FOHBC 2015 Hall of Fame submission for Ralph Finch

Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors

HALL OF FAME

Ralph Finch 2015

February 28, 2015

Board of Directors Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors Dear Board Members, I am thrilled to have the privilege and honor to nominate a great friend, and fellow collector, Mr. Ralph Finch, to the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors Hall of Fame.

Ralph has been a nationally, as well as internationally, known key figure, and major supporter of the hobby for more than 45 years. He has selflessly contributed his time, energy, and journalistically talents, and shared his knowledge, enthusiasm, wit, and love of the hobby, in countless ways.

Ralph was, by profession, a journalist and editor. He began his professional career with The Detroit News in the mid-1960s. Ralph also served as production editor for The Detroit News Sunday Magazine for many years. He wrote a column on antiques, which often focused on antique glass. His first article was in 1971, a full page article with color photos about bottle collecting! From this point forward, he used his writing and research talents in countless ways, through numerous publications, to inform, excite, and educate collectors, and the public alike, about this great hobby that we all so enjoy.

As significant as it is, writing has been but one of many aspects of how Ralph has been a most positive influence, a staunch supporter, and outstanding ambassador for the hobby.

Below, I have outlined some of his, almost too numerous to mention, accomplishments, contributions, and accolades that he has earned. I cannot think of anyone more deserving for this most important honor.

John Pastor New Hudson, MI FOHBC Life Member FOHBC Director-at-Large

Biography of Ralph's Involvement and Contributions To The Hobby Achievements: Perhaps Ralph's most notable, or prolific, contributions to the hobby are through the countless antique bottle and glass related articles that he has written, ranging from a few paragraphs, to 10 pages or more. By Ralph's estimates, approximately 500 or more articles over the past four decades. These include articles in the following publications: •

Publications; writer and/or contributor - The Detroit News -1971 to 2005 - Maine Antique Digest 1970’s - present - New York Pennsylvania Collector 1970’s - MDABC & other club newsletters 1970's - present - Australian Bottle Review 2007 - BBR (British Bottle Review) 1980’s - Antique Bottle World Magazine 1975 - 1984 (editor and primary writer for years) - Antique Bottle and Glass Collector 1984 - present

•

Ralph is the founder and publisher of the "On Target!" newsletter, which he began publishing in 1994, and continues today! A three-times-a-year, 80-page magazine containing original material as well as edited articles culled from thousands of 1864 1924 U.S., English, Scottish New Zealand, and Australian newspapers. Ralph, through his newsletter and boundless enthusiasm, has almost singlehandedly propelled the relatively obscure world of target ball collecting into what it is today, - one of the serious and important internationally recognized categories of antique glass.

Awards and Recognition: •

Received a Distinguished Service Award - Metropolitan Detroit Antique Bottle Club, 1969 - 1977.

“Distinguished Service Award” from Metropolitan Detroit Antique Bottle Club

•

Received a “Journalism of Excellence Award” from the Ohio Bottle Club, presented

by President Gary Beatty, for his years of dedication to reporting and writing about the hobby he deeply loves

.

“Journalism of Excellence” award from the Ohio Bottle Club

•

1981 "Best of Show Award" from the Genesee Valley Bottle Collectors Association for his display on target balls.

“Best of Show GVBCA””

•

Received recognition plaque for his 1992 Toledo EXPO display of target balls.

Seminars & Displays: •

Seminars: - FOHBC Reno National Show, 2006 - Detroit Metro Bottle Club (various dates) - Ohio Bottle Club, 2012 - Antique Glass Club Pittsburgh Pa, 2012 - PBS Documentary: KETCHUP: KING OF CONDIMENTS! Bowling Green (Ohio), State University, 2004

•

Displays: Ralph Finch has displayed one, or more, of his award winning collections at the following shows and venues: - Metropolitan Detroit Antique Bottle Show (various years) - Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Show (several years) - GVBCA Show (Rochester, NY), 1981. Displayed target balls and received "Best of Show" award - 1992 FOHBC EXPO, Toledo, Ohio (Target Ball display) - The Detroit Historical Museum (Jar display) - Southfield, Mich. public library (Scroll flasks)

Examples of two of Ralphs displays

Memberships & Offices Held: ! !

