Remembering William Gaskill
The first time we met William was probably when
he bought a paperweight from us on May 17, 1991.
We have no actual recollection of the transaction,
but we do have a sales invoice that tells us
William Gaskill purchased an "Atlantic City"
paperweight. Paperweights of this type are called
"frit" weights after the process of picking up a
ground glass (frit) pattern that had been set into
a mold. Also called "motto" weights, many
paperweights of this kind were made in the
Millville, New Jersey area.
In that year, the Paperweight Collectors
Association Convention was held at Colonial
Williamsburg in Virginia and the Presidential
Gavel was passed from Manny Lacher to Homer
Perkins. William Gaskill's name appears on the
list of attendees with his address listed as
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The next record we have of a transaction with him
was on May 13, 1999 at the PCA Convention in
Chicago, with James Lefever as the President.*
Records indicate that William bought a N.E.G.C.
red poinsettia in clear glass an May 13th and, on
May 17th he purchased a Marbrie paperweight
made by the Union Glass Company of Somerville,
Massachusetts. William was obviously interested
in American paperweights.
An exchange of e-mails took place starting on
January 25, 2000, after William sent us his list
of "wants" which included British dumps
w/sulphides, terra cotta or colored design, and
Somerville/Union Glass paperweights with names,
dates and flags. Our reply said (in part) "you
have an interesting list of wants." His list
included NEGC, Sandwich and Millville weights.
He also expressed an interest in acquiring "a pink
pear to match my NEGC bright rose colored apple"
and then added that he "would even consider a
French (shudder) fruit on a cookie base." We then
listed a few things we thought might be of
interest to him. One was the Union "Birds and
Nest paperweight." This weight was probable made
by Philip Bunamo who was known to have done this
sort of work. "Stuck in his hotel in Washington,
DC due to weather" William sent us a message
letting us know that he was interested in the
"Birds and Nest" paperweight plus the Millville
"Umbrella" but requested a picture of the "Birds
and Nest" weight only because he "never met an
umbrella he didn't like." About to leave for
Florida for a month, we faxed him a photo of that
paperweight. At the end of his e-mail, he states
"I am interested in the other Union weights (I
don't know why but I really like them.)"
When we returned from Florida in early March, the
correspondence continued with photos of other
paperweights being sent to him. In an e-mail
dated March 19, 2000, as he was on his way to
Iceland, William expressed his interest in three
weights. A price was agreed on for two of the
weights: the "Birds and Nest" paperweight and a
Union "name" paperweight. He was "looking
forward to giving them a good home."
On March 30, 2000, William e-mailed "The weights
arrived (I believe that we had sent them to his
office) and they look great - will need more time
to study them when I get home." He had
mentioned in an earlier correspondence that he was
"having some paperweight collectors over on April
1st and hoped to have the weights by then.
In the course of our correspondence, William asked
if we had signed up to go to Wheaton Village. We
wrote that "it is usually terrific; very low key
and friendly." We advised him to make
reservations early, At Wheaton Village that year,
William bought a Millville Mushroom and a
Sandwich pears paperweight, which, as we recall,
was a very good example of that type of weight.
The acquisition of the "Birds and Nest"
paperweight made William even more interested in
finding a similar paperweight containing "piggies'
that was known to have been made at Union Glass,
also by Philip Bunamo. It had been on one of his
earlier "wants list."
In September of 2002, via e-mail, we expressed
disappointment that we had not been able to come
up with the "piggies" paperweight that he so
desired but we offered him some letterheads,
envelopes and mailing labels from the Union Glass
Company that had been used by Edward Mazerski
when he took over the name. He was interested and
we sent them out.
We continued on the search of the elusive
"piggies" paperweight. About March or April of
2005, one was offered on E-bay. When we noticed
that William was among the bidders, we dropped
out, not wanting to deprive him of the pleasure of
winning it. We were sure that such a computer
savvy guy would have the know-how to outbid the
rest of the pack. When we saw him at the PCA
Convention in May 2005 in Appleton, Wisconsin, we
started to congratulate him in finding the
"piggies' at long last. How disappointed we were
to find the unbelievable - he had not been the
winner..
We keenly regret that we were unable to fulfill
his wish for the Union 'piggies' paperweight. And
we especially are sad that we will no longer have
the opportunity to help him in his search for this
elusive bauble and the other interesting
paperweights that he collected. But, most of all,
we are saddened that we will be deprived in the
future of his good humor, his creative ideas and
his pleasant company.
Farewell to William Drew Gaskill. It was truly a
great pleasure and lots of fun to have known you.
As it says on some of the frit paperweights: "Rest
in Peace."
* Readers may be interested to know that James
Lefever, who was Vice President in 1998, took over
as President when the President Elect was unable
to continue in that office. Without fanfare, and
in a short time, Jim pulled the Chicago Convention
together and made it a success. Kudos to Jim.
From past history, we know the Paperweight
Collectors Association is in good
hands.
