Title

Heart of Glass - Blenko Glass

Blenko Glass is a West Virginia treasure that spans generations. Nothing symbolizes the state of West Virginia better or more beautifully than Blenko Glass. We will discuss current and former craftsmen and designers and how important it is that Blenko and West Virginia glass be appreciated and valued by the younger generation.

Monday, September 07, 2009

Blenko Bruce Strikes Again !

99 cents and good eyes - Bruce makes everything sound so o o o easy!
> HI HIllary

This is one of those "too good to be true" stories that drives some of the folks on your blog crazy. A good set of eyes and .99 cents is all it took to snag this beauty on ebay the other day. You would not believe how bad the photos were in the listing. The picture was taken from overhead with the piece sitting on some grey multicolor carpet. It didn't stop me from realizing what it had to be. When I got the piece in and cleaned it up I found that it is even etched with the Blenko signature, something the seller had not noticed over the years that he had possession of the piece.

Enjoy,

Bruce Specht

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Hillary, As one new to Blenko Glass, I have no pictures or a story to post on the blog. But you may find this interesting enough to share with friends and your parents especially. Discovering & learning is made easier when the subject (in this case: Blenko glass) & the teacher (you) are treasures brought forth with such care, joy, & are a beauty to behold. Therefore I thank you & it seems the company & the Governor do too. OK, here's the point. You & I are newly aware of at least one other person named Hillary Hamburg. So, hello! How are you? Pleased to meet you. What's your middle name? Mine is Ethan. I sometimes use a stage name or use "H. Ethan Hamburg" for business. Most Americans have a cultural bias against a male having our first name.

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I'm curious what the "J" stands for. If you have time while at your new school, please email me at ethanhamburg@gmail.com (not at the cell phone address that you see, as most emails from AOL usually are cut off due to the limited space of 160 characters) I'll let you know more about myself if you're curious to know more than what any internet search reveals. Also, it's interesting to meet others with our surname. My cousin is researching the mystery of our family ancestry & often compares notes & shares info with other Hamburg families not related. That's all for now & a belated Congratulations, Dr. Hamburg!

Anonymous said...

Bruce
I love your stories
and you have the pixs to back up the story.
Ellen

Anonymous said...

I saw that on e-Bay last week but was too short of time to bid. Yes, really bad picture, but I knew what it had to be. I got 2 greenish early vases with leaves, which I love. I especially like the early pieces, tho I have things from all eras.
Always great photos.
Car Girl

Anonymous said...

Hillary, I see that we have california readers so i thought that i would tell everything i know about Harrys, trip to California. In or around 1959 Blenko was shut down Harry and three other blenko workers heard about a glass factory in California that needed workers. So the 4 of them piled in dads 58 impala , pooled there money and headed to California. They took turns driving and it still took 3 days of non stop driving. When they stoped for gas or food they would send postcards from that that town. I remember one that read Here lies Lester Moore 4slugs from a44 no les no more. From Tombstone Az. I believe the glass factory was in Santa Ana, they spent a week there blowing glass. Harry called and said that they blew probably 150 peaces and they were excited about there work but the factory was porley set up,junk everywhere and over 100 inside with an outside temp of 70 so it would probably be 140 in the summer. They talked it over and decided not to stay. So there is a remote posability of some of thease peaces of glass floating around southern cal. Thanks Larry T.