Fun in Lincoln City

Many of us passionate paperweight people like to change our table decorations with the seasons. As I get ready for the holidays, I store my colorful fall weights and replace them with red and green ones. I have a small John Deacons Christmas tree, a melting snowman by Chris Sherwin, a lovely Perthshire, and a Parabelle, but the best story about my Christmas weights involves the big one I found in an antiques store in Lincoln City, Oregon.

One of my sons lives in Portland, Oregon. His brother fell in love with Lincoln City on a visit. Since then, the family gathers almost every summer (except 2020) to play board games, build sand castles and eat fabulous food in rentals near the beach.

Several years ago, my husband and I ventured into downtown Lincoln City from our beachfront “home” to visit a couple of antique stores. A heavy, four-inch high glass Christmas paperweight greeted me near the door of antiquities. The owner wanted $50 for this paperweight, but it had a stamp from a West Virginia artist, unfamiliar to me. The bottom stamp said Gentile Glass with a big C inside a star in the center.

I tried wheeling and dealing with the him. It has a red carpet with silver bubbles. “Merry Xmas & Happy New Year” hang suspended above the floor. A green bell with a ribbon is embedded in the suspension. The print looks like felt to me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. But I walked out of the store without it

I’m not a collector who has to pay big bucks for my paperweights. If I love the weight, I buy it. And I liked it. Two days later, we ate near the antique store. My face registered impatience. “Please, can I go to that antique store again? I won’t stay long. I want to see if that Christmas weight is still available.” Permission granted. The kids and their parents would go to the candy store or cross the street to make a glass bubble ornament in a shop with inexpensive glass décor.

The guy remembered me. He told me a little about the Gentile Glass manufacturing plant and explained he could not lower the cost to anything less than $35. Sold! It has a special place on my holiday table. Weights do not have to be valuable in dollars. It’s the stories and pleasure that make them valuable in our hearts.