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Glass News

EAPGS New Website| Iowa EAPGS Members Meet | Eastern States Region of the EAPGS Holds First Meeting
EAPGS Official Archives | Central States Tenth Birthday Bash | An Archive Almost Slips into Storage | Glass Shards Research
Digital Camera was Smoking

South Florida Depression Glass Club

American Glass, Pottery, Dinnerware, Show & Sale Feb 13 & 14th 2010
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EAPGS.org New Website

Welcome to the New EAPGS website. We have been working hard the last few months to bring you a new user-friendly design and functionality. Please peruse the site and let us know what you think! If you have any feed back, please email the webmaster.

Iowa EAPGS Members Meet

When learning that the EAPGS members in Colorado get together 3 times a year, Sue Slight of Muscatine, Iowa was inspired to extend an invitation to all Iowa members of the Society for an informal gathering in her home on Saturday, November 8, 2008.   Members were encouraged to bring guests, show and tell items, objects needing identification assistance and glass to trade or sell. 12 Members and 3 guests attending came from Burlington, Clear Lake, Clinton, Colesburg, Iowa City, Marengo, Muscatine, Washington and Wilton, Iowa.   Refreshments prepared by Sue and Fred Phelps were served in various forms and patterns of EAPG and elegant glass from Sue’s collections. 

Once everyone able to attend had arrived, we introduced ourselves and shared our collecting interests.  It was soon discovered that although interests were very diversified, we all possessed a common goal – To become better acquainted with fellow collectors, to learn more about and find opportunities to acquire and preserve the glass we love! Interests ranged in manufacturers of regional Iowa City and Keota glass, to Greentown, Riverside, Northwood and Heisey to early Boston Sandwich to name a few.  Some members indicated their focus was in collecting one specific pattern to many or a particular glass manufacturer and others expand their glass collecting interests to include elegant and depression era glass. 

We told stories about some of our great finds and a few objects were identified.  A novelty item that Sue shared was a suitcase candy container she had recently acquired from EAPGS member, Bruce Taylor of Missouri.  Everyone had a laugh when we soon learned that Fred Phelps of Colesburg, Iowa had acquired this T. Roosevelt novelty item in Wisconsin, sold it to the Taylors’ this past July on his way to the Central States meeting held in Kansas City and it had now come full circle back to Iowa to reside in one of Sue’s cabinets! 

One guest, Keith Hemingway, shared that his great, great grandfather had been one of the original investors of the Iowa City Flint Glass Manufacturing Co. and had literally “lost the family farm” when that glass factory failed after the approximate18 months of manufacturing.  Recently, family descendents were able to secure that very parcel of Iowa farm ground back.  Alice Christiansen quipped that they were certain to “lose the farm” if her husband, Dave, current president of the EAPGS, didn’t curb his recent surge in buying eapg!! 

Irving Terzich, a Pacific Region Trustee for the EAPGS, surprised the group with a call to extend greetings and good wishes to all who were in attendance. Fred Phelps, who serves as the EAPGS new member coordinator, thankfully came prepared with membership applications and new member packets as all three guests in attendance joined the Society.  We welcomed Lynn and Lonnie Sulzberger of Muscatine and Keith Hemingway of Iowa City!   

Everyone was encouraged to attend the EAPGS Annual meeting in Indianapolis this coming April (2009) and to look forward to the next Central States regional event next Fall (October 2009).  Although it was a chilly November day and snow flurries were flying, everyone had an enjoyable time.  Iowa members hope to organize the next all Iowa gathering in spring or summer 2009, possibly in a different area of the state so that there may be a greater opportunity for our “33 and counting” Iowa membership to participate.

Photo 1 – From left to right; back row - Lonnie Sulzberger, Larry Yoder, Linda Yoder, Ken Lage, Joyce Lage, Carol Goddard, Ken Wagner, and Darrel Jackson.  Front row - Keith Hemingway, Lynn Sulzberger, Alice Christiansen, Dave Christiansen, Fred Phelps, and Lois Jackson.  Not pictured, photographer Sue Slight.

Photo 2 – Lois Jackson and Alice Christiansen enjoying refreshments and looking over glass brought by Fred Phelps.

Photo 3 – In the right foreground, glass objects brought by Ken Wagner; the Quail pattern and Keota glass chimneys – the largest being an unlisted size.

Photo 4 – Table of glass includes Ellrose, Thousand Eye, Pleat & Panel, D & B and Shell & Tassel as well as featuring the large punch bowl/pedestal in Heisey Punty and Diamond Point.

Photo 5 – T Roosevelt Novelty – suitcase candy container

Photo 6 – A sampling of Iowa City glass from Sue Slight’s collections

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Eastern States Region of the EAPGS Holds First Meeting

The Eastern States Region of the Early American Pattern Glass Society held its first meeting in Newark, Ohio, on Friday and Saturday October 17-18, 2008. About 45 EAPGS members from a dozen states and Canada attended this first-ever program of speakers and activities sponsored by a dedicated group of EAPGS members from Ohio. A number of the members arrived several days early to attend an auction of EAPG by Mike Clum in Rushville, Ohio.

Master of ceremonies, Jim Walters, open the conference and called on former EAPGS president, Carl Hearn (from Ontario, Canada) to introduce fellow-Canadian, Sid Lethbridge who opened the meeting with a talk on “The Tablewares of the Diamond Glass Company.” Based on his extensive research, Sid described the development of Canadian glass companies in the late 19th century, discussed the difficulties of attributing patterns to particular factories, and presented documented examples of Canadian production. The Friday morning program continued with a session titled “Perspectives on Flint Glass” in which four collectors talked about the niceties of old flint glass. Joe Greene (Connecticut) led off with an introduction to manufacturing techniques. Next Lon Hodge (Georgia) presented an illustrated talk comparing the many varieties of the Bellflower pattern. Phyllis Petcoff (Kentucky) followed with a discussion of Lacy glass, and Jim Hirzel (Ohio) talked about his extensive collection of Boston and Sandwich threaded glass.

 Between the morning sessions, Roger Anderson (Illlinois) made a brief presentation on the EAPGS Archive Project. An archive that documents the history of the EAPGS has been established at the Museum of American Glass in Weston, West Virginia.

 The highlight of Friday afternoon was a visit to Newark’s “The Works” museum, on the site of a Heisey Glass Company facility, for a demonstration of glass glowing techniques. Following the evening banquet, Tom Bredehoft (Ohio) talked on “Ohio Glass History;” he presented chronological analysis of the hundreds of mostly-short-lived companies working in Ohio between 1815 and 1915, and challenged the audience with an Ohio name-the-glass-manufacturer contest. The winner of the contest was a Canadian, Sid Lethbridge,

The Saturday morning program opened with Nancy Smith talking about various forms of Christmas glass which she illustrated with items from her collections. Kat Krivda and Sue Slight followed with an open-ended audience participation session on altered glass, reproductions, and fakes. Following lunch, the conference concluded with a trip to the Heisey Museum and an opportunity to attend Heisey Club’s annual auction.

Members of the planning committee for the event were Neila and Tom Bredehoft, Jim and Sandra Hirzel, Dan and Carolyn Jensen, Kat Krivda, and Jim and Ann Walters. The committee looks forward to future Eastern States meetings and welcomes offers of assistance and suggestions.

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EAPGS Official Archives

As part of the program at the Eastern Regional Meeting held in Newark Ohio, October 2008, the Society Archives was unveiled to the membership for the first time.  Roger Anderson the Society Archivist has been working on the project for the pass fourteen months and as he spoke to the group he quickly pointed out that this is just a beginning.            

Roger went on to request that when members are cleaning out old records, rather than discard the information consider donating the documents to the archives.  Roger is looking for photographs (please include a caption which identifies names, date and the event), printed programs, keepsakes or paper documents from any of the many meetings.  The contact information for Roger is in your membership directory and has also been noted in several of the recent copies of the NewsJournal.  If you wish to talk with Roger via email simply click on this link, “Society Archivist”.

