WWII Relic Hunting in Saipan Update

Dear Friends, Family, & Readers,

As I get closer and closer to leaving Saipan, I have been busier than ever looking for relics and having fun digging in the jungle.  Today is an update for you of some of my exploits and research for those interested in collecting, want to try a new hobby, or simply like history and investigative blogging.  These pictures were taken all over Saipan, but as usual I will let them do the talking.  One unfortunate thing that did happen recently is that many of the coke bottles I sent back wrapped still managed to break in the USPS... I wish the mail would take better care of my find.  I guess in the future I will have to double wrap bottles... ugh.  On a happier note, don't forget to click on the image for a bigger picture.

These are only some of the hundreds of bottles that I see at this one point along Obyan Beach. I decided it might make for a cool picture if I were to show the amount of beer American forces drank and disposed in just one part. There were hundreds more along this small section of shoreline I didn't pick up.  If any one would like to hike with me to this point and get dirty doing so feel free to facebook message me and you can come along.  It might be just above the place some call "Boy Scout."

This is a picture of a Japanese Cache I found along Obyan. I only took two of the bottles because I didn't want to carry too much weight. If anyone wants the other 3 feel free to come with me and I will take you there.  There were 4 or five other bottles that were broken due to rain and falling down the cliff.   

A=  Armstrong Cork Company Bottle that may have contained Lysol for disinfection during the war.  Most bottles I can find online, however, say that such bottles were amber colored.  I could not find much more information on this bottle since it is clear...

B= Wild Root Hair Tonic Bottle.  This company was originally locally owned and operated in Buffalo, New York during the war.  I imagine that during this time the company grew too large for its britches and was sold to Colgate/Palmolive Co. for $10.5 million.  A website article on this company can be found on:
http://www.forgottenbuffalo.com/forgottenbuffalolost/wildrootfactory.html

C= Standing at 11 ½ inches tall this bottle was made by the Kirin Beer Company of  Japan. It is identified by the mark that has a vertical line with a sideways lower case “m” with a “V” superimposed over it.  You can kind of see the mark in the picture.  This online article was very helpful to me in my research:
http://sfu.academia.edu/DouglasRoss/Papers/154927/Identification_and_Dating_of_Japanese_Glass_Beverage_Bottles

D= This is what I believe to be the biggest sake bottle I’ve found on Saipan as it stands just under 16 inches tall. It held 1800ml of liquid and has two identification marks on it, neither of which I was able to find online as of yet, but will continue to try and find out its origins at some point.   What I did learn from reading a graduate thesis about Sake is that during the war rice and those need for brewing Sake were in short supply. The serving style changed and no longer did they use a tokkuri (a large clay flask) to serve warm sake, but rather added ethyl alcohol to sake because of the rice shortage and started putting the liquid in large glass bottles. This occurred during the “Showa Period” 1926-1989.  The blue color of the bottles may be related to the fact that Sake traditionally has many spiritual links. One such link is to the mythological creature the “Kappa” which is a water spirit.  Perhaps the blue is meant to symbolize water or even various other Shinto spirits.  This graduate thesis was a big help to me in understanding sake in the Japanese culture:
http://www.well.com/~pyarrow/tokyo/thesis05.pdf 

E= 1-Way Beverages, American Amber Beer Bottle 10 ½ inches tall with stamps on the bottom 3A 2765 GK  Duraglas

F=Might be a WWI canteen.  I found this canteen in the jungle of Saipan along with another that was missing the top.  This one has only one small hole in the side and no cap.  I believe it is WWI because there is no ridge going around the center of the canteen.  During the war, many troops did not have adequate gear and were using things from WWI until the arms industry kicked into gear (literally hahaha).  If it is not an American Canteen it may be Japanese.  I say that it might be Japanese only because the threads on this canteen appear on the outside unlike the example G Canteen below, of which I am certain is American.  I still hold to my gut feeling though that this is a WWI canteen because from what I have seen Japanese canteens were mainly corked and not threaded.

G=This canteen was gifted to me by a friend on the island and is in better condition in that it does not have any holes, but is missing the cap.  This is a WWII infantry canteen.  The ridge exists because during the war they would fit into a nice metal holster that troops could tie to just about anything in case their carrying pouch broke.  I suppose they could have even eaten out of the holster as it would have made a good soup container.   I’ve heard on documentaries that troops even used helmets to cook food sometimes among other uses.

H= This is a hair/scalp product bottle I found in the jungle that is from 1936, but was used throughout the war.
Lucky Tiger MFG  Co. is still in existence today in Kansas City, MO.   A funny ad from the period is shown on this link below and matches the bottle description.  The ad was shown on pg. 55 of Liberty Magazine in 1936.  The bottle changed shape in the 1950’s.    
http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/show-picture?id=1191891856&size=FULL

I hope you enjoy my history lesson and can share in the joy of relic hunting.  Saipan Time is also Guam time: