Ten vendors will be present for the Westmoreland Glass Collectors’ Club show and sale this weekend at Westmoreland County Community College.
That doesn’t sound like a lot, said Ken Kosoglow, a club board member and chairman of the event committee — but those 10 vendors will be bringing 5,000 pieces of glass with them.
They’ll be coming from around Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Oklahoma and even Texas.
The club’s 34th annual event is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the Student Activity Center on the campus at 145 Pavilion Lane. Admission is free.
Club members collect decorative and utilitarian household pieces made by the Westmoreland Glass Co. that operated in Grapeville from 1889 until 1984. Much of the glass was hand-painted.
Most pieces will be for sale, Kosoglow said, with prices ranging from $5 to about $500.
Some vendors also will display and talk about some of their rare pieces in a show-and-tell session, tentatively scheduled for 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, he said.
The company’s glass can often be identified by a “WG” stamped on the bottom. In addition to household wares, its products included carnival, ruby and panel grape glass, animal designs and figurines.
“Some of the older stuff that was made in the 1920s up to the 1940s, and even the ‘50s, is drawing a lot of interest,” Kosoglow said. “The company did very good quality and everything was hand-painted, which is almost unknown today.”
There isn’t much hand-painted glass being made today, he added.
“Some of the rare stuff that is 70-80 years old is still in perfect condition,” he said. “You’d think some of it was made last week — there’s not a mark on it and the colors aren’t faded at all.”
Roses and bows
Kosoglow and his wife, Jackie, who live in Claridge, have been Westmoreland Glass enthusiasts for more than 30 years.
“I never figured that I would collect a piece of glass in my life. Back in the day, I was one of those rough-hewn guys,” he said. “But we added a room to the house and we just wanted to decorate it with antiques.
“Then my wife ended up buying a few of the hand-painted Roses and Bows pieces for her friend for her birthday, and I said, ‘You know what, that looks pretty nice.’”
There will be a lot of Roses and Bows pieces at the show, he said, along with the Ruby Floral, ruby-colored pieces decorated with hand-painted roses.
“We really liked the Roses and Bows. I decided we were going to end up with all those pieces – and it took 20 years, but we did,” Kosoglow said. “I’m not buying any more though — I’m out of room.”
The Westmoreland club was formed in 1969 to preserve the company’s history and products.
“Through the ’90s and probably until 2015, (interest in glass collecting) was very big, then it fell off,” Kosoglow said. “Recently, we’ve been getting a lot of younger people showing interest again.
“The last two or three years, we’ve had more people through the doors,” he said. “Social media helps – we’re getting more publicity than we did years back.”
The club has about 125 active members, along with 865 on its private Facebook page.
People interested in learning more about Westmoreland Glass — or obtaining a few pieces of their own — would do well to attend the show, Kosoglow said, as it’s becoming increasingly hard to find at flea markets and antique malls.
“You can find some of it, but you won’t find the top-quality stuff anymore,” he said.
More information on the club is available at westmorelandglassclub.org.
