July 7, 8, 9 2011 Summer Muncie Fruit Jar Show Events Schedule

July 7, 8, 9 2011 Summer Muncie Fruit Jar Show Events Schedule


Attention all Fruit Jar Collectors - Don't miss this summer's fun 4-day collectors event with room-hop-shopping and activities at the Signature Inn, 3400 N Chadam Ln Muncie IN (phone for room reservations: 765-284-4200).

With the entire show happening at the hotel, we should we call it the SHOW-TEL! So come join us at the Fruit Jar Show-Tel! It's completely different from a traditional bottle show. This event takes place over several days, and is a chance to actually get to spend time with the good folks who speak Fruit-Jar-ese. If you've never been to ''Muncie'', as the regulars call it, basically it's like an open-house party. You can come and go as you please, from room to room, shopping, visiting, selling, and even learning. If a door is open, just come on in! You won't find a friendlier group of people. There's plenty to see, and plenty of people who'll point you in the right direction, so no worries if you're a newbie. After a few hours with us, you'll be right at home.

Collectors will start arriving in Muncie on Wednesday the 6th, and the room-hop-shopping scene will be ''happening'' on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the 7,8,9th. Sunday the 10th will be the farewell breakfast for those die-hards who stay over Saturday night. See the detailed schedule below.

Since the Midwest club retired from putting on the summer show, this is the 2nd Summer Muncie event put together by the collectors who just love getting together so much, we couldn't let this great tradition end.

I want to again give a BIG Thank You to ALL who donated so generously last year. Your contributions to the food costs were very much appreciated by Jerry and myself. Russ and Heidi Crupe deserve some extra big hugs for their donation! The Midwest Club's contribution was a a huge help, and also greatly appreciated.

This year we are already the beneficiaries of donations and support from some kind folks, and I want to say Thank You to them, too!

• Martin Van Zant donated our advertising flyers.
• Bob Rhineberger is bringing some whiskey, and a case of wine from the local vineyards in Quincy area.
• Antique Bottle and Glass Collector Magazine contributed advertising space.
• "Jar-tist" Dave Dube' is contributing a print of one of his gorgeous Ball Jar drawings which will be auctioned off on Saturday, with the moneys going to the food costs. (Picture above)
• Blackburn Press is donating copies of Toulouse's Fruit Jar Manual.

If you have any questions just email me @ finbotclub@gmail.com

Rooms may be all booked up, so call now. If you have to stay at a nearby hotel, you can still come and spend all day and night visiting with us at the "Signature Inn Show-Tel" -- everything is free. We'll even give you a sales table. So no excuses, come on down!

The Signature Inn of Muncie has the hardest working crew and staff, and the friendliest. The manager, Jeff Bryan, has really worked with us on this show.

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EVENTS SCHEDULE

(Upated Tuesday July 5th)
Here's the schedule as it looks now, but there may be some changes/additions. Check with Marianne or Jerry at the show.

Thursday:

• Complimentary Breakfast for hotel guests.
• 10am-ish - Room-hopping all day - if the door's open, come on in!
• 12pm - Upstairs Hospitality/Jar Cave room will be open by noon. Earlier if we have volunteers to host until noon. Hospitality room will stay open until 9pm.
• 1pm - Light lunch served
• Snacks and beverages served all afternoon and evening.
• 2pm - Jerry McCann's talk on Rare, Unknown, "Never Seen" Fruit Jars.
• Release of Jerry's long-awaited new ''Standard Fruit Jar Reference" book' immediately follows. Books will be available for purchase.
• Room hopping continues all afternoon and evening.
• 5pm - Cocktail party
• 6pm - Light supper served
• Snacks, beverages, including beer and wine available until 9-ish.
• More room hopping, into the night. Floating cocktail parties very likely.

