The Carnival Glass 500 Average for 2014 |
2014 Carnival Glass "500" Average (In U.S.Dollars):$ 85527 +53 points up from year 2013 |
A True Story About The Rare Millersburg "Night Scene" Trout & Fly & Big Fish Bowls! Most of you avid collectors out there have no idea what a extremely rare "NIGHT SCENE" Trout & Fly or Big Fish bowl even looks like! You wouldn't know it, even if you saw one right in front of you! So, if you want to learn about them please read this very true story about how I learned of the Millersburg "NIGHT SCENE" fish bowls 47 years ago!! My father used to take my three brothers & myself to farm auctions back in Eastern Pennsylvania during the early to mid 1960s', mostly because my mother made him take the boys along to give her a break from "stressful" parenting! There were 8 children in all, so just having my father take "us boys" along, gave her great relief once in awhile. Well, my dad wasn't one to have a "gang" of kids following him around at the auction, while he was trying to concentrate on buying farm related equipment. So, he'd give us each $5.00 to $10.00 to go find something at the auction to buy ourselves. He did it mostly to get rid of us, and you know, it worked perfectly! We couldn't wait to get the money and go on our own merry ways to find something cheap enough we could bid on and buy ourselves! All the auctioneers knew my dad, so there was no problem back then for us to get our bids recognized by the auctioneers on "the little cheap stuff" we'd bid on. With me, of course, it was those seemingly endless pieces of colorful carnival glass. I just loved to find pieces with new patterns and new colors! And moreover, they'd always seem to sell at a price, for which, I had enough money. I couldn't wait to get a new pattern piece, and then, immediately run to show my Dad my new begotten treasure. He'd always encourage me, and sometimes he would even give me some more money to go buy more. Little did I realize, I was already becoming a carnival glass junkie, even though I was only a teenager! Anyway, I was at this farm auction on a typical Saturday where they had quite a few pieces of carnival glass to sell. They had the pieces displayed nicely on a piece of 4' x 8' plywood sitting on two old wooden saw horses. I distinctly remember the moment well, when a elderly gentleman, who was also looking over the carnival glass pieces, saw that I was looking at a amethyst Millersburg Trout & Fly bowl. He let me put down the piece, and then, picked it up himself, and while looking it over, calmy said to me, " You don't want to buy this piece of Millersburg Trout & Fly. What you really want to find is one of these that shows the 'NIGHT SCENE' on it." Well, I immediately thought this old guy was giving me a "bum steer" story just to discourage me from bidding on the piece, because he himself wanted to bid on it. But, out of taught respect, I listened to his story anyway. He went on to say, "You'll know the 'NIGHT SCENE' when you see one son." And with that said, he turned and walked on down the line of other items to be sold. He never did bid on that Millersburg Trout & Fly that day, but I did. I didn't win the piece, but I always remembered him telling me that I'd know the "NIGHT SCENE" piece when I saw one. Well, as fate would have it, 47 years later, I finally found a amethyst "NIGHT SCENE" Trout & Fly piece! Last month in a SEECK soft close on-line auction, I saw it shown in the Auction Flex pics Seeck had posted and realized right then and there, that the old man 47 years ago was really trying to educate me rather than giving me a bumsteer! It was so obvious there was no way to deny it was truly a "NIGHT SCENE" depiction on the piece!!! I have decided to show you all a picture of it, hoping you will all come to the same conclusion as to what the artist who made this beauty was trying to really depict. Look at it closely, and I am firmly convinced that the old man 47 years ago was a lot smarter than I gave him credit for being. Take a look for yourself, study the photo of the rare piece below on this page: Take a look at the moon hiding behind the flower, the moonlight spilling across the water and lighting up the jumping fish just the way it would look jumping into the full moonlit late evening! If you've ever gone fishing, and stayed till nightfall on a full moon night, you definitely know fish jump up out of the water at night too. This is just how they look when they do so! To me, the scene depicted on this bowl is after the sun has fully set, and now the full moon is just rising up over the horizon to take it's granted place in the night! A kind of time where the last hope of daylight has given up to the first flood of full moonlight! What an artist, to be able to depict this scene so compellingly! We all have instances that happen in our lives which we never forget. Meeting the old man 47 years ago is still vivid in my mind. He has left a lasting impression on me, and I finally have come to realize how wrong we can be about the intentions of individuals who we meet in our life. So, here, I take this opportunity to relate this true story to all of you who took the time to come to this page and read my 47 year belated apology to a truly wonderful wise old man. Respectfully submitted,Forrest "Woody" Schaefer LET'S HEAR YOUR COMMENTS! email us @ mo.woody@hotmail.com |