As you can see from the photographs the archival material is currently stored in two moisture proof, chemically stable corrugated cartons approximately 15” x 11” x 10” and they contain all of the material submitted to date which came from just four members.  The archives also contain a complete set of all of the NewsJournal issues from July 1996.  During the discussion in Newark it was obvious that a significant amount of information is contained in the records that have been maintained by the Society Secretary and an effort will be made to move this information into the official archives. 

Also in attendance at the regional meeting were Bill and Jo Reidenbach and an animated discussion went on between Bill and Roger.  We are encouraged to learn that Bill has many boxes of information from when the Society was created in 1996.  A plan will be put in place shortly to have this information transferred to Roger for review and then placed in the official archives.  So in the years ahead the archives will grow and become a significant record of the creation and growth of this organization.

The Official Archives are stored on the second floor shelves of the Museum of American Glass West Virginia, in Weston West Virginia.  The archives are available for review at any time during the normal operating hours of the Museum.  This is a great co-operative effort between the Museum and the Society and is the second time in recent years that we have worked together to accomplish an objective.  This photograph pictures Sharon Pickens, MAGWV host, Tom Felt, MAGWV Archivist and Marion Hearn, EAPGS member with the Society archives stored on the shelves behind them  

The Museum is well worth a visit just to experience the recent expansion and growth in the size of the building and the significant amount of glass that is out on display.  During our visit it was nice to see the planned growth of an area dedicated to the mechanical and hand tools used by the early glassworker.  Also, a brand spanking new reference library is under construction as a result of a major donation by Dorothy S. Daugherty.

In this last photograph Roger Anderson is pictured in the middle surrounded by the eight Trustees that were able to attend the Newark meeting.  From left to right Nancy Bloomstrand, Lon Hodge, Phaleta Sergeant, Sue Slight, Roger Anderson, Dave Christiansen, Dan Jensen, John Ahlfeld and Joe Greene.

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The Central States Regional Meeting "Tenth Birthday Bash"

The tenth anniversary celebration was a very significant event; ten successive years of a regional meeting that started as a whim of Fred Phelps.  At that time Fred offered to host a meeting at his home in Colesburg Iowa and thirty-six Society members showed up on his doorstep.  The event has grown and expanded since the beginning with meetings held in Kansas City, Paducah, Rockford, Kokomo, Indianapolis, Quincy, Tulsa and Dubuque.  After supper on Friday five large birthday cakes appeared and after a rousing version of Happy Birthday the cakes quickly disappeared.

It was very fitting that the weekend open at the home of Gloria Dobbs and Courtney Sloan at 12803 Cedar Avenue; a private home just as the meetings started in a private home ten years ago.  The Dobbs/Sloan home is filled with pattern glass from wall to wall and floor to ceiling and on two floors.  If anyone needed a “glass fix” this was the place to be.  At seven the event moved down the road to the clubhouse for a buffet dinner complete with a glass display of the Missouri and Kansas patterns.  Later that evening we returned to the Hyatt Place, our host hotel, to set up table displays of glass collections and items for sale.

The Friday highlight was a “PowerPoint” presentation on penny dippers by Phyllis and Jim Petcoff.  If you are like me the first question out of my mouth was what is a penny dipper?  The question was answered very quickly when we were told that it was a small glass container, usually handled, that was used by the general store merchant to measure out a penny’s worth of candy from the bulk containers.  The presentation went on to explain the different patterns, shapes and even some of the custom embossed glass containers.  As you can see in the photograph the Petcoff’s had many items from their private collect on display.  The presentation ended with many questions from the audience. 

Friday afternoon was left open so everyone could attend the Overland Park Antique Show- Summer Extravaganza held close by at the International Trade Center.  We found many familiar faces among the dealers present and as you can see from the photograph many Society members visited the display of “Jerry’s’ Antiques” from Davenport, Iowa.

