THE APRIL NEWSLETTER

Hi, Everyone!

A FOOL and his money are soon parted….There’s no FOOL like an old FOOL…
Everyone enjoys a bit of TomFOOLery now and then…FOOLS rush in where angels fear to tread…. (and my husband’s favorite) My mama didn’t raise no FOOL….
BEWARE: April Fool’s Day is fast approaching, so don’t be caught napping!

If you did not make March’s meeting, which was attended by 36 members, you not only missed some important info but a great presentation as well. Here are all the major highlights for your reading pleasure:

Craig reported that there was $6696 in our treasury. Many show expenses were already covered, but we still had $1800 outstanding for the show hall rental. On the positive side, he had not as yet deposited all the monies that came in for the booth rentals.

One of our main discussions for the evening centered on a future club bus trip that will be taken in the early fall. Several members had researched places to visit some of which included the Moravian Museum and Pottery and Tile Works in Doylestown, PA, the MMOA in NYC which has a traveling exhibit until August, The Historical Society Museum of NJ in Trenton, the Dupont, Delaware Wintertour, the Brooklyn Museum, and Wheaton Village to be combined w/the Columbus, NJ Flea. More discussion this month.

The “Whats-it” table (which, by the way, garnered its name b/c people in the early days of the club used to refer to glass that they could not identify as “what is it?”…later shortened to “what’s it”…thought you’d like to know!) with ID’s by Walter and Tom included a Pilgrim mushroom, a Fostoria handled server, a Cambridge crystal flower frog, a Cambridge footed divided relish, and a red Fostoria “Lafayette” patterned plate.

During the program segment of the evening, Roger Loucks morphed into Ralph Kramden for an engaging 45-minute presentation on transportation collectibles with a heavy emphasis on buses. When Roger was a young boy, he and his family lived in West Orange; since his mom didn’t drive, they always took the bus, especially to Newark. And to make it even sweeter, buses would end their routes near his house! When a nearby luncheonette that was often frequented by bus drivers closed for a 2 week vacation, he and his brother opened a stand and sold soda and other items to the drivers; this, in fact, was how they got to know all the drivers.

It wasn’t until 1989, though, that he began his collecting phase at the Edison Antique Show. Bored with being there, he began looking in the cases and remarked that he remembered this and that as a kid. Thus began a 20plus years’ worth of an amazing hobby that includes models, sinage, badges, postcards, lighters, china, manuals, and much more! “It’s an expensive hobby is you want the premiere stuff, “Roger quipped. Most of the evening was divided into 2 parts: the formation of the Greyhound Bus Lines in l913 and showing us some of his most prized items which included an old fare box, a 1940’s Trailways brochure holder, a Greyhound bus driver’s hat, a large “Golden Eagle” bus emblem, a Greyhound clock from one of their bus terminals, Shenango china used in their terminal restaurants, an unopened pack of GH playing cards, a big Public Service bus emblem, and the most astounding item: a HUGE SIDE of a GH bus!! “Smart people grabbed pieces of buses that were being scrapped so idiots like me could buy them!” he said with a knowing laugh. He admitted “e-Bay is his savior” these days b/c he still enjoys collecting. “The only thing I’m an expert in is spending money, but I don’t buy for investment; I buy for pleasure,” he concluded.

APRIL MEETING
Our next meeting will be AFTER THE SHOW and will take place on Wednesday,
6 April commencing at 7:30. The program for the evening will be a presentation on BLENKO GLASS by Peter Wade who got his start when he liked the colors of Blenko but got them confused w/those of Pilgrim glass, so he started collecting both! He has managed to collect 50 pieces since he began his quest 5 years ago. He will teach us how to ID pieces and discuss his most interesting items.

I’m sorry, but I do not have the refreshment list, so if you signed up, you know the drill! Want to donate?? Call Lori Kratochvil or Gail Ducahmp.

SPRING GLASS SHOW
Our spring glass show is fast approaching! Dealers are busy packing for the upcoming weekend and hoping that this show is as successful as the fall one was. Once again, the dates are this Friday, 1 April (6-10P.M.) and Saturday, 2 April (10-4). All club members are reminded to bring baked goods to the church hall by 5 P.M. Friday; dealers doing the show are requested, if possible, to donate as well in order to take the burden off the remaining club members who are not doing the show. If you cannot donate, perhaps you can spare an hour helping at the door or in the kitchen.

Here’s to a great show! Here’s to spring, albeit a bit wintry! Here’s to us!
June Lee