Old dumps in Alabama and Northern Florida

Sorry if this might be a little off topic but I'm a beer can collector and go out looking for old dumps. My friends and I are about to travel to Alabama and look for some old areas and was hoping somebody from the board might be able to point us in some good areas where we might be able to find some really old (pre-1960s) types of dumps that might yield some treasured beer cans. We'd kill to find some good old bar dumps.
We would also be interested in any leads in Florida. There are some really good areas in the Ocala area.

Hope to hear back from fellow board members. Thanks.



Keith

You can contact the county or city planner and they have maps showing where old Dumps are.
You may have to get a permit to dig on them.
You can lease some sites if you explain what you are looking for.But you must leave it as a undisturbed site when you are done.
Mr. Herbert M. Rogers Sr
Rogers Service Group
Scrap removal services Central Alabama

If you have to dig up cans are they not rusted so bad from being in the ground since before 1960? I'm not knocking your search just wondering about how many you find in the ground like that since they have been rusting for 50+ years.

Originally Posted by Craasher

If you have to dig up cans are they not rusted so bad from being in the ground since before 1960? I'm not knocking your search just wondering about how many you find in the ground like that since they have been rusting for 50+ years.

Aren't Beer Cans aluminum?

Keithker....I do know a place. There was an old 50's bar still in operation in the late 80's that allowed me to dig in their can pile. It was huge and in a gully behind the bar. The cans were already pretty rusty then, but I didn't get down too deep. Now the problem is remembering exactly where it was. I know it's between Auburn and Opelika and named the Jax or Jazz bar.

Craasher...I can answer that question for you. A high percentage are rusted beyond repair like you would think, but if you dig long enough, you'll come up with some amazingly preserved cans. I always check old paint cans with the lid still on them. There have been several that had nicely preserved beer or soda cans inside from the early 60's. Some of the beer cans are so rare that even rusted ones are collectable and I've spent some time with a nice turtle wax polish getting surface rust off. Oh, and a pushrod from an old Chevy engine is great for removing dents pushing from the inside.

Kochy....now they are, but in the 60's they were steel. They also used to be can opener topped or "flat tops" with no pull tab. The pull tabs came out late 60's as a steel can with an aluminum top. There were even some Schlitz "soft top" aluminum topped steel that were easy to punch with a can opener.

Normal waste dumps won't let you dig around in them, especially if they are old and capped (full and closed). Lots of methane comes out of them, some are even drilled for gas.

Have you ever seen the TV show Pickers? A couple guys travel around farmland looking for old barns with junk in them (hoarders) to buy stuff (like old signs). Watching the show it seems like there are lots of old beer cans sitting around there.

Craasher......you would be surprised at what the dirt can do to preserve the cans some and then oxalic acid (wood bleach) will clean them off. I'd insert an image of two pre-WW2 cans I dug up in the Catskills a few weeks ago but don't know how here since they are not on a url page. The acid does wonders for cleaning off the surface rust and not the paint.

Here are photos of the cans. Now remember these have been buried since at least 1939-1942......