Our day was not complete without another opportunity to admire good glass and in this case participate in a live estate auction.  The glass from the estate of Irene Hummel was on display.  Irene is a former Society member and built her collection by spending an equal amount of money on glass compared to the money that her husband spent on the purchase of cigarettes.  Irene was attracted to historical glass, children’s pieces and animal motifs and thus the collection was build over many years.  The auction skills of Debbie and Ben Iman from Salisbury Missouri were donated to the Society and with their combined expertise the auction moved along quickly.  When the final numbers are tallied a portion of the proceeds will flow into the Central States coffers to offset the cost of regional meetings and future educational projects.

After a leisurely start, the Saturday morning presentation was given on “Pressed Glass Perfume Bottles”.  Actually it was not a presentation but a lively open discussion on the topic, which involved the collections of some eight to ten members.  Handout literature was distributed about Sandwich, Duncan and Albany cologne bottles and the discussion ranged from different patterns to the topic of how to remove a stopper that may have been jammed into the bottle.  This is a picture of just some of the participants and their glass items; pictured from left to right are Charlie Phelps, Linda Eppelheimer, Rose Michau, and Barbara Jones.

The next agenda item was a little bit of Society business, the Central States financial report was presented and the discussion went on to start the plans for next years meeting in St. Louis.  Earlier in the morning a live online presentation was made regarding the Society website and it was entitled “Website 101”.  The review of the site prompted many questions which were answered right before the member’s eyes on the large computer screen display.  It was announced that the Society Buy/Sell site is now active and many items have been listed for sale.  This portion of our site is a new member’s service offered at no cost to members either to buy or sell antique glass.

Saturday afternoon presented a unique opportunity to visit the home of EJ and Melba Williford in Grandview Missouri to view their collection of over 1,300 butter dishes.  These photos give you a glimpse of the collection that was on display in just about every room of the house. 

One large room in the basement was dedicated to the heart of the collection with the favored pieces in the upstairs living room.  Have you ever had a look at a bluerina butter dish?  After the visit many attendees went off to discover some of the tourists highlights of the greater Kansas City area including a visit to the museum containing the excavated contents of the steamboat “Arabia” which sank in 1856. 

Saturday dinner was served buffet style at the hotel.  The soup, salad, sandwich and cheesecake proved very popular and the room turned silent as we enjoyed the meal.  SILENT?????????   Dinnertime also launched the beginning of the silent auction with many items available for active pencil bidding.  When the auction closed everyone seemed pleased and the tabletops were soon cleared and the glass packed away.

The organizers of the conference had the foresight to realize that we would all be “Glassed Out” so the evening program was a pleasant change of pace and a real surprise to everyone.  Without any introduction Coco Chanel entered the room and began to tell her life story as she walked about the room changing her hat and shawl just as quickly as she changed the content of her life story.  Coco is famous for the cologne “Chanel #5” and her designer clothing bearing the “Chanel” label.  Coco lived her life in Paris as an astute businesswoman; never married, had several affairs, one very serious and was the companion of many prominent men.  Her presentation was historical and humorous, during it she planted a kiss on the forehead of several men in the audience and I think their heads are still spinning.  In real life Coco Chanel is Claudette Walker who is capable of telling the life story of some 27 different prominent people.

The weekend ended on a high note and we thank the organizing committee that appear in this picture, from left to right Darlene Gelakoski, Bruce Taylor, Joann Taylor, Gloria Dobbs, Courtney Sloan, Laveigh Rooney.  Absent when the picture was taken are Anne Davis and Jeff Hartl.  THANK YOU

Report authored by Carl & Marion Hearn

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An Archive Almost Slips into Storage

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February 25, 2009
Carl Hearn

To help you develop an appreciation of what has happened in the last three weeks  you need to absorb a little history. 

Many of us have a good working knowledge of early pressed glass developments from the books we have read, a record from the viewpoint of the management and the marketing sides of the business.   The men and women that actually worked on the production floor have a story and a history all their own.

In 1878 the glassworkers organized themselves under a union movement called the American Flint Glass Workers Union, (The Flints) establishing an office in Pittsburgh.  In 1903 this office was moved to Toledo Ohio.  The AFGWU has been recognized as one of the oldest union movements in the United States predating the Steelworkers, the Auto Workers and the Rubber Workers.  George M. Parker served as the President of the Flints from 1961 until 1989, 28 consecutive years.  George was re-elected every second year and may be the only freely elected union leader in American to hold fame to such a consecutive record.  George passed away in 1996 and his desk, chair, briefcase and some personal records are now part of the AFGWU Archives.

