Pictures, pictures, pictures. Many from the Symposium; about 100 at this link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cardersteubenclub/sets/72157602073261606/
While many show names of those in the photos, undoubtedly there are some
mistakes, including misspellings. If so, be forgiving. Hard to work with small
thumbnail pictures.
At the Symposium Friday night Tom Dimitroff gave a presentation at Building
“B” on the fact that a metal works were within a couple of blocks of the Carder
factory. Tom was excited by this rather new discovery and speculated on some
of the type metal work that was done there. Ed Bush, who The Rakow frequently
turns to when they are puzzled or overworked, set about trying to find out
more. Here is what he has discovered to date:
I found Emil Borgersen and wife arriving in New York from Norway in 1923 and headed for Wellsboro, PA. The record said he was a goldsmith. I then found him in 1924 placing ads in the Wellsboro newspaper about his new art metal business. An article stated that “E. Borgersen & Co., art metal workers, have started a new industry in the line of decorative art metal work. The company intends to manufacture all kinds of high-grade artistic metal articles.” Apparently the artistic metal business in Wellesboro was skimpy since Borgersen and the business appeared in Corning not long after. The listing of their various products in their ads indicates that they could have provided metal shapes to Steuben. Will go to Bath tomorrow to check obituaries.
You may recall from prior Gazettes that Ed started a controversy over whether Mr. Carder has a middle initial “C”. Some found that discussion on this in the Gazette most interesting. Some said “who cares?”. Well, Mr. Carder is one of the most important glass figures and influences in America. His influence is profound and ever present today. Not only in his artistry, but techniques, (things like developing the technique of glass casting) and the fact he is studied by many glass artists in training. Therefore, everything about him becomes important. Ed has taken his initial inquiry and done considerable research on the subject. It will appear in the next issue of Journal of Glass Studies (hope I’m close to the right title). After it appears, hopefully we will have a reprint for the Gazette. I’ve seen the article and I have to admire Ed’s research and writing skills.
Finally, Carol Ketchum tells me that her mother taught her to be polite and write thank you notes. Or, in our area of the country we say, “you catch more bees with honey than vinegar.” So, notwithstanding Carol’s sour experience yesterday at The Alfred, she has addressed this thank you note and is crossing her fingers for the future preservation of the important Paul Gardner documentation.