Plates And So Much More     08/28-29/22

Ives Run COE #19, Tioga, Pennsylvania

When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father.  When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.”  That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim. (means ‘the mourning of Egypt’) ~ Genesis 50:10-11      All this entourage showed up at someone’s threshing floor and began mourning the loss of Jacob again.  This time for seven days.  I’m certain the Canaanites wondered in awe of this.  I wonder if any of them knew Jacob?  Once again, we see the reverence the Egyptians have developed over the years for Joseph and now his father.  God has done this, to allow His people to prosper in Egypt.

Just as I said yesterday, we settled in with our home church via livestream.  Later in the afternoon, Blaine struggled to get a Daytona race on our TV with no satellite (too many trees around, remember?).  He finally figured it out by somehow connecting our TV to something, but then, much to his dismay, the race was a washout!  I felt bad for him.

We received some great pictures from home, and thrilled to the hummingbirds visiting our neighbors feeder! I don’t think we’ve ever seen one stationary before. The picture’s bad, but you’ll get the idea. 😊

Kyle, Shena and Cooper were able to attend with my mom!

On Monday, we took a day trip to Corning, New York.

Yes.  It’s just what you’re thinking!  The people who make those nearly unbreakable Corelle dishes, along with our beloved Pyrex.

Corning has been around since 1851. One of the company’s earliest innovations was the bulb-shaped glass encasement for Thomas Edison’s incandescent lamp and as electric light became commercially available, Corning figured out how to mass produce the bulbs bringing electric light to the world.

In the early 1900′s, it discovered ways to make glass stronger and heat-resistant. This led to products like Pyrex and CorningWare.

Today, the company also makes glass for cars, fiber optic cable and smartphones. ~ cnbc.com

This place and their history is absolutely incredible!  I encourage you to check out their brief history at

https://www.corning.com/au/en/innovation/culture-of-innovation/the-history-of-corning-innovation.html

Your chin will drop to your chest as you read the list of things they’re responsible for!

Their world headquarters is in Corning, NY.  They have over 20 manufacturing plants in the US (Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, N. Carolina, Utah and Virginia) and Canada and additional ones in China, France, Mexico and Poland.  They have at least 50,000 employees worldwide.  They have 10 research centers across North America, Europe and Asia.  Their core sales (whatever that means) is approximately $11.7 billion and their Fortune 500 ranking is 277.  You’d think with everything they have their hands in, they’d rank much higher than that.

So today, we visited their Glass Museum.  For a nominal fee (kids 17 and under are free!), we were able to look around, plus take in two different glass blowing demonstrations, as well as a flameworking demo.  You most likely already know what glass blowing is, but if you’re like us, you have no idea what flameworking is.  You know those small clear glass animals you can buy?  Turns out, those are made by super heating clear tubes of glass and forming shapes with an additional rod.  It takes someone with artistic skill to create that way, as does all the blown glass things they have here!  They told us you have to have 3-4 years experience before Corning will even consider hiring you.  Believe it or not, there’s a glass-blowing school in every state!  Professionals make $40,000-100,00 with a few making over $200,000.

We ended up spending eight hours here, minus an hour lunch break, and we still skimmed over things by the end of the day!

What an incredible place!  Enjoy the few pictures we took today, then plan your own trip to see it all up close and personal.  😊

