::Glass & Bottle Show::

My dear friend, Karie, took me on a little outing to a glass and bottle show today. 

Here are a few of the things we saw...

Some amazing insulators in every color imaginable!

These, I learned, are called Beehive insulators. I really wanted to buy them all.

The prices of the bottles varied from 50 cents to $35,000--that high price tag for a one-of-a-kind whiskey bottle. Wow!

But alas, not being "collectors" we didn't care so much about condition, rarity, or staining--only if it was "cute" or "pretty" or "unusual" or "good for decorating"! But we learned a lot from the sellers about where they find their glass (often old outhouse ground!), age, how the colors are created, and how the soil affects the glass over time. Very interesting stuff, I tell you.

One lady started laughing at Karie and me saying, "You two are having way too much fun!" We agreed, and laughed some more! 

We decided that the old, cruddy, stained bottles are almost more appealing then the sparkly, clean ones--the ones with the bubbles, dirt, and imperfections. Both my friend and I have 'stories'--and imperfections. Maybe that is why we liked those bottles in particular.

These are the treasures that made it home with me--all for $11! They seriously make me happy! They will come to live in my bedroom/bathroom soon. The amethyst bottles were made with a chemical called magnesium to make the glass clear. It was soon discovered that in sunlight the magnesium would turn the glass this beautiful pale lavender. To get blue--add copper. To get amber--add iron. (Sometimes even nails were thrown in for that!)

This bottle used to contain EMBALMING FLUID!!Had to have it! I want to know its 'story'!

Before they started putting on paper labels, and eventually painting on the labels, they would actually mold it into the glass. The one below is handmade--which you can tell by looking at the neck which cannot be made in the mold like the rest of the bottle. I love that it is a pain-expeller--for rheumatism, gout, neuralgia, colds, etc. That should help with just about everything, huh? The scientist in me wants to know the chemicals that were actually in there.


Thanks for stopping by and letting me share another part of my "story"! And thanks, Karie, for a memorable day!