tvanwho said:
how do you find these old picnic spots exactly?
Like Harold, I have also enjoyed tracking down as many old-use sites as I can, and often have found them to be 'less-hunted' than the typical urban Coin Hunting spots, and even ignored more than most well publicized ghost towns, pioneer or military activity areas, mining and logging camps, etc. I have had to 'adjust' my four primary sources of information to research, and those were:
• Antique Books
• Antique Photos
• Antique Maps
• Antique People.
The use of the word "Antique" refers to sources that were old and, quite often, Out-of-Print or, sadly, Out-of-Use or Gone. I remember talking with folks at Senior Centers or other gathering places where the older folks used to get-together. I'd also take advantage of my detecting activities in select locations to let them spark some conversation. Noting locations where older people often took a walk, cane in hand and moving slowly, I would busy myself detecting for clos close to the sidewalks or bench areas. Never putting my back to them and getting their attention as to what I was doing.
That often brought up some questions about what it was I was doing, or for those who knew they would ask if I was finding anything interesting. I'd pause, remove my headphones as I looked up to respond, and [size=small]
(like a good salesman
)[/size] I would greet them with a simple
"Hello" and change the conversation [size=small]
(briefly)[/size] by asking something like
"How are you today?" What did I just accomplish?
I didn't ignore them. Instead I removed my headphones to be attentive, I greeted them, and then I asked THEM a question to show interest in them and how things were with them. Remember, many older people are often ignored by younger family members, and if that was the case with the person I saw strolling my direction, I just showed an interest in them .... and usually they liked that.
I'd give them some attention when they explained their different ailments, or that they were tired, or maybe they were doing OK and enjoying the nice weather, regardless of the season, and I'd add some short response to them --- and THEN I would indirectly answer their question.
I mean, I just supplied the opportunity for them to say something to get my attention,
and theirs, so I would often respond about how I was doing. Usually it might be something like:
"I'm not doing too bad, just finding a few modern coins here and there." Now, if I had found an Indian Head Penny, Buffalo Nickel, or some older, early-era coin then I'd pull it out to show them ... and put excitement in my voice about finding some from "long ago."
That usually lead to talking about
"the good old days" and they loved to reminisce about their younger days and places they used to enjoy going and things-to-do. I'd add to the topics by saying things like I enjoy finding any old dance hall sites, or maybe how I remembered when the circus came to town, or even about how we don't see the evangelists tents going up when they worked their circuit, etc. Just anything of interest about old activities. We would talk about picnic groves or gathering sites for holidays. Winter sledding hills to summer picnics, to old recreation sites and .... the list goes on.
I started my 'visiting' and information gathering from
what was then the "older generation" back in the late '70s and it was a terrific time to get useful information on through the '90s. Even now and then into this century, but,
for the most part, we ran out of "Antique People". Here's how I describe 'Antique People':
"Those who were old enough to have a memory of, and participate in, activities that took place in earlier days when silver coins and other older coins-of-interest were in use."
Example: Here in the USA the Great Depression started the summer of 1929 and kind of officially ended in early 1933, but rough times continued until the late '30s so it was a 10-year era. With the stock market crash in 1929 and the effects on families, jobs, etc., a youngster would have to be at least 10 years old to possibly have a vivid memory about how things were. If you're '10' in 1929 then you were born in 1919. That means today you would be 100 years old. I was running out of sources of Antique People by 1999 when, at that time, they would have been 80 years old, if born in 1919.
When I first started talking about "the early days" with oldsters back in the latter 1970's, most were born from 1900 to about 1920. But many of them were born in the late 1880's to late 1890's and, I can assure you, I got a lot of very useful information about where I lived and many outlying and long out-of-use places that used to see activity since their memories of their youth, 10 years old and older, painted a very colorful picture.
Now, I have a very good memory of my younger life, but I know a lot of folks don't. They have lost their memory, or let's say the clarity of their memory as they have sort of 're-imagined' what things took place in their life. I know that was the case with my mother. Gone now, but in '99 she was 73 years old and I can guarantee you that there were many events from earlier days that she was a bit confused about. During the years of visiting with groups of older people I had to keep up on my learned skills of how to 'read' people and separate fact from fiction or even some of the imagined events I heard.
But not everyone has a loss of memory and even though they might have a little sluggish time recalling details of that period long-ago, they often enjoyed it when they did remember things and it kind of made them feel good about being able to remember stuff. So good, in fact, that they would even spend some of their lonesome time trying to recall more about things from 'back when' and even make notes for me.
I also noted that many of them didn't have any children close by, or at least none who visited them or paid any attention to them, and that kind of made them feel good that some young fella [size=small]
(well, at least I was younger back then)[/size] would show an interest in them and the events of their earlier life.
Thus, along with direct info from older people, I have relied on older books and personal journals, I watch for any old photos I can, and I use maps. The older the map the better, too. I find old maps at yards sales and second-hand stores, and although they are getting more and more difficult to come by, those that dates from the '60s on back are always of interest to me. After that I started seeing many old names and places being changed or removed from maps. I'd glance through a newer BLM or USFS map and notice than quite a few older names and places had been removed from the newer printings
tvanwho said:
we have numerous towns with the word Grove in them but they are all built up?
ditto for dance halls?
Yes, many Picnic Groves, Dance Halls, Recreation or Resort Sites, Hunting Lodges, Fishing Lodges, or other places where folks met for religious gatherings, holidays, etc., can still be found. Unfortunately, many have been built-over or otherwise destroyed due to 'progress' but some are still findable. Street names or neighborhood names can be a hint. Remember, too, that names can be changed so I am always alert for any old photo or map that gives that information, and I keep notes as I read through old books. I have enjoyed using library resources, be it a city or country library or one associated with a college or university. And I always inquire about a 'special collections' room or area where books and personal histories or journals are kept in a Reference Section to not be checked out. Winter is coming and that can make a great time to do research and take notes to be ready to get out and find newer places to search when spring rolls around.
tvanwho said:
How do you hunt around them?
First, we have to determine if any of these places are on public property you can easily access, or if they are on private property and we need to secure permission. Otherwise, once on any site like those mentioned, or perhaps where an old school or church used to be, etc., I use the best detector and coil combinations I have and can trust, then I work any site slowly and methodically, often with a smaller-size coil. I gather all the patience I can to cover the entire site, methodically.. Work in and around trees and brush, old building rubble, and I never rely on visual TID. Just a very low Discrimination level and go after all repeatable audio responses.
Ooops! Sorry to ramble. Time to get ready for some researching of my own since the season is upon us.
Monte
