~ Pam & Mike Mills, Wales

My first memory of Carnival Glass was the rather pale marigold vases that sat on the mantelpiece when I was a child. I called the colour orange and I had no idea what they were or that so many wonderful Carnival glass items existed.  It was a long time before I actually saw any other pieces of Carnival glass and they were still “orange”.

When Mike attended his annual Police Conference, I and all the other wives went shopping, as you do!  However, one year one of them wanted to go to the antique shops as she collected cups and saucers. When we got to the shop I noticed several bowls in that ‘orange’ colour. Of course I had to buy one and that was the start of my collecting. At this time I still had no idea of the plethora of colours and shapes just waiting for me to discover. This came about when we went to an Antique Fair and I saw a stall covered with Carnival glass bowls, plates, vases etc. and they were red and blue and green and purple. I just stood and looked and then said to the stall holder – “Wow! I didn’t know it was made in other colours. I just thought it was all orange.”  "Madam", he replied – “it is marigold, not orange”. He told me that there were books and clubs all about Carnival Glass and in fact there was even a club in England.

My daughter then decided to write to the Club and say that I had some pieces of glass but didn’t really know anything about it.  I was quite surprised to get a message from a lady saying that she would be very happy to come to my house to see my (small) collection and tell me all about it. That person was Glen Thistlewood and she became my mentor.  Her knowledge was outstanding. She was so helpful and patient especially when I phoned her from Antique Fairs saying, “I have just seen this piece, it’s (fill in colour) it’s a (vase, bowl etc.) and the sellers are asking £???  Is that good?” or even trying to describe it and asking “What is it? Is it worth buying?”. I gained so much information from her and our visits to their house to see her marvellous collection.

Of course we bought Glen and Stephen’s wonderful books. We also discovered and bought, Bill Edwards and Mike Carwile’s Encyclopedias, books on Fenton, Imperial, Millersburg, Dugan/Diamond and Dave Doty’s Field Guide to Carnival Glass along with any others we could find.

Over the subsequent years there have been so many people that have been mentors, people with so much knowledge and so many stories to tell. Thank you to each and every one of them.

Because of all this help from people, as well as American glass, I have also collected pieces made in the UK, Europe, Australia, and India.

~ Pam & Mike Mills, Wales

Pam was also the President of the wwwcga online club for twelve years. She sadly writes, "This is the last time that I write to you as President of wwwcga because as of tomorrow our club no longer exists. It has been a pleasure and an honour to be President for the past 12 years. The dedication and loyalty shown to us by our members has always been a special characteristic of this club and I therefore send this message with some sadness and regret.

My best wishes go to all the Board Directors past and present and I wish to publicly thank them for all their help and commitment so freely given to wwwcga over the years.  My thanks and gratitude go to them and all previous members of the Board for their valuable contribution to our club.

A club cannot exist without members and I would like to thank everyone who has supported and contributed so much over the past years. Mike and I have made so many friends not only in the USA but also in the UK, Canada and Australia. Carnival Glass people are the best."

~Pam Mills