Our grandmother collected two different items - first being St. Clair toothpick holders. She had Indian Head toothpicks in every color that St. Clair produced and a lot of the Holly pattern toothpicks. When we were at her house, at some point we would be standing in front of her china cupboard and looking in awe at all her toothpick holders. Even the older grandkids loved looking at all the toothpick holders. The second item she collected was the carnival glass in the Harvest pattern from the Indiana Glass Company in Dunkirk, In. Yes, this is considered the "new" carnival glass and I have to admit, growing up, this was not my favorite glass. But what did make it special was seeing the sparkle in her eyes and how happy she was when she looked at the glass or was able to buy a new piece. With St. Clair located in Elwood, In and Indiana Glass in Dunkirk, In, it was always a special treat for her to go to the factories with her sister, Aunt Goldie.
Our mother also collected toothpick holders. Her finds came from auctions, antique stores visited while traveling with my sister and me, and St. Clair in Elwood, In. Other than St. Clair, she only looked for toothpicks that she thought were pretty. The value really had nothing to do with her collections. In her eyes, all glass was of value. While I have been selling the toothpicks that were still wrapped in the auction boxes, the ones she did have displayed were included in the toothpick holders for us to choose from.
The main thing that we did yesterday was to divide the toothpicks between the three of us. We put all the toothpicks on a long table - there were 150+ toothpicks - St. Clair, Imperial, Fenton, Boyd, Summit, Deganhart and a few others. Nothing high dollar, but all very special. We decided to each pick 20 and then we would sell the rest online at CAROLINABLUELADY Vintage Collectibles at eCrater. We took turns picking out our toothpicks one at a time and with so many to choose from, it took quite sometime to reach our 20 each. As we looked over the remaining toothpicks, another one caught my sister's eye. My brother said, "so we each want to pick another one?" We ended with 22 each. It was a very good day with plenty left to sell. And, with 22 each, the grandkids are well taken care of, too.
My brother, sister and I split up the carnival glass, both old and new. Old carnival glass is my favorite glass. Everything went smoothly and we were all very happy with our picks - more on that later. Today, we divided the Greentown glass and St. Clair/Joe Rice paperweights. Again, another fun day! But, there is another story that I wanted to share about the toothpicks that we divided on Monday.
The most special toothpick we found was a beautiful blue St. Clair Indian Head toothpick. Oh, there were prettier toothpicks, but what made it special was the note we found inside it. My grandmother and Aunt Goldie were sisters and about two years apart. This toothpick was an Easter present from Aunt Goldie to my grandmother. Not sure what year it was, but I'm guessing early 1970s. Here is the note......
Aunt Goldie was the most beautiful lady. She reminded me of a movie star with the spunk of a Katharine Hepburn and the beauty of a Rita Hayworth. She was the favorite of our family. She had a beautiful smile and infectious laugh. We loved it when she would come and visit. She passed away at the age of 104, about a month before our mother passed away.
And which one of us obtained this prized toothpick? Our brother was the lucky one!
