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The artistry of “Corn Flower” blossomed in Amaranth One of the most precious gifts my mother left us to remember her by was beautiful glassware. She loved “pretty things” and safe guarded family dishes through the decades as her mother and grandmother did. Each piece told a story of good times and tough times and long voyages across the Atlantic. Some of her favourite pieces were light and lovely, delicately patterned “Corn Flower” glassware which blossomed from the imagination of artisan W.J. Hughes born in Amaranth Township in 1881. The 16th annual “Corn Flower” Festival opens at the Dufferin County Museum this weekend to celebrate 100 years of the W.J. Hughes collection, and tell the story of this popular glassware found in china cabinets across North America and the world. As told by the Dufferin Museum website, Jack Hughes was born the same year Dufferin County was incorporated, and received very little education, but was forever filled with creativity and ambition. His mother had died when he was very young and his father and five siblings moved to Melancthon Township where his life was steeped in hardship and poverty. Determined to have a better life, he left for Toronto in 1895, at only 16, to make his fortune – and he found it. He began working as a silver-measurer at Roden Brothers Silversmiths and then learned the art of glass-cutting in 1907. He starting cutting glass in his basement around 1914, purchasing glass blanks and hand-cutting his own pieces; “Corn Flower” is a licensed pattern, not a style. Jack gathered his wares and started to sell them at stores in Toronto and small southern Ontario towns, including Dufferin County. He built his business on “integrity and creativity” producing quality cut glassware, selling it at reputable stores at prices that made it possible for the average consumer to purchase. Word of mouth helped popularize the pattern which was fashionable with brides, and Jack's company grew and prospered. By 1923, Hughes hired and trained cutters, including his twin brother and other relatives, as well as many Dufferin County lads. In the 1940's, glass shortages during the war made things difficult, but the company took advantage of the boom that followed with the growth of a more affluent middle class. With his son-in-law, Pete Kayser, Hughes built a factory in Toronto to keep up with the demand for his pattern, and Kayser continued to run the business when Jack passed away in 1951. Peter Kayser and his wife Lois, Jack's daughter, have inspected and identified each piece of “Corn Flower” in the Dufferin County Museum collection. Dufferin County Museum and Archives will celebrate the company's century of success with a special exhibit of over 1,500 pieces of glass making it the largest public collection of “Corn Flower” in Canada. “This will be of interest, not only to the avid “Corn Flower” collectors,” they tell us, “but also to the many Canadians who may have a piece of the celebrated glassware in their family home, received as a gift or valued for the memories it evokes. The exhibit will help them put their treasure in context: when and where the blank was manufactured and when it was cut.” The 16th Annual “Corn Flower” Festival opens this Saturday and Sunday, June 7th and 8th, running from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Events include “Corn Flower” inspired works of art that will be showcased amongst the collection; a photographing glass workshop Saturday June 7th at 3 p.m. for collectors and enthusiasts to learn how to properly photograph glass collections; 100 Years of “Corn Flower” a fundraising dinner on Saturday June 7th at 6 p.m. at the Orange Hall in Rosemont; guest speakers and a consignment sale of authenticated W.J. Hughes “Corn Flower” Glassware. For more information contact DCMA at 705 435-1881 or on the net at www.dufferinmuseum.com By Marni Walsh  W.J. Hughes |
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Post date: 2014-06-04 16:45:58 Post date GMT: 2014-06-04 20:45:58 Post modified date: 2014-06-11 14:44:59 Post modified date GMT: 2014-06-11 18:44:59 |
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