Answers To A Question

In an email my good friend and glassfloat collector extraordinare Olaf, asked the most profound question concerning why we collect floats. Those of us who do collect these odd jems of the sea often hear:

"What are those?"
"What ever made you collect something like that?"
"I never knew they even existed."
"Hmm...that's interesting."

Ahh, that second quote, that is the one that can be hard to explain. Walt Pich in his often terse yet comical way, was the first responder to Olaf's question. The question was sent to all of the people that I know who collect these wonderful pieces of historical glass. Here is Walt's response:

"ONLY A FOOL QUESTIONS A PASSION."

Perfect! Why does anyone question passion, when the only important thing to do with passion is embrace it, go with the flow, hold on and enjoy the ride wherever it takes you. And for Walt, this passion has in many ways shaped his life, led him into a great friendship with Woody Woodward, extraordinary adventures, disappointments and tremendous success.

Many of us are not content to just follow the passion, and do enjoy introspection. In the words of Kahlil Gibran:

Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite.

Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody.

But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?

Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul.

If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas.

For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.

Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing;

And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix, rise above its own ashes.

The beauty of Gibran's writing in THE PROPHET, has always touched me deeply, and since my introduction to his writing during my college days, that book has been one of my favorite.

The second response came from Bruce Gidol:

Why I collect floats?

One of the many reasons is because they are old. They are original, the glass being much older than the plastic they use now. The color ones, to me, are among the most beautiful things ever made. I collect them because they are becoming nearly impossible to find anymore like they once where when they were so plentiful.

I collect them because they were once used all over the world, and one never knows when he or she might find one that is collectable.

I collect them because there seem to be so many that we collectors feel are the one of a kind floats.

I collect them because when I do find one that really is up my alley, it is so exciting.

I collect them because of the many wonderfful people who come into my life, my so called fellow collectors like yourself. Some become lifelong friends.

I collect them because most people don't.

I collect them because of the challange the hobby presents.

I suppose the final reason I collect them is when alone in my float room, looking at different ones, with thoughts of where and when they were obtained running through my mind, memiories going back over 20 years are recalled. Memories of many different shops all over the world, different people from all over the world, and some that I have never met when trades were done by phone. I have had a few hobbys in my life, but none compare to the joy of collecting glass fishing floats.

Bruce Gidoll

A wonderful succession of responses continued to come into my inbox throughout the following week. In their order of response, here they are for all of us to enjoy and relate to.


From Paul Scott:

Hello Tom,

Many people asked me, "Why do you collect floats and spend that much money on pieces of glass?"

I collect floats like other things that come from the oceans of the world. My dad was in the Merchant Marines and I was in the Coast Guard. I love the water and never have been afraid of it. I started swimming when I was about three years old....my dad threw me in a pool.....I'm still here.

When I started collecting glass floats just a few years ago I had no idea at all. The first floats I purchased were really nice looking ones...had no idea they were fake ones. Well, those few fake ones are now history. Like I said, before I had no idea at all of glass floats. After reading Amos Wood's and Walt Pich's books, and talking to other float collectors, I think I now know something about floats.

I learned a lot from this year's trip out to the Beachcombers Fair in Ocean Shores, Washington. Deborah Hillman talked me into comming out to the fair. I met many great and knowledgeable float collectors. Not just online or on the phone, but actually meeting and talking to them face to face. I had a fantastic time.
So if anyone asks me why I collect floats....I will tell them ...It is not just the floats...but my new friends. Not only in the USA, but from other countries too. People who have the same interests I have. I will also say that I wish I did this years ago.

Paul

From Roger and Maria:

Hello Tom,

What a great idea for the blog. It will be very interesting to read!

First of all, glass is very beautiful, but yes why glass fishing floats and not glass toilet floats, target balls, bottles or shot glasses!?

For me as for many others, it is the mystical thing from the sea. My father does not have the same feeling about them. He can tell that when he was a kid, the floats came floating to the shore in huge numbers, and that they had fun throwing stones at them.

When I was a kid they were not very common to find. I remember my grandfather had a big box in the boathouse with floats, mostly plastic and metal but also some glass floats as well. I was always admiring those glass floats in the box. We sometimes found glass floats when we were on boat trips to some islands, and it was like finding a treasure among wood and garbage-e.g. cans and different plastic remains. But it was very rare to find a glass float ashore.

One summer, about 3 years ago, Maria and I went up to the north of Norway to visit my grand parents, and we found some glass floats at a local second hand store. We bought some of them, and sold all but one on ebay. There was one we decided to keep as a memory and decoration - a PCF float. Not long after this trip we started to collect floats, and now have about 200 floats from Europe, America and a few from Asia.

We wish you good luck with the blog and a lovely Happy Easter for you and your family!

Best regards,
Maria and Roger

From Stu Farnsworth:

"Why Do I Collect Floats"

I would have to say it is like an Indiana Jones Treasure hunt.

The thrill of being on the Beach with 60mph sustained winds and a heavy downpour at 1am in the morning, with a strong high sealed beam light in hand, is what gets my blood flowing with excitement.

The running up into the Sand Dunes with 17ft waves chasing you, and the roar of the heavy surf and the crashing of the driftwood into each other sounding over the pounding surf. This is what it is all about.

Then to have your light sparkle off a Glass Ball that has just arrived from probably a 10,000 mile adventure at Sea, and the wonderment of where it came from and how old it might be, are what drives us crazies insane.

To park the car and to be the only one in the parking lot, and then to have that burst of Salty fresh clean air hit you is overwhelming. To hike the 3/4 of a mile thru the sand in the pitch dark, and finally hit that last Dune that sets you on the Beach is more than one can share of how a feeling might be.

The best way to describe it is being 8 yrs old and opening your eyes on main street in Disneyland, and saying to yourself, "I am actually here!"

To get onto the Beach, and not see one other light there, is more than one can explain as to what is going thru your thoughts. Maybe, just maybe, a float Lost many years ago is sitting on this Beach. This night for me to enjoy and treasure.

This is what makes it all so very much fun in my life. The thought of being on a Beach all by myself leaves all my troubles far behind as I embark into my own little world where all my troubles are gone and my adventure can begin.

Stu Farnsworth


From Alan Rammer:

Dear Tom,

Why do I collect glass fishing floats? Fascinating question with a unique outcome for me. Join me please, on a journey of discovery.

From the time of my first memories, I have been drawn to the sea. My father took his sons camping in the mountains, fossil hunting in the desert, fresh and saltwater fishing, looking for bugs in meadows and down to the beach. I always felt a special connection where the land met the sea --- at a place called the beach ----whether it be sandy, rocky, muddy or a combo of some sort. I was intrigued with the large wonders and the small hidden ones-tucked away-that escaped most people's eye.

Wandering the tideline always had a special attraction to me, and I wondered where each and every item came from both natural and man-made. For the man-made items what country was it from, what was its use, how did it get here, why did it end up here? I knew when I was in 4th grade I was going to be a marine biologist and most likely a teacher. I retired in 2009 after 32 years of doing just that! I wanted others to discover, to see, to understand, and to know the wonders that so many of them passed over when at the beach.

Our family collected sea shells in our travels around the world, but when I was 16 or 17 we were in a shell shop in Morro Bay, California. Sitting in a corner, was a basketball-size Japanese glass fishing float with markings on it. I asked about it, and all I was told was that it was for fishing and floated to the coast from Japan. I asked my parents if I could buy it to decorate my room. It came home with us ---- I still have it 40+ years later!

Several years later, our family went to Hawaii for Christmas. The 747 airliners had just come out, and it was a really big deal to be able to fly from California to Hawaii on one. When we arrived on the island of Kauai, we asked the Polynesian lady at the welcoming desk where we should look for shells. She told us we should look for "glass bubbles" instead, because they were more mysterious, magical, enchanting, intriguing, and came from far away. She told us a storm was coming and where we should look once the storm passed. I thought about my glass float sitting at home and maybe it might get some buddies, that I would find myself.

The storm came and passed. We hit the beach doing just as the lady had said. Lo and behold! We found glass floats in orange and grapefruit sizes on the beach the next day. I was so excited having found my own, and now more intigued than ever about where they came from.

We showed them to the lady in the hotel. She was as pleased as we were to see that we had taken her advice and were successful. She then asked if we were going to be back on the island of Hawaii before heading home. She told us to go to the Ala Moana shopping center, to a specific bookstore to buy a book called "Beachcombing For Japanese Glass Fishing Floats" by Amos Wood from Mercer Island, Washington. It would tell me all about glass floats and their use. I bought the book and was hooked. Sea shells now took a back seat to glass floats.

A year later, I was accepted to the University of Washington, and asked my roommate where Mercer Island was. I had to meet this author named Amos Wood.

In less than a month after arriving in Washington, I had met Amos Wood. We became very close friends for 18 years (he died of cancer in 1989). Before he died he gave me all his contacts, and asked me to stay in touch with his friends from around the world. In 1979, he also introduced me to my very best friend, Stuart Farnsworth, at the Seaside, Oregon Beachcomber's Festival.

Who would have ever thought that glass fishing floats would lead me to a life long best friend who loves the beach as much as I do? We are as close as brothers, and even if glass floats disappeared tomorrow, that bond could never be broken.

Once I learned about Japanese glass fishing floats, I wanted to learn about the even earlier makers from the European countries of Scandanavia. My circle of friends has grown even more in the last ten years.

Stuart and I have published two price guides based on our collective knowledge and interviews with fellow collectors from around the world. We've met many wonderful folks. My first found glass floats from Kauai in 1970, still sit in a special basket in my study. I carried them home (as well as the book) with me on that 747 way back when, and shared them with everyone on the plane. No one knew a thing about them at that point. That first autographed book by Amos Wood, purchased in Hawaii, also sits in a prominent place in my float room.

They continue to intrigue, because each one has a unique story to share of its journey on the high seas, drifting by international shores and in many cases, having wandered for many years. If only they could talk to us and tell us what they have seen on there long and difficult trek around their respective gyres.

They are magic to those of us who love the sea. They represent an intrigue of the open sea, both natural and man-made, and all its attributes, that cannot be explained. But there is a connection that those who do not collect them will never understand.

That's my take on why I collect!

