Rene Botts wants your shovel — but only if it’s a True Temper No. 2, stamped with the words “light weight” and “heat treated” on the shovel socket.
If you’re willing to sell yours for science, e-mail her at rbotts@nebraskahistory.org or call her office number at (402) 471-4766. For more information, go to www.nebraskahistory.org.
The right kind of used shovel can put a portrait of General Grant in your pocket.
About 10-15 years ago there was a rumor going around that Marshalltown was going to stop producing trowels. I often wondered if that caused a real run on trowels. I still have my first one from my field school in 19-mumble-mumble. It also went to Egypt with me and I carved my name (poorly) in hieroglyphs into the handle. I think my backup got used in a little news segment CNN International did on our field school project in Egypt in 2003.
Never used one of these shovels m'self, though I did learn appropriate skimming technique on some contract work up in the Cascades. Shovels were like this troglodyte method of digging according to us learned academic archaeologist, though I have since climbed down from the ivory tower after learning the wonders of using a pick in Egypt to get through amorphous "fill" (a word I actually can't stand). It's really amazing the skill of some of these guys, skimming off a couple millimeters and then tossing the shovelfull 10 feet into a screen from the bottom of a pit.
The shovel in question:
