FOHBC National, 2006

At some point I realized I was looking at Jim & Julie Dennis’ table. I quickly introduced myself and then left: we could catch up later, after the hunt for fresh glass had calmed. On my next circuit, I almost stumbled over Jim & Julie as the two of them crouched in front of a dealer's table, as if kneeling in worship of the glass arrayed there.

Jim had corralled a dozen or so pristine OR glasses in front of him, including one or possibly two red/white-etched shots such as the Old Kentucky Home Club shown below.

Had I not known who they were, I might have been tempted to start a glass brawl, but I grimaced and peered into the dealer’s glass display case to see if they’d left anything worth buying.

On the next circuit, I ran into Ken Schwartz. I was about to express my pleasure at seeing him again when I noticed what he was holding in his right hand: a beautiful unlisted "Cupid Rye" from Cincinatti:

The dealer he was trying to bargain with (without success) had a case full of mint pre-pro's, including a beaded Lewis 66 (pricey at $100!), a Peebles Co. (for some strange reason, there were many Peebles glasses at the show) and an Old Valley sporting three elderly gents.

I’ve been yearning for an Old Valley ever since seeing one in Kevin Wade’s collection: it’s a superbly detailed glass. Ken S. tells me that he's seen three different variants, and the one in front of me was one of the least desirable. It was a nice glass with strong etching, but the details of the figures were indistinct and the etching was streaky. It was marked at $65 so this was a no-brainer, but I asked the dealer if she could cut me a deal. “Sure”, she replied with a smile, “how about $65?” Tough lady.

In the course of this discussion, Rich Lucchesi sauntered up and introduced himself. Rich is a long-time supporter of pre-pro and he was one of the people I was eager to sit down with a chat about his collection. But he wandered off moments later and that was the last I saw of him. Next time, Rich, next time.