Bottle Collecting is Alive and Kicking
It’s been awhile since I’ve updated my blog and website about the fun stuff going on in the world of bottle collecting, so let’s get started.
Since the last blog, I’ve attended three great bottle and collectible shows sponsored by the Los Angeles California (Sept 2016), Las Vegas Nevada (Feb 2017), and the Phoenix Arizona Bottle Clubs (Feb 2017), spending time and having fun with fellow bottle collectors and friends from various parts of the US. I’m usually selling bottles (and probably buying more, of course) along with my book, “Bottles: Identification and Price Guide”, 8th Edition. During the shows, nearly everyone who buys or checks out the book, or collectors who just what to talk about bottles, always ask this question, “Do you think Bottle Collecting is still big and how are the prices holding up?” That’s an easy question to answer. Bottle Collecting is kicking butt.
During 2016, there were over 100 shows attracting hundreds of dealers and buyers, sponsored by various Bottle Clubs including the International Perfume Bottle Association, across the US and Canada. One of the biggest was the successful National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo in August 2016 in Sacramento, CA, sponsored by the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors. Mark your calendars for another great Expo, the Springfield, MA FOHBC Bottle Convention & Expo to be held August 3-6, 2017 at the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place. Contact Jim Bender, Show Chairman at 518 -673-8833 or jim1@frontiernet.net for information. Don’t Miss It!!! From Jan through March 2017, there will have been over 20 shows to kicking off the new year.
Are prices holding up? You bet they are. From a personal perspective, I started collecting bottles in 1972 and I’ve never seen prices decrease, only increase. I’ll admit that there have been some hiccups along the way due to impacts to the economy such as the recent recession, but overall there were mostly leveling off periods, not price decreases. As an example of how robust the bottle selling and buying market has been among collectors, in 2016 there were 17 successful major bottle auctions with many averaging over $100,000 in sales. That also makes a major statement of the increased popularity of bottle and glass collecting from both a domestic as well as international view point.
Bottom line, the Hobby of Bottle Collecting is Alive, Kicking, and Growing. One way we all can help to make that continue to happen is to attend and support as many of the Bottle Club Shows as possible. For those collectors that don’t belong to a club, check the FOHBC website, www.fohbc.org, to locate the closest bottle club in your state or region.
One last note, for those collectors in the Reno, Nevada area, I and Fred Holabird, a well-known Nevada Historian and Bottle Collector, will be giving separate presentations at the Churchill County Museum in Fallon, Nevada on April 18, 2017 from 6:30 – 8:00pm as part of their 2017 Spring Lecture Series. It should be a lot of fun so join us if you can.
Remember, “Keep Having Fun with the Hobby of Bottle Collecting”
Mike
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