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Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) - Ruins, relics, stories and other interesting things

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Mystery bottle fragment

Wandering about just off Gaze Road, Settlement I came across this bottle fragment in the undergrowth. At first glance it just looked like a piece of broken glass of no consequence and easily ignored. But on closer inspection I was excited to see a partial stamp. On the first line were the words THE PROPERT (that I presume would have read THE PROPERTY OF) and on the second line starting with AGY.LTD.EDINBUR (also presumed to be the final three letters of a company name LTD EDINBURGH). The oval base of the bottle indicated that it was not a large bottle. As I found it not too far away from the old hospital site I have to wonder if it was not a medicine bottle of some sort. The fact that there is a Scottish connection and that the stamp font appears vintage, makes me think that it is dated perhaps around the 1930s? I regret that I didn’t have a coin or ruler so that I could have included it in the photo to indicate the scale or size. Despite initial numerous online searches I couldn’t find any clue to the partial inscription.

Update: Four years passed. And, thanks to Teresa Barlow, whose eagle eyes spotted an eBay listing of a bottle, it seems the mystery is solved. The bottle listed on eBay appears to have an identical inscription apart from full stops between the words Agy.Ltd.Edinburgh. The listed bottle is 208 grams and approx 160mm high. The height seems to tally with my memory of the fragment base size that I found. The full inscription is “This Bottle is the Property of Distillers AGY LTD Edinburgh”. AGY is short for Agency. 

The bottle fragment I found was part of a whisky hip flask and it would have looked something like the bottle below.

Images of listed eBay bottle used with kind permission micknbon2008.

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Christmas Island Archives was selected for preservation by the State Library of Western Australia. It is now listed in perpetuity on PANDORA, Australia’s website archive established by the National Library of Australia.

Grant acknowledgement

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An ammunition cave used by the Japanese during the An ammunition cave used by the Japanese during their occupation of Christmas Island in WW2. The circular opening in the wall is where I believe a ventilation pipe was inserted. Its purpose was to keep a stable temperature and extract noxious fumes. Its use as an ammunition cave may have predated WW2. To find out more about this cave read Helena van der Riet's excellent thesis "The Archaeology of the Japanese World War II Occupation of Christmas Island". It can be found on my website (see link in my bio) under the "Documents" section. 
#christmasisland #cave #ammunition #ww2 #ww2history #worldwar2 #worldwar2history #japaneseoccupation #ww2japanese #christmasislandarchives
I love Victor Purcell's observations of human beha I love Victor Purcell's observations of human behaviour on Christmas Island in 1926. The European community caused him the most angst.
#christmasisland #christmasislandhistory #history #islandlife #colonial #straitssettlements #christmasislandarchives
An old water tank near South Point located along t An old water tank near South Point located along the old railway track. I understand that a couple of years ago it was totally overgrown by the jungle and was invisible until it was cleared.
#christmasisland #ruin #relic #industrialrelic #watertank #colonial #christmasislandarchives
Back in 2020 as we were leaving the Old European C Back in 2020 as we were leaving the Old European Cemetery my sis-in-law @mily_barrett spotted this now 72 year old engraving in the concrete path. A nice little reminder from a long gone workman that he was once doing a job there.
"1.7.1951
Pipe Repar" ... 
The last seen letter is partially obscured. The word repair has likely been misspelt?
#christmasisland #history #christmasislandhistory #relic #cemetery #path #oldpath #christmasislandarchives
A sad end for Norman Howard. His gravesite lies in A sad end for Norman Howard. His gravesite lies in the Old European Cemetery on Christmas Island. His story and the mystery loss of his headstone lead to a surprising misidentification of his gravesite. Read about it now on my website. See bio for link. Look under “latest updates” for “Norman Howard - turning in his grave”.
"In memory of Norman Howard
European Overseer
Aged 32
Died 6.3.24"
#christmasisland #straitssettlements #christmasislandhistory #cemetery #headstone #gravesite #grave #colonialhistory #christmasislandarchives
Straits settlement 1 cent coins that I found parti Straits settlement 1 cent coins that I found partially buried. The verdigris colour of one of them caught my eye. How I came to be in that specific spot to find them is another whole story LOL. I donated them to the Island's Tai Jin House museum.
Left top to bottom:
Tails side “Straits Settlements 1936”.
Head side “George V King and Emperor of India” 
Right top to bottom:
Tails side “Commissioners of Currency Malaya 1939”
Head side “George VI King Emperor”
There was another 1 cent coin found along with these as well and was dated 1943. 
I am not sure if such a small denomination would have been used for gambling? However, it has been told that on the Island when Straits Settlement coins were no longer a viable currency they would be saved and then scattered/given as offerings to the good brothers during the Hungry Ghost month. I found these coins during that very month in an area that metal detectorists had been over previously. Perhaps the coins were revealed to me 🙂
#christmasisland #christmasislandhistory #christmasislandrelic #relic #relichunting #indianoceanislands #ghostmonth #straitssettlementscoins #straitssettlements #oldcoins #christmasislandarchives
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