2018 Cleveland National Seminar Schedule, Topics & Presenters

We are truly fortunate to be able to present a variety of fascinating educational seminars at the 2018 Cleveland National Bottle Convention and Expo. We have a distinguished group of seminar presenters organized by seminar coordinator Louis Fifer.

The seminars will take place on Friday, August 3rd, 2018 from 9:00 am to Noon at the Huntington Convention Center, Meeting Rooms 3 thru 6. Listed below are the seminar topics, the presenters and the location where these educational seminars will take place. Any questions concerning the FOHBC Educational Seminars can be directed to Cleveland Co-Chairs, Louis Fifer or Matt Lacy.

Privy Digging in Ohio – Dennis and Nathan Huey

Dennis Huey, an Ohio native, lives with his wife Sharon in the little town of Kingsville, Ohio. He has been a real estate appraisal professional since 1976 and served as a Township Trustee for 16 years. His interest in bottles and early glass began in 1968 at the age of 12. His interest spans all early American glass, but because of his roots he has a special passion for midwestern glass. He has 50 years of experience in excavating early dumps and privies. At age 62, he still throws dirt with his son Nathan Huey and friends Chad Hurst and Alan Bartko. He is a member of the Ohio Bottle Club.

This seminar will offer a brief history of the outhouse and why it became important to the bottle collecting hobby. We will discuss tools and equipment options for digging privies, how to locate and safely excavate them. In addition, we will cover other topics including how to get permission to dig, how to estimate the age of a privy, and how to leave a property in good shape. Lastly, we will cover other sources of bottles on home sites including wells, cisterns, and trash pits.

Reproduction Bottles in the Bottle Hobby – Jim Bender

Jim will talk about the history of reproduction bottles. Jim first started collecting bottles around the age of 13 and was taught many things by his science teacher in school, Ed Bartos.

As a kid being raised by a single mom, money was tight so he started collecting reproduction bottles which were very cheap. Many could be had for a dollar or less. As time passed, Jim of course moved on to old glass. Jim has had collections of bitters, inks, mineral waters and Union Clasping Hands flasks. Today Jim is a general collector who has groupings of flasks, bitters, common pickle bottles, inks, war slogan milks and Binninger bottles, which he wrote a book about.

Jim never lost interest in reproduction glass. He has many color runs in Clevenger glass as well as many other made bottles from ever category. His reproduction collection is a few hundred bottles. Jim believes the best way to collect is to share what you know with fellow collectors. He himself continues to learn at every bottle event he attends. He loves the bottle hobby and has served as the president of the Mohawk Valley Bottle Collecting Club, Membership Director of the FOHBC, Historian of the FOHBC, Northeast Region Director of the FOHBC, Show Co-Chairman of the 2017 FOHBC Springfield National and Vice President of the Saratoga Bottle Collector Society. Jim has written many articles for the FOHBC as well as local events in his area. Over the years, he has met and has made friends with hundreds of fellow collectors and looks forward to seeing everyone in Cleveland.

Zanesville Glass – Bill Barrett

A History of the Companies Which Have Manufactured And the People Who Have Contributed to Its Artistry, Elegance and Endurance For Nearly Two Hundred Years.

J. William (Bill) Barrett II was born and raised in his hometown of Zanesville, Ohio. He was employed by the local glass manufacturing factory in 1969, working in the forming department responsible for the upkeep of the bottle forming machines. Bill spent the final few years as the trainer for forming department employees, retiring in 2007 after 38 years.

He has always had a keen interest in local history, the glass industry being of special interest after his employment. He began collecting glass actively about 1980. Of course, Zanesville-produced glass became his specialty. He has written extensively on a number of topics for the local historical society and newspaper. He has authored several books with Zanesville connections, of importance here is: Zanesville, Ohio and the Glass Industry – An Enduring Romance, privately published, 1997, a work he called a “rush to judgment” that appeared during Zanesville’s bicentennial celebration. After much more extensive research, in 2011 he published: Zanesville Glass – A History of the Companies Which Have Manufactured And the People Who Have Contributed to Its Artistry, Elegance and Endurance For Nearly Two Hundred Years. Happy to be here to talk about Zanesville Glass

The Evolution of Hemingray Fruit Jars – Tom Sproat

Hemingray Glass Company was one of the earliest glass companies in Ohio. Beginning in Cincinnati in 1848, they manufactured products ranging from bottles and jars to insulators and table wares. When the company moved to Muncie, Indiana, most of their earliest production notes were lost or destroyed. So, collectors and historians have to use the glass items themselves to try to understand the process that led to new products being developed. This talk will present an overview of the glass jars attributed to Hemingray and attempt to lay out the process which influenced the company to abandon certain jar designs in favor of other styles. We will explore the changes in technology and patent competitions that led to new fruit jar designs.

