ICGA President’s Message

Messages from the President March 2026

Carnival Glass Collecting is Made for Sharing

When carnival glass collecting became a more formalized hobby back in the 1960s (six decades ago!), it was a way for people cutting across all sorts of demographics. In fact, if you collect carnival glass long enough, you start to realize you’re not just chasing pattern names and base colors — you’re also inheriting a social tradition. The way collectors find information, meet each other, and decide what’s “hot” has shifted dramatically since the hobby’s modern rebirth in the mid-20th century. From printed newsletters and hotel-room “open houses,” to early web pages and today’s social-media swirl, carnival glass collecting has essentially had three big social eras: clubs, websites, and platform communities.

The 1960s: The Hobby Organizes Itself
By the time the 1960s rolled around, collectors were “rediscovering” iridized glass in antique shops and fairs, but they were mostly doing it without a shared roadmap. Early references were limited, and identification could be murky. This gap helped spark something powerful: collectors began formalizing the hobby through research, publishing, and clubs.

One of the most important shifts was the rise of standardizing information—especially pattern names and maker attributions. Marion Hartung’s spiral-bound pattern books became foundational, and other early authors contributed their own naming systems and drawings. At the same time, collectors began gathering in person and forming organizations. The first U.S. collectors’ clubs dedicated to carnival glass dates to the mid-60s in the same general era when early pattern documentation was taking off. This includes our beloved ICGA.

The Late 1960s–1970s: Associations, Conventions, and the “In-Person Internet”
As interest accelerated, the hobby’s social center of gravity became the club meeting and the annual convention. This was the era when relationships and reputations were built face-to-face, and knowledge traveled through newsletters, seminars, and show-and-tell tables.

A major milestone was the founding of the International Carnival Glass Association (ICGA) in Indianapolis in 1967, after earlier organizing efforts in the mid-1960s, and that its founding meeting drew a large crowd—over 150 people. Other regional and national clubs blossomed as well. Cubs formed across the U.S., Canada, Britain, and Australia, hosting meetings and conventions where collectors could learn, buy, and sell.

In today’s terms, those conventions were basically an “offline social network”:

News traveled by newsletter and word-of-mouth.
Identification help came from the few people who had studied certain makers or patterns deeply.
Deals happened in hotel rooms, auctions, and club sales—often between people who knew each other personally.

The 1990s–2000s: The Website Era Changes Everything
Then came the internet—and with it, a new kind of collecting life: asynchronous, searchable, global. Collector-led projects began moving research online, and carnival glass information became easier to access from home. This was a transitional era where we were building educational resources and distributing collector materials internationally at the click of a button and with immediate results.

In practice, websites changed the hobby in a few major ways:

Identification sped up. Instead of waiting for the next club meeting, collectors could compare patterns and maker marks online.
Price awareness became widespread. Even imperfect pricing references influenced expectations because far more people could see “what things sold for.”
The hobby widened. New collectors could ramp up quickly without needing a local club—great for growth, but sometimes a loss of mentorship and nuance.
Online resources made carnival glass more accessible than ever. This included club websites and information-heavy sites maintained by dedicated individuals.

The 2010s–Today: Facebook, Social Media, and the Explosion of Community
If websites made information available, social media made it interactive—and immediate. Facebook groups and pages effectively became always-on show-and-tell rooms. Collectors post new finds in minutes, ask for pattern IDs on the spot, and watch live auctions without traveling. Even established organizations embraced the shift: ICGA maintains an active Facebook presence that functions as a community hub as much as a bulletin board.

This platform era has reshaped the “social nature” of collecting in some clear ways:

From scheduled to continuous: Instead of monthly meetings, collecting community happens daily (both in social media posts, as well as through free daily email newsletters from Hooked on Carnival.)
From local to global: A find in Iowa can be admired (and identified) by someone in Australia the same hour.
From curated expertise to crowd knowledge: You can get ten opinions fast—helpful, but not always consistent (you KNOW how carnival collectors can be, LOL!)
From slow trust-building to rapid reputation: People become “known” through posts, photos, sales references, and helpful identifications.

What the Future Might Look Like Online
The next chapter likely won’t be a single new platform—it’ll be a mix of better tools and smarter communities:

More structured knowledge (without losing the social fun)
Expect more community-driven “reference libraries” that link pattern photos, maker marks, and known variations—built collaboratively, but organized like a database rather than a timeline of posts.
Stronger provenance and authenticity tracking
As images and AI tools improve, so will the need for trustworthy documentation: better photo standards, clearer seller histories, and perhaps more consistent notation of condition, repairs, and iridescence quality.
A return of “small rooms,” digitally
Big groups are great, but collectors often crave tighter circles. The future may tilt toward smaller, moderated communities (private groups, Discord-style servers, paid club memberships with digital benefits) where mentoring and deep research thrive.
Hybrid collecting culture
Conventions and clubs aren’t going away—if anything, online socializing can feed in-person events by making it easier to find your people first. The most vibrant future is probably hybrid: online for daily community and learning, in-person for relationships, handling glass, and memorable hunts.

The Big Takeaway: The Hobby Stayed Social (Just in Different Rooms)
From the 1960s club tables to today’s comment threads, carnival glass collecting has always been social at its core. What changed is where that social life happens, how fast knowledge moves, and how many people can join in.

In the 1960s, you needed a club—or at least a network—to really learn.

In the 1990s and 2000s, you needed a modem.

Today, you mostly need curiosity, a camera phone, and a group that will argue (lovingly) about whether that color is marigold, amberina, emerald green or something in between. And ICGA will be here with you (and your children) developing this exciting (and daunting) future.

Quick Notes

We are looking for a few good people.
This year, we will be appointing a new ICGA Secretary as Becky Cronin steps down after serving ICGA so amazingly for several years now. Also, the keys to ICGA’s amazing Town Pump will be passed on as Barb Chamberlain also steps down after decades of service to ICGA, as our past Treasurer and as our Pump Secretary. They both leave very big shoes to fill, and if you feel like you want to devote some time and effort to ICGA, let us know! You can contact me (my info is on the back page of this newsletter) and we can talk about what that would look like.
The Mega2Convention registration is live.
Check out this issue to learn more about the great program we have lined up, as well as how to register for the convention. It’s going to be an amazing time (we will discuss some of the past and future issues I mention in my message) and we can meet the future together in Iowa! I am looking forward to seeing you there!

I hope this issue of the Pump finds you happy and enjoying life. We are all in this together and together we can make it even better!

Cheers!

Brian