Share your favorites on Show & Tell

Pavers (We don't have a section for 'em?)

In Tools and Hardware > Show & Tell and Advertising > Show & Tell.
Tools and Hardware5718 of 9815USAF or RAF Bomber Escape Axe?Original WW2 Japanese Tokyo Arsenal Bayonet with Sheath
6
Love it
0
Like it

SEAN68SEAN68 loves this.
CelieneCeliene loves this.
gargoylecollectorgargoylecollector loves this.
blunderbuss2blunderbuss2 loves this.
officialfuelofficialfuel loves this.
ho2cultchaho2cultcha loves this.
See 4 more
Add to collection

    Please create an account, or Log in here

    If you don't have an account, create one here.


    Create a Show & TellReport as inappropriate


    Posted 9 years ago

    SpiritBear
    (813 items)

    I dig these all the time. Not all in the photos do I still have, as I also sell them, but after I think 35 I stopped cataloging them (I catalog everything I dig.)
    It used to be that I could bring only 2 home in my damaged backpack, plus other finds.
    Then I got baskets on my bicycle, thus bringing it up to 4 for the baskets.
    Then I bought a car, so it kind of went to dozens if I desired (as seen in last pic.) LOL

    Why I put these in both railroadiana and advertising is because any train-station from the Victorian era to early 1900s should have pavers. It's just that they rarely let the side advertising the brand be seen. But, flip the large pavers (not small) over, and you'll likely see these,
    They covered city streets-- the important main roads. Carriages crossed these, early automotives too. Children skipped along these as horses trampled over.

    Now, they're found dumped in woods, in water, found in industrial filling, but most easily found in old train-stations.
    Pavers are still made, but rarely debossed (sunken-in lettering) or embossed (raised-up lettering.)

    These photographed are from the "Golden Age" of pavers, the 1890s to 1910s. There are countless companies that put them out, and even more variants. The fact that many bricks are also debossed can confuse people who know little on these, but those are also collectible.

    If you're a digger and stumble along these, don't throw them out. People tried using them to "compact" garbage in outhouses, so you may find these even in privies. They're collectible, but shipping is costly so they aren't usually worth much for online auctions.
    Still, $5 per paver is a good price for one in good condition with words all over its front. Ones with images can be even better, although just a simple star is questionable.

    Sadly, most of these will be mortared-over, and that can be difficult to clear off without damaging the paver.

    logo
    Tools and Hardware
    See all
    17
    17" Valley Pro AMERICAN HICKORY Woo...
    $32
    9pcs Keys BIG Large Antique Vintage old Brass Skeleton Lot for DIY Making Lock
    9pcs Keys BIG Large Antique Vintage...
    $8
    WORKSITE WT3940 Woodworking Jack Plane Hand Planer Shaver Carpenter Woodcraft
    WORKSITE WT3940 Woodworking Jack Pl...
    $17
    Vintage Antique Solid Brass Bacchus Dionysus Greek God Of Wine Face Door Knocker
    Vintage Antique Solid Brass Bacchus...
    $35
    logo
    17
    17" Valley Pro AMERICAN HICKORY Woo...
    $32
    See all

    Comments

    1. SpiritBear, 9 years ago
      Hah, they moved it.
    2. Celiene Celiene, 9 years ago
      Where do you live SpiritBear? Where is all this prime digging territory?
    3. SpiritBear, 9 years ago
      Stranger danger! Joking. LOL. I'm in historic Muskegon, Michigan.
      You probably won't find this stuff in areas built up after 1930. I started out in the lake, actually. I moved on to hiking through the woods and kicking around anywhere that looked to be promising. I learned how to put a general, if not specific, date on things and went from there.
      Currently there's snow covering the ground, so I'm out of commission for now.
    4. SpiritBear, 9 years ago
      The first pic of two pavers I pulled off Muskegon Avenue when they tore it up and revealed the scattered remains of a few pavers under all that had been over them for God knows how long.
      The first and last paver in pic two, of 3 pavers, I found by a lake on a hill. The central one I found at another lake in the sand.
      The sand was for the one in the next pic, too.
      The others I found when digging into the ground in an area of forest with the foundation to an old building still there. Same goes for the cans, which can be cleaned, and bottle.



    5. Celiene Celiene, 9 years ago
      That's like out here in Gold Country. California hasn't much really old history. Gold country you find all kinds of stuff around old gold camps & logging camps etc.
    6. SpiritBear, 9 years ago
      California is quite old. It's just that progress saw quite a bit of it get buried, and the rest is hidden.
      There are a lot of people who live out there and dig/collect Californian history.
    7. AzTom AzTom, 9 years ago
      Being from Ohio, I like that Buckeye one. I have two old brick molds I'll have to post.
    8. SpiritBear, 9 years ago
      The really nice Buckeye Block went as a gag gift to our Church's former pastor Wally as "Mom's holiday fruit-cake" wrapped in pretty paper. He loves the Ohio Buckeyes.

    Want to post a comment?

    Create an account or login in order to post a comment.