This presentation will include information from collectors, archaeologists, reports and artifacts from the 1986 dig at the Hemingray factory in Covington, Kentucky, and (of course) the jars themselves. Piecing this information together presents a possible timeline of events that influenced Hemingray to change as society and the glass industry changed.

This talk is not considered a comprehensive or final report on Hemingray jar production, but rather an introduction to some new ideas on the topic. There is no telling what new glass items or information other collectors have that may shed more light on the history of Hemingray Glass in Ohio.

Erie Canal – Bob Koren

Bob Koren is a 60-year resident of Macedonia, Ohio, a small community between Cleveland and Akron. According to Bob, the collecting bug struck at an early age. Growing up during the 1960s, everybody collected coins, stamps, and baseball cards. My father was a tool and die maker at Fisher Body in Euclid, Ohio, his hometown. I would get to look through his pocket change and if he had a date I didn’t have it was mine to put in my coin book. It was the 1960s and silver coins were still plentiful.

Baseball card collecting and playing baseball were early hobbies. I still have my complete set of Topps 1965. Unfortunately, I tossed all my other cards because I didn’t have the complete sets. Playing baseball is also a lifelong passion from Little League, high school, and college. I started playing again at age 52 after a 30-year layoff. From 2012-2017, a diagnosis of severe osteoarthritis required both knees and hips be replaced but I’m currently playing fast pitch hardball again in the 45 year old division of the Akron Roy Hobbs National Baseball League and it’s a blast to be playing at 62.

In 1970, I got a White metal detector for Christmas. Metal detecting on old farms and exploring the old sandstone foundations where a house once stood started turning up coins, cans, bicycle/carriage lamps, silverware and then one day bottles. When I found out people collected old bottles and they were worth money, that was it, I was hooked. Friends started telling me about old farm dumps in the area. My mom, a school teacher, would drop me and my dog Blue off at a favorite farm dump and come back and pick me up after four hours of digging bottles. My treasured bottles would end up soaking in the family bath tub. Mom put an end to the use of the bath tub after pollywogs started hatching.

When I turned 16 in 1972, I got my drivers license, and expanded my search area. It led me to the Cuyahoga Valley and the site of the old Ohio & Erie Canal. The Ohio & Erie Canal ran from Cleveland to Akron and the down south to Marietta on the Ohio River. Back in the day, we would take the family car and drive on the old towpath. Today it’s all National Park and the towpath is for joggers and bikers.

Fast forward 40 years and the bottle collecting has evolved with an emphasis on mid-western glass from Kent, Mantua, New Geneva, Pittsburgh, and Zanesville. The fascination of the Ohio Canal drew me to New York’s Erie Canal because it was the first and there was much more pomp and circumstance involved with its opening. Because of this, I discovered that there was a treasure trove of artifacts that could be acquired. Thus a new collection evolved on The Erie Canal.

A ‘Bitters’ Journey – Ted Krist

Ted Krist was born and raised in Rochester, New York, and currently resides in northeast Ohio with his wife Hazel. Ted developed a love of old bottles, with an affinity toward bitters, during his formative years in the mid 1960s after finding a warranted flask in Lake Otsego, in central New York. After being bitten by the “bottle bug”, he began scouring local dumps, antique shops, and flea markets for old bottles, and attended the first two Genesee Valley Bottle Collectors shows, which for him were mind-blowing experiences. After a seven-year sabbatical for college, work and marriage, his interest in old bottles was rekindled in 1977. For Ted, bitters rose to the forefront and he has actively collected them for forty years, participating in and attending shows, expos and auctions. He and his wife co-chaired and chaired a number of Ohio Bottle Club Shows in the 1980s, as well as helping Adam Koch with the Federation of Historic Bottle Collectors (FOHBC) Toledo Expo in 1992, hosted by the Ohio Bottle Club. The Krists have been members of the Ohio Bottle Club since 1978 and the FOHBC since 1987. In the past, Ted has written stories and articles for the Ohio Bottle Club’s newsletter, and has given presentations at the club’s monthly meetings.

During this seminar, Ted will talk about his journey in bitters collecting, present some items of interest for both the novice and advanced collector, and tell a story or two.