Fitch's Green Bottle

As I may have mentioned, occupants of my house over the years were in the habit of tossing garbage out just beyond the backyard, so when I'm working out there I tend to find little treasures like broken bits of teacups, shards of glass, plastic miniature billiard balls, squeezed-out tubes of toothpaste, etc. Here's what I found yesterday:


(Click on images to enlarge)

On the bottom is stamped "Fitch's."



A little internet research suggests that this bottle held some kind of hair-care product, invented by Frederick W. Fitch of Iowa, whose products were widely used for several decades in the first half of the 20th century.

I spent some time yesterday trying to get all the dirt and roots out of the bottle, not quite successfully, since the neck opening is small.



I don't know exactly what this bottle held, nor can I date it. It doesn't seem to be particularly valuable.

And that's some backyard archaeology for ya.