Meeting Minutes, February 6th, 2011

Transcription

1 Since 1972 Midwest Glass Chatter February 2011 Club Officers Dave Rittenhouse, Pres CR 900 W. Farmland, IN Richard Cole, Vice Pres./Lib 2904 W. Moore Rd. Muncie, IN Anne Szopa, Treas./M.C U.S. Highway 35 Economy, IN Joe Coulson, Sec./Editor Collingswood Ln. Fishers, IN TIME TO RENEW!!! Please send your club dues for 2011 to Anne Membership The Midwest Glass Chatter is a monthly publication and is a forum through which collectors can share information. Membership cost is $15.00 per year, per family, due each December 31. All jar/bottle related collectors are welcome. Send to MAFJBC, Attn: Anne Szopa, U.S. Highway 35, Economy, IN Meeting Minutes, February 6th, 2011 The February club meeting was held at Minnetrista in Muncie, Indiana. President Dave Rittenhouse opened the meeting and welcomed 11 members. Anne Szopa gave the Treasurer s report for February. We had income from a large number of membership dues renewals. Expenses included costs for the Winter Show and publishing the newsletter. It is estimated that the club made a small profit on the show. The club continues to maintain a positive bank balance. Dave told us that the Horizon Convention Center raised the price of tables by $5 this year. The club will raise the cost of dealer tables by $5 for our January 2012 Winter Show. Dave asked for feedback on the Winter Show. Everyone agreed the free lunch on Saturday was successful and should be repeated. A couple of members thought the ventilation was worse than normal at the hotel, but there is not much that can be done about that. It was suggested that we should have all Get-Together attendees formally introduce themselves, but Dave said it was best that we continue to keep this optional. Leaving out the introductions saves time, and it would not put anyone on the spot to talk. Dave mentioned that the Columbus, Ohio show was coming up soon. Some club members indicated that they planned to be there. Dick Cole asked for topics for Show and Tell for the next several club meetings. Everyone in attendance agreed to the following topics: March 6th Streaks and Swirls (any kind); April 3rd Pottery jars; May 1st Glass lids; June 5th Reworked and Modified Molds (for example: Ball/Root; Ball/Boyd). Dick Cole informed us that he has expanded his office space in downtown Muncie. He now has the adjoining office to his original office. Dick keeps his collection of modern Ball Corporation collectibles on display there by appointment to the public. Our club lending library is also located there. Dick would be happy for you to meet with him sometime to see everything; please give him a call in advance: Our next club meeting will be March 6th at 1:30pm at the Minnetrista museum in Muncie, Indiana. The theme for Show and Tell will be jars and bottles with Streaks and Swirls (any kind). See you all at the next meeting. Joe Coulson, Secretary Three different sizes of jelly glasses with scarce original lids. They were purchased at the Muncie Show by Anne Szopa.