Friday:

• Complimentary Breakfast for hotel guests.
• 10am-ish - Room-hopping all day - if the door's open, come on in!
• 10am - Patent date discussion group/ bring your jar examples - Jeff Harper will moderate. See description below.
• 12pm - Tom Caniff will give his talk about Labelled Product Jars
• 12pm - Upstairs Hospitality/Jar Cave room will be open by noon. Earlier if we have volunteers to host until noon. Room stays open until 9pm-ish.
• 1pm - Light lunch served
• Snacks and beverages served all afternoon and evening.
• 2pm - Non-Ball Indiana Jars discussion group / bring your jar examples - Jean Harbron will moderate - See description below.
• 3pm - SOLID POUR Exhibit with talk by Dick Cole - see description below.
• Room hopping continues all day and night.
• 5pm - Cocktail party
• 6pm - Light supper served about 6pm.
• Snacks, beverages, including beer and wine available until 9-ish.
• Continuous room hopping all day and into the wee hours of the night! Floating cocktail parties are definitely going to happen!

Saturday:

• Complimentary Breakfast for hotel guests.
• Room-hopping all day - if the door's open, come on in!
• 10am - Jelly Jammers Club meeting 10am - Buy, sell and show jelly jars and related items. Everyone is welcome.
• 12pm - Upstairs Hospitality/Jar Cave room will be open by noon. Earlier if we have volunteers to host until noon.
• 12 pm - Snacks and beverages will be offered. No official lunch.
• 1:30 pm - Midwest Club Meet-n-Greet / Group Show & Tell - Open to all - bring your latest finds to show, and your items to put in the FEE-FREE Auction.
• 3pm - Short break before the auction - beverages avalable in hospitality room.
• 3pm - Auction immediately follows - time approx. 3pm.
• 4pm - Cocktail party after the auction.
• Room hopping continues all day into the night. Some folks will head home, but some of us are definitely staying through Saturday night.

Sunday:
Complimentary Hotel Breakfast, and Fond Farewells!

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Discussion groups - open to all, whether you bring an example or just want to see some.

• Patent date discussion group 10:00am Friday - Jeff Harper will moderate / bring your jar examples 

Fruit jars with a full patent date (not just year) on the front OTHER than Nov 30th 1858 and July 14th 1908

"It might be error variations of those dates, or it might be any of a number of other jars. The kicker will be explaining what was actually patented on that date, if known. I'd like to keep it challenging and require that the date be on the front rather than reverse, base, or lid - but that might be too restrictive." - Jeff Harper jeffreyfharper@gmail.com

• NON-BALL Indiana Jars / bring your jar examples  / 2pm Friday

"There were many obscure Indiana glass houses so there are many jars we could present." - Jean Harbron JHarbron@comcast.net

• 3pm Friday SOLID POUR EXHIBIT

All the known solid pour fruit jars will be brought together for the 1st time ever exhibit. Dick Cole will give a talk about why these are such scarce items, and how difficult they are to make. (There's more to it than this, but large solid glass items have to cool super-slowly, or they shatter.)

If you have a solid pour jar and haven't been asked to bring it, it means we don't know it exists! So -- bring it! (We are not referring to paperweights/hockey-pucks/mold-warmer-slugs, but to complete solid jars.)

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Findlay Antique Bottle Club -- Website - Facebook - Twitter

Larry Munson's Fruit Jar Collection Featured in Red Wing Magazine

Larry Munson's Fruit Jar Collection Featured in Red Wing Magazine

Wow, does Larry Munson have one heckuva fruit jar collection or what?!

It happens to include several Red Wing stoneware pottery jars, as well as 100s of other neat jars. The Red Wing Collectors Society featured Larry and his collection in their magazine, and have been nice enough to let us share it with our readers too.

The Red Wing Collectors 35th Annual July Convention "Stirring up the Memories" (link to info) is coming up soon -- July 7-9, 2011 in Red Wing, MN
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(Click the pix to see a little larger view.)

The Largest Fruit Jar Collection in the World (At least that we’re aware of)
Story by Rick Natynski, Red Wing Collectors Society Newsletter Editor

In 1969, a glass fruit jar with an odd closure system caught the eye of Red Wing Collectors Society Member Larry Munson. That simple, innocent act of buying an old fruit jar for four bucks unknowingly started what has become a 40-year quest to procure an example of each and every different fruit jar he can find.