Alan Rammer


From Per Gunnerson:

You asked about why we were collecting glass floats. Interesting.

I love old antiques and history. Some floats are very beautiful. Different kind of blow tecniques, shapes, made from, where made, when made, why made, use distribution, sale, export, import, age, markings-all these things.

The research and travelling, digging for info and floats, is kind of a treasure hunt.
And of course, when I am selling, trading or giving floats for free as goodwill to collectors worldwide, I get a smile back and maybe a few thank you words about their happiness to be the owner of a beautiful and rare original glass float..That's great!
But I hate those super high shipping costs..Uuughh!

Important and at last:

I wish I could have keept all my collected floats-at least one sample-and only give away, trade or sell those I had several copies of, but when you need cash for further research, float treasure hunt, a decent meal, etc. selling is the only solution if you're not a millionaire!


Take good care Tom

Per


From Rich Carlson:

Hi Tom,

Why collect glass floats? Why it’s to pump up Ebay’s bottom line of course.

Seriously, I love turning on my case lights, and looking at a collection of things made for a very utilitarian purpose yet beautifully made, from all over the world, in multiple countries by dozens of craftsmen glassblowers in every color.

I like meeting people around the world who share this strange habit: a conversation with Norway; another with Australia; a third with New Jersey or a fourth at the Bobcat cafe.

A float crosses the ocean going east, another flies west in trade. Most of all, I like to collect floats because they always remind me of some of the best times. I would never have gotten into floats if it were not for my very good friend Bob and his invitation to help him with his Caribbean handy man special.

Joined on a hunt with good friends Bob, Jim or Evan, it is so exciting to pull out even a lowly 115 / 5 when you have only a litre of water and many hot miles back to civilization. To dig a float out, when all you can see is a half dollar curve of green or clear or purple is a eureka moment. To end up back at the truck as the tropical dark falls, and a cold Corona is waiting. The washing of your found floats in Bob's ridiculously small turquoise sink-these are great memories.

Every float ends up with it’s own story. That’s what does it for me.

From Olaf Raab:

Why collecting floats? I can explain partly why, but need more time to think. Starting to collect was one thing. Now, having the good contact with you - and I have to add - other collectors too, has changed the whole thing.
I am wondering if collectors in general are nice people? The sharing is important.
It's like having a job - 50 % of the job is to like the people you work with - isn't it ?

So, the answer is, the beauty of the item - color, glass and for me the marking, and then sharing something special with other collectors who "understand".

To use your word : "GEES!" - I have already answered the question, and I didn't mean to.

From David Lee:

Tom,

As you know, I'm not an avid typer or e-mailer. This however made me rise to the challenge. A great idea!

Why do I collect Glass Floats?

I think first of all, why do I collect anything, even idle thoughts? I do it for the simple rewards of it being fun and challenging. More challenging as it becomes more advanced.

Part of the fun is the treasure hunt, the adrenaline rush of finding a rare collectable you have desired. Also there is both exclusivesness and inclusiveness.

Exclusiveness-"I have such a great collection that many would slobber if they saw it."

Inclusiveness-" I have a collection of things that many similarily-minded individuals also collect."

It then becomes a social network, and can create life-long friendships as well as good acquaintances. (Unless you are a ruthless collector who cares more about having the best or biggest collection then any social collections.)

I can be classified as an accumulator, as I have more than three types of collections going at all times. I am not in the hoarder class though-ha! I chose to sell some of my collectibles more than four years ago, to help ease into retirement. I did however keep a number or core examples of these collectibles, and have slowly resumed rebuilding-but without the same fervor as when I first started collecting floats some 27 years ago.

Now, why glass floats?

That's harder. How do you explain something that is only beautiful in the eye of the beholder? Sure some floats have marvelous symmetry, color, swirls, etc., real works of art. The Japanese glassblowers often remelted imperfect floats even though they were inexpensive. However, some of the ugliest, most distorted (to the eyes of the unintiated heathen masses) can be the rarest, most sought after, most expensive to purchase (unless you have one of those "be still my heart," rare lucky finds that the dealer didn't have a clue of value when then priced it; or you were blessed to find it beachcombing.)

To us these are BEAUTIFUL! Trying to explain this to non-collecting friends or relatives is pretty much a waste of time and energy in my experience. If someone says, "Oh you have a lot of those!" I repond with a smug, self-assured, "Yea," and leave it there. Yet when another avid float collector sees your collection and oohs and aahs, it causes a swelling of pride (not unlike showing pictures of your progeny.) But why do I collect glass fishing floats? Well, I guess you'd just have to be a fellow float collector to truly understand.

:) Dave Lee

From Bob Buffington:

Hello Tom,

I'll try to keep this brief. My obssession with glass floats began in 1998 when I found my first float (a small 3" clear #9) on the beach. I was told that they were done, that no one found Euros anymore. They had all been picked up, or broken by children trying to make marbles out of the blob underneath the seal buttons, or that they were hurled against the rocks-simply to hear the sound they made when they exploded on impact. It took two years before I found another (a green 4" 115/5).

Why do I enjoy collecting floats? Its pretty simple, I enjoy finding something that most think is impossible to find, and fancy myself as something of a float archeologist.

It has created hours of fun, and a strong bond between my sons Evan, Clint and of course my wife. All are hardy souls with a profound thirst for adventure.

Our techniques for finding them continue to be modified, and the beauty of it is that we are still finding floats after 12 years of hunting. Something like 90% of the floats in my collection are persoanl finds, the remaining 10% represents my inability to stay away from E-Bay.

The big plus is the great people I have met along the way that are fellow float collectors. I see float collecting as a very young hobby that is going through constant growing pains.

Finding intact examples of old floats is truly exciting, and adds a whole new demension to the hunt. Finally, its the glass. Where did they come from? Who made them and for what purpose? How old are they?

Yourself, Stu and Al, Roger and Marie, Bruce, Bill, Vebjorn, Olaf, Per, David and of course Charles Abernathy (my personal hero) have all given so much to the understandings of origin and production of floats that the sport of collecting would be nowhere without them. My hat off to them all. Keep hunting.

Best Regards
Bob Buffington

From Todd the "Norsknailpounder":

Hi Tom.

I found ebay in 2007, and Tin Toy Boats was one of my first buys. "Hornby Meccano Windups," were made in England in the early 1930's. Later, I bought a few more. On some related site was a float from Norway. I'm part Norwegian, and found them interesting. So, I bought one, then two, then 500.

I have a Glass rock fireplace, (Obsidian) mostly black, but some red obsidian too. Its very beautiful. I figure that it hypnotized me into buying more glass.

Really, I plead the fifth! I can't explain why I collect floats, and really, it is still a mystery. I figure that it is an addiction, and soon someone in my family will turn me in and we'll all end up on Dr. Drews show sometime.

Till then I'm looking for my next fix, then another and more and more...

Somebody hep me ! ") Todd.

Bill Jessop:

Hi, Tom…..Got your note re: “why I collect floats”. I have never really ever articulated it before. It has been an interesting exercise. Here goes……….

I collect working glass fishing floats for the intrinsic character of the floats themselves, for what the floats represent historically and for the excitement of the hunt itself.

Specifically:

There is so much appealing character and elements brought together in each individual float, whether it be it’s particular shape, colour, bubbles, evidence of varying manufacturing techniques, patterns & swirls & inclusions, sea & beach wear, exotic trademarks, marine life encrustation etc.

Floats for me are also small capsules of history that stimulate the imagination and provide a small measure of personal contact with that history, e.g. evidence of former ways of life and fishing under rugged and fascinating conditions, the sea and use conditions that the float itself has endured in it’s journeys, its possible unique touch with historical events (beachcombed from a Vietnam beach during the Vietnam war, possibly used on a WWI submarine net, plucked from the Indian Ocean by an around-the-world sailor) etc.

Then there is the excitement of the hunt itself: searching and not knowing what is yet to be found; and responding to each situation when encountered; together with the very rewarding opportunities to share experiences with individuals who have similar interests and fascinating insights across the globe.

Taken all together, probably the top (fantasy) float collecting experience for me would be to find a heavy, crude, irregular, trademarked Euro float bearing extensive mold carving marks, dark blue-green in colour, bubbled and heavily encrusted with barnacles that I would personally find in a gear pile in Newfoundland or one of the other Canadian Maritime provinces!

Greg Robins

Why I Love Glass Floats

I found my first glass float as a child, and it is a moment in my life that I will never forget.

I grew up consumed by the ocean. This is still one of my favorite memories from childhood.

I was 9 or 10 years old at the time when my mother took my sister and I on vacation to Hawaii. We have a family friend that is native Hawaiian, and she agreed to take a few days off to show us around the islands.

As we were driving down a coastal road, she happened to mention that "every now and then glass fishing floats wash up on the beach."

At this station in my life, I had no idea what a glass fishing float was. Just as she was describing what they were, I looked out of the window and saw one on the beach...!!!

I screamed at the top of my lungs to stop the car. Then sprinted 100 yards back down the beach to retrieve it.

I don't believe much in coincidence so, I will remember this moment forever.

Now, I have to answer my own question.

After reading all of the wonderful replies, it struck me how easy it is to feel kinship with the thoughts, desires and experiences of each writer/collector. If you care to, you can read how I first came to find glass floats by copying and pasting the link: http://www.theglassmuseum.com/fishingfloats.htm, into your search engine. There, you will find an article I wrote three years ago, which contains the story of how I got started finding floats.

I have shared the excitement that Stu writes about many times. Together with my wife, and two children, we lived in a cabin overlooking the last stretch of Washington State's Copalis River before it flowed into the Pacific Ocean. The memory of my handheld spotlight exploding off the body of a big foam encased Longline float, at 4:00 in the morning, while stiff onshore storm winds pushed salt spray into my face, waves crashed and I walked alone on the sands of my favorite beach, is alive within my memories.

Now, I am somewhat content to beachcomb Ebay's shores. While I no longer am able to look forward to the Pacific storms and their big onshore winds for the chance to put my rain coat and boots on, and work my way up the beach day or night, float excitement continues to come to me. I like to call it float magic.

For me, real magic starts with the gift of my life. I am blessed with love that surrounds me, and appreciate all life. I'm peaceful in heart and spirit, and have been fortunate to have learned to truly enjoy my predilection for delving into the human condition. At all points of my life there have been signposts directing me forward. Just like an authentic glassfloat, along the way, I've been bumped, bruised, battered and scarred, but am intact.

