 Hi Miguel,
It is amazing what you can find when you least expect it. As I had mentioned some time ago, I use to set up at Tag Sales. They are called by different names in different locations. In Massachusetts they are called Flea Markets. One day, as I was browsing through the other dealers wares, I came across a small, delicate bird figurine on a table. I picked it up, looked it over and asked the dealer how much he wanted for it. He said that I could have it for $5.00. I had already looked it over very carefully and asked him if he was sure that he wanted to sell if for $5.00. He rolled his eyes and said that I could take it for $2.00. Sometimes, I wish that I wasn't so honest. I looked at him and asked if he really wanted to sell a Ming Dynasty figurine for only $2.00. He began to cry. He said that it was the only one he had left of four. They were so delicate that the others broke. I gave it back to him and he carefully wrapped it up and put it in a safe place. I don't know if they do now, but many dealers in the sixties and seventies used to carry collectors books with them so that if they saw something that looked like antigues they could see if there was a match. At the end of that day, the dealer came over to my booth and gave me three boxes of Carnival Glass items. I asked him why, because Carnival Glass was rare. He told me that one of his friends had a book of Chinese antiguities. His bird figurine was listed at that time for around $50,000. During the depression in the United States in the 30's, a lot of businesses failed. No one was going out to movies anymore and the movie houses were closing down or cutting their hours. They began looking for ways to bring people back. Finally, they collectively hit on the idea of giving people cheap items to bring them back. Carnival Glass was used to make dinnerware with an oilbased glass. Most of the dinnerware was an orange color but changed color as the result of the oil. Thus the name Carnival glass. Each week, a different item would be given away, starting with coffee cups, the following week would be saucers, and so on. Each patron would get a gift, therefore, families would go the the movie as a family once a week. Those that were able to do this diligently enough would end up with a full set of Carnival Glass including the cups, saucers, dinner plates, bowls, and serving platters. Once the depression was over, manufacturing companies stopped producing the Carnival Glass and started using more refined glass for their products. I'm not sure how wide spread the use of Carnival Glass was, however, in Canada it was also used in the manufacturing of Telephone insulators. The reason that the demand was so high for these items was because when the depression was declared over, people began throwing their dinnerware out in the trash because they could now afford to buy the motr expensive dinnerware.Also, the Carnival Glass would act as a reminder of the tough times that they had to indure. Other families would pack them up and store them in their attics and basements along with their other memories, both good and bad. By the time that these items found their way to county auctions, they would be dusty and dull. Often, they would look like old, faded remnents of the past. The family members did not care much about their Grandparents memories, so long as they made some kind of a profit. This is how so many rare items slip through the wood work. GOD BLESS YOU ~Mike~ http://www.countryvalues65.com
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