This is the first thing you see when you walk in the door.
I don’t know if you remember or not, but we took a picture of a
similar-looking piece at the Boston Art Museum. : )
This is not a black and white picture.
It’s the first thing we saw once we left the entrance.
The beginning of their Art Gallery.
Just remember one thing as you look at this post – – everything in here is made of glass!
Some have additional materials added, but it’s all glass.
This is a chandelier made of blue glass butterflies!
Some pieces were more contemporary.
I can never seem to remember if the descriptions should go before or after the picture . . . Guess this time, I’ll put them after if I have one.
All glass!
This is crooked because they had it on the wall beside the piece and there was a lot of glare.
Can you believe it?!? This “rope” made of glass beads is a mile long!
Our first demonstration.
That molten glass blub was transformed into a lovely glass vase right before our eyes!
In about 20 minutes!
I took this one because of the tool he’s using.
It’s folded up, wet newspaper!
Back to the art gallery
Sometimes we were amazed by the descriptions of the pieces. We’re just not art aficionados….
This was an interesting display – three units full of drinking glasses.
We recognized a few from our life history. : )
I liked the piece, but I don’t get the blood on the side of the road part . . .
This one was really fun to look at!
It looks like a painting in our picture, but it’s not.
That’s what the side looks like.
Now we’re going through some history stuff.
Blaine was particularly impressed with this since he used a lot of copper wire as an electrician!
This was fun – – a demonstration of the difference between regular and thermal windows.
Blaine’s very warm and that’s why his face looks so much lighter than mine.
I should’ve taken a picture of our two hands – it was really obvious! : )
He talked to us about Corning’s innovations in glass safety.
They had a large screen TV to aid with viewing the demonstration.
I know I mentioned just the clear glass tubes, but they come in all colors. Here are a few of her pieces.
Ta-da! A penguin!
We weren’t impressed with her idea of a penguin,
but the brontosaurus she did at her previous demonstration was fabulous!
Incredible information!
They show a bit of trivia while you wait for the demonstrations to begin.
Demo #2.
This blob eventually turned into a clear glass pitcher.
They put cameras inside their furnace.
There’s a special heat-resistant piece of glass to protect the camera.
That furnace on the right was on a cruise ship at one time.
Not quite done yet. . .
Isn’t this a great photo op?!? : )
1/2 mile away is downtown Corning where we found a scrumptious pizza shop!
Then we walked around a bit before heading back to the museum.
We’re entering the history portion now.

On June 23, 1972, Corning and the surrounding communities were devastated by a major flood, as a result of the tropical storm Agnes. At the Museum, hundreds of objects were broken, more than half of the Library’s materials were saturated with flood water, and the facility was covered with a thick layer of slime and mud. This exhibit chronicled the determination of Museum staff and the community to rebuild, and shed light on the unique conservation techniques that were used to restore Library materials.

Spring flooding was fairly commonplace in the greater Corning area. In fact, a series of dikes had been built in response to the floods of 1935 and 1946. However, two additional dams had been planned, but not constructed, as of 1972. In June 1972, tropical storm Agnes brought torrential rainfall to the area and raised the Chemung River water level to 15 feet by June 22. Overnight, an additional 12 feet of water accumulated, causing the river to break through the dikes and flood into the Crystal City, submerging homes and businesses, including The Corning Museum of Glass and its Library.

The Museum was situated in the middle of the disaster area where water had surged 15 to 20 feet above the lower level on the west side of the Glass Center. By the morning of June 24, the river was back within its banks but the damage remained for much longer. Inside the Museum, the water line was 5’4” high on the walls and cases, and two inches of mud covered the floor and many of the objects and Library books. Residents and businesses had to face initial cleanup without electricity and running water, some for up to three weeks.

After the waters receded, many of the 13,000 glass objects in the Museum were covered with mud; remarkably, though, only four percent suffered damage and were in need of restoration. Books and paper materials housed within the Museum’s Library, however, were not as fortunate. The entire rare and special collection was flooded, as well as many of the browsable books, periodicals, documents, archives, images, slides, films, and audio tapes. The moisture and silt caused severe damage to the Library materials and made them vulnerable to mold and insects.

In the community, more than 6,000 people were displaced from their homes and property damage exceeded $230 million. Tragically, 18 individuals lost their lives.

The City of Corning was extremely fortunate to have visionary leadership in government and industry, as well as an outpouring of volunteers who made the rebuilding of the community and restoration of the Museum and Library collections possible. ~ whatson.cmog.org

Half the entire library collection was damaged in the flood

I tried and tried to find pictures of the interior of the museum following the flood, but to no avail.  The only one I uncovered was this picture of a portion of their library.

Note the flood line on the back wall.
This wine pitcher was probably made in Rhodes, Greece between 500 and 400 BCE. This is the same time period when God went silent for the Jews for 400 years.
That’s an open circle on the top. The etched glass is from another item in the display case.
FYI – the Exodus was 1448BC
That means these items would’ve been used during that time!
I don’t actually have a picture of glassware to go with this, I just thought it was interesting information.
This dish was made in Rome about 1 – 50 AD.
That’s the time Jesus walked the earth!
So much extravagance at World’s Fairs! But they’ve grown out of favor. The last one in North America was in 1986 in Vancouver, Canada. The last one in the US was 1984 in New Orleans.
Do I even have to tell you?
It’s Tiffany!
So is this!

On the way home, we stopped by a Park Blaine wanted to check out.  Wonderful views!  And we got to watch a thunderstorm roll by us!

And now, for a bit of useless trivia!

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