The show re-opened the next day at 8 am sharp and after the obligatory stop at Starbucks (already the second of the day), I was ready to once again immerse myself in glass. Even at this early hour, there were crowds forming, and protective sheets were quickly pulled off displays.
Today was going to be much more leisurely, however; a day to catch up with old friends and to hopefully make new ones.
Paul and Pat Van Vactor were there after having driven all the
way from Louisville to attend the show. The two are always a pleasure to chat
with and they seemed to be having a great show. I stopped by Ralph Van Brocklin’s table, but managed only a brief visit before he was again inundated
with diggers: he had a busy two days with a collection of flasks he was
auctioning.
During one of the circuits around the floor, I had to stop and get a photograph
of the magnificent educational displays. The first comprised two tables filled
with Cyrus Noble bottles, signs and shots. As I squatted near the floor trying
to get the best angle for a photo, I was approached by the owner, Russ Umbraco.
If the name seems familiar, it’s because he’s
named as a contributor to HSG and
he’s famous for his Cyrus Noble collection and expertise. As we stood there
admiring the range of advertising, Russ noted that the three shots on the end
were actually of Hawaiian origin, two of them label-unders.
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My eyes lit up and I asked if I might jump the barrier and document them for the database. The security guard stationed at the end of the table was looking at me leerily, so Russ jumped the barrier instead and grabbed the three shots, putting them down on an empty dealer table behind us. But this is not quite what I had in mind: damn, I hadn’t lugged a tripod and lamp through TSA security barriers and then 4,000 miles for nothing, so I told him to hold the thought I scuttled off to retrieve all my gear from under the Dennis’ tables where I’d stashed it for later use.
I needed an electrical outlet to plug my small halogen lamp into, so we ended up in a corner of the room by a closed door, arranging his precious glasses on a piece of felt on a somewhat wobbly chair on a large cart. Russ remained exceptionally calm in the face of this overt lunacy, even when I was having trouble fixing the light in such a way that it would not spring off its support and crush the shots.
At the perfect moment, two belligerent dealers tried forcing their way through
the closed door behind the cart: Russ managed to whisk his three glasses away
before they spilled from the chair onto the ground. But eventually I had
everything positioned as I wanted it, survived yet another assault by the same
two dealers, snapped the photos I wanted, and the three shots are already
in the
database.
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But my hands were shaking so badly after all this excitement I was having
difficulty taking measurements and committing them to paper! Only one thing to
in a situation like this: stash the camera gear back under the table and soothe
my nerves by buying a few more shots!
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