Many years ago, I came into my belief of what magic truly is. There are signs of it everywhere at all times. You can start with the monumental such as holding your newborn baby in your arms for the first time. You can see it when suddenly you've been trapped by the eyes of a beautiful girl. With a smile at you, she speaks to you with honesty and promise. You hear it when that special someone says, "I love you." Can any of us ever forget that moment when you and your loved one said it to eachother for the first time, or made love for the first time-when the sparks truly flew through the air? I see magic as a chance in time. A beautiful hawk flies across the road in front of me, a fox, or someother exotic animal presents itself to me for an instant. Magical moments that were there for me.

Magic is here, and surrounds us at every waking moment. Since the first time that I came in contact with the knowledge of glass fishing floats, my life has been enriched by their magic over and over again. It's not simply collecting to me. Floats are part of my life. In many ways they are my life-they help to define me.

Each day starts with excitement. The excitement can be found in emails, or on the web searching. Float excitement is even encountered in my dreams. I never know what awaits me as the day passes, or what will happen to me-floatwise.

Out of the blue, a great float will appear on the web. Out of the blue, an email arrives to greet me from someone new. Maybe that person is a collector, maybe someone in need of advice, sometimes someone with a story to tell. Through the emails, I have gotten to know many people around the world who also collect these, as Ken Busse calls them, "Jems of the Ocean".

My life is constantly enriched and made happy by farflung friends, and also friends who live on the East Coast, like Bruce Gidol and his lovely wife Lupe, Paul Scott, and Greg Robins. Some live inland, Caicos Bob, Richard Carlson, or my crabbing buddy Wino Jim. Other such as Ken, Stu, Alan, Walt, Deborah, Todd or David live on the West Coast. Across the ocean are Olaf & Elisabeth from Norway, Olaf & Isabella from Germany, Per & Tone, Jurgen, Peter, Vebjorn, David, Roger & Maria. From Canada, Bill Jessop. From England, John Joseph. From Japan, Woody Woodward. Each and every one of these fine people excite me, surprise me, delight me. If it had not been for a magical moment in time on a quiet intersection among the woods of the Neah Bay Indian Reservation, would any of these people have happened to me?

Since I was a young boy, loving to fish on the surf, I've wanted to write. After earning my Batchelor's Degree in English Literature, I was ready to begin writing fishing stories for outdoor magazines, but Vietnam and the military had other ideas for my time. Years passed. The desire to write, did not pass, but I could not find my niche to write in. I did write, but only for myself, and to read to my wife and children.

After finding Ebay, and beginning to spend bucks for balls, I figured that I was investing for retirement, and would one day sell them. That idea didn't last long! I found myself getting very involved in collecting Euros and Americans, when few others were. Slowly, those others became contacts then friends, and suddenly, I was consummed with the idea to start researching the makers and the users of the floats.

Thanks to my daughter introducing me to and setting me up in the world of blogging, I've finally begun to write. Writing about floats, and their history thrills me. After all of those years of desire, I've finally found my niche to write in.

I've written about the "Path With a Heart," earlier. Glassfloats, Research, Writing, Friendship and Adventure accompany me on my path. Without floats, I would not be as happy as I am today, and have been since finding my first one in 1977. They appeal to the Water Sign in me. They are an integral part of who I am. They bring me happiness. They are one of my strongest passions. And there just is no denying, that this man "likes round things."

Thank you to each one of the writers who contributed themselves and their passion for floats to this post.

The Use Of Glass Fishing Floats To Catch Submarines

Over the years, a story similar to the following makes news...

In 1990, four fishermen died when their trawler was dragged under by a British submarine on a training exercise off the west coast of Scotland. A few weeks later, an American submarine ploughed into the nets of a trawler from Northern Ireland, making the vessel heave before ripping the net from its winches.

Unfortunately, for trawlers and submarines, dubious adventures like the above occur often enough to imprint their special kind of apprehension on fishermen and submariners. For trawlers, especially those boats dragging their nets on the bottom, the capture of all types of "loot," which includes dead and live torpedoes happens on a somewhat regular basis among the fleets. The following tale is one of many that I've read while researching commercial fishing:

Navy detonates Torpedo caught in fishing nets from an Estate and Environment news article, dated 29, Jan.'08.

A dangerous torpedo, dredged up by a trawler in its fishing nets was detonated by the Royal Navy safely at sea off Plymouth yesterday, Monday 28 January 2008.

The Royal Navy's Southern Diving Unit based at HM Naval Base Devonport in Plymouth was alerted early in the morning after a trawler discovered the ordnance in its nets.

The Diving Unit helped the trawler deposit the unwanted catch in the sea 800 metres south of Plymouth Breakwater to keep it safe from shipping. The safety area round the torpedo was reinforced by a shipping exclusion zone overseen by MOD Police and coastguard.

The trawler Katherine M had been fishing off of Cawsands Bay on Sunday afternoon, when on lifting her nets she discovered large brass item some four feet long [1.2m] and 21 inches [53cm] in diameter. The duty watch from the Southern Diving Unit, who were at the time dealing with an incident in Swansea, were tasked to deal with the item.

The bomb disposal team consisting of Chief Diver Neil Smith, Leading Diver Carvell and Diver Ansell arrived back at Plymouth, and then deployed to carry out a detailed examination of the warhead which is yet to be identified, but is thought to have been an early German submarine torpedo dating back to around 1920.

According to Chief Petty Officer Diver Neil Smith of the Southern Diving Unit

"When we're called out, you're unsure whether the item is live or a dummy - there's no way of telling, so you assume everything's live until it's counter-mined, when it either explodes or it doesn't."

The warhead was carefully hoisted off the deck and lowered to the seabed where it remained overnight until Monday.

The team then sailed out to the warhead again and two four-pound explosive countermining charges were placed on the torpedo by the divers and in consultation with the Royal Navy's port control staff, the charges were detonated at 0930hrs.

When the torpedo was detonated in a controlled explosion it was accompanied by a huge plume of water, indicating the torpedo was live and had been a potential danger to shipping.

Asked about the danger involved in removing the torpedo, Chief Petty Officer Diver Neil Smith of the Southern Diving Unit said:

"It depends on the state of the item involved; this one was definitely historic but the local hitorians can't find anything specific. They think it's a German torpedo from the 1920's, so it's fairly old, historic, and was definitely live as it went off."

During the study of the British fishing industries, a number of references were found indicating a shortage of fish for the market during WWI. The lack of fish was caused by many of the steam-driven trawlers, as well as sailing smacks having been commandeered by the military to help in the war effort. Also, there were a number of references to many craft being sunk. There was little mention of how the boats were used other than keeping an eye out for mines in the shipping lanes. Thoughts that the fishing boats were also used as lookouts for German submarines came to mind, but little information about how the men and their boats were used was provided by the authors in the books I had studied. Later research produced a few references to the type of action the fishing boats encountered:

Inverlyon, 93ton trawling smack sank coastal submarine "UB.4" on the 15th August 1915in the North Sea

NELSON with ETHEL & MILLIE, 14th August 1917, central North Sea, off Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire on the English East Coast - gunfire of German "UC.63". Special Service trawling smacks "Nelson" built 1905, & "Ethel and Millie" built 1908, were fishing with trawls shot, when in mid-afternoon a U-boat was sighted at 3 to 4 miles which closed and opened fire with her 8.8cm gun. The smacks were out of range and waited for "UC.63" to come nearer. "Nelson" was hit and Skipper Crisp mortally wounded, but remained in command, giving orders to open fire and then abandon ship. His son took command of the ship's boat, and Skipper Thomas Crisp DSC RNR, posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, went down with his smack. The "Ethel & Millie" was also sunk by gunfire. Some sources date the action on the 15th; total complements and casualties are not known.

Telesia & Energic (or "Cheerio"), 59t Special Service fishing smacks sank "UB.13" on 24th April 1916 off Belgian using mined nets

LADY OLIVE, 19th February 1917, English Channel, west of the Channel Island of Jersey (49°15’N, 02°34’W) - sunk by German coastal minelayer "UC.18". Q-ship "Lady Olive" ("Q-18", steam coaster "Tees Trader", 700grt, 1-4in, built 1913) sank "UC.18" in the action. The U-boat was caught in a mined anti-submarine net, forced to surface and finished off by gunfire. "Lady Olive" was sunk possibly by a torpedo.

In 2008, a very interesting glass fishing float was found and won on Ebay. The float marked FGC, was painted with a destroyer-the HMS LION, an aircraft carrier, airplane, fishing vessel, and submarine. It was such a nice historical piece, that I had to go for it.

One of the more important pieces of information found, was a sentence in a book about Canadian glass linking glass floats to the war effort. We know during the WWII years, many Northwestern Glass Co., Owens/Illinois/Oakland and Corning floats were used in the Soupfin Shark Fishery, but how were Canadian floats used during war time? In an email to Bill Jessop about the question of whether or not Canadian glass works produced glass fishing floats, the piece of information concerning Canadian floats possibly used in WWI and WWII was added.

A month or more passed. One night, while looking to see what might be in my email account, I discovered that a very nice surprise email from Bill was waiting for me. Bill's email link led me to the history of the use of fishing craft during WWI, and WWII against submarines, and the use of glass fishing floats on submarine nets.

Hi Tom,

Your interest and the reference in the “Canadian Glass” book to the use of glass floats on submarine nets stimulated me to do a bit more research. You might consider the following as an addendum to my Nov 28/09 note:

GLASS FISHING FLOATS ORIGINATING FROM WWI USE ON SUBMARINE DEFENSE NETS

Your readers may wish to go to the U.S. Navy Dept Library website (http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/onipubno08.htm) to view ONI Publication No.8 “Notes on Anti-Submarine Defenses”, published as a Secret document by the U.S. Dept of Naval Intelligence in May, 1917. The document is identified as a reprint of “confidential British publications” and was Secret until apparently declassified on Aug 17, 1972. This was intended as a technical “how to” document but is very readable and fascinating from a glass float collector’s background perspective. From a scan of this document, it is apparent that submarine net usage must have been a factor in the anecdotal vast quantities of “glass fishing floats” that came ashore during and after WWI.

