Her passing left a tangible hole in the fabric of the pre-pro community.  Everyone who knew her commented on what a nice person she was and how they’ll miss her, but her loss also left its mark on collectors who’d never met her or even talked with her.  Perhaps it’s because so many present-day collectors grew up, at least in terms of the hobby, thumbing through her two books and dreaming of the same intricate scenes displayed on their own collection of sparkling treasures.  But perhaps also, as one collector wrote to her,  “the books are special because of all the wonderful drawings and for the comments that are scattered throughout.  I suppose that they are infused with your personality, which transforms them into something more than simple reference works”.   Whatever the reason, she’ll be greatly missed.

But the story doesn’t quite end there.  Since Barb had never actually announced that she’d given up on a third book, I’d assumed that it was still very much a work in progress.  I wrote to her sometime around 1998 to volunteer new listings and ask if there was anything that I could do to help her along with the project because I, like many other collectors, was eagerly awaiting its publication.  I was surprised and saddened to hear that she’d abandoned the idea.  I was also alarmed to discover that she’d sent all her research material to – well, she couldn’t remember exactly.   But she was very excited by the prospect of collaborating on a new project and made suggestions about how the glass database that we have online at www.pre-pro.com might be turned into a glossy showcase for the old glasses.  She also transferred copyright of all three of her books so that they could be reprinted with updated prices and so that some or all of the previously-published material could be used in compiling Book Three. 

The latter option now seemed unlikely given the loss of the old city directories because it meant that newly discovered glasses could not be researched.  But by a remarkable stroke of luck, I happened to strike up a conversation with Jack Sullivan at the Potomac Bottle Club’s annual show in 2002.  Jack is well known to readers of Bottles and Extras for his many authoritative articles on the history of liquor jugs.  He had been aided in his research by two large boxes full of photocopies that he had purchased some years ago from Barb Edmonson and, even more remarkably, she had also sent him several pages of unlisted glass descriptions that comprised all of her preliminary work on Book Three. 

Is a third book warranted in this age of the Internet and online databases?  Wouldn’t it be better to compile an electronic guidebook that can be distributed on a CD ROM and updated constantly?   That’s a question the collecting community has mulled over for some time now.  My personal feeling is that hardcopy wins out over pixels every time, because there’s just no substitute for paging through a book.  But in the absence of Barb, producing a third book is a far and lofty goal. 

During the past year or so, Barb sensed a growing need to get her affairs in order and to clear out her shelves and closets.  Some time in January 2004, a box bearing her return address arrived on the doorstep.  At the bottom was a stack of yellowed Cincinnati city directory photocopies that she’d discovered among some forgotten papers.  .

On top, carefully wrapped, were five shot glasses.  One was cow-horn souvenir from Scotland.  Another was a rare, gilded Shriner commemorative.  There was also a tonic glass from Siegelman of New York and a port glass from Des Pres of Chicago.  The fifth was an unknown glass that she attributed to master etcher George Truog, explaining that she’d originally obtained it from Paul Van Vactor.  “Am sure I was the only one interested in it as it was not a brand shotglass” she commented.   It’s now one of my most treasured glasses – and not only because it represented one of the last in her once-substantial collection.  In text and pictures it spells out the message: KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE MOON.  [Figure 10] I like to think it’s a parting message from a dear friend and fellow collector.

Fig. 10

I’m very grateful to Howard Currier, Susan Murphy, Sheila Sears, Jack Sullivan, and Paul Van Vactor for their help in compiling this article.  Special thanks are due to Barb and Roger Roy for sharing their family memories and photos.  

For more information on any of the books mentioned here, please contact Robin Preston, 245 N 15 th St., MS #488, Philadelphia, PA 19102. e-mail:  oldwhiskey@pre-pro.com.  Robin is an enthusiastic collector of pre-pro shot glasses and maintains the collector’s website, www.pre-pro.com.

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