Carnival Glass part II

We had a good response to the Carnival Glass Blog so today, I will add to it. If you have a real interest in Carnival Glass, you might want to join a Carnival Glass Club or Association. If you search the Internet you’ll find many. The Heart of America Carnival Glass Association is one I’ve recommended in the past. If there is a club local to you, it’s a great way to meet collectors and learn from them as well.

After purchasing The Standard Encyclopedia of Carnival Glass and obtaining the reference information on the latest and best auction price guide on Carnival Glass from Cindy, you will be knowledgeable enough to compete with the pros. Just remember, condition is everything in Carnival Glass. Email Cindy at cindy@31corp.com with “Carnival” in the subject, and she’ll send you the information on this truly excellent price guide.

I’ve bought and sold Carnival Glass all throughout my life, and naturally I have some Carnival Glass Adventure Stories. Most of my stories usually have important information you can extract, and this one is no exception.

I was browsing around town one day when I received a call on my cell from an elderly lady who wanted to know if I’d be interested in some things she owned. She told me she had a lot of knick knacks. I could tell that even if she did have something of value, she probably wouldn’t be able to tell me that. She just plain didn’t know.

I wasn’t doing anything much that day so I figured I’d go check it out. When she told me she lived on the far South Side of Chicago, I found myself hemming and hawing in my mind. Did I really want to bother to go all the way there? After all, I was way up north. Past the City of Chicago by a long shot, out in the Far Northern Suburbs. I was considering whether or not it was worth it to take that long drive through all that city traffic. At this time of day, figured a 2 hour ride was likely, not to mention the ride back. My inner desire to find treasure wrestled with my practical side, however, as you might guess, I gave in to my desire to find treasure.

Battling the stop and go traffic, I was thinking I was wasting my time. After all, she couldn’t tell me a thing about what she had. When I finally arrived, hot and tired, I was greeted at the door by a warm and pleasant lady, who graciously invited me in and set me up with a nice cool drink. I learned that she was a retired school teacher, and we spoke for some time. Then, she lead me into a room where she had some of her items.

Carnival Glass everywhere! A huge oak cabinet was crammed full of some of the finest Carnival Glass I’d ever seen. I didn’t want to seem overly excited, so I continued (biting my tongue) down the hall to another room. Here, the site of art pottery, perfume bottles and many other fabulous items filled my eyes. She had some of the most wonderful items I’d seen in a great while, and I sat her down and told her so. I asked it would be possible for me to buy them all.

“If you’re willing to pay the right amount, of course you can buy them all,” was her response. I spent some time looking at and counting the items. I asked her if she would accept $5,000. I knew I couldn’t say anything else until she responded. Boy was it difficult to wait on that one.

“No, I can't, “ is all I heard before my heart began to drop. “But if you’ll buy my oak cabinet, too I will take your offer.” I knew the cabinet was worth about $750 at the time. I asked her how much she wanted for the oak cabinet and she told me $350. Now, as I rule, I don’t buy furniture. For me, I don’t like to bother with moving it, storing it, and everything else about it. But in this case, I quickly threw that rule out the door. I wrote her out a check as fast as my hand would write it.

I knew there was no way I could take all the items with me that day, and she agreed I could return the next day with a truck. And a deal was made. I drove home on the clouds.

As you probably know, I couldn’t leave without asking here where she got all her things. Her answer surprised me. “I’ve been going to the thrift shops for over twenty-five years,” she told me.

I ended up with about 200 pieces of Carnival Glass, Lalique and Steuben perfume bottles, as well as Roseville, Weller, and Rookwood pottery pieces. Needless to say, I stayed within my 25% rule for purchasing and this lady was very satisfied. There had been others who visited her and offered her far less than I. She wisely turned them down.

I hope you've extracted a thing or two from this story. I shiver when I think about how close I came to missing this opportunity.

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