Making the big mistake of buying carnival glass based totally on seeing auction photos taken in professional black box photo boxes! |
Presenting.... A Colleywood Carnival Glass Copyrighted Exclusive... A Custom Made Color Chart Reference for Carnival Glass Base Colors! These were custom made using actual carnival glass pieces to match against! |
We are so tired of our Carnivalite customers and collector friends e-mailing us copies of upcoming auction photos of "killer" looking pieces of carnival glass pieces taken with a black backlit background in a professional black box photo lab! Then, they ask us why we don't have pieces listed that look as good as these! Carnivalites, are you losing touch with reality or what????????????? These piece shown this way, will never look this way when you receive them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Promise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To prove this point, and to bring our high flying Carnivalite friends & collectors back down to earth, we show three recently sold "killer" carnival glass items, side by side! They all are "black box fantasy" versus what they really look like in reality! We are doing this to bring you Carnivalites down out of the fantasy clouds you seem to be riding on!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please review these reality comparisons and come back down out of the clouds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We all need a good taste of true reality in this world today!!!!!!!!! Enjoy the photos! They are all unmanaged! |
professional black backlit box auction photo fantasy! |
same piece shown with our normal unmanaged photo reality! |
Auction Photo Fantasy! |
Our Photo reality! |
Auction Photo fantasy! |
|
|
Seller's Photo fantasy! |
Our Photo reality! (same piece) |
Every upcoming auction we go through the same Carnivalite fantasy trip with our friends, customers and collectors! Apparantly, they just want to believe these auction fantasy photos! The reality is, you won't get a piece that looks just like these photos! Please understand this reality and come down out of the fantasy orbit you are circling the Earth in!!!!!!!!!!!! We put one our own photo fantasy pieces up to show anyone can show a piece in a unrealistic way! Please, don't make expensive piece buys based on these type auction photos! You'll be very disappointed with the piece you receive when it doesn't match up to the photo hype you were shown!!!!!!!!! |
Making the big mistake of accepting the Auctioneers' "glowing" descriptions of carnival glass pieces shown in online auctions! BEWARE!!!!! Here's photo proof below, of why! |
Actual auction photo and piece description of the online Seeck Auction # 75 Lot 19 Fenton Orange Tree 9" twelve sided plate in blue. NOTE: The description says " Orange Tree 9" plate blue, very pretty" NO mention of the missing iridescence on the back! |
Here's what we actually received from Seeck Auction in the mail after we paid $225.00 plus a $7/item fee plus shipping charge! No mention of practically the entire back side of this plate obviously having missing iridescence! So, we say"buyer beware"! |
Actual auction photo & piece description of the online Seeck Auction # 75 Lot 32 Northwood Peacock at the Fountain water pitcher in blue. NOTE: The description says " N's Peacock at the Fountain water pitcher - blue minor pinpoint on side of spout". |
This is the actual water pitcher we received! Pinpoint on side of spout (as described). 1/2" flake chip up at top rim just to the right of the top of the handle attachment! (not described) 1/8" chip inside center of spout! (not described) |
REMEMBER: Buyers beware of online auction descriptions! |
Important: The variants of the Northwood Grape & Cable Thumbprint water tumblers! Compare these to the normally found pitcher pattern. |
Very Important: Bet you never knew there are two different Millerburg Hanging Cherries tumbler patterns! Well... look below! Note! All photos are enlargeable! |
