'No two pieces the same'

By Kelly Adams
The Topeka Capital-Journal, Topeka, KS

A glass tumbler, bought for $6.50 in the late 1950s, was the beginning of a decades-long devotion to antiques and Fenton art glass for Al and Dorothy Eliot, owners of Whitehall Country Store, 3410 S.W. 10th.

"At the time, I was making 65 cents an hour," Al Eliot said. "I was a sacker working through high school at a grocery store. That tumbler is priceless. I couldn't put a value on it."

While some collectors keep their items for display only, the Eliots said they choose to use much of their impressive collection of vases, light fixtures, bowls and other pieces. When they buy a particular item that they think is pretty, Al Eliot said, he and Dorothy try to work it into their household.

"Like our antique lights, we use them," Al Eliot said, pointing to a fixture. "Most of the lights that you see in the house, all of them are operational. If we had a fire or tornado or something, and the lights went out, that's an oil-lit light -- we could use it."

Al Eliot said that people, when deciding whether to purchase a piece of glass, need to know that glass comes in three distinct categories: decorative, such as a candy dish; utilitarian, like mixing bowls or drinking glasses; and art glass, which usually is handmade, hand-blown and hand-painted.

When asked to relate a story or unusual fact about one of the items in their collection, Al Eliot said he would have to think about that, because every bowl, vase and lamp has a story attached to it. The tale he told was of the first piece of art glass -- an English pitcher and bowl set -- that he and Dorothy bought together.

"I think at that time -- this was back in the '60s -- the antique dealer wanted $395 for the set," he said. "That was a lot of money for us, and it was coming income tax time. Do we pay the income tax, or do we go ahead and buy the piece?



Mike Shepherd/The Capital-Journal
Al and Dorothy Eliot hold their favorite Fenton art pieces in their Topeka home. The Eliots, owners of Whitehall Country Store, have made a living selling and trading the famous glass pieces.The first two categories, Al Eliot said, are "made to break -- they want you to break those so you'll go out and buy more." Each piece of Fenton art glass, however, is made "one on one," and usually in limited quantities.
"Then what's neat, in your lifetime, your children's lifetime -- they'll never make it again," Al Eliot said. "It's not mass-produced. There's no two pieces the same."



Mike Shepherd/The Capital-Journal
The Eliots' personal collection of Fenton art glass include these vases."We went home and stewed, and as it was, we bought the piece," he laughed. "I can remember scraping up the money to pay the income tax."