!

FOHBC Life Member; 1976 – PRESENT FOHBC positions held - Midwest newsletter editor - Judge for the best club newsletter - Organized the scoring system for judging newsletters Ralph was a charter member of the National Bottle Museum Society, 1979

!

Current member of the National Bottle Museum

Founding member of the Metropolitan Detroit Antique Bottle Club, 1969-to Present - The MDABC was officially created in Ralph's apartment - Vice- president of MDABC FROM 1969-1977 - Newsletter editor 1969-1971 - Show co-chairman (22 shows)

Collections: Over Ralph's almost 50 year span in the hobby, he has amassed major collections of, but not limited to: - Fruit Jars - Scroll flasks - Old Sachem Bitters - Colorful Sandwich Cologne bottles - Ketchup bottles *(estimated at 1,800 bottles and "go-withs") - Hair bottles - Fly traps *(perhaps 125 in various colors and shapes from around the world) - Glass alcohol lamps - Target balls *(the largest, most important collection ever amassed) - Target ball traps & related advertising *(largest collection of glass ball traps known) - A wonderful “general” collection of interesting and pretty bottles including painted black glass bottles (one of his latest interests).

Additional participation in the hobby: •

Attendance and support of bottle shows -

•

As a dealer, or collector, Ralph has participated in numerous bottle shows throughout the United States since 1971.

Note, Ralph has attended every Federation EXPO since the first in 1976!

Ralph has also attended and supported bottle shows in the following countries: o Canada o England o France o Amsterdam o Australia

And et cetera: - Ralph helped to raise funds for the Verbeck House in Ballston Spa and was the key fundraiser to purchase a cobalt pontiled Teller Mineral Water bottle as the Metropolitan Detroit Bottle Club's contribution to the 50 State Collection at the museum.

- Twice, Ralph's ketchup bottle collection has been featured in TV documentaries.

Pictures of some of Ralph’s collections

Portion of Ketchup Bottle collection

Painted bottles, Demijohns & Fly traps

Some of Ralph's extensive Target Ball collection

Hair bottles

Some of the colorful Bogardus target balls ASome Some of Ralph’s Taret balls A AA

Demijohns, Fly traps and more Target Balls Â

Letters of Recommendation L L

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3 Harvest Drive Pennington, N.J. 08534 February 28, 2015

To the Members of the Board Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my honor and privilege to provide this support for the nomination of Mr. Ralph Finch to the Hall of Fame of the FOHBC. I have known Ralph for well over three decades, and have met few other individuals more dedicated to the hobby of historical glass. It would be an easy task for you to research Ralph’s involvement in the 1970’s formation of the first Detroit Bottle Club.

Later, Ralph was honored for authoring the best U.S. Bottle Club Newsletter by the then very young FOHBC. It would be equally simple to discover that Ralph was among the first Life Members of the FOHBC and that he consistently applied his writing skills to promote this hobby. You would have to look long and hard to find an author of more written articles on historical glass than Ralph included in publications such as the Maine Antique Digest and the Antique Bottle World magazine. Ralph continued to promote this hobby with the Antique Bottle and Glass Collector magazine which he still contributes to regularly today. A major endeavor to encourage young collectors to take part in our hobby is Ralph’s pet project; he regularly writes a feature highlighting the young collectors in our hobby, what they collect, and a bit about who they are. These articles encouraging young people in our hobby are an important contribution making Ralph worthy of a hall of fame consideration.

Ralph is a collector’s collector. He has collected, among many things, fruit jars, colognes, bitters, catsups, scroll flasks, and of course, target balls. I became a closer friend to Ralph at the beginning of his interest in target balls. Make no mistake, target balls are an important part of historical glass study. In 1994, Ralph published the first issue of “On Target”, the magazine for target ball collectors. I knew Ralph for quite a while at this point and encouraged him in this new endeavor. Little did I know that I would start a new collection. I now have every issue of “On Target” some 21 years later. This magazine, which is more like a small book three times a year, has encouraged the study and collecting of target balls and their history incredibly. The knowledge and interest in target balls in now a worldwide hobby thanks to the efforts of Ralph. Realize too, that Ralph’s collection of target balls has to be one of the most extensive and complete in the world.