Some interesting excerpts from this publication:

“A number of different kinds of floats for supporting the nets have been tried, and the one which has been found the most satisfactory is the 5-inch diameter glass ball as used by fishermen-glass balls being considered as efficient for general use in that they hold the tide less when working the line of nets across the tide, are less visible, and very much less expensive.” (p.23).

“The glass balls, before being attached to the net, are put in net bags of untanned trawl twine, and are then attached by a draw line in mouth of the net bag to the head of the net. It is recommended that the trawl twine employed should be first tarred to prevent it rotting. It is most important that these lines are tightly knotted to the headrope of the net and not loosely attached. It is recommended that, to distribute the flotation evenly, the balls be put on the headwire of the net singly and equidistant from each other along the whole length of the headwire of the net, and not grouped or bunched at the meshes. Thus, if 150 balls are required, they should be attached every 2 feet.

Another good method is first to place the balls in net bags and then in canvas hose of about 6 inches in diameter, as shown in figure 3. This further prevents balls being worked off the net.

In the case of the 30-foot net, 75 to 100 balls are required.

In the case of the 60-foot net, 120 to 150 balls are required

In the case of the 84-foot net, 180 to 200 balls are required.

In the case of the 120-foot net, 250 to 300 balls are required.” (p.22-23).

Some of the nets contained mines:

“ The mines are thus suspended in the net in a horizontal position and present the minimum resistance to the tide when working in the line of the tide, which is practically invariably the case………The nets are floated by glass balls attached as shown in figure 8. This method is perfectly efficient if correctly carried out. The net bags for the glass balls should be of tarred trawl twine. When it is required to leave the line of nets down for extended periods the glass balls in the net bags may be covered with wire netting; this is usually done in groups of 4 glass balls as shown in figure 8. Extra glass balls are usually attached immediately above each mine. “ (p.54-55).

The publication contains various diagrams illustrating methodology for preparing & attaching glass floats (e.g.fig 8, p.68), and the towing and mooring (p.36) of the nets buoyed by the glass floats, under various conditions.

Consequently, it is conceivable that some of the 5” plain green unmarked glass fishing floats that have been found on the East Coast of Canada, the U.S. and in Europe were released from WWI submarine defense nets (some floats then beachcombed and re-used by inshore fisherman). They may have originated from the either the Dominion Glass Company and possibly Nova Scotia glass plants. Also, since substantial quantities of war materials were convoyed across the Atlantic to Britain in WWI, it is plausible that some of these glass floats could have been exported and introduced directly into the submarine nets extensively employed off Britain, Scotland and Ireland during WWI. Later, they may have been released directly from there into the Atlantic and the North Sea. This opens the further question as to what extent trade-marked Euro floats may have also been manufactured & incorporated for use in the submarine nets? It's also possible that manufactured floats found on North Sea coasts partially originated from German submarine net equivalent usage and not just as exported fishing net floats.

In any case, it appears that there is reasonable evidence that not all old Atlantic blown-in-mould glass fishing floats are truly “Euro’s." Some may have originated from Canadian manufacture prior to, and during, WWI. and used in Allied submarine nets, and later, lost.

******************************

Hope that this was helpful. Maybe we will learn something from others with undisclosed perspective?

Cheers, Bill

Bill is an excellent researcher. Google the link he provided. You will find the information on pg.9 in cast iron repair. A fascinating read is there waiting for you. It's quite possible that one or more of the European-possibly Canadian-floats in our collections were lost-not by fouling on some underwater obstruction while trawling, but were actually hung up on a German submarine, then ripped free of the sub trap.

Thanks to Bill, we now have another very interesting historical usage of glass fishing floats.

A Float To Share

Todd "the Norsknailpounder," sent an email containing a question one day last summer. Todd asked: "Have you ever seen a European float with swirls of color in the glass?" Replied that the only swirling that I had seen in an authentic Euro glass fishing float, was in the 8" brown/amber Williamshutte that came from our German friend. The swirling of darker brown in the glass is not very noticeable until the float is backlit. That ball has so much beautiful "whittle effect" and bubbling in the glass, that its swirls are not noticed without close inspection.

Todd replied to my reply, together with a few photos of a Norwegian float in his collection that has darker green color swirling in the seal button of an otherwise aquamarine colored float.

While "beachcombing," the Ebay auctions on the morning of February 17, 2010, I gasped when I saw the photo of a netted colorless float with blue swirling. Gawking at the auction photo, I saw the float's capnet for what it was-the distinctive two strand style of French fishermens' floats. Quickly, opened the auction, looked at the float photos and read the following:

19th. Century Protection/Fortune Bringing Ball French Witch Collection!!

This stunning ball was part of a collection of artifacts and occult tools that were amassed by many generations of a family of French Celtic Druidic witches. Please see below item description for further details.

The piece first came into the family's possession in the late nineteenth century after they purchased it from the estate of well respected practitioner in the Saint Amand area .

The family then hung the ball in a window directly by the front door of their home.
As far as I can tell from talking to Muriel, the piece was one of a series of objects that were empowered during a very lengthy series of workings that the majority of the orders and solitary practitioners of the area participated in during the mid- nineteenth century, and I have to say that must of been an incredible event to witness to say the least! The family were understably delighted when they had the opportunity to be the caretakers of an object that was so important not just to their own history but also to the witchcraft history of the area!
The tradition surrounding the ball is that it has the ability to protect any house that it is hung in from negativity and will bring wealth, health and happiness to all in the dwelling .

This beautiful item was originally handblown in a stunning clear glass perfectly complimenting the deep rich graduated blue of a wonderful flowing form within the body of the piece. It was then surrounded by a hand knotted blue dyed natural twine netting. The ball has a hand applied glass blob covering the pontil mark which was then hand impressed with the initials "LV".

The piece is in lovely condition with stunning fading to the twine, bubbling and quirks to the glass from handcraftsmanship . There are a series of what looks like partial bubble bursts, knocks or bruises to it's surface, but does not go through the body.

And with the ball measuring just over 5 inches in diameter (including netting) and just over 20 inches from top of net-fixing knot to the edge hanging loop, this is a Must For any Lover of All Things Esoteric !!

This Incredible piece of Witchcraft History was part of a collection of artifacts and occult tools that had been put together by many generations of a family of French witches. I myself was fortunate enough to be bequeathed this piece by Muriel who was the last surviving member of the family line.

The lady herself lived in the same village as myself, Chaumont, close to the city Bourges that was frequented by " Les Bourdelins," possibly the most influential and powerful druidic tribe in PreRoman and Roman France!!

Her family line had a hugely respected reputation for healing and knowledge of the Old ways" stretching back many generations .

I had the honour of knowing her personally at the tale end of her life .

Because of our interest in history, witchcraft and all things esoteric , she decided to give some items of her extensive collection to us, with other items directly relating to the specific craft of the this area (The Cher) being bequeathed to " La Musee de Sorcerie " in Concressault

Now that was an interesting piece of provenance for a float to have! After reading the description, I thought about the "Witch Balls," which were hung in many homes here on the East Coast in the first days of the "Jersey Devil." They were hung to ward away or capture dark and freightening spirits. Also thought about something another French seller had told me about the custom of hanging fishing floats in French kitchens. There is also the story of British fishermen's families displaying hanging floats in a window facing the sea, as a talisman of good luck to bring their sons, husbands and fathers home safely.

Those thoughts somehow punctuated my excitement after looking at the auction photos, and realizing that it was a French-made LV float. Next came a sigh because the auction would not end for a week. How could I contain myself for that long? Would anyone else find it? How many would notice this obscure French auction? Could I actually win this amazing float?

Daily, sometimes a few times during the day and evening, I would look again at the auction to see if anyone else had found it, and to look at the auction photos to make certain that my eyes weren't deceiving me. A couple of bidders who's Ebay initials I did not recognize, bid the first couple of days.

Trying to not set myself up for disappointment was really difficult. Waited day after day, and kept mum. When Nancy and I talked about how our day went, or what kind of thoughts we'd had, it was difficult to not talk about the places my head had been whenever the float came to mind. I'm able to attentively listen to her day-to-day teaching stories concerning her young students, their misbehavior, her successes, and what other teachers are experiencing, as long as she will listen to my stories-many of them glassfloat related. But I can tell when that glassy look comes into her eyes as I begin another float story. She seemed to grasp the depth of my excitement about this float, but until she picks up, and stares at a newly-arrived float the way that I do, one never knows the depth of her emotional commitment.

Slowly the week passed, day by long day. Trying to savor each day for itself was difficult, because I wanted to get to the auction's last day, last hour-minutes-seconds. What an excitement addict I become when there's a float that grabs my attention, and a small voice says, "this float's for Tom." At least that's what I imagine those kind of float thoughts say when a float appears on an auction together with a special feeling of hope. Until that wonderful Ebay phrase comes up on the screen, "Congratulations Sea Hermit, you've won the auction," I'm a mess. I was a mess every waking minute until the week passed. On the days leading up to the finale, I checked every float auction I could find to see if that ball was posted anywhere else. Nope. Just maybe, no other collector knows about it? Gees! I sure hoped so. Then the final day arrived.

Internally, I was a mess. It was so difficult to concentrate on my responsibilities, and keep myself away from the computer all day long. Finally, only an hour remained until the end, then 10 minutes, then three minutes. The countdown began. Glued to the auction, I had to look away when there were still two minutes to go. Finally, I was able to look when I knew there was a minute to go. The counting down had been going on in my head second by second, even though I could not bear to look at the screen. At 30 seconds I typed in my bid, at 15 seconds I entered it, then quickly went back to the auction. Five seconds, and I'm thinking hard, "bid don't change"! Four, three, two, one...then the aucton page stops, and I rush to pull up the auction again to see the outcome. No one had overbid me. That wonderful Ebay winning sentence greeted me. Nirvana!

Rushed into the kitchen to tell Nancy that I'd won, then back to the computer to look once again at the photos. Then the fear. How long will it take to make the Atlantic crossing? Will it get hung up in customs? Will it get broken during transit from France to New Jersey? Ah gees! Tom get hold of yourself.

