Not about to rest on her laurels, Barb was already planning Book Two. I was amused that my copy of Historic Shot Glasses, when it arrived, had a plea for help unceremoniously gummed into the frontispiece.
“To Purchasers of
HISTORIC SHOTGLASSES: THE PRE-PROHIBITION ERA”, it read. “Descriptions
(measurements & drawings of inscriptions) of additional glasses for a possible
second volume would be welcomed. Several collectors have allowed me to measure
and draw their collections, and if you are interested and have, say, 5 to 10
that are not included in this edition, let me know so I can keep you in mind for
a possible visit to your part of the country”.
Book Two appeared in 1988 with the title: Old Advertising Spirits Glasses.
The format was almost identical to Historic Shot Glasses with
descriptions, measurements and drawings, but this latest volume included the
results of a considerable amount of research into the origins and history of the
glasses. The research started when Bob Snyder sold her his collection of
photocopies of city directories from around the country. Bob had amassed these
through many years of communicating with reference librarians in his quest to
hunt down the owners of pre-prohibition whiskey brand names. Many of the copies
were little more than lace work after Bob had clipped ads from the pages, but
they still showed the street addresses and years of operation of all the major
distillers, rectifiers, and wholesalers and hence could be used as a means of
dating the shot glasses.
Barb supplemented this with hours of painstaking work. She took to the road as
time and finances allowed, traveling from one side of the country to the other
in search of information and collections to catalogue.
| Her travels took in Ken Schwartz’ collection of
western glasses and Paul Van Vactor’s Kentucky shots. Paul kindly allowed
me to photograph his collection during a visit to Louisville two years ago,
and he recalled the “Daylight Special” glass shown here as being Barb’s
favorite.
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Some collectors are fastidious about keeping their glasses sparkling clean and they hide hide them behind glass to ward off the dust. Others, such as Paul, are much more relaxed. Paul thinks his glasses should be handled and enjoyed, meaning that they've built up a film of natural oils and grime over the years. I was amused to think that had I dusted the glasses in Paul's collection for fingerprints, I would probably have found Barb Edmonson's still clearly identifiable from her visit many years earlier!
Barb also visited Barbara and Roger Roy in Ohio. Barb Roy turned out to be as talented in reproducing the glass inscriptions as Barb Edmonson, and the two of them fastidiously cataloged and measured and drew over the course of the next few days.
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Barbara and Roger Roy have been exceptionally generous in sharing original drawings, memories and family photographs with us, as they were in sharing their home with Barb all those years ago. They established a close friendship with Barb and kept in contact with her right up to the end; indeed, the two Barbs talked on the 'phone just a couple of days before she left us.
But of the material that they provided, a simple story that Roger recently related to me is the most precious because it reveals much about Barb's character and her love of the old glasses. As Roger tells it:
" ...I came home from work and the two Barbs had spent the day cataloging the glasses. Barb E. would put money in my hand and and send me up to the corner store like a good little boy to buy a six pack of beer. She didn't look the type but she liked her beer too. After dinner each night we would sit in the living room and drink that six pack and talk about the hobby til it was time to go to bed. I don't think we ever turned the T.V. on the whole time she was here...."
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