Ralph has always been a most positive force in our hobby and a fine ambassador for the FOHBC in many ways. With his pen and in deeds, Ralph Finch has proven his lifelong dedication to the promotion of this hobby and this organization. I wholeheartedly support including Ralph Finch as a member of the FOHBC Hall of Fame.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert Alan Strickhart

Life Member FOHBC

In his own words ~ A Story About The Man Who Writes The Stories In the last 45 years, Ralph Finch has produced more antique glass stories than any other person in the entire hobby. We decided to ask him some questions, and here are his answers.

How many glass-­‐related articles have you written?

It’s hard to tell; some of the articles have been several pages long (as many as 10 pages), while many are only a few paragraphs, but 500 or more articles would be a reasonable guess.

How did you become involved in the hobby?

In the mid-­‐’60s I visited my favorite relative. Uncle Al, who lived in a rural area outside Detroit, was an amateur archeologist. On the weekends, he would go to old barn sites with friends and they would search for arrowheads and old bottles. On one visit, Uncle Al showed me a stained, chipped 1930s fruit jar. I was not impressed. Little did I know that, at that moment, the rest of my life was to be dramatically changed.

In an antique shop I discovered a whittled, deep-­‐aqua 1858 Mason fruit jar. I bought it as a gift for Uncle Al, but before I could give it to him, the bottle bug struck and soon I had about 500 Mason jars on every shelf, ledge and counter in my apartment.

Around that time, I discovered that other collectors in the Detroit area had been bitten by the bug, and I was told that they met in others’ homes. A long story short: Around 1970, those people met in my apartment, and that evening we officially created the Metropolitan Detroit Antique Bottle Club.

We needed a newsletter and I volunteered to do it; the first issue was 40 pages long.

With the assistance of several key players, the club grew to become one of the country’s best in the entire U.S. We won many awards; the highlight was at the first Expo in 1976, when at the banquet with 625 people present, the Detroit club won for Best Newsletter in the U.S.

We then turned to putting on a bottle show, which also grew to become one of the top shows in the country. People came from across the U.S. as well as from several countries.

Even 30 years ago, while working with co-­‐chairman Joe Kray (the King of Indian Queens), we went over-­‐board; we set standards that have never been met by any other show; even then, we were working with a budget of $4,000-­‐$5,000 and made everything top notch. For dealers, we gave awards such as microwave ovens and a 25-­‐ inch color TV, which at that time was big. We sold $1raffle tickets, as many as 3,000; at one show the lucky ticket sent a couple from Detroit to the Vegas bottle show. Our goals then was to promote the MDABC, but more so the hobby in general.

I was vice-­‐president of the MDABC from 1969 to1977. In 1980 I was presented with a plaque from the Ohio Bottle Club’s Gary Beatty, President it was an “Award of Excellence” for Years of Dedication to reporting and writing about the hobby

My interest and activities continued to grow. Around 45 years ago, I attended my first Keene, N.H., show when it was held in the old armory and after that I rarely missed one of those shows 564 miles away. I attended shows at increasing distances, in time they included Canada, England, France, Amsterdam and Australia. My interest in glass was varied and passionate.

In the late ’60s, I started my newspaper career as a copy editor at the Detroit News. It offered me a chance, on occasion, to write stories for the general public that appealed to my interest. My first Detroit News article, in 1971, was a full-­‐page about bottle collecting, with color photos. In the following decades, I wrote many articles for the News on bottle collecting, as well as the New York-­‐Pennsylvania Collector.

Soon I discovered the premier publication, the Maine Antique Digest. For decades, I continued to write glass and non-­‐glass articles for M.A.D. As my knowledge grew I also wrote glass articles for the British Bottle Review (BBR) and the Australian Bottle Review (ABR).