So I did, by writing the seller to ask if they double boxed fragile items. A very nice return email contained the wonderful information, that in all of their years of selling, they had never had a piece broken. They packed well. Ok. They did not offer to double box it, but they did give me confidence, and ended by saying that they were happy the float would go to someone who truly appreciated it. Really nice seller to share this experience with.

Thirteen days passed from the time the float was mailed until it arrived here. Considering the Wicca history of this float, that seems to me to be a very interesting number of days to cross the Atlantic Ocean and arrive at my front door!

Upon opening the box, discovered that the float was double boxed. Coming from France, the second box-a Cotes Du Rhone wine box, brought a smile. Opened the second box to find the float completely wrapped in bubble wrap then the whole surface covered in tape. That float couldn't have been packed any safer. Thank you. A series of photos were taken as the opening and unwrapping progressed, until finally the float was in my hands, and I looked at every single bit of it. Incredulous that this wonderful and rare example of a French float was now in the collection, and could be shared with all of my float friends and readers, I then took photos of the float.

As time passes, who knows if other swirled Euros will appear? Since Todd's email, I've learned that my friend Bob has a yellow/amber Euro with brown swirls, and Bruce Gidol said that he thought he had a green one with swirls. Waiting for Bruce to locate that float. Bruce, Richard and their wives are coming to visit at the end of next month. Maybe he will bring it with him? If he does, I'll photograph it, and post it to the blog.

Questions are in my mind whenever I look at the swirls in this otherwise colorless float. Could the glassblower have done this on purpose? Was there some blue glass left from a previous object on his blowpipe, which melted into his gather as he twisted the blowpipe in a pot of molton glass? Was this just a stroke of good fortune arising out of a mixed batch of recycled glass, or the result of a dirty batch? I've got to ask our son-in-law Chad-the family's glass artist, how this might have happened.

There is also a consideration. Wouldn't the right thing be to hang the float in a safe and special spot to continue its tradition? I've been thinking about this since the float arrived, but have yet to hang it out of fear of it falling and bursting. Sooner or later, the right spot will come to me.

And a last descriptive item, there are no seams on this ball. It was most likely blown into a mold bowl or firebrick mold similar to the photo of the Aanaes company mold from the "Some Odds And Ends" post.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing the photos and reading the seller's history of this unique float. To end this post I wish all of you at least one great float coming your way this year.

The list of photos starting at the top:
1. The auction photo;
2. Box in a box;
3. Unwrapped showing maker's embossing;
4. The side of the float and
5. The top of the float

Nor'easters, Nor'westers

Back in the fall of '09, my Father remarked, "It's a good thing this isn't snow!" He was talking about all of the rain we had been getting in November. Here in Southern New Jersey we've been very wet since last April. Even the normal summer dry spell was very shortlived, only lasting about 10 days. Throughout the summer we had many thunder and lightening storms accompanied by copious amounts of rain. Then winter set in at the end of November.

Since then, we've had three major snowstorms, many small snows between, and three huge melts-all occuring during the Full and New Moon periods. Here in the Pinelands Protection Area where Nancy and I live, the water table is very high. Flooding has been happening to all of us who live from 40 miles inland to the sea, since the December 26th. thaw. I can't tell you how many hours have been spent pumping out the basement with a combination of three 1/2hp. pumps and two shopvacs. Never having experienced a flooding of the water table in the more than 20 years we've lived here, we did not anticiapate the need for a French drain or sump pump. You can bet on both of those being on top of the list of our next remodeling project!

As was written in a prior post, I've been studying the Northeast commercial fishery from the 18th. century to 1950. Most of the research has been done through the reading of old books. Some of the books are biographical, some are a compilation of stories and history. If there is one thing that has truly impressed me while reading, it is the courage and hardiness of the protagonists in each story.

I now know exactly what the term, "sailor," means. We use it commonly to describe someone in the Navy, or someone who has a sailboat. What has been impressed upon me is the actual sailors and the sailing that was done during the Banks fishing prior to steam and later, diesel and gas powered engines. Those old fishermen had only the confidence in the craftsmen who built their hulls and mounted their masts and rudder, together with their knowledge of what their boat could stand, their courage, their sails and the direction of the wind for propulsion.

In the Northeastern states, the prevailing winter winds are out of the northwest and northeast. During the summer, the prevailling winds come from the west and south.
During the dangerous winter fishing season, the northwest winds were excellent for going out to the Banks off Massachusetts or Nova Scotia, and a northeaster was a good wind to come in on. Our Northeastern States' storms during the winter, are primarily from those two directions.

The winds and their accompanying high seas could make for a long and arduous sail when trying to get into dock to land the catch at the times of highest prices. If everyone came ashore at the sametime, with the same type of fish, primarily Cod, the market's supply was high, and the price was low. To be first in and unloaded during a low market supply was the goal of all the skippers and their crews.

Often, the skipper tied himself to the wheel for the duration of the homebound trip, and with a continual supply of coffee from the mess, would push his vessel to its limits by hoisting as much sail as the craft could take. With starboard or port to leeward and low in the water, the skipper or his first mate would race their boat through the wind and waves to home. If you have the inclination to read James B. Connolly's book, mentioned below, you will learn about the sailing ability of those long ago skippers and mates, and understand what the term, "sailor," truly means.

Prior to 1880, all of the fishing on the Banks was done with either handlines or trawlines. The trawlines consisted of long lines with many baited hooks tied onto the lines via short leaders called "snoods," then weighed down on the bottom-normally with an anchor.

The ships carried a full complement of dories, in which generally 2-man teams or "dory mates," rowed away from the Mother ship with the wooden buckets, marker buoys, trawlines and other gear necessary to fish. The lines were payed out over the side, then hauled back after a set had been down long enough. It was hard work hauling those lines, landing fish, rebaiting, setting again, then finally rowing back to the ship as she made her rounds to pick up her crew in the dories. Loss of life was caused by the conditions these men fished in.

Start with the Banks themselves. The Banks are a broad and shallow series of mountains who's tops come to the surface in an otherwise normal-looking and deep ocean. They can be a navigational nightmare when suddenly encountered by an unknowing ship. The gullies, points, holes, etc., where the baitfish fed, were also spots where the baitfish became vulnerable when the strong winds, waves and currents swirled over the Banks. Once vulnerable, the bait attracted Cod, Halibut, and other large and valuable predator fish from the deeper surrounding waters up onto the banks. That is where the sailboats and their crews with dories fished. The prime areas for fishing are called rips.

Rips are formed where tide changes rush either in or off the banks through cuts and high points like a fast flowing river. The waves can be huge in the rips depending on the direction of the winds and the current. I find it hard to imagine what it must have been like for two men in a rowing dory, trying to not only set their trawlines, haul the lines in, unhook the fish, and keep themselves from being turned over by the wind driven waves and currents swirling around them.

The dories and their crews fished the Banks' waters throughout the year. There was no radio communication. There was no weather communication from ship to shore-no communication at all in "real time". The only communication with boats fishing, came from the crews of boats that had sailed back into port to unload their catches for market. Everyone having to do anything with the fishing industry was keen to hear what the returned crews could tell of seeing various boats from that port either headed in, or close to being ready to head back. Those boats still out on the Banks, whether in the ship or in the dory, had only nature's signs at the captain and crew's disposal to forecast the weather.

Many men lost their lives in fog. If the dory crews were out, and suddenly a warm southerly wind blew in over cold water, there was fog. The samething happened with cold winds blowing in over warmer waters. Once the fog came, there was no telling where the mother ship was. For the captain on the ship there was no telling where the dories were. Unable to see through the fog, a rogue wave easily swamped and sunk dories and drowned many of the fishermen.

Being aboard was no picnic either. A fleet of sailing vessels could be anchored up on top of the Banks either in the rips or just off the sides of them. Once a boat found fish, they would not leave until their holds were filled, and their trip was made. If a ship and her crew were catching, it did not take long for others to join her in the productive spot. There could be as many as 100 or more fishing vessels fishing the same productive area on a Bank.

Captains and experienced crew had learned to read the water, winds, clouds and sky color at sunrise and sunset to help forecast the weather, but there was little to help them when a major storm suddenly came upon them, or a convergence of two or more weather systems caught them in its trap. When those big ones came, there was no hoisting of the sail, and heading home. Not only were they days and sometimes weeks from home, they also had to fill the boat with fish before heading back. Investments had been made, and the crew needed their shares in order to live and provide for the families praying for their safe return.

If the fleet was on a productive spot, they would not up anchor and leave. Instead, they dropped anchor to wait out the winds or storm. The main cause of disaster on the banks was a sudden storm coupled with a fleet of boats anchored in close proximity to one another; held in place solely by their anchor with its hawser line and if they had it, chain; large waves of unknown duration; racing tides and high winds. Into that dangerous mix, you can also add fog, snow and cold frigid winds that froze the ocean spray to everything.

Captains could not even think of raising sail to get off the banks and out of the rips when caught in a trap. With seas washing over the deck, anyone and anything could easily be washed overboard. Even if a sail could be raised, it would quickly be torn into shreads by the storm winds. There was no choice but to try to ride the weather out, and hope the anchor held, and the hawser lines with or without chain did not snap.

Winds and waves put a tremendous strain on everything. Far too often the anchor lines broke, or the anchors lost their hold. That is when the real danger set in. Boats that were holding in the wind and waves, were sunk by their upwind neighbors who's boats were drifing when their anchor came free, or with broken anchor lines, were at the mercy of the winds and current. Crashing into one another, very often in the dark of night, both boats were usually sunk with all hands aboard. Rarely did anyone survive in those conditions.

It was not uncommon for all the vessel's dories to be washed overboard. In the winter seas, the water temperatures soon froze a man to death or sapped his strength so badly that he could no longer keep afloat. The long lists of men and ships lost in those days fills many books' pages.

If you have access to:

THE FISHERMEN'S OWN BOOK, Comprising the List of Men and Vessels Lost From the Port of Gloucester, Mass. From 1874 to April 1, 1882 and a Table of Losses From 1830;

various editions of the FISHERMEN OF THE ATLANTIC, by the Fishing Master's Association, or

GLOUCESTERMEN by James B. Connolly

you will have all of the reading material you need to study the fishing history. If you cannot find copies of any of the above through your library system, you can find copies of the first two books available to read online through Google search engine.