Today Larry owns more than 6,300 fruit jars and related items. If you lined up all his jars, they would circle the Earth...twice! OK, maybe not. But you get the picture.

Larry’s response when asked if if his collection of fruit jars is the largest in the world?

“Probably,” he says, casually. “I’ve never heard of anybody with a larger collection. If one does exist, they’d have to be a closet collector or else I would have heard about it.”

The only thing more impressive than the sheer size of Larry’s collection is the way he has gone about building it. One would assume that most pieces in a collection of this magnitude would have to be bought locally, in person. But Larry and his wife, Hazel, live about an hour from Glacier National Park in northern Montana, where fruit jars are hard to come by. Many of the pieces in the collection have been purchased on the couple’s travels to antique shows across the country. Even more have been acquired from collectors in fruit jar-populous areas who either listed them for sale in the classified sections of antique and collectible publications or answered classified ads that Larry himself placed.

“Fruit jars weren’t very expensive in the 1970s,” he explains. “There weren’t many people collecting them, so I’d often be able to get eight or 10 different jars for only a dollar.”

It took about five years for Larry to accumulate his first 100 fruit jars. After that, “there was no turning back,” he says. He researched as much as he could on the topic, and soon he was able to distinguish between the common and rare jars and identify the general age of a piece by looking at its characteristics.

The first question that comes to mind is “Where does one go about storing and displaying more than 6,000 pieces?” Well, Larry started off in his basement, which holds about 3,300 jars. About 25 years passed before he ran out of space down there, but fortunately the couple owned a 700-square-foot house down the road that wasn’t being used, so they jacked it up and moved it adjacent to their home. He remodeled and added on to the “Jar House” in the mid-1990s and today it looks like a museum in itself, holding another 3,000+ pieces.

Although stoneware jars make up a small percentage of Larry’s fruit jar collection overall, he still has more than 250 different examples made by manufacturers like Red Wing, Macomb, Western, Weir, Peoria Pottery and others that range in size from ½ pint up to 4 gal. He joined the RWCS several years ago.

“I have a set of the common Stone Mason Jars that Red Wing made, but I never went for the domed fruit jars,” Larry says. “They’re neat pieces, but I haven’t been able to justify paying what it would cost to get one. I do have two Hoosier cabinets that were made in the early 1900s by the Red Wing Furniture Co. though; I use them to display my RWCS Commemoratives.”

One of the most fascinating aspects of Larry’s collection is how far it reaches outside the United States. Larry owns antique fruit jars that were made in Canada, Russia, China, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Germany, France, the British Isles and Norway, among other countries.

“Most of my favorite jars are from Australia,” he says. “I have 600 to 700 jars from there; the most ornate ones have unicorns, dingos and birds embossed on the sides. I’ve been told that about a half-dozen of my Australian jars are only one of a few examples known.”

Although he’s never been to The Land Down Under, Larry has bought most of his Australian jars privately from Australian collectors. He’s also acquired some via eBay. He says he was “buying the Australian jars like crazy” when the U.S. dollar was strong. Although it’s leveled out, at one point the U.S. dollar was worth two AUS dollars.

Now that he has so many jars, Larry often passes up on the more common examples. Although fruit jars were mainly hand-blown until they became mass-produced around 1910, his search includes jars that were made up to the 1920s, as rare examples still exist from that period.

“Most of my best jars are from the 1860s to early 1900s, but my oldest predate 1850 and the newest were made as late as 2000 by Ball and Kerr as commemoratives or presentation jars for longtime employees,” Larry explains. “I really like the Civil War-era jars. They did a lot of experimenting with odd closures back then and they were crudely made. Plus there was no quality control. The seals often failed; I don’t know how they kept the food from spoiling. Once the Mason jar received a patent, jar closures became much more standard.”