2 Page 2 Show and Tell Joe Coulson displayed an aqua QT Mason (shepherd crook) (base: Greenfield Fruit Jar Co. Greenfield Ind.). He purchased this jar from Don Burkett during room-hopping at the hotel. This jar came from Don s collection. Joe shared a clear QT (product label: Gold Medal Brand Sour Pickles) (base: T in triangle). This jar had the maker s mark of the Turner Glass Company, which operated in Winchester, Indiana during the 1920 s. Joe purchased this jar recently on ebay from a gentleman in Hobart, Indiana. Joe started looking for Turner jars after club member Tom Nixon brought an unlabeled one to the Muncie Show. Joe brought a real-photo postcard showing the Office of Illinois Glass Works, Gas City, IN. The postcard was dated Bruce Schank displayed three jars that he acquired in a trade that was completed at the Muncie Show with Jeff Harper: a Ball blue HG Ball Perfection (aqua lid: PAT. APR ) (band: Mason Bright repro); an olive green with amber swirls QT Ball (3-L) Improved; and a dark amber QT Ball (3-L) Mason. Bruce specializes in collecting colored Ball jars, and he has quite a collection. Bruce showed a clear QT Ball Perfect Mason (unusual flat and wide embossing); and an aqua QT Mason s (keystone) Patent Nov 30 TH 1858 (reverse: Ball). He purchased both of these jars from Don Burkett while room-hopping at Muncie. These jars came from Don s personal collection. Bruce also shared an olive amber HG Ball Perfect Mason, which he purchased from Chuck Erb. This is the darkest half gallon in that series that Bruce has been able to acquire. Dick Cole displayed an amber bottle which was a commemorative bottle made by Anchor Hocking. The jar celebrated the retirement of an employee in The jar was shaped like a modern I.S. (Individual Section) fruit jar blowing machine! Mike James told Dick that there are two variations of this bottle and that this was the rarer one (differences are in the mouth of the bottle). Dave Rittenhouse brought a Ball blue PT Trademark Climax with upside down embossing. This jar was a gift he received at the Muncie Show. Dave shared an aqua PT The Van Vliet Jar of 1881 with an original closure (jar had a small crack on the shoulder). Dave acquired this jar at the Muncie Show at a price he could not pass up. Colleen Dixon told us that she acquired 36 jars at the Muncie Show! Colleen brought a few of them to share with us: an aqua QT #1939 Mason s (cross) Patent Nov. 30 TH 1858 (base: Pat Nov backwards 2 correct 6 67) (lots of bubbles, and it looked like the mold had a crack in it before the jar was blown); an aqua HG #1939 (same as previous quart, but correct 26, and mold 806); an aqua HG #1938 (cross) Mason s Patent Nov. 30 TH 1858; aqua QT #500-4 Boyd (italic) Perfect Mason (embossing centered); a pale green QT #1489 Trademark Lightning (base: Putnam 249 inside of a circle); and a very light aqua 1 1/2 PT # (base: Trademark Lightning). Nate and Dyan McIntire are new members of the club. Everyone gave them a warm welcome. They shared an aqua QT unembossed wax sealer with heavy whittling (base: two large skinny X s); and an aqua HG Ball (3-L) Standard. Both jars were in perfect condition, which is unusual for wax sealers. The unembossed jar would have been mouth blown by a skilled glassblower in the late 1800 s. The Ball jar would have been one of the early machine-made ones from the late 1890 s or very early 1900 s. Lou Ebert displayed a clear 3/4 PT #550 Calcutt s (around side of lid: Calcultt s Patent Apr. 11 TH Nov. 7 TH 1893) (base: Calcutt s Pat s Apr 11 TH Nov 7 TH 1893). Made by Canton Glass Co./Works (of National Glass Co.) circa and Cambridge Glass Co. circa 1903?. Note: this jar has two grooves around the body of the jar at the top and at the heel; there are only two lugs for the closure. Lou shared a clear PT #549 Calcutt s (around side of lid: Calcutt s Patent Apr. 11 TH Nov. 7 TH 1893) (body and base unembossed). Note: this pint jar and the quart jar both have three lugs for the closure. Lou displayed a clear 1/2 PT Caton Domestic jam jar. Lid: Domestic Patd Dec (embossed on inside to read from top outside). The domed lid has a high fin, braced on both sides. Clamp- ing wire has a C shape on both sides. Body and base: unembossed. Made by Canton Glass Co./Works (of National Glass Co.) circa and Cambridge Glass Co. circa 1903?. Lou displayed a clear 1/2 PT Ripley jam jar. Lid: high domed lid has a fin and is unembossed. Straight clamp wire. Body and base unembossed. Made by Ripley Glass Co. of United States Glass Co. circa 1891?. In 1891 Daniel C. Ripley of Ripley Glass Co. and 14 other glass companies merged to form the United States Glass Co. Lou brought a clear QT # Michigan Mason (smooth lip, shoulder seal, rounded shoulder). This was a Show Day purchase. Made by Michigan Glass Co., Saganaw, Michigan circa 1910 s. Lou purchased this jar because he briefly lived in Michigan when he was a baby. Anne Szopa brought several jelly molds, circa 1900 s. They probably were product containers. Three of the jelly molds were oval, ribbed sided, grapes on base, graduated sizes, metal lids (lids very scarce). The other jelly mold was oval, grape embossed base, four legs to fit into a metal lid with four indentations allowed stacking of molds. Sue Wilson displayed a clear QT (unlisted) (product label: Georgia Moon Whiskey / less than 30 days old / The Johnson Distilling Co. / Boston, Mass., Albany GA., Owensboro, Ky.) (heel of jar: 4 / 5 Quart) (base: liquor bottle, small star figure, numbers) (lid: Mason, tax revenue stamp).