The study has caused me much inward soul searching. I'm collecting glass fishing floats, and the history of the makers and the users. Studying the commercial fishing history to learn how the floats were used, has also led me to the study of the fishing history from the Mid-Atlantic to Nova Scotia before the time of glass floats. I'm trapped by my own desire to learn all that I can, and to assuage that part of me that craves this specific knowledge.

Whenever the nor'westers and nor'easters howl, it sounds as if it were passing through a boat's rigging. In the windy darkness, I imagine the fear of a wayward vessel preparing to crash into the vessel I'm on. The sounds of splintering wooden hulls, the falling of topmasts and the cries of shipmates and those aboard the other vessel echo in my mind.

At other times I imagine my dory mate and I are rowing for our lives-trying to find our ship in the fog. Perhaps like the lost souls in another story, we are endeavoring to keep from capsizing or freezing to death.

There is a picture painted in the words of one of Connolly's stories that is permanently fixed in a memory box of my brain. He described the captain of a ship, tied to the wheel in a violent storm, trying to keep her headed into the wind and waves, when suddenly a huge sea washes over her, and the captain is underwater. He looks up through the water high over his head, seeing the moon's light and wondering when the water will lower enough for him to breath.

When those winds blow, as they are today, I'm haunted by the stories of those American fishermen of the Northeast fighting for their lives in the gales.

Some Thoughts from Bill Jessop

In the 12/13/09 post titled: On The Trail of the Whale & Lighthouse Floats, a collector and float researcher-Bill Jessop, was introduced. The promise to share some of Bill's emails was written, and I would like to keep that promise by posting Bill's second email to you. This email is a visit back to the discussion of the SN floats written January 5th., and 16th., 'o9. The SN floats have been offered a few times on Nova Scotian, and Eastern Canadian Ebay sellers' auctions. Bill's email also gives us some excellent historical insight into the Canadian glass industry that operated during the float use years.

Written on one of the glass bottle information websites, there is information concerning a 1926 catalogue from the Dominion Glass Company. According to the writer, the catalogue lists glass fishing floats as a product. An exchange of emails between myself and the writer, produced no difinitve proof, as well as emails sent to Dominion Glass, libraries, and a lot of further research trying to find a copy of the catalogue, and proof of Dominion glassfloat production. It was of great interest that I read and absorbed Bill's email concerning his thoughts on the SN floats, and the Canadian glass industry.


Hi, Tom.
I now have had an opportunity to properly read through the treasure trove of material that you have gathered and analyzed for your Seahermit blog. It helped me put together some of the following thoughts & perspectives on the “NS” glass float aspect which I hope that you might find interesting.

ATLANTIC GLASS FLOAT “FLOW”:

There is both solid and anecdotal evidence that at least some of the old unmarked blown-in- mould dark green glass floats (typically 5” in diameter) found on the East coast of Canada and the U.S. could be ones manufactured in Canada prior to 1914. Perhaps this may also shed light on the “NS” float mystery discussed in your January 2009 blog? That blog contained thoughtful comments and interesting observations by yourself, Bob Buffington, Stu Farnsworth and museum curators from the Lunenburg and Halifax museums. I think the first issue to consider is how the “NS” and other old glass floats would have been introduced into the fishery and where they were likely to migrate to afterwards.

As noted, some percentage of the old glass fishing floats originated from fisherman gear piles and EBay vendors in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are undoubtedly from loss of gear by the European fishing fleets (and recovered for re-use by local fishermen) plus direct purchases from European manufacturers of glass floats by these inshore fisherman for use on their nets and on their trawl lines. Since the British, Portuguese and Spanish fleets were the main fishers on the Grand Banks in the historic heyday of glass float usage, one would expect to encounter (in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island & Newfoundland) proportionately more blown-in-mould glass floats bearing logos from these nations. Furthermore the close commercial/personal connections between Britain and Newfoundland (a British colony until 1949) and with the residents of Nova Scotia should have fostered an increased proportion of purchases from British sources for use in the inshore fishery.

This seems to be the case except perhaps for the apparent disproportionate presence of old Norwegian and German floats originating from East coast sources. I am not aware that Scandinavian country fleets were ever significantly engaged in the Grand Bank cod fishery. Although Norwegian sealing fleets operated extensively off Newfoundland and Labrador, they obviously had no use for glass floats. However, I think that your January 2009 blog may very well explain this anomaly. It is apparent from your extensive documentation that Norwegian fishing methods employing the use of glass floats had a very significant impact on East coast U.S. fishing methods.

This influence could have induced significant purchases by New England fishermen of glass floats from Norwegian manufacturers. Per’s illustration of the significant glass float production from just one Norwegian manufacturer may provide additional (circumstantial) evidence of the general availability of floats from Norway at this time and subsequently. There is no apparent explanation for the disproportionate presence of German (e.g. “PCF” and Heye “Clover”) floats in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland except that German glass float manufacturers (e.g. your Heye blog) seem to have been major glass float exporters and perhaps the heavy German population operating significant Grand Bank cod fleets out of Lunenburg N.S. would have favoured German floats due to historic and commercial relationships.

In any case, glass floats (of whatever origin) that came loose from U.S. East coast gear could have drifted northward on the Gulf Stream to be beached and recovered in the Canadian Maritime provinces. Others, joined by losses from the Canadian and European fleets on the Grand banks, would ride the Gulf Stream to the Shetlands and Orkneys and even enter the North Sea through the North of Scotland, to be further joined by losses from fisherman there. (Please see my earlier October 10 note quoting the specific experience of an Orkney resident with the Gulf Stream and his recollections of the “wheelbarrow loads” of glass floats).

From the above perspective only, “NS” floats could have originated anywhere because they have been found here and in Europe.

GLASS FLOAT COLLECTING EXPERIENCE

Stu refers in his note to his collecting experience with “Made In England” and (Norwegian) “F1’s” and “F2’s” in Nova Scotia. I have been fortunate to directly find an “LT”, an “LB” in triangle, an “Extra RG Portugual” and a “FALES” in baskets of NorthWestern, DuraGlas and unmarked glass floats during past trips to the Canadian Maritimes. I have also bought British “FGC”, “PCF, & Heyes “Clover” floats from N.S. and Newfoundland dealers on EBay. I’m sure that your readers can add extensively to the trademark’s sourced from there and hopefully this should correlate with the “proportional” expectations outlined above.

My (tarred) “NS” float came via EBay, apparently from a fishing shanty on the bay of the York River in Maine which is reasonably close to Nova Scotia. I was most intrigued by your observation that most “NS” floats had been found in the U.S. Northeast and in the Canadian Maritimes. You can thus add my float to that statistic. (P.S. it was apparently found with a tarred “Made in Czechoslovakia” float which should, from your blog, make you very happy concerning their applied use.)

CANADIAN GLASS FLOAT MANUFACTURERS

I found it particularly insightful to put together the information in your Jan & Feb 2009 blogs with some limited research that I had done previously. There were Canadian glass float manufacturers who supplied Canadian fisherman with glass floats prior to 1914 and, given the close commercial ties between the New England states and Nova Scotia, perhaps even U.S. East coast fishermen purchased them prior to 1914.

Specifically, Gerald Stevens on page 53 of his book “Canadian Glass 1825 -1925” states the following regarding the Dominion Glass Company:

“During this period (World War I) the Point St. Charles factory (Canada Glass Manufacturing) manufactured large quantities of glass balls for use as floats for fishermen’s nets. These glass balls were approximately five inches in diameter and were mould-blown from glass coloured a dark green.”

Also, a couple of EBay Maritime vendors that I have dealt with have heard of glass float manufacturers actually located in Nova Scotia. I bought a green unmarked float purportedly of Nova Scotia manufacture from one of these vendors and she provided the following background:

“There were three or four glass plants in that general area (the New Glasgow, Trenton areas of Nova Scotia) and they are all long gone. There was Trenton Glass Works, Canada Glass, a French glass company and one in Truro called Bigelos (excuse the spelling). They primarily made bottles, but made other items also. They were around until the 1920/1930’s making bottles mostly”.

In my last note, I described a conversation that I had a few years ago with a couple of local gentlemen in a Nova Scotian antique store who recalled the dumping, many years prior, of truckloads of glass floats (primarily green by their recollection) in their local dumpsite. I am now thinking that these may possibly come from a manufacturer dumping obsolete inventory rather than a fishing company switching over to plastic.

“NS” and UNMARKED DARK GREEN GLASS FLOATS

Pulling all this together, perhaps many of the unmarked blown-in-mould dark green glass floats fairly common amongst the much later machine-produced Duraglas and NorthWestern floats (when you can find any pile of these floats at all any more) are Canadian or Nova Scotia manufactured and not “Euros”. By extension (but with no direct evidence ) maybe some of the unmarked clear blown-in-mould glass floats have similar parentage?

An aside: During the first few years of following Ebay auctions, there were three or four auctions originating in Canada. The auction photos showed colorless glass floats, larger than the normal 5-inchers, which had a different type of seal button-small and slightly raised-unlike the normal round and flattened seal. At the time I thought they might be Canadian made. I still have a feeling that those were made in Canada. Two of them arrived today from a seller in Maryland. They are 6.5" diameter, and unmarked. These were the first that I have seen in the last 7 or 8 years of watching the auctions.

Perhaps, then the “NS” on the dark green “NS” float really does stand for Nova Scotia after all, perhaps as an brand identifier for one of these companies or a local customer. Food for thought (and comment) rather than any real conclusion.

Regards, Bill Jessop
(Waterloo, Ontario)

I have truly enjoyed reading Bill's thoughts and findings again, and hope that you have too.

The post photos below the pair of colorless floats, show floats that were found in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Interestingly, the "Souvenir float" is embossed LV.

Also, if you watch the auctions from Australia, often a curious unmarked colorless float will appear which originates from an Australian seller. I have been told by a few sellers there, that those floats were used to mark Crayfish (Spiny Lobster)traps. Like the colorless examples thought to be from Canada, could it be that the Australian colorless are a true Australian float?

The Portugese fished those Australian waters, and often, "RG Made In Portugal" floats appear on the auctions. Maybe the Portugese made those clear floats, but they are unlike any Portugese or Spanish floats that I know of. The seal buttons on these Australian auction colorless are the normal flattened gather of glass, have no embossings and they are always larger than the normal 5" Euro. Most are 7-8" diameter floats.

