On June 17 - 20 2009, The 38th Annual HCA Convention was held in Newark, Ohio. HCA stands for Heisey Collectors of America and Heisey lovers from across the country make the annual pilgrimage to Newark, which they fondly referred to as Heiseyville, for the four-day event.
My adventure started when my DH Alan told me about a large auction of Heisey glass he had seen in the paper and agreed to go with me to Newark despite the fact that he has only the most casual interest in glass. Whoo-hoo, road trip!
Now I must digress for a minute to tell you how I met my friend James. I had listed a creamer with Quilted Diamond and Wampum in the title and stated in the listing that it was a quilted diamond pattern similar to Wampum. James being a vigilant Heisey lover took issue with my description and went on to carefully and kindly explain the difference between Heisey’s Quilted Diamond and Wampum patterns and to point out that mine was neither. Although I only meant to point out the similarity between my piece and the Heisey designs, I conceded that the listing could be misleading and changed it. Out of this first encounter grew an online friendship with this very nice gentleman and long time Heisey collector.
Being excited about the auction I wrote to James to tell him about my upcoming trip only to discover that he and his wife Bobbie were going to be in Newark for the Convention! I decided that my time would be better spent on Saturday when there was a flea market and glass show. The Flea Market on the Square opened at 8:00 but since I can’t drag my lazy patootie out of bed early enough to get to Newark by eight James and I arranged to meet at 9:30. My sweet husband drove and I slept for the 45-minute drive to Newark. Of course, as soon as I arrived at the flea market I was wide-awake and ready to look at some Heisey! It’s always exciting for me to see some glass that I’ve only seen photographs of before and there it was… tables and tables of glass sparkling in the sunshine.
Almost before I had a chance to start looking my phone rang and it was James, I looked around and saw a tall distinguished looking gentleman talking into his cell phone and since his lips were moving in synch with what I was hearing I determined it was James. After a short meet and greet chat his lovely daughter Karen arrived.
Here is the tall and slender HCA V.P.
Karen is the newly elected Vice-President of Heisey Collectors of America and an extremely knowledgeable Heisey collector. She graciously spent over 2 hours giving me the “educational tour” at the flea market teaching me things that I would never have known without her. 
This is me with the white legs - I need to get outside once in awhile!
I learned where to look for markings, to look for the bumps on Plantation, Heisey colors, common fakes, rare pieces, common pieces, and much more that I’m sure is stored away in my head somewhere. 
A dealer shows us his wares.
This was just the beginning of my Heisey adventure – coming up next – the Heisey Museum.
After the museum, we went to the “39th Annual Premiere Glass Show & Sale with 40 prominent elegant glass dealers from across America” as per the Heisey Museum site at http://heiseymuseum.org/hca/convention where a large number of dealers were selling... you guessed it - Heisey! We saw Karen again at the show where she was equally charming and informative. What a sweetheart! There were some people I recognized from the flea market earlier in the day and I was able to spend a little more time talking to them at the show. One of my favorite dealers is Kim Carlisle, so nice and very knowledgeable. He had an impressive collection of Heisey glass for sale including some of the really HUGE candy jars. One of them actually sold while I was standing there and judging for what it sold for and how delighted the buyer was, they must be quite rare! In addition, Kim can work magic on "sick" glass as his ad on Kovels (just scroll down to Kim Carlisle) says "Cloudy glass cleaned: the inside of vases, decanters, cologne bottles, saltshakers, cruets, etc., cleaned." At the show he had a before and after example and it was quite amazing! Karen and James (I wrote about them previously) heartily endorse his work. .jpg)
Kim also shared some "tricks of the trade" with me, I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you... ;) Just kidding, of course I'm going to tell you! Here's one anyway - only buy matched sugar and creamer sets. Heisey colors vary in shade and intensity and glass from different batches can be noticeably different when they are side by side. If you buy a sugar for example thinking that you will find a creamer later, it is nearly impossible to find an exact match. Here's another tip -Heisey glass isn't always marked on the bottom, sometimes the mark is on the side. On the syrups, the diamond H is on the handle. Of course, some Heisey isn't marked at all. None of the mold blown pieces are marked including the very collectible favor vases that can fetch up to $800 depending on the color, so it's definitely worth learning about these little beauties! Another fabulous thing about the show was that there were many of the same pieces that we had just seen at the museum. Right there in front of me. Where I could TOUCH them! Which I did, very carefully, usually just giving them an affectionate pat or two. With the more valuable and or rare pieces I just kept my hands behind my back. .JPG)
I wish I had more photos to share but I was so enraptured with the glass I completely forgot to take some shots of the most fabulous items such as a set of matching Hawthorne (I think)candelabras, 6 cups each if I remember correctly, and a massive tangerine punch set on a rotating pedestal - again, if I remember correctly. Next time I will be sure to use my camera instead of just carrying it around, obviously I can't count on my memory, lol! It was a wonderful adventure in Heiseyland and I'm looking forward to going again next year and maybe going to the select auction in October. I'll keep you updated!
