Bay Harbour: April 13, 2022

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Bay Harbour News Wednesday April 13 2022 4 NEWS Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz Collector’s hunt for rare bottles COLLECTOR: Josh Svensson with a rare blue soda syphon and a Christmas tree oil bottle. • By Kristie Boland ONE MAN’S rubbish has turned out to be another man’s fortune. Twenty years of digging, hours of research and a keen eye for the uniqueness of an old glass bottle has ensured a comfortable retirement fund for Josh Svensson. What started as a competition among young brothers to find the best glass bottle turned into a collection of over a thousand glass bottles, a lot of which were found in Lyttelton. Svensson is an antique glass bottle collector who specialises in bottles from Lyttelton. “Some one called me a hoarder,” said Svensson. But with a collection worth more than $80,000, most would agree it’s a hobby worth having. “My brother-in-law used to collect them in the 80s. One day when I was 12 he took me and my brothers out fossicking. We crawled under an old house and found some old bottles,” Svensson SAID. From then, he was hooked. “It became a competition between my brothers and myself of who can find the coolest bottles,” he said. The competition went on for years. One of Svensson’s brothers decided to sell up a few years ago and used the money made A selection of New Zealand fizzy drink bottles. Known as the torpedo bottle from the 1850s-1900 from selling his collection to put towards a deposit on a house. Svensson is in the lower age demographic of bottle collectors in New Zealand, he said there is about 200-300 across the country, 30 or so in Christchurch. Before recycling and bottle collection was a thing, people used to dig holes in their backyards to dispose of rubbish they could not burn, like glass bottles. “People used to just throw them away, out of sight out of mind if they were too lazy to dig a hole,” said Svensson. Lyttelton was once home to multiple different soft drink manufacturers including brands such as JF Wyatt, NC Schumacher, and R Milsom. The glass bottles were made in England and filled in New Zealand. public meeting Wednesday, 20 April 2022 at 7.30pm Refreshments from 7.15pm FREE – no need to book Ample carparking Agenda: • Julia Palmer reports on a 3 month invertebrate population study in Charlesworth Reserve • Outline of a 3-year Pest control project on the estuary edge • Update on all five wetland restoration projects coordinated by the Trust • From the floor; issues, comments, questions Mt Pleasant Community Centre 3 McCormacks Bay Road, Mt Pleasant
Wednesday April 13 2022 Bay Harbour News Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz NEWS 5 a corker idea Svensson has spent hours online researching old newspapers, old maps and spent time down at the museum. He previously lived in Charteris Bay where he would jump in the water at low tide in the mud flats and hunt for his treasure. “Often when the boats used to come in back in the day they would empty their bottles off the side into the water, some stuck around in the mud flats,” he said. Svensson has a metal probe that he uses to poke into the ground and determine if there is clay or dirt that’s never been touched, “If it goes down easy and hits a glass item you know someone has dug a hole there before,” he said. But it’s not just glass bottles Svensson has found while digging, he has come across bones, old false teeth and even a toilet seat. “Once we were digging a hole then eventually realised it might have been an old long drop, but thankfully after a hundred odd years there wasn’t a lot of crap left there,” said Svensson. Fossicking for glass bottles was a popular thing to do back in the 70s Svensson said but there is now strict rules around it. “Anything pre-1900s is no go, it’s an archaeologist’s domain.” “Often if there’s a new building Stoneware ginger beer bottles from 1890 to 1930. site and when diggers are in they might come across a dumping site, then you’ve got a limited opportunity, they’ll give you a call and they’re often happy to get a box of beers in return for some empties,” said Svensson. There are Facebook groups where collectors share their prized collection. Kiwi Auction has auctions every year online and also at a national bottle show. It takes more than just a keen eye to figure out what bottles are of value. Some are worth $5, some $15,000. “You have to know about it so it takes years of experience to figure out what’s what,” Svensson said. Svensson has about 1000 bottles in his collection now, he has found half of them and the other half he has bought. During the 20 years he has been collecting, Svensson added up he’d spent about 40k on the collection, the most expensive being $1000 for a single bottle. “I see it as an investment. I enjoy collecting the bottles but just the history behind it as well, I’m just a fan of history in general.” Svensson worked out last year his collection is valued at more than 80k. “Not bad for a bit of rubbish aye,” he said. REBUILD: Trust patron Simon Mortlock signing the contract with Martin Thompson from LMA Timber and Adrian Block from HEB Construction. Planks can be sponsored • From page 1 The jetty was previously owned by the city council but it has been closed since a post-earthquake engineering inspection in 2011 found it was unsafe. Further assessment in 2014 identified a number of problems and found rebuilding the jetty would be more viable than repairs. The trust took over ownership of the jetty from the city council in November 2019 after the city council decided to sell it to the trust for $1. The trust suggested the move after hearing the city council had no plans to repair the jetty. Once it is fixed, the 150-yearold jetty will be sold back to the city council for $1. The trust has now finalised the full contract with HEB Construction. Part of the tender negotiations were that the trust would purchase the hardwood timber from Australia directly which saved on some margin. The trust is also working with Martin Thompson at LMA Timber, a local timber importer. An order for the piles was made in a week ago and is due to arrive in Lyttelton in August. The expected completion date is late February next year. “I live in Governors Bay so its pretty cool to think this time next year we’ll be walking on the jetty and jetty jumping,” Miller said. Miller said that if they get all the planks for the jetty sponsored then their fundraising will be complete. Anyone can sponsor a plank. • Go to: https://www. savethejetty.org/how-youcan-help for more info Sharon Ara graduate Have recent events thrown you a curve ball? Do you need to build on your existing skills, or gain entirely new ones? At Ara we can help - with career and employment advice, short upskilling courses, career-focused study options and ways to translate your years of experience into a formal qualification. Whatever your circumstances, we have solutions that can give you an advantage. Talk to us today about how we can help you move ahead with confidence. 0800 24 24 76 | ara.ac.nz
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Bay Harbour: April 13, 2022

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