19 November 2006
G’Day Everyone
Well, another Christmas has come and gone and I trust
that we all enjoyed ourselves, but not too much that the scales are starting
to growl at us now though! Mine are! In fact, I’m certain that last year I
used a whole lot more packing in that Santa’s suit, although my thought is
that it’s probably just shrunk in the cupboard, again.
So, as we launch ourselves into yet another year, we can
reflect on some truly successful club meetings that we held last year. The
differing coloured glass theme was an excellent idea right from the start.
So much so, that many a meeting would extract some of the most amazing
colours, shades and variations of carnival glass, not to mention the types
of examples those club members had found them in. Everything from vases to
bowls, from plates to comports, necklaces to electrical insulators…. Yes
even those!
It never ceases to amaze me what incredible examples of
carnival glass continue to appear at our club meetings. Just when you think
you’ve seen it all, someone will turn up with a piece that will make you
think, where on earth did they find that? Considering that, Lord knows how
many antique shops, garage sales and eBay auctions I have gone through to
find nothing more impressive than a glass crystal bowl. Mind you, not that
there’s anything at all wrong with glass crystal bowls, but they just don’t
seem to 'do it for me'. And I’m still trying to find the 'Tasmanian Tiger'
of Australian carnival glass, the elusive 'Koala' bowl. Does it really
exist?
There’s something incredibly satisfying about finding or
stumbling upon a carnival glass piece. Well, maybe not that impressive if it
has more cracks in it than a farmer’s drought ridden dam, but never the
less, a find is a find. Someone once told me in the club quite some time ago
that exceptional carnival glass pieces are a bit like car parking spots at
shopping centres at Christmas time - all the good ones are probably already
gone. Isn’t that the truth?
So with this in mind, why do we still do the obligatory
'trudge' through all the usual haunts in order to satisfy our almost
'prime-evil' urges trying to find this stuff called carnival glass?
Occasionally, I wonder the same thing, but in the end I know I love the
stuff and some of it could be worth a fortune someday. So that more than
justifies why, doesn’t it? Just the same, try convincing a 'non collector'
of that type of logic and you might have a job on your hands. Good luck
anyway!
Recently, Carissa and I enjoyed a break on the far south
coast of NSW, which included numerous antique shop stops and anywhere else
that carnival glass may be found on the way. By sheer chance, we happened to
drop into an antique shop, come glass museum, not realizing that it was
actually owned and run by own club members, Sheila and Doug Russell. They
made us both feel so very welcome, and gave us the 'grand tour' of their
exceptionally beautiful carnival glass collection. Certainly one of the best
collections of Australian carnival glass I have personally seen for quite
some time. And I hope we can see them both at one of our club meetings in
the not too distant future.
Whilst I’m still on the subject of Australian carnival
glass, some pretty intriguing news has surfaced, yet again, about the
likelihood of fakes or replicas of some of the Australian fauna. This time,
it appears they may have set their 'creative' talents on our kangaroo
design. There are some question marks over the authenticity of the piece
that was shown in the diagram; however there is enough anecdotal evidence to
suggest it was an attempt to 'cash in' on what is truly an iconic piece of
Australian carnival glass. I really do hope this is not going to be the
start of any type of trend in this type of activity.
Our sincere thanks go to Dot and Rob Butler for hosting
our recent Christmas meeting. Again, they provided a superb array of food
and treats for everyone to enjoy, and I don’t think anyone left feeling
hungry, that’s for sure. Not even Santa!
Our upcoming meeting is on 17 February 2007
featuring a 'Fakes and Fruits' theme. A meeting where I’m sure there will be
plenty of enthusiastic discussion and stories to tell. Cindy and Kevin
Mackley are hosting it at their home in Tumbi Umbi NSW. Further address
details are at the end of this newsletter.
Also, please don’t forget that this is our 'Dutch
Auction' meeting. So, remember to bring along something worthy enough of
being up for auction. Something that you would like to receive yourself if
you were the successful bidder. As we know this really good fund raiser has
always proved a winner financially for the club, helping to pay for things
like our printing costs, insurance and other expenses that crop up through
the year.
And again, in signing off, I’m really so looking forward
to seeing you all at our next meeting. So if you haven’t been to one for a
while try to make it for this one. You're bound to have an enjoyable day
catching up with everyone.
We’d all love to see you there, and maybe bring a friend
along!
As always, cheers
and happy carnival glass
hunting.
Your Club President,
Maurice Geake
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