collector or trash item

 I have been accused, many times, of never throwing anything away and that always leaves me with a negative feeling about myself.  Perhaps some of you might relate to this.  But I still tend to keep 'stuff.'

The other day I happened upon a news article from the long ago past in the late 1800's about a spot in Indiana called the Hoosier Slide on the shores of Lake Michigan.   It was a 200 ft. sand dune where people came to slid down, a recreation for the people of the area and even brought in tourists.  Then glass manufacturers discovered that the sand was perfect for making glass.  The Ball canning company, and others, came in and loaded up the sand for their glass factories.  This went on until the Hoosier Slide sand dune was no more.  Gone! The article spoke of the canning jars produced at that time, with the Ball label now being a collectors item and having a tint of blue in the class. 

It suddenly occurred to me that I had a collectors item almost within arm's reach.  It was sitting on a shelf behind my office area, an old fashioned jar just the right shape to hold a light that I had glued together.  There it was, with some flaw bubbles in the glass, an indication of its age, a thin neck that no current lid would fit, with a slight blue tint and the lettering of Ball on its side.   How many times had I come close to tossing this?  And once I am no longer here to appreciate it I am fairly certain its value will vanish in the eyes of those cleaning up after me.  Still it is rather fun to think, however accidentally,  I have a collector's piece.

Since I have ancestors who were employed in the glass factories in Lancashire, England, this is another plus to having my jar.  And the story of the Hoosier Slide?   It did disappear but in 1966 the site was preserved land,  the other sand dunes were saved. The area is now part of the Indiana Dunes National Park.