So, is there anything that cannot be made of glass? I don’t think so. Here are some of the stranger things I have heard of in looking for glass collectibles.

Canes: glass masters, at the end of the day, used to take leftover glass and make a cane. Obviously not meant to be leaned on, these show pieces were probably kept on the walls of the family home and brought out for celebrations. Now you probably can only find them in museums and as photographs in books. I have not actually seen one myself.

Toupee stand: a gently convex circle on short legs to hold your toupee when you do not. I guess I never really considered where one puts one’s rug when one does not want to wear it.

Hourglasses: a glass vessel with two bulbs connected by a narrow neck. The glass container is filled with enough sand to measure a specific amount of time. This can be as little as one minute for timing eggs in a kitchen or as long as an hour for a remembrance of ages past. The glass is usually encased in a wooden or metal stand to protect the glass.

A sand glass, used in times past to measure the passage of time.

Galileo thermometer: a thermometer created by Galileo Galilei. It uses the density of gas at various temperatures to show the temperature. The temperature is indicated by the highest glass bubble in the tube. These thermometers have recently been reproduced in quantity. I do not know of antique versions, so count all of these your see as modern.

The lower section of a Galileo thermometer, showing two glass bubbles with metal tags indicating different temperatures. The bubble at the top of the glass cylinder is the current temperature.

Glass heads: glass heads are used for store displays and possibly as wig dummies, to store your wig safely and in such a way so that the wig foundation does not lose shape. Personally, I use one to keep my moose hat in shape.

Glass head used for store display. The head comes in many colors.

Net floats: hollow glass balls used to be used to keep one or more edges of a fishing net at the surface. Although they could be considered industrial glass items, now they are oddities. They are made for souvenirs of beach vacations. Older glass floats are available as well.

A modern glass float in string netting, for nautical decoration.

Butter churn: This is a small glass container with a mental churning mechanism on top that used to be used to churn small amounts of butter. I saw it when I browsing for glass items on the Internet. Seems like a lot of trouble, but maybe store-bought butter was not available or was not good. Don’t know.

Hammer: I also saw a glass hammer on the Internet. Probably this is a presentation hammer given to the chairperson of a committee upon retirement. I certainly would not use it, because it would break unless it was solid glass. If it is solid glass, then You would have to worry about carpal tunnel or chipping the head in a contentious meeting.

The images on this post are from Stock Xchnge.

More oddities are available on a second page.

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