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Home - Featured
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Floats
Glass Floats
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From
Featured People
March 2009 |
This
is the first in a three-part series featuring Stu Farnsworth. |
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Stu Farnsworth
has been an avid beach comber and collector of glass floats
(fishing floats) for well over 30 years. He has a love for
his hobby and the ocean and enjoys communicating with fellow glass
fishing float collectors AND sea glass enthusiasts like us.
Not to mention he is one great guy!
Stu and Alan D. Rammer are authors the definitive glass float book, Glass
Fishing Floats of the World - The Collector's Price
Guide and Identification Handbook.
What does this have to do with sea glass?
Two things: First, that beautiful color of sea glass you find
might have come from one of these glass fishing floats.
Second, if you are on the Pacific Coast, keep your eyes open
for these amazing treasures also!
Lin interviewed Stu and you will be fascinated by his stories.... |
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Lin:
How did you become interested in collecting Glass floats, about how old
were you? Who got you interested?
Stu:
That is a great question. I was 10 years old at the time. My father was
a bank auditor and would audit most banks in Oregon while I was growing
up. He would stage his week-long trips to the beach so that we could make
a vacation out of it.
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One spring while we were in Newport, Oregon, my dad was at work and my
poor mom was going nuts being cooped up in a motel with 3 boys. It was
rainy and windy.
She finally said we should go to the beach to look for
glass balls, something my grandmother had found while living at Cannon
Beach. My mom knew a little bit about them, so off we went.
The weather
was wild, and we were not really dressed for this type of thing. I was
the crazy one who loved being out in the wild weather while my brothers
could have cared less. It was so much fun to be soaked to the bone.
We
found nothing but adventure that day but the seed was planted as far as
I was concerned.
Many years went by and I concentrated more on
playing hockey until I met my wife.
Her grandparents lived in Netarts,
Oregon, right on the beach. We used to go down there all the time to
stay.
They had a gift shop with glass
floats her grandfather had found over the years, as he was quite the
beachcomber.
One float that stood out above all the others was a bright
orange or red basketball-sized float that her grandmother had found on
Sandlake in 1934. This float (shown towards the bottom of this page)
had me mesmerized because the color was so beautiful. |
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One Friday in mid November 1976, we went down to
visit my wife's grandparents, and her grandfather told me today would
be a good day to look for glass floats.
The weather was driving rain
and wind and cold. We decided to go to Cape Lookout
and try our luck.
I must have looked like an idiot in my jeans down
there that day. About half a mile down the beach, an older guy came
walking back with a gunnysack and asked us what we were doing down
there. I told him we were looking for glass floats.
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He
kind of laughed and told me I needed a rain suit and then proceeded to
open up his gunnysack and produce 4 baseball-sized glass floats still
with the wonderful smell of just coming out of the ocean. I was so
excited that I knew this was for me and that I was going to find one of
these no matter what. I didn't find any that day but that day was what
got me started.
One morning in the early part of December, I drove from our home in Portland
to Cape Lookout
State Park
in a pretty good storm, this time prepared for the elements.
With a
flashlight in hand, I walked the 10-mile round trip.
The first float I
found was early in the trip about a mile down the beach. There it sat,
a beautiful baseball-sized glass ball. I was like doing a crazy dance
and was going crazy like I had found a sunken treasure or something.
Later on, down towards the end of the beach, I found a 14er or beach
ball-sized float, which was the most excited I have ever been. Carting
it back 5 miles with a 40-mph wind blowing against me was a real treat
I'll soon never forget.
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Here is my very
very very very very did I say very rare Deep Purple Roller.
Grapefruit sized
Hokuyo Glass FF purple float. Awesome color. |
Lin: What is your most treasured
glass float in your collection?
Stu: I
would have to say with no doubt, it would be the basketball-sized
orange float I talked about last question.
I have several others such
as my purple roller, my teal roller, my black pumpkin float, my small
TO in a diamond purple float, my
basketball-sized purple float, my volleyball-sized cobalt float, and on
and on...
Lin:
I know you've searched the Oregon and
Washington Coast looking for glass floats. Have you searched anywhere
else?
Stu: Actually, no. I have
searched most of the Oregon
Coast
with the northern part being my favorite.
Gearhart north
to the Columbia
River is probably my favorite area.
Cannon
Beach
to Pacific
City
south would be my second favorite area.
South of that
things start to
filter out a bit. You can still find glass floats from the central to
the southern part of the Oregon
Coast but it does fall
off from what the northern part has to offer.
On the Washington
Coast,
from the northern tip of Long Beach
going south to the jetty on the Columbia River
is a great area to look for floats but everyone else knows that
too.
On
the Olympic Peninsula, from Kalaloch heading north is very good for
looking for glass floats but pretty hard to get to.
Washington
and Oregon
have been as much fun as I could ask for.
I would like to
experience
the Aleutian Islands and beachcomb
there.
As far as going
anywhere else that would be a fulfilled dream
and would be all I could ask for.
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Lin: You mentioned in an
article that some glass floats were made the size of a basketball.
What's the largest glass float you've ever found?
Stu: The
largest I have ever found was the one I mentioned the first time I ever
found floats. It is 48 inches in circumference. I have seen glass
floats as large as 54 inches in circumference and have heard they
actually come a bit larger. |
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Lin:
What's
the smallest glass float you've found? What's the smallest glass float
made?