3 Page 3 Show and Tell Pictures Reverse: Ball logo Base: looks like 165 Clear quart made by the Turner Glass Company of Winchester, Indiana. Original product label and lid: Squire Dungee Co. Aqua quart Mason s (keystone in circle) Patent Nov. 30 TH 1858 Olive green with nice amber swirls quart Ball (3-L) Improved Olive amber half gallon Ball Perfect Mason Dark amber Ball (3-L) Mason. Lots of dark swirls in the light. Ball blue half gallon Ball Perfection. Tough size to find.

4 Page 4 Show and Tell Pictures, cont d Rare aqua pint The Van Vliet Jar of 1881 Ball blue pint Upside Down Trade Mark Climax Registered Amber bottle: , 43 Years, Ralph Newkirk, Anchor Hocking Corp. Reverse side: person operating an I.S. bottle making machine Aqua 1 1/2 pint; base: Trade Mark Lightning Clear quart Michigan Mason Aqua half gallon wax sealer Ball (3-L) Standard Aqua half gallon unembossed wax sealer, whittled, base: X X

5 Page 5 Show and Tell Pictures, cont d Two clear jelly glasses: half pint Ripley, half pint Canton Domestic; both with original closures Aqua quart Mason s (cross) Patent Nov 30 TH 1858 Base: crude lines from mold breaks, backwards 2 in 26 Jelly mold, grape embossed base, four legs to fit into a metal lid with four indentations Two clear Calcutt s Patent jars, pint and 3/4 pint size Base: Calcutt s Pat s Apr 11 TH Nov 7 TH 1893 Clear quart, paper label for Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey, Johnson Distilling Co. Heel: 4/5 Quart; Base: Liquor Bottle (star, maker s mark? Made in 75?) Clear quart Ball Perfect Mason, wide flat embossing

6 Page 6 *Editor s Note: This article is a result of long time collector and author Bruce W. Schank reaching out numerous times to long time collector Fr. Pat Wilhelm.] Fr. Pat was born in 1939 in Newark, NJ and grew up in West Orange, NJ. He is a 1961 graduate of Rutgers University. In his senior year at Rutgers he converted to Catholicism, and a few years after graduating he entered the Seminary. In 1971, Fr. Pat graduated from the seminary and then fully took on the duties of a catholic Priest. Fr. Pat first became interested in fruit jars in the 1970 s. His mother had some Hazel Atlas jars which really didn t impress him much, but she also had a blue Ball Ideal jar. That blue jar fascinated him because of its color and more than unusual closure. He didn t really know much of anything about jars, but in 1975 when Ball Corp. came out with the Bicentennial jars, he happened to see a display of them at the Shop-Rite in Nutley, NJ. He studied that display and found it fascinating, because the jars were blue like the blue jar his mother had had. So just for the fun of it, he bought one of the jars. Of course, in each and every one of those Bicentennial jars at the time, there Fr. Pat at the July 2009 Adamstown Show. was a leaflet in them about Bill Brantley s book, A Collector s Guide to Ball Jars. He thought that was very interesting, and it piqued his curiosity, so he ordered the book. He read the book all the way through, and it absolutely fascinated him, and there was a very strange interest in it that kind of possessed him after reading the book. It really overwhelmed him, and he didn t understand why, but it did. He read it, and read it over and over, with great fascination, and studied the pictures, and he guesses it just grabbed and took a hold of him. He claims that it still does to a point even 35 years later. Collecting fruit jars has always just seemed to interest him in a tremendous way.