I’m not going to try and tell the story of how the archives were first established, I will give credit to George M. Parker and borrow several paragraphs from the text of the booklet he published in 1978 which was simply called “Archives”

I was elected Second Vice President in 1952.  From the first day that I assumed the office I was impressed by the excellent records maintained by the International Officers over the years.  On hand in the International  Headquarters as long ago as 1952 were bound copies of all of the Proceedings of the conventions of the union since the first convention held in Conway Hall in Pittsburgh.  Also maintained in various bookcases throughout the office were bound copies of Wage Agreements, the American Flint, Proceedings of Wage Conferences, and International Constitutions as they evolved through the years.  In a back storage room in many dusty cabinets we found other voluminous records and old photographs stacked about in more or less disarray.  This material as unorganized as most of it was, impressed me with the tremendous amount of work that had gone on through the years to establish the American Flint Glass Workers Union, and we proceeded to save and preserve as much of it as we could.  In addition to records of the union, there were volumes of old trade magazines, such as the Commonweal and the Glass Budget going back into the 1880’s.  These early trade publications contained articles, advertisements and trade information of events of the Glass Industry from its infancy through the development of the machine age.  These periodicals were gathered up and packed into cartons for storage and safekeeping.  At the time we had no idea that in the future we would own our own International Headquarters or have use for them.

When Vice President Robert Newell came into the office he was similarly interested in the union’s history and assisted me greatly in the collection of union badges, tools and other memorabilia. I assigned him the task of obtaining photographs of every international officer who served the union since 1878. This required a good deal of research. As we began to prepare for the 100th Anniversary, we thought it would be of interest to those in attendance to observe at first-hand some of the long proud history of the glass workers and we proceeded to have many of the old photographs framed and placed on display. Some glass exhibit cases for the display of special articles of interest were purchased. Day by day and week by week prior to the 100th anniversary, the modern basement of our International Headquarters was turned into a museum or archives exhibit of the history of the American Flint Glass Workers Union. What we planned as a temporary display has now become a permanent exhibit that has impressed everyone who has had an opportunity to view it.

Through the generosity of many individuals we have received donations of photographs, glass objects, books and other material of historical significance which we have added to our collection.  We continue to seek such contributions and give appropriate credit to those we receive.  It is our hope not only to maintain but to enlarge on the archives of the American Flint Glass Workers Union in the years ahead.  The archives are a source of historical information not only of our union, but of collective bargaining in the Glass Industry throughout the years.  The exhibit is open to all who visit the International Headquarters, to students and others who have an interest in labour history.

George M. Parker, International President AFGWU, June 30, 1978

Over the years the membership of the Flints declined just like history tells us that the number of glass companies declined and in 2003 the Flints were 12,000 strong.  In the best interest of the membership  a merger agreement with the United Steelworkers of America was negotiated and  approved by the membership.  Recently it has been recognized that there is no need for an office in Toledo and so the South Byrne Road office has been sold and the remaining staff and union records will be relocated in Pittsburgh.  The current AFGWU President, Tim Tuttle has struggled with the question of what to do with the archives collection that has now grown to museum size proportions. 

Several organizations were approached to pack and remove the collection but only offers to remove a portion of the collection had been received and other organizations could not meet the conditions of the proposed contract.   In the “eleventh hour” the collection was destined for the deep dark storage vaults of some warehouse to maybe never again see the light of day.  The Museum of American Glass in West Virginia had been one of the organizations originally approached and when the news was received that the collection may end up in storage, several strategic telephone calls resulted in an agreement to pack and move the entire collection to Weston West Virginia for an initial two year period.   Most of the collection will now be open to the museum visitor and the stored books and records will be available for glass research.

