February 2012
Talking glass chemistry with visitors
Every four years we think about our favorite leaper, Bernard C. Boyd, who was born on February 29, 1908. The elder cofounder of Boyd Glass was a leap year baby. We think today if he is looking down on us, he would be pleased that Boyd Glass is still around after 34 years.
Happy Chinese New Year; it is the year of the Dragon; although Boyd Glass does not have a dragon, we do have Rex, the dinosaur! According to one website, the myth of a dragon may have originated from the discovery of dinosaur bones. And we can also draw similarities because for certain, neither dragon nor dinosaur ever co-existed with humans! Pictured on our website, we only have one color, Cobalt, of Rex available and comes in its own box.
We are making Vaseline and it looks great painted as well as satin. We enjoy experimenting slagging Vaseline with various colors. We know Vaseline and White Slag looks nice, but we are testing other glass colors that are available.
Recently, we had a Japanese couple that liked Vaseline visit the factory. They were true Vaseline aficionados because they carried with them, a miniature black light. John gave them a couple solid chucks of Vaseline out of the cullet pile and they were delighted. The gentleman, while using his black light on our various colors, asked about another yellow glass that fluoresced under his black light but not an intensely as Vaseline. John said that particular yellow glass used the colorant Cadmium Sulfide and took them back to the mixing room to show him what Cadmium Sulfide (Orange Cadmium) looked like. John was impressed when the gentleman got the molecular formula right when he replied with “C,D,S?” Yes, CdS, this is one of those chemicals used in glassmaking and it is getting harder and harder to find nowadays.
The second chemical we have used to make yellow is Cerium. The third chemical is Uranium. Use of Uranium, for obvious reasons, is highly regulated and it is an expensive way to make a yellow glass. We are currently making Vaseline and are not sure we will make Vaseline again. Because this may be our last time in Vaseline, we decided to make several moulds that were not collectibles. Made in the old Imperial Glass moulds are the Puff Box, Rose Puff Box, Candlewick moulds, etc. Call or email Traci or Sue to see what we are making in Vaseline.
We enjoy seeing older Boyd Glass colors and will add several items periodically to our Old Boyd category on our website under the category Specialty Items. We think showing a mould in an array of colors is exciting. In this case, we currently feature the Forget Me Not Toothpick Holder in Bernard’s Surprise, Buttercup, Chasm Blue, Cobaline Green, Coral, Deep Purple, Dilemma, Dogwood, Frosty Blue, Lemonade, Mountain Haze, Opaline Blue Slag, Robin Egg Blue, Robin Egg Blue Slag, Robin Egg Blue Warmed-in, Russett Green, Shamrock Slag, Siesta, Sunburst and Winter White. In Sammy the squirrel, we feature: Alexandrite, Autumn Beige, Buckeye, Cambridge Blue, Cobalt, Country Red, Dijon, Enchantment, Grape Parfait, Jadeite, Milk White, Purple Valor, Shasta White, Spinnaker Blue, Summer Haze, and Windsor Blue. Our Tucker car is featured in Blue Violet, Buckeye, Heather Grey, Maverick Blue, Vanilla Coral, and Wheat. It is a lot of picture-taking, but it is amazing to see the variety of colors displayed together!
Barbara Newton will be hand-painting several styles of Chick Salts and they will be displayed on our website.
Newsletter Special: Bow Slipper, Mabel cow, Patrick bear
The Bow Slipper is an old Degenhart Glass mould that normally sells for $10-11. This month it will sell for $6. Available colors of the Bow Slipper are Aloe, Honeycomb, Intrigue, Limelight, Nightwatch Black, Nutmeg, Pearly Pink, Purple Valor, and Rosie Pink.
The Mabel cow mould was made for us and we introduced it in January 1998. Normally selling for $12-$13, this month it will retail for $6. This mould was named after Bernard’s Aunt Mabel Kirkman. We have the following colors of Mabel available: Alpine Blue, Avocado, Blue Violet, Coral, Millennium White, Nutmeg, Purple Fizz, Purple Valor, Rosie Brown, and Rosie Pink.
The Patrick bear is another Boyd Glass original mould. Named after Patrick Boyd, we introduced this mould in February 1989. Normally selling for $8-$9, it sells this month for $5. We have the following colors of Patrick available: Buckeye, Cider, Crown Tuscan, Ivory Blush, Limelight., Nile Green, Orange Spice, Pacifica Green, Patriot White Carnival, Salmon, Siesta, Sunglow, and Windsor Blue.
Sue’s Collector’s Corner
Sold Out
Mini Pitcher – Cider, Clove
Low Inventory
Airplane – Limelight
Bow Slipper – Purple Valor
Charlie Scottie dog – Cobalt Carnival
3” Hen – Limelight
Louise Bell – Limelight
Scottie Salt – Cobaline Green
Sly fox - Limelight
Tucker car – Cobaline Green
We will gladly add names or cross them off our list - just email us