7 Page 7 Rare Base of 20 series BPM. Now being of a somewhat bold nature, he noticed the author s preface as Selma, IN, and he decided in the fall of 1976 that he was going to call him. He went and got the phone number from information, and called him out of the blue (no pun intended). To Fr. Pat s chagrin, Brantley told him afterwards that he [Brantley] thought someone had died when he heard a priest was calling. :0) He had a nice chat with Brantley who suggested getting in touch with Arleta Rodriguez, Dick Roller or Alice Creswick, and provided him with addresses and phone numbers. Fr. Pat wrote Arleta and received back a very nice reply from her. Brantley also suggested that he go to the Richmond, IN Jar Show. Fr. Pat wasn t used to driving that far, and being puzzled as to how he would get out there, he soon discovered to his delight that you could take a train from Newark, NJ on the National Limited to Richmond, IN, which happened to be one of the pit stops along the way to Chicago. Rare Amber Buffalo jar. Fr. Pat took that train to Richmond, IN, and when he arrived, there apparently was an event taking place that very weekend in which one or more women were being ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church, which was a big deal at the time. People mistakenly thought he was there to ordain the women, which wasn t the case, and something he would never be a part of, and considered personally screwy. So he told them, no I m here for a Fruit Jar Meeting and Show, which sounded a bit screwy, and totally befuddled them also. It was actually quite amusing Fr. Pat told me, how he and the other people reacted to each other s news. It was at this show that he met Jerry McCann (who is a good friend of his to this day), Alice Creswick and Ralph Finch, and he was just overwhelmed seeing all of the tables full of jars. To Fr. Pat, all of those jars were just stunning. In correspondence he had mentioned to Arleta Rodriguez that he was going to the show, and she said to him to look for her dear friend Dick Roller, who would no doubt attend the show. He never did meet Dick at that show, but years later after already meeting Dick, he mentioned how he [Dick] had seen him [Fr. Pat] walking around the place. He did buy some jars in fact, and stayed at the hotel for a few days, and the whole deal just blew his mind. He thought it was quite a way to start off collecting actually; his first fruit jar show was The fruit jar show with The leading collectors, and everything else that went with it. That event really hooked him into the hobby big time.

8 Page 8 In the fall of 1977, Fr. Pat visited with Arleta Rodriguez, and that visit opened up his eyes to how charming and nice people in the hobby could actually be. He felt an uncanny affinity with both Arleta and her husband, as if he had known them for years. In 1978 at his second Richmond, IN Show, he finally met Dick Roller, who asked him to come to his home in Paris, IL, which again impressed him very much. Fr. Pat says sometimes people have referred to him as a jar expert, but he denies it. He says everything he learned was from Dick Roller, Arleta Rodriguez and a few other people who were the researchers. Since he has a good memory, he simply soaked up everything like a sponge that those researchers have shared with him. He also claims he is in no way disturbed by collector politics, because it is merely human relations. The Church has politics and people who get together for anything at all in life will have differing viewpoints on what they are doing. Any jar collector, or any collector of anything after the first few years of the hobby, has to learn that a lot of what goes on is based on his or her own opinion based on their own experience on amassing their own collection. So when he sees conflicting prices or even shocking prices then he goes by a few factors; how interested is he in the jar, how often has he seen one for sale, and how much would he want to have one, etc. Now depending on those factors, if he sees a good jar listed for a great deal more than the listed price, he thinks if he hasn t really seen Rare Ball Universal jar. Fr. Pat was at one time a huge figure for the FJN. one and he really wants it for his collection he might be willing to pay a higher price for it. So a lot of that is one s own judgment. According to Fr. Pat, Ball Corporation in his early years of collecting was very welcoming and forthcoming with collectors, and if you wanted to know something, they would tell you what you needed to know. So he found Ball jars a lot more interesting than what others did, simply because he was able to obtain information on various jars. Now, being friendly with Bill Brantley and Dick Roller very early on was a huge plus too, since he [Roller] was in the midst of heavy Ball researching, and working hand in hand with Ball employees, i.e., Brantley. Also at that time Ball Corp. was physically rearranging jars and working on the idea of setting up the Ball Museum. Incredibly, a lot of jars were being gathered together and thrown out, and Brantley, Roller and a few of the Ball officials had access to those junk heaps. Fr. Pat told me a lot of good stuff was thrown into those junk heaps by the