The Museum of American Glass is powered by volunteers and donation dollars.  Although the agreement was approved by the Board everyone exhaled in a sigh to say “now what do we do, we have the collection”.   Appeals went out for donations as it was estimated that the move and insurance would cost about $6,000.  The collection had to be packed and out of the Flints building by February 25th so the appeal also went out for volunteers to prepare the collection for the move.  The moving company of Stevens Worldwide Van Lines from Saginaw Michigan was hired to provide packing material and a 53 foot long semi transport truck.  Packing has now been completed by volunteers Tom Bredehoft, Jim Walters, Carl and Marion Hearn and Frank Swanson.  The following is a partial list of the items in the shipment that will arrive in Weston on February 25th.

• 10 pieces of early glass production equipment: a side lever press, glazer, dummy, three chip cans, revolving horse, cutting down table, finishing chair and a marver.
• 154 boxes of bound records
• 26 flat boxes of photographs
• 5 boxes of commemorative bottles
•  100th Anniversary two part mould and finished bottle displays from Local 27 and 71
• 7 glass canes
• 3 boxes of Local Union seals
• 2 metal wall plaques
• 8 glass display cases
• At least 11 filing cabinets
• 5 boxes of video and film reels
• Various embroidered convention banners
• George Parker’s desk, chair and briefcase

Marion and I have been home for several days after spending three days working with Tom and Frank, a little time to think about the experience and contemplate.  The experience of packing and at times reading some of the information that the Flints had collected can be compared to wrapping up the estate of a loved one and moving out of the house.  But in this case there is one big difference, yes it has been packed and it will be moved but thanks to the efforts of many interested people the collection will remain in the public domain.

Footnote:  I have received an email from Dave Christiansen, President of the Early American Pattern Glass Society and the Trustees have approved a donation of $2,000 from the “Special Projects Fund” to help cover the cost of moving the collection to West Virginia.

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Glass Shards Research

Carl Hearn
June 10, 2007

As we conduct our antique glass research we often uncover old advertisements or printed catalogues that provide us with a glimpse of the glass industry. Published glass books, in the first few chapters usually provide glass history information before they go on to identify patterns, pattern groups and current prices.

The actual manufacturing site of many of the old glass companies have been documented right down to the current street address. Some of the sites are now paved parking lots, parkland or have been built upon and are not accessible to the individual that wants to scratch around the old original site. I must admit that this is a fantasy of mine: find the old site and with shovel in hand go on a glass shard dig. The experience of actually finding shards on the site of the original factory links the history, the pattern and glass collection all together as a complete story.

I have had the opportunity to visit five original glass sites over the last few years as listed below and each one with a different experience:

-Burlington Glass Works, Hamilton, Ontario
-Seneca Glass Company, Morgantown, West Virginia
-McKee Glass Company, Jeannette, Pennsylvania
-Westmoreland Glass Company Grapeville, Pennsylvania
-Indiana Tumbler and Goblet Works, Greentown Indiana

The Westmoreland site was a great experience and the shards of contemporary glass manufacturing, circa 1950, can be easily picked up from a fifty-foot high slope of discarded glass. The pieces are large and easy to identify, in all the different colors and I found a complete opaque red candlestick holder in the Doric pattern.

I have been on the Indiana Tumbler site more times than I can count and what I remember best is my wife Marion always finding the most interesting shards. The site over the years has been cleaned up and today is the home of a farm implement dealership and the community of Greentown has grown all around the site.

Greentown is a small friendly community surrounded by agricultural fields growing corn, various types of beans and this year we also noticed fields of row crop tomatoes. The National Greentown Glass Association keeps the memories of the ITGW alive and does an admirable job of informing its members and the community about the history of this once great glass company.

In 1903 the company was part of the National Glass Combine and in peak production. The company also had several new pattern lines under development. A fire devastated the glass company and all that remained were the brick walls and the tall stacks from the furnaces. It is reported that even some of the molds were damaged in the fire and could not be used again for glass production. The formula for chocolate glass did live on and chocolate glass was later produced at Royal, McKee and Northwood. The difficult decision to not rebuild the factory was made by the management of the National Glass Company.