First and foremost, there is a real difference in the size and shape of the two different tumblers! One has a straight non flared top with a factory ground base, while the other flared top one is slightly taller by 1/16" & has a flared out top and no factory ground base. |
The second difference in the two Millersburg Hanging Cherries tumblers is much more subtle, but these mold differences we will point out for you, prove there were at least two different tumbler molds used! Carefully study the vine endings on both tumblers and you will see they are markedly different from each other! There are three panels of hanging cherries on each tumbler, and these vine endings vary on each panel, proving the existence of at least two sets of different tumbler molds! |
Still skeptical of our claims, well look at the vine endings on each tumbler at the bottom of the second panel of the hanging cherries. More differences between the two molds! No question about it, the differences here are very vivid and again it proves the existence of at least two separate sets of tumbler molds! |
Now for the third panel of hanging cherries. Again, compare the differences in the vine endings on each tumbler, and again you will see markedly different vine pattern elements between the two Millersburg Hanging Cherries water tumblers. This proves for the third time the existence of at least two separate sets of tumbler molds. We feel we are the first to point out these differences and they should be noted by the cadre of experts who have never even realized these subtle pattern differences. |
Why buying vintage rare carnival glass pieces from Colleywood Carnival Glass will cut way down on your "mistake buying" surprises and save you oodles of money in the collecting long run. If you don't believe us look at a recent on-line auction for a rare emerald green Imperial Nuart Signed Homestead plate! |
Too many vintage carnival glass collectors, both seasoned pros and novice newbies, are finding that about 20% of the pieces they buy through on-line estate auctions, eBay seller auctions & other on-line selling agents, just aren't measuring up to the quality they thought they were going to receive when they finally receive the pieces they purchased. In case you are counting, that is 1 out of 5 pieces you purchase through on-line auction house estate auctions,eBay and other selling entities, just don't measure up to the piece quality you were expecting to receive. We receive email after email from frustrated carnival glass collectors all around the world who say they are simply not getting the piece quality that was advertised by the auction houses and eBay selling dealers in their on-line auctions. To us, that is a waste of a lot of good money wasted, which could have been prevented simply by using Colleywood Carnival Glass as your purchasing source for your vintage carnival glass purchases. So how do we here at Colleywood Carnival Glass eliminate your mistake buying? Well, it's really quite simple fellow Carnivalites. Colleywood fully inspects, examines and professionally quality grades it's carnival glass pieces before they even list the pieces for sale on their website. Secondly, each piece listed on the site is accurately described with respect to any physical damage and manufacturing issues found on each piece. Finally, we show accurate photos of each piece listed for sale on our site, all of which are totally unmanaged photos which realistically depict exactly how the piece will look when it is brought into your home or your collection. You might say, this is our no cost collection insurance policy to each and every one of our purchasers, assuring them of just exactly what they will be receiving. You just don't get that kind of treatment or assurance from auction houses, eBay sellers and the like. We're not saying we are 100% perfect in everything we do, but we certainly can tell you we are not wrong 20% of the time! So, if you want to cut way down on your carnival glass buying mistakes, give Colleywood Carnival Glass a try. We've been collecting the quality carnival glass pieces for over 44 years now, so we kind of know our way around the vintage carnival glass collecting world. Our "Collector Corner" pages of our website are a true testament to what we can do for any carnival glass collector, seasoned pro, or novice newbie. Just take a look at these site pages and we think you'll see just what we stand for in this business. Give us the chance to help you win at collecting high quality vintage carnival glass pieces. We know our business well. Promise! |
What we have actually heard at many carnival glass club convention auctions! One True recount! |
