Candlewick Glass

Oh boy! Where do I start?

My Grandmother was so fierce. I didn’t begin to get it until she passed away in 97.

She was an Elizabeth Taylor type. Dark hair, beautiful and sexy. Yes she was sexy. I get it now. Many years later.

When she was getting older, she packed up her treasured belongings and moved in with us. An estate sale got rid of the rest.

This estate sale changed my life forever.

I was about 15 when this happened. My mother needed to liquidate the house asap.

Among the items for sale…. 5 candlewick cordial glasses. $1.00. Oh yeah, I bought them.

They were dirty and covered with basement film. After one wash  was hooked.

These cordials were the base of my entire collection and enduring passion for this pattern of depression glass.

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The delicate beaded edge still drives me crazy. I can’t stop buying it! I recently found myself with 3 punch bowls! I sold the extra two….

I love the utility and delicacy of this pattern. Meant to be used everyday, I challenge you to find a modern tableware for everyday that matches the elegance and glamour of these simple  pieces.

On certain Sundays during the month, empty parking lots or warehouses are transformed into fantasy lands overflowing with treasures. And junk. In the early morning hours I love to enter these worlds of wonder and comb through the stands looking for beautiful objects, vintage linens, china services from the twenties, my beloved depression glass and any other object that captures my imagination and heart. It is such fun to discover a fine sterling bud vase mingling with Pez dispensers or musty old books. 

I grew up visiting flea markets with my Mother, and my eccentric, elderly neighbors. I learned the difference between salvageable and a dream that can’t come true. So many times I would drag home some sort of vanity table or spindly legged side table only to be told, ‘It’s junk” ….. all my dreams of elegance for my teen bedroom dashed. Over time and after many mistakes my eye was trained. I can now sail through a market spotting lovelys a mile away. I admit that I have come around to the shiny and new theory when it comes to certain furniture, my love of junk and special things has never left me. My home today is filled with the collections scavenged over time in America’s flea markets, swap meets, and tag sales. Old and new, old fashioned and thoroughly modern.