So the old Indiana Tumbler site is one place to go digging for shards but only after permission is granted. Around Greentown it has been known for years that after the fire the local farm community had been invited to haul away the pilekks of discarded glass to use as backfill under barn foundations, prevent erosion in drainage ditches and it has been reported that some of the streets in Greentown have discarded glass as a road base.

Just four years ago a farmer southwest of Greentown began to demolish an old farm building and tear up the concrete floor, but construction was halted when it was discovered that the foundation had been backfilled with glass. It did not take local antique glass experts very long to identify the source of the glass, and yes it was from the ITGW site. In the glass shards it was easy to find examples of the patterns that we are so familiar with today, cactus, teardrop&tassel, dewey, cupid, holly amber, austrian, ruffled eye and the various ITGW colors were also found in the shards.

Earlier this month the National Greentown Glass Association reached an agreement with the landowner to have the old foundation site excavated. They moved eight truckloads of glass shards to the backyard of Judy and Johnny Horner, long time members and gracious hosts. This year following the annual meeting members were invited to arrive at the Horner’s home on Sunday morning with shovel and trowel in hand and the dig began. Or maybe I should say the sort began. The pictures tell the story.

Members were permitted to take whatever they found home with them but a request was made to record and photograph any unusual finds before it left the yard. There have definitely been some unusual finds which now reveal details about patterns that were made in colors that had never before been part of the production records.

The excavation of glass shards at an old factory site is another element of glass history research but be cautions to several important details. Many of these factories bought in cullet from other sources and you could easily find remnant pieces mixed into the shards that you pick up. Just be careful when you try to say, “I found the shard, this pattern must have been made at this site”.

A second precaution and this just happened to us; we picked up a piece of clear glass with a partial name molded into the surface. After some study you could make out the word “ Milwaukee” and it turned out to be a piece of a soft drink bottle that had been left on the vacant site. A vacant site is an inviting place for someone to discard bags and cartons that include glass items.

So my fantasy to visit old glass sites continues to grow. I recently acquired my first pieces of Findlay Onyx and on one of these weekends there will be a trip south to visit the old Findlay Ohio site with the hope to pick up some matching shards.

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Digital Camera Was Smoking

Contributed by Sue Slight

If I were writing a novel, I'd begin with "Wandering through the corn fields, she stumbled upon a quaint farm house in the middle of nowhere. The couple opened the door inviting her into a dream world; early American pattern glass everywhere." It would not be fiction.

I have been planning an Iowa Quester Southeast Area Day that I will host in Muscatine this coming October. These types of events for Questers include speakers on specific topics of antiques; a luncheon, museum visits, antique shopping, fundraising for preservation and restoration projects and displays of members' collections. On the search for interesting displays, I received word of an area member's collection of glass and decided to check it out. Little did I know the treasures I would have the privilege to view in that little farmhouse nestled in our southeast Iowa countryside!

The collection ranges from early Sandwich flint to later examples of early American pattern glass and Elegant Glass, from lacy and early blown ware to an extensive collection of the Cable pattern, sprinkled with all sorts of forms and eras of glass manufacture, including whale oil lamps, candlesticks, spills, cup plates, you name it, I saw it!

My hands were shaking as I pulled out my digital camera and started clicking the over 100 photos I took. Did I need that many photos..NO, but it was such a pleasure to see, that I knew I'd like to keep a little of this experience to view again and again. Below are photos to share.

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Glass Education

Educational articles published here have been submitted by many EAPGS member authors, all experts in the field of glass research. This being said the author is entitled to his/her independent viewpoint and this viewpoint may not be consistent with the collective opinion of the EAPGS Trustees. These articles are presented to further the understanding of glass history and not intended as a forum to discuss, critique or argue one viewpoint versus another. Click the Article Title below to view.

It is hoped that you will enjoy and learn from the content of this portion of the site. If you have a research article that you would like to see added to the site, please drop a note to the Trustees by using the Webmaster email address.

Disposing of a Glass Collection

Original and Modern Uses of Antique Pressed Glass

Unequivocal Vintage 1856 Glassware

A Brief History of Antique Pressed Glass

Glass Factories on Postcards

Sydenham Glass Works, Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada Photos Click Here

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