Have you ever attended a carnival glass club convention auction? Well we have! Well over 100 in the last 15 years to our best approximation. We want you to know what we have overheard, most frequently, from many of the attendees of these auctions. You won't like to hear what we are about to reveal, but it is the truth, and we think you fellow Carnivalites ought to know about it, if you don't already know through your own experiences! The most common type of conversation we overhear, before the auction begins, is one attendee standing around within the auction preview crowd, telling another standing attendee how little they paid for a rare "killer" grade item they recently purchased! Oh, but the conversation doesn't stop with that bragging opening statement. Usually, the bragging attendee goes on to tell the other attendee where he or she fleeced the rare "killer" piece, normally calling the poor seller a "dumb-ass" or some other demeaning name! We can tell you first hand, these braggarts make sure they are standing amongst the throng of auction previewers and talk loud enough to be heard by most everyone at the auction preview. They are proud of their fleecing efforts, like a vulture who has just finished devouring his secretly found dead meal & then flys up onto a dead tree and sits there on a dead tree limb full of other vultures, just so they can openly smell his or her recent successful hunt. You know, we have heard this type of ranting at these auction gatherings so many times, it makes us absolutely sick! Avid club members, famous collectors and traveling gypsy collectors alike, bragging about their latest so called "success" buys! You'd think they would be ashamed to admit their behavior in such dealings, but we can tell you first hand, they aren't the least ashamed of literally "stealing" rare "killer" grade pieces from downtrodden sellers. By practicing such "low ball" dealings, and then by loudly bragging to everyone about such dealings, they have to know this is the main way they promote a downward bias in the general overall carnival glass market. The sad irony is, they just don't seem to give a damn. You'd think they would be smart enough to realize loudly bragging about these kind of dealings, helps "cheapen" the value of their own overall carnival glass collection pieces by creating a downward buyer bias in the overall vintage carnival glass market! They seem oblivious to this possibility! This is why we want to bring this, way too common happening, to everyone's attention. We can only hope by bringing this highly detrimental common practice to light to all Carnivalites, we can somehow convince these "mee-first-ism" type of club members, collectors & traveling gypsy carnival glass collectors to at least put a hold on loudly bragging about their recent dealings openly at auction previews. It's one thing to hold a private conversation with a fellow friend club member, another avid collector or a traveling collector cohort; but, in our opinion, it's pretty stupid to stand amongst a throng of auction previewers and loudly aver how stupid a poor seller was to sell you a rare super piece of vintage carnival glass at a "give away" price! Shame on all of you who practice such stupidity! Responses welcomed! |
|
We've had a lot of emails from our site browers asking us "What is Miss June's favorite piece of carnival glass in the Colleywood Private Collection?" Well after asking her, she revealed that she has many pieces close to her heart, but surprisingly, she calls the piece shown below, closest to her heart! Take a look for yourself! Have you ever even seen one? |
NOTICE! Due to the tremendous amount of time we are now dedicating to the maintaining of our Colleywood Carnival Glass web site, it has become impossible for us to continue keeping track of the 500 carnival glass patterns in our data base that we have been tracking for over 30 years. We feel we have pioneered the concept of the "500 Average" and encourage other enterprising upstarts of carnival glass reference web sites to continue following the carnival glass marketplace in the future. For all you who have criticized our statistical approach to following the trends of the carnival glass marketplace, you sure didn't show us anything but idiot criticism. It is a sad situation for people like us who worked so hard to follow the trends in the carnival glass marketplace, to be told by others who have no clue to what is happening in this marketplace, that our methods are simply unscientific and have no reflection whatsoever what the trends are in the carnival glass marketplace. For all you that criticized, we have this to say! "You are ones that have no clue!" Period!!!! |
|
Our own photo reality! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Our own photo fantasy! |
|
|
|
Our Photo reality! |
|
|
|
What our upcoming pieces look like! (Those not yet put up for sale elsewhere on our site!) |
|