June 2016 - Fenton Finders of Greater Kansas City

Fenton Finders of Greater Kansas City
The next meeting of the Fenton Finders of Greater Kansas City will be
SATURDAY, JUNE 11TH, 2016 at the RAYTOWN CITY HALL, E 59TH, Raytown Missouri.
The meeting will start at 7:00PM.
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We send our condolences to Joy Livengood and family on the death of Joy’s
mother last month. Our thoughts and prayers go to Joy and her family at this sad
time.
We had a fun as well as an educational meeting in May and we even
managed to get some work done. We voted to accept the new bylaws that the
board members have been working on for the last three months with lots of help
by our club’s lawyer, Amanda Herman. If not for her help in updating the bylaws
the board might still be working on them. Many times she had to explain to us
just what the old bylaws meant and how to word them better so that the bylaws
not only functioned better for our club as we are now but they would comply with
both state and federal laws. She also made sure that all the changes that we
made were in the best interest of the club. Thank you Amanda. We are so
grateful for the help.
Our program for May was Fenton Flowers and as you can see we had lots of
Fenton Flowers at our meeting. Including one of our favorites a Black Rose
Hurricane Lamp. These beauties can be hard to find in Hob Nail but well worth
the hunt.
Dave and Rose McDaniel joined us for the first time since they joined
FFOGKC. We hope that they had a good time and we were very glad to meet
them. We think that they may have as Rose won the door prize, an embossed
rose pattern slipper with hand painted roses. Who else could have won this
prize?
Jason Herman will join us again this month and has chosen to write about
florescent glass. This type of glass has always attracted a large number of
collectors and has demanded high prices because of that attraction. Whenever
we think of florescent glassware we think first of Vaseline or, as collectors of
Fenton Glass know it, Topaz. However, that is not the only kind of glass that has
will fluoresce under a black light as Jason will explain.
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Glass that Glows
Uranium Glass, Vaseline Glass, Topaz...Oftentimes, these terms are used
interchangeably to describe yellow or yellow-green glass that glows in the
dark. However, they aren’t always the same thing or at least, not mutually
exclusive. For example, Vaseline glass is uranium glass, but not all uranium glass
is Vaseline. Fenton’s Topaz and Topaz Opalescent pieces qualify as Vaseline glass
because they are a transparent yellow by day but fluoresce bright green under a
black light and contain at least 2% uranium dioxide. The Horse Head piece made
by Fenton for Pascal is a great example of this. But, Topaz isn’t the only Fenton
color that glows. In fact, Green Opalescent and Lime Green Opalescent as well as
opaque colors like Custard and Burmese all fluoresce under a black light. These
color treatments all contain some amount of uranium in the glass allowing for
them to glow, but we would never think to call them Vaseline.
Did you know that uranium isn’t the only element that will make glass
fluoresce? Try putting a piece of Amberina under a black light. If you’ve never
done it, you’re in for a pleasant surprise! The Amberina pieces glow a magnificent
day-glo orange. Pictured are the daytime and black light versions of an Amberina
Turtle Ring Tree. The element manganese is responsible for this beautiful
reaction. Manganese is often used to clarify glass and is found in most crystal
pieces and when oxidized will add purple or amethyst hues. When heated to very
high temperatures though it adds the yellowish-brown color we all recognize as
amber and creates the orange fluorescence. The manganese present in some
other minerals can also glow a faint green color. So, don’t assume that a piece
contains uranium just because it glows, it could be manganese.
If you like to display fluorescent glass, you have plenty of Fenton options to
choose from!
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The pictures on page four and five show some of the very nice glass that
our members brought in for show and tell. From the great old Tangerine Stretch
glass and a wonderful Imperial hanging heart vase there was something for
everyone. The Alley Cats were examples of the new Cats that are being sold by
the Fenton Gift Shop. The glass was made by Moser and hand painted by Fenton
artists. The hand painting on this glass is wonderful you can see the attention to
detail and the quality of the painting is very high. The cats are very limited and
also very expensive. The cats have become a canvas for the artist to display their
talent and imagination in ways that they could not have done when Fenton was
mass producing the Alley Cats. We can understand why so many wait for each
new Cat to be listed for sale.
The last two pictures on page five features two more small display tables
from last year’s Gala (are you planning a table for this year’s Gala?) The first one
features some of the many wonderful miniatures that Fenton has made through
the years. One of the miniature water sets was a Louise Piper design, Elizabeth’s
Victorian Motif created for Doris Lechler in the 1980’s. Doris Lechler had many
miniatures created for the collectable market by Fenton. These miniature water
sets, baskets, and guest sets hard to find but well worth the time spent to find
them. As you can tell from the picture there were miniature water sets that
Fenton produced for NFTS as well. These little beauties made a beautiful table.
The last picture shows some of the wonderful Chessie Cat candy boxes that
Fenton has produced over the years. The first one, a dark carnival glass, was first
made for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad as gifts for their employees in 1970. It
has the date and “Chessie by Fenton” on the bottom. As you can see this proved
to be more popular than anyone could have thought and many a Fenton collector
has gone through many a mall and sat through many an auction in order to
complete their sets.
If you have not sent your list of glass that features the work of your favorite
designer to Richard Speaight as yet please do, he will be putting the big display
together for the Gala soon and will need a list of glass that he will have available.
Thanks.
Janet Wilke has sent out the Gala packets and everyone should have
received them by now. If you have not received yours please check out our web
site, fentonfinderskc.net where you should be able to download your registration
form or contact Janet Wilke or Jackie Oglesby so that we can send you one.
Contact information is in our roster, please update your roster with Jackie’s
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telephone to 816-888-3129. Please make sure that you indicate on your
registration form that you are bringing glass for sale.
It is not too early to think about making your room reservation. The
sooner the better if you are going to sell glass. Jason Herman is going to work
with the hotel to assign rooms this year and as always he will try to get everyone
who is selling glass on the second floor. He may not be able to get you the exact
room that you want but he will do the best he can. Please make sure that you
indicate on your registration form that you are bringing glass for sale. As always it
will be first come first serve. The hotel’s number is 816-891-7788. Don’t forget to
ask for the Gala rate.
Connie Duncan sent us an update on the Fenton Factory. Michael Erb
reported in The Times that a company is taking core samples around Fenton’s lot
and will then dig 5 wells on the Fenton property to collect water and take samples
from each of those wells for Wood County Schools to see whether the lot can be
used for a new elementary school. Mike Fling, assistant superintendent for the
Schools said that this is just the second step to determine if Fenton can be used
for the school. The first step was to review historical data and Environmental
Protection Agency data on the Fenton plant. Only after all the information is
gathered and can be review will the state School Building Authority look at the
results and decide if the site will be acceptable to build the school.
It sounds like there is still a lot of work to do before the school board can
make a decision on the new school’s location but it does look like Fenton has a
chance of being chosen for the school if the test results show that the area is safe.
The program for our next meeting will be an individual program on Ginger
Jars given by Jackie Oglesby. Claudia and Dan Hegwald will bring the treats. So if
you are interested in learning a bit more about Fenton Ginger Jars come to our
June meeting and don’t forget to bring your glass for show and tell.
Take care and see you soon
Jackie Oglesby
Secretary fentonfinderskc.net
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