Comments by Alan and Lorraine Pickup
Relax and Enjoy
From HOACGA bulletin January, 2005

In this ever increasing age of "speed and greed" is there any room left to just relax and enjoy the hobby? We think there is some hope and try to do just that in our enjoyment of our glass. Like most collectors we don't limit our interest to just carnival glass but collect other glass as well. And we find the largest limiting factor is the room to display it.

Pictured here are three Imperial Windmill bowls. Not one of them worth a lot of money but they all have some appeal to our collecting instincts. The little smoke carnival bowl that just had that "buy me" look as it rested among the display of nineteen fifties "antique" items in our local mall. Or the appeal of the "pumpkin" colored marigold bowl priced at $20 sitting in the mix. Yes, we know that it isn't in the Farmyard bowl category but gee how can you turn your back on a marigold bowl that screams "look at me, I'm pumpkin color." Then there is the teal Windmill bowl with an edge chip. How could you pass that up even with the edge chip? You just don't see teal Imperial bowls that often. As long as the price is close to right you had better take it home rather than wish you had. And after all, we knew when we walked into the antique mall that we were most likely the oldest thing in there on that day and we had lots of chips and bruises.

Carnival glass collectors fall into a "rather picky" category. Let me understand this. Most "old stuff" is considered antique if it's about 100 years old. And if something that was made to be used a hundred years ago and doesn't show some sign of age today, then we have to be suspicious at least.

Yes, condition is and should be a factor in determining value, but it should not be the only factor. And if you look at this glass hobby as an investment, then you are not only missing out on a lot of enjoyment but you probably will not be sleeping as soundly as the Tweedy bird in this picture.

Relax and enjoy, we do.

Windmill

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