9 Page 9 company, and were simply items which they did not want. If they had one example for the museum, they were seemingly satisfied. There were also many different people at Ball headquarters and other facilities that had example runs of jars lying around on their desks and sitting in their closets from different projects. As time went on and as different executives were either being moved or fired, all of the jars started emerging out of the offices. Different officials started to realize a certain group of people were into collecting those jars, and subsequently those same jars became available to collectors one way or another. According to Fr. Pat, it was more like a friend of a friend of a friend connection that allowed him and others to get a hold of things. An example of this is the Ball Universal in his collection. Dick Roller owned the damaged example only because he saved the jar from one of the junk piles. Dick Roller at one point had some serious health issues in the 1980 s, and began selling off his collection because he honestly needed the money. Fr. Pat happened to be one of those few collectors who benefited from being close to Roller, since he [Roller] would call him and say, I have such and such a jar and are you interested in it. Yet Fr. Pat claims there were no bargains whatsoever with him, due to his need of funds. Upon purchasing the Ball Universal jar, he promptly had it professionally repaired. Rare milk glass Ball Ideal jar. I realize this will sound strange to some, but Fr. Pat mentioned that very early on in his collecting pursuits he decided to enlist the help of God. In 1978 he prayed asking God if he could have a milk glass Ball Ideal jar. His prayer was basicly, Gee God, you know it would be great if I could get one of those milk glass Ball Ideal jars, and you know I d love to have one God. I m such a good priest, and I certainly deserve one. So if it s Your will, I d love to have one. To his great astonishment, in only a matter of a few weeks he received a call (out of the blue of course) from Roller, saying by the way, somebody has a milk glass Ball Ideal jar for sale, and I told that person you d probably be only too happy to buy it. Fr. Pat said, Yes and then Roller told him the price was $1,000. Fr. Pat had never purchased a jar for as much as $1,000 before, but little did he know at that time that that price would eventually become common place. The person selling the jar turned out to be, of all people, Bill Brantley who was trying to raise money too. So he got the milk glass Ball Ideal jar, and he prayed saying, thank you God, you know that I deserve this, and I much appreciate the opportunity, and so thank you God. I ll be a very good priest from now on, better than usual. So God told him See that You Do! ;o) Fr. Pat told me a very interesting story about one of his rarer jars in the collection. In 1981 he purchased a Mason s Flag Standard, which at the time wasn t even listed in any of the reference books.

10 Page 10 According to him, this jar is the cousin jar to the Mason s Shield Union and the Mason s Keystone Keystone. He says his example is in pristine condition, but does not have a closure. When he had the opportunity to buy the jar, he brought along $300 with him to Lebanon, PA to an old farmer s residence. He claims it was overwhelming when he saw the jar, and he almost had a stroke then. At the time the significance of the jar was not apparent to him, except it was a very attractive jar, and obviously a very rare jar, and seemed to be tied to John Mason himself. Beyond that he claims it was a blank to him. Not knowing where to begin and literally off the top of his head, he told the old farmer that he could offer him $100 for the jar. Oh the old farmer said, I probably couldn t get more than $50 for this at the local flea market. I offered it to Joe Wenger of Sabetha, KS, and I never got an answer. I better call him up and see what he thinks and what he ll give me. Fr. Pat gasped and thought Oh God! Don t tell me he s actually going to call this Joe up? He ll offer something for the jar and maybe even more, and I m going to have a problem with this whole situation. Just watch, Joe s going to say he wants the jar, and since the old farmer offered him the jar first, he s going to let him have it. Fr. Pat s heart sank and again thought Oh God! He started envisioning all of the negative coming to fruition. He mentioned to me how he was so close to buying the jar, and Rare Mason's (Flag) Standard jar. how the jar was sitting there calling to him saying, Fr. Patrick, Fr. Patrick, save me, save me. :0) Anyway, the farmer goes into his home to call Joe. While that was happening Fr. Pat was praying and pleading with God saying, God, God, You know You really want me to have this jar, so please help me and let it work out that Joe doesn t want it. I believe he also said there were a few me, me s offered up in that prayer as well. :o) Lo and behold a miracle occurred, because his prayers were answered, and the most wonderful thing happened; Joe did not answer the phone. The old farmer said, Well, he had his chance, and he didn t answer my letter when I offered him the jar, and now he s not answering the phone, so you can have it for $100.00, and so Fr. Pat was saying to himself, thank You God! Now he claims he didn t offer the old farmer a low price to skunk him, because he didn t really know what the jar was worth. Of course he would have given him $300 if the farmer had asked for that much, but the farmer seemed quite satisfied with the $100 price. So Fr. Pat jumped into his car and took off at top speed back to New Jersey, and shortly after the purchase the jar became known. Fr. Pat subsequently took the jar to the next Show & Tell, which at that time was now in Indianapolis. It turns out that Norm Barnett had acquired one too, but with one caveat, Norm s jar was

