Admission of a Buying Mistake

At the last Symposium, Scott Hansen referred to buying mistakes. I thought that I would share my most recent one.

Yesterday, I quickly previewed a local auction’s offerings. In my defense, I was in a hurry as I had several church sales to get to before getting back to the auction. At the preview, I saw this glass trout. I turned it over and saw tiny block letters that I was sure said STEUBEN. After the church sales, I took a quick look at the Houston trout on Google. Sufficiently quick enough to be able to ignore most of the details. I arrived back at the auction in time to hook my prize.

I arrived home with a cat got canary look. My wife, Jan, (Mrs. Buzzkill) examined the piece closely and pointed out a clear label that said Made In Austria. I then tried to recall the Symposium presentation on the late Steuben production by the Schottenstein group. Maybe they jobbed some work out to Austrians. Then I looked closer at the mark. Not STEUBEN, but the copyright mark 1988 FM. Turns out this 10.5 inch tall crystal masterpiece is by FM Marcolin Company. A lot of fun for $50 Canadian which is only a paltry $43.50 U.S.

Regards,

Jeremy Hayes,

Port Dover