Another aspect of Larry’s collection is the accessories, souvenirs and advertising items issued by fruit jar manufacturers. He owns about 1,500 “go-withs” as he calls them, which include fruit jar ring boxes, rare posters and advertising signs, beater tops that screw onto glass jars so they can be used for mixing and a variety of items like medals, pins and jewelry given to fruit jar company employees to recognize their years of service.

As far as value goes, fruit jars typically range anywhere from a dime apiece for the super common examples up to $30,000 for the super rare. While there is a small amount of collectors who have both the means and the desire to afford pieces in the five-figure range, Larry says there are lot of good jars that range from $500 to $2,000.

Most fruit jar collectors are men, although a lot of women also collect, Larry says. He knows of many collectors who have anywhere between 1,000 and 3,000 jars in their collection. A close friend from Muncie, Ind. who passed away a few years ago owned more than 4,000 different examples. Despite having the largest collection known, Larry admits that a fruit jar collection doesn’t have to be big to be good.

“Even if you have room for it all, you can’t have everything,” Larry says. Therefore, a lot of the newer collectors decide to specialize in only a few fruit jar categories due to cost and display space.

“I didn’t need to limit myself when I started collecting because prices were lower back then,” he says. “Since it’s always been hard to find fruit jars in my area, I’d buy whatever I didn’t have when I was on a trip to the eastern U.S. because I didn’t know how often I’d get back there. Plus, I live in the country, so I just kept pounding nails until I got what I wanted. But just as it is with Red Wing, you can have a nice collection with only 10 to 30 pieces, too.”

Larry says his acquisitions have slowed down in recent years since it’s harder to find jars he doesn’t already have. That being said, he estimates he’s still added about 500 to 600 jars to his collection in the past five years. Only a small number of these come from fruit jar auctions, antique shows that he and Hazel attend around the country and eBay. He usually finds 60 to 80 jars at the Midwest Antique Fruit Jar and Bottle Club Show & Sale held in Muncie, Ind. every January; he and a friend fly there together and he has his new finds sent home.

It’s always awkward asking a collector what will happen to their collection when they’re gone, but Larry chuckled when presented with that question.

“I’m still having so much fun with it that I haven’t given it much thought,” he admits. “The decision of how to dispense of it will rest with my family, because I don’t intend to sell it in my time. Fortunately my wife and two grown kids know there’s value in it and there will be a lot of interested buyers when the time comes.”

Larry concedes that the bottom thousand jars in his collection won’t be desired by most collectors, as they’re only worth about $25 in total. Of course, he also has quite a few jars in higher dollar range, which are displayed right along side the common ones.

“I’ve never done this for the money,” he concludes. “I’ve had more fun than any of it has cost, so why worry about it? The best part of it has been the friends I’ve made from across the country, and in some instances, around the globe.”

More About Fruit Jars and Larry Munson

• Most U.S. fruit jar manufacturers were located in the “Gas Belt” – an area in the states of Indiana and Ohio where natural gas was prevalent and utilized as cheap fuel. A few manufacturers were also located on the West Coast.

• Larry has never found a jar for his collection in Montana that is worth more than $5.

• Larry has never sold a fruit jar. Once they find their way into his collection, they stay there.

• When it comes to glass fruit jars and value, color is king. Although there are less than 20 general colors, there are hundreds of different shades because the composition of sand and other ingredients was different depending on where it was made. For example, amber jars range from a light yellow to a rich gold to a dark, almost black color.

• Larry’s wife, Hazel, is very supportive of his collecting. In fact, she’s bought him some of his best jars as Christmas and birthday gifts.

• Larry estimates there were 300 to 400 different fruit jar manufacturers once in operation.

• Shards of glass that were a by-product of the fruit jar manufacturing process are called “slags”.

• Larry has never used a piece from his collection for its intended purpose of preserving fruits or vegetables.

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My thanks to the good folks at the Red Wing Collectors Society for sharing this fun interview and all the great photos.

Visit their website @ http://www.redwingcollectors.org/

Here's a couple more pix from their great newsletter - well worth the membership fee*!

