Your Blenko Memories

We have been asking you to send in your personal stories, memories, and pictures of Blenko Glass to share.
The following was sent in by a long time friend, artist Glen Brogan.

"First I need to confess that I am a collector of many things, but glassware has yet to be something that adorns the shelves of my apartment. I’m writing this because it’s a story that means something to me and also happens to have a tie to Blenko Glass.

A year or two ago my friend Kyle’s grandmother passed away. Sometime afterwords Kyle moved into her house since it was left in his family's possession. I helped him get the house in order for his transition into living there, and as we were rearranging furniture I noticed and took interest in a smoky glass globe filled with matchbooks from different places around WV and beyond. As a graphic designer I have always liked the simple logos and illustrations printed on matchbooks, and I have even used them as imagery in my illustrations from time to time, but unfortunately they were never something I had thought to collect. Kyle’s grandmother, however, must have thought to take one from just about every place she visited because the globe was nearly filled to the top. As payment for helping him with the house, Kyle gave me the globe and matchbook collection.

My own grandmother passed away in October, and having now experienced for myself the difficult task of dividing up a passed loved one's possessions, I realize just how hard it is to let go of any relic from their life; not to mention one that must have taken years to assemble and tells a story of places visited and events witnessed. (There were numerous concert tickets in the globe as well.) It wasn’t until I brought the globe home that I noticed the small “Blenko Handcraft” sticker on the side. I never met Kyle’s grandmother, and I wonder what the matchbooks and glass piece meant to her. Maybe she would laugh that somebody would even want it, or maybe she would be puzzled that a person she never met now owns it. The glass looks old, though I guess it’s possible that she had acquired it recently to hold all the matchbooks, or dug it out of the garage.

I wonder the same thing about the items that I took from my own grandmother’s house after she was gone, and even about the things that she gave me while she was alive. I suppose my point in telling this story is that sometimes things you don't expect end up meaning something to you, and you'll never know what your own possessions will mean to the next person who owns them, even if they are just things like a dusty old glass bowl.

For my part I’ve been adding matchbooks to the collection.

-Glen"

Please continue to send in your Blenko photos and stories to share with Heart of Glass!