But before that time, around 35 years ago, Chicago’s Jerry McCann introduced the Antique Bottle World Magazine (1975-­‐1984), for which I was the editor and prime writer for several years, until Jim Hagenbuch of Pennsylvania introduced Antique Bottle & Glass Collector, which is now published by John Pastor. In all those years, it was rare if I didn’t have one (or more) articles in that magazine. When not writing stories I often edit (or re-­‐write) many of the articles. And, a few decades ago, I also was asked to write the introduction to one of Alice Creswick's Fruit Jar Red Books.

During that whole period, the FOHBC was part of my life. I was there from the beginning of the Federation, and soon became a life member. I was a friend with Jean Garrison of New York, who was a prime promoter of the Federation, and I was happy to respond to her many requests. I helped raise money for the Verbeck House in Ballston Spa and was the key fundraiser to purchase a cobalt pontiled Teller Mineral Water bottle as the MDABC’s contribution to the Verbeck House, as it wanted to have a

bottle from every state. I visited the Verbeck House and was so proud of what the Federation had accomplished.

I was pleased to have known many of the Federation founders: Roy Brown, then of Ohio, and Norman (and Junne) Barnett of Indiana. Also, Hal and Verna Wagner of St. Louis, who were the key supporters of the ’76 Expo. (Does anyone remember Hal’s infamous motorcycle story?)

I was fortunate to have attended every Expo: At many, I set up glass target ball displays and/or presented a slide presentation on the development of target balls. I have given this program to several other organizations, including the Pittsburgh Antique Cut Glass Club (HGCP). I also have set up exhibits at the Kalamazoo and Rochester, N.Y., bottle shows. At the 1981 Rochester event, I won “Best of Show” as well as “First Place Specialty” for my target ball display. I was presented with the award plaques as well as a lacy, orange bra — it’s a long story.

I have created slide programs on Henry Ford Museum’s once-­‐great glass, plus several other slide programs. In 1980, I was the guest speaker for the Ohio bottle club’s banquet.

I also have been part of others’ nomination for the Hall of Fame; I wrote up Jim Hagenbuch for his award, as well as England’s Alan Blakeman, and at the 2008 York Expo I introduced Tom Caniff, when he was presented with his well-­‐deserved plaque.

You’ve been in the hobby for a long time. Name some of your favorite bottle friends and memories?

I knew many of the other “movers and shakers” such as Paul Richards, whose amazing collection was auctioned many years ago; also Burton Spiller; Paul Ballentine; Jayne Blaske, the wife of the Michigan judge and major flask collector; Ted and Hazel Krist of Northfield Centre, Ohio, whose bitters bottles room offered something extra: bars on the windows! Protection against burglars? No, Ted was concerned that a deer might crash through the window, which had happened at a neighbor’s home. Also special: One afternoon, I even had dinner at the home of Bob Skinner, whose auction house in Bolton, Mass., drew collectors from across the country. And the afternoon with Paul Richards, FYI, also was memorable. He is the only man I have ever known who had met a U.S. president and said: “Oh, yes, I knew Harry,” referring to President Harry Truman.

I was also fortunate to have known Kenneth Wilson who, with Helen McKearin, co-­‐ edited American Bottles & Flasks and Their Ancestry. Ken had ties to the Henry Ford Museum and I was allowed personal tours of the museum’s once-­‐great glass collection.

One evening, Ken and his wife, Alice, even came to my home for dinner. And, of course, more visits than I can count to the wonderful home and family of Norman Heckler of Woodstock Valley, Conn. And, of course, fruit jar collector/target ball godfather Alex Kerr of the Kerr Glass Co., whose quiet enthusiasm inspired so many of us in the early

days. A delightful period of my collecting life was with friends Jerry and Lori Jaffe of New Haven, Conn. Jerry and Lori lived for death; poison, that is. Their license plate read “POISON.” Even their phone number included the word POISON. Once, for Lori’s birthday, a large cake was served; in icing was a giant skull and crossbones. Their poison collection was displayed in cases adjacent to Jerry’s office in office building overlooking New Haven.

