Greetings and hope this message finds you well and safe. It has been a year that nobody will ever forget as we continue to pursue through this global epidemic and head into the second half of 2020. Additional to Covid-19, we had have experience many other crisis in the US that have affected just about every city. We have a seen a dramatic change in our way of work and also the schooling of our children. In relation to the collecting communities, we have seen the majority of shows, conventions, markets, club get-togethers.. cancel throughout the past months. We have heard stories of many of our collecting forefathers passing away recently and my thoughts and prayers go out to their families and friends. As in pretty much all cases, this year has been in the downturn. But now that I got this out, this is not the focus of this post.

I’m writing to you today to show and express some of the ways that I have seen the bottle collecting community come together and even get stronger during these times. Of course most of my input is what i see via online in the many collecting social groups and auctions. I have always been a big fan of shows, conventions, and meeting fellow collectors in person, so for sure I’m not saying any thing against live events as we all have that passion! I’m sharing to you some of my thoughts from what I have seen in the past months related to our hobby.

I have seen many collectors posting stories and pictures of their newly created shelves and light display cabinets for their bottle collections. I myself have found time to build two new shelving units that will hold up to 200 more bottles.
I have read many stories on the digging/privy groups of folks getting out on new digs and discovering great bottle finds
As a member on some of the bottle cleaning groups, I have seen many posts related to recent cleans and the process followed. Many questions related to “how to” with great replies.
Speaking for the Applied Color Label collectors, I have seen a large increase in sales and at the same time a increase in both buyers and prices. Some really great transactions where both parties where happy. Sorry about that shipping cost, can’t do anything about that :)

In conclusion, I hope everyone stays strong, safe and persists through the remainder of this year enjoying this great hobby. I’m looking forward to that day to return back to a bottle show (in person)!

Take care, Stay Safe, and Happy Online Collecting in the meantime, Tom

I have added a small slideshow and hope you enjoy.