There is an old adage that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Some ordinary household items, carelessly discarded in the past, are now considered collectibles.

Everything from old medicine, soda and beer bottles to vintage canning jars are sought after by collectors and some, depending upon rarity, may actually be quite valuable.

While I don’t consider myself an avid bottle hunter, I’ve managed to accumulate a small collection since childhood and was quite surprised to discover the value of some of the things I’d just put away and forgotten about.

My interest in vintage bottles was influenced by my grandmother. One of my most vivid recollections of childhood visits to her house was her front window. Set amongst her potted geraniums were numerous bottles of different sizes and shapes. Sitting on the sunny windowsill, their original colour deepening to a rich amethyst, they looked more like treasure than ordinary glass.

More intriguing than those bottles, however, was the bottle room. This was kept locked and my brother and I were permitted inside only on rare occasions when we were allowed to look but not touch the hundreds of bottles she kept on shelves. The best bottles were kept in that room but my grandmother had spread a couple of hundred more out on top of the woodshed roof to encourage the glass to turn colour. Other less desirable bottles were discarded in a depression in the ground near the guest cabin.
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