Each edition of SOTW will begin with some stats on sales in the past 28 days to give us all a sense of where the hobby is going.  In the past four weeks, 113 pre-pro glass auctions closed, 29 closed with no bidder, average price of the glasses that sold was $20.64.   Two glasses sold for >$100, none sold for >$1,000. 

Greeting fellow glass-addicts - I hope you're enjoying summer and that you've found an interesting jewel or two to add to your collection in your travels.  eBay is crawling at a snail's pace, as is the norm for this time of year.  The eBay webGeeks seem to have finished tweaking the look and function of the site, so hopefully this new SOTW page format will see us through the end of the year.  While I applaud the fact that photos supporting an eBay auction can now now be uploaded for free (and hence the search routines return thumbnails rather than generic camera icons), all the other modifications seem designed to frustrate the eBay experience rather than enhance it.  Maybe the Poo-Bah is getting too old and cranky to be taught new tricks. 

While the summer glass-count is low, the lack of competition has meant that there are some stellar bargains to be had to reward those who stay home basking in the warm glow of their computer monitors rather than working on their tans and melanomas.  By way of example, take a look at one of nuffbarn's latest wins: a beautifully gilded Pett's Bald Eagle for a measly $20!  Not a bad deal for a mint pre-pro text glass - but this one has a wonderfully rendered image of the aforementioned eagle off to the left side of the glass....

... and then at the other end of the Steal/Golden Hayner spectrum is this Coleman and Keating glass, also from Boston, MA.  I can't say that I've ever heard of Coleman and Keating, but then that may be a reflection of my ignorance rather than the company's historical significance.  Regardless, this singularly uninspiring text-only glass managed to inspire trickpat1991 to fork over $107.10 (inc s/h) for the chance to become new owner - anyone have any idea what that was about????

Now I know that some of you -- OK, well, probably most of you -- believe that the sole purpose of SOTW is to give lakerdude33 and xxxtruk grief about their judgment and spending habits,  occasionally there is an educational nugget to be found just to the right of the Google banner ads. 

You may remember my mentioning a multi-glass auction that closed back in August of last year.  It included a glass from Hawaii, plus 8 common glasses, plus a strange-looking l-u-g (below left).  The auction was won by a Hawaii collector, who promptly sold the nine junkers to Bruce Silva for $100.  Bruce was kind enough to pass the s-l-l-u-g along to me.  The label in the base glass showed a sepia-colored image of a bridge which suggested it to be a souvenir glass, and possibly Niagara Falls (as suggested in the auction listing).  But what was the label made of?  It appeared to be a photograph and, indeed, when Bruce and I had a chance to examine it, it appeared that a small photo had been adhered to the base of the glass and then covered with a black protective layer of some kind.  I've seen paperweights of similar construction - not nearly so appealing as the more common enamel label seen on both shots and paperweights, but interesting from a "History of Shot Glasses" POV.  The glass is a short, squat, cylinder, an unusual shape for a US pre-Pro glass.

In the past few weeks I had the chance to snag another s-l-l-u-g off eBay, and again, it was a souvenir rather than a highly-coveted liquor advertising glass (above right).  The seller was located in the UK and no-one else was interested, so it came relatively cheap, even after figuring in the currency exchange factor.  When it arrived, I could see that it clearly originated from the same stable as the Bridge: a printed paper label that has been fixed to the base of the glass and then covered with a heavy, black protective backing layer.  Just in case you're interested, the label shows a coat of arms representing the town of Berwick-Upon-Tweed, which can be found on the eastern seaboard of Scotland.  Since this latest glass is indisputably of UK origin, the Bridge glass is most likely from across The Pond as well.  A conclusion that might prove useful should you happen to run across another s-l-l-u-g in your travels this summer.  And if you DO happen across something interesting at an antique fair or mall or show, we want to hear about it, so drop the Poo-Bah a line.....

So what about an SOTW?

This week's/month's selection is an unknown glass bearing an unknown brand from an unknown dealer and/or distiller.  The label reads "OLD S JUDGE / 1871 / WHISKEY".  The lack of attribution is not really a problem because the label is so strong in both quality of etch and design;  it's clearly a George Truog glass. I went after it, of course, but my $205 snipe  was insufficient to ward off old rival bluroc, who ran back to WA with it for $207.50.  Well bugger.  And to think that glasses like this were practically worthless a few years ago!  I feel an old-and-cranky moment coming on...

 

Note that you can browse many previous  choices for SOTW in the Archives.