Insights From Intern Julia

My time at the Historic Village at Allaire has been filled with interesting finds, lots of reading, and a bit of dirt. Although many people would not choose to rifle through piles of dirty, broken glass, I jumped at the opportunity to look through findings from an archaeological dig of the Village. The shards of pottery and bottles brought me closer to those who once called this village that I have come to love, home. We looked for any pieces of glass bottles with legible words and brought them to the library to research them. After some digging, we identified local bottles from Red Bank, Belmar, Spring Lake, Freehold, Point Pleasant, and Asbury Park. Local history is a special kind of history that connects the past to the present and touches the hearts of many and I am honored to be able to unearth a part of it. Many in the assortment of soda, beer, and medication bottles had a beautiful iridescent layer that would flake and leave a trail of glitter behind. This comes from years of erosion and a buildup of thin layers of glass that reflect light, creating an iridescent effect. The formation of this beautiful layer over time is a sort of physical depiction of what I love about history and its artifacts. As the years come and go, historic artifacts only get more wondrous and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to work with all sorts of them. I have not only gained experience with everything museum work entails, but have learned new ways to think about history itself. 

Written by Intern Julia Mandalakis

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