Stu: I
have found them as small as a small golf ball. That is the
smallest I have ever found.
I have one in my collection that is about
half the size of a golf ball that is an authentic used float.
I have
never seen one smaller that I could say was real, but I am sure that it
could exist. |
Here
is a sample of some of my smaller Color Floats. All are authentic used
floats beachcombed. |
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Lin:
What's
the rarest glass float ever made?
Stu: I
don't think any serious glass float collector could answer that
question. I am sure there are several out there that have never even
surfaced that are one of a kind.
I can set some examples of what would
be classified as being the rarest.
One can be seen in Marsh's Museum on Long
Beach
Peninsula.
It is a basketball-sized float with a blue sealbutton and a tube going
through the float to put a net through, plus it has embossed markings
such as red, purple, orange, black, cobalt.
These floats with embossed
markings are a few that would be held in high esteem. |
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Rollers
with side-embossed Kanji writing are always high on a collector's list.
The mind can only wonder what is out there that has not surfaced.
Black (opaque) floats are always in high demand.
Very rare Sidemarked Kanji Rollers. This mark is one of the more rare
marks and not very many exist. |
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The float that
my wife's grandmother found would be classified as one of the rarest.
My wife remembers this float being in a wooden storage chest and only
brought out during special occasions. |
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This is probably my very rarest Glass Float. This is a Orange
Basketball sized Japanese Long Line Tuna float found just South of the
Boy Scout Camp on Sandlake Beach, South of Cape Lookout State Park. |
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This
float was found while my wife's grandparents lived on a farm on
Sandlake, which is north of Pacific
City.
One spring day her huband was down on the beach cutting up firewood.
Her grandmother went down between hailstorms to bring her husband
lunch.
As she came around a log, there the float was shining in the sun
sitting there on the beach still wet with foam. It looked like a giant
ruby sitting in the sun.
She screamed so loud her husband came running
down the beach, as he could hear her screaming above the pounding
waves. He saw her standing, shaking, and staring at the float in shock.
This now sits proudly in my collection given to us by my wife's mother.
One wonders if it could be from the Emperor's fishing fleet, if such a
thing ever existed; it sure has the royal colors. If only the glass
could talk and tell its history.
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Next:
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Glass
Fishing Floats #2 - Sea Glass Odyssey
Glass Floats Part Two - Exciting interview and photos of a
reknowned glass fishing floats collector and author, Stu Farnsworth.
Dangerous and exciting, the search for these floats takes ...
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Glass
Fishing Floats #3 - Sea Glass Odyssey
Glass Fishing Floats Part Three - with thanks to Stu Farnsworth,
coauthor of the definitive glass float book, Glass Fishing Floats of
the World - The Collector's Price Guide ...
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Chinese Glass Floats - Sea Glass Odyssey
Jun 5, 2009 ... I have one really big glass float and about to nine
different shape. My uncle was a fisherman in China and he gave them to
me he was 89 years ...
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Beachcombing
for Japanese Glass Floats
"Whether you're casually interested in the subject or very
knowledgeable you will find much enjoyment and information in this
intriguing book. Worth the time and a great book to leave lying around
for your guest to pick up and enjoy." Jan M. Williamson
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Comments from Our Viewers
“Hi David,
I received your sea glass hearts and I LOVE them all.
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I was so touched by your thoughtfulness and I appreciate you sharing these special gifts from the sea! Hope to see more of your sea glass soon!
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Thanks for the opportunity to search and read up on this!”
Sonja “Your site made me so happy tonight! Why?
Many happy memories swirled back into my mind when I saw your pictures. I spent my childhood on the beaches of Cape Cod and we spent many happy hours looking for sea glass.”
Candee “It is a pleasure and refreshing to meet people in the sea glass community that are willing to share! I got some great tips from your site. It was wonderful not to spend my entire vacation looking for a beach. Thanks again!”
Maryanne K.W. “Hi David and Lin.
Love your sea glass web site. I enjoy your picture of the month and intend on winning at least once.
I have been collecting and creating things from sea glass for over twenty years. I find my sea glass on the beautiful shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland Ohio.
Thank you for sharing your treasures with me.” Yours truly,
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Keep up the great work!”
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Teryl “Hi David. Its Bill and Joan Laverick, Durham City, North East of England. We love reading your posts. Keep up the good work!”
Bill & Joan “I soo look forward to reading your blogs.”
Jacqueline Giguere “Just wanted to let you know (since you were so helpful) that I won a blue ribbon (1st place) in Gifford Middle School Science Fair in the category of Environmental Science with my topic - Effect of a Florida Tidal Inlet on Wrack Line Sea Glass Volume.
Now, I will compete in the Regional Science Fair which will take place on Feb 2nd. My mom and dad and I had a lot of fun searching for sea glass.
Thanks,”
Mary Hyde “I am beginning to be a typical sea glass hunter - always looking for fun places to find glass!
I think your site is great - very informative - thanks for the time and effort you put into it. ”
Karen “I am beginning to be a typical sea glass hunter - always looking for fun places to find glass!
I think your site is great - very informative - thanks for the time and effort you put into it. ”
Karen
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