*Special for our readers: get a free trial membership to the Red Wing Collectors Society. Contact: director@redwingcollectors.org / http://www.redwingcollectors.org/

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Bonus: here's a video of Larry Munson talking at the Winter 2010 Muncie Fruit Jar Get Together.



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Findlay Antique Bottle Club -- Website - Facebook - Twitter

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Fruit Jar Collectors Summer Bottle Show Muncie IN July 7,8,9 #antiques

Latest News About the SUMMER Muncie FRUIT JAR ROUND-UP Bottle Show

The Jar Fairy's Lawyer has worked a little magic, and there are some hotel rooms available. But you need to call and make your reservations now! -- 765-284-4200.

IT'S ALL ''NO SMOKING'' AT MUNCIE HOTELS NOW

More good news!  The Signature Inn's manager, Jeff Bryan, tells us : ''All hotels in Muncie/Delaware County are going 100% smoke-free in July.'' So, there will not be any ''smoking'' rooms. (I do not know how the ex-smoking rooms will be de-smelled.)

We'll all be at the Signature Inn, July 6-10, with room-hop-shopping every day, and talks, discussion groups, club meetings, the auction, and more on Thursday through Saturday. Hotel breakfast every morning.

Don't forget Greg Spurgeon's Bargain Cave (upstairs!), Other dealers will be setting up their sales table upstairs, too. And Jeff Klingler's bringing his Bargain Barn jars. We're talking deals here, folks!

There's also the famous Hospitality Room with food and drink on Thursday and Friday. And oh yes, Floating Cocktail Parties may occur at any time.

Another special event will be the release of Jerry McCann's long-awaited updated edition of the long-out-of-print-but-this-version's-way-better-anyway The Standard Fruit Jar Reference. A wonderful addition to your fruit jar reference library.

Also confirmed, Tom Caniff of 'Fruit Jar Ramble' fame, will be giving a talk on his passion, Paper Labeled Jars. He has spent years collecting, researching, and writing about the interesting labels on and products once sold in these jars. There's bound to be some rare beauties in his illustrative examples. I can't wait to see them.

Jerry and I want to give a big THANK YOU to John Pastor for running a full page color show ad in his most-excellent magazine, Antique Bottle & Glass Collector. His help is greatly appreciated. Bottles are big business these days, and it's nice that the hobby-factor is still strongly supported.

*** And please remember that if you can't get a room at the Sig-Inn, you can stay nearby, and come and hang out with us all day and into the night -- for free. We'll even feed you, and give you a table to sell from, so no excuses -- be there!

Signature Inn 3400 N Chadam Lane Muncie, In -- 765-284-4200 for hotel reservations.

Marianne Dow for info -- finbotclub@gmail.com / 419-455-1112

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Findlay Antique Bottle ClubWebsite - Facebook - Twitter

Findlay Author to Speak at Bottle Show Dinner #antiques #bottles

Findlay Bottle Show -- October 16, 2011

DEALER TABLES ARE ALMOST SOLD OUT

Our show chairman Fred Curtis announced at our June meeting that we have already sold 50 tables! So folks, that means there are less than 20 tables left! Get your Findlay Bottle Show contracts in NOW.

Call Fred for dealer info @ 419-424-0486. Last year we were sold out before the National Show, and it looks like that's going to happen again. Thank you to those who have gotten their contracts in so quickly. We're working hard to make this year's show another memorable success! 

To that end, we're thrilled to tell you that we have added a Special Event.

The Saturday before our bottle show (Oct. 15, 2011), is dealer set-up day, with our famous supper. There is no early bird admission on Saturday, it's just the club members and the dealers, shopping and visiting, and enjoying our time together. Dealer set up is from 1pm to 9pm, with dinner at 6pm.

This year's dinner will be extra special. Why? Because there's a...

