USGlass is a newly formed company. Their agreement with Fenton Art Glass is to purchase the glassmaking furnaces and other equipment, lease the Fenton Art Glass factory building in Williamstown, and restart glassmaking.
But to make this happen the company will need funding and instead of looking for corporate backers, they've turned to the Internet and Kickstarter, an online method of raising funds. I've pledged funds several times in the past to Kickstarter projects, but it's typically been a shoestring type of operations or folks just starting out with a dream.
The interesting thing about Kickstarter is that funds are not given unless the money target is met and right now this project has only five days to go and a long way to reach their goal.
If you're interested in the historical part of Fenton Glass, the first project will be making digital copies of their 10,000 moulds. A small ($10.) donation would help, if you want to be more involved bigger donations are welcome. There are various incentives given at the various level of giving to help entice one to give.
Like so many collections or collectors, the start of a book collection is often a matter of location, family heredity or vocation. And often even avocation. Someone in your family might have been a librarian and gave you the love of books, or perhaps you've found a few books that relate to your job and want more. Or you just might love to read!
How many times have you been tempted to put a gnome in your garden or yard? You know, one of those funny looking little guys that serve no purpose, well other than to bring good luck. And we can all use a little of that! Having gnomes in the garden dates back as far as 150 years ago when Sir Charles Isham added one to his previously established rock garden. Right now I have a cheapie sports related gnome amongst our grasses, but I would love to find an old or old-looking piece to really set off the greenery.