Wayne County Life

Glass Whimsies display

SUBMITTED by Theresa Streb, Lyons Public Library (30-Sep-2010)

During the month of October, the Lyons Public Library has “Glasshouse Whimsies" on display in the cabinet near the circulation desk. These are non-production glass items made by glassworkers on their own time, for their own use and enjoyment, to demonstrate their ability with glass, or to give as a gift. Whimsies were typically made between 1850 and 1910 at bottle and window glass factories in the eastern and midwestern US, Canada, and England. Included within the display are pipes, darners, a glass chain, pens, ladles and more, all of which are from the private collection of Chris Davis, of Newark.

Chris is a longtime collector of early American bottles and glass. He co-founded The Whimsey Club in 1988, which became an international collectors club with members from Canada, England and the US. He is currently the executive director of the Newark-Arcadia Historical Society and Museum; Arcadia Town Historian; vice-president of the Genesee Valley Bottle Collectors Association and vice-president of the Lyons Heritage Society.



The Lyons Heritage Society will have Chris Davis doing a program on glasshouse whimsies on Mon., Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Community Room here at the Library. For more information, call the Lyons Public Library at (315) 946-9262 or email lyonslibrary@owwl.org.

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