November 3, 2008

MY EARLIEST MEMORY OF STAINED GLASS

I walked passed these two homes every day from kindergarten through fourth grade. I will post their photos here along with their history. Early childhood memories really do shape our path if we listen! I loved these homes when I was young and I still do today. Give me a barrel, shovel and stucco....I'm there!
I hope Freeport, IL will take care of these homes and preserve them for history. The photos simply don't do them justice. They shimmer in the sun and create visual magic!
Here is an excerpt from the site listed below describing the houses. Thank you to Bob Beggin and Dave E. for sending me the site! With gratitude, Laurie B.
...Freeport's glass houses, pictured both above share Beaver as a side street and are on the corners of Avon and Elk, near each other. F. A. Schulz had large flower gardens on land near these houses. He sold flowers to Chicago, and at one time had a grocery store in downtown Freeport. In about 1930 he started building these houses. His son said he made some of the glass decorations from the windshields of Model Ts and broken glass from the W. T. Rawleigh factory and S. S. Kresge's 5 & 10 Cent Store (later known as Kmart). Schulz crushed glass inside wooden barrels and used shovels to throw broken glass and rocks into wet cement and stucco. His kids and grandkids also remember not being so fond of the houses because he would sometimes steal some of their things (even toys and kitchenware) and embed them in his grotto or in one of the houses.

5 comments:

Amy Steinberg November 3, 2008 at 12:21 PM  

Those are so cool! I've never seen such a thing but can see how inspiring they would be.

I hope you are doing well.
xoxo

Patricia Hecker November 3, 2008 at 9:45 PM  

Thanks for sharing, Laurie. It reminds me of the grand-daddy of folk art Howard Finster. He's passed away, but built a great garden scape with recycled pieces of ephemera.

"I took the pieces you threw away
and put them together
by night
and by day.
Washed with rain,
dried by sun,
a million pieces all in one"

The pieces of our childhood become the
foundations of our lives.

Hugs,
Pat

Anonymous November 4, 2008 at 10:37 AM  

Those houses are just amazing Laurie, no wonder you were inspired!

Abhinav Rastogi November 4, 2008 at 10:45 AM  

wow...looks great.
i learnt stained glass painting some time back. i still have two such paintings hanging in my room right now. they look great with an aluminium foil as the background. it gives it a great shine/reflection.

check out my blog at http://thephotoshopper.blogspot.com, it is all about design. it would be great if you could please link to it from your page.

thanks,
the photoshopper

Pam Hawk November 6, 2008 at 3:54 PM  

he would sometimes steal some of their things (even toys and kitchenware) and embed them in his grotto or in one of the houses.

...yeah, I'd be guilty of that, too.
LOL

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"All images and content of Laurie Beggin's Glass Musings and Through The Looking Glass © 2007 Laurie Beggin, unless otherwise noted."