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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.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Bottle Show in Weston, West Virginia




Weston, WV – History comes alive on Saturday, June 30, 2012 at the 8th Annual Bottle, Fruit Jar and Insulator Show held at the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The show, held in conjunction with the Weston Street Fair, features a dozen or more collectors from West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio. These knowledgeable collectors will have a few prized items for display only, but most of the bottles, fruit jar and insulators will be for sale. Some items have been recovered from abandoned and filled-in wells and privies which the collectors dig in order to find this long forgotten glass. Admission to the show is free.

For those wanting to sell, the first 6-foot table is free, then just $5.00 for each additional table. Set up starts at 7:00 a.m. with parking available next to the Museum. Call 304-269-5006 between noon and 4:00 p.m. to reserve your table.

In addition there will be a sidewalk sale in front of the Museum displaying table-top antiques and lots of glass. The Museum is selling many duplicate pieces of donated glass from its collection.

This could be a day of family fun as the Museum has a children’s section and a wonderful marble section as well as the permanent display of American Glass. Then it could be on to the Weston Street Fair and Antique Market with food, crafts and entertainment provided by a wide variety of bands and even a Weston Idol contest.

The Museum of American Glass in West Virginia is open daily Memorial Day through Labor Day noon to 4:00pm.  The balance of the year the museum is open daily noon to 4:00pm and closed on Wednesday and Sunday. Admission is free. It is easily accessible off I-79 exit 99 onto US 33 West for two miles to Main Avenue. A left turn onto Main and the museum is on the left at 230 Main Avenue. Begun in 1992, the museum relocated to its present location in 2007 and occupies 12,000 square feet with over 12,000 pieces of glass on permanent display. The museum is home to the National Marble Museum and The American Flint Glass Workers Union Archives.  The museum holds an annual marble festival and numerous special exhibits throughout the year.  More information can be found at http://wvmag.bglances.com/. Questions about programs or the museum can be directed to 304-269-5006.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

When can I expect the remainder of catalogs to appear on blenkoproject.org my glass is 50 60 and 70 only a few 80s items.
Thank you
Maggie

Anonymous said...

Maggie dear not to be disrepectful, for people like you - there is a cartoon figure of a dentist in previous post.
This is to remind us - me also - I am forever sending multiple emails asking for help - Glassdoc has a for real job and we are only her
advocation not her vocation. Patience
or else volunteer to help Glassdoc with the catalogs.
Paul J.

Unknown said...

If you absolutely cannot wait, the Blenko Archive has a number of the earlier catalogs posted online: Blenko Archive - Catalogs.

Just as an FYI, as someone who has been helping Hillary with the project, scanning an entire catalog takes time. Some of the earlier catalogs are larger than 8.5x11, so take some tweaking to get all the photos in the same scan, as I don't have a large scale scanner. The images have to be corrected and uploaded, and the person who assists with The Blenko Project website is ALSO a volunteer.

SO...if anyone has the earlier catalogs, and would scan them and send them to be added, I am sure Hillary and everyone would be MOST grateful and thankful for the time and effort expended to help collectors everywhere.

Diane

Anonymous said...

Local Eatery Featured In ‘Zine
June 24, 2012
Linda Comins , The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register
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Another notable Wheeling eatery is being featured in PARADE Magazine. In today's issue of PARADE - inserted in the Sunday News-Register -nationally-known food writers Jane and Michael Stern take readers on tours through the nation to unveil some of the best food-friendly itineraries.

The Sterns' "Summer Food Road Trips" article mentions the.famous fish sandwiches at Coleman's Fish Market in Wheeling's Centre Market. They describe the lunctime favorite as "one of the best fried fish sandwiches around." The food writers state, "Bite into it and the crunch can be heard across the table!"

Readers will recall that a few months ago, DiCarlo's Pizza in Wheeling was cited in PARADE Magazine's honorable-mention listing of the best pizzas in the country.

We heard through the grapevine that Edgar Hooper of Bethlehem was inducted into the National Agricultural Hall of Fame this past week during the organization's meeting in Charleston, S.C.

The honor is well deserved for Hooper, a longtime West Virginia University extension agent who worked in both Ohio and Marshall counties. He is also one of the founders of the Ohio County Country Fair, a popular event held in connection with Oglebayfest in Oglebay Park every October.

In celebration of the Mountain State's 149th birthday on Wednesday, June 20, Blenko Glass Co. continued its tradition of providing the West Virginia University art collection with the latest piece of limited-edition glass from the West Virginia Birthday Blenko Glass Collection.

The gift to the university's art collection has become an annual occurrence. According to the Blenko Project website, WVU houses one of five known complete sets.

The West Virginia Birthday Blenko Glass Collection, which began in 1980, celebrates the state's birthday by creating and selling the exact number of pieces as the state's age.

This year, Blenko Glass, located in Milton, W.Va., produced 149 original pieces to celebrate "the drama of West Virginia valley landscapes," WVU officials stated. "Moved by the power and beauty of Mountain State scenery, Blenko artist Arlon Bayliss has created a swirling vase form in turquoise, wrapped in zigzag yellow, brown and green lines."

The university received a majority of this collection from Hillary Homburg, a former WVU dental student. In 2007, she decided to donate her family's personal collection of the commemorative birthday pieces to WVU.

The celebration of West Virginia Day at the state's birthplace, West Virginia Independence Hall in Wheeling, included the opening of a new permanent exhibit documenting the nearly 50-year process of reclaiming and restoring the building to its 1859 appearance.

The exhibit, tracing the building's transformation from a deteriorating, garish structure into a National Historic Landmark, can be viewed on the second floor of the museum, in a newly-restored room adjacent to the Civil War battle flags exhibition rooms.

Meanwhile, West Virginians can be thankful that President Abraham Lincoln broke a tie in his Cabinet and signed the statehood bill creating the 35th state in the Union in 1863.

If we were to believe the premise of a new movie opening this weekend (and based on a recent novel), it's especially amazing that Lincoln had time to sign the statehood bill since, according to this fictional account, while he was governing the war-torn nation, he also was kept busy hunting vampires!

Linda Comins can be reached via e-mail at: Comins@news-register.net

Anonymous said...

BlenkoArchive is awesome.
Thank you Diane.

penny said...

Great plan to add all catalogs to blenkoproject web pages.
Kudos to Blenko Glass for this wonderful service to collectors.
Penny

penny said...

Kudos to Blenko Glass great problem solving solution.
Publishing catalogs on Blenko Project web pages.

Anonymous said...

maggie, instead of complaining, try getting catalogs for the missing years. i tried, each costs 50-80$. thank glass doc for the survice and please me respectful of the effort that she is putting in to have all the pages up.

Anonymous said...

why dont u block people like maggie for good?

Anonymous said...

Hilary Is your puppy still living?
You no longer mention her, and I have noticed no photos in several years.
George and I were talking last evening and decided perhaps she passed.
Evelyn Oaks