Guest Speaker at the Dealer Dinner

Noted author and bottle industry historian Dr. Quentin Skrabec will be giving a talk at the Dealer Dinner on Saturday Oct. 15. He is the author of several bottle-related books, and has a wonderful talk planned for us. Dr. Skrabec's books include biographys on the inventor of the Owens Bottle Machine, as well as the Mr.'s Heinz and Libbey, and a book on the glass industry of NW Ohio,

Dr. Skrabec is a professor at Findlay University.

His books include:

A biography of HJ Heinz

Michael Owens and the Glass Industry

Edward Drummond Libbey: A Biography of the American Glassmaker

Glass in Northwest Ohio

You can see by these titles, which are just a few of his books, that we are in for quite a treat.

Another reason to get your contracts in right away. The only way to attend the dinner and hear Dr. Skrabec's speech, is to have a show table.

Find these and other Quentin Skrabec books on Amazon (link).

 

Also NEW for 2011!

Early Bird admission on Sunday from 7am - 9am for only $10

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Findlay Antique Bottle ClubWebsite - Facebook - Twitter

 

American Glass Gallery Online Auction Has Rare #antiques #bottles

Hurry Hurry -- the auction ends soon!

John Pastor's American Glass Gallery's latest auction is online NOW, and closes tomorrow night (Wednesday June 15 2011). Head on over there and check out the gorgeous historical glass flasks that are up for bid.

Here's the link to the online catalog: http://www.rtam.com/agg/cgi-bin/CATALL.CGI

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Findlay Antique Bottle Club -- Website - Facebook - Twitter

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Latest News About SUMMER Muncie FRUIT JAR ROUND-UP Bottle Show

2011 SUMMER FRUIT JAR ROUND-UP

There are only 2 events each year devoted just to FRUIT JARS: January's Get-Together put on by the MAFJBC, and the SUMMER FRUIT JAR ROUND-UP, put on by the fruit jar collectors themselves, coordinated by Jerry McCann and Marianne Dow.

Last summer we had a super turn out, and a lot of fun! We are expecting the same good turn-out this summer, and are expanding our activity schedules, so mark your calendars, make your travel plans, and prepare to have a Jar-tastic time!
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TOP 10 REASONS TO GO TO
Muncie Summer Fruit Jar Round Up 2011

10 Greg's Bargain Cave.

9 The hospitality room with sandwiches, snacks and drinks.

8 The talks and groups and meetings

7 The floating cocktail parties every night

6 The stories, jokes, laughs and memories

5 The hotel's free breakfast.

4 The awesome fun ROOM HOPPING - buying, selling, and visiting.

3 Uh -- the jars!

2 Did I mention the JARS?!

1 The number 1 reason -- the wonderful friends - old and new!


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New This Summer -- Themed Discussion Groups



At last summer's Muncie Fruit Jar Round-Up, Jeff Klingler, Jon Raver, and Jean Harbron had planned ahead to bring some non-Ball Indiana jars to show each other. It wasn't an official event, just a little something they did on their own. They brought their themed show'n'tell items up to the hospitality room, which was great. Those of us sitting in there got to see and hear their descriptions, stories, and research about these items that interested them so much.

It reminds me of watching PBS. You wouldn't necessarily have picked that subject, or thought it would be so interesting, until someone with passion for the subject made it interesting. It made me think how great it would be to plan a few of these casual themed groups for this summer. Not everyone wants to commit to giving a talk, but several people getting together sharing info on pre-selected topics will make for a lot of pleasant learning. And we all get to see some rare jars from collections. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with for this July's sessions.

We are scheduling the talks and groups for Thursday and Friday. Saturday will be the traditional schedule of meetings (Jelly Jammers and the MAFJBC) followed by the ''fee-free, fun-for-all auction''.

So far we have 2 themes with moderators:

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1) JEAN HARBRON - Themed Group Discussion - Friday afternoon

NON-BALL Indiana Jars

"There were many obscure Indiana glass houses so there are many jars we could present." - Jean Harbron JHarbron@comcast.net

2) JEFF HARPER - Themed Group Discussion - Thursday afternoon

Fruit jars with a full patent date (not just year) on the front OTHER than Nov 30th 1858 and July 14th 1908.

