West Virginia Day Archive

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BLENKO GLASS

West Virginia Day Archives

See over 40 years of our annual West Virginia Day collectible glass pieces.

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Handcrafted Glass
is a West Virginia Tradition

On June 20, 1863 West Virginia was incorporated as the 35th state of the union and to commemorate this historic day; for over 40 years, Blenko Glass has designed and sold a limited number of stunning birthday pierces! Enjoy this compilation of West Virginia Day pieces photos. Images courtesy of the West Virginia State Museum.

Blenko's 2023 WV Day 'Specimen' Piece

The look and feel of a 19th century museum or library is brought to bear on our 2023 West Virginia Day piece, “Specimen.” Recalling the naturalists and scientists who traversed the earth collecting samples of natural phenomena, and carefully cataloging and preserving these samples, ‘Specimen’ is our most complex WV Day piece to date, made up of several components that come together to make one breathtaking collectable piece.

This piece calls to the long history - and the long geological history - of West Virginia coal: from protean bogs and ancient forests to the fuel that lit America. The piece asks questions about how we think about and preserve the fraught aspects of our energy past, and the costs in human lives and future time of our love affair with coal. The piece uses locally reclaimed West Virginia woods in contact with the striking flame gradation of our Tangerine glass bell jar dome, all protecting and enshrining a dense and hand-satined piece of our Spring Crocus glass ‘coal.’ Topping the bell jar dome is a Turquoise flame, the cool color of high heat.