Message from the President March 2024

Join Us in July for Carnival Fun

Welcome to the new year! Can you believe it’s 2024 already (and that it’s almost a third of the way through????) I had someone ask me recently how long ICGA has been in existence and I proudly told her that ICGA turns 57 years old this year (yes, 2 years older than me.) She was pretty flabbergasted because it shows just how long people have been collecting carnival glass as a hobby. Well, though, not entirely. You see, people have been collecting carnival glass for much longer than that, but it was nearly 60 years ago that some people thought “hey, what if we actually all collected together in a community and teach each other what we know about carnival glass, share some of the beauty with each other, and then try to crush each other in an auction for the best looking glass we can find.” And boy did it work!

So this year, we celebrate that idea by getting together July 17-20th at the Essenhaus Inn in Middlebury, Indiana (the heart of Amish country). This is the same location we had our successful convention in 2021. You may remember this convention hotel was very nice, and the food was spectacular. I even swore off fried chicken for probably a month last time because one can definitely have too much of a good thing!

We greet each other at the convention on Wednesday the 17th of July with a special pie dessert reception. The pies are fantastic (I share with Carl Booker the belief that the butterscotch pie is just the best, although the peanut butter pie gives it a good run for the title.). This will be our chance to just chill with each other and see how everyone is doing. The best part of a carnival glass convention is spending time together in a communal setting and being people. In the “normie” gatherings everyone enjoys throughout the year, no one truly understands your love of carnival glass like they do at a convention, and that just makes it all so much sweeter!

On Thursday, we have two seminars planned. The first is a seminar on contemporary carnival glass by Mitchell Stewart. Mitchell is one of the smartest guys I know, and that extends to his knowledge of contemporary carnival glass. If you need to identify a piece or know who made something or even how rare or common a piece of contemporary is, chances are he will either know or give a highly educated guess and steer you in the right direction. Plus he has a whole bunch of goodies you probably haven’t seen and if you are lukewarm about contemporary, his seminar will make you rethink that perspective.

For our Pizza Party on Thursday night, Maxine Burkhardt and David Kastor will open us up to another related type of glass: art glass. As a lover of iridized glass in general, I have seen some pieces of art glass that are truly breathtaking (and I suspect most carnival lovers have the same feeling), and these two are prepared to show us some truly stunning examples. Some of the greatest glass artists have done fantastic things with glass, and it should make for an excellent seminar with some pizza.

Friday is a very busy day at the convention. We begin by setting up our display room roundtables. If you attended last year’s convention, you saw how that worked and how we all ended up with a wonderful number of mini-seminars, each with some great carnival glass and information. This year we are doing round two, and I expect there will be even more wonders for us to enjoy! And if you want to join the fun and bring a great little seminar of your own to our roundtables, just let us know and we will get you setup. I was really impressed with the seminars last year and this year will only expand that. 🙂

After the roundtables we will have our Annual Business Meeting, and then an auction preview. This year’s auction is the collection of Bob and Shirley Patterson, who spent a lifetime collecting some of the prettiest carnival glass out there. Over the years they both have shared some of that great glass in seminars and articles and now is our chance to battle each other to take some of it (and the stories behind it) home. Bob and Shirley will be in Middlebury with Jim and Jan Seeck and the whole experience will add so many cool new memories! Their auction is on Saturday.

On Friday night is our banquet dinner, and for this we have a seminar that I have been waiting to see for a long time. Fred and Elaine Blair (who have never done anything like this before) will be bringing a fantastic collection of Palm Beach to show and share as our banquet seminar. Palm Beach is that odd little pattern by US Glass that is always beautiful and super funky.

Most importantly, I haven’t seen a pattern so rabidly collected by carnival people before or since. With so many whimsies and odd shapes and colors, Palm Beach collectors are very very serious about their love for the pattern, and I have always wanted to know more about it (and possibly join those rabid collectors in seeking out those pieces in shops and malls and auctions around the USA). Dare you fall in love with Palm Beach? We’ll find out!

Please make your reservations at the hotel as soon as possible. Our rate is $149 per night, which includes free breakfast, by calling (800) 455-9471 and mentioning the carnival glass convention to get that rate and blocked near us. That part of the state is always super busy in July, so the earlier you get your hotel rooms, the better. I can’t wait to see you in Middlebury in July!!

Brian