Minnesota yards are a gold mine for antique bottle collectors across the state
Minnesota is full of all kinds of collectors. They can grow their collections through flea markets, estate sales and even eBay.
Mark Youngblood built up his old bottle collection by digging down.
"I haven't counted, but over 10,000," he said when asked how many bottles he has in his collection.
Youngblood began bottle hunting when he was 12. Nearly 50 years later, his hobby shows no signs of slowing down. He's even turned his home into a mini museum. In some circles, he's known as the outhouse archaeologist — because that's where he finds his treasure.
Outhouse pits are also called privies and many older homes in Minnesota can have up to a dozen privies buried in their yard, where people once discarded all kinds of trash from doll heads to dentures.
"I had another spot in Brainerd where we dug. We had nine pits in one backyard," said Mark.
The Department of Archaeology said it's against the law to dig on state or federal land without a permit. Even on private property, the practice is discouraged, but it's not illegal.
Youngblood said his team first gets permission from a homeowner and then they make sure there are no lines in the ground before they dig slowly — by hand. Even then, they work in teams for safety's sake.
"Brainerd has been dug heavy. I've dug St. Paul, Minneapolis. I did a lot of digging in Plainview, Minnesota," Youngblood said.
The passion Younfblood feels in White Bear Lake is shared on the other side of the Twin Cities.
"We are looking for something that no one has ever seen before," Brian Mann said.
Mann has been on outhouse digs, but his collection in Zimmerman has also grown from buying and trading. Over the years he's come across beer, whiskey, soda and even ancient snake oil bottles — magic elixirs which once held a variety of concoctions.
Coming across old newspaper articles, highlighting a century old whiskey or soda company that was only around for a few years. For these collectors, bottles quench their thirst for discovery.
"It's exhilarating," Youngblood said "The thrill of having something that's 125-140 years old."
Youngblood is a frequent guest speaker at historical societies across the state.
He, Mann and other collectors will be taking part in their annual antique bottle show on April 6 at the Knights of Columbus Events Center in Bloomington.