11 Page 11 broken. Norm was going to show his jar as The find at the show, but Fr. Pat as a new collector had somehow bested the old Master himself. By 1985 Fr. Pat was pretty much a well known and established collector. Bill Brantley contacted him one day and said; I m coming through Newark Airport on such and such an afternoon, and I can get off the plane and meet you with some very nice jars that you probably would want to buy. So if you would like to meet me at the Airport, you could look at some very nice jars. Fr. Pat said, Yes, yes, yes. So he went to the Airport and he bought six to eight jars from Brantley, the debossed BPM quart being one of them. Imagine this scene; Fr. Pat and Bill Brantley in the Airport Lounge with jars all over the carpet floor. Well suffice it to say according to him [Fr. Pat], he remembers people looking at them both as if they were both crazy. Man I wish I could have been sitting there watching that transaction as it went down. I suppose there are people who either like or dislike Fr. Pat, but in talking with him for 3 ½ hours, I quickly realized that he was more than a character; he was actually very animated, hilarious and quite personable. Plus a very important message came through to me loud and clear too, when it comes to fruit jars; it s not what you know that really matters but who you know that ultimately matters, including God Almighty. He also revealed to me that at the 2008 Bethlehem show he bought a jar that he Rare Bennett S Perfect Baking Powder 1858 never imagined he would ever be able to have for his collection. He called it his Pinnacle jar, and told me he paid more for it than any jar he has ever bought before, bar none. He claims he never conceived that that jar would ever be available for sale, let alone offered to him. Of course it was offered at what most people would consider an insanely exorbitant price, but he said he bought it anyway. Why pray tell? Because after 30 years of collecting he realized he d never get a chance to get one of those jars again, and he also felt it was actually worth it, and if he wanted to, he could certainly sell it again to someone for the same price. At the July 2010 Muncie Get- Together, Fr. Pat revealed his Pinnacle jar, which happened to be a very rare Bennett s Perfect Baking Powder quart with Mason s 1858 patent on the base. Unfortunately, I was never able to persuade Fr. Pat to allow me to take photos of his jars or even some of his jars. From what I have been told, only two people have ever seen his collection, and although I was hoping to be the third, it just didn t work out for me. Addendum: with the exception of the Flag Standard and the Bennett s photo, all other photos are of other collectors jars that coincide with jars known to be in Fr. Pat s collection.

12 MIDWEST ANTIQUE FRUIT JAR & BOTTLE CLUB A jarrific place to share and learn Send articles and info here: Joe Coulson, Editor Collingswood Ln. Fishers, IN JCoulson@LeaderJar.com ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED WE RE ON THE WEB! Real-photo post card of Office Illinois Glass Works, Gas City, Ind. The card is dated August Cards like this provide wonderful historical glimpses and information about old glass companies. Announcements Our next club meeting will be March 6th at 1:30pm at the Minnetrista museum in Muncie, Indiana. The theme for Show and Tell will be jars and bottles with Streaks and Swirls (any kind). March 20 (Sunday), Flint, MI. The Flint Antique Bottle and Collectibles Club's 41st Annual Show & Sale (9am - 3pm) at the Dom Polski Hall, 3415 N Linden Rd, Flint, MI. Info: Tim Buda, Cook Rd, Gaines, MI 48436, ph: (989) , tbuda@shianet.org March 20 (Sunday), St. Louis, MO. St. Louis Antique Bottle Collectors' Association's 41st Annual Show & Sale (9am - 3pm) at the Two Hearts Banquet Center, 4532 S. Lindbergh, St. Louis, MO. Info: Pat Jett, 71 Outlook Dr, Hillsboro, MO 63050, ph: (636) , patsy_jett@yahoo.com April 2-3 (Saturday - Sunday), Indianapolis, IN. Greater Midwest Antique Bottle, Pottery, Advertising and Antique Show and Sale (9am - 5pm Saturday and 9am - 2pm Sunday. Early admission 5pm - 8pm Friday) at the Wyndham Indianapolis West (formerly Adams Mark). Info: Martin Van Zant, 208 Urban St. Danville, IN 46122, ph: (812) , mdvanzant@yahoo.com or William Gonterman, ph: (317) Our club is a member and supporter of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (the national bottle club). The FOHBC website: