverages, particularly soda water. San Francisco and the Bay Area are well
represented among the bottlers and manufacturers of soda water, a popular late nineteenth
century beverage. A list of the manufacturers and dates of manufacture of bottles found
at the site reads like a late nineteenth century business directory: "AMERICAN SODA
WORKS S.F."; "BAY CITY SODA WATER CO. SAN FRANCISCO," (1871-1880); "BREIG & SCHAFER, S.F."
(1879-1890);
"C.A. REINERS & CO 723 TURK ST S.F.," (1875-1882); "EUREKA SODA WORKS";
"JACKSON'S NAPA SODA SPRINGS NATURAL MINERAL WATER" (1873-1885); "LIBERTY SODA
WORKS DMV S.F.;" "OAKLAND PIONEER SODA WATER CO"; and "PIONEER SODA WORKS
S.F." (1877-1896). The ginger ale bottles found at the park, are embossed
"BELFAST
GINGER ALE CO. S.F." and were manufactured between 1878 and 1915. The range of
dates represented by the manufacture of these bottles is consistent with the late
19th early 20th century operation of the park, that is, the 1870's through the first two
decades of the 1900's.
That only a few bottles that contained foodstuffs were
recovered appears consistent with turn of the century bottling practices. The food prepared at the restaurants of the park
generally would have been obtained in bulk rather than in individual containers. Other
foods commonly were sold fresh or dried in bulk, in barrels, kegs, or sacks. A large portion
of the foodstuffs packaged commercially at the turn of the century consisted of
condiments and pickled goods. Representing those types of goods were a bottle
embossed "PACIFIC COAST SYRUP CO. S.F. CAL," and a portion of another with
remnants of the embossing that read "VESTEY'S JAMS AND JELLIES ARE PURE."
Zumwalt notes that the Pacific Coast Syrup Co. registered a trademark for grapes in
1890, and was known to have offices at Hathway's Wharf in 1891. Zumwalt
indicates that the Vestey's container may have been an import.
In addition to the bottles, also of interest is the
associated bar glassware recovered from the same
deposit. Apparently the Shell Mound Park bars served the liquors from the bottles described above in a variety of shot
glasses. However, the presence of a variety of mugs, including many with the etching
"Stolen from Shellmound
Park," and the relative scarcity of beer bottles, strongly suggests that beer was obtained in
barrels from local breweries and served on tap.
At the turn of the century, as today, bars and saloons,
commonly served beer on tap rather than in individual bottles. By 1890, the major breweries began to bottle their
own beer, but until that time beer "bottlers" obtained concessions to package beer from several
breweries. The beer bottles described above are examples of that
practice and may have been brought to the park rather than purchased there.
Also found in the trash dump among the bottles and
glassware were thousands of 22 caliber cartridge casings (neck diameter .224", case length .420"). These commonly
are referred to as the 22 CB Cap, or "Conical Bullet Cap." Barnes describes this cartridge as
"...a more powerful version of the BB Cap. Earliest catalog reference appears
about 1888, although it probably originated prior to this. American companies
loaded it up to 1942, but it has been discontinued since the end of World War II "
(1969:273).
The BB Cap, or rimfire bulleted breech cap, originated in
1845 for the Flobert indoor target rifle. The Flobert, known as a saloon or parlor rifle, was quite popular through the
turn of the century. The headstamps (manufacturer's identifying markings on the base of
the cartridge casing) of the examples recovered from the Shell Mound Park deposit were
either "U" of the Union Metallic Cartridge Company, or "US" of the United States
Cartridge Company. These markings confirm the cartridges as American products, but are
not useful in refining the dates of manufacture or periods of use. However, it is almost
certain that these were used in the Park's shooting galleries in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.
The location of the trash accumulation found in
1999 has been added in red to a portion of a 1903 Sanborn Fire
Insurance Map, which depicts the Park's built environment in the vicinity of the dump. The
trash deposit was located approximately 60 feet northwest of the mapped location of a bar at the west end of
a dance pavilion and stage, and 35 feet to the rear of a structure labeled "SHOOTING
GALLERY." This area, inside the fence line along the western boundary of the park,
was immediately adjacent to the mud flat of the bay shore and would have been easily
accessible for periodic trash dumping during the operation of the park.
While the accumulation of discarded
bottles, broken glassware, and spent cartridges are not informative as to
specific dates or events that might have taken place at Shell Mound Park, it provides by implication an image of
recreation and amusement at the turn of the century. A detailed historic account of the Park is provided in Sandra
Sher's informative article, "Shell Mound Park."
