Interesting Question

Linda White posed a question to me last weekend. Why not ask our readership what things they collect or have collected, and perhaps why. Linda thought it would be most interesting.

Ok, well let me starty. Starting at about age 8 I began collecting coins. Those were the days of privately owned businesses. For example, my local druggist allowed me to go through his store’s change. I found most Lincoln pennies and other coins to fill my many Whitman books. Also, back then Indian pennies, barber coins, could be found; you get the idea. Over the year’s I filled many collector series and found many oddities like two cent pieces and coins going back to the early 1800s. Not all found at my drug store or local grocery, but it was a passion and by the time I was 20 I had a pretty nice collection. Well, then I got married and the collection went into the bank vault, never to see the light of day for about 40 years.

When finally I decided to sell my coins and put the money towards my beginning to become a Carder Steuben collector I sat in the banks vault area with a dealer who bought my collection and he asked me whether I ever collected coins with my spouse. My answer was she did not participate. The dealer said he had been asking that question for fifteen years and not once had he received a positive response. How sad!

I went home and told Susan about the discussion and we talked about how we had from near the beginning of our marriage a shared participation in collecting depression era black amethyst glass. My mother in law gave us a black amethyst vase early in our marriage. I realized I like the shape and drama created by black glass and Susan found it a great decorating color. So, for about forty years we regularly searched out antique shops, flea markets and any venues where we might find this inexpensive glass.

My downfall occurred when I was in an antique shop and found a vase that “spoke to me”. It was more expensive than any black glass we had collected, but I just had to have this glorious piece. I had no idea who the maker was, and it took me a couple of years to discover it was something called Steuben.

Steuben #7468

Later, a dealer I was talking to told me to get the Gardner book, which then was hard to find, and study Carder Steuben. I found more of this Carder glass that spoke to me, particularly the balanced and classical shapes, and with the knowledge gained from dealers and the Gardner book then I was off and running as a Carder collector.

All the while we had space above the kitchen cabinets; so, Susan and I collected interesting tea tins. You can see we had the collector gene.

For the past 22 years we’ve had a vacation home. Our main home has become a shrine to Carder Steuben glass. While Susan shares my love for Carder Steuben, it isn’t however, her passion. In the course of attending glass auctions she has discovered French glass made by Charles Schneider, under the labels o La Verre Français, Charder or Schneider. This glass parallels Carder’s period and is quite colorful and Art Deco. So one home is replete with Carder’s glass and the other Schneider.

That’s my story. I hope others will share theirs.

Charder

Schneider

Schneider

Charder