Wells County Historical
Museum
420 West Market Street
PO
Box 143
Bluffton, IN 46714-0143
The
Membership Dues are minimal:
|
Student: $ 5.00 per year |
Individual: $ 10.00 per year |
Family: $ 15.00 per year |
|
Patron: $ 25.00 per year |
|
Lifetime: $150.00 |
The
Wells County Historical Museum at 420 West Market has opened for the
season. The museum hours are 1-4
p.m. on Sundays. Come visit the museum and check out the many display changes.
We will be closed on Mother’s Day and Fathers Day and the Sunday of
Memorial Weekend.
The
museum will have for its first special collectors display for the 2008 season,
a display of Depression glass. The collection belongs to Connie Brubaker and
Amanda Alford and will be on display until May 4th.
Depression glass is the colored glassware made primarily during the Depression years---1920's-1930's in the colors of amber, blue, black, crystal, green, pink, red, yellow and white. Depression glass was inexpensively made glassware turned out by machine in quantity and sold through smaller stores or given away as promotional or premium items for other products of that time. Depression glass was often packed in cereal boxes, flour bags or given as gifts at the local movie theaters, gasoline stations and grocery stores. The Quaker Oats Company of Chicago packed premiums into their boxes of oatmeal for many years. Forest Green and Blue Bubble were popular premiums thus its abundance today. In the 1930's Mothers Oats was a prime source of dishes and glassware with "Miss America" as one of its premiums. Seed packets (very popular with gardeners) and even magazine subscriptions were promoted by giving Depression glass as a premium. Entire sets could be amassed through coupon programs. This effort to continually lure buyers and collectors meant that countless patterns and colors were produced. Something for everyone!
How was the glass made? The glass mixture itself was usually of the cheapest quality, consisting mostly of silica, soda ash, and lime. With the lower quality of glass, the mold-etch decorating technique served a second purpose of hiding the inevitable flaws such as bubbles and cloudiness. Madrid is a good example of this. The festoons and feathered scrolls combined with the bold, dominate center diamond motif to create a pattern that pleases the eye, but also distracts it from a too-close examination of the few surfaces left blank. Flaws were hidden from the casual eye.
There have been changes in the collecting of Depression glass. Prices soared: seemly plentiful patterns have been gathered into vast collections and removed from the market. Any pattern that is considered depression Glass, whether it is a known pattern or not, has value and collectability. Collectors have become more knowledgeable and sophisticated in their collecting.
The
number of companies that produced the glass was nearly as large as the number
of colors they produced. Many of these companies have since closed, but a few
remain in business. Indiana Glass Company of Dunkirk, Indiana was founded in
1907. One of Indiana Glass Company's better known patterns is the
"Sandwich" pattern. Although they made many other patterns and
colors. The "Sandwich" pattern is the easiest to find and identify.
I became interested in Depression glass in the 1960's and have been hooked on it since. I first started collecting a pattern called "Lace Edge" by Old Colony. I loved the intricate open lace edge and the lovely soft pink color. Since starting I have found that the pattern was also produced in yellow and crystal (made by different companies), so I have added those colors to my collection. In 2000 when I opened my antique shop "Pages from the Attic" I began seeing that there were so many other patterns and colors that I really liked and I began buying "for the shop" the different patterns and now have a collection of 200 + pieces of assorted patterns of Depression glass. Many patterns have disappeared into collectors display cabinets or were too fragile to survive the last 80 + years since production.
The price of today's pieces vary from $1.00 to hundred's of dollars for a piece (9" comport in Open Lace $800.) Ebay has made a lot of difference in finding patterns and the prices of pieces. It's much easier to look on line than to drive all over looking, but the hunt and the find still hold the most excitement for me.
Wells County Genealogy
Society News
The
Wells County Genealogy Society will meet at the Wells County Historical Museum
on Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 10:00 am.
The
Wells County Genealogy Society is putting together a Cookbook as a Spring project. Please include the history from Wells
County, where the recipe originated from, whom the recipe is from, etc. We will
include all that is possible.
Cookbooks
are to be available for the Bluffton Street Fair. Price will be determined when
the project is finished, as size will determine the final cost.
For
more information about the meeting please call Connie Brubaker 260-543-2423.
2008 Board Members
|
Jim Sturgeon - President |
Connie Brubaker-Vice President |
2nd Vice Pres. |
|
Marcia Hotopp - Secretary |
Gregory Waters - Treasurer |
|
|
Peggy Bate |
Nancy Carroll Wagner |
Jerry Penrod |
|
Nellie Sleppy |
Laura Sawyer |
Barbara Elliott |
|
Becky Behning |
|
Craig Leonard - Historian |