"It might be error variations of those dates, or it might be any of a number of other jars. The kicker will be explaining what was actually patented on that date, if known. I'd like to keep it challenging and require that the date be on the front rather than reverse, base, or lid - but that might be too restrictive." - Jeff Harper jeffreyfharper@gmail.com

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Here are a few more theme suggestions:

Paper Labeled jars (hey, Tom Caniff, would you moderate this group?)

Ephemera and Go-withs ( a perfect subject for Joe Coulson - hint, hint...)

Swirly Jars (sounds like Bruce Schank's favorite subject - more subtle hinting...)

Anyone have any subjects to suggest? Any moderator-volunteers? The groups are going to be casual show'n'tell sessions. Just friends sharing.

If you don't want to travel with your rare treasures, print out some big pix. And even if you don't have any items that match the theme, anyone and everyone is welcome to come listen, and learn.

It's always a treat to see how people light up when they tell why their jar is special to them. And who knows, you might find some quirky aspect that will intrigue you too, and give you something new to look for when you are out treasure hunting.

I will make a schedule when we get closer to the event. I will post it at the hotel, and email it out to everyone earlier.

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MORE NEWS: HOT OFF THE PRESSES!

JERRY McCANN will be giving a talk (or two) about historical jars. His talks are always crowd pleasers. Not to mention illustrated with some museum-quality early jars.

Jerry will also be unveiling his long-awaited, new-and-improved reference book, The Standard Fruit Jar Reference, at this year's Muncie Summer Fruit Jar Round Up.

Don't miss this fun 4-day collectors event with room-hop-shopping and activities at the Signature Inn, 3400 N Chadam Ln Muncie IN 47304-5272 (phone for room reservations: 765-284-4200).

For more info, contact Marianne Dow at finbotclub@gmail.com or 419-455-1112.

Aside from hotel room costs, events at the hotel are free and open to all fruit jar enthusiasts.

Rooms at the Signature Inn may be rare by now. You can stay elsewhere, and hang out with us all day and night, for free. We'll even give you a table upstairs to sell from if you want. So no excuses -- be there!

FinBotClub's Facebook Wrap-Up for 06-03-11 #antiques #bottles

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Here's some of the interesting bottle collecting-related things that I came across this week, and posted on the FinBotClub's Facebook page.

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Uncle Sam's secret identity is antique bottle collector/author Gerry Treadway (Parkesburg PA). http://bit.ly/l5EQcJ -- Gerry was Uncle Sam in this Memorial Day Parade - http://bit.ly/kksnzG

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Great vintage ads for American Thermos Bottle Co.

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Never knew how many things Owens invented. What a mind. Read Quentin Skrabec's biography -

Michael Owens and the Glass Industry

The first comprehensive biography of the visionary and craftsman who defined the modern glass industry. With nine companies and 49 patents bearing his name, Michael J. Owens is a paradoxically inconspicuous influence on daily life. His invention of the Owens Bottle Machine revolutionized th...

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Attn, bottle collectors: It was an Owens machine that made the glass for light bulbs affordable. Read that in one of Findlay's own, Quentin Skrabec's biography of Mr. Owens.

Here's an article on a design blog which discusses antiques packaging, and light bulb history. Great pix of artistic packaging and displays. (from FREE e-newsletter, Daily Heller).

 

Daily Heller The Great Light Way — Imprint-The Online Community for Graphic Designers

There is something beautiful about light bulbs and the way they were packaged back in the day when incandescent bulbs were new. We take it for granted that bulbs have always been with us and always will...

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Nick Carr's smart thought piece on how invention of GLASS changed how we THINK.

 

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: (re)framed

As we have seen, one of the rapid developments in glass technology was the making of panes of window glass, plain and coloured, which was particularly noticeable in the northern half of Europe [after the twelfth century]. One very practical effect of this was on working conditions. In the cold and d

He refers us to this book:

 Glass: A World History --  the fascinating story of how glass has revolutionized the way we see ourselves and the world around us.

