Collect calls

Floats, antiques and buttons highlight Lincoln City’s Antique and Collectibles Week

By Eliot Sekuler

For the TODAY

World-class displays of glass fishing floats and antique buttons are among the attractions on tap as Lincoln City celebrates the 31st annual Antique and Collectibles “Week,” a 10-day event, Saturday, Feb. 12 through Monday, Feb. 21, that marks open season for treasure hunters and collectors of a wide array of artifacts and antiques.

The event originated at the Rocking Horse Antique Mall in 1991 and quickly caught on with other Lincoln City shops. This year, 18 stores are participating and collectors will also find uniquely complementary exhibitions at two prominent Lincoln City cultural institutions: “Float Odyssey,” an exhibition of hand-blown glass fishing floats at the North Lincoln County Historical Museum and a stunning collection of buttons, handwoven fabrics and original fashion designs reminiscent of Parisian style in the mid-1940s in the Fiber Arts Studio Gallery.

According to museum director Jeff Syrop, the glass float display will offer highlights from the museum’s expansive collection — among the world’s largest — as well as information for both the avid and the casual collector.

First created and employed in Norway in the 1840s, glass floats were adopted by fishermen around the world as a means of keeping gill nets and longlines afloat. Millions of them were produced before the use of glass was phased out about 50 years ago in favor of Styrofoam and wood.

Over the years, the objects have become a popular collector’s item, with floats in rare colors and shapes fetching high prices in antique stores and on auction sites. The trade in floats is especially active in the Pacific Northwest because they frequently complete their sea journeys by washing up on the beaches of the Oregon Coast.

“The museum is well-known for our hundreds of rare and interesting glass floats.” Syrop said. “This exhibit goes a little more in-depth. We’ve chosen floats that have amazing and adventurous stories behind them, floats that travelled thousands of miles across the ocean before arriving on our beaches. The exhibit explains how they were manufactured, what type of fishing they were used for and how they were found.”

For example, one of the floats was made by the Northwestern Glass Company in Seattle in 1943 for a Russian crab fishing fleet.

“It’s estimated that there were 690,000 of these floats shipped to Russia. So, this float, created in Seattle, was used by that Russian fleet before being lost at sea and floating around for decades. It was found in 1973 by a US Navy service member stationed on the Aleutian Islands, who brought it home with him. That’s an example of how these floats have travelled across the world.”

Much of the museum’s collection was donated by Dr. Nick Simpson, who began accumulating the floats in the 1960s. He served as co-curator for the Float Odyssey exhibit and will join another expert, Ken Bussey, in a special “Float Identification Day” event on Saturday, Feb. 19 from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm.

“People from the community can grab a float that’s hanging in their yard or sitting on a shelf and experts will look at them and help them make an identification: where it was made, what type of float it is and what type of fishing it was used for,” Syrop said, adding that floats were sometimes  marked with “kanji,” a manufacturer’s mark that aids in identification.

Collectors will find a selection of historic glass floats and newer replicas on sale at the museum’s gift shop as well as some commemorative floats created by renowned glassblower Ro Purser, one of the founders of the American Studio Glass movement, whose work has been shown at the Smithsonian Institute.

The North Lincoln County Historical Museum is located at 4907 SW Hwy. 101 in the Taft area of Lincoln City. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday 11 am to 4 pm.  The exhibition can be seen from now until the year’s end but the official opening is Saturday, Feb. 19. For more information, go to northlincolncountyhistoricalmuseum.org.

The walls of the Fiber Arts Studio Gallery are currently emblazoned with the legend, “Escape to the Past Through Buttons and Fashions.”

Visitors can see a combined exhibition of antique and unusual buttons and mannequins adorned with handwoven fabrics and original designs reminiscent of French fashions circa 1945.

Collectors of antique and rare buttons will find a display of 21 mounted cards, each featuring an array of unusual and mostly unique buttons from the collection of enthusiast Holly Derderian, who assembled her collection over a period of 33 years. The exhibition was organized by the Oregon State Button Society, formed 75 years ago to promote the collection and preservation of buttons as cultural artifacts.

“The attention to detail and the variety of materials is remarkable: acrylic and plastic and Bakelite and metal,” said Alexis Garrett, the gallery’s education and communications coordinator, adding that, back in the day, buttons were objects of personal expression and class identification. “It’s just amazing how much attention people paid to something as little as a button. What you wore as a button said a lot about your status in life.”

According to Garrett, button collecting is a flourishing pastime, with organized groups in Portland, Eugene and Salem. The gallery is soliciting their participation and that of the general public in this exhibition.

“We’re asking people to send in pictures of their button jar — or their grandma’s button jar — and we’re posting those photos on our bulletin board.” 

The handwoven fashion exhibit, which shares the room with the button show, features fabrics woven and sewn by members of the Portland Handweavers’ Guild and utilizes “Theatre de la Mode” mannequins from the collection of the Maryhill Museum.

The Fiber Arts Studio Gallery is located inside the Lincoln City Cultural Center at 540 NE Hwy. 101 and is open from 10 am to 4 pm, Thursday through Sunday. The exhibition runs through Feb. 20. For more information, go to LincolnCity-CulturalCenter.org.

Treasure hunters on the prowl for that unique and prized addition to their collection can wander among the array of stores offering special Antique and Collectible Week deals.

“There’s something for everyone,” said Stephanie Hull, event and outreach coordinator at Explore Lincoln City, reflecting on the broadening and changing audience for the event which, she estimated, has brought more than 2,000 visitors to the city in past years.

And just who is the audience for antiques and collectibles?

“It’s shifting,” Hull said. “The millennial and Gen Z audience are attracted to comic books, pop culture and movie references, like the items sold at Pop Culture Collectibles at Street Car Village in Cutler City. They’ll also be drawn to Toby’s at Lincoln City Outlets, which has an interesting collection of antique record players and vinyl records. And then there are the traditional collectible hunters looking for great deals in unique pieces. Granny’s Attic, for example, is featuring a table from the historic Pixie Kitchen.”

A new participant in this year’s Antique and Collectibles Week is the dinosaur-themed store, Prehistoric, which specializes in fossils, minerals and meteorites gathered from around the world. “You can’t get more antique than fossils,” Hull said.

For more information on Antique and Collectibles week including a full list of participating stores, go to oregoncoast.org/events/annual/antique-collectibles-week.