Paperweight Collection

With a class impending at the local art glass studio, I've been thinking about my paperweight collection recently. I think I'll toss a few photos up here from time to time, to show you what I've got. This first set is some of my strangest paperweights. They each have a woman's face, and some text. The first three seem to be upbeat words chosen at random from the dictionary. The fourth adds a hand holding a glass and the words "Everbody drinks Coca-Cola, 1910".

As you can see, they're incredibly poorly made. In addition to the multitudinous bubbles, there are flecks of off color glass, carbon, even fingerprints encased within. They're different sizes, and their profiles vary. The high index glass is not always smooth, giving them clear swirls withing. I just love them. I guess it's related to the Japanese principle of Wabi-Sabi.

Wikipedia says: "Richard R. Powell summarizes by saying "It (wabi-sabi) nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect."

There's something nice about being able to see that these were somewhat handmade, too. I'd tried to track down info on them over the months and years, but until I found the coca-cola one, I hadn't even a lead. Then I got the Coke one, and I found another coke one identical to this, but in blue. I contacted the Schmidt Museum of Coca-Cola memorabilia. Surely, they'd know who made it! My response was short, but only whetted my appetite for more info on them. Roy Minagwa, the curator of the museum told me that:

Alan Petretti, an authority on Coca-Cola collectables, catagorizes this paper weight as a "Fantasy" item, one that was never authorized by the Coca-Cola Co.
Made in the 70's imported from either South of the border or Asia...

So, that's all I know. If you're aware of the source for these strange paperweights that aren't quite advertising, and aren't art glass by a long shot, please write to me. Or, if you've got some you'd like to get rid of, drop me a line. Maybe we can work something out!