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Marty Weil's interview with Bottle Bill -- Antique Bottle Collector - Interview with Bottle Bill - ephemera

Bottle Bill, 53, is a technical author and a lifetime collector of bottles and pottery. In the following interview, we talk about the era when the packaging also sold the product. ephemera: I've recently become interested in antique bottles after...

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NY DIGGER Scott Jordan's book of his findings including #antiques #bottles Past Objects

 

Past Objects: Excavating Yesterday's Curiosities

What NYC's landfills have to do with ivory craftsmanship and existential questions of impermanence...

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More for you diggers:

Diggers watch excavation from outside fence, but get to buy #antiques #bottles from workers -

Dumpdiggers: Acquiring Antique Bottles From Excavators in Downtown Toronto Construction Sites - May.

dumpdiggers.blogspot.com

The title says it all... For many years I've heard about people who stand at the chain link fence out front of excavation sites and arrange to buy antique glass bottles from workers who are not so helpless witnesses to history being trucked away to make room for new condominiums. Here I am making 'f

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How do you open those #bottles? With #antiques corkscrews, of course!

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Poisonous Addiction #antiques #bottles website w/lotsa pix - (via http://www.ricksbottleroom.com/ )

 

Poisonous Addiction - The Gallery

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Saratoga Show #antiques #Bottles Saturday June 4 @ Ballston Spa High School, NY, 9:30am-3pm

The National Bottle Museum

www.nationalbottlemuseum.org

History is always on tap with Director Jan Rutland of The National Bottle Museum in Ballston Spa, NY.

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Auction June 25 w/fruit jars --

South Jersey Collector of fruit jars & #antiques #bottles - Auction on-line or in person June 25 @ Eagleswood Fire Hall, 219 Railroad Avenue, West Creek, NJ 08092 Auctioneer website: http://www.legaciesoldandnew.com/ - online catalog here: http://www.auctionzip.com/aflive.html?method=getCatalogLots&catalogref=2R5CMRV25E

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Love how Jeff Wichmann at American Bottle Auctions gets such great press coverage: http://bit.ly/mjAfjt

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FOHBC Nat'l Bottle Show Memphis TN June 25,26 - See the #antiques #bottles auction pix now

A Selection of FOHBC 2011 Memphis Auction Bottles | Peachridge Glass

www.peachridgeglass.com

Bill Meier is Hosting and Conducting the Online portion of the FOHBC National Auction in Memphis on Saturday, 25 June 2011 at 7:00 pm. The Preview should be available very soon. As soon as I get it, I will post. I must say, there are some really nice bottles that have been co-signed. Check it out.

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The making of a 100 lb art glass Planet paperweight - great video, runs on PBS often, and I just have to watch it every time it's on - incredible project.

GlassMarket - Defying Gravity: An Historic Achievement in Glass

When the staff at the Corning Museum of Glass realized that their paperweight collection was approaching its 1,000th piece, they wanted to celebrate the occasion with an outstanding piece of artwork. They chose reknowned glass artist Josh Simpson and issued a challenge: Could he create one of his s...

Here's one of the 80 lb art glass Planet paperweight - for sale, only $35,000.00 http://glassmarket.cmog.org/browse.cfm/josh-simpson:-megaplanet/4,2354.html

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The FOHBC is on Facebook - go ''LIKE'' it NOW (please)

also - Visit the NEW FOHBC Web Site (available for viewing by 15 June 2011) and follow ...progress of the FOHBC Virtual Museum of American Historical Bottles and Glass. fohbc.com

Go to : Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (FOHBC) on Facebook

A cornucopia of corkscrews - Times-Standard Online

People of all types have collections of all types, and one of the more unusual local ones is currently on exhibit at the Clarke Historical Museum in Eureka.

More websites about corkscrew collecting:

http://www.corkscrewcollecting.com/index.html

http://www.bullworks.net/virtual.htm

http://www.corkscrewsonline.com/