Always enjoyable was visiting Betty and the late Gene Blasi of Louisville. In 1974, Betty wrote “A Bit About Balsams”, and the two were major members of the Louisville bottle club when, 30 years ago, the city was being dug from stem to stern. I almost forgot the late Cris Batdorff of Manistee, Mich., whose great bottles were auctioned by Hagenbuch in Pennsylvania. Adam and Phyliss Koch of Akron, Ohio, also deserve their own chapter. They are marvelous people whose enthusiasm has been a key driving force to collecting – and collectors – especially in Ohio. And to know the enthusiasm of Bob Strickhart of New Jersey — he’s the author of Big Bob’s Bitters Price Guide — is always a delight to witness.

Also important to me was knowing Ralph Riovo (and Patty), the great milk bottle collector/historian expert. And Elvin Moody and Bob Ferraro, the mayor of Boulder City, Nev. A visit to Bob’s home will remain a delightful and memorable afternoon. No one has a greater collection of Nevada bottles or objects than Bob. Also, a visit to the home of John Feldmann of Long Island, to see his great bitters, was another delightful evening. I mentioned Joe Kray. Joe, along with being one of the most decent of persons that I know, visiting the King of Queens to see his variety of colored Indian Queens is impressive. (He started collecting them 1976.)

Seeing the collection of 1,500 rare fruit jars amassed by Chicago’s Jerry McCann was a lesson in how to intelligently exhibit anything! (An amusing side line: At that time, his then wife decided to collect something small and easy to display: marbles. A few years later, there were thousands of marbles, all over the house.) One of the highlights for any collector is any one fortunate enough to be invited to the home of the late Dick and Elma Watson. The Watsons were the living example of the idea that “You can collect it all!” If you spent days at their incredible home, enjoying the floor-­‐to-­‐ceiling, all-­‐glass bottle room, and wondered from room to room, you still could not comprehend how extensive their collections were. One of my favorite memories is listening to Elma explain how, over the years one develops a superb collection. Decades ago, when she was pregnant, and they had little money, they got a bank loan to buy a collection.

Another time, they had a choice: pay the mortgage or buy a bottle collection. As a result, every room was filled with rare and beautiful bottles … and stuff. In fact, there were things that the Watsons collected that most of us had never even heard of before.

Dick and Elma were responsible for the great 1994 Cherry Hill’s national show.

Seeing the collection of the late (and wonderful) Tom McCandless of New Jersey was a treat; knowing him was even more of a treat. I also traveled to Europe several times

with Tom as part of the overseas trips put together by Jim Hagenbuch. They included England several times, as well as multiple trips to France and Amsterdam. For many of us on these trips, they were the highlights of our bottle collecting experiences.

Tell us more about your writing for the hobby

Many of the articles I have written have allowed me an opportunity to meet great people, from old to young. With Charles Vuono and, later, his son, Mark, and even his grandson, seeing the Vuono flask collection will remain one of the highlights of my years of collecting. Later, after I wrote Charles’ one-­‐page obituary in Maine Antique Digest, Mark had it framed and it is on the wall of his flask collection room.

Another series of articles that seemed to be appreciated was the interviews with “Young Collectors,” the future of our hobby. And, only a couple of years ago, another treat was a visit by Ferdinand Meyer V. (Perhaps the hobby will never know how much we owe him.) Ferdinand deserves a book written about him.) There have been so many wonderful people that I have met and I can only apologize for the hundreds that I am not naming.

Back to the early days of the FOHBC: I was the Midwest regional editor for their newsletter. I one year, was the judge for best club newsletter. I set high standards for them and proposed and organized a scoring system for judging newsletters.

Unfortunately, by the following year, the FOHBC had mislaid the guidelines. Sigh. So the association had to reinvent the wheel.

With the introduction of the ABW and its evolvement into Hagenbuch’s AB&GC, I continued to write. Apparently, a glutton for punishment, in 1994 I started what is now On Target! -­‐ a three-­‐times-­‐a-­‐year 80-­‐page magazine for target ball collectors. My interest in these 1870s-­‐1920s glass balls grew after being introduced to them by the godfather of target balls, Alex Kerr, of the Kerr glass family. The publication now goes across the U.S. and to two other countries.

