Questions about a Photograph Paperweight

I have this really pleasing glass paperweight, made by Heisey, that has a photo of a church under it. I want to list it, but I was wondering if this type of Paperweight had a special name. Also, could the buyer carefully remove the existing photo if they wanted to put their own photo under it? How would they do this? TY!

 

I don't know of any special name for these... maybe somebody else does.

I suspect somebody could fairly easily remove the photo, but not without risk of damage. However, this photo is probably very faded, and cut down... so it would not have much value when removed from the paperweight, anyway.

Although I have a couple of this type of paperweight, I've never tried to remove the image.

 

Fig, I was thinking someone would not want this photo, but would want to put one in it that is more personal to them. So they wouldn't care about ruining the photo. For instance, I have one of these paperweights with a very old baby picture of my mother in it. The glass enlarges the photo somewhat. I tried to find out if this church still exists and it must be gone, because I couldn't find it on the web. Normally, I wouldn't list an item like this, but it is so very nice (the glass).

 

I believe they still make kits with which to make these paperweights..
I think Michael's might carry them.
If so, if they did want to replace the photo, they might find the wherewithal to do so.

 

I had several of these. The photos and the felt were in bad condition, but the glass was good. I soaked them in warm soapy water and removed the felt and paper easily. I then cut up antique postcards & re-glued them, put on new felt and gave them to my sisters. They loved them.

 

What a great idea! I should keep this one and find an old photo of my parents and give it to either my brother or sister. They would love it. I have another empty one in the basement so I could do one for each of them. So I guess I don't really care about my questions all that much, since I won't be listing this. LOL!

 

Maryislgal, that is a great idea!

 

Oh, PLEASE don't remove the photo! People collect these for the image as much as for the weight itself. That one is in very good condition, and it's a piece of local history, far too much of which is vanishing. Oh, they're just called photographic paperweights.

 

The only reason I repurposed them is because the photos were so bad. I couldn't make them out.

 

Ok, I won't remove the photo. I'm back to listing it but I wonder if ebay is the right venue for a paperweight of a church in Mt. Vernon Ohio. Maybe my ant. mall space is better. Thanks for letting me know! This one is in almost perfect condition, with the exception of a small scrape on the back corner of the paper which you can see in the photo.

 

Ola402, I wholeheartedly second what Ownedbybear said: "Oh, PLEASE don't remove the photo!"

That is a very old church (started about the time of, or even before, the Civil War). The name alone shows how old the church is/was ("M. P." denotes "Methodist Protestant").

 

Ola402 said: "Ok, I won't remove the photo."

Thank goodness, Ola.

 

I believe that would be the Methodist Episcopal Church likely sold as a fund raiser by the Ladies Aid Society in a magnifying paperweight. If you check on line you may get some history etc. even a current picture as many of these are still in use.

 

Here's a link re Methodist Protestant churches.

http://www.themethodistprotestantchurch.com/aboutus.html

 

I tried to find it on line a couple hours ago. There was a listing for a now gone church called "Martinsburg Presbyterian" which I thought might be it. I also think there was a link for Methodist Protestant, but I didn't click so I'll go back and see if I can find it. I was looking for an image to see if the original church was still in use.

 

The last I saw was a reference in print only (no photo) to the ("new") church being built on Mulberry Street and it may be the one now referred to as "Mulberry Street United Methodist Church" in Mount Vernon, Ohio. Unfortunately, the link below does not give a "history" of the church.

http://www.mulberryumc.org/

 

This old PK learned something today. I had not heard of the Methodist Protesnt denomination until today. It is separate from the Methodist Episcopal Denomination which today is the United Methodist Church. A bunch of them in Mt Vernon. I wonder how big the town is.

 

Hi,
Perhaps I should start selling the 32 empty paperweights I have. They are stored in a box doing nothing. Most are rectangle but a few are round and several ovals. They came from an old photography store in Plainfield NJ. The store closed in 1931 but the contents went on sale in 1985. I bought the 32 pieces for 10 bucks. I was going to turn them into family photos and old Christmas cards. Instead they are in a box.
greg

 

I looked this up on Wikipedia as something rang a bell. Kenyon College is there. (And the late, great Paul Lynde came from there.)

However, methinks that more information would be available from the main library there, and/or the colleges.

 

Tomorrow I will likely call the public library in Mt. V. It's a small town with a strong sense of history. It's where everyone here who has ever wanted to live in a fabulous old house eventually moves to. The next door neighbors of my parents moved there after they retired and loved it. I'm sure the library can probably tell me what happened to this church.

greg - I'm sure your empty weights are worth something, but I don't know how much, certainly more than $10!