This photo taken at a local glass furnace. The hole, referred to as a glory hole, is used to gather glass or to reheat the glass as it is being worked. The furnace runs at 2100' f so it does not take long to get the piece hot!
Hi Jim - Great expansion on the story and thanks very much for the added bonus material in Pending. Fascinating! And your passion for this subject really shines through here and on your website - top marks! - Kelly
I have added three more photos to the pending gallery for those interested. These were taken at Wheaton Village in Millville New Jersey. Wheaton trains upcoming glass artists at this location from all over the world. It is open to the public and they give three demonstrations a day as a general rule. You can go in and watch any time though, there normally is someone working. Joe Mattson, Resident Staff Gaffer is the artist I was watching on this trip. I am going to be going back with-in a week and do a whole series to be posted on my site.
I have made a couple of paperweights here and have been collecting antique south jersey glass for about 12 years now. If you have more questions I will be glad to answer them but you might want to send me an email, jims-photos@comcast.net