I remember my first ball purchase in (circa) 1976, at a Rochester, N.Y., show, when a dealer offered me three, for $175. “But what are they,” I asked. I was told about their connection to Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill, and what little boy isn’t attracted to those magic names? I purchased them, and 20 years later one of them sold for more than $10,000!

Each issue of On Target! contains original material as well as edited articles found in thousands of 1864-­‐1924 U.S., English, Scottish New Zealand and Australian newspapers. (I research on the computer six to 12 hours each day.) The magazine has done much to promote awareness and appreciation of glass target balls, literally around the world. While many of the articles are lengthy — as much as 10 pages — many stories are only a few paragraphs long, which is why the estimate of 500 articles could be only a fraction of the true number.

What do you collect?

Wow this will be a challenge. This isn’t going to be easy. Some collections are extensive, and some are only an item or two. It reminds me of bitters trade card king Joe Gourd of Illinois. He once said he was a collector of Bininger bottles. I asked him how many he had and he said he was waiting for the first one, but he still considered himself a collector. (He now owns 12.) Joe was one of the first MDABC presidents, and now owns thousands of bitters trade cards.

So, here we go, but first, I’ll list the collections that are now long past. I started out with rare pint fruit jars, they are gone. Then, G9-­‐10 scrolls in a variety of colors; then, old Sachem Bitters barrels: Jim Hagenbuch sold them. Next were 111 Sandwich colognes; Norman Heckler sold them.

Now to the present: Rare painted and non-­‐painted demijohns; etched Scottish bottles; a variety of early glass, plus 1880s alcohol lamps; ketchup bottles; and target balls.

Portrait tiles, advertising items/signs – even late 1800s wooden clothespins (thanks to Elma Watson).

I have a small-­‐but-­‐interesting collection of rolls of early toilet paper (honest). And even glass fly traps, maybe 125, in a variety of colors and shapes from around the world, as well as mechanism-­‐driven fly traps. And hair bottles and related items; there are 100 to 200 hair bottles on the shelves, but nothing major.

And ketchups? OK, I’m not sure who has more 1800 to today ketchups than I do. They are all over the house; plus trade cards, early advertising and more ephemera than Heinz had ’57 varieties.

Some of my hard-­‐to-­‐acquire items are old ketchup jugs, crocks and wooden boxes.

Twice, my ketchups have been featured in TV documentaries, and several times they have been exhibited at bottle shows.

OK, a bit more about target balls: The total is about 205, even though a few balls are represented in several colors. Most are American, many are British, plus others from France, Germany, Scotland, Sweden, Australia, Canada … Is a larger collection known?

Not that I’m aware of. In fact, I doubt it will ever be matched; I started early, when many — OK, some — could be acquired at a reasonable price. Their value? I’ve paid $30 for one, and $30,000 for another (spending my wife’s life savings). There is little in the way of target ball — or target shooting — ephemera, but what exists, I have a good portion of it. My favorite item is a large, circa 1880 poster of famous ball man Ira Paine shooting a walnut off his wife’s head, and target balls that she tosses up in the air. Also, I probably have the largest collection of glass ball traps, maybe, 25 and they are much

harder to find than a good ball. Also, with eBay and the Internet and traveling frequently to Europe, I’ve had advantages that Alex Kerr did not.

But of all the great glass, of all the travel, of all the great people and of all the wonderful rewards the hobby has given me, the best part is re-­‐meeting Janet (then Loik), who in 1977 I interviewed about her collecting (which included target balls). I knew her in the 1970s and ’80s and thought she was delightful. We then went our separate lives.

Almost 30 years later, with both of us divorced, I called to say “Hello.” We had several delightful phone conversations and, to make a long story short: Under the Whispering Dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England, I proposed to the most remarkable woman that I have ever known. Six months later, in Las Vegas as Elvis walked her down the aisle, we were married at the Graceland Chapel. Until then the hobby had been wonderful. After re-­‐meeting Janet, I discovered that I was the happiest, and luckiest man in the world. I love her, and not only that, everyone who meets her loves her also.

-- Ralph Finch.