Howdy!

After a long week of vacation last week - agonizing, as you can imagine, spending so much time with my lovely wife and daughter in Phoenix and Las Vegas - I got into Atlantic City last Wednesday night. Travel was 13 hours from Vegas, with a few nighmarish waits in TSA lines at all airports.

It's time for good antiques and the Atlantique City Antiques Show.

We have spent two exhausting days getting the show ready, but as I write this morning, the show floor at the Atlantic City Convention Center looks beautfiul, there is a crowd of 2000 people waiting outside the door and we are hoping for a good show. We know it looks good, and quality is ubiquitous. Now we are waiting for the buyers.

The weather here is a bit chilly and overcast, which means good weather for antique buying, and the attitude seems to be optimistic, which is half the battle when there are such problems with the economy. I don't, however, have to tell any Trader readers that.

What I can tell you is that I'm excited for the opening of this show, proud of the hard work we've done and ready to see this thing come off a success.

If any of you out there are coming today or tomorrow, or go this weekend and read this later, give me a holler and let me know what you think.

I'll post more later today, hopeufully with some pics, but no promises...

This was widely covered, and hailed in the MSM the last few days. I don't know... Philosophically speaking, I find it a little daunting and frightening. A tangible reminder of the damage that humans are wreaking on the planet at alarming places.

It's the Svalbard Seed Vault in Longyearbyen, Norway (nice name). You can see the below pics here.



Architecturally, though, I think - in fine Scandanavian Moderne fashion, I might add - the building is pretty awesome, a real tribute to the modern aesthetic, not that visitors to the planet eons from now will appreciate the differences in Lloyd Wright and, say, Gropius...

It's as if, in a million years or so - hopefully longer - if the planet is rid of humans and retakes everything, then we're visited by our future progeny returned to the homeworld to see exactly where they sprang from - stick with me - thart they would find not only the seed as proof that we wanted to preserve our existences, but a really cool building refelctive of the best of modern design of the time. Man... Won't those bionetic cyborgs be impressed.

Most importantly, the American eggplant will survive.

From the Web site:

Svalbard Global Seed Vault: Arctic Seed Vault Opens Doors for 100 Million Seeds

Ceremony Marking Unprecedented Effort to Protect Global Agriculture Draws World Leaders and Seeds from Over 100 Countries

LONGYEARBYEN, NORWAY (26 FEBRUARY 2008) - The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened today on a remote island in the Arctic Circle, receiving inaugural shipments of 100 million seeds that originated in over 100 countries. With the deposits ranging from unique varieties of major African and Asian food staples such as maize, rice, wheat, cowpea, and sorghum to European and South American varieties of eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato, the first deposits into the seed vault represent the most comprehensive and diverse collection of food crop seeds being held anywhere in the world.

January 21, 2008
Marietta Civitan Club
PO Box 68
Marietta, OH 45750

Dear Glass Show Exhibitor:

We regret to inform you that the Marietta Civitan Club has decided not to hold the Glass Show this year. The combination of the organizational effort and increasing cost makes it impossible for us to continue this effort.

The club owes a deep debt of gratitude to Alice Hall, who along with her late husband Don founded the show, with the idea of using the profits to supporting Civitan. They put many years of hard work into the show.

We appreciate your support over the years and will miss the spirit of camaraderie that we have enjoyed with you. If no one else steps in to hold a similar event, our community will also miss the economic value that you and your customers brought to Marietta and the surrounding area.

To find out whether there will be another show during the conventions that may be helpful to you, we suggest contacting the following organizations:

Marietta/Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau
121 Putnam St.
Marietta, OH 45750
(740) 373-5178
www.mariettaohio.org

Fenton Art Glass Collectors of America
702 W. Fifth Street
Williamstown, WV 26187
(304) 375-6196
http://users.wirefire.com/fagcainc/

National Fenton Glass Society
156 Front Street
Marietta, OH 45750
(740) 374-3345
www.fentonglasssociety.org

Thank you again for your support over the last twenty-five years and best wishes for your continued success in your business.

Very truly yours,

Marietta Civitan Club


And here’s what Gary wrote about the news:

Subject: Annual Marietta Glass Show/Sale Closing

Sad news…

The very large Glass Show and Sale held annually at the Fairgrounds in Marietta during the Fenton Conventions will not (after 25 years) be held in 2008 unless and until someone can take over from the Civitan Club!

What a blow that is to the hundreds of vendors who, like me, counted upon the Fairground's Show/Sale to peddle their glass. What a blow also to the buyers who count on going to the event to find a treasure or a needed item to add to their collections.

The Civitan notice declares rising costs to be a reason for closing, but did not comment on the fact that they could have passed those costs on to the vendors. I, for one, would have expected an increase in the space rent to be normal under the circumstances. No. They are just not going to make the effort to promote or hold the show for the foreseeable future.

While I sure hope that someone or some organization can step up to the plate and keep the show going, I will be looking for other possible venues to set up and sell glass.

Options include: A.) Setting up in the motel holding the convention; in the rooms of the motel; B) Persuading the City of Williamstown to organize once again, the use of the City Park for vendors, or; C) Trying to squeeze more vendors into the Williamstown School Auditorium.

It looks bleak as it stands. I hope some enterprising person or group can and will step up and keep the show going and doing it during the Fenton Glass Society’s conventions, as before, the end of July. Heck, the NFGS, FAGGC and the Stretch Glass Society are ALL planning their conventions at that time. I know that all members of those groups will surely miss buying glass from the vendors who would have set up on the Marietta Fairgrounds.

If anyone hears more, please post the info or write a note to me.

Wait! There’s a little more bad news, adding insult to injury… The Old Knight’s Inn, where a popular room-to-room show was set-up during the glass conventions is being razed, maybe to not come back…

Here’s what Gary writes on this:

One long time favorite of glass vendors for the Fenton convention scene is going into history, too.

Sellers would annually occupy a sprawling one level motel that was arranged in perhaps six rows of rooms with about 20 rooms in each row. The vendors packed each room in the place and sold glass out of their rooms. If the door was not locked, it signified seller was 'in' and for buyers to open the door and come in to see what glass was for sale. Sales there went on for five or six days during the conventions.

Here's the info about the Old Knight's Inn; Best Value Inn/Old Knights Inn is being torn down and replaced with a Microtel.

That means another glass selling venue in Marietta is gone and perhaps not coming back as a place to sell glass during future conventions!

I’m curious to know what any of our readers who are in on the glass scene think about this, and what it says about the health of the market.