Czech Out This New Float Seller

It started with the recent Ebay auction for a Korean 3-piece molded float. The auction featured an embossing called "Yama." According to Walt Pich in his latest book, GLASSBALL MARKS A Field Guide to Identify Characters on Oriental Glass Fishing Floats, it is an uncommon mark.

The embossing appears to be a type of "T." Walt writes that the mark is meant to be looked at upside down. The three upward facing points then denote three peaks of a mountain range.

The seal button on the float was unlike the flattened belly button type of seal most often seen on the Koreans. That "umbilical-like sealing button," according to Walt, is one of the signs of a 2nd. generation 3-piecer. The Ebay auction I was looking at, showed a more normal looking seal that protruded above the float-a sign of a 1st. generation 3-piecer. I found myself excited by the float, and after enlarging it, immediately went to the seller's auction to find out more.

The seller calls himself, "barrysellsall." In the description, it read:

"I am just learning about these balls, so as of now I am a novice.
I have about 1,000 of these balls that are in various shapes, sizes and colors that will be listed here on Ebay!"

That voice in my head began shouting...

"1000 floats!"
"Wonder what he has?"
"He calls himself a novice."
"How did he get 1000 floats, yet is a novice?"
"Wonder if he could use some help?"

Quickly, a question was emailed through the seller's site, together with a brief explanation to tell him that the float was commonly referred to as a "Korean 3-piecer." Just a short time later, when I checked my email account, an email from Barry was waiting for me.

He thanked me for my input, and appreciated the help. That first auction and exchange of emails was a great start to a very exciting last two weeks of "barrysellsall," float auctions.

Barry is going to give it his best to put all 1000 floats up for sale on Ebay auctions. Already, he has posted a number of auctions containing excellent Asian floats including two Giant Rolling Pins, a Binary constructed of two handblown floats-not the mold-blown floats that make up the average Chinese binaries and other fine floats including a pink or light violet ball-in-a-ball. There have been authentic Asian floats, Contemporaries, curios, Americans and a few Euros.

Today, I recieved a box containing that first Yama 3-piece Korean, a Corning in a terrific original net, a wonderful 7inch dia. yellow/olive Taiwanese with the pie seal, and a great 6.5inch diameter Czech. What makes the Czech float so special to me is the color. I've never seen one this color before.

The photos above show the coloration pretty accurately. It's the hue of the Carribean Sea. I remember standing shoulder-deep in those island waters with one side of my face laying on the surface. I wanted to know what color the water really was. As I looked across the water's surface, a small and gentle Carribean swell passed by, and I saw that tint backlit by the sky.

In the days and weeks to come, there is excitement within me. What other floats will Barry will put up for auction? I've written to ask if it would be possible to do an in-depth post about him and the 1000 floats on this blog, and am awaiting his answer.

Most likely, he is much too busy posting auctions, answering emails, and packing floats for shipment to their new owners, to find the time to do a complete story right away.

Since Barry's first float auctions, he has posted about 50 more-with the promise of many more to come. Will Barry have the pluck to handle the task of 1000 Ebay float auctions? Certainly hope so! Have you caught some of my fever? It's great to finally be out of the auction doldrums. The pickings were lean, but not now.

Some Odds and Ends

On a fine winter day about four or five years ago, I was standing in the sunlit front entry of our home looking at a display cabinet containing some special floats. One of the floats caught my eye in a way that made me want to pick it up and look closely at it. That float is a beautiful aquamarine blue ball with the letter VG embossed onto the seal, and it is completely covered in the "whittle look," caused by pouring molten glass into a cold mold.

I held the float up to the bright light coming in through the front storm door, and looking it over from top to bottom. I suddenly realized that there was something that appeared to be worn lettering within the whittle effect on the surface of the float's glass. My eyes weren't deceiving me. There were letters there, in the form of wording on both sides of the glass, and each side had different lettering.

Excitedly, Nancy and I began diciphering each letter, one at a time, until we came up with the words:

VIDRIERIAS DEL GUADALETE SA on one side of the float, and

PUERTO STA MARIA ESPANA on the opposite side of the float.

Vidrierias del Guadalete translated means glazing or glass things of the Guadalete, and
Puerto Sta Maria Espana means Spanish port or bay Sta Maria

I was so excited to have discovered this, and wondered if anyone else had one of these floats? Euro collectors were few and far between at that time. I stashed that piece of information away for my future book. A couple of years later, Greg of Gregsboat1 fame, won an Ebay auction for the second example of that float that I had seen. After urging Greg to go for the float, then seeing him emerge the winner of the auction, I wrote to tell Greg what I had found on the side of my float, and to be on the lookout for the writing on the sides of the ball. After receiving it, Greg wrote back to tell me that his float also had the writing.

A year or so passed, then another example of the float turned up from an Ebay seller living in France. By that time, there were a few others collecting Euros, and a year later, there were more Euro collectors getting into the game. A pair of VG's were auctioned by one seller. One of them was different. It had the VG letters on the seal, but there was also a cross, similar to the molding that divides a window into four panes. I wanted to win that one, but came up short.

Tonight, a photo of that float was pointed out to me in an email from Todd. Todd asked if I had seen the new information on Roger and Maria's site: www.norwayfloat.com. Roger had told me that he was preparing new information about the Shamrock embossed float. I looked for it, but didn't see it. After reading Todd's email, I immediately went to Roger and Maria's site. Not only is there new information about the possible maker of the Shamrock marked float, but also a very nice piece about the VG float, and a great photo of a VG embossing. That photo was copied and pasted to this post from Roger and Maria's site, for a comparison between the two markings.

The maker's marking on that float is decidedly different, and really beautiful. Not only is there a cross dividing the seal into 4-parts, but also the letters, "PO," over the VG, and "St. Maria," embossed below the VG. What a great mark. That float resides in Todd, the "Norsknailpounder's" collection.

The other day I received the following email from Greg:

Dear Tom,

If you recall, we had a conversation about "VG" floats a couple of years ago; and after some research, I had one of my biggest "eureka" moments ever-regarding floats.

When I purchased this float you asked me if there were any SOG (side of the glass) markings.

If you had not asked me this, I would probably not have even noticed but, it clearly says:

VIDRIERIAS DEL GUADALETE SA (on one side and)
PUERTO STA MARIA ESPANA (on the other side)

Per your translation, the top line means "Glass things of the Guadalete."

From my research, the Guadalete is a river in southern Spain and PUERTO [Santa] MARIA ESPANA, is a fishing village near Cadiz.

I know there was some controversy regarding the country of origin of these floats but, I think our collaboration should now put this question to rest.

Thank you again for all of your help.

Your friend,

Greg

Detective work is paying off, and excellent sharing between collectors is too. To continue in the sharing vein, I want to post another tidbit. This one from the "float collector extraordinaire."

Hi Tom

Found some new bits of pieces of information recently:

- The first floats in Norway looked like a bottle with a neck
(like the rare light blue I have in my collection), but they were difficult to use and many lost;

A photo of the float that Olaf mentions above, can be found on the last post written to this blog.

- Norway exported glass floats to Sweden and England
(F floats - Made in Norway - for export);

- cork was bought from Portugal (before glass floats were used);

- Bergen glasss works (B) - produced 4",4.5" and 5" only in 1894;

- in 1950 Flesland (F) produced 750.000 glas floats alone,
and they were blown in a form.

- Holmen Glassworks (1813-1840) markt their glass floats with HOLMEN?
I have never seen or heard of such info before. (written in a book)
Holmen may have merged with Aasnæs in 1840, and it is more likely they markt their floats with an H (the large aqua H).

I wrote back commenting on my theory that the first floats may have been Dog Floats made in Sweden, and perhaps Olaf's findings were supportive of that thought? Norway hired Swedish glassblowers to work in the first glassverks, and to teach the craft to Norwegian workers. Still a mystery to be solved conclusively.

Continuing on with bits of float info:

In the first post about the Hovik Knobbed Eggs, there is mention of finding a reference to Vallo Glassverks showing glass fishing floats at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1878. Per Einar asked in a comment for more information about the Vallo Glassverks. An email reply stated that I had not found anything in my research about Vallo concerning floats, other than what Vebjorn had written on his site. Two days later, Per emailed me with the following research he had been doing:

Hi Tom,

Here is some info from Vallø:

The main productions were bottles for the beer industry and drug-store glass
bottles.

Vallo Glassworks

In autumn 1875, the production was started at Vallø Glass Works. It was an industrial-adventure that would last for 4 years.

The man most closely linked to the creation of Vallø Glasswork was the son of
a wealthy financier in Christiania, who also had a solid education. He was
named, Ernest Christopher Frølich (born 1836). He was a businessman. He lived his life in Vallø, or value-which showed that he belonged to the upper society. He titled himself "the squire," and lived on Vallø Manor, as he called it. Here he held large parties for Christianiasosieteten, or society from Oslo.

Frølich had lived in England during his youth, and had acquired many contacts including the king. In 1874, he had settled on Vallø with his wife Sara Victoria Jacobsen and 6 children. Frølich was attracted by the opportunities given to those who would establish a new business in Norway. According to his calculations the best prospect of a good financial result was a glassworks.

In the years between 1860-70, there was a tremendous increase in the brewery industry in Norway, and there was a constant shortage of bottles. Imports of luxury goods increased significantly, including wine in bottles. The supply of capital was also higher, because of the charters of the first Norwegian commercial banks, and foreign investors were looking at the possibilities by investing in Norway.

Ernest Frølich's calculations showed potential for good profits, and he knew that investors were looking to invest. He estimated an annual production of 3.6 million bottles, selling for the price of 15 cents each. This would provide income of 540,000 dollars per month. A dividend of 55% per month per year for the shareholders.

On 18. April 1874, this share allocation was adopted by the General Assembly: The share capital of NOK 240,000 was to be divided into 96 shares, each costing 2500 kroner. The major stakeholders were Frølich, pharmacy owner Wedel Jarlsberg, and
brewery-owners M. Langaard and IH Schwensen. In total there were 37 shareholders, and Frølich was president.

