Later Immigration: The Kodlin Family

Two parts of an organ pull. The one on the left is about 3 cm tall and the other is about 2 cm tall. Coutesy of Coastal Environments, Inc.

After the Cunninghams lost their home to creditors, Ferdinand Kodlin moved in during the spring of 1866. Four years after moving in, the Kodlin family added four children and a live-in domestic servant. A German immigrant, Kodlin ran the largest piano store in New Orleans for over 20 years. His store carried a wide selection of French pianos and many, many other musical instruments. In the 1890s, he retired from running his store and continued to work as a piano tuner and repairman at his home. At some point, someone in the Kodlin household threw these organ pulls into their home’s privy, or outhouse.

These glass bottles were also thrown into the privy by the Kodlins or their guests. After Ferdinand Kodlin’s death in October 1902, his family sold the home in 1906. The new owners rented the property for the next sixty years until it, and all other properties on the block were cleared in 1971.

Many of the bottles at this site were manufactured medicines. These remedies, called patent medicines, are the equivalent of today’s over-the-counter medicines. Like today, they were commonly used and aggressively advertised. Archaeologists found pieces of a Hostetter’s Bitters bottle. These bitters contained small amounts of chincona bark, quinine, colombo and gentian root, and its main ingredients were water and alcohol. These stomach bitters are still manufactured by Hostetter’s and sold as bitters to flavor cocktails.

Cup-bottom molded Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce bottle manufactured from around 1880 to 1900

Consumer's Seltzer and Mineral Water Manufacturing Company bottle

Machine-made Glee-Nol bottle manufactured by the National Syrup Co., of New Orleans.

Reconstructed shards of a cup-bottom molded bottle for Bonkocine at top and Ms. Windlow's Soothing Syrup bottle at bottom.

Courtesy of Coastal Environments, Inc.

Archaeologists found most of a Bonkocine bottle, advertised as a cure-all for venereal disease, claiming to cure it in 1 - 5 days (The Times-Democrat, 1879). Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup bottle manufactured after 1859 was found. Advertisements claimed it calmed small children, cleaned teeth, freshened breath, and relieved constipation. It also contained dangerous amounts of morphine and alcohol. These ingredients were not clearly listed on the bottle because these patent medicines were sold before drug safety laws. In America, food and drug safety laws were enacted in the early 1900s and continue to evolve

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Courtesy New Orleans Item.

Courtesy of Multiple Historic Newspapers.

Courtesy of Times-Democrat, 1879.

Historical advertisements for "medicinal" treatments.

Illustrated colorful postcard showing a woman with two children in bed, reading a newspaper that states, "Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup for Children Teething." On nightstand is a bottle of Soothing Syrup and an opened package presumably also medicine by same. Small text in bottom right reads, "M.M. & O. LITH. NY". Courtesy of Digital Commonwealth.
Advertisement for Bonkocine, described as a Sure Thing. Drawing of a young woman in a hat holding a sign with the words, "I often wish I ne'er had met you." Courtesy Times-Democrat, 1879.
Advertisement for Hostetter's celebrated stomach bitters, showing man on horse using spear to kill serpent. Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, Library of Congress.

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Archaeologists can learn a lot about how people lived by sorting through these discarded items. Privies and wells are time capsules, which, once excavated by archaeologists, can help complete a picture of everyday lives. These artifacts and features are augmented by the written record. Maps, census records, and city directories often allow researchers to connect artifacts to specific households or individuals, as is the case at this site next to Wicker school.