There were many reasons why Frølich selected Vallø as the location for the glassworks. Calculations were made based on bottle beer production, and Vallø appeared to be the geographic center of the large eastern beer breweries. At the sametime it was a good ice-free port, and with excellent business ties both inland and abroad. Only ten years before, an excellent salt mill operated there, and its large buildings were available. The site had a dock, which would also facilitate the investment.

Moreover, Frølich received a contract for rental of the old workers' homes on the site of the salt mill. There was only minimal investment required. Cheap fuel from the nearby forests was also a part of the equation.

In order to initiate a glassworks Frølich was dependent on skilled labor. There was a shortage of glassworkers in Norway, and most of the glass-factory workers were obtained from Sweden. When the "glassverket" were started in 1875, there was the following workforce: 20 glasspustere, 26 innbæringsgutter
(child labor was banned in 1892), 2 oppleggere, 1 smelter, 2 Laboratory, 2
glassildere, 1 coal rolls, 2 bricklayers with 1 henchmen, 2 smiths with 2 assistants, 1 engineer with 3 assistants, 1
run, 1 flaskevraker, 3 pack wives, 2 dagarbeidere, 1 carpenter and 1
gateway. There was a total of 78 workers and 2 office workers. To ensure a supply of child workers (innbæringsgutter), a separate school was built. The teacher was also the plant's bookkeeper.

As time went on it became difficult to retain their labor force because of the demand for workers in the emerging business climate. Workers would leave for a better offer. An agreement was reached between the glassworks on a common wage. A number of workers from Sweden were employed. He offered them a house to live in with one room and a kitchen, and each of them had a piece of land as well as free fuel and a salary equal to the prevailing wages. The salary was paid every 14 days. Breakage was deducted from the salary. The work was hard, and the hours had to be flexible. A good glassblåser or glassblowere could earn the salary of 150 kroner a month, and the glasshouse master earned about 200 kroner.

The property Frølich had taken over, contained a number of buildings and the
quay. Before the glassverket could be initiated, it was necessary to repair and reconstruct the existing buildings as a glassverk. To do the reconstruction of the smelting furnaces there was a need for a large quantity of bricks, which were produced on site.

The Grain magazine found on the property later came to be called the "workshop building," and here was a crushing yard with steam, a drying plant for the smelting furnace and storage space for raw materials.

The "melt" or the "cabin" was built from scratch. Here, the melting of the glass and the blowing took place. There were 2 melting furnaces, ovens and 8 ovens where the finished products were slowly cooled. Later, a third furnace was added. Also, a forge and a new office building were erected.

In August 1875, production was initiated. Raw materials for bottle production were purchased. Brown stone, melkalk, Fluorite, broken glass, straw, coal, sand, soda ash and peat were the raw materials for bottle production. From August 1875 to April 1876, the average production was 4716 bottles a day. This increased to 5,436 bottles. The top production occurred in 1878 with 7000 bottles per well. Despite the large production, product quality was maintained.

Eventhough the product was good, it was difficult to sell, and large parts of the production was held in stock. In December 1878, there was a stock of 849,84 bottles. The calculations Frølich had made, proved to be very optimistic. When the calculations were made, business was booming. When the glassverket initiated production, there was a strong economy. Although production went as planned, and Vallo Glasverks won the silver and bronze medal at the World Exposition in Paris in 1878, it was difficult to sell the bottles.

In his calculation had Frølich estimated a sale price of 35 SPD. pr. 1000 bottles (15cents apiece), but by 1876, the price had fallen to almost half, 19 SPD. per thousand. The price competition between the Norwegian glass works continued, even after they had tried to reach agreement on a common price. Although production of Vallø went very well, the first accounting showed a deficit.

Profits to the shareholders went down, and the situation worsened steadily. There were major disagreements within the board, particularly between Frølich and Ditten pharmacies, which culminated in a fight about the protocol on the board of directors during the meeting of 4 juli 1879.

During summer and autumn of 1879, it was increasingly clear that the work could not keep going, and on 16 September it was acknowledged that Mon was bankrupt, and Vallø Glass Works was left in the hands of the bankruptcy court. The cause for bankruptcy was the lack of sales, falling prices, large debt obligations and no credit.
Vallø Glass Verks bankruptcy can largely be said to be a result of the
economic downturn in Norway in the 1870's.

Per

Thanks to Per's research in Norway, we now have the Vallo story. It's a story that was replayed over and over again in the glass industry. While the individual glassworks' histories contain differences, the outcome was the same. In most cases, glassworks lasted for only short periods of time. The glassworks that lasted more that 5-10 years were an exception. There is no mention of float production in the Vallo records, but thanks to the listing of Vallo floats in the 1878 Paris show, and Vebjorn's great Vallo float find, we do know the company produced glass fishing floats. How many still exist?

While researching, found a new site about the Aasnaes Glasverks. There is an excellent history of the glassworks, and a terrific photo showing a float next to a two float mold used for shaping floats as they were blown into it. The mold appears to have been for two sizes of floats. It's great to finally find evidence of a float mold. According to Frank Wheaton of Wheaton Glass, all of the old molds, embossing tools and records were either recycled or thrown away. Once the orders were filled, and there was no more use for the molds, they took up space so were trashed. Once the sales records were filed for taxes, and the time needed to keep them as proof had expired, they too were destroyed. Anything that has survived is a blessing.

One last tidbit, I've found a great site with the patent from one of the major American glassworks which produced glass floats, and will be doing a post about the patent and the company. The idea to write about that company has been in my head for many years, and I'm looking forward to finally putting all of the research down on paper.

During the last year, I've been researching, and studying the 1800 to 1950 North American fishing history. I'm having a tough time pulling myself away from the reading and researching in order to write. Bear with me. The business is calling, and I've been taking advantage of sunny winter days with temperatures in the 40's, to do much of the start up plant work. There's still the books and taxes to do, and some final ordering of supplies. In the current economic climate, I'm doing everything possible to survive and prosper.

I would like to leave the readers with one thought, if you have not visited the site, try to remember to find a bit of time, and go to www.norwayfloat.com. You will be amazed at the wonderful float photos, the site's inspired layout and the great wealth of research that Roger and Maria have been doing.

Thank you Roger and Maria for allowing me to use the photo of Todd's beautiful float from your website.

If you enlarge the top float photo by left clicking on it, you will see a bit of the writing on the side of the VG float.

First Float of the New Year

This morning I received the following email from Olaf:

Hi Tom

Your AT has already arrived - today.
It is perfect, I liked it very much.
Wondering where to put it in the collection - together with the LT ??
German or British ? Difficult to say.

Hope you get the small Hovik soon,
and that you are as happy as I am for the trade.

all the best
Olaf

Quickly took a few moments to write back that I was glad that Olaf received the float, and that he was happy with it. Also, thought that the float might have been German-made, but there was no way to know for certain. The look of the glass, together with the striations reminded me of no glass floats other than German-made. Yet, the color was atypical German glassfloat coloring. It appears colorless until held to a light. The glass then captures a light aqua blue along the edges. It's a beautiful float.

Later this morning, I heard the mail truck go by. Checked the front porch, and there were two boxes. One box held a fine old research book: PARIS UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION 1878 vol 5 REPORTS of the UNITED STATES COMMISSIONERS Washington 1880.

The book was found on an Ebay auction. I had to try for it. The old exposition literature often has excellent glass float history of the makers and sellers. The auction description listed drawings of Norwegian fishing boats. So far, I have not gotten into the book in depth, but plan to do so right away.

The second box was from Olaf. The box was cold. I did not want to take any chances, so let the glass acclimate to the indoor temperatures before opening the box. Finally, as the afternoon sun filtered through the south-facing window of my float room, I opened the box, to find another box. Good Olaf. He double boxed the float. If you want to make certain that a float will not be damaged in transit, request that the float be well-wrapped inside of one box, then inserted into another with padding on all four sides. No problems with receiving a broken float when packed that way.

Before opening either box, I started taking floatos. I love to have a floato record in my files of the opening. Cut open the taping on box #2 to find the float was wrapped in bubble wrap. Began to carefully cut the tape, and even though the float was securely wrapped, hoped that I would not find it in a 100 pieces. As I unwrapped it, the bundle got smaller and smaller, until the wrap was fully opened, and there in the palm of my hand was the smallest Knobbed Egg that I've ever seen. Even the smallest Japanese rollers are much larger that that little beauty.

Must have taken 20 pics. Above are some of them. Hope that you enjoy the comparison of the little one with the other Norwegian float shapes in the collection. During the last two years, thanks to the diligent pursuits of collectors, searchers and sellers, a number of new Euro shapes have come foreward.

I have to take another picture showing the above shapes together with the normal egg float, and the little pontil-marked-applied-neck Swedish floats that David Neff first found two years ago. Are there other shapes to be discovered? The one that Olaf has, which is similar to the plumb bob float in the S.H. Davis patent, is another variation. That is a float that will take a bunch of good fortune to add to the collection. They are super rare. I've included one of Olaf's photos of his example for your pleasure.

Do any of the readers have some favorite floats to share? I would love to show some of your favorites if you will send them to me through my email address.

Later, I wrote Olaf to tell him of the Hovik's arrival, and my happiness. Amazing! Our trade floats were mailed from two different countries, passed eachother during the Atlantic crossing, made it through each country's customs deptartments, turned over to the postal services and were received just about the sametime on the sameday-allowing for the 6-hour time difference. Now that's service!

I've been very fortunate to have shared experiences and collections with so many kind, interesting and passionate float collectors. Fortunate to have so many email friends around the world. And fortunate to have good trading partners, who have expressed their happiness with the trades we've made. Nothing like sharing happiness.

P.S. Had a bit of time to look at the Paris Universal Exposition 1878 book this morning, and found one piece of information that is definitely worth sharing with all of those collectors wanting to know more about the Vallo floats.

In the Norwegian displays there is mention of: an exhibit by Vallo Glass Works of glass floats for fishing nets. The notation is found on page 445.

Now we know that in 1878, Vallo was displaying their floats. Questions come to mind, was Vebjorn's find a display float? Are there other marked Vallo floats still to be found and added to our collections? Did Vallo produce unmarked floats, or floats with markings other than the only known example? What will the future bring in the way of knowledge about the company and their wonderful floats?